HoonDing

Apparently the Aerie/Na'vi clone is supposed to be the mage apprentice from the Dalish origin. I didn't even recognize her.

There was always something interesting to find in FO3's random locations, like notes, terminals, schematics, bobbleheads, unique weapons... NV has many empty locations that feel added just to fill up the world. Like that building south of New Vegas that's nothing but one floor with a few giant ants. In FO3 such a location doesn't even get named. In NV, ultimately there is hardly anything of interest outside the main quest, FO3 is the reverse. NV even punishes exploration since all faction (fetch) quests take one all across the map anyway, meaning people that already explored the entire map before hitting the main quest Bethesda-style got served the boring cake. Anyway, (preliminary) Skyrim map:

Don't Elves have the same lifespan as humans in DA? Hawke's voice acting is really bland, worse than Shepard. With the British accent, it sounds like watching a documentary on the BBC. Hopefully female Hawke will be better.

I'm (re)playing Summoner and the combat is pretty similar to the Witcher, having to press at the right time to 'chain' attacks. I forgot how much fun it is to sneak around with the thief and backstab. The Witcher 1 sorely misses stealth, it's good that the sequel will expand the gameplay at least a bit.

Behind the scenes of Skyrim

I tried crossing the mountain ranges between Goodsprings and Nipton many times to reach empty triangles, but couldn't do it due to invisible walls even though it should've been physically possible. It pissed me off and made me feel like I was being nudged towards Nipton.

Risen & the Gothics are the best open-world games. Perfect combination of a game world that feels alive, story & freeform exploration without the need for any invisible barriers preventing one from crossing even a mole-hill if it would lead to being distracted from the main story.

Considering there are supposed to be "rivalries" in the game, the other one could work as well.

If anyone outside Bethesda should do a TES spin-off, it's Arkane Studios (already happily acquired by Zenimax). Judging from NV, Obsidian doesn't really get open-world games. For all we know, perhaps Arkane already contributed here and there.

So, a murdered family. I wonder what tortured pasts and/or neuroses the other party members will turn up with.

Well, in Oblivion Imperial guards were way above your level in the beginning. Also, Umbra.

The entire Drow race is probably inspired by Melnibon

That's up to Bethesda.

I can imagine an entire town fighting to the death over a dropped rusty dagger.

Elric of Melnibon

Gstaff @Bethsoft forums:

Well, he did say "rather grindy", which is quite the understatement.

After Fallout 3, I doubt the level scaling will return to the silliness of Oblivion. The radiant storytelling simply means that depending on your skills distribution, you'll receive different quests. E.g. a character geared towards magic not receiving any fighter related quests.

According to a thread of people with the magazine on Bethsoft forums: - Max von Sydow voices some kind of "mentor" - Dragonborn = Dragonslayer - 18 skills (no more mysticism, other skills from Oblivion might've been similarly merged) - 50 levels - Enchantment is back - Crafting system similar to Risen - no more zooming in when talking to NPCs - two hands can be used in combat, e.g. use a sword in one hand, and magic with the other one + dual-wielding - non-fugly character models and faces (mention was made of a Nord woman in a tavern) - giant spiders, mammoth, sabre-tooth tigers, yetis, snow trolls - perk each level, as in Fallout 3 Last but not least: "Radiant Storytelling" "The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you've played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you've explored, automatically set the mission in a place you've never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses."

Most interesting that dragons will regularly go Smaug on towns. I'm not sure how they suddenly became evil. Alduin being the big bad is questionable as well.

I'm expecting a delay considering Dragon Age 2 and TWitcher 2 come out in March/April 2011.

Nm, I pasted the wrong bit.

Turn off bloom.