Preview Oblivion preview at VGL

[WillyBubba]

Now even murders can be more interesting and change every time. By studying an NPC's routine you can ambush them in a secluded alley, instead of running into the crowded bar to kill them.

Just like... Morrowind.

No, not exactly like MW, as in MW NPCs simply stood there, doing nothing. From a dev diary it appears as though we can actually poison NPCs' food and drink. Call it a step up, step beyond, whatever you wish, what it means is even the simplest tasks can now have more variety than walking into the room you've been in 50 times before with 50 other characters and walking up to the same spot to find the same guy you've killed/robbed/whatever 50 times before and do it again, the same way.
I see it as something much more dynamic, at the very least it should take some repetition out of the game. MW quests were pretty much the same every time.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

No, not exactly like MW, as in MW NPCs simply stood there, doing nothing.

Some did, others didn't. Most notably, guards and some NPCs in cities definetely moved around.

what it means is even the simplest tasks can now have more variety

That was my point. The tasks you could do in Morrowind seem to be pretty much the same you will be able to do in Oblivion. NPC AI isn't going to give players more things to do, just more variety in how to do them.

 

[WillyBubba]

what it means is even the simplest tasks can now have more variety

That was my point. The tasks you could do in Morrowind seem to be pretty much the same you will be able to do in Oblivion. NPC AI isn't going to give players more things to do, just more variety in how to do them.

That's all I ever said it would give us, is some more variety.

Just wondering, what 'new' things are you looking for? More in depth skill systems, maybe some crafting or something?

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I am not looking out for any particular things in Morrowind. I just want to see how Bethesda advances in the series... I'm sure some new things - like the Radiant AI - will make it more interesting but for the most part I don't expect that many radical changes on the core gameplay.

I would like to see random dungeons however, but that's been ruled out some time ago.

 

[WillyBubba]

I am not looking out for any particular things in Morrowind. I just want to see how Bethesda advances in the series... I'm sure some new things - like the Radiant AI - will make it more interesting but for the most part I don't expect that many radical changes on the core gameplay.

I would like to see random dungeons however, but that's been ruled out some time ago.

Well sales have grown substantially due to MW, and really all that has happened as far as I see it is that the game world is more refined (by this I mean better graphics and less glitches). I don't think gameplay has changed much at all since Arena. Once again, it's more refined and some new things are added here and there, but to jump away from the core gameplay they have, like making it TB or taking away the freedom to "go anywhere and do anything" is a huge risk. I know if was in their shoes I would do the same thing they're doing, which is pretty much fixing the complaints of MW and trying to make what people liked better.

 

[Vykromond]

Maybe it is because I am 30, but I only once ever heard a guy that bought a game because of graphics.

I would say it is a bigger chance people buy it because there is a RPG drought.

I've heard of lots of people on various forums who wouldn't buy a game because of lackluster graphics.

But that's a bad answer, isn't it? Is Kris right?

 

[Spazmo]

They even showed persuasion in action at E3 (which is more involving to the player than simply choosing 3 options this time around). Another thing they've been saying a lot is that the plot lines are much more in depth. I'd call this very important.

Oh, come on. Taking five seconds in a presentation to go "Yeah... we'll have better dialogs and quests, but let's get back to PATRICK STEWART! REALISTIC SOIL EROSION! LOOK AT THIS MINOTAUR'S FURRY TESTICLES! HOLY CRAP GUYS!" is nothing. I'd like some actual concrete information.

However, I will admit that the minotaur's testicles were, indeed, magnificent.

 

[vazquez595654]

How exactly does one become a sell out when the whole point of their entire company was, and ever will be, to sell things?

If your game was a pc game and you suddenly switch to a console game simply because you can sell more, your a sell out. Whether you think that is right or wrong is up to you.

 

[Tintin]

If your game was a pc game and you suddenly switch to a console game simply because you can sell more, your a sell out. Whether you think that is right or wrong is up to you.

Why can't console owners enjoy a game that pc gamers want to play if they want to? Morrowind's sales already proved that xboxers like Morrowind, so why not develop Oblivion for them along with the pc? And what's wrong with spreading the game more widely, so more people can enjoy what you made?

 

[Data4]

If your game was a pc game and you suddenly switch to a console game simply because you can sell more, your a sell out. Whether you think that is right or wrong is up to you.

