Gamespy delves into Oblivion
Gamespy delves into Oblivion
Development Info - posted by Whipporowill on Fri 22 October 2004, 19:18:11
Tags: Bethesda Softworks; The Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionNo, Gamespy isn't exactly shutting down - it's just the first online media to cover Bethesda's upcoming The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. While the write-up in part sounds like a straight PR job, it goes into a few interesting things as "Radiant AI" - inspired by Ultima VII and The Sims. This piece in particular had me a bit astounded though:
The problem was, Morrowind was so huge and free flowing that it turned off as many gamers as it turned on. Many of the people who started playing Morrowind stopped playing because they didn't have a specific direction or they simply got bored. Howard and the Oblivion team acknowledged the problems inherent in their previous games and are working to fix them in the new game. "That's what we want to address," Howard said. "Never let the player be bored, always be entertaining. We want to 'show you the fun,' and always be pointing you to something fun in the game, even if you don't know it's there." One of the major ways that they're doing that is by completely reworking the game's navigation and orienteering tools.Gee, I wonder if Bethesda actually understood what people meant by Morrowind suffering from "lack of direction"? Somehow I don't think most people were talking about a faulty compass. Also, being pointed to that hidden grotto instead of stumbling upon it yourself takes away half the fun...
The problem was, Morrowind was so huge and free flowing that it turned off as many gamers as it turned on. Many of the people who started playing Morrowind stopped playing because they didn't have a specific direction or they simply got bored. Howard and the Oblivion team acknowledged the problems inherent in their previous games and are working to fix them in the new game. "That's what we want to address," Howard said. "Never let the player be bored, always be entertaining. We want to 'show you the fun,' and always be pointing you to something fun in the game, even if you don't know it's there." One of the major ways that they're doing that is by completely reworking the game's navigation and orienteering tools.
