Why do developers think they know better how to play their games than the players? Why do they limit the player to ensure the game is played exactly as they imagined?
So, we have this large, open world, sandboxy game, in which, most of the time, you are allowed to do whatever you want, however you want, except when you are playing a mission. By God, if you are playing a mission you better do everything exactly the way the developers dreamed it up. If you do not abide their rigid set of rules, because you are trying to have some fun or test the game's limits, you should be punished.
I understand some linearity is needed in the main quest line, to advance the plot, but side quests shouldn't be linear in a game like this.
Here's an example that perfectly illustrates my issue:
After liberating an outpost, I noticed that I unlocked one of Mr. Chiffon's hunting quests. I accepted it. Turns out I had to kill a rare rhino with a shotgun. I was like, oh it is a perfect opportunity to use my pre-order bonus Elephant Gun, which I finally manged to redeem after one and half week of the game's launch, mind you. The Elephant Gun is basically an overpowered, double barreled shotgun, that can one-hit kill anything in the game. I carry it most of the time to compensate for the abundance of unreasonably aggressive wild life.
Anyway, I thought the hunt for the rhino would be super cool, if I shot it with the Elephant Gun from the back of an elephant. So I hopped on one and headed to the objective marker. There, I saw I had to pick up the crappy starter shotgun, to initiate the quest. I thought, whatever, I pick the crud up and immediately switch back to the Elephant Gun, it is a shotgun after all. I climbed off the elephant, picked up the crapgun, then the elephant vanished in front of my eyes. What the hell? I grabbed the Elephant Gun and headed for the rhino. I took the shot and the game told me I failed the quest, because I didn't kill the damn thing with a shotgun. Cause, you know, a double barreled shotgun, that looks like a shotgun, operates like a shotgun, uses shotgun ammo and for all intents and purposes, is indeed a shotgun, is apparently not a shotgun.
There were two conscious decisions made by the dev team to cripple the player in this mission:
Disable the elephants to prevent the player from ramming the rhino to death with them.
Do not classify the overpowered pre-order gun as a shotgun, so our kind customers, who were nice (stupid) enough to pre-order our game couldn't kill the rhino in a single shot.
Circle strafing around a rock, unloading countless shotgun shells into the beast is the way it is meant to be played!
It is not just Ubisoft who makes this mistake, lots of other developers sacrifice the player's freedom to make sure their "vision" stays intact. Of course, they fail to realize this kinda ruins the experience.
Actually, the.700 Nitro, as in real life, uses Sniper Rifle ammunition instead of Shotgun Ammo. Also, the quest would be way to easy if you could kill the Rhino with a single shot. Instead, you have to run a round and find a clever way to shot the dangerous animal with a shortranged weapon without getting killed. I think that the developers made a good decision.
1. You might wanna check if the Elephant Gun is even classed as a shotgun (do this in the trading post)
2. What you don't realise is Mr Chiffon is obviously very strict and precise with how he wants his fashion to look making it quite understandable why their would be a specific weapon to use.
3. I just stood on the rock next to the pathway and it could not hit me.
LOL, .700 Nitro a shotgun. That's OK, most of the world has been convinced guns are evil and therefore have little to no real experience with them, so that's OK, I could see the mistake.
The heritage of the Nitro was based on a very large bore, and no need or desire for a weapon that could carry more than 2 rounds. The reasoning was they would be carried around in stiffling heat and unbearable humidity, so they couldn't weigh as much as a crew served weapon, but had to have the knock out power and enough mass on it's own to absorb enough recoil so shooting it would not be lethal for the shooter.
The large bore, and two cartridges naturally made the "fit" for gunsmiths familiar with shotgun design, i.e. the large barrels in a side by side break-action affair. The intent was to have a cartridge potent enough to take the largest of game with a single shot, the second shot at the ready for a quick followup in case of poor placement with the original shot or a freakishly enduring animal.
Yep, it's a break barrel side by side just like an old-timey shotgun. There is where the similarity ends abruptly.
DAS