If the present day stuff impacted core gameplay as much as Shadaloo does in SF, nobody would be complaining.
Imagine if you were playing Street Fighter and had to stop every now and then to interact with low-level employees at the Shadaloo corporate headquarters. Some players might find that to be an interesting departure rife with opportunities to learn about SF lore, sure, but others would be justifiably annoyed at not being able to throw fireballs at sumo wrestlers.
The modern stuff has consistently been a barrier towards getting into or relating to the historical story rather than enhancing it. I’m perfectly able to play a game in an ancient/historical setting and relating to a good story, good characters and fun game play without needing to know how this affects the world in the 21st century. Much less wandering cubical farms and getting berated into hacking computers via knock-off Frogger games.
I understand that the present day events are a framing device, but I still think they are unnecessary. You could have a whole series of games that focus on the Assassins through the ages and their ongoing feud with the Templars.
Think about the Castlevania series. Multiple games on multiple consoles that all focus on one basic concept - The Belmont family vs Evil/Dracula. It has no “Belmonts in present day” setup to tie them all together. A couple of the games take place in future years, but those are just those games themselves. There is no back and forth between time periods in all the games.
There is no reason that AC needed this element. I understand WHY they did it, but I just believe the games would have been more fun without it. Just my opinion.
In the AC games it feels like someone accidentally added cutscenes from a different game.
What bothers me is that it breaks immersion. I’m running around some old marketplace, with beautiful scenery, all of these NPCs milling about, realistic ambient sounds, then suddenly I’m reminded in-game with something basically shouting, “REMEMBER NONE OF THIS CRAP IS REAL.”
I think skipping the modern stuff would be addition through subtraction.
As I said though I do my best to pretend none of that modern stuff is even there.
Aw, geez.
All right, right off the bat. This is obviously one of those issues where everyone besides me is going to be in complete 100% agreement. Usually when this happens, I just smile and back away slowly or get bored after a couple minutes and leave. Not this time. Not now. I maintain that video games have a certain vision, and at some point you have to respect that vision or find something else. As long as games with crushing difficulty or impossible inventory management exist, I’m not going to get up in arms over being pulled out of whatever minor thing I’m supposed to give a giant fig about.
Johnny Bravo - Did you notice that you can’t kill innocents, you have to complete missions as they’re presented to you, all your tasks all have certain requirements, and you don’t immediately have access to all the areas, weapons, skills, etc? That’s what video games are like. The Animus is a convenient method of enforcing the rules, but if it didn’t exist, Ubisoft would’ve implemented something else. (And trust me, there is puh-lenty of complaining about Street Fighter, but that’s another issue.) If you want complete, absolute freedom, Minecraft pretty much has the market cornered on that*.
Jophiel - You’re using Penny Arcade to make your point? Really? :smack: Furthermore, not only do I completely fail to see how the modern day prevents me from getting into the historical story, it’s a compelling story in its own right. Yeah, you heard me. Shaun Hastings, Rebecca Crane, and the rest of the Assassins are great characters, and I liked following Desmond Miles so much it surprised even me. I mean, is that all it takes? Do you completely forget about Leonardo Da Vinci’s amazing inventions or Blackbeard’s tragic final battle the moment you turn off the machine?
And what do you have against Frogger, anyway?
Atamasama - How is this a problem? None of it is real! That’s what video games are! Heck, the main reason I play video games anymore is to get away from dreary, ugly reality! Furthermore, have you noticed all the helpful reminders and menus and tutorials etc. Ubisoft puts in every game? Did any of that snap you out of your suspension of disbelief? The only game I ever played that did the interface-free absolutely-no-help thing well was Myst, and even it eventually implemented a hint system.?
Guys…AC has had problems. I’ve expounded on them enough times in the past. At no point did it ever occur to me that not being able to kill and plunder and leap all over the place twenty-four-seven was a horrific gamebreaking flaw. And if you truly think that taking a break from the action every few hours was sheer torment that you just had to grit your teeth through every step of the way, I have to ask: What did you think of Guitar Hero Live?
Oh, heck with it. Here. Read.
No, my point is adequately made by me saying “The modern era parts are distracting, boring and detract from me enjoying the historical fiction portions of the game (which require no ‘bookends’ or extra narrative for me to enjoy).” The comic is just an amusing illustration of what I already stated.
Mind you, my point isn’t made to convince you. My point is made to agree with the OP when he asks “Wouldn’t it be so much better if the present day timeline stuff was removed?” Yes, in my opinion, it definitely would be.
I don’t understand how this relates to what I was saying.
The core gameplay of AC is running on buildings and stabbing people. Restrictions on progression do not impact your general ability to run on buildings and stab people. The real-world interludes are distasteful to some players because they impact core gameplay so strongly - and by “strongly” I mean they halt it completely.
For example, I liked whichever AC game it was that introduced that little town you could upgrade and collect stuff for. I happen to like little bits of management simulator mixed in with my running on buildings and stabbing people. That’s also a departure from the core gameplay, and I know for a fact that some people hated it.
The challenge in creating those sorts of framing devices is to break up the core gameplay in a way that keep things interesting and fresh while not seeming overly intrusive. There are people who feel that they missed the mark with the real world interludes. I’m not sure that you’re going to be able to argue people into deciding that they actually enjoyed it. 
The interface and tutorials enhance gameplay and are necessary. The modern day distractions do not.