311 réponses à ce sujet

[KaiLyn]

I would love a bit more "roam the countryside" feel in the game; I personally find it odd in DA:O that I go from the Redcliffe to the Circle Tower (or any other point-to-point transit) and have just one combat encounter. I mean the territory is fighting off darkspawn, bandits and a fight for the crown - shouldn't more be happening in between?

[Dragoonlordz]

Wulfram wrote...

Eh, no thanks. I quite like walking through the countryside in real life, but not so much in computer games

Betting you would not be so quick to say that if ingame world looked like this.

Modifié par Dragoonlordz, 02 juin 2012 - 04:30 .

[Brockololly]

Allan Schumacher wrote...
So, say a plot involves traveling to Val Royeaux from Kirkwall.  I'm definitely getting the impression that just "warping" from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux kind of makes some people go <_<.

So if you wanted exploration, here's a couple of thoughts and I'm curious which one is preferrable.  Assume that every exploration area could have gating encounters that require you to be of a certain power level to achieve.

• Allow the player to explore around Kirkwall and Val Royeaux (assuming the plot were to spend enough time around there).  That is, create exploration content around the main plot points.  This will result in the areas around those plot points being more fleshed out, but you may lose the sense of scale about the travel.
• The route from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux consists one large map that goes along the Imperial Highway.  Exploration off this highway exists (either the map is very large, and/or there are smaller maps for caves, or maybe smaller settlements to enter).  Basically this is a big "playground" and if you stick to the road, you'll get to Val Royeaux fairly quickly.  This would provide improved sense of scale for the distance traveled, but would result in the areas around the two cities to be minimal.  It does overlook some aspects of the region between Kirkwall and Val Royeaux.
• The route consists of two decently sized maps, one containing the Imperial Highway, one about traveling through the Planasene Forest.  The map isn't quite as grandiose, but you will get some variation on what you're exploring. Sense of scale of travel is maximal, as we travel through different types of areas to accent this, but ultimately it'd take longer to travel from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux and the areas around the two cities continues to be minimal.

I didn't mind DA:O's Indiana Jones style map that much. What I didn't like in DA2 was mostly the style of the overworld maps being so visually abstracted to the point they didn't look like a practical map. And as such, it was more difficult to get a feel for where things were geographically, which wasn't a problem with the map in DA:O.

Ideally, I love open world game. So Skyrim exploration is absolutely wonderful. I've wasted tons of hours just riding my horse with companions in tow  in Skyrim, just going around, exploring and still after 100+ hours finding cool little things.

Thats likely not in the cards for DA, but I think exploration could be more rewarding and provide a greater sense of scale.

Maybe sort of like the second or third options you mentioned. So kind of like Baldur's Gate 1 style exploration mixed with BG2. So initially you have to basically get to the edge of the map to advance, and depending on what edge of the map you're on, it will take you to a different area. Or maybe when you're at the edge of a map, you see a road marker and can choose what direction to go from there: north, south, east or west, each of which takes you to a different area.

So using your example of going from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux, you've got Kirkwall and when you reach the border of the city, you can choose to go to one of 4 different areas. Maybe south takes you straight to Val Royeux via boat (but costs some huge amount of money) north takes you to the Vimmark mountains, east is blocked for some story reason, and west takes you through the Planasene Forest. The Vimmark mountain area would be connected to the Planasene forest and the Planasene forest area could then be broken up again so that when you get to the edge it again gives you some options: east back to the outskirts of Kirkwall, north to the mountains, south to hire a boat to go straight to Val Royeaux or west again which might take you to Cumberland.

I guess I'm basically thinking of dividing up the Thedas map into a Civ style grid or hex map in terms of how the player would control where they went. I dunno.

The bigger thing to me is providing each location a greater sense of place, which helps communicate scale better too. Like in Skyrim, I can know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so that adds to the sense of time and place. You have the dynamic day/night and weather. If I'm up by Winterhold and look north, I'll see the College and the sea. If I look west, I'll probably see the Shrine of Azura. Being able to see landmarks like that in the distance is a huge boost to providing a sense of place and scale.

