Why do people like Elder Scrolls games?

[chuckdm]

Well...two things:

1) I like RPGs in general. I prefer shooter RPGs (I suck at hack-and-slash anything) but Skyrim has Archery (and lighting spells if you can't be bothered to aim) so I'm happy.

2) I now hate BioWare. Between DA2 and ME3 they have clearly lost whatever skill they had. I'm not sure if maybe some large amount of talent left when EA bought them (talent has a tendency to do that when EA buys a company, heh) but even if their whole team is still there, they're just doing it wrong. I loved Origins. I even loved ME2. (Hell, I never even played ME1 past the first mission...)

So, being disenfranchised with BioWare (and having recently swore off WoW and RiFT), I went looking for another RPG to sink my time into. Skyrim delivers. And keeps on delivering. For several hundred hours and counting.

As to why I like RPGs in general? Not sure. I mean, I play RTS games too (they're really my passion) and play some more typical arcade shooters. Part of the reason I like Rage so much is it blends just the right amount of 3 different genres together - the only flaw in Rage is that it's just WAY too short. (Also, idTech 5 = OpenGL = WINE = Linux = Happy.)

 

[Silvianoshei]

Skyrim is a MEDIOCRE sandbox...

...in your opinion. I could retort that FarCry 2 was samey, seeing as you spent the game shooting at dark-skinned fellows you could barely see in the middle of fairly dark and high underbrush. It was flamethrower or bust, for me, as I couldn't aim for shit if the NPCs weren't out in the clear.

I could also retort that Just Cause 2 didn't keep my interest because I kept feeling the structure was riffing off of what was happening in Haiti at the time, and because the universe's sheer insistence at setting up a non-specific South Pacific micro-nation that takes after Indonesia as much as it does some of the French colonies didn't feel too successful. I could say the voice acting sucked and that Rico Rodriguez is, generally speaking, an unlikeable douchebag.

I could say all that. I could also say you've been flinging fanboy poo. That wouldn't be too classy of me now, would it?

It's one of these instances where I wonder why this was even brought up as a discussion topic, OP. What were you expecting? Some of us to go "Oh my God, you're right, I've been playing an utter piece of cow dung for the past year!" I can recognize faults in a lot of things I like. Read my post over. I did exactly that. Even so, I like Skyrim. No amount of criticism will change that.

We like something, you don't like it. Let's just leave it at that and avoid assuming things. You can do better, Silvianoshei.

Unless you were flaming the OP saying "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO YOUR OPINION BECAUSE YOU SUCK", then I wasn't talking to you.

You couldn't say I was flinging fanboy poo, because I wasn't: I was flinging anti-fanboy poo. I have no issue with people liking Skyrim, that would be insanity. What I do have an issue with is people who can't disagree in a coherent or respectful manner.

And I don't want to hear, "This is the internet, you need thick skin", because that I don't think anonymity somehow engenders some acceptable loss of reason in discussions.

 

[Andrewtheeviscerator]

Skyrim is a MEDIOCRE sandbox...

...in your opinion. I could retort that FarCry 2 was samey, seeing as you spent the game shooting at dark-skinned fellows you could barely see in the middle of fairly dark and high underbrush. It was flamethrower or bust, for me, as I couldn't aim for shit if the NPCs weren't out in the clear.

I could also retort that Just Cause 2 didn't keep my interest because I kept feeling the structure was riffing off of what was happening in Haiti at the time, and because the universe's sheer insistence at setting up a non-specific South Pacific micro-nation that takes after Indonesia as much as it does some of the French colonies didn't feel too successful. I could say the voice acting sucked and that Rico Rodriguez is, generally speaking, an unlikeable douchebag.

I could say all that. I could also say you've been flinging fanboy poo. That wouldn't be too classy of me now, would it?

It's one of these instances where I wonder why this was even brought up as a discussion topic, OP. What were you expecting? Some of us to go "Oh my God, you're right, I've been playing an utter piece of cow dung for the past year!" I can recognize faults in a lot of things I like. Read my post over. I did exactly that. Even so, I like Skyrim. No amount of criticism will change that.

We like something, you don't like it. Let's just leave it at that and avoid assuming things. You can do better, Silvianoshei.

Unless you were flaming the OP saying "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO YOUR OPINION BECAUSE YOU SUCK", then I wasn't talking to you.

You couldn't say I was flinging fanboy poo, because I wasn't: I was flinging anti-fanboy poo. I have no issue with people liking Skyrim, that would be insanity. What I do have an issue with is people who can't disagree in a coherent or respectful manner.

And I don't want to hear, "This is the internet, you need thick skin", because that I don't think anonymity somehow engenders some acceptable loss of reason in discussions.

