Currently what ive been hearing lately is0 that alot of the sidequests have great stories. so what im hoping is that they will make the story of W3 more akin to the first novels of the witcher which where a series of short stories. as for the main story the way they could fix this issue is that the main story is simple yet emotional one. so that its easy to remember.
well, how exactly would one ~measure~ their success in balancing the open world distractions and the main story? i know some people my mother *cough* that really enjoyed Skyrim's open world, while other people didn't so much. for example, my mother some people would sit in their house in whiterun and eat bread, while others would go and complete *just* the main questline. Others would only play the dark brohood and theives guild questlines and not even bother with the main one. generally the people focused on the main quest had complaints about it's structure. It's really down to what you look for in the game. I personally like story and distractions within the roleplaying capacity, so direction to the main quest will be important to me while I won't mind monster hunting and saving people and occasionally whoring, where as if my mother some other people played tw3 they would probably travel to Oxenfurt and read all the books and that would satisfy them, best open world game, 10/10.
So, as others have said before, it's down to the individual. I think having lots of quests and things to do is wonderful, but I'm also really glad to hear that the quest designers are gods and have a heavy hand in more or less controlling the player. But I also know some people would be put out by an open world game that didn't have a lot of immersion building distractions. I realised just now i made it sound like my mother wouldn't have had played the main quest -- she would have, but she, and other people's parents very much value the little extra things you can do in this sort of vast game.
So, as others have said before, it's down to the individual. I think having lots of quests and things to do is wonderful, but I'm also really glad to hear that the quest designers are gods and have a heavy hand in more or less controlling the player. But I also know some people would be put out by an open world game that didn't have a lot of immersion building distractions. I realised just now i made it sound like my mother wouldn't have had played the main quest -- she would have, but she, and other people
I have faith in CDPR although this is definitely a valid concern
especially after DA:I
that game basically had no real story (and the little it had was very lackluster you could see that they didn't give two shits about it), thousand fetch quests and big boring zones
I really hope that this isn't the case with TW3
especially after DA:I
that game basically had no real story (and the little it had was very lackluster you could see that they didn't give two shits about it), thousand fetch quests and big boring zones
I really hope that this isn't the case with TW3
I understand the concern, but I think its kinda unfair that so much doubt over this comes from the failure of others who, frankly, have never written great stories. Assassins Creed, Elders Scroll, and Far Cry are all games where narrative is secondary or tertiary. Dragon Age is probably the closest thing to a valid comparison but I think many of us can agree that after DA2 and ME3 we probably shouldn't be surprised at how Inquisition turned out...
I'm not concerned because this is something that CDPR has been talking about since they announced the game. They are very much aware of all the narrative pitfalls that often come with open world games. Their idea of quality game deign isnt climbing towers and discovering thousands of collectibles the way Ubisoft does. There are no MMO style quests where you kill 15 boars or collect 30 wolf pelts. They aren't using random quest and dungeon generators like Bethseda, everything is handcrafted and deliberate in design. And based on the feedback we've seen from people who have gone hands on... they have nailed it.
I hope they get it right.
I was surprised to see the majority of votes saying "there's no such thing" in an rpg.
All I have to do is point to Ubisoft's "open world" games, from The AC series, to FC, etc.
They fill their worlds with a ton of useless "collectibles" to sidetrack you and fill out the world instead of having interesting things, it's more quanity over quality.
Which is where I hope the Witcher 3 does it so much better, focus more on interesting side-quests/character interactions and les son boring "collectibles" tthat serve no actual gameplay purpose but to have you chasing carrots on a stick for achievements and other things.
I was surprised to see the majority of votes saying "there's no such thing" in an rpg.
All I have to do is point to Ubisoft's "open world" games, from The AC series, to FC, etc.
They fill their worlds with a ton of useless "collectibles" to sidetrack you and fill out the world instead of having interesting things, it's more quanity over quality.
Which is where I hope the Witcher 3 does it so much better, focus more on interesting side-quests/character interactions and les son boring "collectibles" tthat serve no actual gameplay purpose but to have you chasing carrots on a stick for achievements and other things.
I think it was the right idea for CDPR to go open world with the third installment..Witcher 2 felt like building blocks to something bigger. Witcher 2 improved on Witcher 1 and so will the third game.
When playing sprawling open worlds I always tend to deviate towards the side quests/secrets and exploring every nook and cranny of the world and I will do the same in this one.
I really hope that we will get an indicator or something regarding timed quests because I tend to lose myself into side stuff and I don't want to miss out on on the timed ones.
When playing sprawling open worlds I always tend to deviate towards the side quests/secrets and exploring every nook and cranny of the world and I will do the same in this one.
I really hope that we will get an indicator or something regarding timed quests because I tend to lose myself into side stuff and I don't want to miss out on on the timed ones.
In terms of open world pacing vs story. I think a decent way to offset the disconnect would be to have some more important missions have a timer and if you don't hit that timer, you get a bad end to the mission, and enough of those will leave you with a bad end to the story.
