Fable

[OB1]

First, OB1, I do know what a really big open area is. I've played some (free) MMORPG. Not a lot, but enough to definitely know what a huge area you can explore is. And you know what? KotOR isn't a MMORPG! It also is not Morrowind. It isn't, it isn't trying to be, and it SHOULDN'T be. KotOR is a different type of RPG. And for this type of RPG, zones like this are just fine, IMO. Sure, you could combine all three zones in Dantooine, combine the various parts of Kashyyk, have Manaan be one city instead of five parts, have Tatooine be one big desert (with some kind of blocks so that there are only a few paths to the east part and you need the map, and so that approaches towards the Sand People base are greatly restricted)... would it make the game dramatically different? I would say no. Not at all. It'd be slightly different, a bit more open, but not to any dramatic extent. I just don't understand why you find this such a big problem.

Because I, like many gamers, like to have big, open worlds to explore in games. That's one of the greatest expressions of freedom a game can have and so very few have it. You may not have a problem with small areas but there are more people that do than don't, I can assure you that. One of the main reasons why so many people are dissapointed with Fable is because they reduced the environments from enormous, rolling hills and mountains to a small, fenced-off world. That was extremely important.

Your points of KOTOR not being a MMORPG are, not surprisingly, extremely flawed. A game does not have to be a MMORPG to have big environments. Bioware made the environments seem much bigger than they actually ended up being when they released their screenshots.

And anyway, the areas aren't THAT small. For the most part they're about as big as I'd want them, given how the game is constructed... I wouldn't want the Tatooine desert any bigger, for instance! And it makes sense to have the three seperate sections as one has to be restricted until you acquire a certain item and the other has the Sand People base, which really isn't something that should be visible from the enterance to town. So, what would your solution there be? Having some massive expanse of desert to cross? Honestly, I would not want that desert any bigger. Getting across it takes a long time as it is, and bigger would not be good for an RPG of this type (ie not a Morrowind-styled game, but a console RPG/Baldur's Gate hybrid).

KOTOR's areas are tiny. If you can't handle open-ended games with large environments then you should not be playing explorative games of this type.

As for Dantooine, there are multiple connectors between each zone so I fail to see the problem. You aren't being railed... not that I'm particularly opposed to linearity. Maybe that's part of why I don't have a problem with it... I actually like some degree of linearity in my games...

Linearity in environments in Zelda is a good thing. Linearity in environments in an open-ended RPG is a very bad thing.

Speaking of GTA (III, at least), they DO do that. When you go between parts of the city, there are only certain tunnels or bridges and I believe that it has to load... sure, the areas are huge. But my point stands.

How does your point stand when your point is false? We're talking about sectioning up large areas in dozens of smaller ones. Your point most certainly doesn't stand.