Skyrim

[Tao~]

Skyrim is ESRB:M , I like that. Hopefully it will be mature and not some childish folktale sort-of, like its predecessors. And hopefully the storyline will be slightly mysterious/twisted (unlike any of Bethesda's previous games). Fallout 3 was good, the VATS combat was exciting and I have hopes the new engine will make Skyrim better at that front.

Mostly its the storyline,gameplay mechanics and character dev. I am interested in. Graphics/Background score will only add value. I hope its a (major) bug free release - and we'll probably get to see some decent mods once the toolkit is public.

But so far, what I am guessing is- you start as some nobody (like all previous games) and there will be a legend of Dovak'iin the dragonborn going around (Nerevarine anyone ?) , with may be prophecies to complement - and you meet dragons along the way whom you slay and acquire their powers - eventually learning that you are the dragonborn ( 'sif) and there will be some mundane main quest about stopping some Dark force from oblivion who will wreak havoc. If thats that - I will be disappointed. Witcher 2 has set my standards high.

PS: No,I have no idea about the game other than that I have just seen the trailers and played Morrowind/Oblivion.

[ExodusC]

Not excited whatsoever. Oblivion was the first major game in what I would call the 2009-2010 PC video game drought. With the launch of Oblivion, we saw the advent of some things that I consider to be killing games in general:
• Console ports become the majority
• Any-time any-where fast travel (Oblivion notoriously)
• Poorly implemented monster difficulty scaling (Oblivion, to an extent Borderlands, likely Skyrim, and many other games)
• Drastically reduced weaponset/skillset (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3)
• Shift toward stylized, cartoon-like graphics (Oblivion, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, Diablo III- particularly bothersome in Diablo III, considering the stylization of Diablo I and Diablo II)

I can't speak for everyone, but in terms of RPGs, I really hate those characteristics. I'm sure plenty of people would disagree, but I can't stand it.

[SabreWulf69]

From what I have read and seen of this so far it seems there has been a shift in gaming for Bethesda and it is towards consoles which is never a good thing in my humble opinion. The gameplay looks to be alright but over hyped. The graphics are over hyped from only the stuff I have seen - there's no decent texturing, there's not as good effects as I was expecting, and as always, Bethesda's character animations look like cardboard. BUT, and this is a big but, this IS an improvement from the last game(s) that they have done. It is just that it seems more 'evolutionary' rather than 'revolutionary'. This seems to be the way that a lot of developer's are saying in general about a lot of their games these days. Their games have always been a huge success despite the aforementioned pitfalls, as I believe it is all about the actual experience of the game and not how any of the pre-release footage or trailers look. The addiction of wanting to explore every nook and cranny of an area, seeing a trailer and saying to oneself "that's not how you do it, I'd do it this way", getting lost in storyline after storyline worth's of massive amounts of sub-content. The allure of a free form and open world where choice is number one. Bethesda's RPG attempts in my opinion have always been more about trying to bring RPG elements to 'the everyman' rather than having hard-core elements like Dragon Age or Neverwinter from the get go. The fast travel is about freedom of choice in a sandbox world. I do hope they don't pass off poor graphics if this does indeed have poor graphics or at least graphics which I am sure won't live up to people's expectations as 'art direction'. Finally, the only thing that would really kill this for me, is if they chose to exclude modding, that would be a big mistake in my opinion also as bug-free a release as possible would also be much appreciated, the last few gaming titles in general have been disappointing this way for many a person.

[Ket]

Stop talking about console stuff - its depressing to think about PC games becoming console games

[Plan.B]

I pre-ordered. I will be at Gamestop at midnight. Bethesda has a good track record for rpg content. Morrowind is my #1 all-time; Fallout 3 my #2. Player-made mods are an essential enhancement. I hope Skyrim does not disappoint (like Oblivion before mods). I don't know about the dragons though, seems gimmicky.

[Andrew LB]

I'll be buying it.

Also, in regards to my comments back in June... while DX11 content will not be part of the release on 11/11/11 (due to time constraints for the holidays), I still maintain that PC gamers will indeed be seeing an update to the game which will include textures and dx11 content and optimizations much like we saw with Crysis 2.

Yea... it's not perfect. Even my friend at Bethesda was told a year ago that DX11 would be ready for next weeks release. Considering how long the game is, there is a good chance the update may be ready before the majority of players play it through their first time.

[Philip_J_Fry]

iirc, the 1st oblivion patch destroyed/didn't work with game saves from launch version/1.0. i hope that is not the case this time ... the 300+ hours gameplay sounds awesome, but that could mean more bugs, sadly

i really wanna buy this at launch. seeing how this is a console port, i can see us pc gamers getting screwed.

[Plan.B]

In 1 week we shall see...

[zanzabar]

Not excited whatsoever. Oblivion was the first major game in what I would call the 2009-2010 PC video game drought. With the launch of Oblivion, we saw the advent of some things that I consider to be killing games in general:
• Console ports become the majority
• Any-time any-where fast travel (Oblivion notoriously)
• Poorly implemented monster difficulty scaling (Oblivion, to an extent Borderlands, likely Skyrim, and many other games)
• Drastically reduced weaponset/skillset (Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3)
• Shift toward stylized, cartoon-like graphics (Oblivion, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, Diablo III- particularly bothersome in Diablo III, considering the stylization of Diablo I and Diablo II)

I can't speak for everyone, but in terms of RPGs, I really hate those characteristics. I'm sure plenty of people would disagree, but I can't stand it.

on the last point, i dont dislike the "cartoonish" fantasy style of animation, but i hate the super realism. there is not the hardware to do the character animation and realism so if u try both and try to put it on the consoles it looks worse than than fantasy and like crysis2 or bf3 were its realish but close enough to real to not suspend disbelief since it just looks off is something that i really dislike.

