5 Tiny Things I Hope Get Changed in Skyrim

[Nannernade]

When you buy a DLC for a support base make sure it doesn't permanently lock the location you need to go to for the upgrades without having to pick lock it to get in with the five0 on your tail. >.>

I speak of the Frostcraig Spire DLC, every time you downloaded it it always locked the magic shop and the only way to get in was to pick the hard lock on it, and about 85% of the time after you finished talking to the clerk a random guard would faze through the door and arrest your ass.

That was actually fixed in a patch at one point. Patch your game!

...although, it did get UNpatched by the Battlehorn Castle DLC, so don't DL that on your console. For the PC, get the Unofficial Oblivion Patch--fixes it right back.

AH unfortunatly last year I lost my copy of Oblivion and haven't been able to play it since, so no fixing that bug for me. =\

 

[concrete89]

I, for one hate the voices in oblivion... A dunmer is supposed to sound like he smokes ten loaves a day and eat burlap for breakfast...
And there should be more customization in spellmaking. If I want my fireballs to be green and dragonshaped, then by The Nine, they should be green and dragonshaped.

 

[Yarrow]

I agree with all five points in the article and would echo numerous points posted in the thread such as resetting items/having NPCs rearrange their homes, guards not possessing psychic powers and a hive-mind, and not have everything scale with your level to name a few. As a fan of using stealth (also a fan of magic) in Oblivion, I particularly like the idea of disguises. You could hide your face with a hood or helmet or even have it go as far ?looking the part? to reduce suspicion e.g. you want to burgle the local mages guild chapter then donning a mages robe could make NPCs pay less attention to you whereas wearing all black leather and hiding your face would make them more suspicious. I think it would be good having NPCs react to what you wear e.g. if you wear rags and look poor then a highwayman may be less inclined to waste energy robbing you, a snobbish merchant might refuse to do business and ask you to leave his shop or a noble might take pity on you and give you some coins or ignore you altogether. Alternatively wearing fine clothing would make you a target for the robber, the merchant overcharge you and the noble pay attention.

I always found it a bit irritating when a dagger wielding highwayman threatens my mage who is idly flinging fireballs, surrounded by an aura of magical energy and accompanied by some daedric monstrosity; and it was just silly when doing the Brotherhood quest where you have to kill a number of people locked in a house that as you start to kill them off they become paranoid and accuse each other of being the murderer, all the while ignoring you, dressed in your black leather armour hooded and wielding some vicious looking blade.

What I would like is a game that reacts to what my character is in a more meaningful way then the occasional comment when you get a skill to 100. You could get some NPCs asking for potions once your alchemy is at a certain level or ask for healing if you have high enough restoration.

 

[aarontg]

I also hope they make the magic system more condensed. I would rather have around 50 spells that are interesting and have specific outcomes rather than 200 where every 30 do roughly the same thing.

 

[-Ulven-]

But Susan you COULD place your trinkets in the display cases. I did. I had swords, arrows, armors all those stuff around in display cases and such... I think I used 2 hrs just to get it right though <.<

I want an easier system for actually putting down things in the display case. Oh and also... that you could put swords and weapons (maybe even trophies like heads or such) on the walls.

 

[burymagnets]

I personally don't even think most of these points are minor. I found Oblivion a truly unimmersive experience because of issues like this.

I think Susan is being a bit reserved so as not to upset the fanboys,and Oblivion has a great core, but with absolutely zero polish.

 

[adderseal]

Another minor suggestion: Let NPCs rearrange their items if you knock them over. In Oblivion, you could run into someone's house, kick their dinner over, pull all their books onto the floor and leave without them doing anything about it. At least reset items to their default locations every few days, pl0x?

Oooo, that's a good one. Just the kind of tiny, immersion-breaking thing I'm talking about. Perfect!

And, well, no, we can't have actual Silt Striders as some folks have pointed out, but something along those lines. What would be appropriate for Skyrim?

Isn't it also slightly immersion-breaking to have the NPCs calmly watch you, not doing anything, as you chuck their stuff around their house? Make them get angry or call the guards or something. Someone else's house NEEDS to feel like their private sanctuary. It would make the Thieves Guild/Dark Brotherhood missions much more interesting. If you break into a house, and you're caught, the game needs to make serious shit go down. It needs to feel like you're violating their safety and privacy. In Oblivion it felt too much like you were just in another shop.

 

[Theysaid]

Conversations with NPCs in Oblivion became more annoying over time. The zoom-in to their ugly mugs, the diplomacy wheel, and the limited voices all played a part in this. I've read that you'll no longer zoom in on them when conversing in Skyrim, which helps eliminate that pause when starting a conversation... and also helps if they are ugly. I'm sure character faces will be much more appealing in Skyrim, where a beard doesn't look like you just huffed paint.

