Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World Design

Re:Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World De... by bombcar on Friday April 01, 2022 @10:51PM (#30885488)

This is what I call the "World of Warcraft" scale - because WoW was the first game where I really experienced it. The game is compressed and not actually to scale (because nobody wants to spend literally days crossing the map) but it still feels like it is large, and regions are distinct.

Both BotW and WoW also made exploring the "empty" areas rewarding (they're not actually empty, and there are things to find).

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Re:Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World De... by bryans on Saturday April 02, 2022 @04:07AM (#30886636)

> because nobody wants to spend literally days crossing the map

Weirdly, that's what every FFXI player did almost every day and for years, until they finally added fast(er) travel options in later expansions. Even using the Chocobo to increase run speed, it took 30+ minutes of travel to get to any end game content. And it was very easy to accidentally die along the way in places where nobody could resurrect you without also dying themselves, and then you would need to make the entire trip again. It was absolutely stupid and a complete waste of time, and yet I have nothing but fond memories of it.

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Re:Elden Ring Succeeds by Ignoring 20 Years of Open-World De... by bombcar on Saturday April 02, 2022 @08:09AM (#30887613)

Yeah 30 minutes to even an hour is about the limit - makes it feel epic but doesn’t make it boring (crossing the barrens on foot was a similar time).

But literally days of walking would be too much without something (either plot along the way or fast travel).

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