This is a thread where TES lovers can say their thing about the upcoming game. Go to elderscrolls.com and watch the three demo videos, if you haven't already done so, before posting. Be warned, this is mostly for fanboys who have already already made up their mind to buy the game knowing some aspects will be shite, so any blasphemy might not go down too well. Other than that only 47 days left!



Okay, so I have been trying to avoid the hype going around about Skyrim for two reasons. One, because it's Bethesda and I know they will do something silly, like release a buggy game, push back the release date or put in horrible design flaws. (Yeah, Fallout 3 didn't have that many design flaws [relative to Oblivion] aside from being easy so I am hoping the are moving in the right direction.) Two, because after watching the new demos, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to get a new computer.

Like I said, I was trying to restrain myself but then the demos came out and I just couldn't resist, I watched them. My Thoughts: Let's just say it looks fucking gorgeous. I mean Crysis 2 gorgeous. This brings both joy and sorrow because my computer still has trouble with some parts of Oblivion. So it looks like it's time to start saving some cash away for some new and expensive hardware. The spell system has come so far from Morrowind, where it was just awful, and best of all it appears as though you can dual wield (modders out there all know how annoying that was in Oblivion). The world seems to be expansive, immersive and organic and there are dragons...hell yes, there are dragons, every fantasy lovers dream.

On the bad side there is the huge CPU costs that I mentioned earlier but also what appeared to be a trivial AI system. Bethesda have never been good at making challenging AI, and their solution in Oblivion, levelling all the encounters, was just annoying and wasn't really effective (your character can advance to level 70 while the monsters are stuck at 25). In the Skyrim demos, it appeared as though you have 100 different ways to fuck some baddys shite up, while all the monsters are restricted to basic attacks and trivial magic. For the gods' sake, they killed two dragons in the demos, that should be the olympics of gaming right there. Granted it's the demos, but the past Oblivion and Fallout 3 were a little too easy, even with the difficulty slider all the way up, so I'm hoping the AI is something they are still working on.
Okay, I'm still excited as hell for this game, I just hope my concerns are misfounded.
Also, Armistice Day for a game release? Cliched but at least I'll have the day off.

For the dragons in the demos, they were scripted the Devs even stated that so they probably be way toned down in difficulty not to mention that i think they were using god mod anyway.

As for the leveling system, i wouldn't mind if it was like fallout where a monster will level up with you but eventually will reach a cap. A good example is say... a rat, it starts at level 1 and will raise with you up to level 5 but will be capped at level 5. Or say a Wolf... it levels with you from 1-10 but caps at level 10. I wouldn't mind that.

If your computer has trouble running Oblivion, theres no harm in getting it on the consoles, after all it is pretty much a console port (devs have stated this). Yes you miss out on mods and graphics patches that the community will put out but by the time you buy a new comp there will probably be a GOTY version of Skyrim with all the DLC.

Have to disagree here. I've yet to see someone proving his / her mad gaming skills by taking on a mountain lion in Oblivion with the difficulty set to 100. It is technically possible with 100% reflect gear / high lvl, but getting there from start without changing the difficulty or god-like gear mods? I'd have to call bullshit on that one.
Same for F3. Taking on a supermutant or several of them on the highest difficulty? Sure if you modded yourself a few thousand nukes and blow everything to pieces, but not in a vanilla game. Nope for god mode. In the third demo you can see the players health going down, be it taking on the mammoth / giant or both dragon fights. You even see falling damage in the second dragon fight when he leaves the tower.

However, you could see them as younger / less experienced dragons. It's not that the dragons are endgame only and later versions will probably be more challenging.
Knowing Bethesda, there will probably be some sort of leveling system for the creatures. One might have hated it in Oblivion and still disliked the F3 / NV version, but let's face it: it would suck if you had to play 40+ hours before being able to successfully tackle one and getting your first dragonpower.

Of what has been shown, it looks as Skyrim takes the same leap forward that F3 took after Oblivion, if not more.
Yes, the CPU cost will probably be huge, but who did expect anything else?
The only real doubt that I have is, if Bethesda manages to get a good mainstory done.