Morrowind raised the bar for an Open World RPG.
Skyrim & Oblivion did nothing but dumb it the fuck down. That being said, Morrowind was also dumbed down compared to Daggerfall, but it was less 'dumbing down' & more 'Streamlining where it really needed'. Skyrim & Oblivion also streamlined stuff (See: Dumbed down), however it was aspects that didn't need it just to make the game easier, more accessible & even further widen the audience, hence making more money. It wins GOTY awards because it is considered incredible by morons who have the Video Game experience of a Two year old.
RDR is decent. However you end up realizing how repetitive alot of the side-content is once you finish the game & that is all you have to do. Then the glass shatters & you also realize that in-fact alot of the Main Missions are repetitive too, you just get so caught up in the cool Western Theme it makes you forget about it, which is GOOD, however it doesn't serve well for a second playthrough. I LOVE just riding around in RDR (If TW3 literally copies its riding mechanics I'll be ecstatic), the atmosphere is incredible, but honestly the game is extremely repetitive.
Also I'll take this as an opportunity to state that there's a HUGE difference between BAD Linear & GOOD Linear. COD, Battlefield, Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us etc. These are examples of BAD Linear. Witcher Games, Jedi Knight 2 Jedi Outcast, KOTOR, Batman Arkham Asylum, Deus Ex & HR etc. These are examples of GOOD Linear. Sure the game ultimately forces you into certain Acts & you have to achieve a certain linear set of goals to complete a mission, but there's actual freedom & how you go about those goals, the path you take & sometimes even what order, is completely up to you.
Ugh, I could rant for hours, at the end of the day I guess opinions are opinions. Maybe I'm just old fashioned?
Skyrim & Oblivion did nothing but dumb it the fuck down. That being said, Morrowind was also dumbed down compared to Daggerfall, but it was less 'dumbing down' & more 'Streamlining where it really needed'. Skyrim & Oblivion also streamlined stuff (See: Dumbed down), however it was aspects that didn't need it just to make the game easier, more accessible & even further widen the audience, hence making more money. It wins GOTY awards because it is considered incredible by morons who have the Video Game experience of a Two year old.
RDR is decent. However you end up realizing how repetitive alot of the side-content is once you finish the game & that is all you have to do. Then the glass shatters & you also realize that in-fact alot of the Main Missions are repetitive too, you just get so caught up in the cool Western Theme it makes you forget about it, which is GOOD, however it doesn't serve well for a second playthrough. I LOVE just riding around in RDR (If TW3 literally copies its riding mechanics I'll be ecstatic), the atmosphere is incredible, but honestly the game is extremely repetitive.
Also I'll take this as an opportunity to state that there's a HUGE difference between BAD Linear & GOOD Linear. COD, Battlefield, Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us etc. These are examples of BAD Linear. Witcher Games, Jedi Knight 2 Jedi Outcast, KOTOR, Batman Arkham Asylum, Deus Ex & HR etc. These are examples of GOOD Linear. Sure the game ultimately forces you into certain Acts & you have to achieve a certain linear set of goals to complete a mission, but there's actual freedom & how you go about those goals, the path you take & sometimes even what order, is completely up to you.
Ugh, I could rant for hours, at the end of the day I guess opinions are opinions. Maybe I'm just old fashioned?
I agree with everything you said except for the morons who have the gaming experience of a 2 year old. That was rather unfair, don't you think?Daverid said:
This dude gets it.Aaden said:
I'm just going quote him because I'm too lazy to write something original.
I just got the Witcher 1 and 2 last night and I have been extremely impressed! In my opinion it is one of the best rpgs in existence. However I disagree with the fan boys who think that every other game is stupid. I've played all of The Elder Scrolls games except Oblivion and I think they all have their place. I see Skyrim as a very fun but casual RPG. If I want a quick TES experience, that's the game I play. The npcs are shallow and world interaction is fairly boring, however the combat was greatly improved over previous Elder Scrolls games. I hate in Morrowind how I can stand at point blank range repeatedly stabbing and missing at opponents. I see nothing wrong with linear or non linear gameplay. Batman Arkham City is one of my favorite games, and the plot is totally linear. The only problem I see with the non linear gameplay of TES is how nothing feels urgent or important. It doesn't feel part of a coherent story.
My hope (and I'm sure it will turn out) is that TW3 will have just the right amount of open gameplay while still being a coherent story. Being coherent doesn't require linearness or not.
Back to horses. If you really want to see terrible horses in a game look at Daggerfall. It plays the same horribly annoying animation and sound over, and over, and over, and over. And you can pickpocket people while riding past on horseback (though admittedly that's pretty cool) XD
My hope (and I'm sure it will turn out) is that TW3 will have just the right amount of open gameplay while still being a coherent story. Being coherent doesn't require linearness or not.
