except the last one (I choose the dialogue option that suits my character, not the more convenient one).
I admit ... you surprised me with this one (not with the rest, even tho its a bit extreme approach imho, but whatever makes you happy)
I would expect you mind it just aswell ...
I mean, you mind that you only have option to "coveniently teleport back to camp" no matter if you do it or not, the very existence of that option bothered you.
So i would expect you will be bothered by that you know exactly wich character you can try to persuate, wich you can try to intimidate, and wich you can try to i dunno for example bribe ... no matter what you choose in the end ... same rule you know, just the very existence of that option.
Well ... seems i was wrong. O_o
But I also understand that sometimes those features are necessary given the *nature* of the game. It is inconceivable to restart the game if your party gets wiped out in a fight or stuck in a wall due to a bug.
I’m against save-scumming but save-reload is a necessary feature in almost any videogame (except maybe a rogue-like).
There are ways ...
Have you played Vampyr? You might like their approach ... there are only autosaves, nothing else ... there is no way to load, except when you die you get respawned, every time you make any choice game will IMEDIATELY save, so you cant make your investigation and then pick the most covenient one.
Immersive huh?
Developers presented it with kinda smug statement "learn to live with your decisions" ...
Shame, those decisions you get are often limited and you are forced to pick no matter what you would like to do, without having anything fitting your character ... for example:
There is dying man:
You can murder him in cold blood by drinking his blood ...
You can turn him into a Vampire ...
And you can help him find closure and die peacefully.
Sounds like you have all the options you would need huh? Well, you dont ... since the last one is locked unless you make specific choices in the past, and investigate long enough with other NPCs, hints, side quests, and lore items ...
So if you play a Good character (as i tryed to) unwilling to turn people into bloodthirsty monsters, or becoming one yourself ... you find yourself in dead end here ... just bcs developers decided that. :-/
A feature like instant fast travel anywhere from anywhere, that doesn’t make any sense lore-wise it’s *not* a necessary feature in an RPG, all the opposite in fact, it’s detrimental since it’s taking away a core part of the RPG experience.
I get you feel that way ...
But im simply unable to understand how something you never experience can ruin your experience. :-/
So i gues this is the best understanding i can hope for.
Because you can say “I have no interest on travel again in an area I’ve already explored, so I prefer to instant teleport away” and it makes sense, but only partially, because I can just say “I don’t want to fight enemies, I’m just here to explore and loot chests, so please Larian, place a button to instantly kill all the enemies and people that don’t like this feature well, just don’t use it”.
If we are intellectually honest we must admit such a feature would be foolish, and to ask people to just “ignore it” is ludicrous.
In the same honesty i can admit to you that i would not mind such feature at all ... exactly for that reason that i would ignore it.
I say if someone wish to spend their money for game and then ruin it for himself ... its his fault.
Same approach i had on VtM:Bloodlines 2 forum ... back in the days when we still believed it will happen.
One day rumor showed on internet that game will contain trigger warnings for certain missions, and if people would feel uncomfortable with their content, they would be able to skip them.
People on forum was outraged ... i still dont quite understand why.
If someone wants to spend their money to do: Skip > Skip > Skip > ... > Skip > And then watch final credits ... i say let them, its their decision.
If the game implements a feature that is taking away from those key experiences then it’s a bad feature, no matter if it’s ignorable or not.
I simply cant agree with this ...
You are right in general, sure ... but we are still talking just about your (and few other) personal prefferences, hardly anything more. :-/
And dont be mad at me (or be if you feel like its adequate reaction, its not like i can do anything about it), but this just seems exaggerated ...
I mean ... okey, lets say that the very existence of posibility to Fast Travel no matter where you stand ruins your experience, okey?
I repeat for some other users: LETS SAY.
Now ...
If you would need to reach and touch Waypoint to Fast Travel ... that would be okey i presume?
Now presuming that ...
If there would be option in settings you can turn on anytime you want, that would allow you to Fast Travel without needing to reach Waystone ... would that be okey?
And if so ... how is that mechanical option forcing you to reach that Waypoint any different from you simply ignoring the possibility? O_o
I mean ... i dare to presume you dont usualy Fast Travel accidentaly ... or do you?
And this feature takes away from a lot of those experiences:
- Immersion -> because it breaks the suspension of disbelief.
- Narrative -> for the same reason, since doesn’t make sense with the IG lore.
- Travel and Exploration-> it facilitates the player to miss out on content since incentivizes him/her to skip areas for the sake of time.
- Resource Management -> It trivializes the challenge of having to plan your decisions because it takes away a big chunk of the consequence. I just enraged a whole camp of goblins? Oh well, *pops away*.
I cant unnotice that you didnt coment on my perception of immersion on Goblin camp ...
I would really like to know how your immersion and naration even deals with the fact that "you just enraged a whole camp of goblins" ... "of wich nobody was close enough to see, or hear what happened".
I totally agree with you that it’s good to have the option to use unrestricted fast travel for all those players that don't care about the above points and just want to fight -> loot -> sell -> fight again, but it should be, as I said, an option, not a CORE mechanic.
This starting to seem like pure phylosophical topic ...
