I think this is(so far) the best offering by Bethesda ever.
Yes, it is one of their better games.
a) Bethesda can not compare in voice acting, dialogue and characters to Dragon Age and The Witcher. Those series have problems too, but I think in the story area, I am more impressed by those.
Yes, I think you're right here too. DA2 and Witcher 2 did have the epic story line feel done oh so well. Skyrim I have done the main scripted quest plus some of the better side stuff and that is just about enough for a high fantasy RPG.
Inherently some of the Oblivion problems with Radiant remains - Your listening to a NPC with a fixed camera and two other NPCs who walk into you overlap in their speaking. Many character share the same voice actor, and others have multiple voices for one character. The writing itself is not impressive but good enough to make you care that much about them.
Bethesda still haven;t found a way to make RNG feel like it isn't RNG.
Ulfric is not a great central character. His VO is decent, but he is a far cry from the excellence of Letho(Witcher 2) and those cool guys with horns in the first part of Dragon Age 2(the first arc with the Qunari.. the part that was interesting storywise)! At least so far, but it will be interesting to see the conclusion in Skyrim.
Yes, as a main story arc goes it isn't too bad to play, though not all that original as high fntasy stuff goes.
It's leaps and bounds above what Elder Scrolls have achieved in the past though, and overall it's by no means bad, nor is story as central as it is in DA and Witcher. Elder Scrolls have always been Exploration > Story, were the other two are perhaps more restricted but with more story dynamics.
I thought Oblivion wasn't that good myself, so yes it is better than that.
b) The combat is really solid. It's fluid, and while not perfect I am very happy with what they achieved here. I do think that it would have been cooler if you had just gotten a new Shout every time you killed a Dragon. I find it weird that the ancient Dragon Tounge would be on tablets in all sorts of caves and ruins. Combat still has ways to go, but in Morrowind and Oblivion it was outright.. bad. Since Oblivion we've had games like MnB: Warband and Dark Messiah, and Bioshock. Games that took a different solid stance on first person melee fighting.
Playing a mage it is quite good with a companion.
c) The setting. People will say that graphics don't make a difference, but I disagree. Like good audio, good visuals is immense. This game was created to be played at ultra, and half of the fun is just seeing all the locations with all the different weather patterns. Slow rain, fog in the mountains, the uber amazing northern lights, intense snow storms, clear stary nights, himmilayan-ish summer. For a "winter themed" RPG the diversity in Skyrim is immense.
The mountains are quite nice...but it sort of reminds me of the Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy farce with Slartibartfast, it's like being in Norway.
As I am playing I only find myself wishing for one thing: An expansion that takes us back to Morrowind. I wouldn't mind paying 60 bucks for a full featured game with same features and concepts from Skyrim, just with a new story and setting back in Morrowind. To imagine the world of Morrowind with Skyrims graphic. Morrowind is one of the most iconic fantasy worlds I have ever seen. It's red Volcanic island world had it all. Oblivion's Cyrodill(spelling?) was boring in comparison.
I would be hoping for epic story line arc expansions with Skyrim. We have enough side stuff, we just need some decent plot to go with the alright main story arc the initial game gives us.
d) Skyrim does crafting better than a lot of MMORPGs, just because of the well done visual ques. I really like how you can improve your sword by just getting one piece of Metal ignot.
Or how(like other Elder Scrolls games) how different merchants give different prices. A baker won't buy your orc weapons you collected on the war path, but I might buy the cheese.
I played a mage and skipped the craft, too dull for me and the game treasure and rewards gives enough gear anyway.
e) I find there to be a lot of over reactions in terms of UI and controls. Controls are pretty good to me, and I am K/M. UI.. I guess a hot swap menu that was better than Q for my most used things would have been cool, but no biggie.
On PS3 controls and UI are fine for me. Remember this is a console port.
f) I think every game should do camera angles as well as SKyrim does. I change between first, over the shoulder and full third person view ALL the time. I LOVE THIS. I love how I am in control of my character by changing the perspective. Getting new armor gives me gratification because I can control my character well from fighting in third person, but I can also admire the close up action for variaty in first person.
Many games should give us this option to mix it up!
You can't zoom right out though, that's always nice.
MMO Companies - Take notice. This is what your games are missing:
Huge world
Lots to do - not just a series of predictable quest hubs
A REAL sense of exploration
I've had more fun the last 2 days playing Skyrim than I've had in the last 2 years playing MMOs - That includes betas. Seriously, Devs need to play this game and get a clue. This is the foundation that MMOs should be built on.
This is exactly my impression. In the last two days of playing I feel as though I am actually playing an adventure RPG, something most MMORPG's have lost. I do not want to hear that this type of game play, atmosphere and world cannot be duplicated in an MMORPG - that is just ludaris. All they have to do is do what these people did(very similar to the game Mount and Blade) and give us a world filled with adventure(some of our own making mind you) and let us explore, adventure and make the fun ourselves. Games like this are the diamonds amongst the costume jewelry that is flaunted by most game makers. Cherish this one - for it is a rare gem.
Amen, Teala.
Playing this game brings back the sense of adventure I had back when I played the old, 1st and 2nd generation MMOs.
For people who came to the genre later and don't quite understand what is meant when I, or others certainly, talk of the sense of grand adventure in a massive world that MMOs used to provide... play Skyrim a bit, and you'll get what we mean, because it captures that feeling in spades.
This is the sense of adventure I had when I first played FFXI, Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call 2 and even Shadowbane to a degree. In every one of them, I felt like a very small individual dropped into a very massive world with tons of possibilities and very little hand-holding on which way I could go and/or what I could choose to do.
Skyrim is proof positive that at least one developer - Bethesda - still "gets it". They still understand what a grand sense of adventure is. They understand what it means to have a vast, immersive virtual world.. And they still know how to deliver it.
