The real question in all this is: "why?"

 

Certain moguls of the industry would argue that replayability is the key advantage of character freedom - that, if the vast majority of players played a game only once, then character freedom is wasted as non-linearity converges to higher value only as play-throughs -> infinity.

 

Their counter-argument, and it does have a degree of merit, is that it's better to present one perspective well than to present several perspectives most players will not explore. They base this contention on the somewhat-flawed observation that gamers these days have short attention spans and will maximize their experience only the first time through (flawed because of the chicken-and-egg issue).

 

What's your answer?

Kill everyone that doesn't agree with me.

The real question in all this is: "why?"

 

Certain moguls of the industry would argue that replayability is the key advantage of character freedom - that, if the vast majority of players played a game only once, then character freedom is wasted as non-linearity converges to higher value only as play-throughs -> infinity.

 

Their counter-argument, and it does have a degree of merit, is that it's better to present one perspective well than to present several perspectives most players will not explore.  They base this contention on the somewhat-flawed observation that gamers these days have short attention spans and will maximize their experience only the first time through (flawed because of the chicken-and-egg issue).

 

What's your answer?

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There has to be a worthwhile reason to replay. I know some people like doing the virtual life thing, but I always think well I'd be better off spending that time doing real life . On the other hand a story based game is like reading a good book for me, although interactive.

You needn't get the Water Chip, you could deal with the Mutant situation instead (wheter by destroying them or joining them).

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I thought that only cropped up after you found it ?

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If I recall correctly it would only popped up as an objective given to the Vault Dweller by the Overseer after the Water Chip was returned, or it could be an objective the Vault Dweller discovered on his own without having to find the chip.

I'm pretty sure that's the case. Even then, people always talk about how it is possible to beat the game in a ridiculously short period of time if they know where they are going.

Like using tripwire mines in Half-Life as set-once portable jump-assist launchpads to skip over most of Surface Tension and finish the game in half an hour?