Ranting on Skyrim

[Humanoid]

Now that's putting me in a weird position of wanting to defend Skyrim. I can flat out say that Skyrim is the only Bethesda game I can say wasn't a complete waste of money. Might seem a case of damning with faint praise, but hey, it's an achievement no matter how many issues it has. Oblivion, on the other hand, handily makes my 'worst games of all time' list. (Morrowind and Fallout 3 bored me, but not to the point of pure loathing)

[Qistina]

In Oblivion, each towns feels big, there's a lot of buildings and peoples around. When going into Imperial city there are a lot of sections (districts) and each sections are different. Whiterun is not, only have few buildings in it as the main "city", and so other "cities"

 

In Oblivion each settlements have their own guilds, in Skyrim guilds are only in certain settlements. That is one of the reason why guild quests in Oblivion is better than in Skyrim, we have to go to each settlements and solving their problems in Oblivion, while in Skyrim it's mostly a fetch quests then return to guild.

 

It is fine if they want to limit the guild and set it to certain settlement but they supposed to make the quests better

[Orogun01]

In Oblivion, each towns feels big, there's a lot of buildings and peoples around. When going into Imperial city there are a lot of sections (districts) and each sections are different. Whiterun is not, only have few buildings in it as the main "city", and so other "cities"

 

In Oblivion each settlements have their own guilds, in Skyrim guilds are only in certain settlements. That is one of the reason why guild quests in Oblivion is better than in Skyrim, we have to go to each settlements and solving their problems in Oblivion, while in Skyrim it's mostly a fetch quests then return to guild.

 

It is fine if they want to limit the guild and set it to certain settlement but they supposed to make the quests better

I wish I could say that it was because of optimization but considering the scale of BlackReach, there is no excuse for any town or cave to be small and linear. They were probably saving man hours, or they had problem with direction.

[Lexx]

Now that's putting me in a weird position of wanting to defend Skyrim. I can flat out say that Skyrim is the only Bethesda game I can say wasn't a complete waste of money. Might seem a case of damning with faint praise, but hey, it's an achievement no matter how many issues it has. Oblivion, on the other hand, handily makes my 'worst games of all time' list. (Morrowind and Fallout 3 bored me, but not to the point of pure loathing)

Agreed. I wouldn't call it a really good game, it has too many flaws in my eyes, but it's certainly not one of the worst Bethesda game.

[Qistina]

 

In Oblivion, each towns feels big, there's a lot of buildings and peoples around. When going into Imperial city there are a lot of sections (districts) and each sections are different. Whiterun is not, only have few buildings in it as the main "city", and so other "cities"

 

In Oblivion each settlements have their own guilds, in Skyrim guilds are only in certain settlements. That is one of the reason why guild quests in Oblivion is better than in Skyrim, we have to go to each settlements and solving their problems in Oblivion, while in Skyrim it's mostly a fetch quests then return to guild.

 

It is fine if they want to limit the guild and set it to certain settlement but they supposed to make the quests better

I wish I could say that it was because of optimization but considering the scale of BlackReach, there is no excuse for any town or cave to be small and linear. They were probably saving man hours, or they had problem with direction.

 

 

Skyrim feels "empty"...of course there are a lot of things in Skyrim but you will feel repetitive. Most buildings look the same, most settlements have very similar set up...one smith workshop, one shop, one temple, one apothecary shop, one inn...Whiterun supposed to be the center of Skyrim but yet what's in Whiterun? Most settlements have nothing interesting in it

 

In Oblivion on each settlements at least we will hang out at guilds first, to sleep, to train, getting quests or whatever we do...in Skyrim when we going into any settlement what we want to do?

[HoonDing]

Oblivion towns don't feel big at all.

[Orogun01]

Oblivion towns don't feel big at all.

They're not, but the Imperial City manages to sort of feel like a city. Also, as stated by Qistina (I'm just going to start calling you Cristina) there are more things to do within cities than in Skyrim. Local chapters of Guilds, and what not. Plus, despite their lack of character and dialogue the Oblivion NPC have a schedule that actually feels sort of realistic. Rather than the Skyrim ones that are either locked into a job or wander around aimlessly asking you about the Cloud District. It took me a while to learn that guy actually had a farm, specially since he's never on it.

