I am a HUGE fan of Skyrim, so know that I am in no way bashing Bethesda or Skyrim. It is in fact my favorite game of all time. The point of this thread is to discuss Beth's current path as far as making the game easier and more "hand holding" elements. Things like this and their story telling kind of bring the game down from what its full potential could be, but they can do that mainly because they don't really have any other game that can compete with it in an open world setting. But is that going to change with the Witcher 3?

The Witcher 3 is apparently 20 percent bigger than Skyrim, takes 30 to 40 minutes to cross the world, and get this. NO LOADING SCREENS.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511690

I as a fan of the Witcher am super excited for this, but I'm also really excited that this may cause Beth to step their game up in certain aspects of the game that are lacking.

So, what do you think? Will this cause them to head in a better direction for the series? Or are you going to hold judgement til 2014 when Witcher 3 comes out? Or do you believe it does not need to step up, and you like the direction that Skyrim is heading?

Eh, the company, as respectable as they are, can make big promises and fall short. I'll wait for the game to come out to judge.

I made a big oopsy. Its 20 percent bigger, not 20 times bigger, lol. And I voted that I will wait and see, although I think this is quite promising as the Witcher series is fantastic.

Holding my judgement till 2014.

One thing is for sure (especially with Elderscroll online in pipeline)
QA and support of Bethesda must step up their game.

Yes, I think so. Witcher going open world is a win-win situation for both TES and Witcher fans. Assuming TW3 is a success, Bethesda will feel compelled to up their writing, character backstories, dialogue, because there will be more and more unavoidable comparisons in the gaming magazines.

This, I'll add in that their PR needs A LOT of work.

If there's Pokemon battle mechanics I won't be interested. But I'll give it a try when it comes out and let you know.

For those saying no, do you mean that you think Beth will simply ignore this and continue their path anyway? If so, is it because you doubt Witcher 3 will be able to compete?

Bethesda is definitely leaving it's roots and going easy-pleasy mainstream to gain the following of the generations that chooses not the think. Take that any way you want, but it's just a fact, but that is where the money is also so what can you do. Just the existence of TES On-Line proves that enough.

The biggest difference though is The Witcher gives you one character to play while TES gives ten races, two sixes and plenty of skills to customize. One big issue I have with TES now though is that they require you to max out ALL skills to unlock further game content (quests, dragons, etc.) so there goes the idea of playing an individual ... or role-playing at all if you actually try to do this. Now that I think about it maybe being given a character to play so that I don't have to pretend I'm role-playing like I do in Skyrim may be a nice touch.

The Witcher 3 going full open-world is amazing. It will force Bethesda took at their writing and characters and hopefully push them into better areas that Skyrim was lacking in.

Maybe.
Beth doesn't have to "worry" about me, though... unless they limit character customization and choices severely. I'm not going to buy a game where I can't choose who my character is, what she/he looks like, what their backstory is and whom, if anyone, they fall in love with - no matter how large and open the world is and how great the stories are. (I'm not going to play an MMO either btw, not even a fantastic MMO.)

At first I was thinking you were crazy, but then I thought "Oh, right, 81." I am now sad.

I still can't believe they have an engine that will allow no loading screens on a console. Either the new systems or awesome, or technology has just simply sky rocketed, and I didn't notice because consoles are like 8 years behind. Probably that. TES 6 needs a new engine. Not a upgraded old one, but new, so hey can do stuff like this.

With the amount of money that Skyrim made them, they could probably buy Unreal Engine 4.

I'm not getting that MMO either. As for worrying, it depends just how simple TES starts to get. I'll likely buy it anyway because its TES, but I hope they don't make it even more simple. That will definitely effect my playing time. I still managed to crank out around 2600 hours of Skyrim, so I'll probably play the hell out of the next one no matter what.

What I don't understand is that Zenimax owns Id Software. You know, the company with Id Tech 5. An engine that isn't Gamebryo.

Why Bethesda doesn't use that is beyond me. I mean, I assume they were working on Skyrim before Zenimax purchased the company, but they're pushing this "Creation Engine" stuff pretty hard.

Shouldn't they have made a crap load of cash from Oblivion already? I guess it wasn't enough to warrant buying a completely new engine. Now though, there's no reason not to.

Im so excited

What does it have to do with Skyrim?

Anyway, we need to play TW3 first. There's no telling how going open world will affect the story and overall quality of the game.


Very true, also in the PR department. That one unfortunate attempt to chase pirates aside, CD Projekt has had excellent relations with their customers. Bethesda should watch and learn.


Next-gen consoles say hello. I don't know how powerful they're going to be, but PCs have been able to handle a game without loading screens for a while now. Though I still worry, Witcher 2 had some crazy system requirements (or maybe just wasn't optimized well enough?) I might need to build a new PC in early 2014.

They already have a new engine on the table. Don't need to buy one. See my post above yours.

Please don't compare this to Skyrim.

That quote on your signature? Here, have an internet high five.

It only has to do with Skyrim in he sense that they're comparing Witcher 3 to it because of similarities. As for the hello thing, yes I'm aware its on next gen consoles, I just can't believe they're that capable. I've been on consoles my whole life. I'm not a pc gamer, and will likely never be. No loading times for a game that huge is revolutionary to me.

I'll probably play both, really the one thing that will guarantee that I won't buy bethesda games would be if they ever stopped allowing mods. Sadly I would never play an unmodded Bethesda game.

Why not? They're taking a lot of inspiration from Skyrim. I don't see any reason not to, as I'm not bashing my favorite game.