Escapist Podcast: 025: Are Modern RPGs Ruining the Genre?

[Fifty-One]

I enjoy the fact that fast travel is an option in RPG's. Using Skyrim as an example, if I had to run halfway to a specific dungeon and then have to run back to town because a dragon spawned and I now have to dump off 75 lbs of dragon bone and scales, it would get old very quick. Sure, you lose some of the immersion, but you don't have to use it if you don't want to.

On the other hand, I definitely think that quest markers pointing directly to the object you need to loot is a little ridiculous. Then again, trying to find said item after I've just Fus-Ro-Dah'ed the crap out of the room would be an absolute nightmare. In the end, it's always going to depend on the individual player.

Side Note: Fus-Ro-Dah'ing bandits off mountains or companions out of doorways doesn't get old. Ever.

 

[UNHchabo]

On the note of not wanting to run over pedestrians in GTA:

I actually find that some of the most entertaining aspects about the way people play games is when someone chooses not to play like that. Yahtzee talked in one of his columns about role-playing a Sunday driver in GTA who stops at the red lights, doesn't speed, and gets offended when pedestrians assume they're going to get run over, and leap out of the way.

When I played through San Andreas, I roleplayed using the in-game radio; when CJ was in Las Venturas, San Fierro, or the countryside, he would listen to The Dust, because he's a big fan of Tom Petty. However, when he was in the gang-controlled areas of Los Santos, he would listen to Radio Los Santos, to make sure none of the gangs (including his own) would think he'd gone soft.

Also on the subject of Yahtzee's columns, I'd like to post this excerpt from Extra Consideration [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extraconsideration/8780-Morality-Matters]:

For some reason what springs to mind is an incident while playing Half-Life: Opposing Force. I'd enlisted one of the fat comic relief security guards to tag along, and after I reached a point he couldn't follow, I idly decided to shoot him. Whereupon he said "Hey! I thought we were becoming friends..." in an incredibly hurt voice, and I felt so bad I had to reload my last save. Meanwhile, when asked to choose between sacrificing my girlfriend or a bunch of innocent civilians at the start of Fable 3, I condemned the snooty cow with a dismissive "Hurry up and get to the monster killing part, game."

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

One of the things they missed (or didn't say explicitly enough) in their discussion about traveling around Skyrim is the role of geography in establishing immersion through lore.

In Morrowind, you had to really invest yourself in the geography of the island of Vvardenfell, just as the NPCs (i.e. people who lived in the world) have to. Having to find a location based on geographical descriptions means the player has to pay attention to their surrounding actively, and you have to care about what the NPCs who describe the location to you care about. That's a well-hidden, meaningful way to create immersion.

It could have been so simple in Skyrim. For example, "You need to go to visit the Greybeards who live at the top of the highest mountain in the province."

Do you really need a map marker to find the highest peak in the world? Nope. Look around, and you'll see it.

 

[Bostur]

One of the things they missed (or didn't say explicitly enough) in their discussion about traveling around Skyrim is the role of geography in establishing immersion through lore.

In Morrowind, you had to really invest yourself in the geography of the island of Vvardenfell, just as the NPCs (i.e. people who lived in the world) have to. Having to find a location based on geographical descriptions means the player has to pay attention to their surrounding actively, and you have to care about what the NPCs who describe the location to you care about. That's a well-hidden, meaningful way to create immersion.

It could have been so simple in Skyrim. For example, "You need to go to visit the Greybeards who live at the top of the highest mountain in the province."

Do you really need a map marker to find the highest peak in the world? Nope. Look around, and you'll see it.

True, thats an effective way to get into the world.

Another example is the first releases of GTA. Before GPS was added players needed to be familiar with the layout of the cities to be able to navigate them effectively. This is great for sandboxes because it creates several purposes for exploration.

Lack of fast travel can also add some linear structure to an otherwise open-ended game. When travel options are limited players are encouraged to explore immediate surroundings first. Game designers can use this effect to create some chronology in the story without forcing it.