[BruceVC]

Guys I haven't played Skyrim yet but I refuse to be put off my impending journey into this fantasy realm by all this negativity

 

"Skyrim for President " !!!!

 

[HoonDing]

Skryim cities work well first few times you visit. It gets old quickly hearing the same canned lines everytime. Whiterun is especially bad with that Ysolda.

Edited October 1, 2014 by HoonDing

[DarthDeven]

I do agree with OP on a couple of points.

 

1.Master of Every Guild. This was a bit of a letdown, I'd have expected guilds to be mutually exclusive, instead I found myself being the Master of them all. Furthermore, the player doesn't even have to be really proficient's in this or that guild's trade, to become its master. One can easily become the Companions' harbinger as a destruction mage, or the College's head as a backstabbing thief.

 

Indeed, this was disappointing, especially considering how little effort is required to become a guild Master. Upon starting the game for the first time, I expected the "rise to power" to be somewhat slower and require dedication and effort, but found out quite to the contrary. Furthermore, there is not really much of a reward for becoming a guildmaster. No new guild-specific skills or spells, no "guild house" or something of the sort, no "monthly collectable revenue" kind of thing, no relevant pecuniary reward: becoming the guildmaster effectively determines the "end" of that guild, as far as its in-game "utility" and interesting-ness go.

 

2.Stormcloaks Rebellion. This was indeed a farce of a rebellion. Take a couple of cities, listen to a lot of phony motivational speeches, and there you go. And the moot to elect the new king doesn't even happer. Nor the Thalmor. Nor more Imperial troops. That's it. Kick the imps out, and then nobody cares anymore. In fact, this feels a bit like point #1, with the player quickly and easily becoming the leader of the organization only to be left with nothing to do with such power and title.

1)as i've said,the guilds being dumbed down for casuals isn't exciting,i've expected some kind of useful power(not the werewolf power,but like being able to command some of the companions into doing biddings for you

Dialogue branch

yes,Harbinger?

1. follow me  i need your help
2. i need you to do a mission for me>go into this cave and kill this guy,it bothered Vignar(random)and he wants him dead.

    Max of missions for week:3>NPC has done less than that value>yes,it will be done Harbinger

3. or NPC has done 3 missions>sorry harbinger,i'm busy for now.

based on how much the guy is skilled,it will have a greater chance of success.

if he accomplishes the mission,you get a gold reward from the npc that 'hired' you (Ex:Vignar) and a sum has to be given to the companion

fortunately there are the 'requirements' mods in order to be accepted into each guild you have to have high warrior skills for the companions,high stealth skills for the thieves guild,ect,too bad the storyline sucks and ends even worse

 

yeah,as a stormcloak supporter,i felt dissapointed by the conquer-fort-city-is-yours system of the rebellion

i have CWO mod installed,so it's a little better,but it's nothing compared to what bethesda's dev team had in mind

[HoonDing]

I was disappointed it was impossible to just stroll into Windhelm palace and kill Ulfric, ending the rebellion. Too much railroaded nonsense in the game (unkillable Thieves Guild is another pet peeve).

 

In New Vegas at least you can kill plot important NPCs and end entire quest chains.

[jools1980]

To be honest, Skyrim just feels like GTA, fantasy-style. The world is just beautiful, I occasionally just love riding around rather than using fat travel, maybe hunt some elk, or cause random havoc in town. But the game doesn't seem to have much of a "greater purpose", as in, a "story" to be told. The dumbed down side questlines, the meh skill system, the very weak main story/quest-line, everything feels just "corollary" to the exploration/hiking/exploring. It's like the most awesome sandbox ever made, with no friends to "play" it with.

 

Ultimately, I still do like the game, though.

[Ciralinde]

I agree with a lot of things the OP has pointed out.

 

This may or may not be related to the current topic, but there are a couple of mods I install every time I feel like playing Skyrim again, as I cannot do without anymore. Maybe there's something of interest to you?

 

• Skyrim Redone

Basically overhauls the entire skill/perk system, offering more depth and the feeling of actual expansion and character improvement. 

It's a huge mod altogether, but conveniently seperated in modules, giving you the ability to choose what you'd like to see changed.

 

• Interesting NPCs

Offers a more interesting variety of NPCs for you to recruit and discover. I highly recommend it.

