Hi people, I am new here, my name is Ronald and I would like to join in if I can in the TES VI brainstorming session. Please allow me to share with you my ideas on what makes an RPG truly enjoyable and even unforgettable (Baldur's Gate!) In my humble opinion, what is needed first and foremost, is immersion. Sounds straightforward and easy enough right? Sadly, we (and by we I do mean designers and players alike) seem to have lost the very meaning of immersion. Simple example: When I am walking through the beautifull Skyrim world, let's say, from RIften to Markath (nothing better to do...) I can not help but think: am i in the game now? Or (sorry here comes the painful part) ... am I just guiding my avatar through a 3D wallpaper that serves as a 3D MENU SCREEN for the next in-game mini action sequence (referred to as quest but that is not what a quest is)? By this I mean: manouvering your avatar through the game world feels just as non-eventfull as looking at your inventory, or at your loading screen. Why is that? That is because for all the magnificence in graphic design and artwork, the [ gameplay ] consists for 99% of looking at things, instead of experiencing things, (well, your avatar I mean). Right from the start, every area on the map is accessible (design mistake nr. 1). That is called freedom. But if I can see everything right from the beginning, without having to do something for that, it takes away all the anticipation, surprise, and build up. The sad truth of Fast Travel seems to be that walking through the beautifull world of Skyrim is actually not that different from looking at your main menu screen. Even worse: the Skyrim world IS the menu, from which you embark on a series of completely inconsequential activities. If this sounds harsh, it's because I think Skyrim is beautifull. But that is just the physical game world. It's a beautifull background, but without content that is truly immersive, it's just a painting. Now let's talk about immersion for a minute. In his review of Fargo, Roger Ebert (movie critic) writes: Fargo is why I love movies. What he meant was that the movie, with all his strange characters and unrealistic events, is truly immersive. You get drawn into it. You identify with the people in the story, as crazy and unpredictable they may be, they feel totally familiar and real. Now, bare with me, on the other end of the spectrum we have Skyrim. Yes I also have the Dynamic Snow mod installed, and genetically improved fish etc., and yes I tried Frostfall and a truck load of other great mods. But that does nothing for immersion. It's mostly a mix of photo realism and simulation. If want to look at a perfect sun or realistic water surface all I have to do is look out the window. Gameplay immersion, the feeling of being there with your character, caring about your character, planning your next move or thinking of an effective strategy to solve something, has nothing to do with looking at your character chopping wood. Aha!, I hear you say, but that's why we have Quests ! Fair enough, but there lies the biggest problem: both the Vanilla quests (yes even the main story line) and even the best mods out there are not logically connected to either the physical gameworld (which is close to perfect really) OR the in game progression of the player character. They are mini games, beautifully crafted, marvelous, but for all their ingenuity and beauty, they can not escape the sandbox that is Skyrim. It is an empty shell. An empty canvas. Let me explain by comparing these 3 realities: 1 Real life: -> You are the actor, you are it. You decide, you interpret, you choose and you feel 2 Movie: -> you watch someone else act, decide, choose and feel, and you identify with him/her and FEEL for him/her the story is written for you, so you can not choose, but you can feel and experience through the actor's eyes 3 RPG: -> well, ideally you would like to see a combination of 1 and 2. So, there is a story, a plot, a mystery, perhaps several, and it is up to you to go out there and explore, solve, rescue etc. This however, is not found in any of the quests in the Vanilla game. Nor is it found in any of the quest mods. Not that they are bad. They are just not RPG. Remember Baldur's Gate? Remember how suddenly Imoen was abducted? And then it was your (team's) mission to find her back. And that became your main quest throughout the whole game, and everything you did in between was part of fulfilling that grand task. The voice acting, story telling, humor from that game, the intricate dialogues, I haven't seen that yet in any of the NPC mods, including Vilja, Arissa etc.) Why is that? The game design technology is there. The need for an immersive RPG is there. The talent is out there as well. PC's are stronger than ever. And yet there is still no mystery, no exciting character progression TIED to the gradual discovery of a game world. We must be able to rise above this "o I'm so grateful for getting that golden claw back to me" level. I have some great ideas. But first I wwill see if anyone has similar views.
