Bethesda Makes Stealing and Fighting a Little Easier for Skyrim

[Zom-B]

And Am I the only one who actualy LIKES enemies scaling? I mean, by all means have npc's that will always suck, and npc's that can always slap you around, but I actually like the fact that a bandit ambush is pretty damned inconvenient.

I kind of like enemy scaling, kind of hate it. I mean on the one hand, it does keep things challenging. On the other hand, it makes enemies that you should be able swat down with one blow ridiculously strong and if you didn't do the main quest early enough on, the poor Kvatch guards and others don't stand a chance.

I think it would be more fitting if important or certain quest enemies scaled, but generic creatures and random encounters didn't.

I always thought the complaints about enemy scaling were a bit overblown, though I do understand why people did complain. I do think it's probably one of the hardest tasks in game design to balance the difficulty level for players so that the game remains challenging without being frustrating and despite it's problems Oblivion has always seemed to strike that balance for me. Well, with the help of the difficulty slider, of course.

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

That's all great but will it have horse armour? That was the ONLY good thing about Oblivion.

Seriously though, the increased number of voice actors alone will make this a far superior title but I still hope that they actually have some good gameplay mechanics this time around. The appeal of previous ES games was the exploration and wide variety but the individual components have always been quite underwhelming. I think that they really need to focus on a good combat system since that's a very large portion of the game and then maybe some tweaks to the NPC interaction which has always been very arbitrary.

I'm totally hyped for this game but it has so much potential that I hope at least most of its potential is realised.

 

[internetzealot1]

Hopefully there will be a way to avoid detection other than running halfway across the map. How's a stealth based character supposed to fight dragons?

Also, I'm sure they won't because they suck at balance, but I hope they ditch regenerating magic.

 

[NickySquicky]

I loved Oblivion myself, though I think it would be a small improvement if Skyrim were to remove how overly accepting some of the guilds were. You'd think a cult of assassins wouldn't be so reasonable when confronting a potential traitor, working things out in a way that seems unnatural, given your character's lack in dialogue involvement. "Oh, I can see it in your eyes that you're confused" doesn't cut it for me.

 

[GonzoGamer]

This could very well be my last console generation too. I?ve been playing more and more on the PC... and that started long before the PSN outage and it has just as much to do with Sony/MS as it does with the publishers.
Yea, Bethesda published FNV, so (and I may be wrong about this) they should?ve seen it and said ?hey, we know you can get this to run better. we?re not letting it go onto the shelves in this state.? That?s one reason my faith in them is shaken. Besides that, Fallout 3 and Oblivion needed some work when they launched. Sure they didn?t take 6 months to be playable, but I?m still waiting to hear when the inevitable ?game fixing? patch hits befor buying anything from them.
Don?t get me wrong, I love their games (bought Fallout 3 for the ps3 AND PC) but not for a day 1 purchase. Month 1 if I?m lucky.

I understand that, and it's a smart move. But I think every gamer has at least one soft spot for a certain franchise that they'll sink into logic be damned. I just don't think I'll be able to resist a Colletors Edition.

Unless they burn me on Skyrim with a very sloppy launch, Elder Scrolls is my weakness.

I can dig it and I used to feel the same way. I would really enjoy something from a franchise then buy the next chapter on day one. Sometimes just to reward the developer for putting together something so entertaining. I bought gta4 day 1 because San Andreas stayed consistently entertaining for a long time; even longer than Vice City. I got so much play out of SA I thought I may as well even though I knew 4 wouldn?t be as good. Unfortunately they wrung some of the basics out of the game like in game rewards. Instead we got achievement trophies.
The Burnout franchise burnt out after ?Revenge? and now is like any other driving game out there. And Fallout 3 got followed up by Fallout New Vegas which (for obvious reasons) I regret buying day one. I?m generally not much of an optimist (in case you hadn?t noticed) so I don?t think I?m hyping them up too much in my head to enjoy them. Maybe they peak too early.
So yes, I have soft spots for certain franchises (currently looking forward to Saints Row3) but as franchises don?t seem to stay consistently entertaining, packed full of content, and/or functional, I don?t let my soft spots dictate my spending habits. Soft spots and spending (for me at least) only have it?s place in donating to charity. I?ll still be renting SR3 first.