From what I've seen/read, they don't intend on making an Elder Scrolls MMO. While that's disappointing, frankly... perhaps it's for the best, if it's so. The MMO market - namely many of its players - have come to demand a specific style of gameplay that is much more linear, guided, casual and faster paced. They want things to be ever faster, easier and granting more reward for less effort. Were Bethesda to make concessions to cater to that player base, what makes the Elder Scrolls games what they are could be lost, defeating the purpose of making a MMO in the first place. Some things are better left alone, perhaps.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Magnificent game. I can't put it down, and I do have a lot of work to do, so it's bye bye sleep.
I was not fond of Oblivion, but this one is just brilliant. You can talk about the flaws, and it does have flaws, and I'm sure many are really, genuinely irritated with the console-friendly UI... I, too, was, for a bit, but the game is so immersive and well thought-out in other areas that it just made me get over it.
Trying to get to a quest area after assasinating a keep-full of people and finding myself in a wholly unexpected, tooth-and-nail duel with an awesomely frightening dragon in the middle of a gloomy pond, with the dragon's deafening roar booming and the giant flapping wings flashing in and out of sight, I found I'd wholly lost myself in this world, and all thought of an "interface" had just perished...
To me, what makes an unforgettable game is not the "lack of bad", it's the "presence of awesome". And I find this one has awesome in abundence.
I must say i´ve been playing only for a couple of hours...
But so far i´m having a blast!
Not even following the main quest-line but getting easily lost in that amazing world full of life!
Game feels open...character evolution is incredible! More open than i´ve ever seen before in any game since you "learn" and get better at whatever u do most. No class locked.
Kudos Bethesa for bringing up (again) a Masterpiece of a game!
I must say i´ve been playing only for a couple of hours...
But so far i´m having a blast!
Not even following the main quest-line but getting easily lost in that amazing world full of life!
Game feels open...character evolution is incredible! More open than i´ve ever seen before in any game since you "learn" and get better at whatever u do most. No class locked.
Kudos Bethesa for bringing up (again) a Masterpiece of a game!
Yeah, I'm having the most fun I've had in a long time.
Has anyone found Volskygge yet?
This has been the best dungeon I've gone through so far. At first I just thought it was going to be a little jaunt. Then as it went on and there was a neat puzzle (and I'm sure glad I saved because I highly suspect that one couldn't mess it up and have a do over) then some traps and then I found what I thought was the boss. I kept dying until I tried some scroll called Firestorm.
firestorm is one of the best spells in this game. As my health is going I'm "windng it up" and then "blammo"! Luckily I had two of them as I was able to defeat this "boss". But oh no, it wasn't a boss as there was another one. Some smart thinking and a lucky "level up" gave me better two handed and I was able to get him.
So I thougth "ok this was epic". but then I run into "The Boss" who is using the voice and is dong something that I'd rather it didnt' do. I eventually destory it, think "wow this was the best dungeon I've run into" and then I went through the door to "The peak".
I have to say what happened there was extremely neat. And I died.
Also downloaded a texture change for the faces so the elves are less ugly as well as some of the other races so that was a perk.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Tdlr the people complaining about the UI have no clue what they are talking about. Also the tab is used for the esc key to go out of the menu, just like i pointed, look at your keyboard and see where those keys are. Ye tab is just a key away from swad, esc is way up there where you need to stretch your finger to access it and most probably would have to loos contact with your swad key. So people before complaining at least try to understand why they did that that way. The game is just awesome, look great, combat is superior to any other rpg. Now i have to go play, sorry guys....
Too many people, including the ones that are shamelessly gushing about the game, claim that the UI was optimized for consoles not for PCs. They generally close with something like, "...but after a while I learned to deal with it". That tells me that you need to adapt to a system that wasn't well made to start with, but not so bad as to make the game unplayable. A good UI lets you slide right into it within a few minutes, with little or no headscratching. Nothing breaks a game faster for me than a poor interface, which nearly all console ports share. I'm still going to wait for a decent mod to fix that up before I try the game so I don't start off playing it with a sour taste in my mouth. I'd hate to have an otherwise good experience ruined due to a goofy interface. I suspect that I'll still be able to buy the game a few weeks or months from now when many of the other rough edges have also been smoothed over by a dedicated modding community. Maybe it will even be a Christmas present to myself.
Did you even read and tried to understand my post before quoting me? The fact a lot of people claim something doesn't make it more true. People used to claim the earth is flat, ye they even killed and burned books for that.
No really i don't say that to be a smart ass. Just try to grasp the greater limitations and need a rpg game with fps combat have to deal when it come to control and UI and you will understand. I explained it in the post. The Skyrim UI is a very good UI even for PC, i told you why, really it is. But you just don't understand it because you think a rpg with fps combat should have as simple control as a classical fps or as a classical rpg, but they can't. Its obvious if you think about it 5 minutes and if you actually try to test it. Just open a fps game, open whatever classical fps really it doesn't matter, then try to access all the key needed in a rpg, this mean the f1 to f12, the 1 to 0, and the skill bar and see what happen.
Yes you really need to adapt because rpg with fps combat don't use the same setting as your usual rpg or your usual fps, its not hard to understand. Its a technical and physical issue. Skyrim UI is not a bad port at all, it is very well set for pc, the people playing a lot of fps like rpg will understand it, yes rpg with fps combat have a bit more awkward control and UI but this is the price to have as way superior combat, which really isn't hard to understand. More complexity in combat need more work for you, the player. In skyrim you still have everything at your finger length, that's quiet a feat, try to play other rpg with fps combat to compare.
And really if you set it well the control are super easy, you both can access all the menus and the rebind option with tab and "q" keys, i mean can it be easier for a fps? i don't think so. The only thing a mod will do is help you totally mess your controls, that's for sure. But really if you want to wait, just do.
