| shikamaru317 said: Yikes, I just saw video comparing Avowed to Skyrim for some reason, small details like physics, NPC's schedules, shooting flying birds, etc. These people just don't get that what is essentially a AA game made by 100 devs in modern times can't be compared to Skyrim, a AAA game made by 100 devs in 2011. AAA's take substantially more developers now than they did then, the average AAA dev team is now 300+, and at the upper end of AAA dev team sizes can reach several times that many. Bethesda's latest, Starfield, had an internal development team of 350+ and 500+ including external partners, and still didn't come close to what Skyrim achieved with 100 devs in 2011. Comparing a modern game like Avowed made by 100 devs to Skyrim is just silly. You're just not going to get a Skyrim level of detail in 4 years of development with 100 devs these days. |
One thing I hate about modern day videogame discourse is this incessant need to compare every single videogame to every single videogame until you confirmation bias your way into saying the videogame sucks, even if the games are opting for something completely different. Every single videogame has to be exactly the same and all do the same things at the same quality or higher.
For example, it's not that people are comparing the whole videogame, but they will desperately search for a single specific feature to compare, they will go out their way (confirmation bias) to find a flaw, they'll take a game and break it down into its 30 different components and then comb through each and every one to find something in which another videogame does better and then use that to beat it down with and be like "See? Terrible! I told you!" Despite the two games opting for completely different things.
I don't understand why Asmongold still has a fanbase, there's so many different things I could say about him but nowadays all he does is rage-bait and react to real life politics, he is a washed up former WoW player that now simply sits and reacts to other shit and milks drama for all it's worth. He has 8 videos on Avowed and 7 are negative, Lol, multiple of them were pre-release.
Avowed and The Elder Scrolls are two different types of RPGs aiming for different things, it does not matter how far apart they are, Avowed is more of an "Arcade" feeling RPG with a focus on Narrative/Choices/Gameplay whilst Elder Scrolls is more focused on the Sim/World. G2 made a good point that Avowed is more like Mass Effect than Elder Scrolls, in the sense that they're both narrative focused RPGs with a focus on choices, but not being sim-like, I can't steal in Mass Effect, I can't go to the Citadel and slaughter everyone, I can't smack around every single physical object in the world.
Looked at the video briefly and the comparisons were: Prop Physics, Water Ripples, Shooting Arrows in the Air, Shooting Arrows at Birds, Fish, Crowds and Extras, NPC Schedules, Splashes, Attacking Friendly NPCs, Attacking Critters, Guards Attacking Hostile NPCs, Enemies Don't Follow Forever, Arrows in Stone vs Wood, No Theft, No Lockpicking System, Can't Drag Objects in Avowed, Can't Drop Inventory Items,
Are we really losing our shit at half of this list? Really? Avowed is terrible because it doesn't have great water ripples/splashes? Avowed is terrible because I can't shoot my arrows directly into the air and watch them fall back down? Avowed is terrible because arrows don't bounce off metal? Avowed is terrible because I can't kill Birds and Critters?
The ones I do agree with, as actually important criticisms, are the NPC Schedules, Crowds, Guards Ignoring Enemies because that does have a notable impact on making certain elements of the game feel too static, I would like to see the NPCs actually move around and react more as that would help make the world feel even more alive and lived in.
Being unable to drop Inventory Items...Is a complete non-issue, Lmao. Just fucking scrap it or sell it? Crafting materials don't take up any weight in your inventory so there's no difference between dropping or scrapping aside from the fact that you'll actually receive beneficial items if you scrap so they'd be zero logic in dropping over scrapping if dropping was even in!
I like that enemies don't follow me over large distances, because quite frankly, sometimes I got my ass beaten and had to run back and recover, Lol. The Elder Scrolls Online annoys me a little sometimes with how long it takes to lose an enemy, Lol.
No Lockpicking System is funny, considering how many people usually complain about every lockpicking system ever implemented in games, Avowed simply cut that out and said "If you have the required amount of lockpicks, then you can unlock it, we don't make you do a minigame for it" and you'd think with how much people complain about lockpick minigames, they'd appreciate that?
NPCs do actually react to your thieving shit sometimes, I can speak from personal experience, they say things like “you know I can see you rifling through my things, don’t you?” and someone encountered a beggar who said “Haven’t you Aedyrans taken enough already” when he took an item next to him, Lol. Picking up the dagger in the crime scene murder will have the guard say “Hey this is a crime scene!!”
They also straight up explain it in the game itself why you can get away with stuff, the first being that you're the Emperors Envoy so you're already above most the population in status to begin with and secondly, you're a bloody Godlike. Who the hell is going to stand up to you over a little theft? Lmao. It's basically "I'm a Godlike and Emperor's Envoy and this shit is mine because I need it, deal with it" and some even reply with "I hope you put it to good use" the citizens of Living Lands are either terrified of the Envoy/Godlike or believe he needs the items more than them.
"You're to be treated as an extended hand of the Emperor and you can do what you please" is a line said in the very beginning.
Avowed simply avoided a lot of the simulation elements to focus on the game elements, it doesn't make it right or wrong, it's just a different focus, I like The Elder Scrolls sim elements but I wouldn't want every RPG to be like it, I like Avowed's more focus on the gameyness but I wouldn't want every RPG to be like it.
Prop Physics, Drag Objects, are both things The Elder Scrolls does better than everyone else specifically because of their engine.
I also find it hilarious to try to rip Avowed apart for not having the same level of "physics" as The Elder Scrolls despite the fact that when Starfield released, I distinctly remember arguments, which went along the lines of...
- Person A: "Bethesda engine sucks! They need to dump it!"
- Persona B: "They can't! The engine is essential for the Physics/World State!"
- Perone A: "Nobody cares about that stuff!"
And now we're saying Avowed sucks for not having the same level of physics that people were saying nobody cares about, Lmao.
Mass Effect would also be attacked for the same reasons if rage-bait Youtubers were big back then, no stealing, I can't slaughter the Citadel, I can't drag objects. Some RPGs are simply not bothered about the Sim stuff, such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, The Witcher and more focused on the Narrative/Choices whilst some RPGs are less focused on the Narrative/Choices and more on the Sim like The Elder Scrolls.
This Thread Reacted to That Video - If you want a straight to the point, very fun RPG, focused more on pure gameplay, which won't drown you in systems and can be finished at a decent length, doesn't overstay its welcome, Avowed is your game.
Thank You For Coming To My Ted Talk.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 22 February 2025
