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Fire Me Boy! 06-20-2009 11:58 AM

Elder Scrolls V
 
So the guys at Bethesda let it slip a few months ago that Elder Scrolls V was in the works for 2010, and a friend said he read a possible release in 2009... I'm looking for the article, but I'm friggin' STOKED about a new Elder Scrolls game coming out in the next 12-18 months!!!

I think they can learn a lot with the successes and failures of their previous landmark releases like Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 and make ESV an absolute KICK ASS game!

Hammock Parties 06-20-2009 12:00 PM

Sound like they're rushing it. Predicting failure.

Mr. Arrowhead 06-20-2009 12:01 PM

i just started playing IV about a month ago, its a kick ass game

Fire Me Boy! 06-20-2009 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claythan (Post 5851449)
Sound like they're rushing it. Predicting failure.

I doubt it. They've got different teams working on different projects. They've been working on V since they finished releasing the Shivering Isles.

There's also a pretty strong rumor this will be a launch for the next generation of Xbox. They've also publicly said they don't care about the Wii - it'll be released for Xbox, PS and PC.

Fire Me Boy! 06-20-2009 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Arrowhead (Post 5851451)
i just started playing IV about a month ago, its a kick ass game

I thought Oblivion kicked ass. My only complaint is the repetitiveness of voice actors and scenery.

Tried to play Morrowind after Oblivion and couldn't get into the action. Felt like taking a step back, which I guess it really was.

Frazod 06-20-2009 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy! (Post 5851456)
I thought Oblivion kicked ass. My only complaint is the repetitiveness of voice actors and scenery.

Tried to play Morrowind after Oblivion and couldn't get into the action. Felt like taking a step back, which I guess it really was.

For me, games like Oblivion and Fallout are great until I reach that saturation point. I think I'm there with Fallout now. I'm just tired of it. But God knows I got my money's worth out of it.

Hammock Parties 06-20-2009 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy! (Post 5851456)
I thought Oblivion kicked ass. My only complaint is the repetitiveness of voice actors and scenery.

Yeah same here.

Anyway, here's hoping. Personally I hope they use the same engine.

Fire Me Boy! 06-20-2009 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claythan (Post 5851468)
Yeah same here.

Anyway, here's hoping. Personally I hope they use the same engine.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/16360...ouldnt_do.html

Quote:

5 Things The Elders Scrolls V Shouldn't Do

Matt Peckham

Apr 22, 2009 8:29 am

What happens in Vegas stays in New Vegas, the setting of a brand new standalone Fallout 3 game announced this side of the pond (London) earlier today. It's not by Bethesda, but rather Obsidian Entertainment, whose members have been involved in some of the best computer RPGs ever (Planescape: Torment, the first two Fallout games) as well as some of the most mediocre (Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2). That's all we know at the moment, so let me change the topic slightly by speculating shamelessly.

Oblivion's been out for years now, Fallout 3's already seen two downloadable content packs with a third on the horizon, and so I'd wager Bethesda's on the verge of saying something (perhaps at E3 2009?) about their fifth The Elders Scrolls romp. That's V as in five, not "vee" as in vermicelli. Or Vicodin.

Don't think they've been working on a fifth installment for awhile now? They have. It's not just that Bethesda's Paul Oughton spilled the beans last October when he said of the company's development lineup "At the moment we've got Fallout 3 for this year and potentially there's a new Elder Scrolls title in 2010." "Potentially" means it's advanced well past a twinkle in Bethesda's eye.

The Elder Scrolls V? Or my recent trip to Scotland?

That said, I recently pulled Oblivion off the shelf for another go. You know, see how it stacks up, three years old. Hindsight's tetchy-tetchy, and lest those of you unfamiliar with my past thoughts on the game assume I'm some kind of RPG-killjoy, know that my original review for Computer Gaming World was a full five-star editor's choice cascade of superlatives.

On to the list:

1. Don't recycle your voice actors. Okay, I get that Oblivion's a Really Big Game and you probably blew two-thirds of your budget snagging Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean and Lynda Carter, but stellar as the less-well-known acting talent is here, modulating accents and vocal timbres doesn't scrub out the distinctly evil-overlord-shtick guys like Craig Sechler have going on (who does this sound like?). Given the choice between "voiceless text" and "recycled voice acting" audio? I'll take text plus my own imagination, please.

2. Don't make the world map one-third the total screen size. Let's see an honest-to-goodness full-screen map. Or at least a full-screen map option. You know, like windows in Windows? Minimize-maximize? It's bad enough that the PC version was a straight port of the console's squashed tabulation interface, but even on a TV screen with a gamepad, it was like trying to read a map looking through the slit in a medieval helmet. Give us a map that's worthy of the game world, and if you don't mind, make the zoom level continuous ala GPG's Supreme Commander. Or if that's too tall an order, at least more granular zoom levels, please.

3. Don't keep the same first-person combat engine. Lay Fallout 3's optional pause-based limb-targeting combat on us. Some of us like to plot our battles in lieu of crash-'n-smash brawling, especially seeing as scuffling takes the lion's share of game time in these games. I'm a lowly level 15 Nightblade currently, and with 39 days under my belt (game days, that is) I've slaughtered over 300 creatures, mostly by wading in and pulling the trigger mindlessly. Add a little more tactical depth than just strafe-slashing or spell-casting. Tailor the game to third-person with a first-person option (instead of the current reverse emphasis) and reboot the combat system Dynasty Warriors style. Medieval hand-to-hand in first-person's kind of bland after you've whack-block-whacked your thousandth foozle. Third-person works infinitely better if you want a truly kaleidoscopic (and thereby more gripping) combat engine.

