Linearity of Locations

Recently I have played a RPG called Shadowflare (I don't expect that anybody knows it here). It's about ten years old, same as D2 LoD. I like the game, but there's one thing that really bothers me: vast, almost unexplorable locations with a lot of secret paths, which usually doesn't go anywhere. It only forces the player to run through the places, which are already cleaned from monsters and distract him from the main quest.
So I'd like to ask the alpha testers (or the developers): Are the locations in PoE like in
a) Shadowflare - huge, lot of dungeons and secret places, almost boring
b) Diablo 2 - quite big, some dungeons, but it's not so hard to find the right way to the next location
c) Titanquest - medium, the player can just take the main road and doesn't have to explore the rest of the location
d) Dungeon Siege 2 - linear, sometimes a small path leading to a cave, dungeon etc.

Forces and distract are right assuming those are the words you meant to say.

Excellent question, I was wondering myself.

Seems to be somewhat similar to D2 from what I've seen. Wait for one of the alpha guys to post, they should know.

It's similar to D2 (sizewise) but each instance can vary in size. You do not have to explore the whole area if you don't want to, in fact Purepower and I will be doing a rush though tonight.

Thanks, Covert, I'm glad to hear it. I have one more question: Are there always some natural borders like rocks, cliffs or rivers that make an obvious end of certain area? In other words, can you run into an invisible wall, or be stopped by a sparse forest, through which you were running before?

Borders are always fairly obvious. Cliffs, rivers, etc.

As for the original topic, it's a difficult question to answer. PoE has a good variety of level layouts which definitely helps to keep the game interesting. The Ship Graveyard is very wide and open while The Ledge is very narrow and linear. A nice feature is that if you know where you're going then you can usually rush through a level if you want.

From what you're saying, it reminds me NeverWinter Nights... loved that game.

I'm guessing it will be pretty similar to Diablo2 in style with the acts and all.

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bellabears wrote:

I'm guessing it will be pretty similar to Diablo2 in style with the acts and all.

There are similarities and there are key differences. It's kind of difficult to explain in words. After you play through the game once and experience it you'll know what I mean.