Bethesda: "People Underestimate How Many Core Gamers There Are"

[isometry]

Bethesda's pre-release marketing was competent, but not exceptional. Really it was the word of mouth from Elder Scrolls fans that made it so big, Bethesda's Dec 2010 trailer and E3 trailers fanned the flames perfectly, but didn't start the fire.

The funny thing is, I'm not sure TES fans ever meant to recommend Skyrim to everyone. I mean, I didn't recommend Skyrim to my friends who like actions games like Arkham City and Assassin's Creed. They ended up all buying Skyrim because of the hype (not from me, but in general), and though I didn't hear any bitter complaints, I don't think any of them got more than 10 or 20 hours into it.

So TES fans made so much noise with our excitement that other gamers took notice and bought Skyrim. But did they like it? Skyrim sold ~10 million, while Oblivion sold ~4 million. How many of those 6 million new customers will buy another TES game after this? My bet is that TES 6 will go back to selling closer to 4-6 million, so I hope they don't bet the farm on selling 10 million again. That was a rare confluence of hype I think.

 

[David Bjur]

The hype really helps too doesn't it?
Especially when you hype up the fact that it was built on a completely new engine which should fix all the bad crashing/freezing problems when really it's just the same old problematic engine with a new coat of paint.

Someone needs to tell Todd that we don't need him to fix everything; I know that's impossible. Just the really annoying freezing; that really would be enough.

I almost thought that I was the only one that realized that they only changed the graphics engine. That's actually the only thing I dislike with Bethesda, they make everything sound way better than they actually are.

OT: Like Howard said, there are alot of people that likes the feeling that there is so much to do, and there is so much to find and that is Skyrims strength. If you only look at the gameplay, then the game sucks. If you only look at the story, then the game sucks. But if you look at all the amount time you could spend in this giant world, then you will love it.

 

[Vault101]

"core" gamers huh? is that limr PC gamers? or people who also play on consoles?

 

[Gennadios]

Oh and dont call it an action rpg for the current age if you are not a jackass please.

It's an action adventure with RPG elements. To be a full fledged RPG you'd need to... you know, play a role.

Like getting to decide whether to report law breaking quest givers to the authorities for example. Or being able to kill that slimy f*** from the thieve's guild that won't leave you alone. Maybe getting dialog options that offer speech skill based resolutions? Like talking the Blades out of killing instead of having binary this-or-that resolutions to everything?

Or actually being able to roleplay stealth sections like when you crash that party at ? Believe me, I've tried, but the masses of guards have the best perception I've seen anywhere else, you have no choice but to fight through unless you've brought 20 or so invisibility potions.

Yeah, there's lots to do, just not many ways to do it.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Good value for money is my assumption. 100+ hours of gameplay quite easily, the PC sect has always had a great modding community for Elder Scrolls games, and most importantly, Bethesda aren't a totally dickbag company.

I really want to get this game!

 

[EternalFacepalm]

increase in population and negligence of parents for checking the age rating, more kids with glued faces to TV with advertisements scarring their brain permanently and those are my assumptions

The result of that was CoD, not Skyrim. Get your facts straight.

OT: It's probably just it being hyped a lot, which means a much larger niche market now. As such, their games will probably just be selling more and more as time passes, which means an even greater budget for them, and as such an even bigger experience. Fuck yes.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I think people also underestimate how much Fallout 3/NV got people interested in Skyrim. TES games were already popular but niche popular (as in not everyone buys FRGPs but most FRPG players buy elder scrolls games). However a lot of people (or maybe its just my friends) bought the Fallout 3/NV - and for them they were the first RPGs (of any type) that they played. Most of them grabbed Skyrim in the first week - and it was based on how much they enjoyed the new Fallout games.

 

[Vault101]

"core" gamers huh? is that limr PC gamers? or people who also play on consoles?

I think he just means people who like to play games on a regular basis and make up the "core" of the gamer audience.

I didnt think were was any "question" as to how many of "us" there are considering that you can find dedicated gaming stores almost anywhere, JB HI FI( electronics chain) has a huge selection (even a few PC titles) and games rake in alot of money

 

[Westaway]

I didn't get addicted to Skyrim like I thought I would. I got bored after 35 hours. I really prefer Fallout 3/NV. Oh well. TES got main-streamed anyways.

...only 35 hours?

You know, that's a whole lot more than most games can offer you nowadays. Oh and they didn't streamline it, they just removed a lot of redundant shit (this is coming from a fan of the games since Morrowind).

