# Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith loved that Baldur’s Gate 3 closed off story paths based on your decisions, but defends Bethesda’s approach: ‘They were both fun, they’re just fun in different ways’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/skyrim-lead-designer-bruce-nesmith-loved-that-baldurs-gate-3-closed-off-story-paths-based-on-your-decisions-but-defends-bethesdas-approach-they-were-both-fun-theyre-just-fun-in-different-wa/
- Published: 2026-11-08T18:33:45+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T19:34:18+00:00
- Original publisher: PC Gamer
- Original article: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/skyrim-lead-designer-bruce-nesmith-loved-that-baldurs-gate-3-closed-off-story-paths-based-on-your-decisions-but-defends-bethesdas-approach-they-were-both-fun-theyre-just-fun-in-different-ways/
- Topics: Culture, Entertainment, Fashion, Gaming

## Key points

- Nesmith enjoyed Baldur’s Gate 3’s consequential choices.
- He still supports Bethesda’s open quest design.
- Both approaches can offer distinct kinds of fun.

## Summary

Bruce Nesmith, lead designer on Skyrim, says he enjoyed how Baldur’s Gate 3 makes some player choices close off parts of the story, while still supporting Bethesda’s more open approach. He argues the two styles create different kinds of fun: Bethesda lets players pursue many factions, while Larian’s restrictions can make decisions feel more consequential.

Nesmith praised Larian’s adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons rules and said he would need another character to explore paths he had missed. The article notes that Bethesda games have also used mutually exclusive quests, including rival guilds in Morrowind and Skyrim’s Civil War and Dark Brotherhood stories. It argues that such choices work best when they feel meaningful rather than forced, and suggests The Elder Scrolls 6 could make more use of them.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.