So even for something like DA, if I'm in the Planasene forest and get to the south edge of the map, maybe I see and hear the Waking Sea. Or if I'm on the west edge, I can see some of the buildings of Cumberland far off in the distance. And they'd be just distinguishable enough that when I actually enter Cumberland I can go "Hey! Thats the same building I saw from the edge of the Palasene forest! Just more of that kind of directional sense of place can do wonders, making certain scenes feel bigger than they actually are in terms of scale. And having those distant landmarks makes things feel more connected  without having it all actually be open world.

And it would also be nice for more convoluted outdoor maps....Meaning, look at something like the forest outside of Flotsam in the Witcher 2. Its got some paths, but otherwise it looks and feels like a forest, even if it actually has distinct paths and areas blocked off.

The closest any DA environment has had to a more open, natural feel was probably the Wending Wood in Awakening. It was a pretty big area that wasn't divided into tons of load screens and didn't feel totally linear. And it had some nice elevation changes and an actual sense of scale when you went to the top of that hill in the middle of it, in part because you could look out and see areas from there that were accessible; which taps into that same feel you get in a sandbox game.

[wsandista]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

 Why is it okay to do something like NWN, which effectively warped the player to another point just without needing the player to go to a world map?

Well in NWN, some time passed when you traveled to a different location between acts. Anyways, if DA3 is segmented into acts(like NWN) each act can have a map that the player can explore without having to go to a world map.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would prefer If the PC traveled to one city(or town, camp, etc.) and stayed there for the duration of the act.

[nightscrawl]

BobSmith101 wrote...

Not sure how I'd feel about trudging through combat encounters. If it's a bleak featureless sort of place it could get quite tedious.

For DA I could get behind a Guild Wars type of travel. The first time you travel to an area in that game it must be on foot, either through the various connecting maps or as part of a Mission. One you have done that you can then use the map for quick travel by clicking on the icons any time you wish. It really makes the world feel large and the environments significant without losing the convenience of instant travel, or having travel to a certain area become tedious because you have to run through the forest every time.

I felt that the Korcari Wilds was one of the best maps in all of DAO simply because you were not forced onto a certain path and there were a lot of nooks and crannies available to find.

Unfortunately, I don't really like the OP's idea very much. Having to prepare extensively for a journey like that reminds me too much of Act 1 DA2, which I'd rather not do again for a while. And also, unless I have a merchant minion, I'll want some NPC around because I feel compelled to loot everything and my bags will fill quickly.

ajbry wrote...

What I'd ideally like to see is a quest that is based on you and your party trekking through the world itself, with the purpose of reaching the next urban hub. In that format, you'd be able to enclose a number of the environments and retain the survival element and the feeling that nature is inescapable.

Maybe the best way I can put it: You've completed the first stage of the game and to move the story forward, you must get to Orlais. So, the journey itself becomes a quest. Think of the Deep Roads and the various sections within it -- it'd be the same concept. You first enter a forest, then a more open area perhaps with a highway, and then the last location is on the shores. Or, of course, any variation of that. Not open-world, but simply the need to grapple with the world and its landscape.

OK, I get it now. I do like the idea of basically an open air dungeon. Instead of it being The Deep Roads, it's through a forest or something. I think that would be fun, and a nice change of pace from "all dungeons are inside or under ground, claustrophobic, and gloomy."

wsandista wrote...

Dakota Strider wrote...

NwN also was good for outdoor exploration, having maps linked to each other in each region.&nbsp; It allowed you to use ranger abilities such as tracking, flora and fauna lore and allowed for a wider variety of critters to encounter in a more natural setting.

I beleve NWN should be the base for exploration in DA3. Give us a set area to explore for each act, make sure that it&nbsp; has caves, ruins, or similar areas that are not marked.

Or NWN:SoZ with an exaggerated world map would be nice. Not as preferable as NWN exploration, but random enemy encounters would be more numerous.