Why can't console owners enjoy a game that pc gamers want to play if they want to? Morrowind's sales already proved that xboxers like Morrowind, so why not develop Oblivion for them along with the pc? And what's wrong with spreading the game more widely, so more people can enjoy what you made?

From a moneymaking standpoint, there's nothing wrong with that at all. Hell, if I could sell garbage to the unwitting masses for muy bucks, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I think it's more the philosophical part of it. Consoles are like trailers. Not everyone who lives in one is trash, but most trash you run into happens to live in a trailer.

Or something. Me and my damned metaphors. Anyway, for some inexplicable reason, most console players are morons. Scroll through any forum on the net that's full of what most will agree are idiots (particularly Live Journal *shudder*), and I'll bet my left nut a majority of the males who post in them loves them some Tekken or Dragonball Z.

-D4

 

[Claw]

Why can't console owners enjoy a game that pc gamers want to play if they want to? Morrowind's sales already proved that xboxers like Morrowind, so why not develop Oblivion for them along with the pc?

Why change the game so people who liked the previous titles enjoy it less?

And what's wrong with spreading the game more widely, so more people can enjoy what you made?

I'd go with Kant's Categorical Imperativ. Imagine two options: One, everyone develops a product to appeal especially to a smaller protion of the customers, to maximize their enjoyment. Two, everyone develops their product to appeal to as many people as possible, although this means compromising the design.
In the first case, I see many different products that appeal to different groups of people with maximal effort to please these groups.
In the second case, I see many products which share many attributes which have proven popular and shun attributes which only appeal to minorities.

Do you need to ask which I find more favourable?

 

[Twinfalls]

..are like trailers. Not everyone who lives in one is trash, but most trash you run into happens to live in a trailer.

Congratulations, Data4 - you've just clinched the 'Fuckwit Suburban Kid of the Year' award.

 

[Zli]

Well sales have grown substantially due to MW, and really all that has happened as far as I see it is that the game world is more refined (by this I mean better graphics and less glitches). I don't think gameplay has changed much at all since Arena. Once again, it's more refined and some new things are added here and there, but to jump away from the core gameplay they have, like making it TB or taking away the freedom to "go anywhere and do anything" is a huge risk. I know if was in their shoes I would do the same thing they're doing, which is pretty much fixing the complaints of MW and trying to make what people liked better.

You can't compare the two. When Arena and Daggerfall were released, the market was much (MUCH) smaller - last week's Escapist has a nice graph describing that - and consoles of the time couldn't have possibly been able to run them, so the target audience was even smaller. Yes, MW was more complex when compared with other 'mainstream' rpgs, escpecially the ones on consoles. And I liked it, if only for the books and the setting and, yes, the immersion. But you can't deny that it was a simpler game than Daggerfall - prepackaged birthsigns replacing the wonderfull custom classes of DF come to mind.

Peope underestimate gamers, especially console gamers, but my guess is that if something with the complexity of DF was to be released now, even if a part of its character creation was just 'a screen full of text' as Mr Carter described it, it would sell just as well, if not better, than what we have now. And the devs know that, but can't do much about it since people are a bit spoiled with pretty graphics, and the tools that would make creating them easy aren't yet here.

But it's like a pendulum and right now it's swinging in the 'pretty pictures' direction. When the market becomes saturated with bump mapping and bloom, and adding them becomes a routine, devs will have more time for gameplay and it will swing back. Then some new graphic effect will come and the whole thing will repeat itself...

 

[Data4]

..are like trailers. Not everyone who lives in one is trash, but most trash you run into happens to live in a trailer.

Congratulations, Data4 - you've just clinched the 'Fuckwit Suburban Kid of the Year' award.

Heh... I'm probably older than you, and completely unphased by your paltry excuse for a flame. Carry on.

-D4

 

[Sol Invictus]

Why cater to the lowest common denominator?

Some people need to get a grip on reality. You have to live selfishly. You're the one enjoying the game - it's what you're paying for. Who gives a fuck if some console tard doesn't enjoy it?

 

[Data4]

Why cater to the lowest common denominator?

Some people need to get a grip on reality. You have to live selfishly. You're the one enjoying the game - it's what you're paying for. Who gives a fuck if some console tard doesn't enjoy it?

I think that's one of the biggest questions those of us who feel cheated have. The easy answer, though, is money. Cash from a console tard is just as spendable as our's.

-D4