Goronmon

I'm not really talking about preferences. I'm asking more about the niche that games like Skyrim/Fallout/Starfield fill. If it is so simple to just make "Skyrim but better" or "Starfield but better" then where are all the games from other developers that are just that?

Or from another angle. Where is the Path of Exile for Skyrim?

It's like that that old programming joke:

The first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 90 percent of the development time. The remaining 10 percent of the code accounts for the other 90 percent of the development time.

I actually backed the original Kickstarter.

If it's close, when is the release date?

The small improvements they have made in Starfield are alright, but it feels like the bar was set with Skyrim and they can’t even really match something from 12 years ago.

Or maybe game development is just hard? Why haven't other "better" developers created a game that improves upon Skyrim?

Look at Baldur's Gate 3. It's "small improvements" to the type of game that Larian has been working on for many years at this point.

Bethesda’s seeming disdain for anything that could be considered a fun and seamless mechanic is frustrating.

Or that the technology available doesn't really make this type of setup reasonable?

Star Citizen is trying to do this and it's been how long with how much money spent?

Would Starfield be a better game if they sacrificed the quests/content/companions and just made a game that was more like Elite Dangerous or No Man's Sky?

That’s fun, that’s what I wanted, and I don’t think it’s really expecting that much.

I mean, CIG has been trying to make a game that does what you want for the last 13 years and they aren't close yet. Maybe it's not as easy as you want it to be?

No one is really posting content to any of the alternatives really. Maybe if you are really into crypto-hype or other very niche topics, there will be a little content. But not much.

To be honest, I never use Wordpad.

Either I just need to edit something quick, where Notepad excels, or in going to use just about any other option for text editor or word processor.

It's surprising to see how much attention this is getting. And I can't help but think how many people commenting about it actually use it to any real degree.

BG3 is definitely the better roleplaying game.

Only in the context of the specific set-pieces provided within the game though. You have no way to work outside of the very specific rails that BG3 provides for interacting within the game.

If Skyrim is a mile-wide but an inch deep, then BG3 is an inch wide but a mile deep.

Elder Scrolls games don't really have any direct competition.

Just releasing a slightly improved version of Skyrim would make that game the "ultimate fantasy simulator".

They are such different games that direct comparisons don't seem very useful.

Larian is actually a pretty large studio at this point.