[quote=lain]
"Open world" has become quite a marketting gimmick of late anyway... I wouldn't say the ES games are open world *for dummies*, especially considering they were among the first to include such a feature ( arena, daggerfall ). It's not even an easy thing to define "open world" nowdays, and I'd rather say that D:OS is a half-open world to be honest. Big map, with obvious walls, you can go where you want except you can't go where you want before you can, "level wise", or you will get destroyed. Same for MMX I already mentionned.
Actually open-world RPGs are WAY older than Arena. Games such TES I or II standed out for their dimension in the 90s, not for the inherent design philosophy.
That being said, the latest TES games ARE open-worlds for dummies. Simply because they hold your hand in any possible way... In games such these it's basically impossible: To find a mob stronger than you are; to get lost; to be unable to complete a quest, etc. Thank god Original Sin is not this kind of game.