Please just stop the "travel-by-map". I wasn't fond of it in either DA game. Avoid a TES-style open world as well, I like TES games, but I don't want DA3 to try to be Skyrim.

Agree 100% with both of these.

Allan Schumacher wrote...

I was just trying to be as fair as possible with the costs.&nbsp; I mean, if something has 400 hours of exploration around it, I think there's diminishing returns so taking 100 hours away from there and adding 100 hours of content in a new area probably results in more value added.

I realize that you are inflating the numbers for example purposes here. That said, I'd rather not have the travel from, say, Kirkwall to Orlais (if that's in the plan...) to consume too large a portion of the game time. At least not without there being some significant reason for it (ie you see what the mage/templar war has done to the average folk, it gives the player a sense of the political and economic differences between the two regions, etc).

Modifié par nightscrawl, 02 juin 2012 - 07:19 .

[AkiKishi]

nightscrawl wrote...

BobSmith101 wrote...

Not sure how I'd feel about trudging through combat encounters. If it's a bleak featureless sort of place it could get quite tedious.

For DA I could get behind a Guild Wars type of travel. The first time you travel to an area in that game it must be on foot, either through the various connecting maps or as part of a Mission. One you have done that you can then use the map for quick travel by clicking on the icons any time you wish. It really makes the world feel large and the environments significant without losing the convenience of instant travel, or having travel to a certain area become tedious because you have to run through the forest every time.

I felt that the Korcari Wilds was one of the best maps in all of DAO simply because you were not forced onto a certain path and there were a lot of nooks and crannies available to find.

Unfortunately, I don't really like the OP's idea very much. Having to prepare extensively for a journey like that reminds me too much of Act 1 DA2, which I'd rather not do again for a while. And also, unless I have a merchant minion, I'll want some NPC around because I feel compelled to loot everything and my bags will fill quickly.

http://t1.gstatic.co...8d61_Quc3K8olbp

Typical map from White Knight Chronicles. While it's very large and allows exploration, if you simply want to walk to point B you can do it.
There does come a point where you can't protect players from their own bad habbits (like needing to kill everything and loot everything and then complaining that the game is boring).

Even if you do go for the direct A-B route later side quests will get you out into the map area.

with the characters in it gives a better sense of scale.

http://t1.gstatic.co...zA3h_43NKB7iKRg

http://t2.gstatic.co..._FSI-Bj10VhckGg

Modifié par BobSmith101, 02 juin 2012 - 08:42 .

[mp911]

ajbry wrote...

Despite being hopeful for (any) news at E3, it appears that there's still some room for brainstorming. Given that DA3 is likely to span across many territories in Thedas, some lengthy outdoor exploration would be appropriate and fun. Picture this: you need to traverse a mass expanse of land and there's no cutscene or implied loading screen that accomplishes it. I would love for it to resemble the role of the Deep Roads in Origins -- a long, arduous journey that forces you to stockpile supplies beforehand and bring along your strongest party.

You could pass through a forest (doesn't have to be exceptionally large, like Brecilian Forest) and end up in a more open area (such as the desert in Legacy). You may find a highway of sorts, navigate through some hills, walk along the shores of a sea, stumble through a treacherous marsh, and so forth. Basically, the terrain can be constituted in any number of ways.

Some of my favorite moments in games have been the result of feeling stranded, or knowing that you've got to trudge along and reach civilization for your mission to continue. There are plenty of interesting outdoor environments in the DA universe, and the dearth of these trips in DA2 was disappointing.

would be nice, that long journey would be a story in itself, lots of cutting scene between characters :getting tired, discouraged, struggling to survive by fishing, hunting, relying on alchimie for potion  (no shop on the road).....

did any of you played breath of fire 4? there was a part in the story where the characters got lost and found themselves on a near death situation this lead to great interaction betwenn them

a hudge sea travel would be great as well, even if most of the action would be set on the boat and would eventually sink leading you to find your way to the next city

once that part of the story is done you don't need to make it throught all over again, just warp on the map screen

[Wulfram]

Exploration is a blight on CRPGs and should be minimised as much as possible.

