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

[kickassfrog]

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"

I can see how it works in DDO and other multiplayer games where they have to make sure each class has its perks and downsides, but in purely single player games are they worried that people not using one of the developer's builds will make them cry?

That does kick ass.
If only I knew anyone I could arrange to play tabletop games with.

OT: They should design the game to allow people to play a character who doesn't have to be a master lockpicker...er. I want to play a mighty wizard, it breaks immersion if I have to stoop to fiddling around for a few minutes every time I want loot, when I could just melt the lock, or make the chest grow legs and become some sort of Rincewind/ The Luggage team.
Except that the wizard knows some spells, and doesn't put all his skill points into running away and languages.

 

[ascorbius]

I did wonder why I can shout a bear off a cliff but a bit of wood defeats me.. The dragons should have seen this and surrounded themselves with doors.



Things I'd like in the next one.

Burn things. I am a pyromage, I set fire to things. Buildings should burn, people should burn, tables, chests should burn... If I don't want them to burn, I should be careful with my fireballs. If a building in a village was destroyed and there are people around, maybe they would try to repair it. If I was an arsehole, I would burn it again - making them very angry with me.

No loading screens for houses. I know it's difficult for an Xbox (Not too hard for the PC though) So when I do kick in a door, or shout in a door or blow up a door, I can go inside without waiting. Doing something as violent as this should have consequences though - The guards should be all over me. (Even Fable let you kick in doors)

Chests shouldn't be unlockable without a key. I should be able to smash the chest with a big hammer. I might break some loot, but it's my choice. The chest could be trapped so the only way to disarm it is by using the lock, but again.. my stupid fault if it kills me.

AI shouldn't forget about their dead friends when I just shot an arrow through their head while they were talking. They should be terrified or furious and seek me out or run for cover.

I should need to sleep and eat. Eating should recharge stamina. Staying awake for too long should make controlling my character more difficult until it gets to the point where he/she passes out. Making camp and getting a bit of shut eye should offset this - But I go for Days in skyrim, patiently waiting until it gets light without sleeping at all.. At least my stamina and mana should recharge slower depending on how tired I am.


There Bethesda, Make this game for me so I can spend another 8 months in one of your awesomely crafted worlds which by the looks of things by TES X will be indistinguishable from real life.

 

[EnlightendDead]

Skyrim was dumbed down, no doubt, butthats why theres mods.
Want to break down a door? Mod.
Want to spell down a door? Mod.
Want to shout out of your ass? Mod.

 

[Jaeke]

Just another aspect that had to be dumbed down... like spell creation, weapon variety, etc. Sacrificing complexity to appeal to the mass-market or whatever.

They sacrificed Weapon Complexity? You mean because they didn't have shortswords they sacrificed their whole devotion to their fans?

And what did ANYONE use the Spell Creator for other than making a gamebreaking AoE Fireball that did 1000 damage a second for 1000 seconds. And if you're using a computer then who cares because there's console commands anyway.

Yeah... they really dumbed down didn't they?

 

[Jaeke]

Skyrim was dumbed down, no doubt, butthats why theres mods.
Want to break down a door? Mod.
Want to spell down a door? Mod.
Want to shout out of your ass? Mod.

Or... console commands?
I certainly wouldn't want to plug the crapper out of my PC just cause I can't open a door.

 

[kickassfrog]

Burn things. I am a pyromage, I set fire to things. Buildings should burn, people should burn, tables, chests should burn... If I don't want them to burn, I should be careful with my fireballs. If a building in a village was destroyed and there are people around, maybe they would try to repair it. If I was an arsehole, I would burn it again - making them very angry with me.

Maybe they should get the fire physics team from alone in the dark.

Incidentally I made a thread about things I'd like in the next TES game a while back.
It's probably gone now but maybe you should start a new one. I'm sure between the escapist community we could basically construct the entire gameplay and backstory and just let bethesda do all the programming.

 

[BaronUberstein]

That's what the console is for.

Sure, it's cheating, but at the same time it's a wooden door and I shoot FIRE FROM MY HANDS.

Then again I got bored of Skyrim rather quickly.

 

[Parallel Streaks]

I guess it kind of makes sense, from a balancing point of view, though I do agree it takes a little bit more away from the "R" portion of "RPG". Though the lockpicking tree does have enough bonus perks that affect more than lockpicking, so the investment never seems like a waste. Once you've developed enough finesse to open locks without needing to invest in the skill, it gets a bit worthless however. I've never put one perk point into lock-picking, as gold for a veritable horde of lockpicks is less of an investment in my eyes.

 

[Fractral]

Neverwinter Nights lets you bash locks on doors and chests and it does seem kind of broken sometimes. Like how my cleric sidekick (who is supposed to be defensive and divine magic) can smash down doors as well as my paladin can. It also reduces the niche for rogues, as then the only thing they can do that other classes can't is disable traps.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Just another aspect that had to be dumbed down... like spell creation, weapon variety, etc. Sacrificing complexity to appeal to the mass-market or whatever.

