Todd Howard says expectations for Starfield changed because everything is an RPG now: "I can't look at a game that doesn't have XP and leveling"
Todd Howard says expectations for Starfield changed because everything is an RPG now: "I can't look at a game that doesn't have XP and leveling"
Ok so he doesn't understand what makes an rpg beyond skill points. Explains a lot in hindsight. And got so close to clarity when he said they are making a game true to who they are. Just one fast travel away.
The bastardization of rpg really sucks. What about the old-school fallout and elder scrolls games, even? Surely Todd must be familiar with those. They were a lot more rpg than 90% of rpg games today.
I want my choices to matter. The choices largely do not matter, if you're even given a real choice at all. This has been the issue with their RPGs since Oblivion, and has only gotten worse over time. I don't just mean how I move through a dungeon and take care of enemies; I mean in dialogue. When I am presented with a logical thing I could do or say, but I don't actually have the option to do it, it sucks.
It's kind of a defining feature of Bethesda IP. It's how they maintain their IP. Where were you when the dragon broke?
I was in wayrest, daggerfall and sentinel at the same time
You don't want a CRPG. You want an interactive novel.
Baldur's Gate 3 recently, and all the classic CRPGs of the 90's and early 2000's had this.
You don't want a CRPG. You want an FPS where number go up
Yes Todd, video games have changed. Some would even say grown & matured. Every game has aspects & mechanics from multiple genres. Like, one of the most played racing games is GTAV, probably.
My expectations:
The multiple NPC's on my ship won't talk over one another while I'm hailing another ship.
There is the fan, cora, cole, myself, and another crew member I bought in a bar all sharing a class A ship with a single bed, maybe one of these Habs should have been filled with bunks to make sense?
The game shouldn't crash constantly.
More original names for things that 'the artifacts'. That's a good first draft but come on.
Fallout and Elderscrolls had a lot of fun little side stories that revealed themselves on notes and computers as you explored the world. Starfield is lucky to have one memo talking about the facility before the spacers arrived to murder everyone.
Enemies should empty clip after clip into the window I am standing behind.
God of war ragnarok tuned this way down. Level is tied to equipment (max 9), xp is spent as currency on skills. I really liked it. Didn't feel like the game was RPGified at all.
Similarly, Fable did that. Using specific skill types would grant experience points to spend in that category, plus a general xp currency that can go into any category.
Damn what a great game...
Loved Fable, 2 was top tier imo.
Which is exactly how the elder scrolls has been since Daggerfall at least. The only difference is you didn't have any specialization choices until Skyrim with the perks.
"Everything is an RPG, that's why we doubled down on RPGs to stand out". Mmmkay then.
“Everything is an RPG” says the guy whose company has stripped out all but the most basic of RPG elements from their games.
Yeah Todd, that means people want a deeper RPG experience than you give with just a simple perk system that allows you to be good at everything all at once.
Heh. Playing the game now. You're gonna have to sink hundreds of hours to fill that damn tree. I got 48hrs clocked and only Level 26. Barely touched rank 3 perks and haven't maxed out one yet.
I say if you put a month game time into a single character, fuck it be good at everything. Builds be damned. You earned it.
I also like how you have to successfully use the skills you unlock in order to level them more
Is this supposed to make me want to play the game?
It's a fun game, I'm loving Starfield. But it doesn't have the same RPG elements as I was hoping.
Fortunately Baldur's Gate 3 got me there.
I feel like hope wasn't warranted there with the obvious streamlining trend since Skyrim. I could maybe see being cautiously optimistic, as in waiting for reviews.
Not that it comes as a shock, I'm sure I'll hear others say the same with the next elder installment.
=They at least made an attempt with FO3, skill checks+perks (plus the XP system is less grind-y than Oblivion even if it is simplified and less "immersive"). Also improved upon by FONV. (I didn't have a good start with Morrowind, in fairness it probably was my fault for some of it but I don't think skill grind and dice-roll misses are a good combo plus needing meta-knowledge even if that's what makes replaying fun... because slog.)