Comments on: We explore, therefore we are

By: cary

cary — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 19:31:30 +0000

You’re quite right about that. That chintzy feeling is well applied to something like Dragon Age II. I liked the story enough, but there was not much to explore outside of the primary world. And even if there was, it was a pretty boring place to begin with.

Outside of that, I can’t think of a single open world game that I’ve played recently that didn’t have me exploring — it’s just an addicting part of those games! And yes, there’s nothing like finding that extra-special something that make battles easier, or gives you loads of XP or gold!

By: duckofindeed

duckofindeed — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:18:24 +0000

Yeah, why do we like to explore? I have games that are overwhelming because there is so much to explore, and yet I do it. I don’t just say, forget it, let’s get back to the story. I MUST check out every location. There is this urge I can’t resist to see what I can find. To see if some awesome secret is hidden down a certain path. Or in the case of an RPG, if there is some item or other such thing that will make my progress through the game much easier because I managed to find something awesome that will grind my enemies to dust. But, games need incentives to explore, or it’s wasted time. The best open-world games are those that reward you for exploring, not those with big, empty places you can go with nothing there. If the developer is chintzy on rewarding players, then exploring ends up feeling boring and wasted.

By: cary

cary — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 16:38:18 +0000

Haha, you’re right about that! If I thought there’d be treasure at the end of any given road, you can bet I’d be driving down it!

I agree with you about Arkham City — I think I had more fun searching for secrets than playing through the game itself. (And it provided some really excellent sandbox-style play!)

By: cary

cary — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 16:36:29 +0000

Becoming engrossed in a game’s story can make all the difference. A great story can make a sandbox game seem less like a chore and more like an adventure! I usually approach any such games with the intention of getting through the main story first and then exploring later, but it doesn’t always work like that. And there are certainly cases where the sandbox is way more enjoyable to be in generally.

By: Vitosal

Vitosal — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 06:02:07 +0000

If in real life, we knew there might be something exciting like a glowing feather, or treasure chest at the end of the untaken path then i think in real life we probably would explore those roots. There’s no incentive in the real world to do that.

I agree with Silvachief as well. I can explore everything depending on what game it is. Batman: AC was one of them. I went looking for easter eggs for such a long time. I think it all depends on the player in the end though. If you like the world the developers have made you’ll want to know everything about it. It all depends on what you like.

By: Silvachief

Silvachief — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 01:35:54 +0000

While it hasn’t been a problem for me in the past, my flatmate hates sandbox games because he gets caught up in the sand box and gets bored before he actually finishes the main story. I tend to dabble in the sandbox aspects a little, though not nearly enough to get burnt out.

While i’m not big on exploring for the sake of exploring normally, there are a few games where I make an exception. Minecraft is one of them; though since the game is about building and exploration i’m not sure it counts. The other was World of Warcraft back when I was still playing. Because I cared about the story and world that had first been introduced to me by Warcraft 3, the setting itself became interested and I really enjoyed seeing all there was to see of the 3D version of Azeroth.