As opposed to using Chameleon enchantments on your armor to become basically permanently invisible? Or being able to make a spell that does 1 damage to self to level up your destruction skill easily? Or having to worry about which skills I make major or minor so that I don't gimp myself by not having enough health at high levels?

Removing exploits and fixing stupid design decisions does not equal dumbing down the game. Out of the three Elder Scrolls games I've played, Skyrim is easily the best, in my opinion at least.

Here's something I don't understand. What's the problem of having exploits in a single player game? It's not like it was ever necessary to use any exploits, you'd usually only know about them if you knew a lot about how the game's systems worked, once you know about them, it's easy enough to not use them, and if somebody else is using them, it doesn't affect you in any way because it's a single player game.

I agree that Morrowind and Oblivion's leveling system was horribly broken (more so in Oblivion because of the huge amount of level scaling), and I have no problems with Skyrim being your favorite elder scrolls game, but I'm really curious why people have a problem with exploits in single player games.

On topic: More options in a game about doing whatever you want is a very good thing. Therefore, I support this idea, and will probably get a mod for it the next time I decide to play Skyrim (which could be in quite a while).

 

[Zakarath]

I'd imagine that the door bashing went away when buildings became separate zones from the area around them.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I'd imagine that the door bashing went away when buildings became separate zones from the area around them.

Out of an entire thread of wild speculation and endless whining this is about the most sensible and (probably) logical explanation for the lack of "door bashing" I have seen.

I guess nothing breaks immersion better than successfully bashing/burning/shouting down a door only to be teleported to the other side after a lengthy loading screen. Kinda makes sense now you mentioned it.

 

[Paragon Fury]

There is a mod for PC that restores the "Open XXXX Lock", "Lock XXXX Door" spells, as well as adds the ability to smash locks using a Mace/Hammer-type weapon, with your ability to smash different levels of locks depending on the material of your weapon and your weapon skill.

The reason for not including it?

We don't know. Its one of those really basic "Why the fuck hasn't this been in every game for the last forever?" features that people constantly want.

Just like capes/cloaks, etc.

 

[Ryotknife]

meh, i dont see what the big deal is, you can open master locks right when you start the game. It is not like fallout 3/oblivion that prevents you from opening if your skill is not X high.

In my opinion, the skyrim system is better.

 

[Ryotknife]

Well, in Skyrim the lockpicks don't seem to be as strong (or they seem to break easier than the 'bobby pins' in FO3).
You have to be more gentle with them I guess.

They did? They snapped all the damn time for me in Fallout 3. I got really careful with them by the end of the game.

Which is why I was so good at lockpicking in Skyrim. Also, I knew to carry a crap-ton of pins with me for lockpicking, cause I was gonna break a bunch. Fortunately, they were also really easy to steal from shops....

meh, his experience correlates to my own from FO3 and skyrim. FO3 i will use maybe...3-4 on the hardest locks.

skyrim? I am breaking lockpicks like there is no tomorrow. Master chests in the begining i can easily break 20. Keep in mind i never take any lockpicking perks.

On the other hand, bobby pins are harder to find, whereas in skyrim you can buy them by the truckload.

 

[Zeren]

If you're on the PC, there is a mod that brings back the open lock spell.

There is also another mod that makes lockpicking super easy if you don't want to bother with it.

But yeah, it sucks that mods are needed at all.

There is also a mod that lets you bash open chests and doors. The harder the lock, the higher your weapon skill is needed to break it. I don't use it anymore, but it does work well.

 

[neverarine]

The lockpick minigame in Skyrim took me by surprise.
When I first saw it, I thought "oh it's just like Fallout 3, this is gonna be easy!"

Yeah, it wasn't easy ...

realy? i thought it was a joke... i would pick expert locks with 1 lockpick and a level 5 lockpicking...

oblivions lockpicking was a pain... i miss Morrowinds style for its simplicity though...

 

[SajuukKhar]

i miss Morrowinds style for its simplicity though...

Morrowind's lock pick was weird... it was just... stick your hand out and do a twisting motion..... you may fail or not randomly.

 

[Smeggs]

I figured it was because the inside of the buildig is another area, which is why the game has to load when you enter.

If you blew the door down, what would you see inside? The game would still have to load the inside of the house when you entered anyway, so what is the point?

 

[Neonit]

open lock spells? yeah, i recall them from morrowind. i also recall spellcrafting.

one of the first spells that i crafted in every mage walkthrough was open 100pts on touch. it basically added an extra button click needed to open locked stuff. removing any point of lockpicks and corresponding skill.

guess thats why they got rid of it.

to me, its logical from gameplay standpoint. as a roleplay warrior you have an armor, and a lot of hp, you should endure most attacks. as a roleplay mage, you have healing and protection spells. as a rogue, you have money, to buy potions, poisons and scrolls. how do you get money? well, from the locked chests of course!

there are mods, if you chose to use them, and if you cant - well, its your fault for picking a TES game on console, everyone would tell you thats a bad idea....