 

• Frostfall

 Survive the harsh climate of Skyrim! (If you're into this kind of thing).

 

[Qistina]

 

Oblivion towns don't feel big at all.

They're not, but the Imperial City manages to sort of feel like a city. Also, as stated by Qistina (I'm just going to start calling you Cristina) there are more things to do within cities than in Skyrim. Local chapters of Guilds, and what not. Plus, despite their lack of character and dialogue the Oblivion NPC have a schedule that actually feels sort of realistic. Rather than the Skyrim ones that are either locked into a job or wander around aimlessly asking you about the Cloud District. It took me a while to learn that guy actually had a farm, specially since he's never on it.

 

 

Yes, and they throw away disposition mechanic, that is why Skyrim feels dull. In Oblivion everybody react to us depending on their disposition on us. So when an Orc meet a Breton normally they say "what do you want Breton trash?!", if disposition is low...facial expression also changed.

 

In Skyrim everybody will greet us for quests (and forced quests to be exact), in Oblivion if we are popular as a good girl/guy, bad guys don't come near, in Skyrim a thief giving a job to a random stranger who just get into the settlement

 

That's what i like about Oblivion, even though the world still dull actually (due to graphic) but that system make it alive

 

And more...in Oblivion our character move in 3rd person, the head will look around, but in Skyrim our character just stand hard..

Edited October 1, 2014 by Qistina

[TrashMan]

In Oblivion, each towns feels big, there's a lot of buildings and peoples around. When going into Imperial city there are a lot of sections (districts) and each sections are different. Whiterun is not, only have few buildings in it as the main "city", and so other "cities"

 

 

Are you kidding me?

The Imperial city is redicolously small

[TrashMan]

There's also a mod that restores the Civil War storyline and makes it much more awesome.

[DarthDeven]

 

 

Oblivion towns don't feel big at all.

They're not, but the Imperial City manages to sort of feel like a city. Also, as stated by Qistina (I'm just going to start calling you Cristina) there are more things to do within cities than in Skyrim. Local chapters of Guilds, and what not. Plus, despite their lack of character and dialogue the Oblivion NPC have a schedule that actually feels sort of realistic. Rather than the Skyrim ones that are either locked into a job or wander around aimlessly asking you about the Cloud District. It took me a while to learn that guy actually had a farm, specially since he's never on it.

 

 

Yes, and they throw away disposition mechanic, that is why Skyrim feels dull. In Oblivion everybody react to us depending on their disposition on us. So when an Orc meet a Breton normally they say "what do you want Breton trash?!", if disposition is low...facial expression also changed.

 

In Skyrim everybody will greet us for quests (and forced quests to be exact), in Oblivion if we are popular as a good girl/guy, bad guys don't come near, in Skyrim a thief giving a job to a random stranger who just get into the settlement

 

That's what i like about Oblivion, even though the world still dull actually (due to graphic) but that system make it alive

 

And more...in Oblivion our character move in 3rd person, the head will look around, but in Skyrim our character just stand hard..

 

in Oblivion there was the Fame/Infamy system that,IMO,worked well

Fame generally makes people like you more

Infamy makes NPCs with responsibility less than 30 like you more,but npcs with Responsibility more than 30 will dislike you more

 

there's no such thing in Skyrim as Fame/infamy,you get one random line from a guard if you assaulted that specific guard (If it's a fight you want,i'm ready this time)then  starts the random dialogue again.you can't roleplay as a criminal scum   hated by the guards

 

in Oblivion you had to be famous (10 fame or more) to buy a house in a City and required a long quest for them.

in Skrim you have to 'help'(fetch quests)5 people in the hold

Oblivion

if you had high infamy,the guards would be rude and aggressive to you (keep your blade sheathed murderer,or i'll put you down myself)

my major problems are npc that are bland and boring to talk,they repeat the same lines and that doesn't matter what you do.

yeah the thieves guild questline is atrocious

it may be a minor issue,but i liked seeing my character in the inventory menu equipping/removing stuiff

i consider it one of the iconic features of TES that were removed in Skyrim in favour to the casuals

[redneckdevil]

 

 

Main problem with skyrim is that there are no nakid nords full of bloodlust ready to go battle in their birthday suits and the guns they were born with.