[MichaelStuart]

BobSmith101 wrote...

MichaelStuart wrote...

I would prefer having to walk everywhere. Makes the game more interesting.

You mean walk as opposed to run or walk as opposed to quick travel ? 

I think it really depends on the design of the game. While you could walk from one end of the world to the other in Final FantasyXII,Xenoblade and WKC to actually do so without ever using quick travel would be VERY time consuming indeed. You would also level out far too quickly and break the curve simply by hacking your way through the stuff along your path.

Sorry, I meant walk as opposed to fast travel.
I would like it done the way Assassin's Creed did it. To get to a city you have to travel along a large area thats mostly just scenery and few enemies.
I find picking a area on a map to be boring , but I understand that some people would find traveling boring so there should be a fast travel option.
As for Leveling up to quickly, this is solved by having few enemies and just having the travel area be about exploration. (I think there is too much combat in Dragon Age)   

[robertthebard]

TrooperOnasi wrote...

ajbry wrote...

Understood -- seems very reasonable. In that case, compromise would be great. Keep some exploration in the cities and their outskirts, and create some exploration in the spaces you traverse between those cities. It would be unbalanced to wind up in a city that has very little going on after enduring an adventure just to get there, lol.

Yeah, I believe this compromise is the best we could possibly hope for.
But to be honest I wouldn't mind Allan's first response of "magically appearing" at the Brecillian Forest but then having the smaller areas to explore around it.

The Brecillian Forest is already done in that manner.  Once you have unlocked each of the areas by moving to an area transition close to it, you can travel there from anywhere, just as you could in Baldur's Gate.  But you had to have been there, or at least hit the transition point first.  Meaning you could hit the transition, but then go back to the Dalish camp, but then were free to travel to the next map from anywhere.  If it's going to come down to you have to walk each map between point A to point B regardless of whether you've been there or not, no thanks.  I don't want to dedicate that much time to simply traveling.  If I want to spend a few hours traveling, I'll go to Kansas City.

[Reznore57]

I haven't played many games so i don't have really good examples or anything.
I once tried Morrowind , I got lost so many times in the middle of nowhere with nothing interesting in sign that i gave up.
The only fond memory of exploration I have is WOW , it was when it started and i thought i might found treasure explaining the lore .( or really epic weapon super well hidden and i could brag for years on forums :I found it!!!).Now i would say mount help a lot because walking for hours isn't very exciting.

But maps like a forest , without this awful "corridor" feeling is great.It's always disappointing when you see something in the distance that might be interesting and you can't go there.
So having bigger map that don't seem to go to A to B just to guide you to encounter are nice.
And make the surrounding world seems "alive" , and the exploration rewarding!
Finding npc like crazy ermits , finding ruins that opens up codex and lore , like the "Band of Three" thing.

I don't think a world totally open is needed , beside Thedas is far too big.
For the Kirkwall /Val royeaux question.If I only have to go to Val royaux , I'm sure the Imperial highway is pretty but i could live without watching my pc walk for hours.Beside is it even possible to give the feeling of a long travel , without taking a big part of the game?It's almost a week on foot i think .I guess you go throught Nevarra (not sure) and then Orlais countryside.A boat would be way faster ^^.
So exploration just to give exploration and travel thru maps irrelevant to any plot ...I'm not sure.
If there's a point like witnessing the civil war in Orlais , ok .

[ajbry]

Wending Wood is a great example. There's plenty of space, and while there are paths, you can deviate from them and explore alternate paths not directly related to the quest. Virtually every forest in Origins was well-done and could be modified for the purpose we're discussing.

However, if the exploration was implemented as a bridge between two urban areas -- and consequently, two plot points -- it would probably be advisable to ensure they don't get too expansive and wide. Should it be as simple as one big path and many small branching ones? Or should it be a few paths that comprise the path needed to escape, with a few others littered along the way.

