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Gaming Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Preview

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Claave, 19 Oct 2011.

  1. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    This doesn't really excite me at all. It was hard for me to get into Oblivion as well as any of the Fallout games so I think I'm just gonna shut my door and go back to Dark Souls. Ain't nothing like fighting a 150 foot undead dragon with 3 of your best friends online hacking away while you pelt it with thunder arrows.

    I'm putting this on my steam sale list for sure.
     
  2. Skiddywinks

    Skiddywinks Minimodder

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    How did you manage to get your friends in, and not some randomers?
     
  3. Crunch77

    Crunch77 What's a Dremel?

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    Really can't wait for this. Preordered. We have release day at work the same day, so going to have a few days off, when Skyrim arrives. B-)
     
  4. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    we all started characters and kept them around same level and we never let those characters drift too far apart in levels. I think 6 levels difference is the cut-off. Then when we sign on we go to the area were up to, drop our summon stones, get everyone in the same game and roll out till we finish the boss, then repeat over and over for each new area, It does suck not being able to invite specific people from your friends list but the game is meant to be lonely and cruel and the only help is from randoms otherwise. I actually find most of the randoms I pick up to be much more geared out and experienced that I am, probably because I never owned the first game and am coming straight into dark souls blind but so far so good. Were all about lvl 30 and up to the blight town area.
     
  5. sear

    sear What's a Dremel?

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    It's the same engine. They've improved a few things (probably more stable and compatible with newer hardware, plus visual improvements like more dynamic shadows) but it's basically the same old Gamebryo.

    Normally, that wouldn't be a huge problem. Gamebryo itself isn't that bad for large worlds (the excellent Divinity II uses it to good effect), it's just Bethesda's implementation that completely sucks nuts. The switch to calling it "Creation" is a marketing move to battle the stigma associated with the previous engine and little more.

    As to Skyrim itself, I'm sure it will be a fun and pretty romp, but nothing about it suggests it will be in any way a compelling CRPG. The dumbed-down character development, fewer number of weapons and spells, etc. bugs me, and looks to me like they're following along with their design philosophy of "masturbate the player" rather than providing any gameplay that requires thought or planning in character building. I would be willing to forgive all this, except that years ago, Dark Messiah provided way, way better first-person hack-and-slash combat than anything Oblivion offered, and nothing I've seen indicates Skyrim will be much better... and it may even be worse considering their reused VATS killcam ******** (god I hope I can turn that off). From the looks of it, the AI is still fundamentally terrible as well, with video footage proudly displaying that bandits, when witnessing the assassination of one of their buddies, still believe the best course of action is "stand around in the open and stare at the wall." But hey, at least it satisfies the 13-year-old mouth-breathing OMG SLOW MO IS SO COOL demographic, so kudos to Bethesda for knowing their audience.

    As for story and all that, I'll believe they have decent writing and voice acting when I see it for myself (Fallout 3 and Oblivion were downright laughable and atrocious in this regard, making BioWare's soap opera crap look like high art), and this "Radiant Story" stuff will likely be yet another pile of failure, considering that Bethesda's programmers are so shitty they can't even put working ladders into their game (yes, they've tried, and failed... more than once). All in all it's a lot of talk from Bethesda, as usual, and I'm sure that the rabid howling of fanboys will lead to a huge steady stream of positive PR, and mainstream reviewers, convinced that this is indeed "the RPG for people who don't like RPGs" (GTA with swords?), will be quick to praise it both out of a lack of experience with actual RPGs and because they're afraid of losing their advance press access. But when the dust settles, I imagine we'll be left with the exact same impression as with Oblivion and Fallout 3: pretty, and expansive, but utterly intellectually vacant games. ****ing GOTY 2011, am I right?
     
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  6. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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    +rep for using "masturbate the player" and 13-year-old mouth-breathing in the same paragraph! welcome to 2011 where the 40 oz isn't under a buck anymore and the console gamer pays to bend over, turn their brain off and get satisfied <(O_O<)^_^<)

    [​IMG]

    why I outta...
     
  7. Ficky Pucker

    Ficky Pucker I

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    the closer we get to release the worse i feel about Skyrim, i think i'll cancel my pre-order and wait for reviews, patches, mods, BF3 should keep me busy...
     
  8. Ilandel

    Ilandel What's a Dremel?

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    I don't know how many of loving pets Bethesda horrifically murdered to cause you to be SO bitter that you need to post a ridiculously exaggerated multi-paragraph rant with a tone that suggests the complete absence of exaggeration, but, you might wanna talk to someone about that.

