Skyrim not digging it

I always play spell casters in TES games, so please tell me I'm missing some stupid thing, but, can I only cast 2 spells now??? I know I have a favorites menu (q) but each time I want to cast a different spell, I have to press Q, find the spell I want to cast, figure out if L or R is my left or right mouse button (seems to be reversed), then cast the spell, and then repeat the previous 3 steps to bind the original spell back to the button. WTF!???
I guess for people who use weapon+shield or dual wield or archery this is not an issue, but to me, this is killing me!

Also, in my first session, lost like 15 minutes of progress as the game crashed to desktop (no warning or nothing, just BAM!). I changed autosave to every 5 minutes now.

And, I didn't see anything about spellcrafting in the manual. I hope it's just a silly omission, as spellcrafting has been one of the main selling points of TES games for me, the ability to create my own spells. I've only played some 3 hours, but somehow I'm fearing the worst, that they removed that and left only the artifact crafting part. Please tell me I'm wrong!

Some other lesser issues...
- TAB to leave windows? hello? ESC???
- Mouse sensitivity very low, and Y axis it's like it almost doesn't move. Did they test this in a PC at all?

I have to agree with you. My favorite class in previous TESS games was a battlemage but, so far, trying to play one in Skyrim is no fun at all. Switching between weapons and spells is just SO clumsy!
In Guild Wars you had little icons in the corner of the screen which allowed you to switch between weapon sets on the fly. Here you have to go through the steps you have described in the middle of the fricking combat! I think that I will dump the spells (except for a heal or two) and rely on shouts. At least you can use those while holding on to your weapons…

Use 1-8 for hotkeys, that should solve your first issue. I switch back and forth with different spells constantly without using the favorites menu.

No spellmaking. Not a big loss for me, but I know it is for some.

TAB is the exit key so you don't have to move your hand from WASD. The interface is designed to use WASD and to never make you leave that area of the keyboard. I for one LOVE it. I hate fumbling around the keyboard.

Google mouse fixes, they are everywhere and I don't want to type it all out. Mouse works perfect with them.

I also love the new interface and I am an old-skool pc gamer. It is extremely fast to get wherever you want once you master it.

Dont know if you are aware of this but you can bind the 1-8 keys ito spells/weapons in the Q menu. While this does not really fix the problem it does make things a tad less annoying.
It is also supposed to be possible to bind 2x skills/items to 1 hotkey but like the rest of the ui its currently broken.
I quickly gave up on trying to use both weapon and spells and found that things went alot smoother if i just enchanted all available slots with + Fortify Destruction (lowers mana cost of that school) and went with spells in both hands.
Doing this at max level enchant will result in destruction spells not costing any mana at all (not recomended) but it also helps alot while leveling if you use +Fortify Enchantment potion + ring/neck/gloves prior to making a set.

The game is a joke.

If you think the graphics are cutting edge, you have no idea what a cutting-edge PC is capable of these days. They're good for a console, but even a PS3 is five years behind the times compared to modern PC hardware. (Note; there is really only one game on the market that utilizes modern hardware fully, and it's not an rpg. And even it doesn't fully push the envelope of what is really possible now.)

Huge world? Nonsense. Skyrim is a tiny place. Any continent in Azeroth is bigger.

Character animations are typically atrocious for a Bethesda game. Some of the mobs are well done.

Jeremy Soule is a genius, but he phoned it in this time. Not terrible music, but not a masterwork like Icewind Dale, either.

The writing is terrible. WoW has much better writing, and that's not meant to be overly complimentary to WoW.

Voice-acting is nearly universally bland to horrible. Think of the money spent to make Skyrim the next time you hear a character speak that isn't voiced by Plummer, Von Sydow, or Joan Allen. Is it really worth it to hire them when the other 90% of dialogue in-game sounds like the same 5 terrible voice actors?

Quest structure is again, typically atrocious as one will find in Bethesda games.

The game mechanics, which in my mind are THE most important and potentially enjoyable part of any game, are absolute garbage. Skyrim had a development budget of how many tens of millions of dollars? Melee combat is a joke, spellcasting is a joke, the interface is a huge joke. Where did all the money go? Honest question.

Once again Bethesda has released a hiking simulator filled with cups and plates and terribly-written books. Populated with wooden, personality-free automatons.

It's disgusting to see every, single review site fawn over this game. Precisely because it's barely, barely, a game.

The PC gaming market is done; save Blizzard, a few mmos, and indies. The console mentality has won. Interactive movies and Quicktime events are now considered sound game mechanics.

People praising this joke of a so-called game should be ashamed of themselves for lowering their standards so completely.

2c

Hold on, I need to grab some popcorn for this...

um - well are there aspects of Skyrim that you've enjoyed ? The reviewer gush is excessive, but overall IMSO (in my subjective opinion), this iteration of BETHrpg is enjoyable for me and that's the bottom line.

