John Madden's Viking Simulator 1991

[Derek Thunder]

Oh wait, it's just Elder Scrolls 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSRtYpNRoN0

I've been a fan of the Elder Scrolls ever since I got Daggerfall as a birthday present back when I was 11 and I have to say that despite some initial skepticism this looks like it's going to be an awesome game. Dual-wielding, dragon shouts, and hopefully giant beards.

Woo.

[Stofsk]

it looks boss

i only hope they fix all the fuck ups oblivion made

[Derek Thunder]

At the very least, I hope they fix the stupid leveling system that penalizes you for using the skills you tagged as "major" at the start.

But hey, we know the faces don't look like butt! That's a step in the right direction.

[Stofsk]

That shit doesn't matter if the NPCs in question don't say anything more than 'omg i faced mudcrabs the other day'

seriously i stopped talking to EVERYONE in oblivion because they were all a bunch of useless boring fuckers

they also need to get more than half a dozen voice actors to play the hundreds of NPCs they've no doubt populated in skyrim

Here's my short list of things that Skyrim *has* to have in order for me to play it:

1. An actual interesting storyline. I tried playing Oblivion, I really did. I've logged over a hundred hours into it. I started a playthrough, lost interest, dropped it. I picked it up again many months later and I very nearly almost managed to get half-way through before I got bored. (apparently Morrowind's story was boss, but I haven't played it)

2. Better combat. Oblivion boiled down to: hold RMB, wait until monster stuns itself trying to bash through your shield, hit LMB for a strike, repeat as necessary. The special moves were difficult to pull off and weren't that special either. I loved the visceral feel of blocking with a shield and then striking with your weapon, but when combat is RMB-LMB-RMB-LMB-RMB-LMB until you kill the critter, it's boring.

3. The leveling system needs to be better. You pointed out one of its flaws. I'll add that it should be done in a way that discourages gaming it. Oblivion's was absurd for the counterintuitive bullshit where your major skills are those which you use the least (watlol?).

4: More than half-a-dozen voice actors for the NPCs.

4b: If you can only afford half-a-dozen, at least make them good voice actors. The guys they got for Oblivion sounded unbelievably awful.

5: Less junk, vendor trash and so on. Plus no list based inventories, which you then have super large fonts and inefficient inventory management.

am i asking for too much here guys or what

[Cynical Cat]

Appropriate architecture. Morrowind had tent dwelling desert nomads, hollowed out giant fungus towns, and gigantic structures made from gigantic crustacean shells clashing with more generic Imperial architecture. It felt like a half colonized alien culture. Oblivion was generic medieval bullshit in the Imperial heartland? Where were the magnificent monuments and the statues of generations of conquerors and heroes? Where was the Imperial glory.

Now there are some nice looking faux Norse stuff in the trailer and that looks good. I hope it's there in the game.

[Derek Thunder]

4: More than half-a-dozen voice actors for the NPCs.

4b: If you can only afford half-a-dozen, at least make them good voice actors. The guys they got for Oblivion sounded unbelievably awful.

It was fairly hilarious though, having a homeless person greet you in a creaky, worn voice - Then effortlessly transition to a booming, jaunty adventurer when you ask about a topic not related to panhandling, hobo-ing, or the Grey Fox.

Also, I will miss GENERIC IMPERIAL GUARD: "Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Appropriate architecture. Morrowind had tent dwelling desert nomads, hollowed out giant fungus towns, and gigantic structures made from gigantic crustacean shells clashing with more generic Imperial architecture. It felt like a half colonized alien culture. Oblivion was generic medieval bullshit in the Imperial heartland? Where were the magnificent monuments and the statues of generations of conquerors and heroes? Where was the Imperial glory.

What really sucks is that the prior games had established a far stranger imperial province, with steamy jungles and such.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Gu ... n/Cyrodiil

It wasn't supposed to be bland temperate forests and bog-standard fantasy themes.

"Akaviri dragon-motifs are found in all quarters, from the high minaret bridges of the Imperial City to the paper hako skiffs that villagers use to wing their dead down the rivers. Thousands of workers ply the rice fields after the floodings, or clear the foliage of the surrounding jungle in the alternate seasons. Above them are the merchant-nobility, the temple priests and cult leaders, and the age-old aristocracy of the battlemages. The Emperor watches over them all from the towers of the Imperial City, as dragons circle overhead."