Geez I hear all these people making comments of I am level 10+. I am wondering how? My character is still level 7! She didn't buy a house, she just killed this group of bandits holding a keep, near a mountain lake, and has taken up residents there. Found a place to store all my stuffs - finally! By the way..I took the bandits bodies and dumped them into a river that flows from the lake. It took them down streem and over a water fall they went - all five of them! ::ebil grin::
Tell me...other than Mount and Blade and other Bethesda games allow you to do that?! So very cool! Loving this game!!!
I'm loving this game much more than previous Elder Scrolls games.
Don't have the time to go into details, but it seems that all my free-time just disappears when I play this game. Wake up at noon, and lo' and behold it's 03:00 at night on a sunday when I quit.
Just awesome and when the mods start rolling in it's going to get even better.
Just now hitting level 10 on my mage. Still doing a ton of these college quests, to the point it literally feels like the college is the main story, hehe. One sad thing of note, I killed my horse. Poor thing. Being a mage, my channeled spell which I Iove, tosses out flames like a flamethrower, unfortunately I cooked my horse as it was being attacked by some Frost Elemental. I don't mind too much except for the hit on my gold it took to pay for the horse. If the game had mounted combat it would be a different story, but so far, I haven't noticed the horse being worthwhile. Have to dismount to fight, he gets in the way, isn't really that fast and in my case, is now Barbecue at a dungeon entrance. I have yet to fight a dragon, too. Can't wait to cook HIM. For my HORSE!!! rawr, lol.
I actually have to disagree with you here, Pony. To me the UI is more akin to not going out with Katy Perry because she had her eyes in her feet, her teeth in her nose, her breasts on her knees, two left arms, one leg backwards so could only walk in a circle, and her lady bits in her ear. Oh and every time you tried to get friendly with her she, as an act of endearment, kicked you in the naddgers.
Not a pretty picture, nor synonymous with symmetry or style.
You may be willing to put up with a wonky interface in order to enjoy what would otherwise be an excellent game. To some of us though it is like being forced to eat a gourmet meal with chopsticks carved from turds.
Once the fanbase mods a more user friendly interface I'll most likely buy the game, if something else isn't clamoring for my attention by then. Until then it is MY decsion whether or not to reward a company that doesn't seem to see me as an important enough customer to cater to. And frankly I feel companies would stop this kind of happy horse shit if customers would put their foot down and demand a change with their wallets instead of just diving on every new title like some slavering, starving zombie after the next skull full of brains.
Well, how long did you actually get to play the game so far, TC?
And would that be a long enough time to get used to a new UI in your opinion?
It's only partly bad design, there's also a learning curve, and some adjustment time involved to hardwire efficient use.
After getting used to it (how to hotkey spells, pots and gear, use tab instead of escape, using wasd and E and R for navigating the UI etc) I have not many qualms with it; it only becomes really annoying when you use the mouse instead of full keyboard control.
But you are right in saying that it SHOULD have been optimized for pc users and its a rightful point of complaints. So far it didn't stop me from having a blast though. I'll just hope they come with an official patch to improve it rather than rely on the modding community.
I played it for about six hours, really closer to seven, but I rolled two more toons during that time so about thirty minutes was spent snoozing through the overly long unskippable (and yes, pretty damn badass) intro. And damn yeah that should have been enough time to get used to the interface, but that awkward, clunky feeling never completely went away. The only two other games I've played that have been worse have been DCUO and FFXIV.
Now keep in mind I'm not talking about combat, combat is great. Its all the other scoll through menus and one key to loot anther to close out, that annoy me. I like to play a thief/scrounger in the game and the menu choices and extra clicks make the game more tedious than enjoyable at times.
I think this is a great and humorous example of how interacting with the interface makes me feel.
About the music, I love it. It's used a bit sparingly perhaps, taking care not to distract, and honestly, that's the way I like it. It's still quite evocative and the main theme of course is impressive - hearing that when you fight a dragon lends the whole scene a downright epic feel.
Jeremy Soule indeed is something akin to the John Williams of gaming. And that's not damning with faint praise, like "the best horror movie made in Pennsylvania" (something initially said for Night of the Living dead, lol).
By the way, the other day I saw an acoustic rendition of the main theme on youtube. Normally I don't much like such versions, but this'd indeed make some nice Bard music in a Skyrim tavern.
So I came back to Whiterun and it was about 6AM (in-game). I'm standing there, and see the woman who runs Battlemaiden's (forget her name atm) come walking around the corner, walk up to her forge, pull the chain to heat it up... and then proceed to get to work.
A little while later, I happened to be in Whiterun around the same time, see her walk up to the shop again, and this time walk up to the tanning station.
I basically witnessed a video game character come from their home and start their day of work. That's awesome.
Then I go to the Bannered Mare, and am just listening to some of the songs the guy's performing. Hilarious.
Had this one guard right outside Dragonsreach poking fun at me about my iron sword almost every time I'd walk past him. I finally upgraded to a steel sword and armor (courtesy of a bandit leader near Whiterun who seemed to have a sudden onset of fatal health issues. I think it was iron poisoning). The next time I walk past that same guard, he's all "Ahh that's some fine armor. Good old steel" (or something like that).
And so on.. It's amazing seeing some of the random things that take place around town, how the NPCs react to you.
The only thing that hasn't seemed to change is that me becoming a Thane hasn't gotten me any more respect. I still have some guards making idle threats (don't cause trouble, etc).
All in all... even outside the epic moments, etc... It's just awesome experiencing this game.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
So I came back to Whiterun and it was about 6AM (in-game). I'm standing there, and see the woman who runs Battlemaiden's (forget her name atm) come walking around the corner, walk up to her forge, pull the chain to heat it up... and then proceed to get to work.
