Topic: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Zlen]

i wouldnt want a new fallout 4  next year or the year after.. i waited 4-5years for skyrim to come out, i would like to think maybe around about the same amount of time for the next installment of fallout (well maybe 3-4 years is ok.)

So that would be 2012 then, my point exactly.

[hesbighesred]

Bulk of the work is done so I'm pretty sure they're already working on whatever is next.
Next big Bethesda thing would be Fallout 4 (unless they start a new series, which I'd love to see).
Anyway, lets savour Skyrim first

I'd love either a present dayish or sci-fi RPG with the openness of Elder Scrolls and the same levelling system too. I really liked Fallout but the Elder Scrolls 'learn as you do' philosophy beats the pants out of the more traditional levelling systems for me. After playing Morrowind all other RPG's have just felt hideously limiting in comparison, and really arbitrary. I also love that in Elder Scrolls you can actually 'practise' stuff, your levels aren't tied to the amount of xp-earning objects in the world. Instead, you can get to full blade skill and full conjuration skill (for example) simply by summoning and killing your own creatures. You can become a master without seeing the whole world, but it makes sense because you've practised.

I like that much more than an arbitrary XP gain because I handled a conversation 'correctly' which then improves my magic, by giving me an extra skill from my upgrade tree. Much prefer skills improving rather than one day I can't cast fireballs, the next day my fireballs are 100% perfect every time. Or because I learned spells at the beginning I now can't even hold a sword.

The conversation type thing is a particularly important difference in terms of Elder Scrolls. I'd have thought that taking away XP gain makes you less inclined to do quests, but in fact I almost find it the reverse - I do quests because I actually want to, rather than because I 'need' to to rinse the most XP possible at every stage. I do quests because they're in character, or because an item sounds interesting, or because I like the quest-giver etc etc. I also then don't feel the need to re-load quests over and over to maximise all the xp gain or because it didn't quite go the way I wanted or whatever.

Elder Scrolls games feel much more organic, they really feel like an alternate world rather than I game that keeps reminding me it's being played.

[doc_antonio]

So that would be 2012 then, my point exactly.

fair enough i was bringin fallout:new vegas into the equation which would have made it 2014

[Zlen]

Elder Scrolls games feel much more organic, they really feel like an alternate world rather than I game that keeps reminding me it's being played.

Agree with everything you've written. The joy is in exploration and freedom.
I was initially worried by Bethesda's murmurs about streamlining. It's a word that RPG fans dread and after seeing what Bioware did with Dragon's age fears are well founded.

To be quite honest I don't like the concept of perks at all. To me these things should be race and item based, but overall Bethesda are doing a good job in bringing out the best in what they have.
Exploration and freedom.

[Dr Manhattan]

i wouldnt want a new fallout 4  next year or the year after.

I would. Infact I want it next week.

[hesbighesred]

Agree with everything you've written. The joy is in exploration and freedom.
I was initially worried by Bethesda's murmurs about streamlining. It's a word that RPG fans dread and after seeing what Bioware did with Dragon's age fears are well founded.

To be quite honest I don't like the concept of perks at all. To me these things should be race and item based, but overall Bethesda are doing a good job in bringing out the best in what they have.
Exploration and freedom.

Yep. The perks I can take or leave but I actually really like what they've done with stats. I wish they'd left athletics in and taken the handholding map and fast travel away, but you can clearly see from the gameplay vids that the streamlining does what it was meant to do - you just play, and the character levels itself. Sure, you can force it, and I surely will (casting spells over and over to improve magic etc) but you don't actually have to do it, it works fine with you just playing, where in previous games you actually had to 'force' skill up and level to make a balanced character in the mid game.

I really can't wait for this to be honest. I'd actually hoped to be unemployed for this one but, curses, I have got another short contract with EFL teaching. Hehehehehe.

[stoa]

Yep. The perks I can take or leave but I actually really like what they've done with stats. I wish they'd left athletics in and taken the handholding map and fast travel away, but you can clearly see from the gameplay vids that the streamlining does what it was meant to do - you just play, and the character levels itself.