 

[Jumwa]

So yes, I have soft spots for certain franchises (currently looking forward to Saints Row3) but as franchises don?t seem to stay consistently entertaining, packed full of content, and/or functional, I don?t let my soft spots dictate my spending habits. Soft spots and spending (for me at least) only have it?s place in donating to charity. I?ll still be renting SR3 first.

It's a good stance to take. I'd probably relegate Elder Scrolls with the rest of my gaming purchases, and take a more calculated approach, but I am eager for it and no financial constraints to speak of. Most of all it's a game I intend to play with my significant other enthusiastically, sitting two feet from each other at our own PCs. It's worth a risk on the investment in this case for the experience of us both delving in simultaneously.

I do occasionally purchase a game to reward certain practices, like I bought STALKER: Call of Pripyat day one because they rewarded their fans by giving a significant discount to those who owned their previous titles. I thought that was the kind of thing that deserved encouragement, and the price difference was small enough that I'd save little more by waiting for it to go on sale later anyhow.

Mostly, however, I voice my opinion on games by withholding myself from making a purchase, and not buying those titles which pack unnecessary DRM and other hindrances to my play experience. Despite my great urge to buy two copies of Fable 3 for PC for my partner and I, I can't let myself encourage the use of Games for Windows Live again. /shudder

 

[GonzoGamer]

So yes, I have soft spots for certain franchises (currently looking forward to Saints Row3) but as franchises don?t seem to stay consistently entertaining, packed full of content, and/or functional, I don?t let my soft spots dictate my spending habits. Soft spots and spending (for me at least) only have it?s place in donating to charity. I?ll still be renting SR3 first.

It's a good stance to take. I'd probably relegate Elder Scrolls with the rest of my gaming purchases, and take a more calculated approach, but I am eager for it and no financial constraints to speak of. Most of all it's a game I intend to play with my significant other enthusiastically, sitting two feet from each other at our own PCs. It's worth a risk on the investment in this case for the experience of us both delving in simultaneously.

I do occasionally purchase a game to reward certain practices, like I bought STALKER: Call of Pripyat day one because they rewarded their fans by giving a significant discount to those who owned their previous titles. I thought that was the kind of thing that deserved encouragement, and the price difference was small enough that I'd save little more by waiting for it to go on sale later anyhow.

Mostly, however, I voice my opinion on games by withholding myself from making a purchase, and not buying those titles which pack unnecessary DRM and other hindrances to my play experience. Despite my great urge to buy two copies of Fable 3 for PC for my partner and I, I can't let myself encourage the use of Games for Windows Live again. /shudder

Hmmm. Yes. I hadn?t considered that: my wife might come home one day with Skyrim the same way she did with Blops and Fallout 3. She did really like Oblivion and also loved Fallout 3. I don?t try and control her spending habits because she?s quite frugal (we both grew up in poverty and are protective of the wealth we have accumulated) and only buys one or two games a year as well: and now that I think about it, those will probably be MW3 & Skyrim.
If that?s the case, I hope she brings it home for the PC; MW3 will be on the ps3 so she can play with her friends.

I can totally get behind holding back on a purchase because of drm, online pass type thing, day one dlc (especially gameplay content), and anything else that appears to be a trick to get us to spend considerably more for a complete game. Most recently, I opened fire on LA Noir for separating gameplay content for different pre-order ?bonuses? at different retailers ensuring that no matter where you got it or which platform you got it on, you would not get the whole thing. I?m playing through a copy I rented right now and I have to say I?m very pleased with my decision. I would?ve been pissed if I spent $60 on it. We have to vote with our wallets: too many gamers are willing to overlook predatory sales practices because they?re fans but that?s just going to make the prices increase and make the content on the discs decrease as we?ve seen happen this gen.

