Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[Renalt]

I get lost in open world games. The lack of focus makes me lose interest, so I wander off into the wilderness and just sorta forget what I was supposed to be doing. It's just not my style, I guess.

Getting lost for me is half the fun. In both Skyrim and Fallout 4...I don't think I've got past the opening main quests...yet I have 100s of hours cause I just wander around and do stuff.

Man I love punching a dude so hard he literally explodes.

[Theodric]

I love it when I have room to just...go off and do my own thing. It helps keep subsequent playthroughs fresh, especially if there's branching options for quests/different ways to approach them. Such a model also lets the world be an actual world rather than something that just exists as window dressing.

I'd attribute how on rails FFXIV is to precisely why I've kind of come to no longer care much for the story. There's so little actual exploration outside of when a new expansion goes live. It's a shame so few MMO's manage to capture the same 'magic' that I felt when first trying WoW all those years ago and running around Teldrassil as a Night Elf. The sheer size of the game world impressed me, especially since I could explore higher level zones as a low level character if I felt brave or stupid enough to try. Modern MMO's seem intent on locking everything behind strict barriers.

As much as I dislike the combat in TESO, I do appreciate that it allows me to just...explore the world at will and go where I see fit. I think there's a healthy balance that can be struck between different styles but many games go too far in one direction rather than meeting halfway.

[RyuDragnier]

I love it when I have room to just...go off and do my own thing. It helps keep subsequent playthroughs fresh, especially if there's branching options for quests/different ways to approach them. Such a model also lets the world be an actual world rather than something that just exists as window dressing.

I'd attribute how on rails FFXIV is to precisely why I've kind of come to no longer care much for the story. There's so little actual exploration outside of when a new expansion goes live. It's a shame so few MMO's manage to capture the same 'magic' that I felt when first trying WoW all those years ago and running around Teldrassil as a Night Elf. The sheer size of the game world impressed me, especially since I could explore higher level zones as a low level character if I felt brave or stupid enough to try. Modern MMO's seem intent on locking everything behind strict barriers.

As much as I dislike the combat in TESO, I do appreciate that it allows me to just...explore the world at will and go where I see fit. I think there's a healthy balance that can be struck between different styles but many games go too far in one direction rather than meeting halfway.

I'm also a fan of ESO's zones, because they DO have a limit to what you can do in them. You can practically checklist or "quarantine" parts of the zone map after having gone through them. Makes it much easier to find what you have and haven't done. Pure open world with no zones is...ugh, so draining. I say this knowing full well the irony of how I can play and fully explore all of Oblivion multiple times, yet cannot do the same thing with Skyrim, BotW, or any other open world games like them.

[Raoabolic]

I'm also a fan of ESO's zones, because they DO have a limit to what you can do in them. You can practically checklist or "quarantine" parts of the zone map after having gone through them. Makes it much easier to find what you have and haven't done. Pure open world with no zones is...ugh, so draining. I say this knowing full well the irony of how I can play and fully explore all of Oblivion multiple times, yet cannot do the same thing with Skyrim, BotW, or any other open world games like them.

Sadly, that is why I can't enjoy any modern GTA style game. The devs want to hold your hand for an hour before letting you play around the world and even then, some parts will be blocked off by more tutorials. Not to mention that new Saints Row game was the worst things I have played in a very long time. XIV was a breath of fresh air compared to SR, and that breaks my heart as a SR fan. Say what you will about 4 but Saints row 4 was the Crackdown 2 we should have gotten.

[SturmChurro]

I'm also a fan of ESO's zones, because they DO have a limit to what you can do in them. You can practically checklist or "quarantine" parts of the zone map after having gone through them. Makes it much easier to find what you have and haven't done. Pure open world with no zones is...ugh, so draining. I say this knowing full well the irony of how I can play and fully explore all of Oblivion multiple times, yet cannot do the same thing with Skyrim, BotW, or any other open world games like them.

I like both forms of Open World content. Although, I think something more open is a bit more immersive, and I like it for open-ended exploration. Allowing for you to go in a completely different direction and having a different start than previous characters. There needs to be things to discover and do, however. This sort of world benefits best from good world building, and environmental storytelling, which is what makes something like Fallout 4's world itself fairly interesting to explore. It is nice in future playthroughs to discover something new, although I understand full well how it can be annoying if you are a completionist.