4. Abolish quest personas garrisoned at the abyss end of random generic dungeons stocked with level-iterative hell-spawn. I'm presently hacking and slashing my way through Deranged Zombie Numbers 15 and 16 as I spelunk toward the bottom digs of a cave-maze to chat up some Mage's Guild exile who's decided — like every other cave-dwelling nutjob — that cohabitation with a bunch of brainless corpses is all de groovy. If you've seen one dungeon in Oblivion, you've seen...well, if not every last one of them, certainly the lot. If we're stuck exploring barely iterative gloomy blue-gray grottos and lairs, at least make the inhabitants' motivations plausible so we're not unearthing blithe Leave it to Beaver crackpots living la vida mundane in Dante's eighth or ninth circles.

5. Get the camera out of NPC faces. Take advantage of the medium's low-cost option to be anywhere, anytime, for more dramatic storytelling. Anyone else weary of Oblivion and Fallout 3's zoom-on-face approach during conversations? Yeah, sure, Argonians look rad enough with their mottled rainbow scales and slit-style pupils, but the head-on jam sessions coupled with the repetitious voice acting and off-the-shelf facial ticks wear out their welcome early on. Get the camera moving and grooving. Throw in some signature directorial motifs for important talking heads. Meet-and-greets with characters like Jauffre and Martin ought to stand apart from random chitchat with some grumpy Orc kvetching about Kvatch outside a tent in Anywheresville. Start with the 180 degree rule...then by all means smash it to pieces.

KCChiefsMan 06-20-2009 12:21 PM

I loved Oblivion! I will definately buy this, bethesda makes some great games IMO

Silock 06-20-2009 12:27 PM

Oblivion sucked ASS. Morrowind was much better.

They just need to combine next-gen graphics with Morrowind game mechanics.

Pants 06-20-2009 12:58 PM

What I hate about all Bethesda games is that you either reach the highest possible level half way through the game (Fallout 3) or you get all the best possible gear half way through the game (Oblivion). WTF kind of weak sauce shit is that? They need to create a whole new looting/crafting system and rework the leveling process because they're ruining their RPG's this way. Learn from Blizzard on how to make a proper looting system and from Bioware on how to level up properly.

Fire Me Boy! 06-20-2009 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metrolike (Post 5851521)
What I hate about all Bethesda games is that you either reach the highest possible level half way through the game (Fallout 3) or you get all the best possible gear half way through the game (Oblivion). WTF kind of weak sauce shit is that? They need to create a whole new looting/crafting system and rework the leveling process because they're ruining their RPG's this way. Learn from Blizzard on how to make a proper looting system and from Bioware on how to level up properly.

I read on some site there's rumor they're adding the ability to craft your own weapons and armor... that would be cool.

KCChiefsMan 06-20-2009 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metrolike (Post 5851521)
What I hate about all Bethesda games is that you either reach the highest possible level half way through the game (Fallout 3) or you get all the best possible gear half way through the game (Oblivion). WTF kind of weak sauce shit is that? They need to create a whole new looting/crafting system and rework the leveling process because they're ruining their RPG's this way. Learn from Blizzard on how to make a proper looting system and from Bioware on how to level up properly.

my main beef with the game was the leveling system and the repetiveness of some things. But I never played morrowind, I should probably go pick it up but I have too many games as it is.

Pants 06-20-2009 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy! (Post 5851523)
I read on some site there's rumor they're adding the ability to craft your own weapons and armor... that would be cool.

Yeah, I hope they improve their previous versions of it. It just kills an RPG for me when the character advancement completely stops 60% through the game.

Frazod 06-20-2009 01:06 PM

I get to the point where my character has all his skills maxed out and can kill everybody, and then I get bored. But after a couple of times through I don't want to go through the grief of starting a new character. Sort of a Catch 22.

Sucks that all the cool new games won't hit until fall. I'm definitely in a rut right now.

keg in kc 06-20-2009 02:39 PM

I hadn't heard anything about it.

Oblivion was okay, but it never dragged me in the way morrowind did. Probably didn't help that there were other games out at the time I enjoyed more.

On the gaming rut note, the one good thing about playing MMOs is that there's always new content coming out every few months. LotRO has a big update hitting Tuesday I'm looking forward to.

The bad thing about MMOs is that it kills all my other gaming. I still haven't played Fallout 3 past level 10 or so.

Frazod 06-22-2009 12:15 AM

I started playing through Witcher again. Downloaded some extra content which supposedly adds to the quality of the game, which was pretty damn cool to begin with.

Valiant 06-22-2009 02:33 AM

Haven't like them since daggerfall

ZootedGranny 06-22-2009 03:02 AM

Because they didn't show anything at E3 other than games they're publishing, I wouldn't expect Elder Scrolls 5 until late 2010 at the earliest.

It can't come soon enough (as long as they do a major overhaul to character interaction, something I was hoping they'd fix with Fallout).

Fire Me Boy! 12-28-2010 04:46 PM

Bumpity bump for Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

<iframe src="http://bit.ly/ggbtHp" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Official site now live: http://elderscrolls.com/

Buck 12-28-2010 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gif Horse (Post 5851449)
Sound like they're rushing it. Predicting failure.

LOL WUT

Also, I tried playing Oblivion for the first time after playing FO3 and I had a hard time liking it.

Fire Me Boy! 12-28-2010 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck (Post 7298821)
LOL WUT

Also, I tried playing Oblivion for the first time after playing FO3 and I had a hard time liking it.

I could see that happening. They need to do some mashup of gameplay from FO3 and Oblivion.

I couldn't get into Morrowind for the same reason. I played Oblivion first, and just couldn't enjoy the gameplay much.

Pants 12-28-2010 04:58 PM

Bethesda is Bioware's bitch.

