Convince me to get this game

[Jerbsinator]

I want to get Skyrim but I am still worried about it because at it's core it is still a Bethesda game and that is why I am skeptical. I don't want another Oblivion game I want something that is DIFFERENT. I want a different experience than Oblivion. Fallout 3 was a good game but it really suffered from the same issues that plagued Oblivion and it gives me the impression that Bethesda doesn't learn from their mistakes and keeps putting the same shit in their games without listening to the fans. I've got a few questions and would appreciate an honest answer before purchase it.

 

1. Is it too easy to level up?

2. Is destruction magic weaker compared to melee and if so is there going to be a fix for it?

3. How easy is it to become "overpowered"?

4. Is the crafting system too easy to exploit and if so is there a fix for it as well?

5. Is it true that there is pretty much no enemy diversity in dungeons?

6. Is it true that most dungeons are the same and Skyrim isn't any better than the dungeons that plagued Oblivion?

7. Do dragons stay tough throughout the game or do you surpass them in power eventually?

8. Are there a lot of quests and are they any good?

9. Is there random enemies in the wilderness / open world or only specific places?

10. Are the animations not complete shit like they were in Oblivion?

11. Has a mod been made that allows you to block or parry while duel wielding?

and finally

12. Is the game stable and not a bug ridden mess?

[Glugg]

Here are my proverbial two cents:

 

1. I'm OK with the rate of leveling overall. If you deliberately grind skills, you can level super-fast, but I've been taking my time and trying to do things "naturally" with a minimum of fast-traveling, and I've found the speed of leveling comfortable enough.

 

2. Can't say; I haven't made a proper magic-user yet.

 

3. Haven't gotten far enough to have a properly informed opinion, but looking over the perks, I suspect that you could make yourself overpowered to some degree.

 

4. Crafting is easy to exploit IF you want to exploit it. If you really want to buy up a lot mats from a smith and bang out a hundred iron daggers in one sitting, sure, your smithing skill will rocket up.

 

5. This seems to be the case, at least in my experience thus far. Lots and lots of draugr, with some bandits, vampires, and necromancers on the side.

 

6. A lot of Skyrim dungeons are *similar*, but I don't think they're nearly as cookie-cutter as Oblivion's. They generally seem to be built around some kind of feature or theme or whatever. E.g., one has an interesting grove within a cave.

 

7. Can't say definitively, my highest char is only ~35. TBH, though, fighting dragons has been getting tedious, esp. on melee characters. 75% of the "fight" is just avoiding fire breath while the dragon flies overhead, then rushing in when it lands to take a swing before it flies off again.

 

8. Lots of quests, though disappointingly many are of your basic "go here, kill this and/or retrieve this" variety.

 

9. Can't say for sure, but it seems to me that most random encounters happen along roads.

 

10. I like the animations well enough. Magic looks pretty cool, and the finishing moves can be lots of gore-spattered fun.

 

11. Don't know, but it's definitely something I'll be looking for when I get around to leveling my dual-dagger char.

 

12. It's been working more or less fine for me (Win7, OC'd i5, GTX570). There are bugs, but I haven't encountered anything serious.

[TheoryoftheDead]

1. Is it too easy to level up?

That depends. Because of the way the level up system is designed, if you use a lot of different weapons, armor and magic you're bound to level up really fast. If you use the same, not so much.

 

2. Is destruction magic weaker compared to melee and if so is there going to be a fix for it?

Biggest problem I see isn't that Destruction magic is weak, it's that you run out of magicka really fast. So in the sense that "Full magic mage" is still very hard to play compared to a warrior, then the answer is yes.

 

3. How easy is it to become "overpowered"?

You will pretty much always 2-hit trash mobs, and boss mobs will pretty much always 2-hit you. So I suppose becoming really "overpowered" is near impossible. Unless you make use of the console, that is.

 

4. Is the crafting system too easy to exploit and if so is there a fix for it as well?

I would argue that it is. Getting blacksmithing up to 100 was no deal at all. Just bought a whole lot of leather from the blacksmithing trainers and spammed leather caps. A few hours later : Maxed smithing as well as a full Dragonscale armor.

 

5. Is it true that there is pretty much no enemy diversity in dungeons?

I would say yes. Feels like 90% of the caves and whatnot that I've found have been bandit hideouts. You fight a lot of bandits. And that's an understatement.

