>>14049375
>most people don't bother with maps anymore since the advent of cheap gps/on-phone gps.
I don't think that's a good thing, but you're right.
>>14049447
>A good quest is supposed to be challenging
<implying good quests can't be anything else
<hurr get this orc weapon, either kill an orc or steal an orc weapon from the city guards, or have an NPC kill an orc for you
This kind of choice is present in shit like Skyrim. The problem is that, most of the time, these alternatives are insignificant. For instance, you can choose who to side with during the civil war questline, but your choice will always determine the victor, and your decision will not have any lasting effects that are felt throughout the land in any meaningful ways. If the Stormcloaks win, the Khajit still roam around like gypsies, the various merfolk still hang around in Windhelm slums, and the Aldmeri Dominion still have a military presence in Skyrim. If the Empire wins, there is no hostile takeover by the Aldmeri Dominion, and everything is pretty much the exact same. There is no conflict, there is no potential negative outcome that can be influenced by your decisions, it's merely a choice between Coke or Pepsi.
In the Gothic II example, your character is in the same situation. You have a few different ways that you can acquire the weapon, but it doesn't really matter how you do it. There are no time restraints, and the reward doesn't change depending on how you acquired the weapon. Where's the challenge in having an NPC defeat an enemy for you? What consequences do you suffer if the hunter that you bring along gets killed?
>go here to finish the quest!
The minimap marks the area in which certain clues are likely to be present, you still have to take the time to look for them. Yeah, the "batman vision" helps, but you don't have to use it or the minimap for that matter, much like you don't have to directly kill an orc in Gothic II in order to acquire its weapon.
>The in-game map shows you the exact location you need to be in order to finish the quest
A bulletin board is circled in that image. Bulletin boards are merely where quests are acquired. While it is true that the quest starting point will be displayed by a waypoint, the waypoint itself doesn't show you where you need to be to finish the quest. It merely shows you where the quest begins. Some quests expect you to explore an environment and find clues for yourself, although you're right that the player is also given the handicap of the Witcher senses.
>Every single secret that you could possibly discover is already given to you at the beginning of the game
False, your overworld map is initially blank, and as you receive hints from characters, bulletin boards, or simply by exploring, your map will update accordingly. Additionally, it's possible to go exploring and complete quests that you didn't even know were available. For instance, you may run across a certain monster that has a price on its head, and when you kill it, the quest associated with that monster will be added to your journal. It's also possible to encounter scenarios that require your immediate attention. Doing this will often times trigger a new quest.
That image is basically some shitty bait, which is sad because there are some legitimate criticisms that could be made about Witcher III's quest structure.