/troll out

Hammock Parties 02-09-2011 08:04 PM

Screens be out. ****ING DRAGONS AY

http://www.joystiq.com/screenshots/t...yrim-2-8-11#/7


http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...g11024x576.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...g61024x576.jpg

Pants 02-09-2011 09:19 PM

That looks freaking filthy. Dammit.

keg in kc 02-10-2011 10:01 AM

Looks pretty, but that's no surprise. Oblivion looked pretty too. But I couldn't play it more than a few days until I was bored to death.

Buck 02-10-2011 02:32 PM

I put in Oblivion last night and played for about an hour and a half before I was bored as hell. I don't think I am finishing that game. Hopefully Skyrim isn't a cookie cutter.

keg in kc 02-10-2011 02:35 PM

I'm going to try to play through Oblivion before this comes out, but I don't like the odds. If I couldn't get through it 4 years ago...

I'm the one guy who didn't really like Fallout 3, either. I guess I just like having a good story more than I like having a big open world with a lot of the same recycled enemies.

Pants 02-10-2011 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 7422237)
I'm the one guy who didn't really like Fallout 3, either.

No, you're not. I've been pretty vocal on the Fallout 3 thread. :)

Buck 02-10-2011 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pants (Post 7422310)
No, you're not. I've been pretty vocal on the Fallout 3 thread. :)

Yeah right! Did you even play it or did you just not like it without even trying it?

Pants 02-10-2011 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck (Post 7422380)
Yeah right! Did you even play it or did you just not like it without even trying it?

Beat it and sold it. Didn't play any DLC, though, but Bethesda is Bethesda and my stance on their game design is well documented on this website.

Buck 02-10-2011 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pants (Post 7422534)
Beat it and sold it. Didn't play any DLC, though, but Bethesda is Bethesda and my stance on their game design is well documented on this website.

You are an anti-fanboy. My friend hates bethesda too.

Pants 02-10-2011 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck (Post 7422538)
You are an anti-fanboy. My friend hates bethesda too.

No, not really. I played both Oblivion and Fallout and they both had the same idiotic game design where you character reaches the progression limit half-way through the quest. Just go read the thread, lol.

Buck 02-10-2011 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pants (Post 7422543)
No, not really. I played both Oblivion and Fallout and they both had the same idiotic game-design where you character reaches the progression limit half-way through the quest. Just go read the thread, lol.

Yep. They fixed that with FO:NV though.

Pants 02-10-2011 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck (Post 7422545)
Yep. They fixed that with FO:NV though.

That's nice. Hopefully it stays that way with ES IV.

AndChiefs 02-10-2011 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck (Post 7422545)
Yep. They fixed that with FO:NV though.

I liked Oblivion but I fell asleep about 20 minutes into Fallout. It just didn't have the "it" factor to keep my attention.

keg in kc 02-24-2011 09:55 AM

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QuikSsurfer 02-24-2011 10:04 AM

Holy shit....

My body is ready

JBucc 02-24-2011 11:14 AM

That's 360 footage too. I can't imagine what the PC version will look like, especially after mods.

ZootedGranny 02-24-2011 04:47 PM

I blacked out halfway through that trailer, woke up two hours later, watched the second half and then just started swinging.

I.
AM.
READY.

Fire Me Boy! 02-24-2011 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndChiefs (Post 7422630)
I liked Oblivion but I fell asleep about 20 minutes into Fallout. It just didn't have the "it" factor to keep my attention.

That's the way my wife was. I love Fallout and Oblivion, each for completely different reasons.

Fire Me Boy! 02-24-2011 04:56 PM

I do kinda wish you could do multiplayer Oblivion or Skyrim.

DBOSHO 02-24-2011 05:54 PM

I think ill try to go find a cheap copy of oblivion and attempt to beat it this time. Oblivion was the first game i bought for my 360 in 06.

Pants 02-24-2011 05:58 PM

Man, as soon as I get home, I'm watching that video. I hope I don't pass out for 2 hours, though.

DBOSHO 02-24-2011 06:05 PM

The last thing i remember about oblivion was getting stuck in a cave trying to get a book from the dark brotherhood or whoever. They were in dark robes. I saved right before i snatched the book and i couldnt remember how to escape.

Fire Me Boy! 02-24-2011 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBOSHO (Post 7451502)
The last thing i remember about oblivion was getting stuck in a cave trying to get a book from the dark brotherhood or whoever. They were in dark robes. I saved right before i snatched the book and i couldnt remember how to escape.

Following the red arrow didn't help? The game overall is pretty dang easy. It tells you where to go.

Frazod 02-24-2011 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 7421536)
Looks pretty, but that's no surprise. Oblivion looked pretty too. But I couldn't play it more than a few days until I was bored to death.

I like these games, but I'm something of a completionist. I want to find every weapon, get every perq, max out my stats, and travel to every location. I generally find that more fun that the story itself. And I thought the main story line of Oblivion was definitely the weak link, especially since the game sucked when you had a bunch of NPCs fighting each other. For me completing the side quests was a lot more fun, especially the assassin's guild stuff.

But eventually I just hit a wall and that was it. That point came about halfway through Shivering Isles. On day I just quit and never started again.

Fallout 3 was much better, as was Fallout New Vegas, although I still haven't finished that one, either.

DBOSHO 02-24-2011 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy! (Post 7451550)
Following the red arrow didn't help? The game overall is pretty dang easy. It tells you where to go.

I dont recall seeing an arrow

Fire Me Boy! 02-24-2011 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBOSHO (Post 7451603)
I dont recall seeing an arrow

There's always an arrow or line or something on the compass. It directs you where to go to complete whatever is set as your active quest. Perhaps you didn't have an active quest at the time.

ZootedGranny 02-24-2011 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pants (Post 7451479)
Man, as soon as I get home, I'm watching that video. I hope I don't pass out for 2 hours, though.

The downside is the blackout, the upside is being imbued with the strength of titans, going into a rage and destroying all that is set before you.