 

6. Is it true that most dungeons are the same and Skyrim isn't any better than the dungeons that plagued Oblivion?

False I would say. The traps and whatnot made the dungeons more interesting. If anything, I would compare Skyrim's dungeons to those of Morrowind.

 

7. Do dragons stay tough throughout the game or do you surpass them in power eventually?

You surpass them. Although you do encounter much stronger dragons now and the that can prove a challenge, these are kind of rare.

 

8. Are there a lot of quests and are they any good?

I doubt that you and I share the same view on a "good" quest. As for the quantity, yes, there are a lot.

 

9. Is there random enemies in the wilderness / open world or only specific places?

There are enemies in the wilderness as well.

 

10. Are the animations not complete shit like they were in Oblivion?

The animations are not worth bragging about, no.

 

11. Has a mod been made that allows you to block or parry while duel wielding?

Not that I know of. But that would be what you earlier refered to as "overpowered". The whole point of dual wield is a complete damage output. Hopefully you see my point.

 

12. Is the game stable and not a bug ridden mess?

I've been able to play it without any major incidents.

[ReMeDy]

Once the construction set comes out, almost all your points will be addressed. To answer your questions...

 

1. Is it too easy to level up?

Yes, but there's a huge level cap anyways, but if you don't like it, there is already a mod that can stunt your xp growth.

 

2. Is destruction magic weaker compared to melee and if so is there going to be a fix for it?

Yes, but there are already multiple mod variations that buff it, so by all accounts, it's fixed.

 

3. How easy is it to become "overpowered"?

Once you learn the tricks to blacksmithing, it's very easy to get overpowered. Eventually, your blacksmithed weapons are so powerful, it's pointless visiting dungeons because everything you make is better than everything you find. However, you can nerf blacksmithing, or even better, simply avoid the exploitation. Problem solved.

 

4. Is the crafting system too easy to exploit and if so is there a fix for it as well?

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with blacksmithing. You can't exploit it until much later levels. Until then, the crafting system is basically on the back-burner, since you'll be spending more time leveling up core fundamentals (one-hand, two-hand, magic, etc.) then you will crafting.

 

5. Is it true that there is pretty much no enemy diversity in dungeons?

There's bandits, skeletons, vampires, spiders, rats, mechanical robots, elementals, trolls, and perhaps 1-2 others. Occasionally, you'll stumble upon a bear. You'll fight mostly bandits and skeletons. Most dungeons also have a great boss fight. Personally, I think there's more diversity than in most games. To rephrase your question, after playing Dark Souls, I think you're seeking better enemy behavior diversity, and not necessarily enemy diversity, in general. Unfortunately, Dark Souls trumps Skyrim in this regard.

 

6. Is it true that most dungeons are the same and Skyrim isn't any better than the dungeons that plagued Oblivion?

The Skyrim dungeons are much improved. You'll find a few puzzles, better lighting (lots of opportunities for cool screenshots), the level design feels more diverse, enemies will sometimes interact with their environment (ex. engage a trap).

 

7. Do dragons stay tough throughout the game or do you surpass them in power eventually?

Depends if you exploit the blacksmith crafting system. Dragons are a great challenge, especially early in the game, but they do decrease in power over time. It doesn't matter - mods can (and will) buff dragons. Dragons in Skyrim are always a threat, but some people want them on the level of "Baldur's Gate 2" tough. To each their own.

 

8. Are there a lot of quests and are they any good?

Funny thing is one person on this forum complained there were too many quests! I agree there are a lot and it's easy to get overwhelmed, but the journal does a great job keeping them organized and almost everything is optional anyways. Many of the quests are quite good. Some may seem like basic fetch quests, but then turn into something spectacular. The Dark Brotherhood quests are my favorite. Of course, everything is voice acted, and though you will hear repeat actors, with over 60+ voice actors, it's much harder to pick up on similarities.

 

9. Is there random enemies in the wilderness / open world or only specific places?

Do you mean random enemies or random events? For events, you'll find most on the road. Rich nobles head places with their caravan of guards (do you rob them?), you may bump into merchants, see a random NPC hunting wildlife with a bow, a guard traveling who says he's been summoned for duties (you can take his place), if you steal from an owner's shop they may send hired mercenaries to kill you (one will have a contract showing who sent them), messengers will seek you out to deliver things on behalf of another NPC, if you're friends with an NPC they'll give you a random free item, the list goes on. For random enemies, I do notice some randomness about them, but I don't really pay attention. You're rarely going to walk the same road twice more than several times, since you may want to fast travel anyways.