Yeah, I know, right? It just got boring. No motivation to continue playing.

And I have been a fan since Oblivion, and I have played Morrowind. I agree with you. The stuff they took out is good. But TES are main stream. I'm in high school. Before, all I would hear about is CoD. Now all I hear about is Skyrim. "It was so epic dude, there were like 2 of them! And I was all like FUS RO DAH!"
It's annoring and has generaly pushed me away from the series, the same way it did with CoD (although the huge drop in game quality contributed too)
I'm just scared about Fallout. If normal guys are getting into fantasy world with swords and magic, they sure as hell will get into the apocolyps with guns and gore.

 

[castlewise]

I think it was a bunch of things all pulling in Skyrim's favor. Here's one that doesn't seem to be featured in the comments as much: the setting. The nordic and viking influences are easily recognizable and familiar, yet different enough from the standard fantasy settings that people still find them engaging.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

They do know thats why media is ridden with crap entertainment... Oblivion is still weak, Fallout 3 still a joke and Skyrim boring as hell.

 

[NightHawk21]

I admit it. I didn't think I'd like Skyrim. I was wrong.

I don't LOVE it. It's a good game, but I can't call it great. Maybe now that the SCK is out that may change, but there were two big problems that basically kept me from being thrilled. The first is, of course, the bugs, which Howard acknowledges in TFA.

The second is that the balance is off. For a game with so many "ways to play it," it's surprisingly poorly balanced. For some reason, enemy mages are widely known to be faceraping evil on a stick, but try to go pure mage on your own? Good luck with that. Doesn't even compare to dual-wielding or even sword-n-board.

I tried to start a new character to go through it, but found myself falling into the exact same pattern as my first run-through. Okay, not the exact same, something is different. The second time around, I went with light armor instead of heavy...

Different classes are better against different classes. To put it really simplified (in a rock, paper scissors kinda way):

Archers beat Mages
Warriors beat Archers
Mages beat Warriors

My first character was a straight up destruction mage (fully speced destruction tree and a point or two in restoration to increase mana regen). I had a super easy time with most everything in the game (early on following the relationships above, but late game when I could wreck everything, mages were the most annoying since I had to blast through their wards first). With a mage as soon as you learn firebolt, dual casting and the stun ability its game over you can now kill almost anything in the game without taking damage and only swarms will hurt you.

My second character was an archer (stealth archer). Now mages gave me the least amount of trouble because you can stealth kill them with garbage equipment since they have no defense. Warriors were more problematic because you can't always 1 shot them and they have the armour to tank your arrows while charging you (also dragons are way harder).

Haven't tried warrior yet, but I figure that archers won't be a problem now, but mages might with their cold spells.

 

[targren]

Warriors beat Archers
Mages beat Warriors
Archers beat fucking everything

Fixed that for you.
Seriously, Stealth Archery is as broken as they say. You might not be able to 1-shot Daedric-Armor wearing warriors, but you can put 3 in their face before they get close enough to hit you with a their sticks, or shoot them from just outside their max patrol range, wait for them to forget that they have 18 inches of dwarven wood (heh heh) sticking out of their eye, and repeat.

 

[WWmelb]

They do know thats why media is ridden with crap entertainment... Oblivion is still weak, Fallout 3 still a joke and Skyrim boring as hell.

To you maybe... out of curiosity what games DO you enjoy?

There were a lot of things i disliked about oblivion, but there were way more that i loved. There were even some things in the Oblivion that were better than Morrowind, and of course some things better than Skyrim (Here's looking at you Dark Brotherhood questline)

But, i loved all three games. given, it took me about 4 years after release to finally try Oblivion a second time...as i bought straight after another huge MW kick.. and it just didn't do it for me at the time.

But on topic... sooo many reasosn for Skyrim's success. A lot of which listed above. But also bear in mind just genereal public perceptions of what is classically called "geek" or "nerd" culture. The average person and the nerd are no longer as far removed from each other as they were even 10 years ago, so the "cool" kids are less inclined to disregard something that was once viewed as "nerdy".. like fantasy RPG's.

Soooo many things. But.. please bring back our armor options from Morrowind.. it's one of two things i truely miss. that and striders >< but they wouldn't work in any other setting i don't think...

 

[Lunar Templar]

My Theory? A game that lets you kill dragons by yelling at them simply cannot be eggNord

>.> that looked like it hurt coming out, you ok over there ....