A little while later, I happened to be in Whiterun around the same time, see her walk up to the shop again, and this time walk up to the tanning station.
I basically witnessed a video game character come from their home and start their day of work. That's awesome.
Then I go to the Bannered Mare, and am just listening to some of the songs the guy's performing. Hilarious.
Had this one guard right outside Dragonsreach poking fun at me about my iron sword almost every time I'd walk past him. I finally upgraded to a steel sword and armor (courtesy of a bandit leader near Whiterun who seemed to have a sudden onset of fatal health issues. I think it was iron poisoning). The next time I walk past that same guard, he's all "Ahh that's some fine armor. Good old steel" (or something like that).
And so on.. It's amazing seeing some of the random things that take place around town, how the NPCs react to you.
The only thing that hasn't seemed to change is that me becoming a Thane hasn't gotten me any more respect. I still have some guards making idle threats (don't cause trouble, etc).
All in all... even outside the epic moments, etc... It's just awesome experiencing this game.
Steal something and get caught.
I stole a elven sword out of a glass case in the castle, was caught and told them i was a thane and they let me off.
So I came back to Whiterun and it was about 6AM (in-game). I'm standing there, and see the woman who runs Battlemaiden's (forget her name atm) come walking around the corner, walk up to her forge, pull the chain to heat it up... and then proceed to get to work.
A little while later, I happened to be in Whiterun around the same time, see her walk up to the shop again, and this time walk up to the tanning station.
I basically witnessed a video game character come from their home and start their day of work. That's awesome.
Then I go to the Bannered Mare, and am just listening to some of the songs the guy's performing. Hilarious.
Had this one guard right outside Dragonsreach poking fun at me about my iron sword almost every time I'd walk past him. I finally upgraded to a steel sword and armor (courtesy of a bandit leader near Whiterun who seemed to have a sudden onset of fatal health issues. I think it was iron poisoning). The next time I walk past that same guard, he's all "Ahh that's some fine armor. Good old steel" (or something like that).
And so on.. It's amazing seeing some of the random things that take place around town, how the NPCs react to you.
The only thing that hasn't seemed to change is that me becoming a Thane hasn't gotten me any more respect. I still have some guards making idle threats (don't cause trouble, etc).
All in all... even outside the epic moments, etc... It's just awesome experiencing this game.
Steal something and get caught.
I stole a elven sword out of a glass case in the castle, was caught and told them i was a thane and they let me off.
WTF man, I was just trying to eat dinner and the guards try to kill me. I don't even get a chance to say I'm a thane.
And how come I never see that woman working! She's always leaning on a frigging post telling me to make crap for her. I killed a dragon for crying out loud, and she wants me to make her daggers for her! I swear to god I'm going to kill her tomorrow!
Tdlr the people complaining about the UI have no clue what they are talking about. Also the tab is used for the esc key to go out of the menu, just like i pointed, look at your keyboard and see where those keys are. Ye tab is just a key away from swad, esc is way up there where you need to stretch your finger to access it and most probably would have to loos contact with your swad key. So people before complaining at least try to understand why they did that that way.
The game is just awesome, look great, combat is superior to any other rpg. Now i have to go play, sorry guys....
Too many people, including the ones that are shamelessly gushing about the game, claim that the UI was optimized for consoles not for PCs. They generally close with something like, "...but after a while I learned to deal with it". That tells me that you need to adapt to a system that wasn't well made to start with, but not so bad as to make the game unplayable. A good UI lets you slide right into it within a few minutes, with little or no headscratching.
Nothing breaks a game faster for me than a poor interface, which nearly all console ports share. I'm still going to wait for a decent mod to fix that up before I try the game so I don't start off playing it with a sour taste in my mouth. I'd hate to have an otherwise good experience ruined due to a goofy interface. I suspect that I'll still be able to buy the game a few weeks or months from now when many of the other rough edges have also been smoothed over by a dedicated modding community. Maybe it will even be a Christmas present to myself.
Did you even read and tried to understand my post before quoting me? The fact a lot of people claim something doesn't make it more true. People used to claim the earth is flat, ye they even killed and burned books for that.
No really i don't say that to be a smart ass. Just try to grasp the greater limitations and need a rpg game with fps combat have to deal when it come to control and UI and you will understand. I explained it in the post. The Skyrim UI is a very good UI even for PC, i told you why, really it is. But you just don't understand it because you think a rpg with fps combat should have as simple control as a classical fps or as a classical rpg, but they can't. Its obvious if you think about it 5 minutes and if you actually try to test it. Just open a fps game, open whatever classical fps really it doesn't matter, then try to access all the key needed in a rpg, this mean the f1 to f12, the 1 to 0, and the skill bar and see what happen.
Yes you really need to adapt because rpg with fps combat don't use the same setting as your usual rpg or your usual fps, its not hard to understand. Its a technical and physical issue. Skyrim UI is not a bad port at all, it is very well set for pc, the people playing a lot of fps like rpg will understand it, yes rpg with fps combat have a bit more awkward control and UI but this is the price to have as way superior combat, which really isn't hard to understand. More complexity in combat need more work for you, the player. In skyrim you still have everything at your finger length, that's quiet a feat, try to play other rpg with fps combat to compare.
And really if you set it well the control are super easy, you both can access all the menus and the rebind option with tab and "q" keys, i mean can it be easier for a fps? i don't think so. The only thing a mod will do is help you totally mess your controls, that's for sure. But really if you want to wait, just do.
