That is the hidden question in all this. You see, I have had my suspicions in several directions. It is the outcome of Business people getting in bed with art, art is a different stroke, it adheres to different parameters and whilst these people are gracing several directions in gaming, they forget that art is the compelling setting. There is no business in that. It comes from excellence in art that makes games great and Bethesda was on the right side, but then Microsoft bought it and it seemingly went down the basement after that. So whilst we see all kinds of excuses on lag times and latencies. Why are they there? Gamers bought the big systems Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and whatever Microsoft has. These systems are there to deal with the user requirements and it has worked since the the Playstation 2. So why? Because someone stated that we all want to game together? Well, for some people this is true and there is greatness in team play (when the cheaters are away) but the new generation is taught that cheating is fine because they all do it and that is where the game goes amok.
So as we happily gamed away in whatever Bethesda and Bioware and Santa Monica Studios brought us, someone thought it was a good idea to listen to Business applicants.
So in my previous example (yesterday) I played on the Bethesda Elder Scrolls idea. Why? Simple, they have created a lore bigger than most can conceive but there is a similar setting for their Fallout setting and there is lore for the God of war series (which is based on history) so when we look at the fitter games one more adds the setting, it is Guerrilla games. Their Horizon series has the ability to match a ‘new’ storyline in greatness and it is set to ‘our’ future so there are options. But the need for more gaming or better said greater gaming is essential.
Today I was considering the old expression bread and circuses (from Juvenal 55AD) the modern day world used this setting to ‘divert’ the population into some stage of sleepiness. We we’re all awake, but we accepted the bread and circuses setting because a lot of us do not really have a choice. But the game of life changed. Bread is no longer free, it costs and now it is costing more. We have the circuses on one side (in the United States it is called politics), we have Television (whilst the cost of receiving the entertainment is rising) and we have our actual gaming and that is the exclusion of all things. And we are willing to pay the $100 for a game like that and in case of Skyrim it had probably been the best investment ever. I bought several copies (PS3, PS4, Xbox360) and with over 3000 hours it was well worth the setting. But this might change as hardware is reaching new heights. So we might lose a lot on the PS6 and the Switch 2 (optionally the Switch 3) but we have to consider this and as such the RPG style gaming brings the best entertainment for its value and as I see it, the artsy people need to be in charge and the business people need to wire their lips solidly shut. Because what comes requires the focus of people who want a great experience and the Elder Scrolls has the most lore, but they are not alone. I am not sure about why ‘EA Is Closing BioWare and Canceling the Next Mass Effect’ I have suspicions, but there are shoddy speculations at best. Still, somewhere last year I created a new setting for ME5 and I took an approach (likely) no one even considered. I combined ME5 by adding ME4 and ‘repairing’ all I thought was wrong with it (there was a lot) but the idea was great and as such it had to survive. But I am aware that some people state “it’s impractical as a commercial blueprint” but there is where I differ, gaming is art, it has no commercial value. As an example I want to offer Edvard Munch the scream, it is now valued at $120 million.
It was a mere $83,700 in 1900. That is the effect of art and not everyone likes it. I wouldn’t pay anywhere near that for the scream. But the icons of Gaia, that is worth something to me. I even saw in my mind note blocks of Aether, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Eleuthia, Hades, Hephaestus, Minerva and Poseidon, note blocks with the logo on every page, optionally their embroidering of these icons. I am a gamer, that is what I value and I reckon many gamers (in the millions) see this in the game they play. It was what the business people never got, they merely got where the money was, or where they think the money was. But there is the crunch, a good game can survive on its own. Oblivion proved that with the remaster and I had no problems buying that for the PS5. That game was the reason I bought the Xbox360 in the first place. So there is one ‘response’ I have an issue with “Quantity alone doesn’t guarantee success. Padded or repetitive content often feels worse than a tighter experience. Older engines eventually hit technical limits (performance, tools, stability). Not every game is easy to expand, and endless post-launch support isn’t free or infinite. Player expectations also matter—some people prefer finishing a game and moving on.” I agree that repetitive content is not a solution, as such I came up with the creation of New Kvatch and the size difference was to ensure it would all fit. The sections that might be the same is the overwhelming settings that most places are there, but in this setting (a few centuries after Skyrim) we have a new stage. We have a new industrial age and it is run by the great great grand daughter of Jeanne Frasoric. Which will ensure new lore amounts as well as inverting the items you used to collect. The destroyed shrines need to be rebuilt and items have to be retrieved, you will also need to find someone to head the shrine. And the challenge becomes how and where. With the exception of Azura, which will always be in Skyrim. Some will be out in the open, some will be underground. And it is up to the player to decide, yet we might agree that Nocturne is not a place that we want out in the open. And as we face 5 (or 6) locations, depending on where we are with Morrowind. The gamers can explore, can replay old missions and whilst chapters might be ‘relocated’ except the Mages council which will always be in Cyrodiill we get a totally new concept of gaming, and in all this we have a a new way of gaming and replayability will be a new setting, so there is as I see it, no such thing as ‘repetition’ this is up to the player and they might set the game in new and interesting ways. A way that was always the main intent of any RPG video game and as such the big makers will get the big dollars, considering that Skyrim has 65 million copies sold, there is every indication that many will consider this title and after the setting of too many business types hiding behind lag times and latency of the hardware, someone might wake up and consider the setting that this is a one player game. But they are not alone, Guerrilla games might also make consideration (after Horizon 3) to make a ‘global’ challenge and there is still the Mass Effect setting and Fallout is not out of the picture either.
We have many directions gaming could be taken into and I love my RPG gaming, but I do recognize that there are many GTA5/GTA6 fans. As such they could create something that people can enjoy for a decade, the fact that it was created in 2013 makes that clear.
So I cannot tell you where to go next. You need to trust the game makers you pour your heart in, that is the best advice I can give you. So, have a great day and enjoy gaming, or get not gaming if possible.
