One of the original game designers for Oblivion has explained why he feels a recurring Bethesda design choice is a "necessary evil." Certain design decisions in Bethesda RPGS have been points of contention for a long time, but the recent release of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered last week and Starfield in 2023 have highlighted how outdated some practics feel. Other open-world games have abandoned elements like loading screens, but it looks like that particular inclusion is going to stay for future Bethesda titles, regardless of how fans feel.
In an interview with VideoGamer, former Bethesda employee and Oblivion game designer Bruce Nesmith says that loading screens have been “a necessary bane of the existing [sic] of Bethesda since time immemorial," and that future Bethesda games will most likely continue to use loading screens and not have a seamlessly connected world. Nesmith explained that the segmented design and use of loading screens are integral to how Bethesda games work, due to their level of detail and graphics intensity.
There have been a lot of great open-world RPGs, and many aspects of common design direction were inspired by Oblivion back in 2006. According to Nesmith, while he and Bethesda...