Yes, I understood it. I've also been reading the Skyrim and Steam forums to get as much information as possible (I hope you weren't expecting that I was going to take your word as gospel). What that has lead me to conclude is that Beth made the game for consoles, then did the minimum required to get it to run on the PC so they could increase their sales. Same old story, different title. The only really bright spot that I've read is that it seems to be damned stable. I think that's a first for Beth. But to tell you the truth, I would have preferred a buggy game that was designed for PC than the opposite. Developers tend to fix bugs. They don't tend to re-write interfaces
Sorry, but I'm in no hurry to rush out and throw my money at a company who doesn't feel that going the extra distance to give me the best possible experience is part of their job. And that's not just Beth but most companies who produce multiplatform games. That's why I hesitated in buying it in the first place. I've been burned more times than I can count due to lazy ports so I was expecting the worst. The good news is that everything that console development couldn't f*** up, actually sounds pretty good. However, everything it could f*** up, it did.
I'm not writing the game off, but I am going to delay. I never had the level of hype that most of you have, so for me, waiting is no hardship. Oblivion was a step backwards from Morrowind (in my opinion), so I wasn't waiting feverishly for this one. In the meantime, I'll just hold on until one of the strengths of the PC platform takes over and mods out the poorly optimized bits that Beth should have done themselves.
Oh, and on the topic of FPS/RPGs, games have been able to mix them successfully for years. System Shock II comes to mind as one of the earlier ones, and that was back in the 90s. Mixing these two types of games is hardly breaking new ground. But then again, the influence of consoles on PC development has never been more invasive than it is today. It's not the intricacies of designing a working system for different genres that's tricky, but doing it for different platforms. Sadly, it's usually the PC that gets the short end of stick. Sorry, I just won't raise a glass of purple kool-aid to that. You're welcome to, though.
Tdlr the people complaining about the UI have no clue what they are talking about. Also the tab is used for the esc key to go out of the menu, just like i pointed, look at your keyboard and see where those keys are. Ye tab is just a key away from swad, esc is way up there where you need to stretch your finger to access it and most probably would have to loos contact with your swad key. So people before complaining at least try to understand why they did that that way.
The game is just awesome, look great, combat is superior to any other rpg. Now i have to go play, sorry guys....
Too many people, including the ones that are shamelessly gushing about the game, claim that the UI was optimized for consoles not for PCs. They generally close with something like, "...but after a while I learned to deal with it". That tells me that you need to adapt to a system that wasn't well made to start with, but not so bad as to make the game unplayable. A good UI lets you slide right into it within a few minutes, with little or no headscratching.
Nothing breaks a game faster for me than a poor interface, which nearly all console ports share. I'm still going to wait for a decent mod to fix that up before I try the game so I don't start off playing it with a sour taste in my mouth. I'd hate to have an otherwise good experience ruined due to a goofy interface. I suspect that I'll still be able to buy the game a few weeks or months from now when many of the other rough edges have also been smoothed over by a dedicated modding community. Maybe it will even be a Christmas present to myself.
Did you even read and tried to understand my post before quoting me? The fact a lot of people claim something doesn't make it more true. People used to claim the earth is flat, ye they even killed and burned books for that.
No really i don't say that to be a smart ass. Just try to grasp the greater limitations and need a rpg game with fps combat have to deal when it come to control and UI and you will understand. I explained it in the post. The Skyrim UI is a very good UI even for PC, i told you why, really it is. But you just don't understand it because you think a rpg with fps combat should have as simple control as a classical fps or as a classical rpg, but they can't. Its obvious if you think about it 5 minutes and if you actually try to test it. Just open a fps game, open whatever classical fps really it doesn't matter, then try to access all the key needed in a rpg, this mean the f1 to f12, the 1 to 0, and the skill bar and see what happen.
Yes you really need to adapt because rpg with fps combat don't use the same setting as your usual rpg or your usual fps, its not hard to understand. Its a technical and physical issue. Skyrim UI is not a bad port at all, it is very well set for pc, the people playing a lot of fps like rpg will understand it, yes rpg with fps combat have a bit more awkward control and UI but this is the price to have as way superior combat, which really isn't hard to understand. More complexity in combat need more work for you, the player. In skyrim you still have everything at your finger length, that's quiet a feat, try to play other rpg with fps combat to compare.
And really if you set it well the control are super easy, you both can access all the menus and the rebind option with tab and "q" keys, i mean can it be easier for a fps? i don't think so. The only thing a mod will do is help you totally mess your controls, that's for sure. But really if you want to wait, just do.
Yes, I understood it. I've also been reading the Skyrim and Steam forums to get as much information as possible (I hope you weren't expecting that I was going to take your word as gospel). What that has lead me to conclude is that Beth made the game for consoles, then did the minimum required to get it to run on the PC so they could increase their sales. Same old story, different title. The only really bright spot that I've read is that it seems to be damned stable. I think that's a first for Beth. But to tell you the truth, I would have preferred a buggy game that was designed for PC than the opposite. Developers tend to fix bugs. They don't tend to re-write interfaces
Sorry, but I'm in no hurry to rush out and throw my money at a company who doesn't feel that going the extra distance to give me the best possible experience is part of their job. And that's not just Beth but most companies who produce multiplatform games. That's why I hesitated in buying it in the first place. I've been burned more times than I can count due to lazy ports so I was expecting the worst. The good news is that everything that console development couldn't f*** up, actually sounds pretty good. However, everything it could f*** up, it did.
I'm not writing the game off, but I am going to delay. I never had the level of hype that most of you have, so for me, waiting is no hardship. Oblivion was a step backwards from Morrowind (in my opinion), so I wasn't waiting feverishly for this one. In the meantime, I'll just hold on until one of the strengths of the PC platform takes over and mods out the poorly optimized bits that Beth should have done themselves.