 

Plus writing, streamlining, and the removal of alot of things as well.

You obviously don't know about mods.

Hehehe ow god i dunno wanna remember what my game file memory was like before i uninstalled it lol. Texture mods, eating mods, armor and weapon mods, requiem, dialogue fix mods, patches, quest fix mods, interesting npcs, guild modification mods, etc etc etc.

skyrim was the game i had to basically redo with mods to enjoy lol.

i have this conversation many of times and tbh if people enjoy skyrim, good for you and i mean thatbwith no sarcasm. It just doesnt do it for me.

Started with oblivion then skyrim then morrowind.

Skyrim imho is a game to roleplay inside ur head while the actual game doesnt respond to ur roleplaying whatsoever. Plus i put more on writing, pacing, culture, and being able to fail as well as being told no in my games.

so while people have the right to enjoy skyrim, i have the right to not enjoy it and continue playing and being mesmerized by morrowind and its wonder alien world, great writing and pacing, the atmosphere and culture that seeps into every pore of the game, and enjoy failing and being told no im not good enough so that when i do succeed it feels so much better and more rewarding )

[WDeranged]

I've been an obsessive Skyrim player (800 hours since release) so I've had plenty of time to polish my glittering gems of hate.

 

 

Linear Dungeons - Morrowind and Oblivion dungeons almost always had multiple routes, very often a side tunnel or hidden door in Skyrim only leads to loot.

 

No Acrobatics or Athletics - It's fair to say that these were overpowered in previous games but their removal has encouraged linear dungeon design

 

Lazy Lore - Morrowind had interestingly conflicted back stories to dig into, even Oblivion's antagonist was more fleshed out than Alduin and his Dragon Cult.

 

Boring Guilds - Morrowind's Guilds were full of character, Oblivion's had great quests but Skyrim's are too short and often lacking inspiration.

 

Intrusive Quests - The developers were so worried you'd miss their content that they force dozens and dozens of quests on you.

 

Lack of Suspense - Morrowind and even Oblivion had haunting moments that stuck with you, Skyrim is all Nord bravado.

 

Lack of Humour - Previous games had a ton of quirky characters and dark humour, at first I welcomed the more serious tone but it drags after a while.

 

Lack of Bat**** Crazy - Michael Kirkbride's psychosexual mythic ramblings were a major part of the world for me.

 

Repetitive NPCs - All games suffer this but Skyrim's constant exposition dump from passing NPCs is overkill.

 

 

I still love it though 

[Rosbjerg]

Well Bethesda at least know how to make fun games, even if you do facepalm a little too often at the characters and the "Epic" story. I forgive them completely though, because allowing their games to be this moddable means that their games just become better and better over time.

 

Also I can murder most of the annoying characters, which is a big plus.

[HoonDing]

Can't blame Skyrim on the lore, Nords are simply the most boring race.

 

The only interesting lore part is the Arcturian Heresy and it was handled heavy-handedly in the game. Songs of the Return are interesting but there are only 4 out of 56 volumes in the game --- while Kirkbride actually wrote 36 Sermons in Morrowind.

 

Dragonborn expansion is best part of Skyrim and that was Bloodmoon redux. I did like Dawnguard and that was because of Jiub and Laura Bailey.

Edited October 1, 2014 by HoonDing

[WDeranged]

Can't blame Skyrim on the lore, Nords are simply the most boring race.

 

The only interesting lore part is the Arcturian Heresy and it was handled heavy-handedly in the game. Songs of the Return are interesting but there are only 4 out of 56 volumes in the game --- while Kirkbride actually wrote 36 Sermons in Morrowind.

 

Dragonborn expansion is best part of Skyrim and that was Bloodmoon redux. I did like Dawnguard and that was because of Jiub and Laura Bailey.

 

Yeah Dragonborn is a little slice of win, loads of variety and quirkiness.  Not so crazy about Dawnguard's writing but the quests and locations are good...still can't give myself a convincing reason to join the vampires though.

 

As much as I can moan about the lack of interesting writing in Skyrim they used a ton of apocryphal works to construct the world, a dev once said Kirkbride's fingerprints are all over it.  The world of Skyrim is gloriously realised compared to the rape of Cyrodiil seen in Oblivion.