Skyrim Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Maybe they meant low magic, that would make more sense (not much). Skyrim doesn't have a large mage population maybe?

I think they are referring to how fantastical the setting is. Morrowind, for example, was a very fantastical setting - giant mushrooms, silt striders, etc. Oblivion was more of standard medieval fantasy and it seems as though Skyrim will be closer to Oblivion except in a nordic setting.

It doesn't make sense to me either since it's set in a fantasy realm with magic, monsters, undead and dragons. I was personally kind of hoping it meant there'd be some mild BDSM in it somewhere. Well they have dungeons…

I was wondering too if the argonian, kahjiit and elven races are in the game. Maybe you have to play as a nord and that's what they mean? If that's the case it's a pretty huge shift from previous Elder Scrolls. That and no classes, crafting and such almost makes me wonder if they're trying to make a Gothic game rather than an Elder Scrolls game. I'm fine with that by the way, I'm just wondering why they would take that rout.

Nithrakis said:

I think they are referring to how fantastical the setting is. Morrowind, for example, was a very fantastical setting - giant mushrooms, silt striders, etc. Oblivion was more of standard medieval fantasy and it seems as though Skyrim will be closer to Oblivion except in a nordic setting.

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I loved those giant mushrooms.

@human_male All the races are in Skyrim. That was confirmed in the video with the artists.

Low fantasy has to be a misquote/misunderstanding. You can't get much more high fantasy than TES. It could also have been used wrong by the person speaking.

OK, so it`s not Skyrim It`s Unreal.

But just imagine…in your pocket

^ Yeah, I agree. It must be a misunderstanding/misquote. TES is high/epic fantasy through and through. Unless the other races, fantastical creatures and magic(to a degree) are dead and/or almost dead due to some cataclysmic event(dragons mayhap - which, in and of themselves, are still what I'd consider characteristic of high fantasy)?!?

I associate Low fantasy with: Gray morality, Earth setting, few if any sentient races(besides humans), low magic(those that posses it tend to be evil/chaotic/crazy), conflict is less about good vs evil and more about personal gain(women, gold, expansion) ect.

IDK, the problem with fantasy and some of it's subgenres is they're a lot like RPGs in that there is no one true definition, no real consensus. This is more pronounced with "low fantasy" which seems to be rather murky.

Howard's Conan, while technically "swords and sorcery", is IMO much closer to low fantasy… Now I'm curious, could anyone give a good example of a low fantasy game? Maybe VTMB?

MasterKromm said:

Now I'm curious, could anyone give a good example of a low fantasy game? Maybe VTMB?

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How about Mount&Blade?

fragonard said:

How about Mount&Blade?

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Good suggestion, that's probably closer to low fantasy than VTMB.

I believe AoD is considered low fantasy.

Yeah, but AoD is as real as Grimoire Darklands might be another low fantasy game and maybe Thunderpeak.

MasterKromm said:

Good suggestion, that's probably closer to low fantasy than VTMB.

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I always considered Gothic as "low fantasy". All you got are humans and orcs, in a "believable" setting (like snakes and wolves and boars and whatnot). Sure, there's ogres as well, but, still…

EDIT: Okay, and dragons, which is not that low fantasy, I guess. Let's call it "middle" fantasy then.

bjon045 said:

Maybe they meant low magic,

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Both terms are often mixed with one another.

Low Fantasy often implies "few magic" = "low magic", but this does not necessarily mean so.

If you haven't seen this yet a pretty cool look at the new interface:

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/t...e/2011/01/28/skyrim-menu-system-overhaul.aspx

I like the idea that if you take a perk then relating constellation will light up in the sky for you in the game world (at least that is what it sounds like).

Once you choose a perk, it lights up the corresponding star in the constellation, making it visible when looking up to the heavens while interacting in the world.

“When you glance to the sky after you’ve played the game for a while, what you’re seeing in the sky is different than what somebody else is seeing based on the constellations,” Howard says.

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I like when a game surprise me, I also like when it's highly imaginary with improbable places, improbable population, improbable plants, improbable technology and even magic out of standard conventions is something that appeal me and grab my interest.

The last point is very difficult to achieve, and other points require a lot more imagination and creativity than just reproduce roughly realistic stuff.

Gothic series is definitely a low fantasy setup, the particularly disappointing elements are the landscape/places so few imagination, too bad.

Morrowind is a game I enjoyed but a lot less than Gothic 2 + NOTR, but it has much more imaginary elements than G2.

Still it's not that much imaginary, all intelligent species are human (if I remember well), the bestiary had many beast quite close to real world beasts, and the weakest point was a lack of amazing places plus (original) graphics quite sad.

All in all the gray ashes area could feel cool a moment but repetition made it tedious quite fast. Perhaps the final place had a bit more mood but other than that, landscape and places was quite common if you remove the grey ashes. Also mountains was quite a failure in this game and I wouldn't say that for G2 but it's definitely DKS that I would quote as good example of mountains.

I'd say that I'm bored with realistic places in video games but in general I'd wish more imagination and more surprises, not only for places and landscapes.

zadokAllen said:

OK, so it`s not Skyrim It`s Unreal.

But just imagine…in your pocket

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That's pretty amazing. I've seen a few videos of the new Sony device a while back and I did not know it was multi-CPU/-GPU. I also see that they've upgraded the Epic Citadel tech demo for iPhone (which I have) with a particle system, character models and post-processing effects. Impressive.

New info on TES 5 -> http://gamingeverything.com/?p=600

bloodlover said:

New info on TES 5 -> http://gamingeverything.com/?p=600

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Don't really see much that I didn't already know.

Odd to see them claim that you can obtain every perk with one character. I thought Bethesda had previously stated that wasn't possible in a single playthrough.

“It is not yet possible to combine forms of magic. It is difficult. Frost magic makes an enemy move slower, and fire does damage over time, and the fire remains on the ground for additional damage. If we would allow the player to use fire magic in one hand, and frost magic in the other, it becomes much more complex. Maybe we will implement this though, but for the time being, ‘No’.” – Todd Howard

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WTF? Is this an evasive statement to hide that one can't spellmake new spells anymore using a combinations of spells you already know?

JDR13 said:

Don't really see much that I didn't already know.

Odd to see them claim that you can obtain every perk with one character. I thought Bethesda had previously stated that wasn't possible in a single playthrough.

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You could theoretically pick all the perks if you still get to select a perks after the "soft cap" of level 50, that there is really no cap on skills (go above 100) and reach level 144+.

There is more than 144 perks (18 skills, with an average of 8 perks per skills...going by the magic skills screenshot) and you can only select one per level.