Weeeellllll… I am having a blast playing Skyrim but I have to say that characters and some character animations (running for example) are below pair. There are problems with textures (at least on my machine) and I dislike many of the early level armors. I wish I could go into suspended animation for a year or so just so I can play this game with mods released during this time

I like how he praises Blizzard during that rant. Makes where he is coming from quite clear.

DoctorNarrative said:

I like how he praises Blizzard during that rant. Makes where he is coming from quite clear.

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There's me put in my place.

I can almost see you chewing purposefully on the tip of your glasses while you stare down the end of your nose and press submit, you smug twit.

zahratustra said:

Weeeellllll… I am having a blast playing Skyrim but I have to say that characters and some character animations (running for example) are below pair. There are problems with textures (at least on my machine) and I dislike many of the early level armors. I wish I could go into suspended animation for a year or so just so I can play this game with mods released during this time

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I'm glad you're enjoying it, I am. No sarcasm intended. Just realize it's merely a new iteration of the exact same shallow game that Bethesda has been peddling for 20 years. Again, it's a hiking simulator with a weak, simplistic combat model slapped onto it.

The gameplay is the thing. Always. The last thing I'm basing my criticism on, are the visuals. One can overlook a lot of ugly if the game is actually fun to play.

I ask you, is it mechanically fun for you to play Skyrim? By this I mean, are your hands having fun while you play? Is your brain having fun?

Is your mind engaged with the plotting of strategies to overcome difficult obstacles? Is the combat causing you to think and plan and prepare? To try different combinations and approaches? Are you discovering and solving mysteries in the plot and story? Are you truly involved?

A game that cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 million dollars to develop, should not have to rely on the modding community to satisfy you.

Jackson said:

um - well are there aspects of Skyrim that you've enjoyed ? The reviewer gush is excessive, but overall IMSO (in my subjective opinion), this iteration of BETHrpg is enjoyable for me and that's the bottom line.

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Here's the thing; Skyrim is Two Worlds 2 with better press. It's Divinity 2 with a better advertising budget and far worse game mechanics.

This is supposed to be THE AAA crpg for the moment. If a smaller studio with less resources put it out, I wouldn't be nearly so critical. Skyrim would make a great first effort from a small studio. I still wouldn't call it a fun game, but it would be a decent proof-of concept; that a decent development team could flesh out on their next attempt… make the gameplay deeper, etc.

It's a first-person shooter with melee weapons and spells, coupled to a hiking simulator and not much else. You can dress a Bethesda product all you want, but it's still so painfully shallow when it comes to actual gameplay. Every time.

My evoking Blizzard is for one reason only; people are still playing Diablo fifteen years later. People are still playing Diablo 2 eleven years later. Those games are mechanically fun to play. The obvious downside to Blizzard is that they're responsible, more than anyone, for popularizing the idea of the action rpg. (And it's stretching the definition a lot to call either an rpg, truthfully.) But at least the ones they've made are mechanically sound.

Do you really think you'll be playing Skyrim in 15 years? You won't. The only thing about it that's notable at all is the presentation, and nothing fades quicker in the computer game business than a pretty face.

People are still playing the classics because the gameplay is the only thing that lasts. Skyrim plays terribly. It's as simple as that.

But, again, I'm sincerely glad you're enjoying it. Sincerely. I just hope you think about the points I've raised, and maybe it will lead you to expect more from a game that cost so many millions of dollars to create. You deserve better.

2c

Fail troll Blizzard fanboy is fail. Comparing Skyrimjob with Diablo is retarded.

bloodlover said:

Fail troll Blizzard fanboy is fail. Comparing Skyrimjob with Diablo is retarded.

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You honestly expect to be taken seriously expressing yourself like this?

The thought that posting this drivel may have made you feel some sense of satisfaction, is depressing.

Be embarrassed.

Expect more of yourself.

And we're totally taking you serious when you compare Skyrim with Azeroth, the story with WoW's story and give Diablo as example because "it's still played". People still play Daggerfall so yeah... People still play Pac-Man so I guess that's an even better game ^_^. Also... combat is a joke, so is writing, so is almost everything else but the reason is...? Don't even bother to reply.

/end of rant. Go to the codex and spam your useless non-constructive junk there.

Dyspaire said:

I'm glad you're enjoying it, I am. No sarcasm intended. Just realize it's merely a new iteration of the exact same shallow game that Bethesda has been peddling for 20 years. Again, it's a hiking simulator with a weak, simplistic combat model slapped onto it.

The gameplay is the thing. Always. The last thing I'm basing my criticism on, are the visuals. One can overlook a lot of ugly if the game is actually fun to play.

I ask you, is it mechanically fun for you to play Skyrim? By this I mean, are your hands having fun while you play? Is your brain having fun?

Is your mind engaged with the plotting of strategies to overcome difficult obstacles? Is the combat causing you to think and plan and prepare? To try different combinations and approaches? Are you discovering and solving mysteries in the plot and story? Are you truly involved?

Click to expand...

I am truly involved. I'm having fun trying out new approaches to fights when things don't work out, to solve mysteries in the story, and to immerse myself in the setting.

