True good point but sppouse alot of it depends on how bioware co-op goes with its next two games.

Gothic used to be it's sole competition but Gothic has just gotten worse and worse each sequel. I actually like Gothic 1 and 2. The there was Two Worlds, it has failed rather hardcoe with its latest version. Games just are not so good anymore. Always trying to forgo gameplay and game BALANCE because they are trying to create the shiniest screen shot they can. People are wising up though, I always read reviews and check the forums before I buy. A pretty picture does not make me buy.

Yeah. I'm a HUUUGE ME really devoted fan and I have absolutely no interest in the multiplayer they are talking about. Actually I'm a little upset because that effort could have been spent to make other parts of the game better.

Dark Souls/Demon Souls 2 Dark Messiah,Gothic,Two Worlds:1&2,Divinity 1&2,Dragon Age 1&2
They're decent

noome cancompete with bathesda, bathesda is the best at making broken games

Really? Should check out World of Warcraft and StarCraft 2 forums more.

and one more thing that even sets them far more apart.. at least on PC side







MODS!

Obsidian is WAY worse at releasing broken games and that's just in the RPG field, there are worse companies outside the field.

check the ps3 forumm in this site :thumbsup:

Not as much rage as the WoW forums. The forum community there actually resulted in managing to make a forum moderator leave and quit his job. That's how intense it gets.

I disagree with that. ES games are the only good ones of their kind (open world), but that last comment isn't true. BioWare games (mainly the older ones, like NWN) offer a deeper RP experience and have features that Bethesda games lack (better dialogue, more character customization, online play, more opportunity to truly RP as your character - alignments, etc.)

Fable 3 is obviously the best open world RPG out there...

Well...I have a different opinion than many I see who have posted in this thread. My vote for RPG GOTY will go (hands down) to 'The Witcher II'. An argument for an open world can be indeed made but at some point you have to agree that a story that svcks you in and carries the player along in such a way that he cannot even (mostly) SEE the walls of his prison is far more compelling than a huge sandbox world where he aimlessly wanders around unsure of who he or she is 75% of the time. I can say that of BOTH TW-1 AND TW-2. Both of those games rarely gave me time to consider the limits of my game-world and were constantly challenging me as they propelled me forward as a character.

If you give me 'too much' of a sandbox then soon enough (to me) it becomes a box where a cat does it's business nonchalantly and it won't be long before I find some crusty, smelly, dried up thing that reminds me I am still inside a box... I do not want to feel like I am REALLY on planet PANDORA Bethesda... (yet another planet...like Earth with it's own drawbacks and similar, yet different limitations) I just want to be challenged, engaged, and entertained. Not left to make amazing 'sandcastles' undisturbed with "cat-doodie" in this vast sandbox you made. (only to realize I am...in a box)

So, I'll be casting my vote for The Witcher. If you haven't played it...you should, even if just to be able to disagree with my opinion. I don't 'hate' or dislike TES-V...but the sandbox needs some freshener. I like to be 'COMPELLED' in a game. TW made me become so agonized over the choices I made regarding events for my personal character that it was PAINFUL to choose a path at times. Not so with TES-V. That is the difference between a 'sandbox' game and a 'story driven' game.

The Witcher 2 & Dark Souls.

I've asked this same question before, OP and I've never been directed to other games like these. The games Bethesda are making are the games I'm happiest playing. If I were to design a game, it would probably look just like what they're doing and I'm happy when I'm playing them. They make worlds and fill them with things and I want to explore those worlds...it's just that simple. I don't think they're dumbing them down because that would be insulting as if only dumb people could play them. I think they're very complicated and I'm still figuring out where the strength of my skills would be best utilized and I'm having a blast doing it. That's it...for me it's the first person, open world, go wherever I want, do whatever I want game and no one else does it.

:tes:

God save the Battlemage... (My toon in 2, 3, 4 and now...5)


/cheers!

Does Bethesda have any direct competition?

Unfortunately, no. Which is probably why they get by with such crappy design flaws.

The devs that made Two Worlds casually slipped it into the press that they were in direct competition.

Nope. I have never seen any other company do any games in this style whatsoever.

RPG's? Sure. FPS? Sure, FP swords and magic? Ehhh some. Sandbox? Of course!

But a company that does an FPS/FPSword/FPM/RPG/Epicness/OMG/LOLYAY/WOOOOT/Sandbox? Nope. BGS has that market all to themselves. And they do it damn well.

Hopefully Skyrim's success will mean we see more open-world RPGs.

Bioware is dead. I'm talking about the now.

Hopefully of better quality than the Fable and Two Worlds franchises. But I am definitely ready to take a break from the Elder Scrolls tar pit when something comparable hits the market.

You do ppl keep mentioning Two Worlds II when The Witcher 2 & Dark Souls are such better games. I do think the TW2 devs have potential and hope in the future they bring us a real quality game. But in 2011 there are 3 games in this genre worth mentioning. Skyrim, The Witcher and Dark Souls. If any of you havent played the latter two, as a fan of this genre i urge to go and get those games.

The only other game I ever played that I think could give skyrim a run for its money is two worlds 2. The game has awsome graphics, a pretty big map that has alot of potential for additional content, and real dirty gritty dungeon feeling to it. The games got an awsome engine , almost feels like they made the game with something that should be powering a first person shooter. Can`t beleive how fast it runs, and the game it practically crash proof. Game never crashed once for me in 80 hours of playtime.

But if they released the sdk for the game that it was supposed to have. Then if it could do all the things the CS/Gecks could do, then it would be one powerhouse of a contender.

As far as sales go I think Assassin's Creed series may be the closest competition but obviously they are vastly different games. I stupidly bought the first one, but other than that or Bethesda games I haven't bought a single player game (not just RPG) since the 90s. I played EQ in 1999 and text-based MMO's before that. I think roleplaying by yourself is a niche and I probably wouldn't even be here if the TES games weren't so vast.

Once Bethesda completely "sells out" or just loses their touch, I think the RPG genre as we know it is over. 20 year olds now think of the prototypical RPG as WoW and not AD&D and they will be the ones moving into the game developing positions. I'm not saying this a bad thing necessarily, just that times are changing.