Oh, and on the topic of FPS/RPGs, games have been able to mix them successfully for years. System Shock II comes to mind as one of the earlier ones, and that was back in the 90s. Mixing these two types of games is hardly breaking new ground. But then again, the influence of consoles on PC development has never been more invasive than it is today. It's not the intricacies of designing a working system for different genres that's tricky, but doing it for different platforms. Sadly, it's usually the PC that gets the short end of stick. Sorry, I just won't raise a glass of purple kool-aid to that. You're welcome to, though.
enjoy NOT playing a very fun, immersive game.
the UI only has one problm for me, and that is inability to remap the F and R key without breaking the functions that those keys use in the interface menus.
solution? i got used to my run and activate being elsewhere.
i have never bought a new game, EVER, and thought "Oh, this UI is amazing. it does nothing to annoy me".
UI is an annoying part of games. for me anyway. most of them (for me) take time to get used to, even if made well. Skyrim has a few UI issues, and i agree that they should have been addressed before selling. but this game is AMAZING, and a couple UI irritations are not enough to ruin it for me.
this is the only game i need for YEARS to come. i forgot what MMO even stands for.
My mount, the second one I have bought since my first was eaten by something, is named Tibirius. Wonderful thing about this guy...when I am in danger he does not hesitate to attack my enemies. He is so awesome that he stomped to death the leader of group of bandits I was sent to kill. While I was fighting three of the bandits Tibirius rushed the leader and kicked the living crap out of him, when I was running up to him I heard him say "Mercy...for the love of the Gods mercy!" LOL! I was thinking dude...my horse is like the most badarse dude this side of hades.
Hehehe...here, btw, as I mentioned, my horse kicking arse on that leader of the bandits I came across. Screen shot I took to prove it! LOL!
This guy had a sword of frost on him, too, and I found 116 gold as well. All in all a good haul!
My mount, the second one I have bought since my first was eaten by something, is named Tibirius. Wonderful thing about this guy...when I am in danger he does not hesitate to attack my enemies. He is so awesome that he stomped to death the leader of group of bandits I was sent to kill. While I was fighting three of the bandits Tibirius rushed the leader and kicked the living crap out of him, when I was running up to him I heard him say "Mercy...for the love of the Gods mercy!" LOL! I was thinking dude...my horse is like the most badarse dude this side of hades.
Hehehe...here, btw, as I mentioned, my horse kicking arse on that leader of the bandits I came across. Screen shot I took to prove it! LOL!
This guy had a sword of frost on him, too, and I found 116 gold as well. All in all a good haul!
Had a similar encounter: suddenly attacked by four bandits and my horse went crazy when I dismounted. It tanked and spanked remarkably well so I switched from using my bow to being my horse's main healer in that encounter. Worked like a charm and good to see ranged heals work on mounts too
People need to shut up and be happy that we even get games on PC.
With all the pirating thats going on I feel fortunate that we get console ports at this point.
why do you think they don't pirating consoles? today everything is possible
Honestly not to the extent that of PC games. Its much easier to pirate PC games since its free to do so.
To pirate Console stuff you need to modify your console then go through the process of DLing and burning games to disc.
Look at games like Crysis, Torchlight and Witcher. millions of illegal downloads. If you were a developer would you bother making a game for PC that will see 200-400k sales and 5 million copies stolen?
Like I said we should feel fortunate that we have games on PC at all.
Comments
Amen, Teala.
Playing this game brings back the sense of adventure I had back when I played the old, 1st and 2nd generation MMOs.
For people who came to the genre later and don't quite understand what is meant when I, or others certainly, talk of the sense of grand adventure in a massive world that MMOs used to provide... play Skyrim a bit, and you'll get what we mean, because it captures that feeling in spades.
This is the sense of adventure I had when I first played FFXI, Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call 2 and even Shadowbane to a degree. In every one of them, I felt like a very small individual dropped into a very massive world with tons of possibilities and very little hand-holding on which way I could go and/or what I could choose to do.
Skyrim is proof positive that at least one developer - Bethesda - still "gets it". They still understand what a grand sense of adventure is. They understand what it means to have a vast, immersive virtual world.. And they still know how to deliver it.
From what I've seen/read, they don't intend on making an Elder Scrolls MMO. While that's disappointing, frankly... perhaps it's for the best, if it's so. The MMO market - namely many of its players - have come to demand a specific style of gameplay that is much more linear, guided, casual and faster paced. They want things to be ever faster, easier and granting more reward for less effort. Were Bethesda to make concessions to cater to that player base, what makes the Elder Scrolls games what they are could be lost, defeating the purpose of making a MMO in the first place. Some things are better left alone, perhaps.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Magnificent game. I can't put it down, and I do have a lot of work to do, so it's bye bye sleep.
I was not fond of Oblivion, but this one is just brilliant. You can talk about the flaws, and it does have flaws, and I'm sure many are really, genuinely irritated with the console-friendly UI... I, too, was, for a bit, but the game is so immersive and well thought-out in other areas that it just made me get over it.
Trying to get to a quest area after assasinating a keep-full of people and finding myself in a wholly unexpected, tooth-and-nail duel with an awesomely frightening dragon in the middle of a gloomy pond, with the dragon's deafening roar booming and the giant flapping wings flashing in and out of sight, I found I'd wholly lost myself in this world, and all thought of an "interface" had just perished...
To me, what makes an unforgettable game is not the "lack of bad", it's the "presence of awesome". And I find this one has awesome in abundence.
My only wish is that this "game" had a crawling mode so i could be sure that i will not finish it until the next one comes out.
I must say i´ve been playing only for a couple of hours...
But so far i´m having a blast!
Not even following the main quest-line but getting easily lost in that amazing world full of life!
Game feels open...character evolution is incredible! More open than i´ve ever seen before in any game since you "learn" and get better at whatever u do most. No class locked.
Kudos Bethesa for bringing up (again) a Masterpiece of a game!
Yeah, I'm having the most fun I've had in a long time.
Has anyone found Volskygge yet?