 

10. Are the animations not complete shit like they were in Oblivion?

They're a lot better. The running has much better weight to it. If you run backwards, you're not as fast (like it should be). Stamina is finally decently relevant. The best part are the combat finishing animations, where you can decapitate people/monsters. The dragons also have a great animation where they pick you up in their mouth and spit you out.

 

11. Has a mod been made that allows you to block or parry while duel wielding?

I don't dual wield, so I don't know the details. Not that I know of though.

 

12. Is the game stable and not a bug ridden mess?

It's much more stable. The biggest different is it's support for more RAM and multi-core processing. It's likely this game will run better for you than Oblivion! Skyrim is still a CPU bottleneck, but many FPS improvements have been made by the community. Bethesda has also been diligent about updates, and though the integrity of these updates is up for debate, at least they're making an effort. No doubt a huge fan mod will be released anyways, like Obscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, along with unofficial patches. Already there are several dozen .ini tweak files.

[Woohoo]

I want to get Skyrim but I am still worried about it because at it's core it is still a Bethesda game and that is why I am skeptical. I don't want another Oblivion game I want something that is DIFFERENT. I want a different experience than Oblivion.

 

Skyrim is better than Oblivion but it is not fundamentally different from it. Sometimes it feels like it might be different but the core is the same thing. I can't really tell you to buy this game if you didn't like Oblivion - it's significantly improved in many ways but still like that game.

 

I haven't played in at least two weeks and probably won't again until people start really modding the game. I find it lacks enough combat depth to interest me as an action game and not enough depth in the RPG mechanics (like character building) to interest me from that angle. I'll be playing Fallout: New Vegas to fill my action-RPG needs until then. Now' date=' you have to consider that I tend to fall into the "jaded asshole" category of gamers. It's way better than Oblivion but better, I think, different enough for my tastes. Yet. Modding will hopefully fix my issues.

 

[b']1. Is it too easy to level up?[/b]

Yes, though some builds won't be as easy to level up as others.

 

2. Is destruction magic weaker compared to melee and if so is there going to be a fix for it?

Magic has been annoyingly simplified for my tastes but at early levels, it's quite competitive. I understand that at higher levels, it doesn't scale as well.

 

3. How easy is it to become "overpowered"?

That depends - are you playing a warrior with blacksmithing and (optionally) enchanting? If so, very easy. It varies for others.

 

4. Is the crafting system too easy to exploit and if so is there a fix for it as well?

It's fairly easy to exploit if you power game it - like making nothing but iron daggers. Not aware of any fixes yet.

 

5. Is it true that there is pretty much no enemy diversity in dungeons?

Within a given dungeon, there's generally not much variety. Some dungeons are better (Dwemer Ruins often have a good mix) and some are worse (crypts tend to be pretty much Draughr). However, there are a decent variety of dungeon types.

 

6. Is it true that most dungeons are the same and Skyrim isn't any better than the dungeons that plagued Oblivion?

It's both true and not true at the same time. You won't see such obvious copying - but sometimes the layouts tend to be similar. There is a better variety than Oblivion though.

 

7. Do dragons stay tough throughout the game or do you surpass them in power eventually?

With my warrior character, they weren't tough to begin with and with a companion were trivially easy, even at high levels. As a mage, it took much more work.

 

I found dragons incredibly disappointing because the underlying combat mechanics don't allow for much strategy when fighting dragons.

 

8. Are there a lot of quests and are they any good?

There are lots of quests. The quality is generally higher than Oblivion. I am still irked by Bethesda's writing but it has improved. Still lots of fluff though.

 

9. Is there random enemies in the wilderness / open world or only specific places?

Typically tied to a spawning area but sometimes weird stuff happens.

 

10. Are the animations not complete shit like they were in Oblivion?

They are significantly improved.

 

12. Is the game stable and not a bug ridden mess?

Far more stable than Oblivion or even Fallout 3, from my end. Now, the PC porting job was terrible (not large address aware, menus didn't always work with the mouse properly, etc) but the technical side of that has been mostly fix. Interface is still garbage.