I can understand one's disinterest, but I've put about 300 hours into the current generation of Elder Scrolls/Fallout series.

Hammock Parties 02-24-2011 08:07 PM

Gonna get an i5 and GTX470 just for these sweet orgasm.

Fire Me Boy! 02-24-2011 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClayWhit (Post 7451751)
Gonna get an i5 and GTX470 just for these sweet orgasm.

You should just get a Mac.

keg in kc 02-25-2011 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 7451573)
I like these games, but I'm something of a completionist. I want to find every weapon, get every perq, max out my stats, and travel to every location. I generally find that more fun that the story itself. And I thought the main story line of Oblivion was definitely the weak link, especially since the game sucked when you had a bunch of NPCs fighting each other. For me completing the side quests was a lot more fun, especially the assassin's guild stuff.

But eventually I just hit a wall and that was it. That point came about halfway through Shivering Isles. On day I just quit and never started again.

Fallout 3 was much better, as was Fallout New Vegas, although I still haven't finished that one, either.

I'm exactly the same way, although I do love story on top of my completionist OCD.

I can't tell you how many hours I spent in Morrowind/Tribunal/Bloodmoon. Hundreds I'm sure.

Oblivion just...didn't have the same appeal to me. It looked better but it felt emptier, if that makes any sense. I played for a while and then just stopped.

I played Fallout 3 more, all the way to the end of the game (I think), but I never finished that one either. Never got new Vegas. I know it's better than FO3, but I think I'm done with Bethesda, for a while at least. I'll try Oblivion sometime after I finish Dragon Age 2 (hell, The Witcher 2 is out in May, this is the year for games it looks like...), see if I like it any more now than I did in '06 and '07, and then figure out if I want to play Skyrim or not.

Knowing me I'll end up getting it. 'cause I'm weak.

Although The Old Republic may be out by then, and that will probably kill the rest of my gaming for a while.

(And there's Mass Effect 3 sometime around Christmas. Christ.)

Frazod 02-25-2011 11:43 AM

No Old Republic for me - I don't do MMOs. For the rest - can't wait. Really, really looking forward to Witcher 2.

keg in kc 02-25-2011 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 7452780)
No Old Republic for me - I don't do MMOs. For the rest - can't wait. Really, really looking forward to Witcher 2.

That's not a bad decision. They really are life killers.

Although here's a quote I just read from a developer blog released today, with some comments from TOR beta testers:
Quote:

“This is the Jedi game to end all Jedi games. If you're a gamer and you don't throw your hands up in triumph when you get your first lightsaber, you're not really alive. This game is, bar none, the best interactive Star Wars experience ever.” – VI
:evil:

Frazod 02-25-2011 11:50 AM

****, you just had to post that, didn't you? :grr:

keg in kc 02-25-2011 11:54 AM

I'm more machine now than man, twisted and evil.

Fire Me Boy! 02-25-2011 12:00 PM

Menu system overhauled
 
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/th...-overhaul.aspx

Quote:

http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-file...2D00_610x0.jpg

In a game as large as the open world RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, comprehensive menus are a necessary evil. Though they may not be pretty, players need a way to easily manage items, review skills, and map out directions to their next dungeon crawls. The menus in Oblivion functioned, but they were essentially a cumbersome medieval equivalent to Excel documents. For the sequel, Bethesda is striving for a friendlier user interface.

Rather than refine the pre-existing menu system from Oblivion or Fallout 3, Bethesda decided to toss them on the scrap heap and develop a new, streamlined interface. Searching for inspiration, the team kept coming back to Apple, and for good reason. Over the last decade the company has revolutionized how consumers interact with software and hardware moreso than any other tech outfit.

”You know in iTunes when you look at all your music you get to flip through it and look at the covers and it becomes tangible?” game director Todd Howard asks. “One of our goals was 'What if Apple made a fantasy game? How would this look?' It's very good at getting through lots of data quickly, which is always a struggle with our stuff.”

Like in Oblivion, pressing the B or circle button opens up the menu system. Instead of returning you to the last page you visited as it did in Oblivion, Bethesda now presents you with a simple compass interface that offers four options.

Pressing right takes you to the inventory. The interface is a clean cascading menu system that separates items by type. Here players can browse through weapons, armor, and other items they gather during their travel. Instead of relegating players to looking at an item’s name and stat attributes, each possession is a tangible three dimensional item with its own unique qualities. Thousands of items are fully rendered, and players can zoom in on or rotate each one. You can even get an up close view of the flowers and roots you pick for alchemy. “It becomes an interesting time sink,” Howard says. “You can look at and explore every single thing you pick up.”

Pressing left from the compass gives players access to the full list of magical items, complete with breakdowns of how the spells operate. As we mentioned in the Building Better Combat story, the world of Skyrim features over 85 spells, many of which can be used in a variety of ways.

In Oblivion, players could map eight items from their inventory onto the D-pad for easy access. Given the new two-handed approach to combat in Skyrim, Bethesda didn’t want to limit players to eight items. Instead, pressing up on the D-pad pauses the action and pulls up a favorites menu. Anything from your spell library or item inventory can be “bookmarked” to the favorites menu with the press of a button. How many items appear on that menu is up to each player. Bethesda isn’t placing a cap on the number of favorite items, so theoretically you could muck it up with every single item you own. Though you can choose how many items appear, you can’t determine the order; items and spells are listed alphabetically.

Pressing down in the compass menu pulls the camera perspective backward to reveal a huge topographical map of Skyrim. Here players can zoom around to explore the mountain peaks, valley streams, and snowy tundras that populate the northern lands. Pulling the camera as far away as possible gives you a great respect for the size of the game world. From the map view players can manage quest icons, plan their travel route, or access fast travel.