Back to horses. If you really want to see terrible horses in a game look at Daggerfall. It plays the same horribly annoying animation and sound over, and over, and over, and over. And you can pickpocket people while riding past on horseback (though admittedly that's pretty cool) XD
Nope. I just don't understand how anyone can actually consider Skyrim a good game if you've played one/some/all of the above: Gothic 2, Morrowind, Daggerfall, GTA:SA, Mount & Blade ... I'm sure I'm forgetting a few there, but there's just a few examples. To me it just screams someone who started getting into Video Games in like the last few years & thinks those games are bad because they are "Clunky" or "Look old".Dogit said:
To me at least, it's similar to someone saying that the Prequel Trilogy of Star Wars is better because it has better visuals, it's bigger & "MORE EPIC".
But again, I'm just spewing my opinion/s & really it probably is just me being old fashioned. I shouldn't expect everyone to have gone back & played all those games, there's people out there who find enjoyment in stuff like Sykrim & more power to them. I just become a grumpy old man when people who, most likely, started playing Video Games in like 2007 try & state that Skyrim/Oblivion/FO3/GTAV/RDR are the absolute pinnacle of Open World games & have REDEFINED the Genre & RAISED the bar, when they really have done neither.
Believe me when I tell you that I have been video gaming since the first Nintendo came out and in my opinion I consider Skyrim, RDR, Oblivion, GTA, and others to be well worth buying and the use of my time. These games have many things I enjoy. I never got into the old classic RPG types because they were ugly, top down view - (Which doesn't appeal to me at all.), and I could never get into enjoying a story by simply reading walls of text that take you away from the gameplay experience. At least now, it's much faster to get through all of that dialogue. Each game attracts the attention from different gamers for different reasons. Just because those reasons don't match yours, doesn't give you the right to assume that they're morons or are like 2 year olds. That's a supremacist condescending attitude to have. There's no place for elitists anymore.Daverid said:
Uhemm....Yes, sorry for getting wildly off topic. And thanks Tommy! I really like getting into debate, but sometimes lose myself in the process.
Speaking of topic. I sincerely hope that they will have horses of varying types that have different attributes about them. I'm excited for this.
Again, as I stated in both posts, it is merely my opinion. I just really, really dislike this whole notion surrounding games like RDR/GTAV/Skyrim that Gaming Media has planted in people's heads that they have "Redefined & Raised the Bar" in Open World games. If by Redefining games they mean making them completely casual & by raising the bar they mean in terms of sales, then sure, I guess they have.Dogit said:
Edit: We did get extremely off-topic, so I won't speak any further on the matter, just thought "hey why not keep the discussion going", to see if anything interesting came out of it. As I said in one of my earlier posts, Horde Riding in RDR was God Tier, I would be overjoyed if TW3 has similar mechanics.
I'm sure there will be horses that visually appear different, but I haven't seen anywhere in interviews about Horses having stats/attributes. I don't really think they'll incorporate any stat/attribute system with Horses. At best maybe a companion system where the longer you keep the same Horse it goes a bit faster or something.Dogit said:
Let's stay on topic, please. Wouldn't want this thread to get locked. Let's get back to mounting! 
http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?/topic/37340-new-info/page__p__1079897#entry1079897Daverid said:
"Yes, horse have characteristics which you can increase, and train your horse while your journey. You can saddle wild horse with axii, but she runs away after you get down. Geralt will talk with Roach, just like in "52 and half" trailer."
Oh sweet! *Thumbs up to that* Thank you for posting! Sounds promising, that's for certain.ReptilePZ said:
Heh, that's exactly how I'd describe it. Bethesda takes the crown for crappy animations. I love their games, but this is the one thing they never improve on.FracturedEarth said:
Actually, Ciri had a magic horse Kelpie she inherited from a merchant guild dude, Hotsporn, whom she met while being with Rats.AgentBlue said:
So if Geralt acquires something like Kelpie, I wouldn't mind.
I'd really like to see a more realistic approach, where Geralt owns a horse with a name which he has had from Witcher one. In this case the horse can always follow you but keep it's distance, and when you whistle it comes running since it knows Geralt and he has trained the horse.
If this is implemented there can also be kind of an emotional bond between Geralt and the horse and even missions built around it, for example someone steals the horse and Geralt has to find it or ...
If this is implemented there can also be kind of an emotional bond between Geralt and the horse and even missions built around it, for example someone steals the horse and Geralt has to find it or ...