Gothic 3 - First Impressions @ IGN
 

PC IGN has posted their 'first impressions' of Gothic 3, the recent release in North America.
Accompanied by some nifty screenshots, it's a nice, if short, read.

More information.

Gamers and the gaming press are a snotty little group of people… had Gothic 3 had a 'You Are Here' along with a 'You Need To Go To Here To Complete XYZ Quest' system much like Oblivion, then much like Oblivion, G3 would be criticized.

Now that Gothic 3 is more of a 'find it yourself' type of game… which seemed to be what everyone wanted with all the bitching that went on when Oblivion came out, naturally, one of the first U.S. based reviews complains about it.

Being a dev. these days must take a lot of personal stamina and restraint.

Its an interesting dilemma though - in G1 and G2 the world is small enough that you'll find everything eventually, without a map. Something the size of Oblivion and Gothic 3 are very easy to get lost in. Simply saying there is "a cave to the North" in todays games might be a virtual mile away and take real world days to find.

hahahahahhahahhahahahah quote of the week. :biggrin:

Its ironic that when you need to do something totally on your own in a game, its strange!!!

What the heck do they want anyway? Something similar to Oblivion perhaps? That game really doesn't allow to use one's brains at all. I'm not saying that g3 is rocket sience or anything but atleast there are no annoying popup messages popping up all the time and telling you what to do…

And in the case of Oblivion, telling you what you did! "Congrats on finding the uber stone! You get a lolipop! You should now go back to the castle and give it to Lord Questgiver."
I think that can be modded out but I'm not certain.

I thought figuring out what to do was at least part of the purpose of playing the game!! Silly me!! :)

Not at all. In G3 every mentioned place in sidequest is 30 seconds walk away at most. Seems to me, although without map marks and compass (thank God!), game was dumbed down for americans :/
Not G3 only - almost everything now is influenced by US way-of-life and dumbed to the max, which frustrates me, an european, a lot :/

Now that sounded a bit racist.
You can say that the game was dumbed down for the "mainstream" but it´s inappropriate to say that it was dumbed down for "americans", and I´m european too and don´t want to be associated with the likes of you.

It not only sounded racist, it was racist. And one of the reasons we disabled guest postings at RPGDot.

OMG! Racist?! Didnt know Americans are race now, I thought its a nationality :D Ok, maybe I behave like a nationalist a bit, but, please be honest: You're European, righ? Whats in Tv? - mostly american movies. Whats in cinemas? - mostly american movies. Which lifestle they tell us is best? - american.. Yeah - European games are getting more and more dumbed for american dumb kids. And believe me, those kids are dumb as hell! - in HighSchool they dont know 10% stuff we know.

"Viking Berserker"

Let's assume for the moment, that modern games have been dumbed down. These games are made for an international market, but unfortunately, that market, while large, is now comprised of many people who want a 'quick fix' game (thus the popularity of FPS). Playing an 'old skule' type RPG, takes a LOT of time and effort and therefore, they only appeal to a much smaller market. With the cost of making games being in the millions now, can you really blame the big companies for keeping the 'bottom line' in mind when designing their product? I don't like it, but I understand the necessity. That's why I continue to support the small Indie guys as much as I can!!

If they dumbed down the game for me, I would like to know why?

I was going to post a long discussion on the issue, but instead I will pass. I think Corwin summed it up. The bottom line is money, and reaching a younger, less patient, but still profitable market share.

Has the game arrived for you yet CM?

Nope. It is so close, but looks like Monday now. I tracked it to the last postoffice before mine. lol

So, I won't expect to see you online then until next Friday's game!! :biggrin:

The interesting thing is that the biggest influence on 'dumbing down' isn't America, but the huge impact of consoles.

What exactly has been dumbed down? There are quite a few design problems and any number of technical issues but that isn't the same as dumbing down. The map is larger and the journal arguably poorer, so that's more complex if anything. The skill system is better. The faction system is less linear. The interface is better (except the journal) but a bad interface isn't "less dumb".

So…? Or are some people confusing poor design choices with dumbing down?

I don't think the game has been dumbed down!! I was posting about the generic concept that games have been 'dumbed down', therefore I accept that hypothesis and look for reasons!!

As time moves on, everything get streamlined, not just games. For better or worse, it's called progress.

You cannot halt mankind's desire to do everything quicker, easier, prettier, and more user friendly, to a wider range of people. Oh yeah, and make a profit while theyre at it!