Finally, pressing up in the compass menu turns your gaze up toward the heavens. In previous games, astrology played a large role in character creation. Though Skyrim abandons the class structure in favor of a "you are what you play" philosophy, Bethesda is preserving the player’s ties to star signs.

Three prominent nebulae dominate the Skyrim heavens – the thief, the warrior, and the mage. Each of these represents one of the three master skill sets. Each nebula houses six constellations, each of which represents a skill. As in Oblivion, every player starts out with the ability to use all 18 skills – any player can use a two-handed weapon, try alchemy, or cast a destruction spell (provided you find or purchase one). As you use these skills in Skyrim, they will level up and contribute to driving your character's overall level higher.

Every time players rank up their overall level, they can choose a supplemental perk ability for one of the 18 skills. For instance, if you fight most of your battles with a mace, you may want to choose the perk that allows you to ignore armor while using the weapon. As in Fallout 3, several of the perks have their own leveling system as well, allowing you to choose them multiple times. Once you choose a perk, it lights up the corresponding star in the constellation, making it visible when looking up to the heavens while interacting in the world.

“When you glance to the sky after you’ve played the game for a while, what you’re seeing in the sky is different than what somebody else is seeing based on the constellations,” Howard says.

To read more about all of the great details we extracted from Bethesda during our cover trip, visit the Skyrim hub by clicking below.

Fire Me Boy! 02-25-2011 12:02 PM

Combat evolved
 
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/th...er-combat.aspx

Quote:

http://media1.gameinformer.com/image...lFireSword.jpg

In game development, the visual improvements, non-player character AI tweaks, and new storytelling philosophies are all for naught if the base activity the player performs the most frequently is uninteresting or unrefined. In the case of an action role-playing game like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, those activities are swinging swords, shooting arrows, or casting spells at the myriad bloodthirsty enemies rushing toward you in foreboding dungeons of Tamriel. Aware of the combat shortcomings and exploits players used in Oblivion, the developers at Bethesda Studios went back to the drawing board to forge a new direction for Skyrim.

“We wanted to make it more tactile in your hands,” game director Todd Howard says. “I think if you look at our previous stuff I sometimes equate it to fighting with chopsticks – you sit there and swing them in front of yourself.”

Bethesda’s solution is a new two-handed combat system that allows players to equip any weapon or spell to either one of their character’s free hands. This flexible platform opens up countless play styles – dual wielding, two-handed weapons, the classic sword and shield combo, ranged weapons, or even equipping two different spells. Switching between loadouts on the fly is made easier thanks to a new quick-select menu that allows you to “bookmark” all of your favorite spells, shouts, and weapons for easy access.

Taking Up The Blade

Repetition can be a game developer's worst enemy. As players move through the world slashing at enemies thousands of times, the gravity of the action dissipates to the point where it becomes as thoughtless an exercise as flipping a light switch. With Skyrim's combat system, Bethesda wants to restore the visceral nature of hand-to-hand combat. The first step? Changing the pace of the close quarters battles.

In the early stages of development, Bethesda watched fighting videos to study how people react during melee battles. The team found that most encounters featured more jostling and staggering than was present in past Elder Scrolls titles. Using the Havok Behavior animation system, the team is more accurately mimicking the imbalance prevalent in melee combat by adding staggering affects and camera shake. Don't expect button-mashing marathons where the attacker with a bigger life pool wins the war of attrition. If you're not careful on defense you may get knocked around, losing your balance and leaving yourself exposed for a damaging blow that can turn the tide of the battle. Knowing when to block, when to strike, and when to stand your ground is key to prevailing in combat.

“There's a brutality to [the combat] both in the flavor of the world, and one of you is going to die,” Howard explains. “I think you get very used the idea that enemies are all there for you to mow through, but it doesn't seem like someone's life is going to end. We're trying to get that across.”

Nothing drives this brutality home more than the introduction of special kill animations. Depending on your weapon, the enemy, and the fight conditions, your hero may execute a devastating finishing move that extinguishes enemies with a stylistic flourish. “You end up doing it a lot in the game, and there has to be an energy and a joy to it,” Howard says.

As with Oblivion, players have several options for melee combat. Your warrior can equip swords, shields, maces, axes, or two-handed weapons. Specializing in a particular weapon is the best way to go, as it gives you the opportunity to improve your attacking skills with special perks. For instance, the sword perk increases your chances of landing a critical strike, the axe perk punishes enemies with residual bleeding damage after each blow, and the mace perk ignores armor on your enemies to land more powerful strikes.

A good offense must be accompanied by a good defense. To make defending a less passive activity, Bethesda has switched to a timing based blocking system that requires players to actively raise their shields to take the brunt of the attack. If you hold down the block button, your character will attempt to execute a bash move. If you catch a bandit off guard with the bash while he's attacking, it knocks him back and exposes him to a counter or power attack. Players can block and bash with two-handed weapons as well, but it isn't as effective as the shield. Warriors who prefer the sword-and-shield approach can increase their defensive capabilities with shield perks that give them elemental protection from spells.

Bethesda also smartly changed the pace at which characters backpedal, which removes the strike-and-flee tactic frequently employed in Oblivion. In Skyrim you can't bob and weave like a medieval Muhammad Ali as you could in Oblivion. Players can still dodge attacks from slower enemies like frost trolls, but don’t expect to backpedal out of harms way against charging enemies. If you want to flee, you must turn your back to the enemy and hit the sprint button, leaving you exposed to an attack as you high tail it to safety.

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Conjuring Better Spell Casting

Keeping in line with the philosophy of making the combat more tactile, Bethesda took inspiration for its spell casting from an unlikely source in Irrational Games' BioShock. Fighting his way through the city of Rapture, Howard was impressed with how Ken Levine's team visualized the power of the plasmids in your hands. They're adopting a similar approach for Skyrim.