This has been the best dungeon I've gone through so far. At first I just thought it was going to be a little jaunt. Then as it went on and there was a neat puzzle (and I'm sure glad I saved because I highly suspect that one couldn't mess it up and have a do over) then some traps and then I found what I thought was the boss. I kept dying until I tried some scroll called Firestorm.
firestorm is one of the best spells in this game. As my health is going I'm "windng it up" and then "blammo"! Luckily I had two of them as I was able to defeat this "boss". But oh no, it wasn't a boss as there was another one. Some smart thinking and a lucky "level up" gave me better two handed and I was able to get him.
So I thougth "ok this was epic". but then I run into "The Boss" who is using the voice and is dong something that I'd rather it didnt' do. I eventually destory it, think "wow this was the best dungeon I've run into" and then I went through the door to "The peak".
I have to say what happened there was extremely neat. And I died.
Also downloaded a texture change for the faces so the elves are less ugly as well as some of the other races so that was a perk.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Did you even read and tried to understand my post before quoting me? The fact a lot of people claim something doesn't make it more true. People used to claim the earth is flat, ye they even killed and burned books for that.
No really i don't say that to be a smart ass. Just try to grasp the greater limitations and need a rpg game with fps combat have to deal when it come to control and UI and you will understand. I explained it in the post. The Skyrim UI is a very good UI even for PC, i told you why, really it is. But you just don't understand it because you think a rpg with fps combat should have as simple control as a classical fps or as a classical rpg, but they can't. Its obvious if you think about it 5 minutes and if you actually try to test it. Just open a fps game, open whatever classical fps really it doesn't matter, then try to access all the key needed in a rpg, this mean the f1 to f12, the 1 to 0, and the skill bar and see what happen.
Yes you really need to adapt because rpg with fps combat don't use the same setting as your usual rpg or your usual fps, its not hard to understand. Its a technical and physical issue. Skyrim UI is not a bad port at all, it is very well set for pc, the people playing a lot of fps like rpg will understand it, yes rpg with fps combat have a bit more awkward control and UI but this is the price to have as way superior combat, which really isn't hard to understand. More complexity in combat need more work for you, the player. In skyrim you still have everything at your finger length, that's quiet a feat, try to play other rpg with fps combat to compare.
And really if you set it well the control are super easy, you both can access all the menus and the rebind option with tab and "q" keys, i mean can it be easier for a fps? i don't think so. The only thing a mod will do is help you totally mess your controls, that's for sure. But really if you want to wait, just do.
Geez I hear all these people making comments of I am level 10+. I am wondering how? My character is still level 7! She didn't buy a house, she just killed this group of bandits holding a keep, near a mountain lake, and has taken up residents there.
Found a place to store all my stuffs - finally! By the way..I took the bandits bodies and dumped them into a river that flows from the lake. It took them down streem and over a water fall they went - all five of them! ::ebil grin::
Tell me...other than Mount and Blade and other Bethesda games allow you to do that?! So very cool! Loving this game!!!
I'm loving this game much more than previous Elder Scrolls games.
Don't have the time to go into details, but it seems that all my free-time just disappears when I play this game. Wake up at noon, and lo' and behold it's 03:00 at night on a sunday when I quit.
Just awesome and when the mods start rolling in it's going to get even better.
Just now hitting level 10 on my mage. Still doing a ton of these college quests, to the point it literally feels like the college is the main story, hehe. One sad thing of note, I killed my horse. Poor thing. Being a mage, my channeled spell which I Iove, tosses out flames like a flamethrower, unfortunately I cooked my horse as it was being attacked by some Frost Elemental. I don't mind too much except for the hit on my gold it took to pay for the horse. If the game had mounted combat it would be a different story, but so far, I haven't noticed the horse being worthwhile. Have to dismount to fight, he gets in the way, isn't really that fast and in my case, is now Barbecue at a dungeon entrance. I have yet to fight a dragon, too. Can't wait to cook HIM. For my HORSE!!! rawr, lol.
I played it for about six hours, really closer to seven, but I rolled two more toons during that time so about thirty minutes was spent snoozing through the overly long unskippable (and yes, pretty damn badass) intro. And damn yeah that should have been enough time to get used to the interface, but that awkward, clunky feeling never completely went away. The only two other games I've played that have been worse have been DCUO and FFXIV.
Now keep in mind I'm not talking about combat, combat is great. Its all the other scoll through menus and one key to loot anther to close out, that annoy me. I like to play a thief/scrounger in the game and the menu choices and extra clicks make the game more tedious than enjoyable at times.
I think this is a great and humorous example of how interacting with the interface makes me feel.
>CLICKY<
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
About the music, I love it. It's used a bit sparingly perhaps, taking care not to distract, and honestly, that's the way I like it. It's still quite evocative and the main theme of course is impressive - hearing that when you fight a dragon lends the whole scene a downright epic feel.
Jeremy Soule indeed is something akin to the John Williams of gaming. And that's not damning with faint praise, like "the best horror movie made in Pennsylvania" (something initially said for Night of the Living dead, lol).
By the way, the other day I saw an acoustic rendition of the main theme on youtube. Normally I don't much like such versions, but this'd indeed make some nice Bard music in a Skyrim tavern.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtF5mvFHacY
So I came back to Whiterun and it was about 6AM (in-game). I'm standing there, and see the woman who runs Battlemaiden's (forget her name atm) come walking around the corner, walk up to her forge, pull the chain to heat it up... and then proceed to get to work.
A little while later, I happened to be in Whiterun around the same time, see her walk up to the shop again, and this time walk up to the tanning station.
I basically witnessed a video game character come from their home and start their day of work. That's awesome.
Then I go to the Bannered Mare, and am just listening to some of the songs the guy's performing. Hilarious.