 

[Pots]

When they got rid of unarmored skill in Oblivion I was sad, now with the removal of hand-to-hand fighting skill I am pissed. I guess its only cool to wield a sword and wear plate.

Its smart, not cool.

I mean, blocking swords and arrows with my arms? What the hell, did I suddenly turn my flesh into iron?

It just made no sense.

Bracers.

 

[Jumwa]

Hmmm. Yes. I hadn?t considered that: my wife might come home one day with Skyrim the same way she did with Blops and Fallout 3. She did really like Oblivion and also loved Fallout 3. I don?t try and control her spending habits because she?s quite frugal (we both grew up in poverty and are protective of the wealth we have accumulated) and only buys one or two games a year as well: and now that I think about it, those will probably be MW3 & Skyrim.
If that?s the case, I hope she brings it home for the PC; MW3 will be on the ps3 so she can play with her friends.

I can totally get behind holding back on a purchase because of drm, online pass type thing, day one dlc (especially gameplay content), and anything else that appears to be a trick to get us to spend considerably more for a complete game. Most recently, I opened fire on LA Noir for separating gameplay content for different pre-order ?bonuses? at different retailers ensuring that no matter where you got it or which platform you got it on, you would not get the whole thing. I?m playing through a copy I rented right now and I have to say I?m very pleased with my decision. I would?ve been pissed if I spent $60 on it. We have to vote with our wallets: too many gamers are willing to overlook predatory sales practices because they?re fans but that?s just going to make the prices increase and make the content on the discs decrease as we?ve seen happen this gen.

My partner and I are much the same. I grew up dirt poor, working to help pay rent/bills since I was a preteen. But luckily those days are long gone, my partner and I live very frugally, we don't drink, we have no kids, no debt, our only frivolous expense is our gaming hobby.

Even on that though, we try to be smart consumers. Voting with your wallet is the only thing the vast majourity of companies understand, and complaining about a product while still buying it accomplishes nothing. And pirating a product is not a whole lot better, because then they seem to get it in their heads if they can just stop you from pirating they'll still get your money.

We finally gave up playing WoW because we couldn't in good conscience keep giving them cash for a game that they were taking in a direction that doesn't entertain us, while simultaneously milking its player base for stuff that used to be part of the $15 monthly subscription.

 

[Littlee300]

*bump an cup of a table*

"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!"

Isn't that the exact opposite of what happens in Oblivion.
You could strip naked and dance on peoples tables and they would just comment or ignore you.
Skip to 3:40

 

[HellspawnCandy]

Goodbye monks :'(

 

[Jennacide]

Good riddance to H2H skill. In Morrowind it was garbage, in Oblivion it was stupidly overpowered, and in Fallout 3 it was even more stupidly overpowered. (Lol Deathclaw Gauntlet)

As for the crime changes, just sounds like it's going to use the system they made for FO3 and New Vegas, which is good, as long as the supposedly new engine understands how to analyze crime better. Having an incident where I broke into someone's house in FO3 in the middle of the night, ransack the place for 5 minutes, then snuck up stairs and picked the lock on a door to THEN have a guard rush in and go 'WTF ARE YOU DOING?' is hugely irritating and gamebreaking.

 

[Krantos]

I just hope you can drop your torch when you start combat so you can still see. That was a constant problem I had in both Oblivion and Morrowind.

If I need the torch to see, it stands to reason that I'll need it even more when that skeleton comes to chop my nipples off.

A great mod for the PC fixed this for Oblivion. I hope Bethesda saw it and will do likewise.

 

[babinro]

Seems like positive changes all around. About the only thing I don't like is the removal of the hand to hand skill as it was just funny to play with..but that's hardly a game breaker. As mentioned in the above article, you'll likely still have the ability to punch, which is good cause I plan to land my final blow against a dragon using my fists of fury.

 

[StormShaun]

Hopefully, it will beat the hell outta Morrowind and Oblivion, but all we have to do is sit back and wait...a long time *sobs*. And as I had said before in a diffirent topic, finaly dual wielding swords, Im gonna slash some guys head of.

Cant wait for it ,also for the collectors edition.