Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I didn't see this bit of news posted yet…

Skyrim 'looks the same' when playing on PC and console - Bethesda

Not sure what to make of that - marketing or something else altogether?

Originally Posted by DeepO
Skyrim´s character development is supposed to include manipulating 3 stats, 18 skills and 280 perks. So while they´ve removed/simplified one layer (attributes), they´ve also added more to the other (perks). There´s also the dragon shout thing.
Depending on what kind of perks are there and how they interact with other game systems, the character development might as well end up being more complex than in Morrowind or Oblivion.

They have also removed classes and minor/major skill classifications, as well as birthsigns.

They've basically gutted the old system almost entirely. No regrets here.

But I find it unlikely that the perk system will make for a deeper roleplaying experience. I guess if you thought Diablo was a deep roleplaying experience, then this would excite you… We'll see.

Originally Posted by MasterKromm
I didn't see this bit of news posted yet…

Skyrim 'looks the same' when playing on PC and console - Bethesda

Not sure what to make of that - marketing or something else altogether?

They always say that, with every release. And it's never true. It's just PR.

New 15 min interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db-o_HrpC-0

No new footage but some new info..

Transcription of the new info? I can't stand listening to Todd for more than 20 seconds.

It's not going to be an "alien" style environment like Morrowind, they did a lot of work in making encounters and creatures plausible in terms of how and why they're there, traps and puzzles play a significantly larger role, there are more than 100 dungeons and 100 points of interest.

That's when I got sick of hearing Todd

LOL! and I thought something was wrong with ME! TY!

Originally Posted by Thrasher
LOL! and I thought something was wrong with ME! TY!

Hehe, nah, he's the special kind of "nice guy" that I can't stand. Maybe it's because I sense a gigantic arrogant ego just under the skin - where I prefer such things are not hidden, I don't know. False modesty on such a level gets to me.

I could also be wrong, and he's just a really sweet guy

Yeah, I get a similar impression of arrogance and insincerity. His eye movement / body language seems to be part of it. He should work on that before the next interview.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
It's not going to be an "alien" style environment like Morrowind

Heaven forbid we see something unique.

Originally Posted by DoctorNarrative
Heaven forbid we see something unique.

Indeed. I think they fail to comprehend that is what made the game so memorable and so well loved. Let's face it, it wasn't that wonderfully engaging Bethesda dialog it was the atmosphere of something wholly different. You take that away and what's left is a bland game with things we've seen a thousand times before and nothing to set it apart (ie Oblivion).

Perhaps they do realize this but are simply pandering to the lowest common denominator, fearing that Morrowind was just 'too weird' for the masses who they think want knights and dragons and what not.

I wouldn't want them to make it weird for weirdness sake though. MW was great because the weirdness made sense, it fit the lore, etc. Skyrim is a wild, but not necessarily a werid place (though other provinces, like summerset, might be pretty weird). In Ob they dropped the ball, because neither did the presented land really fit the lore very well, nor did it make good use of the potential of the setting. If they manage to make Skyrime plausible and interesting in its culture, lore, political and other factions than I would be more than satified.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
traps and puzzles play a significantly larger role, there are more than 100 dungeons and 100 points of interest.

That's music to my ears. Especially about the puzzles, which is one thing the TES series has always been lacking, imo. Hopefully it's not all PR exaggeration.

+1

Puzzles would be good for a change. It's one of the things that made World of Xeen so wonderful. Of course, it's hard to map "solve the puzzle" onto an awesome button.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I wouldn't want them to make it weird for weirdness sake though. MW was great because the weirdness made sense, it fit the lore, etc. Skyrim is a wild, but not necessarily a werid place (though other provinces, like summerset, might be pretty weird).

Well one assumes they picked Skyrim because they wanted to do relatively standard fantasy fare. I am guessing that they attribute Oblivion's success at least partially to its more classic setting.

I hope we see Summerset Isle and a war with the Sload in the next game.

Well, as much as I consider Todd a mouthpiece - I think he gave a good reason for doing what they're doing with Skyrim.

Tamriel is a pretty traditional setting, all told, and I wouldn't want alien environments being the norm.

However, it should be said that I'm a fan of classic fantasy - and I don't particularly like the Morrowind setting. So, I could be biased.

About the puzzles/traps - I think that sounds great as well, but I've come to be quite sceptical when we're dealing with Beth and the approach to established game mechanics or features. I'm hoping they understand what's great about puzzles and traps - and that we'll not get a "Lara Croft in TES" type situation. Certainly, that's not the kind of stuff I think is appropriate for the genre.

I'm much more interested in cerebral/adventure puzzles and a strong "thieving" aspect of gameplay, so you can deal with traps like a proper rogue. We'll see

Traps are fun but puzzles? what the hell have puzzles to do with TES series?

Traps ARE puzzles !

FWIW, Cyrodiil was (according to lore) supposed to be a jungle climate and I always got the impression it was much more Roman in style than just some token architecture in the capitol city. I think if they had went this route the game while not being completely alien, would have been far less generic.

Of course a Roman RPG in a jungle might scare the XBox kiddees away.

The other thing that chafed my hide was that the very pagan religion of Daggerfall somehow morphed into the Monty Python version of the catholic church.

I think Todd was really sincere, even saying stuff like consoles are limiting them and that half of the dungeons wouldn't be that big. Most devs would have completely left that out. Been seeing a lot of interviews with those Witcher devs, typical "Marketing 101" speeches from begining to the end, really tiresome to watch in comparison.