An open world isn't bad, but it requires skill in world design to pull off correctly. An open world which suddenly becomes a closed world? Terrible. Skyrim is great. Baldur's Gate was great. OBlivion etc, Dragon Age Origins. These games all have devices to prevent a low level character from proceeding, or at the very least a massive warning. If I play a game that claims to be an RPG as an RPG, instead of a diabloesque hackemslash, why am I being punished for not knowing this?
There were numerous times the developers could have put in level-blocks up until stormfist, but chose not to.