I think your critique is valid though, the TES series uses a somewhat shallow shooter model with swords, bows and spells. Divinity II does have better gameplay in terms of combat mechanics, but also somewhat boring scenery. WoW may have a larger world - most MMOs do, but single player combat mechanics feel even more shallow there.

It's hard to find a game that does everything right. I would have prefered a deeper melee system in Skyrim, and most of all a better UI. Skyrim does a lot of things right for me though and is one of the most enjoyable fantasy RPGs I have played for a while.

I like hiking simulators, thats probably part of the reason. I enjoy games like Darkfall, Fallen Earth, Skyrim, FO:NV where I do a lot of hiking. I also enjoyed the hiking part of WoW, before the game world became microscopic through the use of portals and flightpaths everywhere.

Enjoying a TES game is new for me. I found that Oblivion was nearly unplayable and Skyrim is a big step up in that regard. I think I may very well be playing Skyrim several years from now, but it's hard to tell which games end up being replayable to that extent.

If you think the graphics are cutting edge, you have no idea what a cutting-edge PC is capable of these days. They're good for a console, but even a PS3 is five years behind the times compared to modern PC hardware. (Note; there is really only one game on the market that utilizes modern hardware fully, and it's not an rpg. And even it doesn't fully push the envelope of what is really possible now.)

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I don't know about your other statements. But you are completely right about the graphics.

Dyspaire said:

If you think the graphics are cutting edge, you have no idea what a cutting-edge PC is capable of these days. They're good for a console, but even a PS3 is five years behind the times compared to modern PC hardware. (Note; there is really only one game on the market that utilizes modern hardware fully, and it's not an rpg. And even it doesn't fully push the envelope of what is really possible now.)

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Graphics whore much?

The game mechanics, which in my mind are THE most important and potentially enjoyable part of any game, are absolute garbage. Skyrim had a development budget of how many tens of millions of dollars? Melee combat is a joke, spellcasting is a joke, the interface is a huge joke. Where did all the money go? Honest question.

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It's been a joke in all their previous games, so why would you expect a radical change?

Once again Bethesda has released a hiking simulator filled with cups and plates and terribly-written books. Populated with wooden, personality-free automatons.

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You could say the same of Morrowind.

The PC gaming market is done; save Blizzard, a few mmos, and indies. The console mentality has won.

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Uh, and you base this on one game release from a console-focused developer? It's like saying PC gaming was done in the 90's because you didn't like Final Fantasy.

Interactive movies and Quicktime events are now considered sound game mechanics.

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And yet none of those are in Skyrim.

People praising this joke of a so-called game should be ashamed of themselves for lowering their standards so completely.

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Maybe they had low standards to start with?

I'm loving it so far, it's not perfect but I'm pleased to see mining and such has been added in, definitely good aspects of games like Gothic.

The wizard guild quest is really quite good, I'm working through it at the moment, Tolfdir the master who oversees you has an excellent voice actor.

Can't wait to finish work and get back to playing on it!

Daniel.

Bostur said:

I am truly involved. I'm having fun trying out new approaches to fights when things don't work out, to solve mysteries in the story, and to immerse myself in the setting.

I think your critique is valid though, the TES series uses a somewhat shallow shooter model with swords, bows and spells. Divinity II does have better gameplay in terms of combat mechanics, but also somewhat boring scenery. WoW may have a larger world - most MMOs do, but single player combat mechanics feel even more shallow there.

It's hard to find a game that does everything right. I would have prefered a deeper melee system in Skyrim, and most of all a better UI. Skyrim does a lot of things right for me though and is one of the most enjoyable fantasy RPGs I have played for a while.

I like hiking simulators, thats probably part of the reason. I enjoy games like Darkfall, Fallen Earth, Skyrim, FO:NV where I do a lot of hiking. I also enjoyed the hiking part of WoW, before the game world became microscopic through the use of portals and flightpaths everywhere.

Enjoying a TES game is new for me. I found that Oblivion was nearly unplayable and Skyrim is a big step up in that regard. I think I may very well be playing Skyrim several years from now, but it's hard to tell which games end up being replayable to that extent.

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Yep. Oblivious made me decide NOT to any longer buy an Elder Scrolls title just becaause it was released any longer.

i.e. WTF?! No Spell maker?! (ghey) And from what I gather elsewhere WTF?! No fscking stats?! Dropping even more skills?! Or IOW they've completed the transition from RPG to Action/Adventure that they had begun in Oblivious, and are carrying on with the dumbing down trend.

And Oh Man! the videos I've seen of that even more craptacular UI than Oblivious had...

Bethesda is just making all the mediocre action/RPGs and CRPGs look good, and at bargain prices to boot as they're generally $30-$40... I'm getting the feeling that I'd be better off spending $60 on the Complete Drakensang pack(never got around to buying RoT online) and TW2PoFF either of which are DEFINITELY more of an RPG than what it seems that Skyrim is. Probably even mAss Effect is more of an RPG than Skyrim...

*Yaaaawn!*
*Wanders of for more awesomehappyfuntime in the land of Skyrim*

If you don't like it don't buy it.