    I'm curious as to where you've read that the character creation was dumbed down. I've quite nerdily read QUITE a few articles and hands-on previews about the game so far, and not once have I turned up any details suggesting that the character creation isn't far better than Oblivion's at the very least. And you've decided that AI is "still fundamentally terrible as well" based on ONE example of footage you saw regarding some bandits with improper reaction times? Excellent reasoning skills, man. You know, there was mention of chickens reporting your crimes in some recent news... THIS GAME WILL NOW SUCK BECAUSE BETHESDA THINKS CHICKENS CAN REPORT CRIMES! Oh, wait... maybe that was a bug. Oh well. The game has a bug in it, before it's even complete. A bug which they found and fixed. But, since it was brought to my attention, I think I'll now base some points of argument about the game upon the evidence of that bug. 8D!

    Seriously, man... Is anyone arguing that Oblivion and the most recent Fallout games don't have tons of bugs and things that could be greatly improved? If they are, then they're no less preposterous than you are right now. I'd love for you to explain to me how hand-designing the entire world rather than using SpeedTree and tweaking automatically-generated terrain is NOT an improvement. "Oh, they should've done that before!". Awesome... and that makes it not an improvement how? I'm quite certain that, by definition of the word "improvement," that's actually a pretty drastic improvement.

    Don't get me wrong, you're completely entitled to your opinion of the game. However, your whole comment seems to have a good bit in common with your idea of both Fallout 3 and Oblivion. The only difference is that they, at least, were pretty and expansive.
     
  9. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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    I started avadon: the black fortress in the meantime.. where you have to imagine the chaos

    and the writer obviously has red hair

    [​IMG]
     
  10. tupera

    tupera What's a Dremel?

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    "Skyrim was so engaging that the pile of pasties in one corner of the room was barely touched."

    This must be one heck of a game if the women didn't even have pasties on and people were still watching Skyrim!!! (sorry, couldn't resist!)
     
  11. Da_Rude_Baboon

    Da_Rude_Baboon What the?

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    They were made by the same developer, with the same engine and had the same problems. I think Sears post was pretty epic myself and I share his doubts but will be happy if proven wrong.
     
  12. mighty_pirate

    mighty_pirate What's a Dremel?

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    Bethesda's Gamebryo games have always had the same flaws, in pretty much equal measures: Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3 & New Vegas all had huge AI bugs, clipping errors & horrible clunky combat. But were all still excellent. Because where they excel is in atmosphere, historical depth & huge open worlds. Not to mention the luck of having a hugely active modding community.
    Skyrim will almost certainly have the same flaws (hopefully to a lesser degree) but it will also almost certainly demonstrate those same excellent qualities (hopefully to a greater degree).
    So, not perfect, wilth big problems that most devs would have been expected to iron out before release. But, I'd wager, with pros that so greatly outweigh these cons, the things they do well being done so well as to still offer the potential to be a fantastic game. As with all their previous offerings.
     
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  13. Ajhayter

    Ajhayter What's a Dremel?

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  14. logonui

    logonui Minimodder

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    I've been looking forward to this game for ages now but after seeing the graphics I'm not sure my HD4850 will cope too well :S

    Probably should have upgraded a while ago...
     
  15. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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    I thought pasties was some sort of british sweets
     
  16. John_T

    John_T Minimodder

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    I think you're thinking of pastilles:
    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1188/3171820099_1716c72155.jpg

    A pasty is a delicious savoury treat such as this Cornish variety:
    http://www.crantockbakery.co.uk/images/top-image.jpg

    Amazing how one tiny typo can take you to the above, away from these sweet Danish pastry delights:
    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JXnBpZ4KEXE/TcAYoUPXVAI/AAAAAAAACxU/7Zc-wRAeMm8/s640/pastries.jpg

    Other things not to be confused with Pasties include:

    Pastis:
    http://www.coastandcountryfrance.co...oads/thumb-tout-savoir-sur-le-pastis-1843.jpg

    Pastiche:
    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MXGK8EZSL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

    And panache:
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iHqMc2BQCA4/TVuBDcDAZ7I/AAAAAAAAGcI/0BPYe4Npq6A/s400/flynn+hood.jpg

    All wonderful things, although you wouldn't necessarily want them all for your breakfast... :)
     
  17. John_T

    John_T Minimodder

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    By the way, really looking forward to the game! I'll be waiting for a bit-tech special full review though, not to judge whether I'll be getting the game, just to see which GPU I'll be needing...
     
  18. Showerhead

    Showerhead What's a Dremel?

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    I doubt it will be much more stressful than oblivion of fallout 3. 360 is the lead console for this.
     
  19. rogerrabbits

    rogerrabbits What's a Dremel?

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    No Oblivion was massively different to Morrowind.
     
  20. Kilmoor

    Kilmoor lurker

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    It's supposed to be well optimized for GPU scaling using gobs of tesselation for us cash-dropping multi-GPU 5x0 series owners.

    After Morrowind and Oblivion each ruining my life during their days, I have the highest expectations from Bethesda for Skyrim- and the least of doubts that they will undercut the PC platform for a friendlier console experience. On the release of the last two TES titles, they both pushed the limits of PC GPUs of the time, and obviously Skyrim will be no exception!
     
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