Everybody's favorite snuggable game developer Peter Molyneux is once again speaking his mind while making sure to mention Fable 2. This time, the chatty creator is talking about Bethesda's Oblivion, comparing its 60-70 hours of gameplay to a 20,000 page book.
"Now for me, as a designer, if I hear ’sixty or seventy hours’, then in my mind that is the equivalent of giving me a book that is twenty thousand pages long.
And if I said to you, here’s a fantastic book, go and read that… Are you likely to finish a twenty thousand page book? No.
So in Fable 2, the story lasts thirteen to fourteen hours and by the end of that story what you are like, what you look like and how the world treats you is completely up to you. If you want to be evil or good or kind or cruel, then that’s totally up to you. With Oblivion it was basically all about me killing things."
Peter Molyneux says that "Fable 2 rocks, Oblivion sucks cocks" CONFIRMED!
Actually, Peter did say that Oblivion was a "fantastic achievement," but it's clear that he doesn't have time for such a huge game. It's a fair point to make, since Oblivion, for all its beauty, could be a little overwhelming at times. That said, I almost completely finished the main game save for a final quest (where I got screwed over by the stupid weight limits) so I would suggest that, if a 20,000 page book is good enough, you'll damn well finish it.
Just make sure not every book is that long, and we're fine.
Contest:
10:05 AM on 10.21.2008
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WHAT NOW PETER?!
So some people will read the 20,000 page book, as well as the foreword, the appendix and footnotes.
(And in my opinion, Oblivion was lucky it had them, since the base game and much of the plot were pretty dull :P. The Dark Brotherhood saved that game for me. That and mods; can never have enough mods)
p.s. i'm a sucker for ragdolls and believe every game should have Euphoria physics for bodies...
Now if he said Oblivion was like War and Peace, I could at least understand it. It's longer than most are willing to put in, but certainly not unachievable by any means. Works like those are about being good, not appealing to the largest demographic.
Instead he makes it sound like having too much to do is a distraction and instead people should be gratefull that they will not be bogged down by an abundance of content in Fable 2. And while we're at it, lets take a jab at reading, cuz who reads anymore?
I'm starting to think someone should keep tabs on all the off-the-wall things the Fable 2 team has come out with lately.
This.
Oblivion was great, but it was far too repetitive and the main plot sucked. Is there any way I can fight an enemy that doesn't act just like every other damn enemy in the game?
Molyneux isn't saying that Oblivion is bad, just that a person like him (and like me) simply doesn't have enough time to play a game like oblivion end-to-end. With my work and social schedule, Mass Effect was pushing it for length for me. COD4 was just long enough. I'm never going to finish FFXII. I just don't have the time. What I think Molyneux fundamentally means is that he prizes quality over quantity, whereas some people really like quantity. That's not casting aspersions on you guys who played 90% of Oblivion, it's just recognizing that there are people for whom that is way too much.
I'm one of those people, and as someone who couldn't finish Oblivion, I can't wait for Fable II.
It could be his personality or simply the humane touch he gives to his titles by actually making feelings work as a game mechanic. I have read/seen nearly all his interviews during the development of this game and it's very apparent the guy puts more to it than "developing skills". If you get to see one of his interviews take a look at the person who is doing the interview and you can just see a face denoting: "Whoa! This is not John Developer, this guy is something else!"
Im definetly picking up my copy of Fable 2 today.
I really don't feel that the length/amount of content was the problem with Oblivion. It was the convoluted leveling/skill system that made no sense to anyone who hadn't read 5 pages worth of internet literature. I would've finished Oblivion if I didn't rest at an inn and wake up to a completely different game.
For the record, Oscuro's Oblvion Overhaul makes the game longer and harder, but also deeper and more rewarding. IMO, OOO is the -only- way to play Oblivion and I strongly recommend that if you ever get the itch to play Oblivion again, you DL OOO and KCAS (Kubo's Character Advancement System).
I haven't been following Fable II very closely (sick of hype in general) but I was thinking about picking it up at the end of the week, but this whole 'its like 10hrs long' business is a bucket of cold water. I might wait to see what others have to say about the game itself.
I want that mod for a few other things!
Loved that game so much. <3
I could never finish the expansion though. Maybe I'll go back to it one day.
Anyway, what's with game designers knocking other people's work these days? Can't we all just get along and acknowledge when other people do a good job? Too much insecurity.
Did you ever give the FCOM mod a go? It was a beast to set up, but worth it.
Jim, you said " almost completely finished the main game save for a final quest" and then "if a 20,000 page book is good enough, you'll damn well finish it."
You didn't finish it but you thought it was worth finishing? Maybe Molyneux and you have something in common . . .
I also made it quite clear that it was due to outside forces that I didn't complete the game, nor did I say that I won't ever finish the last quest.
Oblivion is worth finishing if you like that sort of thing. The fact that people in this thread have said they finished it proves my original point.
I think the 20,000 page book may be accurate in terms of the in-game books in Oblivion, though. Imagine if you had read all of them?
Was it 70 hours long with massive environments to explore and hundreds of side-quests to embark on? Nope. It was a short, 3 hours tops game with a very linear path. I'm sure, despite the fact you can beat the game in about 45 minutes once you know all the puzzles, there are people who've clocked 70+ hours into Portal just like there are people who put that much time into Oblivion just to finish it ONCE.
I'm not saying Oblivion is a bad game. What I'm saying is as long as your game's content is extremely good, time becomes irrelevant.
"Oblivion is worth finishing if you like that sort of thing. The fact that people in this thread have said they finished it proves my original point."
...Like the readers are destructoid qualify as any sort of gamer "sample". It proves that "hardcore" people have that much time to invest. The sheer number of copies of Oblivion that filled (and still fill) Gamestop's and Ebay would argue just the opposite.
Still, even if Fable 2 is short, if it can deliver a high quality gaming experience, then I'll be perfectly happy.
I hate it when people put down obviously good games to lift up their own. It's like when the movie Existence printed on the box, "Makes the Matrix look like child's play"