Skyrim truly looks outdated and average

[babinro]

This game is certainly looking more like a graphical expansion to Oblivion more than anything else. That's not to say it's a major negative, Starcraft 2 did this with great success in my opinion.

The more I learn and see Skyrim, the less excited I am about it's release. Still, I'm happy to play more of the same if that's how it turns out.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Point taken, TS, now...

Point me to the nearest immersive, open-world, first-person fantasy adventure game that does all this RIGHT and I'll gladly call Bethesda out on these issues.

That's really the problem, isn't it? There really isn't an alternative you can go to if you want an open world-RPGs in that style, as Bethesda seems to be the only ones making them. (At least recently, unless I've completely overlooked a particular series. Two Worlds II was actually pretty fun, but it was even more flawed than Bethesda's games and that's saying something, so it really isn't an alternative at all.) You have to accept Bethesda's games for what they are, or just avoid the genre of RPG entirely.

 

[Stall]

Bethesda's one of the most overrated, worthless, hack developers in the industry. No other company can release buggy, barely finished, horribly written, and terribly designed titles like Bethesda and repeatedly get away with it. If any other studio pulled the shit they did, then they'd go out of business. Bethesda just, unfortunately, has a legion of sycophants who defend their every move, and praise them like some false prophet.

 

[chach_face]

Mmm hmm.
Well this video is of a demo and it was showcased at E3, a few months ago. Improvements have been made, you can be sure.

 

[BLAHwhatever]

There is no good AI in any game comparable to Oblivion and Fallout
Even the Thief games that kind of heavily relied on the AI to work to make it a challenge had some ridiculous bugs

So, yeah, I don't expect a great AI, but I still expect a great game I will enjoy a very long time

 

[teh_Canape]

Well what else am I supposed to do until the next fallout game?

Spoiler

play Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall

 

[Rednog]

Because its *totally unacceptable* that a game *three months away from release* might not be finished yet.

TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

Actually it is only 2 months, it comes out Nov 11th, today is the 12th of September. Three months would be Dec.
That said, games are usually going gold by this point or very damn near it, meaning that it is pretty damn near a done game, they are just ironing out a few bugs, dotting their i's and crossing their t's; this isn't a point where they are suddenly going to re-haul the graphics or the engine.
Games require some time to print, package, and distribute across the globe.

 

[Eventidal]

Point taken, TS, now...

Point me to the nearest immersive, open-world, first-person fantasy adventure game that does all this RIGHT and I'll gladly call Bethesda out on these issues.

That's really the problem, isn't it? There really isn't an alternative you can go to if you want an open world-RPGs in that style, as Bethesda seems to be the only ones making them. (At least recently, unless I've completely overlooked a particular series. Two Worlds II was actually pretty fun, but it was even more flawed than Bethesda's games and that's saying something, so it really isn't an alternative at all.) You have to accept Bethesda's games for what they are, or just avoid the genre of RPG entirely.

Well, like I said in my post (after editing), Pokemon is terrible yet it continues to sell amazingly well and is still well-received because they have a formula that works very well and nobody else does it better. I'm wishing people WOULD swoop in and capitalize on the potential there, in both situations, because it CAN be done... it just might not be so easy.

Eh, better just make a safe shooter game and give it one cool, new(ish) gameplay mechanic instead.

 

[zehydra]

Yeah, AI isn't always Bethesda's strong suit, but I won't be playing Skyrim purely for the AI.

I mean, if I could enjoy Morrowind with its AI, I'll sure as hell enjoy Skyrim.

You're right though, if the AI is about the same as Oblivion, that should be reflected in it's rating. Wonder why you don't see an AI category in game ratings?

 

[Kintobor92]

Yeah, it probably won't be a huge leap forward by any means. New Vegas, anyone? That being said, I love New Vegas. And Oblivion, for that matter. Elder Scrolls/Fallout is just that good. It really is sad that they don't improve much, but Bethesda's formula is good enough in the first place that people will stay play the hell out of it. It'll still be better, in the opinions of many, than anything else this year.

