You don’t think it’s possible to use logic or precedent to accurately predict what will (or won’t) happen? Really? Off the top of my head, I predict that North Korea will never nuke the U.S. Why? Because the U.S. has a significantly stronger military, way more nukes and far more allies (including one right next to…

Once again, I’ve already conceded that it’s theoretically possible that it could happen, just like it’s theoretically possible that anything could happen. However, we can use precedent to form accurate predictions on what will actually happen.

I feel like you don’t understand what “pedantic” actually means. You’re describing your own argument. I’m saying that, based on 40 years of historical precedent, the likelihood of your dream “choice-driven” game being made by AAA developers is effectively zero. Is it impossible? No, there’s always a remote chance, no…

Anything could theoretically happen, yes. However, we can use historical precedent to predict what will most likely happen.

I agree. Using this for generic NPCs could work well since they’re forgettable, throwaway characters. There’s a procedural detective game called Shadows of Doubt that could benefit from this.

Well, we know that AAA development costs have skyrocketed over the past 20 years. We have AAA games regularly costing well over $100m now. Hell, the expansion pack for Cyberpunk cost over $80m. We know that the scope and production values of AAA games has also skyrocketed over the past 20 years. AI tools will reduce…

Meaning can be derived from dynamic and emergent sources. For example, the wacky AI in Oblivion created all sorts of memorable (and hilarious) moments for me. Those moments are what gave an otherwise generic and forgettable game meaning to me. To claim that AI-generated dialogue will never be able to create such…

True, I can’t say with absolute certainty that a AAA developer will never make an RPG that offers a completely different experience based on player choice. I can only say it with like 99.9% certainty based on an understanding of how AAA game development works.

What claims and predictions am I making..? I’ve repeatedly stated that we know very little about Avowed and don’t have enough information to judge the accuracy of the “choice driven” description.

Okay, let’s ignore sales and player counts and focus on the review scores:

You realize that there is no formal definition of “choice driven,” right? You just decided that it specifically means “player choices completely change the game.” That doesn’t mean other people agree with your definition. Obsidian apparently doesn’t but, again, it’s way too early to tell because we don’t really know…

Hogwarts sold 22 million copies in 2023, sold 2 million copies in December, has over 5000 positive user reviews on Steam written in the past 30 days, has over 165k positive user reviews on Steam total, has a 84 Metascore and 8.5 User Score on Metacritic, has a 84 Top Critic Average and a 89% Critics Recommend on…

I don’t think it’s pedantic to form opinions based on actual knowledge. We know very little about Avowed and absolutely not enough to form any opinions on how much agency players will be given.

It boils down to semantics, really. “Choice-driven” isn’t really specific at all. It’s the exact opposite, really, as all games are “driven” by player choice. After all, games don’t play themselves and you can only progress by making choices of varying degrees. Maybe the game will force you to join one of several facti…

Nobody outside of Obsidian/MS has actually played Avowed so I’m not sure how you can claim that it isn’t choice driven. You should at least play the game before declaring that its choices are superficial.

Here’s what you said you wanted:

The main issue is that the end results just aren’t particularly convincing. They feel very stilted and unnatural. Also, I’m not looking forward to having to actually speak or type out all of my dialogue choices. That’s going to get old real quick.

I’m not seeing where you addressed my specific points? You just repeated that you essentially want a completely open-ended game where your choices can result in entirely different playthroughs with little to no overlapping content. I explained (in great detail) why that’s not feasible for AAA developers who need to…

I know, I’ve had this debate before. I like seeing how long it takes them to either stop responding or just abandon any pretense of having a genuine argument and start insulting me. pessimism cracked pretty quickly this time.

You should probably read my entire response. I’ll repost part of it: