I loved the game, still do. I still think it's the best game that came out last year, probably the best game that came out in 10 years.
Skyrim - Two months later.
- Thread starter Sarpedon
- Start date
Am I still playing it now? Not really. I'll pop the disc in now and then but I don't play regularly.
I definitely do feel, however, that I've got my moneys worth considering how much I did play it. It was a great ride while it lasted but I just don't feel driven to play the game more at this point. Sure there are still forts, caves, quests, etc. that I haven't visited but I've never really been a completionist in that sense.
What would drive me to want to see and do more is really tied to my one real complaint about the game: the scaling difficulty. It feels like after ramping up nicely for the first 20 or so levels, the difficulty has essentially been on a straight line since then. It's not that I find the game too easy or too hard (I actually find the difficulty to be in a fairly good zone overall), but it's just been there for a long while without changing. I haven't spent much time at all enchanting or crafting, but I've never felt any drive to do so as it would just make experience easier. To me, the game is clearly missing those easy zones where you can just go smash stuff and, more importantly, those really hard areas that you know you need special gear and skills to even survive in. If there was a zone that I knew I needed to be at least level 50 with some crafted gear for, and then another zone that I needed to be level 75 with uber crafted gear for, or something like that, I may be encouraged to push forward. Now, however, I can do and see anything I want and it's never hard or easy.. it's just the same. Maybe it's because I grew up with the constantly ramping challenge of JRPGs and it's what I expect of the RPG genre, but scaling difficulty just doesn't do it for me in the long run.
I definitely do feel, however, that I've got my moneys worth considering how much I did play it. It was a great ride while it lasted but I just don't feel driven to play the game more at this point. Sure there are still forts, caves, quests, etc. that I haven't visited but I've never really been a completionist in that sense.
What would drive me to want to see and do more is really tied to my one real complaint about the game: the scaling difficulty. It feels like after ramping up nicely for the first 20 or so levels, the difficulty has essentially been on a straight line since then. It's not that I find the game too easy or too hard (I actually find the difficulty to be in a fairly good zone overall), but it's just been there for a long while without changing. I haven't spent much time at all enchanting or crafting, but I've never felt any drive to do so as it would just make experience easier. To me, the game is clearly missing those easy zones where you can just go smash stuff and, more importantly, those really hard areas that you know you need special gear and skills to even survive in. If there was a zone that I knew I needed to be at least level 50 with some crafted gear for, and then another zone that I needed to be level 75 with uber crafted gear for, or something like that, I may be encouraged to push forward. Now, however, I can do and see anything I want and it's never hard or easy.. it's just the same. Maybe it's because I grew up with the constantly ramping challenge of JRPGs and it's what I expect of the RPG genre, but scaling difficulty just doesn't do it for me in the long run.
Done three characters, got all achievements bar two...currently working with my thief/assassin to get them. Although I don't play it as frequently I did when it first came out, I still love it, and there is still stuff to do. It's provided me with a lot of hours of entertainment, and it's one of those games where I can sit and watch someone else play it. I think it's brilliant.
I've gotten up to a lv. 48 Imperial (both race and allegience), using equal parts stealthy archery and sword-&-board combat. I don't really like the way that the leveling-to-skill system works in Skyrim. Rydell and Carter put it best:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9245-Skyrim-Tales
Despite this design flaw, I still think it's a fun game overall, and I devoted an entire week to it, playing it in almost every spare minute of my free time. Right now I'm trying to get my study schedule back in order until next week, when I'm beginning my epic Mass Effect Countdown on Tuesday, in which I'll read each of the major novels and play each game in chronological order, 1 thing a week, until March 6.
Mass Effect: Revelation
Mass Effect
Mass Effect: Ascension & Mass Effect: Redemption (short comic, a tack-on)
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect: Retribution
MASS EFFECT 3!
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9245-Skyrim-Tales
Despite this design flaw, I still think it's a fun game overall, and I devoted an entire week to it, playing it in almost every spare minute of my free time. Right now I'm trying to get my study schedule back in order until next week, when I'm beginning my epic Mass Effect Countdown on Tuesday, in which I'll read each of the major novels and play each game in chronological order, 1 thing a week, until March 6.
Mass Effect: Revelation
Mass Effect
Mass Effect: Ascension & Mass Effect: Redemption (short comic, a tack-on)
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect: Retribution
MASS EFFECT 3!
I've created four characters, clocked in over 150 hours between them. Still playing with the fourth.
My biggest complaint with Skyrim is not the repetitive quests, dodgy character models or inbalanced combat, but the story, particularly the characters.
Now Bethesda are no great writers by any means as seen with their previous story lines.