[cyanure]

Just adding my two cents here:

I have played almost all the Elder Scroll line (except maybe red guard)

and when I first learned about Skyrim,I was...not that interrested,not interrested at all in fact,worst,learned it was more a game consol prting on the PC and usually,result is pretty...akward for a PC gamer

 

after many,many hesitation,I have buyed it,installed it and played it,thinking it was going to be an other "nerfed" Oblivion

 

and here,surprise!!!

 

I found again Morrowind feeling,not Oblivion!

Some music came from Morrowing,some armors too,the world is Dark and Dirty,walls are brokens,and willages are small,really small,with dirty peoples and guard wearing old used armors,weather is like morrowind, oppressive.

 

I am at 101+ hours with my first character,pyromancer and I have not yet finished to play her,she is only master of the school of destruction and not that great elsewhere(reallyneed to work my enchantment skill)

 

Not everything is perfect,the peoples here have said most of it,but for me,it is not Oblivion,more and enhanced Morrowind

 

[Jerbsinator]

I never said I disliked Oblivion there is just a lot of things wrong with the vanilla version. As long as these are improved upon then I will be happy. Oh and I won't be paying full price I have a $25 gift card, I just want to make sure this is the game I want.

[DorkDiva]

I never said I disliked Oblivion there is just a lot of things wrong with the vanilla version. As long as these are improved upon then I will be happy. Oh and I won't be paying full price I have a $25 gift card' date=' I just want to make sure this is the game I want.

[/quote']

 

Skyrim is good,well now since they added laa and did their patches.

If you like questing, theres more than enough quests in Skyrim.

Things to do? Hell, I end up sitting there trying to make up my mind while playing what should I do next since theres tons of quests, side quests, and Dwemer ruin's to explore and just roam around and see the cool looking sights. Was it worth my 60 bucks? Hell no. It was a buggy mess and then some, but since you have a 25 dollar gift card...

 

Is it better than Oblivion? Yes, with the exception of the interface, every thing has been really improved upon. The interface is pretty bad. IS it fun?..., yes it is, There is way more to interact with too.

Animations, are they better than Oblivions? Yeah by far, and they will most likely get better once the CK is out. I obviously cannot make the decision for you or convince you, you have to that for yourself. But it is a good game. We also have Diablo III and a couple other games looming on the horizon, and who knows, you may want to hold onto your card for one of those games.

 

I personally think you would enjoy Skyrim. Now that they made fixes and laa, it runs like it should. And soon, the CK is supposed to be out so modding can be done like it should soon enough. And hell, if you like snow, you cant go wrong with Skyrim.

[Quemon]

For almost everything you asked are mods on their way.

I recommand downloading it because it's one of the best prg experience and it's changable with mods, (to your own liking).

 

Like Oblivion, with ALL lovermods it's not Oblivion but just a Hentai game.

 

MODS can change Skyrim to the game and experience YOU want.

[polluxval]

just get the god damn game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jerbsinator]

Ya I know mods will be on the way which is why either way I will be getting this game eventually because Oblivion with mods is a fantastic experience so if Skyrim is fundamentally a better game then the mod scene is going to be even better than Oblivion's was. It would be insane for me not to purchase the game. I'm just trying to decide if I should do it now...or wait until it's cheaper (which could be a LONG time) and put my card towards Arkham City or Diablo 3.

[Woohoo]

Skyrim will probably bring you more long term enjoyment than Arkham City - it's a question of what will be more fun immediately. Skyrim is more fun than stock Oblivion and probably more fun, at its core, than modded Oblivion.

 

Of course, Diablo III will probably be bad-ass and if it has half the lifespan of Diablo II, it will last you several years.

 

Skyrim will be sexier though.

[GrimReaper]

Dude, just look at the modding scene. The game has been out for a meager 2 months and thanks to Caliente we already have a body replacer with the quality of the HGEC-body (or maybe even better). And some nice armor replacers, too - and that without working scripts for blender. As far as I know you have to use some workarounds to edit meshes and get them in the game, imagine what will happen when the scripts for blender are done. Oh, and Skyrim has Blackreach. The most beautiful place ever made in a videogame.

 

Personally I would decide between Diablo 3 and Skyrim. Arkham City is a game you'll play once and that's it, better rent a copy (if you got a PS3 or Xbox360) instead of buying it. As for Diablo 3, I don't know. I will wait and see how the new auction house is doing.

[junkacc]

Just read one page of the neutral reviews on metacritic here:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/user-reviews?dist=neutral

 

Never read the foaming-at-the-mouth fanboy raving 10/10 "BEST GAME EVA!!!" reviews or uber-cynical "IT'S SHIT!!!" ones either.

