Gamefaqs would implode this game idea

by DerekT07, Tennessee, Friday, July 26, 2013, 09:41 (4140 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Why would updating the world with new stuff necessarily have to erase what's already there? No reason.

So wouldn't that require a canon explanation for how the new stuff came to be? I don't think "Oh, you just didn't notice that before" would be a sufficient explanation. For what it's worth, I think your idea is a good one. I just don't think it fits here. The game you're talking about has to be designed ground-up around this one particular feature (really, lack-of a feature). The player gets no feedback of progression, so I think for many the game could be frustrating. Also, I think a big hole is when the player is forced to stop playing in the middle of a long "quest line" or whatever the missions would be. The player would be forced to start over completely. It's the same feeling of frustration as when you lose your save file, or it corrupts, or the power goes out, or whatever else happens to make you lose your progress. There might be ways of "overcoming" that, but I think if the game still has a narrative focus, those ways will probably still be dissatisfying to many.