Zelda is a really great series for showing the power of balance between implicit and explicit challenges. Combat, for instance, is always very explicit. There are icons on the screen clearly showing what button will initiate a jumping attack or a sword swing, as well as others corresponding to arrows or bombs. If that isn't specific enough for you, there's even the option to listening to advice from your fairy about exactly how to kill this beast. This is offset with a remarkable quest system: a spelled out critical path; some other quests which are largely hinted at, but not forced; and a whole load of quests which aren't even required, or eluded to, unless you go looking for them.
I wonder what would happen if all of those optional quests were suddenly spelled out in great detail during the game. Oh yes, that's right.
Runescape would happen. Every single quest you can possibly do is explicitly implied... explicitly implied? Well yeah, the quests are completely spelt out; then again, they aren't exactly forced. Perhaps it is more useful to the target market for Runescape, which could be a bit hard to gauge since it is an MMO spread largely by word of mouth (or at least that's how I heard about it). From the community I was in back in those dark days of playing it, I can remember a fairly strong early-teen contingent. Then again, Zelda has a similar target market, albeit those owning consoles.
How can a perfect balance be determined? Guess this is another example of people not straying far from the tried and true. Perhaps it would be perilous to even try. And yes, of course we're gonna try it for a moment.
Most current games follow the formula "explicit combat, explicit critical path, implicit sub-quests". What I was thinking is, what if you implied the critical path? What if it wasn't forced? What if the player had to actively go look for what they actually had to do in the game, rather than being spoon-fed by annoying "HEY! LISTEN!" or by extensive quest logs?
On the plus side, it would be a new experience for players. I can't think of a game that has you doing something like this. Actually, that's not true. There are some games where reviewers complained about "wandering around for hours, trying to find out what you actually have to do next". Perhaps players don't have the attention span or the motivation to have to search out their main objective.
Maybe if other things were made explicit in its place, like.......................................................... optional quests? Hmmm, maybe not the best way of going about it. Well I can't say that either, cause it hasn't actually been tried. If the earliest part of the critical path was made explicit (and was an absolutely AWESOME experience), then perhaps this wouldn't be so bad? Once again, unconfirmed, and in desperate need of an attempt.
And so it seems, the tried and true is once again the winner. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if a solid innovation is made in this area, we could be on to some good game sales...
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