I was just wondering what the amount of openness in the game would be. I know it is mission based, but in each mission area are you allowed to just wander and faff about, or are you required to complete the mission quickly? Also, is the central hub a fairly big open area, or is it just a small little area? The way it sounds it seems like a mix of the city in Thief 3, and the way the missions in the earlier Thiefs were set up, which sounds fun, but just wanted to be sure.

EDIT:
For the sake of saving space, I'll also ask: are the longer range weapons (pistols, bows) visible in the released screens player usable, or is the combat completely melee and magic based?

Nevermind me, I didn't see what section I was in

I was wondering about open-vs-story too.
I stumbled upon this game checking what the Dark Messiah guys were up to now -- and it's about time Arkane released another game.
Personally, I'd like to see something as story-intense as Dark Messiah. It got a bit overshadowed in DM but the story-telling was quite good; thanks to Xana. A narration-style that has only been done again in Bastion, and everybody knows they sure perfected the idea.
So that's why I'd love to see something like that again. Ambiguous voices whispering in my ear, commenting and narrating my journey through through this dark and torn setting ... yes, that sounds enticing.

i hated the narration in bastion, i dont want some unwelcome random commenting on every action i do. gameplay was boring too. the only thing that interested me was the music, but i couldnt keep playing anymore to hear more. besides the narrator constantly interrupted it anyway.

Wrong thread?

After playing a couple of open world games I came to the conclusion that I do not like them, because in order to give you accessibility to a larger terrain they cramp things down, to an extent that it feels like constantly playing mini games withing an enclosed world. I prefer old style missions by far, BUT within the mission I'd like to have an open world-ish approach, where I can go the way I want or need. That way the scale of the world can be kept authentic and gameplay being dynamic. I don't need to visit every corner in a city, but I want the illusion like the city is of realistic scale.

So it's "Mission meets Open World" for me. And from what I gather Dishonored is meant to apply this concept. Only need to see what the result will be.

How does it cramp everything into constantly playing mini games?

I love open worlds because you can wander and do whatever, there are some games like Bioshock 1 where there were mini games everywhere but other than that it was a fantastic game.

I think missions are ok but I prefer open worlds.

Maybe not all open world games do this, but for instance the Elder Scrolls have large cities being represented by what looks just like small castles. Villages are only three huts. You can move from the northern border to the south in a couple of minutes. TES is made of mini games. I even sarcastically called it micro games.
Assassins Creed on the other hand, as far as I remember, had a more authentic feel to it, when it comes to scale.

Thats true in regards to TES, however TES was more about letting you do whatever you want. Whereas Assassins Creed, you are an assassin and thats basically it. TES is more about letting you be a mage if you want, or an assassin, or a warrior, or a pacifist, or whatever else you want. The world isnt as packed as Assassins Creed but in terms of content and how long you can play i'd say TES has AC beat by a long shot. AC is dense and intense while TES is more open and relaxed. Both are great games though, not trying to bash AC, they are just two completely different types of games, its not really fair to compare them.

As for Dishonored i dont think anyones answered the original question, which i'd like to know as well. How open is it? Is it more like TES or more like AC?

i predict they will be quite open, more so than bioshock, deus ex human revolution and possibly even the original deus ex. its not the size of the levels that worries me, its the content of what is in them, how much interaction, how much to discover, how much awesomeness.
nope

Probably neither. I'd expect it's about as open as Deus Ex or Thief. Which means large, self contained levels. Not an open world to explore.

any Hubs in this game? one or two would really add to the illusion of freedom/open world + they are just awesome usually.

+1 http://www.gamesas.com/user/655675-psychomorph/
true open world kills feeling, story and immersion in what truly matters, the main quest. (which provides the ending)
The ending makes 70% of the lasting impression , so you just have to trick the user somehow in playing it till the end, and then blow his mind
Unlike some ppl who just trick the players and then sweat over deadlines.

PS: preferably those "wow" moments are well thought of and placed in progression.

For me at least, the ending of the game has equal or less value than any other part of the game. Take R.A.G.E. for example. The ending was abrupt and not very satisfying yet all in all it was an amazing game. Now that game was more linear than open world but it makes my point about endings.
As for "wow" moments open world games can have just as many if not more than a linear game. People just have to look a bit to find them. imo it's much better to stumble across something amazing when you aren't expecting it than to know it is coming. Knowing it's coming makes it seem not quite as good, though there are times when anticipation makes it all the better.
I'd rather the producers were constantly trying to blow your mind rather than just make the ending the best part.

As for what Psychomorph said, just because the cities aren't the biggest doesnt mean anything. Sure in TES everything was on a much smaller scale than AC, but you could interact with almost everything. You could enter the buildings, you could talk to the people, you can kill whoever you like, which IIRC you couldnt do in AC even though the main point of the game was killing people, and you can go wherever you like.

I think there is a huge chasm between our perceptions . Let's agree to disagree. Most of what you said made no sense for me. I'll just pick a few.
regarding Wow moments I was speaking in general
Non open world games are predictable, makes absolutely no sense.
RAGE is not an amazing game.
both TES and AC are bad examples of immersion and giving a lasting impression.. unless its a bad one. Having 3 choices I resent is infinitely worse than watching a cutscene with a character making any of those 3 choices, and TES is the best example for that.

Ha ha ha i have seen what i am like, when I rant on about the importance of gameplay.
Tell me Gruia, what are your favourite games?

I'm going to guess it's Deus Ex-style open levels. Not a big city to freeroam in, but specific mission levels with a lot of possible routes to take from starting point to destination.

And maybe some Deus Ex Human Revolution style hubs.

That's what I'm hoping for anyway.

very big chasm indeed. lets just say my main point was i buy a game to play it, not watch a movie, i go to the movies for that.

as to povuholo, i wouldnt mind something dues ex like. had plenty of room to move about without getting repetitive and had plenty of choices.

TES are some of the best games ever so much to do and explore. TES and the fallout games made me hate any non open world games

That's what I want too. I like being able to explore, and since this game is made by people from both those games, I don't feel like I'm going to be disappointed.

? There is nobody from the deus ex: human revolution team working at Arkane?
Well then you are M.A.D! I take it you have never played deus ex 1, system shock 2, arx fatalis and the others.

Double post

No I haven't but i might be able to enjoy dishonored even if it is mission based

There's plenty to explore in each level, it just cannot be mistaken for an open world game.

I got the impression it's more Thief-like than TES-like, as regards the world. They seem to be focusing on providing variety within missions, rather than around missions. The only games I can think of that have done this to some extent are Thief and DE, so I'm excited. Hopefully they pull it off.