We can also boil it down as a tangible yet simplistic proposal along the lines of what Allen suggested (and this isn't accounting for actual geography, so disregard the lore for the time being): You leave Kirkwall and the main quest resumes in Val Royeaux. You enter a forest area and must navigate through it; the path can be relatively straightforward but also contains several branching paths with additional enemies and/or rewards (like a small side quest for unique armor, a cave, etc.). After you leave this area, you enter a new area, perhaps the Imperial Highway or something like the Wounded Coast. After that loading screen, you view a cutscene where members of your party demand a rest and you set up camp for the night. In the "morning," you resume and navigate through this area. When you've traversed this second place, you end up at your destination, Val Royeaux.

[Wulfram]

Wending woods was annoying, just like the Brecillian forest.

[brushyourteeth]

It's a cool idea, but DA isn't an action game like Zelda where it makes sense to have winding, spacious areas to explore/kill things because that's basically the point to the game. DA is/ought to be (in my opinion) story/plot/narrative driven so every area we explore should be heavy with potential aids to the plot.
If we travel a road and meet an ambush or have to duck and hide from an opposing faction crossing the other way, that makes it worthwhile to me. But having an explorable area only for exploration's sake or to show the scale of distance between locations in Thedas doesn't appeal to me.

I'd much rather have a larger area of exploration in Val Royeaux than experience the road leading there from Starkhaven with a more limited Val Royeaux experience. To that end I'm fine with the footsteps showing our route of travel via load screen like in Origins.

Of course it should go without saying that most of us don't only want to explore cities. We want wilderness too.

Modifié par brushyourteeth, 02 juin 2012 - 05:58 .

[AkiKishi]

brushyourteeth wrote...

It's a cool idea, but DA isn't an action game like Zelda where it makes sense to have winding, spacious areas to explore/kill things because that's basically the point to the game. DA is/ought to be (in my opinion) story/plot/narrative driven so every area we explore should be heavy with potential aids to the plot.
If we travel a road and meet an ambush or have to duck and hide from an opposing faction crossing the other way, that makes it worthwhile to me. But having an explorable area only for exploration's sake or to show the scale of distance between locations in Thedas doesn't appeal to me.

I'd much rather have a larger area of exploration in Val Royeaux than experience the road leading there from Starkhaven with a more limited Val Royeaux experience. To that end I'm fine with the footsteps showing our route of travel via load screen like in Origins.

Of course it should go without saying that most of us don't only want to explore cities. We want wilderness too.

I hate large cities , it's fine the first time you are there, but when you have to travel multiple zones every time you want to sell something it's just a time sink. It's not like there is any risk like in wilderness exploration, just being overly large and repetative.

[brushyourteeth]

BobSmith101 wrote...

I hate large cities , it's fine the first time you are there, but when you have to travel multiple zones every time you want to sell something it's just a time sink. It's not like there is any risk like in wilderness exploration, just being overly large and repetative.

Really? I love cities the best. It's because they tell you everything you need to know about the people. The culture. Thedas is made up of very colorful and unique peoples. I love the color and the bustle. The conversations you overhear. Just about everything really. An outdoor environment will wow me visually (like the Wounded Coast) and provide plenty of opportunity for battle (which I love) but the real immersion into the political and social climate of Thedas happens in the cities.

Though let the devs note, if they're reading - I think we can all agree that easy access to merchants is always appreciated.

[Realmzmaster]

I would like a travel map that I uncover area by area. The party starts in Denerim and must walk to Lothering the first time after that fast travel is possible. The overland map will only show the areas that have been explored and the party can only fast travel to those areas. The area appears on the map after accessing the main official building in an encampment, village, town or city.

As a suggestion a cartography skill could be implemented. The higher the skill the more detailed the map. For example a skill of 1 will only show the major road and cities while at higher levels more back roads and small villages are shown. Each area would be fully explorable in any direction. If the party wanders into another area it will show on the map but fast travel is not possible until the main official building is found.

[Provi-dance]

I love exploration in RPGs; especially exploring areas that aren't tied to the (main) plot. If I feel an area exists solely to deliver a plot point, then it's not nearly as interesting.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

So, say a plot involves traveling to Val Royeaux from Kirkwall.  I'm definitely getting the impression that just "warping" from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux kind of makes some people go <_<.

