Anticipating Skyrim

Originally Posted by Motoki
Was it this big?

Impressive.

No, not THAT big, of course.

Standard advertisement posters.

It looks like level scaling is back in Oblivion fashion.Why change their mind this late? Anyway if its true, there is no way I am buying it on day one!

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php…g-25th-august/

Here is the original article in French, can someone who know french takes looks and confirm if its true. Google failed me!

http://www.jeuxvideo.fr/jeux/the-eld…-v-skyrim.html

"What upsets us in the end is the return of a system of adaptive difficulty: areas of fixed level, which were planned for a moment, won't be included. Bethesda opted again for an adjustment of the difficulty level of areas with the level of the player, according to a range from -2 to + 2 level. This system, which should still provide a minimum resistance in the +2 areas, would be the only one compatible with a world totally open for exploration.

Conversely, a system with fixed XP would be, according to Hines, contrary to the approach of "going where you want" desired by developers, as it would force the player to stay away from high-level zones. For our part, we can not help thinking that their system is not favorable to a real role-player experience, where each zone is associated with a real difficulty, and not a moving and soft one, because of its adaptivity . Too bad … but even this small complaint probably won't prevent Skyrim to be a long and exciting game."

Well, since the article doesn't quote anyone as specifically saying this, I think I'll take it with a huge grain of salt. I'd say this was posted to generate hits.

I think its more likely that they misunderstood the system. Bethesda has never said that there is no level scaling, just that regions scale within certain limitations, so that there are clear differences between "beginner" and "dangerous/advanced" areas… But we'll see.

The previewer at Jeux Vidéo seems to believe Bethesda promised no level scaling, while they said it was going to be closer to Fallout 3 since the start. They don't give any information about where the -2/+2 come from though, so they might have made those number up. Fallout 3 used -8/+8 FYI.

The 2 paragraphs are pretty much the Jeux Vidéo previewer crying that the game doesn't use XP and fixed zone level (like a MMO, I guess).

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Well, since the article doesn't quote anyone as specifically saying this, I think I'll take it with a huge grain of salt. I'd say this was posted to generate hits.

well they mention Hines.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I think its more likely that they misunderstood the system. Bethesda has never said that there is no level scaling, just that regions scale within certain limitations, so that there are clear differences between "beginner" and "dangerous/advanced" areas… But we'll see.

well no, see this bit,

areas of fixed level, which were planned for a moment, won't be included.

May be wrong translation but i take that mean that they plan to have regions scale within certain limitation but that's gone now.

I was hyped about Skyrim but after reading the above its all gone down the toilet! Anyway its wait and see

Well IIRC, they have regions that scale when you first enter them,
to Level +/-X within a predefined range (say region 1 is 5-20, region 2 is 20-30). So yes, they are not fixed, they do scale with you. But neither do all regions scale the same way, as they did in Oblivion - e.g. region2 will always be very dangerous until you hit level 2o, while region 1 will be safe territory after you exceed level 20. Thats why I think they misunderstood what Bethesda is saying.
They also Specifically said that sillyness like glass armor bandits will not happen again.

Obviously needs more clarification, but unlike what the translation suggests, this definitely wouldn´t be a "small complaint" for me since level scaling is of prime influence on this kind of game.
The regional level range would be a solid solution if not implemented in too rigid manner and with the inclusion of some level fixed encounters.
I wonder how dragons will be handled - personally I think the only outcome of early such encounters should be players either dying or running away.

Well they said there would be level scaling, but handled in a way more like FO3 or Morrowind and not like Oblivion. Of course, what they say and what they do *might* be different.

I wouldn't worry about some questionably translated interview with unconfirmed info. It's going to be like Fallout 3, not Oblivion, don't worry. For one thing they know they made a mistake with Oblivion, and another thing they have already confirmed (on numberous occasions) that it will be like Fallout 3 and they're not just going to change it two months out from release. So relax

I also read (although I can't recall where now) that there will be high end enemies in the world from the start of the game, which is cool. It reminds me of Vegas where you can run right out of Goodsprings at level one and right into a deathclaw, or giant scorpion or cassadore. It reminded me of my Gothic days when running away from shit just came with the territory.

some info from PAX

-Khajiits get a claw attack bonus for unarmed attacks.
-Armor and weapons do not degrade. http://www.ripten.co…or-degredation/
-Dragon souls are absorbed automatically.
-No height slider/adjustment.
-There is a weight slider.

from
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php…x-info-thread/

-Armor and weapons do not degrade. http://www.ripten.co…or-degredation/

Having to repair weapons/armour was a major reason to invest in the Armorer skill. Of course, repair hammers are expensive and heavy if you have dozens, so this will make life a lot easier. I see that you can still improve your kit - I suppose too many people (CoD players, perhaps would have been turned off by this nod to realism.

