Skyrim: Why can't I bust this door down?

[Twilight_guy]

Game designers made a design decision. For whatever reason they decided that wouldn't work in the game. Maybe because they felt it would make lockpicking into a useless skill when you can just bash everything open.

I don't think that would make lockpicking completely useless. By bashing down a door, you're sacrificing subtlety (well obviously) and if you're playing as a stealth character, you sure as heck don't want that. Plus you can't just smash a locked chest, at least not without destroying what's inside.

Okay. Unfortunately, you're not on the dev team. You weren't there when they were discussing mechanics and deciding how to set things up. You don't know which possible solutions they had or didn't have and why they used them or not. It's easy for an outsider to say "Well X is dumb, why didn't you do Y", but its different when you're on the inside. They could have made their decisions for very good reason or their logic could have been different from yours. In short, even if you don't think it was an issue it might have been for them and there is a chance that its more complex then just noting that they didn't do something.

 

[Lupus80]

There are those that argue that having the ability to break down/open doors and chests would break the gameplay, and make lockpicking and spellcasting useless, but it is a matter of balancing pros and cons.

You could easily make it so that if you get your barbarian on and start smashing a door, there is a good chance you would alert enemies nearby. You could also damage your weapon, or activate any hidden traps (that would normally be deactivated with lockpicking or a spell). Also, taking a cue from KOTOR 2, smashing open chests could mean some of the items inside would be smashed and useless.

In terms of the Elder Scrolls series, which has a leveling up system tied to your skill use, you can simply make it that using brute force doesn't put up any relevant skills (although linking it with Two-Weapons is a clever idea). Thus if you go around breaking things open all the time it won't help you for leveling up.

 

[Lupus80]

I started with Morrowind and I'm surprised to learn you could bash a door down in Daggerfall. I miss the Open Locks spell but mostly I miss the trapped doors and chests. Sure they have pressure plates and stuff now but I still want the game to try harder to kill me.

I actually kind of like the fact that you can interact with traps, with the possibility of see their mechanisms and such, to disarm them. It is a lot more cool than the typical "invisible traps" of old RPGs. Sure sometimes the traps might be a bit too noticable at times, but I love it when you can use them against enemies.

 

[jollybarracuda]

I feel like the whole Elder Scrolls series is becoming just a very shallow RPG in general. Don't get me wrong, the games are fun, and thats what matters most, but if im looking for an RPG with plenty of choices, ways around obstacles, and character specialization, then the Skyrim is a bad choice. I hope for the next Elder Scrolls game, they bring back more of those deeper mechanics from the old games, especially since I really couldn't see them simplifying the game down anymore at this point.

 

[Vuliev]

It's one of the reasons I prefer playing tabletop D&D. In video games I've got the option to lockpick, or maybe try and persuade someone with a key. Tabletop "I want to tie this dead giant spider to a rope, tie the other end to the roof, and ride it through the door like a battering ram." "Roll a d20"

Actually, I think that'd be two rolls: one for Use Rope, the other being a generic Dex check (maybe a Tumble/Balance check? idk.)

OT: The whole "not being able to Shout doors in" really bugged me, but I can see why they did it. If you can shout doors open, you'd in theory be able to bust through the barred doors blocking off all the loot in dungeons, completely circumventing the challenge that is supposed to stand between you and the loot. Of course, they could just do away with the circular paths and make you trek back through the dungeon to get out.

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

Game designers made a design decision. For whatever reason they decided that wouldn't work in the game. Maybe because they felt it would make lockpicking into a useless skill when you can just bash everything open.

I don't think that would make lockpicking completely useless. By bashing down a door, you're sacrificing subtlety (well obviously) and if you're playing as a stealth character, you sure as heck don't want that. Plus you can't just smash a locked chest, at least not without destroying what's inside.

Okay. Unfortunately, you're not on the dev team. You weren't there when they were discussing mechanics and deciding how to set things up. You don't know which possible solutions they had or didn't have and why they used them or not. It's easy for an outsider to say "Well X is dumb, why didn't you do Y", but its different when you're on the inside. They could have made their decisions for very good reason or their logic could have been different from yours. In short, even if you don't think it was an issue it might have been for them and there is a chance that its more complex then just noting that they didn't do something.

Fair enough. I was simply offering my thoughts on how it may have logically balanced out had they put it in the game, just as you were offering yours on a reason why they decided to exclude it. I wasn't saying it was dumb that it doesn't work the way I described.