Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Flawless]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Game Informer issue should be hitting subscribers soon.

Cover Reveal

The inside of the magazine has over 20 screenshots that show off Skyrim in all its glory, along with a 14-page article on the new gameplay, engine, story and setting for this latest Elder Scrolls.

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Not as sexy as the Batman Arkham City covers, but nice nonetheless. Looks like i'll be leafing through the GI at my local gamestop(s)

[Flawless]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

A better summary:

• On leveling:
  Totally revamped, no more class selection at the start of the game, every skill you level contributes to your overall level. And each time you level you get extra health plus the ability to get either more health, magicka or stamina. Each level also brings you perks. Cool abilities I guess like in Fallout 3. Also, the leveling was moved from 1-25 or something like that to 1-50, but 50 is soft-capped, you just advance really slow after that.

• On skills:
  Mysticism is gone. 18 skills, down from 21 on Oblivion, and 27 on Morrowind. Tries to accommodate players who want to specialize in a certain profession (like mage or thief), while at the same time giving room for players who like to do plenty of everything. They want to keep a special care so that this feels good, not prone to cheating and organic.

• On the story and lore:
  200 years after Oblivion. Set in Skyrim, a region north of the imperial city, where the Nords live. The dragons are returning, as it was prophesied. You are gonna be trying to stop the wicked dragon god. You are a dragonborn, a dragon hunter. Your mentor is one of the last blade, voiced by some old dude from Shutter Island and Minority Report. Also, there is a civil war, since the king is dead. Enemies include were-yeti's, giant spider, dragons and other cool creatures.

• On combat:
  They want to make it more dynamic and tactical. You have to assign each hand with a function, either magic, 2 weapons, a weapon and a shield, etc. You can also waste stamina by sprinting, allowing you to get access to tactical positions. Emphasis on really improving the combat this time around. They are also putting care on how each weapon feel on your hand.

• On quests:
  Quests are much more dynamic now. The quests are now more determined by how you build your character, individual actions and overall much more dynamic. Examples provided: If you are more of a magic user, some other mage may approach you who may not have if you were just a melee character. Or if you killed some dude who owned a store that was gonna give you a quest, his sister would inherit the store, but she may resent you before giving you the quest. Also, if you drop a weapon in the street instead of selling it, it may just disappear, some kid may get it and give it back to you, which would lead to a series of stuff, or some dudes may fight over who gets it.
  
  Also, it said that the quests you are given would be modified by how you have played (I guess like scaling the quests). For example, the location of a rescue mission would be determined by which location you have visited (it will try to give you a dungeon you haven't been in) and I guess also giving you appropriate enemies to your level.

• On Conversations:
  Conversations aren't done in a zoomed in static shot anymore. Start a conversation with some and they will act like someone would in real life, looking at you occasionally and walking around a bit and also continue doing a task if they were doing one while talking.

• On Weapon smithing:
  Go to a forge and carve a new weapon out of red hot metal.

• Other:
  Third person view has been improved. 5 massive cities, more variation in caves and underground stuff. HUD free first-person view.

• Dual-wielding: You have two hands now in combat and you can wield anything to both hands. You may assign a dagger on left hand and use a mace with right hand. The choice as they say is yours.

• Duel: You may duel any NPC on the streets western style.

• Inheritance: When you kill a shopkeeper, his/her family member will inherit the shop and will be angry about you, but still give you missions.

• Level-scaling: Not many details on how it works.

• "Radiant storytelling" or Level Scaling 2.0": The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you've played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you've explored, automatically set the mission in a place you've never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses."

• Fast-Travel: As you probably expect, you can instantly travel to previous locations with a tap of the button.

• Sprinting: You can now sprint about.

• Town visiting: You may do more in towns, like tailor weapons, cooking, farming or mining. Not much details about this or how detailed they are as jobs.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Really like some of the details they're adding (the potential to farm, etc along with more random and environment-based interactions) and I like the more dynamic or character-based leveling/questing.

Not sure how I feel about the "Perk" system though, and I also want to see how the level-scaling works...I personally prefer getting my *** kicked on certain parts but then feeling like a bad *** after I progress. We'll see though.

[Burns11]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Hopefully they really toned down the scaling, especially the reward scaling that caused you to neuter a powerful weapon by getting it too early.

Whoever called Max Von Sydow "some old dude" needs to be punched in the neck.

[TheCreep]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

That level scaling sounds the like the same thing many disliked about oblivion. There should be places you go where you will be killed period point blank, the creatures shouldn't level up with you. That was a problem in oblivion, there was never a place you could go where you would feel imminent danger.

Ya know, dont go to (insert name) swamps until you get stronger type of thing.

[chadskee]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

That sounds AWESOME. I loved Elder Scrolls.

That level scaling sounds the like the same thing many disliked about oblivion. There should be places you go where you will be killed period point blank, the creatures shouldn't level up with you. That was a problem in oblivion, there was never a place you could go where you would feel imminent danger.

Ya know, dont go to (insert name) swamps until you get stronger type of thing.

However, I agree with this totally. I hate the idea that I can go anywhere at any time. That's part of the excitement of leveling up and becoming stronger. Being able to brave new places that you couldn't before.

[Burns11]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Though it's also nice that you were never forced to level grind.

[chadskee]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Though it's also nice that you were never forced to level grind.

Meh. I think it detracts from the "living-breathing world" feeling when things constantly level up with you.

[allBthere]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

pumped...as long as I can play with a conan-like character I'm good.

give me a two handed sword and let me lay waste to enemies...see them driven before me ....and hear the lamentation of da women.

[jjdogjjdog5162]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I absolutetly HATE the level scaling in oblivion. Its the reason i stopped playing it. Why the hell do i go out and get all these badass weapons if i still get butt-raped by a bear at level 12? Make it like fallout. Just like someone stated earlier. Have places that if you got there early, your going to get destroyed. I shouldnt have a 5 minute battle with a crab when im at level 15 like in oblivion. I should be powerful enough to run up to it, smash it with a weapon, and move on then. God, im going to have to hear more about how it works in Skyrim, but that ruined a otherwise awesome game in oblivion for me. I just couldnt get past it and ended up selling the game..

[Burns11]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Mudcrabs don't level, if you are taking 5 minutes with one at level 15 that's on you. In fact, no animals level aside from the quest specific ones, you just don't see tougher ones until you do level.

Bears should be tough, and whether they put them in the game from the beginning or wait until you are a higher level, that shouldn't change.

[WTF]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Agreed. I'm getting ready to run through Oblivion with the leveling mod for the PC. Looking forward to seeing more info on Skyrim though.

[allBthere]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Mudcrabs don't level, if you are taking 5 minutes with one at level 15 that's on you. In fact, no animals level aside from the quest specific ones, you just don't see tougher ones until you do level.

Bears should be tough, and whether they put them in the game from the beginning or wait until you are a higher level, that shouldn't change.

Bears were overly tough. My level 27 dude should be able to dispose of them quickly. High level humans should be more of a challenge since they have weapons and consciously want to kill you on sight.

Fallout had a similar problem with rad-scorpions being the toughest enemies in the game. Pretty annoying imo.

Aside from the level scaling, oblivion was a masterpiece.

[Burns11]

Re: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

That has absolutely nothing to do with level scaling, and I have to disagree that bears shouldn't have been as powerful as they are, a 10ft 1700lb bear with 4 inch claws is no joke.