I though New vegas was more of a leap forward than Fallout 3... Story wise, gameplay wise, and balance wise (well, if you consider the fact that New Vegas mainly included things from the earlier games such as damage threshold, then you could say its a step back, but a step back after realise you are about to walk into a dog turd the way you are going). However, it was such a step forward that for many users stability suffered, but you can't really hate someone for trying, thats what CoD fans do.

Hmm, I'll have to continue playing New Vegas once I can borrow it from my friend again.

I'm really surprised to see this much hate for Bethesda, and I think it's good that some people are calling them out on their flaws. But, really? It's fun. I really hesitate to defend CoD, but bottom line? It's fun. I don't buy them or get excited for the new releases. I HATE that it never changes, and they could be a hell of a lot better. Most of what propels its success is hype, but it would never have gotten popular in the first place were it not good. Now I think I'm going to go puke for having defended CoD. haha

 

[RagTagBand]

All bethesda games from Oblivion to Skyrim have had just, awful, awful AI and animations; The engines they use are terrible and they seem to like it this way.

That being said I'm not going into Skyrim expecting it to be Bethesda's redeeming game, i'm going into it expecting it to be Bethesda slightly improving on their last venture but still about 2-3 years behind the rest of the industry.

 

[Doc Faust]

Because its *totally unacceptable* that a game *three months away from release* might not be finished yet.

TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

Actually it is only 2 months, it comes out Nov 11th, today is the 12th of September. Three months would be Dec.
That said, games are usually going gold by this point or very damn near it, meaning that it is pretty damn near a done game, they are just ironing out a few bugs, dotting their i's and crossing their t's; this isn't a point where they are suddenly going to re-haul the graphics or the engine.
Games require some time to print, package, and distribute across the globe.

The demo he's bashing came out several months ago.

So, you're right, my statement is inaccurate.

It is, in fact, unacceptable that a game *five months* away from release might not yet be finished.

Oh. Wait, no it didn't. Hah! I'm dumb.

... Still, I hadn't seen this yet, thanks for linking it OP!

... Wait, no, yes I had. This is old footage, it just got posted recently.

 

[scarfacetehstag]

its just the e3 demo in full. That footage is old.

 

[5t3v0]

Hmm, I'll have to continue playing New Vegas once I can borrow it from my friend again.

Just do remember, unlike Fallout 3, the story is less concerned with the courier and more concerned with the location. Hence why the Courier story arc is seemingly bland in the vanilla game but is being progressively fleshed out in the DLC.

Oh, and about CoD, I'm more talking about the idiotic masses that play it and encourage them to not change. I loved Modern Warfare 1, but I've been a battlefield Fanboy for longer, and It just pains me to see CoD fans hating on Battlefield for the wrong reasons (Its not like BF3 is the only game that runs on 30fps on consoles. Not that it matters to me, Im getting it on PC anyway) but I do plan on getting MW3 just to cap off the story.

 

[grimgor42]

People who get so hung up on small details are pessimists. People who make threads like this are the miserable and pathetic kind of pessimists who feel the need to spread their misery to others. Well let me tell you something: I'm going to enjoy this game thoroughly and there's nothing you can do about it. If this game isn't good enough for you than nothing is, apparently. You must like playing video games because it gives you something to complain about, because nothing could possibly live up to your ridiculously high standards.

 

[Torrasque]

I don't play Elder Scroll games for the most engaging AI ever, I play it for the little details most other games miss, because I am always in awe at the visual scope of the game, and because they are fun.
Skyrim doesn't have what you want? Great news! Don't buy it. Its that easy.

 

[Kintobor92]

Hmm, I'll have to continue playing New Vegas once I can borrow it from my friend again.

Just do remember, unlike Fallout 3, the story is less concerned with the courier and more concerned with the location. Hence why the Courier story arc is seemingly bland in the vanilla game but is being progressively fleshed out in the DLC.

Oh, and about CoD, I'm more talking about the idiotic masses that play it and encourage them to not change. I loved Modern Warfare 1, but I've been a battlefield Fanboy for longer, and It just pains me to see CoD fans hating on Battlefield for the wrong reasons (Its not like BF3 is the only game that runs on 30fps on consoles. Not that it matters to me, Im getting it on PC anyway) but I do plan on getting MW3 just to cap off the story.

