They were enveloping mysteries, tantalising horizons.
Wherever I go, I always feel like I’m walking on the spot.
Open worlds have never been larger in terms of acreage, but they do not spend your time well.
There has never been greater pressure to standardise the format and mitigate the risk of a flop.
Purkeypile contrasts this with his memories of working onSkyrim, back in the noughties.
Like Blackreach - that was not on the schedule at all.
It’s like, vaguely hinted at, but it’s a surprise."
“Starfieldwas like 500-ish people across four studios,” Purkeypile says.
“And if you did that now, no one would play it.
Very few people would play it.
“Morrowind is a great game obviously,” he goes on.
“It’s one of my favourite games.
Which is kind of sad, because I’m old school.”
And sometimes it’s a little chaotic.
But that’s what the world is like too.
But also, as Firor says, it’s just fun.
I’m hoping that you’ll join me on this trek, and give me some headings.
I have some thoughts about topics we could address next, plucked from my pot of interview materials.
We could investigate open world memes, like the urban legends that haunt San Andreas.
How should you aestheticise size and open-endedness for their own sake?