 

As for me, I think it's a hold-your-hands-at-every-opportunity, dumbed-down, over-hyped, console-port PIECE OF SHIT made for idiots. But that's just my opinion.

[Quemon]

I think people don't need to convince somebody...

 

If Skyrim is YOUR game, you just have to buy it, otherwise don't.

[Renax]

It's a horrible console port.

 

Not worth buying imo.

[Loveryus]

In reallife there are no perfectly looking girls running around naked in front of you killing monsters. If you're into boobs and killing, you need Skyrim! ;-) That's the end of my argumentation, cause I'm disappointed by Skyrim. My biggest disapointment is based on the still missing Creation Kit. Skyrim already bores me in an enormous way cause every character I create gets similiar to the first one. The spells are boring, the melee is unspectacular, the npcs don't have characters like in morrowind or oblivion and the players character never smiles like people in Skyrim don't do a lot anyway.

[Mana Yakushima]

Destruction gets pretty OP if you perk up your dual cast and get the stagger perk.

[Blackbryre]

I typically don't hesitate much when it comes to buying games. Overall, most RPGs have great entertainment value - if you play Skyrim for a minuscule 50 hours, then comparatively you haven't wasted your money (assuming you didn't hate very minute of it.) Seeing $50 worth of movies would provide entertainment for a fraction of the time.

 

Personally, I love the game. There are a few things that need work, but my worst day in Skyrim dwarfs my best in Oblivion imo. Also, why pass up the opportunity to interactively see this diamond in the rough slowly morph into a glorious, jizz-soaked treasure?

[AlivEc0cK]

From my point of view, Skyrim is pretty different than Oblivion. Skyrim is an Elder Scrolls of course, but you won't feel like you are playing Oblivion at all. In fact, it's like a Fallout 3 but with an Elder Scrolls backstory and context. It has many, many improvements comparing to Oblivion and in any case, it's a game you will enjoy for sure.

 

Is the best game I have played in 2011 (and still do, lol) apart of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I have played Skyrim for 120 hours or so and I'm still in the beggining of the main plot

 

If you are afraid of the game turn too easy, I'll point out that it's very balanced. It's totally different from Oblivion.

[Glugg]

Also' date=' why pass up the opportunity to interactively see this diamond in the rough slowly morph into a glorious, jizz-soaked treasure?

[/quote']

That's a good point. Skyrim's only been out for, what, two months? As far as moddable Elderscrolls games go, that's practically the fetal stage. I've no doubt that we'll be seeing a lot of great stuff in the not-too-distant future, especially once we get our sticky hands on the mysterious CK.

 

 

 

[idonotlikeusernames]

I usually wait a while for some of the special editions like GOTY, diamond or platinum to come out so I'll be able to customize the game to my liking straight out of the box.

With Skyrim however I have one great fear and that's steamworks, will it be required to be able to install play any mods created with the construction kit and if so what will this mean for the adult modding community?

I can't imagine Bethsoft or Steam looking favourably upon most adult mods, especially some like loversbitch.

[Mavado]

Personally, I won't be touching Skyrim until there is some version of Lovers available... I mean, current Skyrim there is -no- sex whatsoever so there is no reason to play it, these Elderscrolls games have horrible game mechanics, for me personally the only draw to Oblivion was the amazing (modded) graphics and the sex sim. Not to mention all the good-looking SKS hairs, armors, etc and such still have to be converted to Skyrim which is a problem since they didn't release the Construction Set yet.

 

[Jerbsinator]

I got the game.

 

It's all down hill from here. Even if I don't like it I'm sure modders will make me like it, eventually.

 

Edit: Played it for 2 hours and I have to say so far I am impressed. I went in with low expectations and it pretty much crushed those. I am loving this game. And only $37 me likey.

[Triratna]

Jerb, Watch this one:

 

 

It'll convince you to pay skyrim, the game Overall is quite luxurious after the latest official patch. Novice & adept are made for noobs, try hardcore or expert settings to improve the balance. But then it depends on what & where Your PC fought.

 

Dragon in expert & hardcore, can wipe an entire village & settlements in given times. And it's almost impossible fight them unprepared or without Guardsmen & watch tower helps. I played the game over 100+ hours, The short LIVE trailer still gave me goosebumps. It represent everything we feels as Dragonborn.