Comments on: The Terror of Choice http://ludusnovus.net/2008/11/19/the-terror-of-choice/ The Art of Interaction Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:09:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=1820 By: Gregory Weir http://ludusnovus.net/2008/11/19/the-terror-of-choice/comment-page-1/#comment-30771 Gregory Weir Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:10:02 +0000 http://ludusnovus.net/?p=173#comment-30771 I like how an NPC will say he'll meet you at 8:00 PM in place X, and it's clear that he proceeds to show up every night exactly at 8 and hang around for hours waiting for you to show up before going home dejected. Every night. Until the end of time. I like how an NPC will say he’ll meet you at 8:00 PM in place X, and it’s clear that he proceeds to show up every night exactly at 8 and hang around for hours waiting for you to show up before going home dejected.

Every night. Until the end of time.

]]> By: sakanagai http://ludusnovus.net/2008/11/19/the-terror-of-choice/comment-page-1/#comment-30770 sakanagai Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:55:17 +0000 http://ludusnovus.net/?p=173#comment-30770 I always found the lack of personal urgency in <i>Oblivion</i> to be amusing up to a point. Once again, though, it establishes a disconnect particularly in quests where someone is supposedly in grave danger. You take your sweet time getting around to it only to find that they are no worse off after several in-game weeks. I always found the lack of personal urgency in Oblivion to be amusing up to a point. Once again, though, it establishes a disconnect particularly in quests where someone is supposedly in grave danger. You take your sweet time getting around to it only to find that they are no worse off after several in-game weeks.

]]> By: Gregory Weir http://ludusnovus.net/2008/11/19/the-terror-of-choice/comment-page-1/#comment-30767 Gregory Weir Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:40:51 +0000 http://ludusnovus.net/?p=173#comment-30767 I don't think <i>Oblivion</i> is so complex that it hurts the game. It's just too complex for me personally to pursue the main quest, the Shivering Isles quests, and the side quests at the same time. It has a decent quest record system, although I'd love to be able to sort by geographic location. My biggest issue with <i>Oblivion</i>'s breadth is that the main quest seems much more urgent than, say, <i>Morrowind</i>. I feel kind of weird trying to join the Mage's Guild or outfitting my pirate base when there are demons pouring out of portals outside several populated towns and the empire's threatened by an evil cult. I don’t think Oblivion is so complex that it hurts the game. It’s just too complex for me personally to pursue the main quest, the Shivering Isles quests, and the side quests at the same time. It has a decent quest record system, although I’d love to be able to sort by geographic location. My biggest issue with Oblivion‘s breadth is that the main quest seems much more urgent than, say, Morrowind. I feel kind of weird trying to join the Mage’s Guild or outfitting my pirate base when there are demons pouring out of portals outside several populated towns and the empire’s threatened by an evil cult.

]]> By: sakanagai http://ludusnovus.net/2008/11/19/the-terror-of-choice/comment-page-1/#comment-30765 sakanagai Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:28:28 +0000 http://ludusnovus.net/?p=173#comment-30765 I didn't really think that Oblivion was "too complex", but I can certainly see your point. It really is pretty easy to get sidetracked to the point that the main quest gets bumped to the bottom of mission priority. Fallout 3 is similar in style, but side missions aren't as easy to acquire. Including exploration as a quest, though, can lead to some long gaps in between bouts of productivity. In these cases, returning to the main quest after a long hiatus creates a certain disconnect with the story and can spoil that part of the game. Assassin's Creed, in the spirit of newer titles, gave an illusion of choice with choices of targets, each with 9 information gathering missions to choose from. The variety was stale before too long, and the choices didn't seem to make much difference when you opted for completion. It still had a sandboxy feel, but it never really had enough branches that mattered. I really think that Grand Theft Auto III had a very good balance of side quests, item hunts, and main missions without providing too many branches to get lost. Furthermore, it restricts gameplay in stages giving the player reason to make certain levels of progress in the main quest(s) to allow greater freedom. I can't speak so much about GTAIV, though, as a) I haven't played enough of it and b) the incentives from GTAIII simply aren't present in the sequel. I didn’t really think that Oblivion was “too complex”, but I can certainly see your point. It really is pretty easy to get sidetracked to the point that the main quest gets bumped to the bottom of mission priority. Fallout 3 is similar in style, but side missions aren’t as easy to acquire. Including exploration as a quest, though, can lead to some long gaps in between bouts of productivity. In these cases, returning to the main quest after a long hiatus creates a certain disconnect with the story and can spoil that part of the game.

Assassin’s Creed, in the spirit of newer titles, gave an illusion of choice with choices of targets, each with 9 information gathering missions to choose from. The variety was stale before too long, and the choices didn’t seem to make much difference when you opted for completion. It still had a sandboxy feel, but it never really had enough branches that mattered.

I really think that Grand Theft Auto III had a very good balance of side quests, item hunts, and main missions without providing too many branches to get lost. Furthermore, it restricts gameplay in stages giving the player reason to make certain levels of progress in the main quest(s) to allow greater freedom. I can’t speak so much about GTAIV, though, as a) I haven’t played enough of it and b) the incentives from GTAIII simply aren’t present in the sequel.

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