OT: meh, I'm not going to play it for a verity of reasons, but I'd wager a guess are scenery and the above quote

 

[Tanakh]

The second is that the balance is off. For a game with so many "ways to play it," it's surprisingly poorly balanced. For some reason, enemy mages are widely known to be faceraping evil on a stick, but try to go pure mage on your own? Good luck with that. Doesn't even compare to dual-wielding or even sword-n-board.

I agree, in the sense that is way too easy. Did my first run as a pure mage conjurer with minors in destro and resto, some stealth and some archery, and every fight that i found after after learning the first atronach was doable, after killing a dragon priest at level 9 (which was endless and i used every dirty trick i could to barely win) I decided to turn up to master (and have played on master all the time ever since), then it was back not to being faceroll easy till i got the daedric lord, not two, just one... and everything just died before me (well, before my pets to be exact). In that run enemy mages either raped me if they had the jump or were stupidly easy if i managed to drop a daedric lord on them.

Started a second run some time ago, warrior, RL got in the middle, i do remember however ice mages being tough as freaking nails! Remined me of WoW and how much the ice mages made my warrior rage.

In the middle of the third run now, went stealth working on pure rogue skills, one handed and resto (because i am squishy). In this run mages are just full of fail, they die to me in 1 hit if i get the jump (and they are very easy to sneak attack btw), or die in a couple of seconds if they manage to see me; warriors with sword and board and animals are much much harder. Dragons however.... i just run when i see one, can't do anything about them; that might be because i don't use any companions and have 3-4 mods to make the game harder, included deadly dragons insane, one day when i am level 60-70 with amazing gear i might be able to kill one -.-

So... yeah, there is kinda rock-paper-scissors approach, and yeah, the game is not that well balanced (without mods); but any good build mage, warrior or rogue can face rape (most of the stuff) with the right playstyle and without exploiting or min-maxing.

Warriors beat Archers
Mages beat Warriors
Archers beat fucking everything

Hehe, you need to add custom made warriors with skills in block. But yeah, stealth is probably the best skill in the game.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

They do know thats why media is ridden with crap entertainment... Oblivion is still weak, Fallout 3 still a joke and Skyrim boring as hell.

To you maybe... out of curiosity what games DO you enjoy?

There were a lot of things i disliked about oblivion, but there were way more that i loved. There were even some things in the Oblivion that were better than Morrowind, and of course some things better than Skyrim (Here's looking at you Dark Brotherhood questline)

But, i loved all three games. given, it took me about 4 years after release to finally try Oblivion a second time...as i bought straight after another huge MW kick.. and it just didn't do it for me at the time.

But on topic... sooo many reasosn for Skyrim's success. A lot of which listed above. But also bear in mind just genereal public perceptions of what is classically called "geek" or "nerd" culture. The average person and the nerd are no longer as far removed from each other as they were even 10 years ago, so the "cool" kids are less inclined to disregard something that was once viewed as "nerdy".. like fantasy RPG's.

Soooo many things. But.. please bring back our armor options from Morrowind.. it's one of two things i truely miss. that and striders >< but they wouldn't work in any other setting i don't think...

Combat was about the only thing better in Oblivion everything else was fcked over to get the great unwashed to buy it and its even worse in fallout 3 with a steep lack of equipment/items and balanced skill system for a 50 hour game(put 100+ hours into it with 2 restarts trying to pace it out but the game is horribly paced as well didn't have this problem in Oblivoin as most places where located in such a way you found them without mindless exploration sucking up days, even with the DLC I managed to finish it under 70 hours FO3 is an utter train wreck but thats mostly due to the half assed VASTS and skill system taking 10 hours to max out).

Skyrim is worse than Oblivion because the main story is utter BS and some of the side quests are unfinished...and I liked having a shield a weaopn and magic....would have been nice if you could keep that.

I love well balanced games but am forced to play the crap the industry puts out because there is nothing much else to play, I prefer games over TV but good god they are getting as bad even worse with bad gameplay means what enjoyment as a game is gone.

What I really hate when a technical game like fallout/Baldurs gate(IE new Bioware games suck )/Dungeon siege/Morrowind,ect get turned into casual fodder.....

It would be nice if they made the nice qaulity game with some depth and then put heavy training wheels on it for the nubs and consoletards but no like everything else the core product gets ruined as so they can sell down to the masses.

God I am a glass half empty person LOL I should be thankful they are trying half assed crap......but I can't be ;_;