So if you wanted exploration, here's a couple of thoughts and I'm curious which one is preferrable.  Assume that every exploration area could have gating encounters that require you to be of a certain power level to achieve.

Allow the player to explore around Kirkwall and Val Royeaux (assuming the plot were to spend enough time around there).  That is, create exploration content around the main plot points.  This will result in the areas around those plot points being more fleshed out, but you may lose the sense of scale about the travel.

The route from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux consists one large map that goes along the Imperial Highway.  Exploration off this highway exists (either the map is very large, and/or there are smaller maps for caves, or maybe smaller settlements to enter).  Basically this is a big "playground" and if you stick to the road, you'll get to Val Royeaux fairly quickly.  This would provide improved sense of scale for the distance traveled, but would result in the areas around the two cities to be minimal.  It does overlook some aspects of the region between Kirkwall and Val Royeaux.

The route consists of two decently sized maps, one containing the Imperial Highway, one about traveling through the Planasene Forest.  The map isn't quite as grandiose, but you will get some variation on what you're exploring. Sense of scale of travel is maximal, as we travel through different types of areas to accent this, but ultimately it'd take longer to travel from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux and the areas around the two cities continues to be minimal.

Let me start by saying that any of these would be preferanble to what we saw in DAO or DA2.

Option 1 resembles what we've seen in some previous BioWare titles.  KotOR dropped us in a world and let us look around to discover details ourselves, but there was no sense of scale in the travel (which made sense, given hyperdrive).

Options 2 and 3 are, I think, the better options.  Option 2 offers greater opportunities for player-discovered quest content, and as such I would prefer it.  Yes, Option 3 does maximise the sense of scale (which is valuable if travelling is the only reason the PC is there - this would be ideal in DAO's Deep Roads), but it doesn't give the player as much control over the narrative.  What we do while travelling is an important part of travelling, and it sounds like Option 2 would offer more of that.

So my preference is Option 2.  One big highway map with numerous smaller sidemaps.

Oddly enough, I'd say that Mass Effect used Option 2, which is why I've said it offered the best exploration content of any BioWare game since BG.

BG offered the best of both options 2 and 3.  There were extensive travel areas, plus numerous side maps.

[deuce985]

Allan Schumacher wrote...

sjpelkessjpeler wrote...

This is what I am trying to express. Thedas is a really big world wich would take an enormous time to cover on foot. You should have been there before if you want to explore the area more. But as I said in my previous post it would be great to know about places even if you are not strong enough to venture there yet at a certain point of the game. Thedas is overall covered walking. The areas that you visit should really make the effort consequential as you say @ajbry and make Thedas a complete world. Exploring and understanding a world is something that can be combined perfectly in a game if the player is taken to environments that make sense at that point or are being  interesting areas at a given point when the game requires it.

Heh, I for one really like different environments. Just take a look at the 'environment'  thread many others and I have posted on on BSN. Change in an environment is great in a game I think.

So, say a plot involves traveling to Val Royeaux from Kirkwall.  I'm definitely getting the impression that just "warping" from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux kind of makes some people go <_<.

So if you wanted exploration, here's a couple of thoughts and I'm curious which one is preferrable.  Assume that every exploration area could have gating encounters that require you to be of a certain power level to achieve.

• Allow the player to explore around Kirkwall and Val Royeaux (assuming the plot were to spend enough time around there).  That is, create exploration content around the main plot points.  This will result in the areas around those plot points being more fleshed out, but you may lose the sense of scale about the travel.
• The route from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux consists one large map that goes along the Imperial Highway.  Exploration off this highway exists (either the map is very large, and/or there are smaller maps for caves, or maybe smaller settlements to enter).  Basically this is a big "playground" and if you stick to the road, you'll get to Val Royeaux fairly quickly.  This would provide improved sense of scale for the distance traveled, but would result in the areas around the two cities to be minimal.  It does overlook some aspects of the region between Kirkwall and Val Royeaux.
• The route consists of two decently sized maps, one containing the Imperial Highway, one about traveling through the Planasene Forest.  The map isn't quite as grandiose, but you will get some variation on what you're exploring. Sense of scale of travel is maximal, as we travel through different types of areas to accent this, but ultimately it'd take longer to travel from Kirkwall to Val Royeaux and the areas around the two cities continues to be minimal.