No one is saying he doesn't have a right to his opinion, we're saying he should stop treating his opinion like fact. The only reason OP created this thread was that he could flame or attract a bunch of people who agreed with him so they could validate his opinion. Everyone is just pointing out how pointless this thread is and it should probably be locked since its boiled down to a flame war now.

 

[Wayneguard]

My question is how you can pass judgement on the series without playing its crown jewel - Morrowind. When you can see the humor in this picture, then you will know you are ready criticize...

Spoiler

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

People like Elder Scrolls games because of the unequaled freedom, roleplaying opportunities, modding opportunities, and realized world they offer. To my knowledge there is nothing else like it and I double-dog dare anyone to prove me wrong.

EDIT: Don't say Fallout.

Actually Fallout New Vegas, while a crappy sequel to the Fallout franchise compared to 1 and 2 and at least superior to 3, was by far the best Elder Scrolls-like game ever made. The side quests were fun and interesting, story was great, needed about the same amount of mods as Skyrim, and virtually everything in the game you did actually mattered. Ironically a lot of people hated New Vegas. I don't get it.

I only say "Don't say Fallout" because that's Bethesda's other franchise. I liked New Vegas a lot more than Fallout 3, which I also liked. I thought New Vegas demonstrated an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of Bethesda titles and made the best of the tools they had. But the best Elder Scrolls-like is Morrowind. =)

STALKER.

Someone always says STALKER lol. I kid, STALKER really is a good answer. I think Elder Scrolls gives you a little more to work with, but STALKER is the only thing I know of that tries to do something similar.

 

[Blatherscythe]

People like Elder Scrolls games because of the unequaled freedom, roleplaying opportunities, modding opportunities, and realized world they offer. To my knowledge there is nothing else like it and I double-dog dare anyone to prove me wrong.

EDIT: Don't say Fallout.

Basically this. Your free to create any character you want, use any skill you want regardless of class, and progress the story at the pace you want. Bethesda forgoes the polish and ever changing worlds of linear games and decides to give the player a massive world to interact with and explore in anyway they see fit.

Combine that with mod support and you have a game that will almost never cease to be interesting.

And Bethesda has gotten better at making their worlds feel more organic, if they added a bit more depth, got a few more voice actors, worked on their narrative and RPG elements a bit, and made the world feel more dynamic the Elder Scrolls would be an almost perfect RPG.

 

[Cabisco]

Yes it's a sandbox adventure game with sword and not guns etc, but really I think it's biggest draw is that it's got a AAA budget.

A lot of games have similar qualities to elder scrolls but it's the extra money (meaning more and better) which makes it stand above the rest, at least in my eyes. That and Bethesda really do know what they are doing when they are making their games and again have the money and time to really make it work.

 

[Goofguy]

It's fun and I can do whatever the hell I want.

Pro-tip: just because you don't like something, doesn't mean others shouldn't either.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Because your definition of "crap" is kind of crap.

You seem to be under the impression that people DON'T like modding the crap out of their game, having a meandering experience, having a weak storyline with little consequence, or doing sidequests. This impression is bad, and you should feel bad for having it.

You'd think that people could look at a video game landscape where "Call of Duty", "Starcraft", "Psychonauts", "Myst" and ".flow" all exist, and figure out that people like different things, but they keep a mentality that simply screams "Stop liking what I don't like!"

I have discovered that if a game needs a boatload of mods to be fun, then it has issues.

but it doesn't need a boatload of mods to be fun -_-. Seriously, I played vanilla oblivion for atleast 200 hours, probably over 300 on my ps3. then I had fun modding it on my pc. I got skyrim on the pc first and spent about 100 hours without mods. Hell I know someone who has played for over 1000 hours of vanilla Oblivion on the pc. Mods are icing on the cake. They are not needed to make the game fun. The make a great game even greater. If you are to stupid to realize other people have opinions different to you why are you here?

 

[The_Lost_King]

My question is how you can pass judgement on the series without playing its crown jewel - Morrowind. When you can see the humor in this picture, then you will know you are ready criticize...

Spoiler

because even for someone who love the 2 newer Elder Scrolls games, Morrowind is hard to get into. Partly because of the graphics(for me it is mostly the character models, which weren't good till skyrim), and partly because of the combat. The combat just sucks to the point where mudcrabs almst killed me, MUDCRABS! I have tried getting into Morrowind but I can't. It was a good game for it's time and for people who bought it then but now it isn't fun. Maybe when I try again I will like it but then again maybe I won't. If you haven't guess I am mostly basing this off of my experience.