Fast travel is annoying and good in a way. There is nothing worse than walking through areas you know for the 100th time. On the other hand, it takes away some of the joy in feeling really at home in the game world. It's one thing that didn't make GTA IV all that enjoyable. You didn't have to drive through the streets (knowing them inside out after a while). You just stopped a taxi and you got where you wanted to be. I know you don't have to use that, but on the other hand, why shouldn't I, when it makes it so much easier...

Two Worlds 2 has a good system in my view. They have teleports all over the world, but you also get personal teleport platforms you can use, whenever you like. So, if you're somewhere in the middle of the woods and want to go somewhere else, but not walk back to where you are right now at a later point in time, you just put your platform there and you can teleport there later. Then you pick the platform up again and use it somewhere else.

[Gobias Industries]

Fast travel is annoying and good in a way. There is nothing worse than walking through areas you know for the 100th time. On the other hand, it takes away some of the joy in feeling really at home in the game world. It's one thing that didn't make GTA IV all that enjoyable. You didn't have to drive through the streets (knowing them inside out after a while). You just stopped a taxi and you got where you wanted to be. I know you don't have to use that, but on the other hand, why shouldn't I, when it makes it so much easier...

Two Worlds 2 has a good system in my view. They have teleports all over the world, but you also get personal teleport platforms you can use, whenever you like. So, if you're somewhere in the middle of the woods and want to go somewhere else, but not walk back to where you are right now at a later point in time, you just put your platform there and you can teleport there later. Then you pick the platform up again and use it somewhere else.

To be fair I barely used the taxi in IV. And with fast travel, I'll use it tactically at lower levels, cos I don't want to get fucked up by running into giants. But when I'm a bit tougher, I'll try to ride or walk everywhere.

[hesbighesred]

Fast travel is annoying and good in a way. There is nothing worse than walking through areas you know for the 100th time. On the other hand, it takes away some of the joy in feeling really at home in the game world. It's one thing that didn't make GTA IV all that enjoyable. You didn't have to drive through the streets (knowing them inside out after a while). You just stopped a taxi and you got where you wanted to be. I know you don't have to use that, but on the other hand, why shouldn't I, when it makes it so much easier...

Two Worlds 2 has a good system in my view. They have teleports all over the world, but you also get personal teleport platforms you can use, whenever you like. So, if you're somewhere in the middle of the woods and want to go somewhere else, but not walk back to where you are right now at a later point in time, you just put your platform there and you can teleport there later. Then you pick the platform up again and use it somewhere else.

Morrowind had fast travel between certain points - a service from the mages guild and these giant insect things called silt striders. You rarely had to retread loads of the same old ground unless you wanted to, and even then you had spells to compensate. What it really did was just make you work a little bit, and the compensation was the immersion and how much more stuff you found.

I never once hankered for a fast travel playing morrowind, and in fact I doubt many people would if they tried it now. But it appeals to 'newer' users, or people who lack the patience to stick with a game for a while when they don't have what they want straight away.

I could be wrong but fast travel and the compass in Oblivion and Skyrim feels like a much maligned 'consolification' feature. No need for either IMO but I bet it did what was intented - got a few players who otherwise weren't into RPGs playing them because they didn't have to have their limited patience challenged.

Oh well. It's not like other features don't make up for it many, many times over.

To be fair I barely used the taxi in IV. And with fast travel, I'll use it tactically at lower levels, cos I don't want to get fucked up by running into giants. But when I'm a bit tougher, I'll try to ride or walk everywhere.

The only slight problem there as compared to Morrowind is there aren't as many systems to make up for it. Mark and Recall spells (basically teleportation) being the very biggest, taken out in Oblivion as far as I know, and not brought back since.

I could be wrong though, and I'm willing to stand corrected, but I'm pretty sure they took out Mark/Recall, which is a shame as it was an ace system IMO. Travel in Morrowind was perfect as it was, exploration in that game was and is second to none.

[Aido LFC]

To be fair I barely used the taxi in IV. And with fast travel, I'll use it tactically at lower levels, cos I don't want to get fucked up by running into giants. But when I'm a bit tougher, I'll try to ride or walk everywhere.

Think they should have done what they did with Fallout 3. You couldn't fast travel to a location unless you discovered it, makes it more of an adventure.

[hesbighesred]

Think they should have done what they did with Fallout 3. You couldn't fast travel to a location unless you discovered it, makes it more of an adventure.