I'd take any of these three. My biggest complaint with Bioware games personally is exploration and world atmosphere. When you play Bioware games, most feel like you're funneled in a tunnel during exploration. I'm not saying that to be snarky about the level design or Bioware's design choices in general, I'm just saying I don't like that style. What I DO like is how you set me on a path in your games and I don't get sidetracked often from the main story. But Bioware's set path to follow for exploration is a little too simple, IMO. I want it opened up more but never to the point where I lose my general sense of direction. I love Mass Effect 1's approach on exploration it just wasn't exectured very well. Most worlds lack content between the open sprawling spaces. Never did you get a sense of scale in ME1 despite it being so open. Everything was barren and boring. Never did I lose direction either. It wasn't big enough to do that, other than being annoyed by Mako's going up mountains. Skyrim is a great example of how if you went to a more open route(I'm not saying on Skyrim's scale), what you should do to fill your world in with content. Skyrim made it to where no matter what ruin you went to, they always had another in walking distance on your radar. If I had it my way, side-quests would be removed from these games if it has no point on the main story too. I don't like getting side-tracked like that unless it has a point into the main plot/major lore point. I thought ME3 did a good job on actually tying their side-quests into the main plot. That's something I'd like to see adopted in DA3 also, which DA2 did too in some parts.

Modifié par deuce985, 03 juin 2012 - 04:05 .

[Melca36]

While I don't want an open world, I do love exploration and there was scenery in DA:2 which made me want to explore more. I don't know if it was due to being stuck in one area or if it just caught my eye because it was so scenic and pretty.





I know those ruins in the picture have no meaning but they gave me the urge to explore when looking at the landscape.

[dracuella]

Melca36 wrote...



While I don't want an open world, I do love exploration and there was scenery in DA:2 which made me want to explore more. I don't know if it was due to being stuck in one area or if it just caught my eye because it was so scenic and pretty.




I know those ruins in the picture have no meaning but they gave me the urge to explore when looking at the landscape.

This. I was walking down the Wounded Coast in the sunshine, thinking how beautiful the view was while wondering what the story was of the wreck I just passed and what the mountains I could make out beyond the water might entail for me, were I to venture there somehow.

It was all so fantastic I couldn't help wanting to go <3

[AkiKishi]

brushyourteeth wrote...

BobSmith101 wrote...

I hate large cities , it's fine the first time you are there, but when you have to travel multiple zones every time you want to sell something it's just a time sink. It's not like there is any risk like in wilderness exploration, just being overly large and repetative.

Really? I love cities the best. It's because they tell you everything you need to know about the people. The culture. Thedas is made up of very colorful and unique peoples. I love the color and the bustle. The conversations you overhear. Just about everything really. An outdoor environment will wow me visually (like the Wounded Coast) and provide plenty of opportunity for battle (which I love) but the real immersion into the political and social climate of Thedas happens in the cities.

Though let the devs note, if they're reading - I think we can all agree that easy access to merchants is always appreciated.

I like them the first time. But most of the time I just want to do what I came to do and get out (bit like shopping) not have to travel through 5 or 6 different "zones" to accomplish that. My ideal city is one with a market at the front gate so unless I have real business there, I don't even need to go in.

 All this click on hightown, get a quest part,click on low town get another, click on the docks get another ,finally back to where you started from (with accompanying loading screens) I can do without too. DA2 made it worse because it was always Kirkwall, but I still don't like it in principle either.

For the most part the cities in WKC are all one zone (Greede I HATE you!) with no loading involved. Or all the important stuff is in one zone, with only the occasional NPC being in another.