 

[karcentric]

Oblivion wasn't my cup of tea, looked kinda nice when it was released but something about it didn't flick my switch. I liked Skyrim, but my favorite by was Morrowind, I won't lie, I had no idea what I supposed to do or where to go until I was level 47, but by that time I'd explored nearly the entire island. Which kinda made the story a little easy being that I could clobber anyone into dust.

And once that was done I started modding and downloading mods, which essentially reinvented the game, adding all sorts of great and not so great stuff.

So to answer the question why I like Elder Scrolls... The mods.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I too have a major problem with Bethesda's IP in that all you seem to do is run around and do quests. No one even talks up your achievements. I don't feel like a champion when no one acknowledges that I killed that bigass dragon DIRECTLY next to me that 10+ NPC's WITNESSED.

Is why I name Skyrim as the worst game of its release year.

 

[PinkiePyro]

I say to each their own everyone has different tastes in games just like food the openness or settings might just not be your thing

I for one love sandbox games because because of the vastness and in parallel generally have a diastase for old school level platformers they are small and repetive

skyrim (cant speak for the others in the series though) is one of my favorites I love midevil settings and the Norse feel is different but still familer its got a nice mix of terrain and I love just roaming about for hours if you roam about you can find some really intersting stuff not part of the normal quests some of my favorites are the killer witch near riverwood (she acts nice but don't go in the secret door)
I also once found a body that was tied to a rock mafia style at the bottom of a lake

anyhow short version inless you are a critic or have actual flaws you want to point out dont go calling a game crap just becuse its not your taste

I dislike megaman and (going back to the food) swiss cheese but you don't see me running about griping about them

 

[Mirroga]

Actually my favorite form of freedom are just refined sandboxes. My exmaples would be Arkham City and Infamous 2. Even though I gave example that Fallout 3, Fallout:NV, and Skyrim would be the best examples of having a lot of freedom in games, giving games way too much freedom gives too much of a loose and randomized experience. It could be a selling point, but it makes for an unrefined gaming experience. To me Freedom =/= randomized experience. Well that's my opinion because my favorite randomized experience were Binding of Isaac and Frozen Synapse.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

Basically this. Your free to create any character you want, use any skill you want regardless of class, and progress the story at the pace you want. Bethesda forgoes the polish and ever changing worlds of linear games and decides to give the player a massive world to interact with and explore in anyway they see fit.

Combine that with mod support and you have a game that will almost never cease to be interesting.

And Bethesda has gotten better at making their worlds feel more organic, if they added a bit more depth, got a few more voice actors, worked on their narrative and RPG elements a bit, and made the world feel more dynamic the Elder Scrolls would be an almost perfect RPG.

It has always made sense to me that Elder Scrolls games would be a polarizing experience, with extreme haters and fervent defenders (like yours truly). It's just a more ambitious concept than other RPGs. Those of us who are enthralled by the freedom and open, realized world are willing to forgive an awful lot as a tradeoff. For those who aren't, well, they can get a lot of the individual elements delivered better somewhere else. I have never shied away from criticizing Bethesda titles, but it's usually not for things like animations and poor voice acting, though I consider those valid complaints. I will find it much easier to really trash Bethesda when someone else approaches a similar concept and does it better. Or half as well.

That said, their games are about exploration, and I don't think they realize how important a good complicated story is. The story provides the context for the exploration, turning what is merely a pretty looking dungeon or ruin into something that evokes wonder and sparks the imagination. If I had to identify one reason Morrowind is remembered so fondly, that would probably be it. Skyrim was an improvement over Oblivion, but they need to do more.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

People like Elder Scrolls games because of the unequaled freedom, roleplaying opportunities, modding opportunities, and realized world they offer. To my knowledge there is nothing else like it and I double-dog dare anyone to prove me wrong.

EDIT: Don't say Fallout.

Arcanum.
Fallout 1+2
Geneforge
The X series
The Guild series

That's just from looking in my steam library, and recent knowledge.

I don't know about all of those, but those first two aren't inspiring me to look through the others. I'm sure they're all wonderful in their own way.

 

[Xdeser2]

why do people find them fun?

The lore and story of the world for one, its easy to get lost in it (if your into that) it presents a nice twist on a tolkein-esque fantasy world

what also comes around is the complete freedom of the series, other then telling you quest location, it does not hold your hand. Sure, you might be destined to find plot device #316 to defeat evil demon horde # 21362 but if someone tells you to do that and you dont entirley feel inclined......walk 20 miles in the other direction and slaughter an entire town

Its also great series to do RP playthroughs of.

in the end, its all what you find fun. I personally love the series, but me loving it DOES NOT make it fact that its awesome, just like my dislike of Madden 0'whatever does not make me yell at my friends for buying the next 60$ roster update.

Its all about taste bro, and in the end there's no accounting for it.