That would have been way cooler.

[The Minx]

What was the swirly thing at 2:00? It looked like some kind of Quickening effect (no, I don't know anything about Elder Scrolls ).

[Derek Thunder]

What was the swirly thing at 2:00? It looked like some kind of Quickening effect (no, I don't know anything about Elder Scrolls ).

Actually, that's pretty much it. As you play through the game, you gain powers known as "dragon shouts" by killing dragons (no easy feat, from the way they describe it). Kill dragon, absorb its power, get fun new way to mow down enemies.

[Stofsk]

Appropriate architecture. Morrowind had tent dwelling desert nomads, hollowed out giant fungus towns, and gigantic structures made from gigantic crustacean shells clashing with more generic Imperial architecture. It felt like a half colonized alien culture. Oblivion was generic medieval bullshit in the Imperial heartland? Where were the magnificent monuments and the statues of generations of conquerors and heroes? Where was the Imperial glory.

I didn't mind the medieval architecture in Oblivion. Frankly, I already knew I was playing a generic D&D-style setting, so it didn't faze me in the slightest.

What was truly incongruous was 'walk five metres from the Imperial city gate - boom you've hit an abandoned ancient ruin that still has loot and monsters'.

Uh yeah ok.

The Imperial city could have been a lot bigger too I thought. It feels really small. The Witcher in comparison made Vizima more lively and felt more populated. Part of the problem is there was like nine cities in Tamriel and a lot of land in between them. They could have cut some of those cities down and expanded the city, made it feel like Rome or something. Plus instead of having outlier citie, have more farms - so that it feels like there is a significant area that's devoted to agriculture.

Oblivion has this curious phenomenon where the world feels large but the cities feel tiny. It killed my immersion.

[Cynical Cat]

Well here's the thing: I played Morrowind before I played Oblivion. Morrowind has all sorts of funky non generic fantasy stuff. Giant bug transports, mushroom towers, the Ghostwall, huge structures built from the shells of gigantic land crustaceans, etcetera. To from that to vanilla pseudo medieval town was major disappointment.

[Stofsk]

Of course Morrowind is that place populated by strange barbarous dunmer

not proper imperial folk with conventional architecture

While we're on a roll bashing Oblivion, another thing that bothered me which is related to one of my points above, is where the hell does the bloody army sleep? There are literally dozens of 'abandoned' forts all over Tamriel (I don't know how abandoned they could be if there are hordes of bandits living in them, who as soon as you kill one group another sets up shop a few days later), some of which are hilariously a stone's throw away from the Imperial City. Yet Tamriel is supposed to be the centre of power for the Empire.

really if they were going to set the game in the middle of a continent-stretching Empire, they might have thought some of this stuff through

i mean holy shit you could have quests that were basically about intrigue and court politics, factions and shit and investingating stuff, and the thieves guild stuff goes a long way, but no the main plot is 'lol go stop the demon invasion' or 'can you go to that abandoned fort and kill all the bandits living there because apparently the imperial army is homeless QQ'

lol that last one was a joke - if only they had that quest in there

[The Cleric]

I played Morrowing and Oblivion, and loved them both. A lot of stuff I'd like to see improved (you've all hit them pretty solidly), but I'll buy and play this regardless.

[Derek Thunder]

i mean holy shit you could have quests that were basically about intrigue and court politics, factions and shit and investingating stuff, and the thieves guild stuff goes a long way, but no the main plot is 'lol go stop the demon invasion' or 'can you go to that abandoned fort and kill all the bandits living there because apparently the imperial army is homeless QQ'

I can picture it now - A buff, grizzled railway worker walking through a stockyard with a pair of ill-tempered bulldogs, banging on boxcars in search of itinerant wayfarers, only to discover a whole company of Imperial Legion soldiers huddled over a crude stove making hobo pies as they sing songs about criminal scum, mudcrabs, and shears.

[Derek Thunder]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrlzkKa6O8

"Ponies beyond measure, outlander"