PS: that link doesn't seem to work? This appears to be the correct one:
http://www.ripten.com/2011/08/27/sky…r-degredation/

Thanks for the corrected link. I just copied from the Beth forums.

I like the idea of armour degradation. It can be annoying to see your best sword broken in the middle of a fight but I thought it added another element to game play, even call it bit of immersion.

It was "nice" to have all your armor and weapons broken after dungeon crawl. I don't know how to describe it properly but it made me "feel" that was an epic crawl! I mean it was way to measure the impact of that dungeon.

@lostforever: I agree with you completely. I think that used more sparingly (than oblivion) weapon degradation can be an interesting and immersive game play element e.g. you strike a powerful daedra and your weapon is severely damaged, with the damage reducing as your weapon's enchantment grows. Of course its easier o just throw it out, rather than re-balancing it.

Can we also assume that 'disintegrate' weapon/armour spells are gone from the destruction school?

Some more info from PAX

1. there will be Daedric quests in the game, involving an as-yet-unspecified ‘Prince’
2. XBox version will fit on ONE disk
3. lockpicking appears to pretty well identical to the system used in Fallout 3
4. once you’ve become Guildmaster of a Faction there will still be lots of things for you to do as Guildmaster – a huge step forward from Oblivion where you were pretty much done once you got to the top position
5. butterflies, bees and dragonflies that are flying around can be ‘picked’ for alchemy purposes
6. there’s no in-game barber shop in the released game, but Matt Carafano (Lead Designer) appeared to hint that its something under consideration – so perhaps being able to change your appearance in game will feature in DLC?
7. you can have your spouse as your companion of your adventures, and you can also send them out on tasks instead of you. They can cook a meal for you once per day that gives you some sort of bonus, and there are also (unspecified) other ‘lovers’ bonuses!
8. many different types of fish, and much more interactive underwater life and exploration than in Oblivion
9. those playing the hands-on demo commented on how much more visceral and physical the combat feels than in previous games – that seems to especially be the case when using bows
10. there is a ‘shivering’ animation, which makes sense bearing in mind the cold climate in Skyrim
11. eventually you can level up your Conjuration to the point where you can summon two creatures at once
12. there is a pickpocketing perk that enables you to plant a poisoned item on another person. Awesome. I look forward to planting poisoned apples on people in taverns and waiting for them to take a bite
13. back pedalling in combat has indeed been slowed down, but its still something that can be done as a tactical help in fights.

from,
http://theskyrimblog.com/?p=1132

They all sounds pretty good however 4, 7 and 12 sounds very intriguing.

#8 sounds especially good to me.

I've always loved underwater exploration in RPGs, but previous TES games were somewhat disappointing in regards to underwater content.

The reverse pickpocketing trick is always fun. I used that a lot in FO3, although iirc it wasn't a perk in that game.

I just received the Bethsoft newsletter.

It talks about a "Collector's Edition" of Skyrim.

Features : A statue of someone (?) called "Aldiun" [ not "Anduin" ? ], who is also called to be a "World Eater", next a "coffee table book" which is in fact an art book. The third thing is an "making of" DVD.

Prices are given in the newsletter as well :

$ 149,99
€ 149,99
£ 129,99
AU$ 199,99

This suppoorts 2 hings :

- Australia gets the highest prices per se
- Europe is being ripped off because of the currency conversion rate

Result of a currency converter I tried a few minutes ago :

US Dollar (USD) - Euro (EUR)

Werte von: 28.08.2011

149 US Dollar (USD) 102,730 EUR
149 Euro (EUR) 216,110 USD

Interbank Kurs +/-0%

1 US Dollar (USD) = 0,689 Euro (EUR)

Conversion rate have nothing to do with the price at retails in different part of the world, cost of living and average salary do (+ hidden taxes, import cost and other crap).

I see this argument over and over again, and the more it is repeated, the less I believe in it.

I don't remember hving seen *real* examples of bullet-proof reasoning explaining these different prices to me.