But they have produced likeable characters in the past, like Moira Brown and Stenislaus Braun, so why is it that only three characters were memorable in Skyrim? (Paarthurnax, General Tullius and Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun)
The Blades were total dicks, especially considering that one quest (you know what I mean).
Ulfric Stormcloak was supposed to be this inspiring leader who fathered the whole rebellion, but who acts like a spoiled child when things don't go his way. (i.e Give me what I want or go fuck yourself)
The Greybeards are stubborn old bastards who have nothing to do.
The nail that seals the coffin, though, was the fact that most half-way decent characters are killed off during the big quest lines.
Also, the final mission was anticlimactic.
Dragons were all right, though.
Wow, that was quite a mouthful.
My biggest complaint with Skyrim is not the repetitive quests, dodgy character models or inbalanced combat, but the story, particularly the characters.
Now Bethesda are no great writers by any means as seen with their previous story lines.
But they have produced likeable characters in the past, like Moira Brown and Stenislaus Braun, so why is it that only three characters were memorable in Skyrim? (Paarthurnax, General Tullius and Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun)
The Blades were total dicks, especially considering that one quest (you know what I mean).
Ulfric Stormcloak was supposed to be this inspiring leader who fathered the whole rebellion, but who acts like a spoiled child when things don't go his way. (i.e Give me what I want or go fuck yourself)
The Greybeards are stubborn old bastards who have nothing to do.
The nail that seals the coffin, though, was the fact that most half-way decent characters are killed off during the big quest lines.
Also, the final mission was anticlimactic.
Dragons were all right, though.
Wow, that was quite a mouthful.
Haven't had money for it yet. Haven't played it yet. Still want to really badly. Also lack free time.Sarpedon said:
Morrowind bores me now, but back in the day when there was nothing better, I enjoyed it.
This is for me personally but I think others may have the same feeling. SWOTOR's release date may have hurt Skyrim's popularity some. November and maybe even December were OMG FUS RO DAH!!!! However, I find that my time has been steadily drifting away from Skyrim and towards SWOTOR. Then again, the newness of SWOTOR has been tarnishing for me the past couple days. So I think it's going to be a neck and neck battle between those for our playtime. Who will release better content more quickly? I just feel that I shouldn't be feeling so jaded about the both of them this early.
With Skyrim I've consumed all the new shinies I've dug up and now I'm repeating the same quests on alts and my main character is stuck in the old Oblivion schlock of level your skills and go find more dungeons to purge with extreme prejudice! I am on the post-Halloween candy coma. I ate too much and now my tummy hurts.
The problem for me with SWOTOR is that it is becoming an RPG (albeit a frickin awesome one) that is online rather than an online RPG. This is probably due to two things: one, the game is trying to make an MMO have a sweet interactive story and still be an MMO (hard to get right) and two, I dragged my feet and didn't get started until all my friends were 20+ and I'm not willing to jeopardize my enjoyment by blowing through content to catch up to them. I love hearing about the Escapist guys going through the wonderful storyline together and am quite jealous that I haven't found that experience yet.
Moral of the story is don't eat, sleep and drink videogames; it's a bad life choice. Try to hold back some. Stop and smell the [insert flowers here]. Because now I'm already having to look at alternative ways to play just to enjoy the both of them. I just feel really disjointed and confused. Hopefully after things settle down that will change. Magic 8 ball says: answer uncertain, ask again later.
With Skyrim I've consumed all the new shinies I've dug up and now I'm repeating the same quests on alts and my main character is stuck in the old Oblivion schlock of level your skills and go find more dungeons to purge with extreme prejudice! I am on the post-Halloween candy coma. I ate too much and now my tummy hurts.
The problem for me with SWOTOR is that it is becoming an RPG (albeit a frickin awesome one) that is online rather than an online RPG. This is probably due to two things: one, the game is trying to make an MMO have a sweet interactive story and still be an MMO (hard to get right) and two, I dragged my feet and didn't get started until all my friends were 20+ and I'm not willing to jeopardize my enjoyment by blowing through content to catch up to them. I love hearing about the Escapist guys going through the wonderful storyline together and am quite jealous that I haven't found that experience yet.
Moral of the story is don't eat, sleep and drink videogames; it's a bad life choice. Try to hold back some. Stop and smell the [insert flowers here]. Because now I'm already having to look at alternative ways to play just to enjoy the both of them. I just feel really disjointed and confused. Hopefully after things settle down that will change. Magic 8 ball says: answer uncertain, ask again later.
5 different characters, 370+ hours, bunch of mods loaded, main quest finished once and almost a 2nd time, all guild quests finished at least once, civil war completed for Stormcloaks so far. Yeah you could say I've enjoyed the hell out of it... I've finally reached the point where I'm also playing other stuff, but I still fire it up to keep going with my current Imperial Mage Knight. It's a fantastic game, I lost count of how many times I stopped and said "Wow".
