| I think it all comes back to the debate about whether or not Fallout 3 should be more real-time or more turn-based. Real-time people like mini-games, turn-based people like to just simply apply their skill. But why can't we just have both, like in Oblivion? In Oblivion, if you wanted to pick locks yourself, you could do so. But, if you wanted to just apply your skill to it, you could also do that.
In the context of the computers, I think you could easily find a balance of having most computers in the game world being "skill-specific" and only accessible through your computer knowledge, but also having a limited set of other computers in the game world which are more puzzle/riddle oriented wherein it is the player's "metaknowledge" that solves the puzzle.
I agree that the overuse of "metaknowledge" can undermine the skill system, however I would put forward the idea that sometimes (not always) it is better to use the "metaknowledge" instead of a character skill, mainly as a means of making the interactions with computers, or lockpicking, or whatever more interesting in general, and to prevent the interaction from becoming cumbersome and tedious.
I can think of numerous examples of mini-games and puzzles/riddles that I have enjoyed in just about every RPG ever made, and I think something would be lost if these were done away with. I can also think of numerous examples of games that have come out where the entire use of a specific skill (for example computers) was tedious and boring because it wasn't fleshed out very well and didn't allow for enough creative thought on the player's part. In these instances, interactions with things like computers and locks can become nothing more than obnoxious barriers towards accessing the rest of the game's content. IMO, it's more of an issue of finding the appropriate balance between mini-games and skill use, rather than just one or the other.  |