“Before when we had magic, it never felt to us like you were actually doing it,” Howard admits. “It was a separate button, it flew out of your fist, and you could have a shield in your hand or a two handed-weapon – you could do it with anything.”

In Oblivion spells were cast with a face button, which allowed you to equip traditional weapons for melee combat and deftly cast spells between swings. By forcing players to equip a spell with one of their hands, players must make more of a commitment to learning the arcane arts. The ability to equip two different spells on your left and right hand raises the question – can you combine more than one spell? “We're not talking about that,” Howard says with a smile. “We're not sure. We'd like to; it'd be awesome.”

Even if you can't combine spells, magicka students will have no shortage of options, with over 85 spells divided into five schools of magic – destruction, restoration, illusion, alteration, and conjuration. Longtime Elder Scrolls fans may notice that the school of mysticism is absent. That's an intentional move on Bethesda's part. “It always felt like the magical school of mysticism – isn't that redundant?” Howard says. The spells formerly housed under the domain of mysticism have been moved to other schools of magic.

One of the more alluring changes to the spellcasting in Skyrim is how you can employ spells in different ways. For instance, you could blast enemies with a flame ball from afar, hold the button down to wield the spell like a flame thrower, place a rune on the ground to create an environmental trap that spontaneously combusts when an enemy steps on it, or equip the spell with both hands to deliver high damage fireball attacks that drain your magicka reserves quickly. The shock and frost spells give players an equal amount of flexibility.

The Havok Behavior technology gives the spells more visual flair than we've seen in past Elder Scrolls games as well. If you cast a frost spell, you'll see the effects on the enemy's skin. If you're wielding the flame spell like a flame thrower, the environment will catch fire for a short while and burn anything that comes into contact with it.

More so than in Oblivion, Skyrim’s new magic system also gives players legitimate benefits to using one attacking spell over the other. Fire deals the highest amount of damage, lighting drains the enemy’s magicka, and frost drains stamina and slows down enemies physically. This gives players more incentive to use particular spells against specific enemies. Why shoot fireballs at a wizard when you can simultaneously drain his heath and magicka with a shock spell? “There’s a gaminess to it that we didn’t really have before,” Howard says.

If you come face to face with another wizard, you’ll want to keep an attacking spell in one hand and improve your defense by equipping a ward spell in the other. Suddenly, magic duels become much more interesting, as you must attack at the opportune time, use the ward as a shield when your opponent is casting spells your way, and manage your magicka level by consuming potions.

http://media1.gameinformer.com/image...intover610.jpg

Dealing Damage From The Shadows

Magicians and warriors aren’t the only play styles enjoying the benefit of combat enhancements. If you prefer to do your killing from afar with a bow and arrow or assassinating enemies from the shadows, Bethesda has some improvements in store for you as well.

Ranged weapons could be effective in Oblivion once you improved your skill level, but you had to pierce enemies with several arrows to take them down. After playing an Oblivion mod that turned the bow and arrow into a formidable weapon capable of one-hit kills, Bethesda decided to adopt that approach. It now takes a lot longer to get off a shot, but the arrows are much more powerful than before.

As in Oblivion, you can zoom to aim, and the longer you keep the bow drawn the more powerful your shot will be. Unlike Oblivion, the arrows now violently impact enemies with a satisfying thud. To keep players from coasting through the world plucking enemies from afar, Bethesda has significantly altered the arrow economy to make them a valuable but limited option. You won't be rolling into combat stacked with 50 Daedric arrows anymore. Though you don't have much defense when using the bow and arrow, if an enemy gets too close for comfort you can still execute a bash move, which knocks your foe off balance and gives you time to create distance between you and your target.

Stealth basically works the same as it did in Oblivion, but Bethesda has slightly altered what happens once enemies detect your presence. Now when NPCs think they see or heard something, they go into an alert state. Characters with a higher sneak skill will have more time to duck back around the corner or find sanctuary in the shadows. This new system eliminates the sudden attacks that sometimes caught players off guard in Oblivion.

Once you successfully sneak up behind an unsuspecting victim, you can unleash a deadly blow with the dagger, an almost useless weapon in previous Elder Scrolls games that is receiving a major boost in Skyrim. “Now when you sneak up behind guys, the dagger does something like 10x damage,” Howard says. “I don’t know if we’re going to keep that, but you feel like you should be killing the guy if you’ve gotten that close and you have a dagger.”

Though the dagger is still considered a one-handed weapon skill, the perks for the weapon are housed under the stealth banner.

The Dragonborn Prophecy Fulfilled

As the Dragonborn, players can wield the dangerous dragon shouts during battle as well. The shouts may have magical properties, like the ability to slow time or call a dragon to your aid, but they are different than magic in that every character can employ them regardless of their spell casting skills. If you want to learn more about this supplemental power, read our in-depth discussion here.

Binding all of these improvement together into a cohesive system, Bethesda's reinvigorated Elder Scrolls combat looks to be taking a large step forward.

keg in kc 02-25-2011 12:04 PM

Not as interesting as the menu or combat rework, but they relaunched their website, too, elderscrolls.com. Looks so much better than it did for either Morrowind or Oblivion.

Frazod 02-25-2011 12:04 PM

The thing about MMO is I have absolutely zero interest in interacting with other players online. I don't want to have to rely on somebody to complete a crucial quest, nor do I want somebody else to feel reliant upon me. Having a crew of NPCs that I control (like Dragon Age) is fine, but other than that, no thanks.

The only time I ever played on line was Star Wars Battlefront II, and the only thing I did was fly a fighter. I didn't do anything dickish like shoot down my own teammates, but I certainly didn't give a crap when they died. Eventually I quit playing because I got sick of the morons who would wait by the spawn points and kill you before you could get to a ship. Douchebags.

keg in kc 02-25-2011 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 7452838)
The thing about MMO is I have absolutely zero interest in interacting with other players online. I don't want to have to rely on somebody to complete a crucial quest, nor do I want somebody else to feel reliant upon me. Having a crew of NPCs that I control (like Dragon Age) is fine, but other than that, no thanks.