While I understand that the conversations between NPCs weren't exactly informative or entertaining, I did appreciate that NPCs actually acknowledged each other. In many games you're the only one NPCs usually seem to notice outside of major story scripted events. But with that said, it would be nice to hear more interesting -- or at least more varied -- banter.

As for moving things around that weren't yours, I thought NPCs told you not to do that, but I'm not sure if they did more than that. Its been a while since I played. I do like the idea of NPCs cleaning up after you, even if it is just a reset after you leave the shop and come back later. They don't have to do it in front of you, but that would be cool too.

Also, it's rude for someone to run up the stairs into someone's bedroom and snoop around. Sure, the NPC would follow you but wouldn't say anything. It would be nice if the NPC would ask you to return to the store level or just leave. It's odd that they don't care where you go in their house as long as they've got an eye on you. And if you were out of sight for a bit, they don't seem to care. "What were you doing in my cellar?" would be a good question to ask, especially if the door was previously locked. All minor complaints though, just like the article.

 

[bomblord]

Those would all by nice touches.

I always decorate my houses in Oblivion. I don't sell a lot of special equipment (especially not the Daedric artifacts!) even if I won't be using them because I like to arrange them around the rooms. Doesn't everyone put "Mother's Head" in a special place?

Yes on my table next to my human heart

 

[RelexCryo]

I agree with the "Modify your own house" especially.

 

[Arctic Fox]

It would be nice to have more diverse locations. Yes, I enjoyed the mountains, forests, and swamps, but what about a desert? or tropical jungle? I also would like to see how an orc or dunmer would acclimate to those different conditions.

Also maybe have a dialect change from city to city. It would have been neat to hear a different accent or mannerism depending on where I was.
Example: Anvil could have them talking with pirate accents or say the phrase "scurvy dog" in conversation, while Bruma could have Swedish accents and could use phrases like "bitter as the mountain wind" etc.

 

[RuralGamer]

All I can say is that from what I gather, the conversation system has been completely overhauled anyway and I don't even know if the persuasion wheel is making a comeback (which wouldn't be too bad, considering the NPCs no longer look like botoxed chimps). I think that one of the developers said something a while back about the game having a lot more in common with Morrowind than Oblivion did; having never really played Morrowind, I wouldn't know, but for all of my enjoyment of Oblivion, the setting did feel a tad bland at times.

 

[franconbean]

I agree with bringing back striders, or perhaps the skyrim equivilent. Being able to fast travel anywhere at almost any time in oblivion encouraged laziness and as a result, the world kinda lost its magic compared with Morrowind.

 

[The Great JT]

With the exception of the Silt Striders (they creeped me out), I agree with everything.

 

[Agent Larkin]

6

NO FRICKKIN GIANT SPIDERS!!!!

Or at least make them optional. The fact they are including them + my rather strong case of arachnophobia means I probably won't get this game because I don't want to run into them and have to explain how playing a video game has given me a panic attack.

 

[Tcafitra]

It would be nice to have more diverse locations. Yes, I enjoyed the mountains, forests, and swamps, but what about a desert? or tropical jungle? I also would like to see how an orc or dunmer would acclimate to those different conditions.

Also maybe have a dialect change from city to city. It would have been neat to hear a different accent or mannerism depending on where I was.
Example: Anvil could have them talking with pirate accents or say the phrase "scurvy dog" in conversation, while Bruma could have Swedish accents and could use phrases like "bitter as the mountain wind" etc.

You're going to have to wait for Bethesda to make another ES series that encompasses all of Tamriel again (which they haven't done since their first) to get that kind of diversity.

Maybe one day...

 

[joeychuckles]

I, too, am a house-arranging pack rat in Bethesda games who has lost hours to making sure THIS sword goes just so on the shelf and THAT helmet is properly displayed amongst the others...glad to know I'm not alone in wanting that mechanic to be tweaked a little.

 

[LadyMint]

I should probably try to beat my copy of Oblivion sometime, but I'm too lazy to mod it the way I want it to be.

I'd like the stilt striders, too, but as someone else suggested, keeping the optional map click would be helpful as well. Sometimes, I'd enjoy just sitting back and letting a stilt rider take me. Other times, I'd probably click on a map point because I didn't want to/have time to wait.

For me, the "minor" thing I'd change is the psychic-link of guards on other sides of the world. When I liberated a horse from this Orc who made it clear that she ate them, every guard on the road just magically knew my crime and came after me. I'd manage to shake one, and miles later run into another who came after me like they had a personal vendetta. Eventually I found a mod that changed that, but still. That was one of my minor annoyances.

That and the lack of wisdom in this one bandit who chased me INTO a building populated with armed forces. I managed to escape a roadside bandit during combat and ran into a large building (might've been an Abbey?) where some knights were hanging out. The bandit followed me; came all the way upstairs to where I was talking to another NPC. Everyone in the building dropped what they were doing and killed him, which was hilarious. But it just seemed silly that he even chased me for that long since I had left him in the dust well before I reached the knights.