Yeah, I actually didn't bring up CoD because you did. I said I won't buy it, but I'll play it for a while, and odds are, I'll have fun doing so. And that's good to know!! I haven't touched DLC in either Fallout yet.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Bethesda's one of the most overrated, worthless, hack developers in the industry. No other company can release buggy, barely finished, horribly written, and terribly designed titles like Bethesda and repeatedly get away with it. If any other studio pulled the shit they did, then they'd go out of business. Bethesda just, unfortunately, has a legion of sycophants who defend their every move, and praise them like some false prophet.

Again, people defend Bethesda because they're really the only major developers that makes those kinds of games. If another company could make those kinds of open world RPG's well enough to challenge them, then Bethesda would be forced to improve their games or die. There really isn't an alternative though, which is why I think people are more willing to accept the many, many flaws their games.

Frankly, while I still like some of their games (Okay, I like Fallout 3 despite being incredibly shitty in the story and overall stability department and Morrowind is pretty good. I maintain that unmodded Oblivion is absolutely broken though.) frankly the amount of praise Bethesda gets is ridiculous sometimes. They can put out the buggiest games on release, yet people ignore that and give their games near perfect scores, when other games get lambasted for being buggy. It's a double-standard.

 

[Kurea]

Children, settle down. Have we forgotten mods already? Granted decent AI should be expected from vanilla, but Bethesda's game lineup has always been mod-friendly, so I for one am looking forward to the possibilities ahead. And I'm typically a pessimist.

 

[Aprilgold]

Bethesda are the masters of hyping up their games, and exaggerating new game mechanics to make them seem better than they actually are.

Yeah, you got it. Its going to be above average, at best. In a RPG, the top three things that need to be accomplished is
-Immersive Game world, people should react like people, so you killing your friend in front of their wife, she should rush over and start crying at his feet. If his friend saw, or a random villager, they should grab pitch forks and try to impale you as a giant mob. Will that happen in Skyrim, no, not one bit.
If I set fire to a NPC Village, there should be guards on my ass, can I do that, no.

-The story just has to be believable, if I have to sacrifice a poor villages money to the king to make a potion that empowers me a very large amount, but I could give the villagers money to help fight along side me. What makes RPG's good is believablility, I should be able to role play. But Oblivion didn't do anything that makes RPG's enjoyable or fun.

-A menu system that sticks to the lore. Now, basically, your map system should be a piece of parchement, not zooming out to the far sky, for gods sake. The leveling system is more lore friendly, you actually understand how its lore friendly because it takes place in the stars.
But the Map System is bad, hell, they could zoom out, the world fades into a piece of large parchement, then you scroll across it like its a giant map, will that happen, no.

In a nutshell, Skyrim is not a game, its a GIANT developer Engine Expo.

I don't play Elder Scroll games for the most engaging AI ever, I play it for the little details most other games miss, because I am always in awe at the visual scope of the game, and because they are fun.
Skyrim doesn't have what you want? Great news! Don't buy it. Its that easy.

What does RPG stand for, if you understand it then you know what I'm going to say.
R.ole
P.laying
G.ame.
Role Playing is something along the lines of acting, even D&D is role playing, its about immersing yourself into the world, and consistently actually feeling like your there. Which Fallout accomplished. Look at the above, if I kill someone, I should see their loved ones run straight to their feet, kneel and weep, villagers should grab pitch forks and torches and try to maul me. Guards should be chasing at me while trying to stop the villagers. The family should be burrying their dead, not leaving the body out.
Now, what alternative is there to a RPG open world game like Oblivion? Anyone, speak up, raise hands? Thats right, there IS no alternative. So Bethesda doesn't have to improve BECAUSE it has no competition. Play a round of Dues Ex or Metal Gear solid *both have great A.I in perspective* then play a round of Oblivion, note how each control in contrast to each other. Try Mount and Blade for a little bit of realism. Just start comparing games that take mechanics that are commonly used in Oblivion games then compare how they're used in Oblivion.