The only time I ever played on line was Star Wars Battlefront II, and the only thing I did was fly a fighter. I didn't do anything dickish like shoot down my own teammates, but I certainly didn't give a crap when they died. Eventually I quit playing because I got sick of the morons who would wait by the spawn points and kill you before you could get to a ship. Douchebags.

(Sorry to go off on a tanget)

You know how social I am...

I'm in a huge guild in LotRO, but I only have a handful of friends I ever really do things with. I can do larger stuff if I want to, since I'm in a big raiding guild, but I've never really been forced to do anything I didn't want. 99% of the time I don't even pay attention to the guild's chat channel.

I played that way in WoW, and Star Wars: Galaxies and even EverQuest. It's really possible to be anti-social in an MMO.

I'm not in beta, so I can't say for sure, but group size in TOR appears to be 4 players, rather than the traditional 6. And the game is supposedly being designed so that you can do each class story (we're talking 200 hours of content here x 8 classes - this is why they say it's KotOR 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) completely solo. Some of the world arcs require quests, but my guess is if you ever decide to try it, you'll discover that you can be as curmudgeonly as you like.

keg in kc 02-25-2011 12:18 PM

Back to Skyrim...

Those combat changes look really interesting. I like the idea of skillsets being dropped and the entire system being an organic level by use setup. Although it does make one wonder how it will be balanced. As in, if I'm so moved, can I work on everything and be some uberterminator sword/staff/stealth/dagger/shield/bow/spell wielding freak.

Pants 02-25-2011 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 7452863)
Back to Skyrim...

Those combat changes look really interesting. I like the idea of skillsets being dropped and the entire system being an organic level by use setup. Although it does make one wonder how it will be balanced. As in, if I'm so moved, can I work on everything and be some uberterminator sword/staff/stealth/dagger/shield/bow/spell wielding freak.

Wasn't it like that in Oblivion? Pretty sure it was. If you jumped enough times, eventually you could pretty much fly because your jumps would get so huge.

keg in kc 02-25-2011 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pants (Post 7452886)
Wasn't it like that in Oblivion? Pretty sure it was. If you jumped enough times, eventually you could pretty much fly because your jumps would get so huge.

I remember in morrowind putting my character in a corner, taping the run key down and going afk so a skill would raise.

Fire Me Boy! 02-25-2011 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 7452906)
I remember in morrowind putting my character in a corner, taping the run key down and going afk so a skill would raise.

HAHAHAAAA! I did that in Oblivion, too. I let it run all night once, trying to get to level 100.

Fire Me Boy! 02-25-2011 01:34 PM

Skyrim’s Dragon Shouts
 
I found this one really interesting.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...ostPageIndex=1

Quote:

http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-file...2D00_610x0.jpg

Many aspects of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will feel familiar to longtime fans. The exploration of a vast open world, first-person combat, and interacting systems of melee, magic, and stealth are all tent pole ideas within the franchise. However, Skyrim introduces something new into the gameplay mix: dragon shouts. This special new set of powers stand apart from the existing magic system, offering a broad range of powerful effects. The ability to attain these abilities is unique to your hero in the world, and the path to attaining them is a quest in itself within the larger tale that unfolds over the course of the game. Dragon shouts give the player the same overwhelming might that drives the resurgent dragon population, and the same source of power that launched the last line of emperors.

“It’s in the lore,” declares game director Todd Howard. “It was like the classic barbarian battle cry. I’m not sure if it showed up in a book in Daggerfall, but it’s definitely mentioned in this pocket guide to the empire that we did for Redguard. It was the idea that the Nords had these battle cries, and they would shout at their enemies.” As the team at Bethesda began to design The Elder Scrolls V, they latched onto this little piece of mythology, and the way it could tie back to the dragons – powerful creatures that had been absent from the world for thousands of years.

Quickly, elements of the fiction began to fall into place around the dragon shouts, much of which was already firmly entrenched from previous games. The dragonborn are a unique group of mortals, gifted by the gods with the same power as the dragons. To be trained in the art of the dragon shouts, also called the Voice, dragonborn individuals travel to Skyrim in order to climb a great mountain called the Throat of the World. At its peak they reach High Hrothgar, where an ancient sect of powerful Voice users named the Greybeards train them in their art.

“In the lore, Tiber Septim was the first main emperor. He could shout. His way of the Voice was unmatched,” Howard explains. “He is the original guy who walks the seven thousand steps and talks to the Greybeards. And the idea is, at that time, that they were so powerful they had to have all the villages flee for miles. This little kid is walking up this snowy mountain, and all these people are packed up and they’re walking down and away. Because they know the kid is going up to talk to these guys, and when they talk there’s going to be avalanches.”

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The ability to use the dragon language already exists in the fiction, called “Thu’um.” The concept roughly translates as “The Voice.”

Tiber Septim would use the dragon shouts to lead his troops into battle and unite Tamriel under one empire. Hundreds of years later, the Septim line has died out, and no other dragonborn have been seen for many years. That is, until the hero of Skyrim arrives on the scene. “There are other people in the world who can use the dragon shouts, but it’s very rare. It’s like arcane knowledge. It used to be done more in the past,” Howard explains. “The Greybeards know it. But your ability to absorb the dragon souls and do the shouts on the level that you can is beyond them.”