If tree falls and there will be nobody to hear it, will it make "a sound" ... or just air vibrations?
I mean ...
I get you ... or at least i think i do ... the only difference between us is that for me, once im not forced to use any mechanic, it is just an option.
I’m not demanding the game to be changed to screw *your* experience, *nor* because I feel entitled to have the game tailored around my needs.
Oh you missunderstand me ...
I dont say you do ... i say that is what will happen, if your wish will be fulfilled.
Your intentions are actualy quite irellevant here.
Example from the past:
Do you remember spellcasting from Patch 1?
People were complaining around here that having all spell levels on hotbar separately takes too much space, and that we should get some kind of popup window, where we will be choosing our spell level.
So instead of Magic Missile 1 and Magic Missile 2 ... we would only get Magic Missile on our hotbar and then decide if we wish to use 1 or 2 ... just as we do now.
*I* (and some others aswell) demanded to keep curent state possible ... you know, just as you intend "give that option for people who wants it" ...
Reason was that for some spells, there is no reason to upcast them, since they have exactly the same effect using higher spell slot ... (Mage Armor mainly, but also speak with animals, protection from evil and good, create water, discuise self, feather fall, ... and many more, that is not important) ... so *I* (and some others) wanted to keep the option to give on our hotbar spell level 1 if we wish to, so we dont need to deal with this stupid and useless level choosing every time we will use that spell.
What did we get?
Exactly ... popup windows for everything!
So since then, even tho options for people who wanted them was supported by some comunity members, *our* (or at least *mine*) experience was ruined, no matter the intentions.
Not in some huge important major way, so the game become unplayable, that is true ... but it get unnnecesay more anoying and tedious. :-/
Since then i keep asking for the possibility ... so far without any hope for sucess.
And that is why i say this is what would happen.
Sounds like you do ... just not straight forward, but hidden behind "it allways has ben like this" ...
Because it has.
Everyhing happens "the way it allways had" ... until it dont anymore.
This process is usualy called evolution.
I admit that not all changes have to be good ... but you never know, until you try. :P
Im totally selfish being and im not ashamed to admit it. :P
Well, I respect that. But wanting to play the game as you desire doesn’t imply being unable to see if something is flawed, even if that flaw enhances your personal experience.
It’s still a conceptual flaw (relatively to the game genre) and as such should be fixed.
Is it tho?
Or is that just covenient excuse to add your words some value, so you dont need to say straight forwars "i just dont like it this way" ?
Yeah, but from this point of view also junk food is healthy because tons of people eat it.
If a lot of people don't find junk food (fast travel) to be unhealthy (un-immersive) doesn’t mean it’s true.
Eh ... no?
If lots of people eats junk food (use fast travel) ... you see lots of people eat junk food (use fast travel) ... you can presume they like it (dont find it unimersive), or they dont care (dont care
) its unhealthy (unimersive) ... but its values dont change.
There is no link between un/healthyness(?) of junk food and amount of its consumation im affraid.
But if we play "lets say" once again ...
And
presume your argument is valid for a few seconds ...
If a lot of people don't find junk food (fast travel) to be unhealthy (un-immersive) doesn’t mean it’s true.> True ... it doesnt mean its true ... it means it dont matter.
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And yet there are people who keep claiming that ingame map is litteral transcription of the world. :-/
Nope. People complain about quality of the map and systems of the game. Some players just are being able to "buy into fiction" or suspend their disbelief.
Im affraid we both are talking about completely different people here:
Our characters litteraly walk less than 10min to go from the beach to the arcane tower.
The purpose isn't to convice everyone who enjoys the game that they are wrong, but to give feedback to Larian about things that I as a player don't enjoy.
My purpose is exactly the same.
You say what you dont like ... i shall add what i do like about the same ... then Larian will have our both opinions at their disposal.
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Oh c'mon.
With all due respect but let's not hide behind a bush. It's called RPG for a reason, Role-Playing Game. Role-Playing (=immersion) is the core concept of the genre, of course it takes the utmost precedence over everything else.
This doesn't mean it must have zero QoL features, it still needs to be fun, but still, immersion takes precedence.
Precedence is fine ... and i dont think even Icelyn would have problem with it ... "in general" ...
The problem here is that word "immersion" however funny it may sound is incredibly subjective.
And while we all can agree on precedence that immersion is important for roleplay game ... and yes, i believe that even Icelyn would agree on this ...
And while we all maybe would agree on precedence that immersion should take priority over QoL ... here i start doubt that she would ...
Problem starts when we try to define WICH QoL features should be moved on second grade, in matter of priorities.
Otherwise, go to a renaissance fair or to a LARP while driving a scooter between the tents because "it's a quality of life feature that lets me move faster" and see if the people there are of your same opinion.
Do you know many single player larps?
I dont think i ever participate (or even hear about as the matter of fact) on any.
The current iteration of fast travelling in this game is exactly like that scooter. I can refuse to use it but it's still there, parked next to a horse. It's a bit difficult to stay immersed in this scenario.
Well ...
As long as the scooter is actualy invisible, makes no sound or smell and nobody except you is even recognizing its existence ... yes, its exactly same.