[Renalt]

I love it when I have room to just...go off and do my own thing. It helps keep subsequent playthroughs fresh, especially if there's branching options for quests/different ways to approach them. Such a model also lets the world be an actual world rather than something that just exists as window dressing.

I'd attribute how on rails FFXIV is to precisely why I've kind of come to no longer care much for the story. There's so little actual exploration outside of when a new expansion goes live. It's a shame so few MMO's manage to capture the same 'magic' that I felt when first trying WoW all those years ago and running around Teldrassil as a Night Elf. The sheer size of the game world impressed me, especially since I could explore higher level zones as a low level character if I felt brave or stupid enough to try. Modern MMO's seem intent on locking everything behind strict barriers.

As much as I dislike the combat in TESO, I do appreciate that it allows me to just...explore the world at will and go where I see fit. I think there's a healthy balance that can be struck between different styles but many games go too far in one direction rather than meeting halfway.

I think what helped WoW feel massive was even with fast travel...you are going to sit there and see how big everything is. In FFXIV you just....exist in one location and later on the next. Plus seeing every single quest marker on the map kills exploration because you know that it's just a dead zone.

The only exploring you really do is for sight seeing spots and I think quests are usually close to those anyway.

[Vyrerus]

I liked how FFXI handled its world. Maps that showed the relative path, but weren't always helpful. Zones intertwined with each other in several different places. No zone line markers, so you would change zones suddenly without knowing it the first time through an area.

There was a lot emphasis put on knowing the paths through an area. Area traversal was as much a part of the experience as combat.

Of course, nowadays, they made it hella convenient. There's teleport points everywhere available for a tiny fee. You still have to make the rough traversals the first time, but some of them get circumvented by the Unity warps that require no teleport point acquisition.

Which nowadays since I'm always choked for time, I don't mind it, but I do HATE how it has completely sidelined the cooler traversal methods like Airships and Ferries. Things that used to require a short wait for ultimately a safer/speedier/automatic trip somewhere vs. walking or riding a chocobo.

It even mostly sidelines the new Mount system they added... which has somewhat sidelined chocobos, both rentals and bred ones.

It's still a very fun world to get lost in though, even all that considered.

[RyuDragnier]

I liked how FFXI handled its world. Maps that showed the relative path, but weren't always helpful. Zones intertwined with each other in several different places. No zone line markers, so you would change zones suddenly without knowing it the first time through an area.

There was a lot emphasis put on knowing the paths through an area. Area traversal was as much a part of the experience as combat.

Of course, nowadays, they made it hella convenient. There's teleport points everywhere available for a tiny fee. You still have to make the rough traversals the first time, but some of them get circumvented by the Unity warps that require no teleport point acquisition.

Which nowadays since I'm always choked for time, I don't mind it, but I do HATE how it has completely sidelined the cooler traversal methods like Airships and Ferries. Things that used to require a short wait for ultimately a safer/speedier/automatic trip somewhere vs. walking or riding a chocobo.

It even mostly sidelines the new Mount system they added... which has somewhat sidelined chocobos, both rentals and bred ones.

It's still a very fun world to get lost in though, even all that considered.

I only use that system when it's to get to a VERY annoying place (the lighthouse at nighttime...so many undead T_T). Otherwise I take the ferries, airships, and chocobos. Just feels more like the original authentic experience.

[Cincierta]

Earlier today I decided that, after getting my new crown shaved down so I could actually not literally eat my tongue and cheek, I would have one of the Klondie ice cream sandwiches my mother had bought some time ago. The flavor listed was Cookies and Cream.

The second I bit into it, I realized that was a terrible lie. It had such a thin, sad ring of said ice cream on the outside and a huge wad of vanilla ice cream in the center. It was like taking a bite of a chocolate chip cookie only to realize that's a raisin wheat cookie that looks like a normal chocolate chip cookie.

I feel so, so violated.

[Padudu]

Wow, mods had me on LOCK when I said I hadn't been banned yet. I am free from baby jail!