[Morphling]

OMG, I can't wait much longer for this game I'm a BIG fan of Oblivion But on RPG's Baldur's Gate will always be the best!

[zanzabar]

OMG, I can't wait much longer for this game I'm a BIG fan of Oblivion But on RPG's Baldur's Gate will always be the best!

if u get a console the 360 and ps3 versions have been leaked for almost 2 weeks now. im having a hard time resisting the leaks since im out of games since batmanAC was delayed for the pc.

[Andrew LB]

if u get a console the 360 and ps3 versions have been leaked for almost 2 weeks now. im having a hard time resisting the leaks since im out of games since batmanAC was delayed for the pc.

Remember how fast EA blamed PC gamers when Crysis 2 was leaked? It seems there is a double standard here.

[Kallenator]

Remember how fast EA blamed PC gamers when Crysis 2 was leaked? It seems there is a double standard here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj28soFeGl8


Just kidding, but not entirely


I got to admit that Bethesda's Appleness over the word "Scrolls" vs Mojang was pretty damn disgusting.

Still eagerly awaiting Skyrim though, 2 days!

[Piotrsama]

Not excited whatsoever. Oblivion was the first major game in what I would call the 2009-2010 PC video game drought. With the launch of Oblivion, we saw the advent of some things that I consider to be killing games in general:

Oblivion was released on 2006.
And if you want to call "consolitis" you might as well go back in time to Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Remember how fast EA blamed PC gamers when Crysis 2 was leaked? It seems there is a double standard here.

+1 It seems easier to blame the PC market.

[Philip_J_Fry]

40 pc screens:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/10/40...ame=0&ns_fee=0

game is only 5.60 GB, looks very consolized... oh well i pre ordered it

[yaddam205]

40 pc screens:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/10/40...ame=0&ns_fee=0

game is only 5.60 GB, looks very consolized... oh well i pre ordered it

True, I've been watching all the video I can get my hands on and it's a little dissapointing. Good news is the modders will have a field day and then we can all enjoy their efforts with some high res texture packs.

[UZ7]

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php...#entry19144681 some graphic setting comparison, dunno bout anyone else but i can see the difference lol

[yaddam205]

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php...#entry19144681 some graphic setting comparison, dunno bout anyone else but i can see the difference lol

Thanks for that link! There's quite a dramatic difference when going to ultra from any other setting.

[Kallenator]

Having played quite a bit BF3 now a days I just cant help being underwhelmed by Skyrim's looks. Some of it looks really good, like the mist around the mountains, the rivers and trees are decent as well, but almost everything else just stinks of low res textures. It is far better looking than Oblivion, so an improvement no doubt, but it feels like Bethesda skimped on just about every feature. It gives me a weird feeling when playing it, like a some piece of hardware made from plastic instead of sturdy metal.
The intro without going into details was just awful, like something they put together in a very short amount of time without bothering to trim the details, characters and creatures are all so icy and robotic, the animation and motion capture department needs a huge overhaul.
As far as gameplay goes I have no comments, only played 2 hours so far. But the meny system is something I haven't gotten used to yet although I kinda miss the one from Oblivion already.
Fighting is just the same, bots are just as stupid, but the game seems easier. (Playing on Expert) What I hate though is the finishing moves, could that not have been an option for us pc gamers?
The sound is a bit odd, does not feel like I am inside a cave, nor outside in the nature, maybe a setting I have forgotten or some sound level that needs adjusting. Dialog is just as boring and cold as well, so far at least.

In short, graphic needs higher res textures, tessellation and animation overhaul. So far I am left with mixed feeling that I hope the game will rid of me over time.

[Philip_J_Fry]

well the UI was definitely made for 360 controller. just started playing

edit:
locked @ 30fps lovely

well jsut forced vsync off via nv panel, low GPU usage on 570 SLI, like 50%... tho i got ~60fps

[Andrew LB]

True, I've been watching all the video I can get my hands on and it's a little dissapointing. Good news is the modders will have a field day and then we can all enjoy their efforts with some high res texture packs.

I've been playing it all day and so far it's a fantastic game. Far better graphics than pre-release video I've seen on the net.

And no, I didn't pirate it. All you had to do to play it early was spend $2 on a Australian sal proxy and the game unlOcked last night at midnight aus time. Hehe.

It even crippled my gtx570 running 1920x1200 w/ 16xqAA 16xaf 8x multisampling.

Anyways... Back to playing.

[Plan.B]

Pre-ordered at a premium price. Stood in line for 30 minutes at midnight. Installed, entered product code. Steam: servers are busy, try again in a few minutes. Try again. Steam: Updating, Ready to Play in Approximately 1 Hour and 28 Minutes. After 30 minutes still over 1 hour to wait.

Certainly my first and last pre-order, and probably my last steam-crippled game.

Steam as in steam rising from fresh bovine scat.

I didn't expect this from my beloved Besthesda.

[NEOAethyr]

I'm getting the game right now, looking forward to free roaming and gaining lv's just for the heck of it.
Never liked the story lines to these games, but it is fun to just free roam it on some of them.
Oblivion kinda sucked compared to morrowind I think, I'm hoping this one is a bit better.

Offtopic... I hate steam...

[Andrew LB]

I agree completely about the finishing moves. I wonder if the can be turned off via the preferences ini file. I enabled all the highest detail settings, etc in it just like you would in Oblivion. Funny how the same console commands work in skyrim too.

[Plan.B]

Oblivion kinda sucked compared to morrowind I think, I'm hoping this one is a bit better.

OK my little steam rant is over. I'm waiting out the countdown.

Agreed NEO on Morrowind vs. Oblivion. Morrowind is still my favorite for depth of content and breadth of exploration. I hoping Skyrim comes through on both counts.