No Demo for Skyrim

[Waaghpowa]

but at the same time we all know by now what we're in for with an Elder Scrolls game, so I really don't see it as a very important issue either way.

Call me crazy, but I've never really liked the Elder Scrolls series, I thought Oblivion was dreadfully boring. I was hoping for a demo of Skyrim to see if it could sway me, but this lack of a demo has me bummed. And since I play PC games primarily, I wont be able to rent it before hand.

 

[Epona]

The PC version should have a benchmark or something to show you how well it runs on your PC. You can't trust the requirement specs.

 

[Extravagance]

If skyrim is anything like the other elder scrolls games, it will have an introduction mission, the one in oblivion was set in a jail cell/dungon, which is a perfect demo. So Bethesda why not? I don't doubt that it will be a good game, but how will you turn people on to your product that aren't already inherently interested by the elder scrolls or rpgs in general?

That prison level would honestly have failed as a demo. You stab a couple of rats and run through some sewers. It was probably the most iritating level in terms of length vs. enjoyability, and I probably wouldn't of bought the game if all I got as a teaser was that.

I'm fairly glad there's no demo, I can't imagine starting an Elder Scrolls game and then not being able to run around the world. Or in this one's case, stab dragons.

 

[Swat_Kat]

Hard to make a demo on an open world

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Hard to make a demo on an open world

Infamous 2.

Sorry, I did spend most of my time, running around the city.

 

[SpaceArcader]

Not surprising at all, but Bethesda know what they are doing and can do the hell they want with their product.

 

[jpoon]

No biggie, I really wouldn't expect it. I'm much happier they are spending the time squashing bugs and shining up the game that much more.

 

[Epona]

Maybe you are all planning to play it on the console but PC players need to know how well it's gonna run.

1) Yes, the can make a demo of an open world game. They could let you play through character creation and then try out combat in a small area around your starting point. Employ invisible walls for the demo to keep you from leaving the demo area.

2) Bethesda games are some of the buggiest in the industry. We need more demos, not less especially from companies who put out buggy games that their community has to write patches for.

3) If not a demo, how about a benchmark so we can test the game on our PC.

 

[castlewise]

Wasn't expecting a demo. But... did anyone else think that interview as really terrible? Maybe its because I've watched too much skyrim stuff and am starting to see the scripted answers and standard responses. Ugg...

Edit PS: I'm seeing a lot of requests for a benchmark system or something similar. Are people really having that much trouble getting modern games to play on the pc? I have a 5 year old machine (with a new graphics card being the only upgrade since I bought it) and I've played most/all of the major recent releases with pretty reasonable settings without trouble. I don't really expect Skyrim to be different.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

No demo on a game that will most likely melt your PC is a bad idea. They should at least release some kind of benchmark or something so that people know what they're getting themselves into and if their rig should be able to handle it(system requirement specs just don't quite cut it when it comes to judging the actual games).

This will likely have Skyrim day one (or sooner).

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/

Or you could read the system requirements...

while I've used that site before, it basically just is a more fancy way of comparing your system against the required and recommended specs. The requirements don't tell you how well it will work with your video card or if you'll get the kind of visuals or frame rate you should expect. A simple benchmark can take care of that very easily and would hopefully stave off people that are just looking for a reason to legitimize their piracy.

 

[castlewise]

2) Bethesda games are some of the buggiest in the industry. We need more demos, not less especially from companies who put out buggy games that their community has to write patches for.

Yeah, Skyrim is going to be full of bugs. With any luck the majority of them won't break the gameplay.

 

[Epona]

Wasn't expecting a demo. But... did anyone else think that interview as really terrible? Maybe its because I've watched too much skyrim stuff and am starting to see the scripted answers and standard responses. Ugg...

Edit PS: I'm seeing a lot of requests for a benchmark system or something similar. Are people really having that much trouble getting modern games to play on the pc? I have a 5 year old machine (with a new graphics card being the only upgrade since I bought it) and I've played most/all of the major recent releases with pretty reasonable settings without trouble. I don't really expect Skyrim to be different.

It isn't that we are having trouble getting modern games to run but the specs are often wrong and with Bethesda games, even if you can run it, it may crash every 5 minutes.

Demos, benchmarks or a return policy. Bethesda doesn't want to give us any of the three.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

They rationalise it well enough, besides they won't really need one to draw in customers, the hype'll do that fine.

Pfft, they had me at "Oh look, we made more awesome to rape your eyes and make you say thanks" gameplay trailer. So if it sucks, I bought it anyway. But if it is awesome, which I predict, I bought myself an early birthday present.

 

[Epona]

2) Bethesda games are some of the buggiest in the industry. We need more demos, not less especially from companies who put out buggy games that their community has to write patches for.

Yeah, Skyrim is going to be full of bugs. With any luck the majority of them won't break the gameplay.

Caveat Emptor. No demo, no benchmark and no return policy.

 

[castlewise]

Crashing e

Wasn't expecting a demo. But... did anyone else think that interview as really terrible? Maybe its because I've watched too much skyrim stuff and am starting to see the scripted answers and standard responses. Ugg...

Edit PS: I'm seeing a lot of requests for a benchmark system or something similar. Are people really having that much trouble getting modern games to play on the pc? I have a 5 year old machine (with a new graphics card being the only upgrade since I bought it) and I've played most/all of the major recent releases with pretty reasonable settings without trouble. I don't really expect Skyrim to be different.

It isn't that we are having trouble getting modern games to run but the specs are often wrong and with Bethesda games, even if you can run it, it may crash every 5 minutes.

Demos, benchmarks or a return policy. Bethesda doesn't want to give us any of the three.

Crashing every 5 minutes is a pretty consistent feature of Bethesda games, irregardless of system specs. (I had crashing problems on Oblivion on the PS3 and Fallout on a brand new pc.) Demo's/benchmarks won't fix that, but a return policy could be good. Personally I just steel myself to expect it and hope for the best.

 

[ceyriot]

I know its hard to make a demo for a game like this...but I really do like demos. I don't know if one for this game is needed, probably not, but this news still left me a bit disappointed.

 

[brunothepig]

I get that an RPG would be a difficult demo... Still, this is hardly news. A game actually releasing a demo, now that would be news.

 

[SoopaSte123]

Well, as much as I understand where they're coming from, I'm far less likely to buy a game without a demo, especially considering how I never really got into any of the previous Elder Scrolls installments.

 

[SammiYin]

It's pre-ordered anyway, doesn't matter to me.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Didn't expect it to demo, but I do hope they use the time and money they save not doing one to groom and debug Skyrim. It's rare I get this excited about a game, and I know that they have a disappointing history of buggy releases and patchwork apologies are infrequent. I've always played their games a few years out of the gate (timing, systems don't mesh up, whatever things get delayed) and whatever bugs they had at that point were 'to stay' but there weren't as many as you see people talking about just after the release. Being that I am getting this one fresh... I want it to be groomed properly first.

So, keep the demo, but do a good job on the testing phases of the game and get those bugs!