Yes, the toy vs. game distinction is a highly useful one, though I read the OP as talking more about entertainment software rather than about games (not toys).
Procedural generation helps, but at the moment it’s still limited. A different pattern of corridors with random mobs from a predefined set doesn’t generate that much novelty. Diablo is widely acknowledged as a loot collection game, not a world exploration game. However there is a lot of room to grow so in the future I expect procedural generation to create much more interesting worlds.
Yes, the toy vs. game distinction is a highly useful one, though I read the OP as talking more about entertainment software rather than about games (not toys).
Procedural generation helps, but at the moment it’s still limited. A different pattern of corridors with random mobs from a predefined set doesn’t generate that much novelty. Diablo is widely acknowledged as a loot collection game, not a world exploration game. However there is a lot of room to grow so in the future I expect procedural generation to create much more interesting worlds.