Ahahaha...
I haven't touched Skyrim yet. It's been sitting beside the Xbox 360 since the middle of December. Am I really missing out on that much? I think I'd clock the first guard who says, "I used to be--"
And that is all he will say. ಠ_ಠ
I haven't touched Skyrim yet. It's been sitting beside the Xbox 360 since the middle of December. Am I really missing out on that much? I think I'd clock the first guard who says, "I used to be--"
And that is all he will say. ಠ_ಠ
Level 51 and still going strong. Constantly surprised by the sheer amount of content in the game - not only to explore out there in the world, but also, after activating a quest, I now have new dialog options with NPCs I thought I was done with.
Less repetitive than Oblivion
Not as many ah ha! moments as Morrowind (you know, where you were staggered by some emergent game play or just plain stunning scenery, like sandstorms)
Less repetitive than Oblivion
Not as many ah ha! moments as Morrowind (you know, where you were staggered by some emergent game play or just plain stunning scenery, like sandstorms)
You've handily summarized one of my major objections to the game: lack of characterization where the somewhat formless story would have benefitted from it. There's noone who exudes the kind of humanity Moira Brown did in FO3, and she was quite incidental the main storyline. That ties into another, more minor objection which was the scarcity of humor. I know the Nords are stoic winter folk and it's all "grim oop north" and everything, but more humor definitely would have added color to the game. That one Daedric quest with Sanguine was pretty hillarious. There needs to be more of that.King of Asgaard said:
Completely agreed that Paarthurnax was one of the best characters (THE best, IMO). I'm really hoping they find some way to shoe-horn him into DLC. So much potential there...
I was horribly dissappointed. Storyline barely of note with an awful ending, completely broken gameplay, schizophrenic difficulty, absolutely no depth or choice, and less monsters, spells, and equipment than the previous games. It may have more quests, but only if you count the shitty procedurally generated ones that are all the same, really short, and horribly uninteresting. Sorry, but I think that's doing it wrong. AND I WAS SOOOOOO EXCITED!
EDIT: And the fucking rebellion storyline? calling it a storyline is an insult to storylines everywhere! I mean, at least most quest lines are go to X, kill Y amount of Z for reason 1, Go to A, kill B amount of C for reason 2. Those rebellion quests were just go to X, kill Y amount of Z for reason one, Go to A, Kill Y amount of Z for reason 1, Go to B, kill Y amount of Z for reason 1....... It wasn't even difficult, just horribly tedious.
EDIT: And the fucking rebellion storyline? calling it a storyline is an insult to storylines everywhere! I mean, at least most quest lines are go to X, kill Y amount of Z for reason 1, Go to A, kill B amount of C for reason 2. Those rebellion quests were just go to X, kill Y amount of Z for reason one, Go to A, Kill Y amount of Z for reason 1, Go to B, kill Y amount of Z for reason 1....... It wasn't even difficult, just horribly tedious.
Seeing that the hype is wearing off and people are starting to change their opinions of Skyrim makes me feel vindicated and makes me a little less pessimistic about where gaming is going in the future. I hope to someday see it on a list of "most overrated games ever".
I played Skyrim a lot, waiting to get to a good part. It turns out there aren't any. Once I got a feel for it (which takes a lot of time with a game of this scale), it started to feel like a chore. I'd have been disappointed if my expectations for it hadn't been so low.
I keep it around because I'm sure that eventually people will start making some pretty fun mods for it. Since I'm a glutton for punishment (and have very little to do) I've tried a few times to play it again, but I can't seem to find a way to enjoy it. It just makes me want to play Morrowind.
I played Skyrim a lot, waiting to get to a good part. It turns out there aren't any. Once I got a feel for it (which takes a lot of time with a game of this scale), it started to feel like a chore. I'd have been disappointed if my expectations for it hadn't been so low.
I keep it around because I'm sure that eventually people will start making some pretty fun mods for it. Since I'm a glutton for punishment (and have very little to do) I've tried a few times to play it again, but I can't seem to find a way to enjoy it. It just makes me want to play Morrowind.
That's because the problems that Oblivion had were largely been carried over to Skyrim, and are now joined by new ones. On the whole, Skyrim feels like Oblivion 2.0, except Oblivion actually had a few good parts.SirBryghtside said:
You're probably not missing much. If you haven't bothered starting to play it by now, it's unlikely there's anything in it that will make you want you keep playing if you do. Unless you really, really liked Oblivion... in which case you might just be better off playing that again. My reccomendation is to sell it and get something else.Hipsy_Gypsy said:
Perhaps I need some.Zagzag said:
Also, Skyrim is awesome fun and the Escapist is full of hipsters. This thread is final proof of that last statement.