Certainly balancing a meaningful story with an engaging open world environment will be a difficult task mainly because you have that third party variable. (Being player agency.) The player will set the pace of the story, so having subtle guide rails, or at least consequences to not taking it seriously will be helpful. Having these "guide rails" only effect important missions would allow for freedom in the more slow paced parts of the game to screw around and do sidequests.
At the very least the open world seems to be interesting and have a more natural flow to it in TW3, it feels real. In some open world games, for example two worlds two. The world doesn't feel natural, it doesn't seem to work nor does it make sense. It seems to flow somewhat realistically. CDPR seems to have put thought into how the world would function were it a real place, instead of just placing things around randomly because it looked neat.
Certainly balancing a meaningful story with an engaging open world environment will be a difficult task mainly because you have that third party variable. (Being player agency.) The player will set the pace of the story, so having subtle guide rails, or at least consequences to not taking it seriously will be helpful. Having these "guide rails" only effect important missions would allow for freedom in the more slow paced parts of the game to screw around and do sidequests.
At the very least the open world seems to be interesting and have a more natural flow to it in TW3, it feels real. In some open world games, for example two worlds two. The world doesn't feel natural, it doesn't seem to work nor does it make sense. It seems to flow somewhat realistically. CDPR seems to have put thought into how the world would function were it a real place, instead of just placing things around randomly because it looked neat.
I think people who voted "no such thing" didn't mean they want junk items to collect. That's where the article kinda falls short - it gives Ubisoft as an example, and why would anyone disagree? There's a ton of quantity, barely any quality. CDPR aren't going to litter the map with pointless collectibles and lifeless side-quests. If what they say is true, every side quest, even the little ones, went through careful examination to see whether or not the story is interesting and makes sense for Geralt.
The ironic thing is that Ubisoft's formula actually doesn't distract from the main storyline because it's so fucking boring and there's no incentive to do it, while CDPR's side quests, if they prove to be of quality, will distract. Quality distracts. Who the hell will want to stop the main storyline to collect 100 feathers?
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To much distractions besides the main storyline.... not a chance..... oh look a cave.... nice...
where was i? Oh yes i think CDPR will.... oh look over there some nice boobs......
Uhhh .... id like to say.... CDPR will pull this one just right....
PS: OH lets run over there to that scarry looking tree
To much distractions ... yeah .... there is no such thing!
where was i? Oh yes i think CDPR will.... oh look over there some nice boobs......
Uhhh .... id like to say.... CDPR will pull this one just right....
PS: OH lets run over there to that scarry looking tree
To much distractions ... yeah .... there is no such thing! @EliharalIt was just too good an opportunity to pass up. But I wholeheartedly agree with you in your assessment. I can't imagine something more tedious and mind blowing boring than to run around collecting 100 of this or 100 of that. I don't know how games like the Assassin's Creed series gets away again and again with it instead of players demanding actually quality content.
Wow. I'm still the only one who thinks that the open world will ruin the narrative...
CDPR lulled you all with their latest trailer... :sofa:
CDPR lulled you all with their latest trailer... :sofa:
You know, I have to admit that this shot of the map does cause me to cock the eyebrow a bit. Without knowing what all the icons mean I can't help but wonder how many (if any?) are collectibles. The Barrels resemble the underwater treasure we see in the trailer, which could mean that there are at least 59 of those to collect. Theres also another one that looks like a treasure chest with a Skull on it and there are at least 23 of those. No idea what the rest are.
IF those are collectibles I sure hope they arent included in that "50 hours of side quests" we were promised. If that is what a 200 hour playthrough consists of then I'm ok with that.
IF those are collectibles I sure hope they arent included in that "50 hours of side quests" we were promised. If that is what a 200 hour playthrough consists of then I'm ok with that.
You know, I have to admit that this shot of the map does cause me to cock the eyebrow a bit. Without knowing what all the icons mean I can't help but wonder how many (if any?) are collectibles. The Barrels resemble the underwater treasure we see in the trailer, which could mean that there are at least 59 of those to collect. Theres also another one that looks like a treasure chest with a Skull on it and there are at least 23 of those. No idea what the rest are.
IF those are collectibles I sure hope they arent included in that "50 hours of side quests" we were promised. If that is what a 200 hour playthrough consists of then I'm ok with that.
The low point of the video for me. This is no different than what Ubisoft or Rockstar does, showing where every event is before you even reach those places on the map. I know we can disable the question marks, but to me this is worse. It's actually showing the location of monster dens and possible game events. Odd, since they've been adamant about no fetch quests, but that's exactly what this looks like. I hope we can disable all these symbols or I'm reading into this wrong.
The map was explored, why wouldn't it show monster dens and other places?
And how can you make an argument about fetch quest from picture of a map? I cannot comprehend.
Also,
Too much content? Bad - distracting.
Too little content? Bad - nothing to do, lazy devs.
Well, its hard to know how those icons are populated on the map. In the IGN video it looked like they are, at least initially, just "?" until you travel to the area. Plus being able to turn them off solves that issue. I'm more concerned with what they represent.
This is a "discovered" form of the map. Not that which is shown at first before you discover each location. There are question marks for main locations shown on the map under the settings used in the gameplays so far, but these have also been confirmed as 'switchable' in settings.