Had this one guard right outside Dragonsreach poking fun at me about my iron sword almost every time I'd walk past him. I finally upgraded to a steel sword and armor (courtesy of a bandit leader near Whiterun who seemed to have a sudden onset of fatal health issues. I think it was iron poisoning). The next time I walk past that same guard, he's all "Ahh that's some fine armor. Good old steel" (or something like that).
And so on.. It's amazing seeing some of the random things that take place around town, how the NPCs react to you.
The only thing that hasn't seemed to change is that me becoming a Thane hasn't gotten me any more respect. I still have some guards making idle threats (don't cause trouble, etc).
All in all... even outside the epic moments, etc... It's just awesome experiencing this game.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Can't wait this awesome game!
Steal something and get caught.
I stole a elven sword out of a glass case in the castle, was caught and told them i was a thane and they let me off.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
LOL, I got that sword recently, but didn't get caught...muhahaha
WTF man, I was just trying to eat dinner and the guards try to kill me. I don't even get a chance to say I'm a thane.
And how come I never see that woman working! She's always leaning on a frigging post telling me to make crap for her. I killed a dragon for crying out loud, and she wants me to make her daggers for her! I swear to god I'm going to kill her tomorrow!
Yes, I understood it. I've also been reading the Skyrim and Steam forums to get as much information as possible (I hope you weren't expecting that I was going to take your word as gospel). What that has lead me to conclude is that Beth made the game for consoles, then did the minimum required to get it to run on the PC so they could increase their sales. Same old story, different title. The only really bright spot that I've read is that it seems to be damned stable. I think that's a first for Beth. But to tell you the truth, I would have preferred a buggy game that was designed for PC than the opposite. Developers tend to fix bugs. They don't tend to re-write interfaces
Sorry, but I'm in no hurry to rush out and throw my money at a company who doesn't feel that going the extra distance to give me the best possible experience is part of their job. And that's not just Beth but most companies who produce multiplatform games. That's why I hesitated in buying it in the first place. I've been burned more times than I can count due to lazy ports so I was expecting the worst. The good news is that everything that console development couldn't f*** up, actually sounds pretty good. However, everything it could f*** up, it did.
I'm not writing the game off, but I am going to delay. I never had the level of hype that most of you have, so for me, waiting is no hardship. Oblivion was a step backwards from Morrowind (in my opinion), so I wasn't waiting feverishly for this one. In the meantime, I'll just hold on until one of the strengths of the PC platform takes over and mods out the poorly optimized bits that Beth should have done themselves.
Oh, and on the topic of FPS/RPGs, games have been able to mix them successfully for years. System Shock II comes to mind as one of the earlier ones, and that was back in the 90s. Mixing these two types of games is hardly breaking new ground. But then again, the influence of consoles on PC development has never been more invasive than it is today. It's not the intricacies of designing a working system for different genres that's tricky, but doing it for different platforms. Sadly, it's usually the PC that gets the short end of stick. Sorry, I just won't raise a glass of purple kool-aid to that. You're welcome to, though.
enjoy NOT playing a very fun, immersive game.
the UI only has one problm for me, and that is inability to remap the F and R key without breaking the functions that those keys use in the interface menus.
solution? i got used to my run and activate being elsewhere.
i have never bought a new game, EVER, and thought "Oh, this UI is amazing. it does nothing to annoy me".
UI is an annoying part of games. for me anyway. most of them (for me) take time to get used to, even if made well. Skyrim has a few UI issues, and i agree that they should have been addressed before selling. but this game is AMAZING, and a couple UI irritations are not enough to ruin it for me.
this is the only game i need for YEARS to come. i forgot what MMO even stands for.
oh yeah, i remember. Monthly Monetary Offering.
My mount, the second one I have bought since my first was eaten by something, is named Tibirius. Wonderful thing about this guy...when I am in danger he does not hesitate to attack my enemies. He is so awesome that he stomped to death the leader of group of bandits I was sent to kill. While I was fighting three of the bandits Tibirius rushed the leader and kicked the living crap out of him, when I was running up to him I heard him say "Mercy...for the love of the Gods mercy!" LOL! I was thinking dude...my horse is like the most badarse dude this side of hades.
Hehehe...here, btw, as I mentioned, my horse kicking arse on that leader of the bandits I came across. Screen shot I took to prove it! LOL!
This guy had a sword of frost on him, too, and I found 116 gold as well. All in all a good haul!
You dont need to pay for the mount.
If you join a faction through a MISC quest you can then travel to all thier strongholds in Skyrim and just take a horse from the stables for free.
I took a white-ish gray horse and it continues to spawn along side me.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
People need to shut up and be happy that we even get games on PC.
With all the pirating thats going on I feel fortunate that we get console ports at this point.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
why do you think they don't pirating consoles? today everything is possible
Currently playing: Elder Scrolls Online
MMORPG experiences:EQ2, AoC(pre f2p), Lotro,GW1,DDO, Aion,WoW( stop with wotlk),Allods, GW2
Eu,War, Secret World
Waiting On: WoD Sometime Maybe: Elder Scrolls MMO, Might and Magic
Had a similar encounter: suddenly attacked by four bandits and my horse went crazy when I dismounted. It tanked and spanked remarkably well so I switched from using my bow to being my horse's main healer in that encounter. Worked like a charm and good to see ranged heals work on mounts too
Also cool how arrows stick for a while.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Honestly not to the extent that of PC games. Its much easier to pirate PC games since its free to do so.
To pirate Console stuff you need to modify your console then go through the process of DLing and burning games to disc.
Look at games like Crysis, Torchlight and Witcher. millions of illegal downloads. If you were a developer would you bother making a game for PC that will see 200-400k sales and 5 million copies stolen?
Like I said we should feel fortunate that we have games on PC at all.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing