Does anyone else see the similarity here between what happened with BS3 and Dreamfall. Both are follow ups to very successfully games that had a solid fan base. In both cases the developer wished to attract new gamers to the genre by altering a tried and true formula to make the game 'more exciting', 'introduce tension' and have it conform to console playing. I don't know how successful BS3 was in garnering a new market of Adventurers. I do know that many don't see it as an exceptional game, and quite a few refused to play it because of the controls (myself included).
I do believe that Dreamfall is an adventure, but I'm sad to say it's not the type of adventure that will attract gamers like me. I hope it does put Adventures on the map for mainstream gamers; maybe they will be hooked and want to play more.
I just think that changing an adventure to attract mainstream gamers alters it so much that what might be gained is offset by the loss of the existing market. Developers can either listen to us and give us more of what we love or try to add elements that they think mainstream gamers want. More of the same needn't be stagnant or rehashed. There are plenty of stories to be told, and oodles of ways to present challenging puzzles. You don't need more than 2 buttons to have great gameplay. You don't need state of the art graphics to stimulate the imagination.
Referring to the Charles Cecil interview at AG, I find it fitting that he is talking of good old point and click for BS 4.
I played Broken Sword 3 with a gamepad, and I found that made it much easier to control.
I quite liked it with the keyboard. A lot of people didn't, and we've very much taken on board the fact that people resented us moving away from point & click. We have a very loyal audience, and if people complain, we take what they say seriously, because that ultimately means that we can keep writing games. Our primary audience is the people that play Broken Sword. We want to expand, of course, and that's what we're always aiming for, but we won't do anything if we can possibly help it that is likely to alienate the core audience.
Coming from him, this is heartening indeed.