That's exactly the system they do use, and it's the one I'm moaning about. There is nothing whatsoever adventurous about being able to cover vast swathes of ground with a loading screen. It breaks the immersion completely and also means you appreciate the world a lot less - you lose a big sense of wonder and awesomeness.

I'm going to try very hard not to use it in Skyrim.

[Zlen]

Think they should have done what they did with Fallout 3. You couldn't fast travel to a location unless you discovered it, makes it more of an adventure.

They did that in Skyrim.

[hesbighesred]

They did that in Skyrim.

...and Oblivion. That's where they got the system from for Fallout, in fact.

[Aido LFC]

Agh alright I thought you could fast travel to any location in Oblivion without discovering it, sorry never played Oblivion so wasn't sure. I agree I love traveling around the land makes you feel part of the world instead of just fast travelling to get the story done.

[Aido LFC]

That's exactly the system they do use, and it's the one I'm moaning about. There is nothing whatsoever adventurous about being able to cover vast swathes of ground with a loading screen. It breaks the immersion completely and also means you appreciate the world a lot less - you lose a big sense of wonder and awesomeness.

I'm going to try very hard not to use it in Skyrim.

Agh alright I thought you could fast travel to any location in Oblivion without discovering it, sorry never played Oblivion so wasn't sure. I agree I love traveling around the land makes you feel part of the world instead of just fast travelling to get the story done. Also because there's so much to discover in the land and items that you would never find by fast travelling everywhere

[SangPutride]

You could fast travel to the cities in Oblivion from the beginning though? Only dungeons etc. had to be discovered. Would have been better if u need to discover the cities, too.

[Dr Manhattan]

Couldn't resist, have ordered it now. Bye bye life.

[Zizou]

You could fast travel to the cities in Oblivion from the beginning though? Only dungeons etc. had to be discovered. Would have been better if u need to discover the cities, too.

Yeah, I always thought the same. You'd discover places much more naturally if you were on your way to a big city, rather than just warping there and branching out from the main centres. At least it's fixed now.

[hesbighesred]

You could fast travel to the cities in Oblivion from the beginning though? Only dungeons etc. had to be discovered. Would have been better if u need to discover the cities, too.

Ahh I didn't realise that, I stand corrected.

It is a shame though. Morrowind really properly exploited that quirk in a way I'm not sure Oblivion did. Right off the bat, a little outside the first village, a random wizard drops out of the fucking sky in front of you, to his death. One of the single best ever moments in gaming, that was. Especially as that was about the first real 'modern' game I'd played after years and years in a sort of gaming wilderness of not owning my own machine, apart from a brief flirtation with an N64.

Why had he done that?

Well.

He'd created a scroll that boosted his acrobatics skill to some utterly ridiculous degree, and had thus jumped several kilometres in length and several hundred metres in height. Problem was he hadn't thought to cast anything to slow his fall.

A tragic death I also found out when I tried that same scroll for the first time and gave the jump button an experimental tap!

Coming to think of it, can you levitate in Oblivion? I can't remember if you can or not...shame if not, and shame if you can't in Skyrim, because that was also utterly and totally awesome.

Still, the flyable dragons that will without doubt be modded into PC Skyrim will absolutely make up for that, unless of course Bethesda do that as a DLC, which they really, really should do.

Couldn't resist, have ordered it now. Bye bye life.

You know it makes sense, good doctor. English winter is one of the most justifiable excuses for pure escapism ever created by nature. No coincidence how much great sci-fi and, of course, the entire modern fantasy genre comes from this land!

[stoa]

Morrowind had fast travel between certain points - a service from the mages guild and these giant insect things called silt striders. You rarely had to retread loads of the same old ground unless you wanted to, and even then you had spells to compensate. What it really did was just make you work a little bit, and the compensation was the immersion and how much more stuff you found.

I never once hankered for a fast travel playing morrowind, and in fact I doubt many people would if they tried it now. But it appeals to 'newer' users, or people who lack the patience to stick with a game for a while when they don't have what they want straight away.

I could be wrong but fast travel and the compass in Oblivion and Skyrim feels like a much maligned 'consolification' feature. No need for either IMO but I bet it did what was intented - got a few players who otherwise weren't into RPGs playing them because they didn't have to have their limited patience challenged.

