So here's the deal, I am really wondering why game devs think that adding giant spiders to their RPG/MMO is a good idea. The reason I bring this up is because of Skyrim. Personally, I am a archnaphobic man but still I find the point of the giant spiders pointless. First I think they are cliche, over used, and rather dull enemies. Since they are used in EVERY RPG out there is makes my life difficult. This leads to my next point.... Why on gods green earth do they intentionally put in giant spiders, knowing that archaniphobia is one of the top phobia out there. With graphics as they are today, I literally had a heart attack facing the giant frostbite spider in Skyrim. That isnt all though, Limbo, Penmonia Overture, and many other games include they, even WoW has them....Once again making my life difficult. Well my question to the forums is simple. Why do you think they include giant spiders in games?
Is your archniphobia really that bad? I think they just put it in because it is convienient. Think about it. How often do they use it. Now think, what is cheaper? Making a whole new creature with new movement or just slapping a new skin over an older model. And if you think about it, there aren't alot of different kind of creatures that cannot be put down to the same model with different skins. Bi-pedal, quad-pedal, multi-pedal [especially spiders]. Few games out there actually try to make unique monsters with physics so out there that it is necessary to make models from scratch. I'm not saying that they don't put alot of work into their games, but the fact remains that they still stay within certain perameters sometimes.
That's not at all how it works. New models have to be designed with every new engine, even if a similar, or exactly the same, creature is used. For major titles like the Elder Scrolls, that means new models for every release.
Maybe so, maybe not. I'm inclined to believe that they are capible of recycling some of the older bits of data in creating the new models. But then... I'm no expert on computers.
I think that it is possible to make a new skin for something. It doesnt change the coding i.e. I can have the enemy do the same thing as the spider, but instead of the spider it could be a bear. To prove how easy it is someone already realeased a mod for Skyrim doing that, changing all spiders to bears. My aracniphobia isnt terrible, like I dont run around screaming when I see one, but it makes me very uncomfortable. My thought is that in video games, especially newer ones the graphics on these spiders are so realistic that you can see the damn hairs on the spider, you can see its fangs, its creepy legs in full 1080p HD graphics. That is my and many other archniphobs worst nightmare.
Giant spiders are a classic fantasy creature, why not have them in a fantasy RPG? I am highly afraid of spiders but I enjoy fighting them in games like Skyrim.
Interesting, I didnt think a archniphob would like Skyrim with all those damn spiders, well to each his own I guess. I have suffered through it before but I have no idea how u got past them in Skyrim..
Giant spiders are too unrealistic to scare me. So they're just something cool to fight. Now realistic spiders, that's an entirely different story.
Bears in a dark, dank, underground tunnel? I'm still waiting on an RPG to include enemies that crawl on walls, jump around, etc. like in Dead Space, F.E.A.R., etc.
For me a giant spider is like a spider under a magnifying glass, you see all the details and that is freakin creepy. Ever seen a pic of a bullet ant under a microscope it is the same thing....
Which is why some people like FO. See spider; shoot spider. In Skyrim you could use magic instead though. Or some kind of projectile weapon. I think you are using melee weapons too much. If you have aracniphobia, than maintain your distance. Easiest way to avoid them. Even in the tunnels, a spider on fire isn't all that scary.
I'm not sure that Bioshock is a RPG. I mean in real time on mass scales like in the ones that I mentioned... FPS speed of combat. Mass Effect has those ridiculous Geth that hop around madly, but that is not really what I am looking for. Falmer? I don't know. Don't have Skyrim... yet.
Those spiders in the Uncharted 3 LP I watched creeped me the hell out though. Ugh. But really, it's not the game developers' job to not scare people with certain phobias. If they put in spiders they likely want them to be creepy.
PrinceofMacedon I don't mind giant poisonous spiders as long as you can kill them relatively easily. I don't like being boxed into a corner by one. In Skyrim it takes past level 15 until you can dispose of them in 1-2 hits. My legs itch.
I am not ashamed to say I terribly fucking frightened by spiders, but having said that There is no greater feeling then Utterly incinerating a Giant spider I always grin when I see those god damn spawns of Satan Burn, It makes me So happy, Fears are meant to be conquered, Or in my case BURNED ALIVE!!!
I think you are making a silly point. Giant spiders aren't overused, unless you also think Humans, Orcs, Elves, Dragons, Wolves, Ghosts etc are overused aswell. And why in gods name would they recycle the old data when they're making a new game on a new engine. Ofcourse some people are afraid of spiders but that should never interfear with the devolpment and publishing of the game. Other people might be afraid of dragons, darkness or heights.
This is true but it is also limiting your product now, someone with a fear of heights will not play assassins creed which is one game series. Someone with archaniphobia doesnt play the RPG genre? A little uneven. I mean over used as common enemies. This to me is like saying dont play any games because it has all been done before. That is not my point though, games should try to be unique by NOT using them and using something else instead, it really isnt that hard from any perspective. This is why people can be upset with games like Dragon Age, also DA2's spiders are creepy as hell not the point though. Even for a game that was marketed as a 100 percent classic RPG with classic characters still introduced new elements and didnt use some of the RPG cliches. To everyone else, I agree with just murder them but in the tutorial when there are 4 of them and you have a bow as a long range weapon....Come on they got in real close for that fight, then I had to loot the damn spiders as well
50% of females have arachniphobia. while 10% of males have it. I honestly think that the idea of a giant spider in a game triggering my arachniphobia is stupid. Some games even help you conquer your fears. my friend used to be really afraid of the dark (especially when alone). So i invited her over and we played Alan Wake. After that week she wasn't afraid of the dark.