Definitely. I liked Morrowind, but after a while it just became too much for me. The world was huge and there were so many stories being told. The big problem was, that they were told in loads and loads of text-boxes and books (if I remember correctly). That's not for me. After a while, I just didn't give a fuck who those people and factions were and what-not. I also didn't like that you had a million of houses to look into, just to find fuck all. Add to that that it took a short while to load the interior if I remember correctly. Just like in Oblivion and The Witcher.

That's one thing that is driving me mad, when I'm trying to get soaked up in the world and it is why I absolutely love the Gothic-series (1-3).

[hesbighesred]

Yeah, loading is a bit of a pain in the ass, especially as you often accidentally go through a door again, or forget something, or...etc etc.

I know what you mean about the books too, though there wasn't any actual vital information. They implemented that quite well in the end - hints and tips, clues for sub-quests and stuff like that, but nothing that you couldn't complete because you didn't read that particular book.

Though that said (and I wonder if this'll be the case in Skyrim, I'll play it safe just to be sure) in Morrowind it really paid to pick up one copy of every book you found and keep it somewhere, because inevitably someone would want it for a quest at some point.

EDIT:
I do have to give Gothic more of a go though, clearly!

[keithcun]

SSD is the answer to load times and much much more. 

[Aido LFC]

 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/c9eGtyqz4gY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/c9eGtyqz4gY</a>

[Megasuperb]

Wish I could play this but I'm skint until the end of this month. Downloading Oblivion that I got from a Steam sale a while back but never got around to playing it. At least it will entertain me until I can afford this 

Why must video games be so expensive...

[keithcun]

Wish I could play this but I'm skint until the end of this month. Downloading Oblivion that I got from a Steam sale a while back but never got around to playing it. At least it will entertain me until I can afford this 

Why must video games be so expensive...

The equivalent of 12 pints or so, I know which would last longer and give me more enjoyment. 

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/c9eGtyqz4gY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/c9eGtyqz4gY</a>

Hahaha. That's brilliant.

[hesbighesred]

The equivalent of 12 pints or so, I know which would last longer and give me more enjoyment. 

God I miss the North. You'd be lucky to get 9 for that here in that there London.

[doc_antonio]

pre-ordered, can't wait, it'll be sitting there for me once i come back from amsterdam... HELLS YEAH!

[Uhoh AureliOs]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/j50u0zUeCmU?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;hd=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/j50u0zUeCmU?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;hd=1</a>

[moving_unit]

Just had to spend the money i had saved for this on a car battery! ... A CAR BATTERY! Won a £99 sennheiser headset on ign uk podcast this week. Considering selling it straight away to get some cash.

[J-Mc-]

Just had to spend the money i had saved for this on a car battery! ... A CAR BATTERY! Won a £99 sennheiser headset on ign uk podcast this week. Considering selling it straight away to get some cash.

Keep the Sennheiser's IMO, they're fucking brilliant.

They'll probably have a trade in offer for this when it comes out aswell so you may be able to get it cheaper by trading a game in.

[moving_unit]

And i do need a good headset after my neice broke parts off the one i have now.

[NotAsBigDanno]

Just had an email from GAME. "Your order has been shipped" 

[Walshy nMe®]

So is this a hocus pocus Fallout 3 with potions and magic?

[Red James]

So is this a hocus pocus Fallout 3 with potions and magic?

Fallout 3 was more Elder Scrolls but with lasers and mutants

[doc_antonio]

I ordered my skyrim this morning and just received an email from game there sayin 'your order has been shipped'

Should I start getting excited about getting it early?

[stoa]

I know the game is not Steam-only, but is using Steam's copy-protection. Wouldn't that mean that even if you got it early you'd still only be able to play it once it's been officially released?

[pantbash]

I know the game is not Steam-only, but is using Steam's copy-protection. Wouldn't that mean that even if you got it early you'd still only be able to play it once it's been officially released?

Yes 

[J-Mc-]

May give Oblivion another bash before getting this.

Only problem is, my gf is getting me it for Christmas!

[YorkieRed9]

http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20111108/skyrim-dlc-and-patch-details-for-release-date/