In the game, players will guide their hero to learn ever more powerful dragon shouts, and then use these arcane powers to supplement other combat and magic skills. Upon defeating a dragon, Skyrim’s hero absorbs the soul of the fallen creature, which fuels his ability to learn a new shout. Later, players can search out long lost walls covered in dragon script. Upon these walls, individual runes stand out to the hero because he or she is dragonborn. “There are these words of power, and if you learn how to say them right, they have a powerful effect,” Howard says.

Over time, players will build a vast arsenal of shouts: over 20 complete shouts in all, each with multiple words that must be gathered from different places around the world. “There are three words for each shout, and there are three levels to them. The amount of time you hold down the shout button is how many words come out,” Howard continues. “It becomes a bit of a collection mechanic – to collect all the words.”

http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-file...2D00_610x0.jpg

Bethesda games have always had a strong internal consistency. Dragonborn and the shouts they employ stand at the center of the Skyrim game experience, so there needed to be a rich background to make the system feel authentic. The answer lay in the creation of a language – the ancient tongue spoken and written by the dragons. The mammoth task of tackling such a project fell largely on senior designer Emil Pagliarulo.

“The first thing I worked on when I came to Bethesda was the Bloodmoon expansion to Morrowind,” Pagliarulo tells us. “And back then, I started really entrenching myself in all this Viking culture stuff. One of the things I listened to back then that I was able to find again recently was a reading of Beowulf in Old English. That was always my inspiration. What would an epic sound like? So I knew what I wanted it to sound like.”

But where to start? In the case of Skyrim, Pagliarulo had a distinct goal in mind. He knew there would be these scattered walls across Skyrim from which the dragonborn would learn the shouts. Here was a chance to create a whole new branch of mythology and legend for the world of Tamriel, writ large upon the ancient ruins of the land for players to discover. The team also wanted to have the language work into other elements of the game, including as a song that could be integrated into the main Elder Scrolls musical theme – the music that gamers would eventually hear in Skyrim’s teaser trailer.

“It had to rhyme in English and the dragon language. It had to tell this epic story,” Pagliarulo explains about the challenge of creating the stanzas that would populate the Skyrim theme. “But I also knew we wanted to use it for the game. It was sort of interesting, because we knew we wanted to have this language as a game device, because we have these gameplay mechanics built around it. So, you’re not developing it as an actual language. It’s much more word based or hieroglyphic based.”

Almost immediately, the challenges of creating a new language began to appear. How do you handle past, present, and future tense? Do verbs conjugate? What is the alphabet like? All of these were issues that needed to be addressed if the language was going to be useable in the game. “We started off making specific rules for the way words would work together,” Pagliarulo says. “So the way you would do ‘king’ would be the word for ‘son’ and the word for ‘leader,’ except you take off this one letter. And then we realized that it had started to collapse under its own weight. The more rules we wanted to keep track of, and the more complex it became, we knew the more complicated it would be for the designers to use, and the more mistakes we would make. So we really tried to keep it much more simple.”

The language concept that emerged abandoned tense, conjugation, and even upper and lower case letters, preferring that the context imply those ideas. For instance, in the translation of Game Informer’s back cover, the word “fundein” translates to “unfurled,” but it could mean either unfurl or unfurled, depending on where the word is used. Similarly, the word “prodah” could mean either foretell or foretold.

“Once we established the baseline, and the designers started using it, I was glad we kept it simple,” Pagliarulo says. “Because, boy, can it get out from under you. You’ll be like, ‘I need a word for “thunder,” I’ll do this.’ And you’ll realize you already have a word for that, and it was spelled differently. Then you have to go back through and fix all those instances. It’s a remarkable lesson in why the word ‘dear’ [or ‘deer’] means so many things in English.”

Not everything had to be such a tremendous challenge. Because Bethesda was designing the dragon language from scratch, they could shape the way it sounded to the vibe they wanted to express in the game. “You can choose the words for a concept that sound the best. The ones that feel more epic. The ones that roll together well,” Pagliarulo declares. “Like the word ‘dovahkiin.’ ‘Dova’ means dragon. ‘Kiin’ means child. So we did a lot of that. We played with the words. How did it all flow together?”

The sound of the dragon language when you hear it spoken or sung has a vaguely Germanic or Scandinavian sound to it. It’s a harsh but oddly beautiful sound that feels right at home in the rugged landscape of Skyrim. And you’ll hear it in plenty of places. Not only do the dragons and the Greybeards recall this long-dead language, but many other creatures in the world do as well. Included among them are the undead draugr, ancient Nord warriors who will call out in dragon language from their skeletal frames, threatening to pull you down to join them.

http://www.gameinformer.com/resized-...ordicruins.jpg

Beyond crafting the spoken language of the dragons, Pagliarulo and the rest of the developers at Bethesda needed one final important element to make their new language shine: a written alphabet.

“The idea was, how would the dragons write or scratch this language in the stone or on the ground? Everything is done with the three talons. You’ll always see combinations of one to three scratches, and sometimes the dot, which is like the dewclaw,” Todd Howard explains. With that concept in mind, someone had to make the idea into a reality: concept artist Adam Adamowicz. “One of our concept artists [Adamowicz] had the task of making a font. Make unique symbols for these letters that sound like this, using this scheme. He was literally like, ‘What?’ I think he sat there and stared at his monitor for an hour. And we came back, and he’d say, ‘I still don’t…say it again?’” Howard laughs.

Working together with Adamowicz, a final runic alphabet emerged. “It doesn’t coincide directly with the alphabet we use in English. There are 34 unique characters within the language,” Pagliarulo says. Some Roman alphabet letters don’t exist, like the letter "c". In other instances, a single runic character represents multiple Roman letters, including many double vowels like “aa” or “ei.” For ease of use in implementing the language into the game, the final font was designed to work in word processors like Microsoft Word. Many of the number keys on a traditional keyboard are co-opted within the font to include the additional dragon characters.

http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-file...2D00_610x0.jpg
Take a look at the individual runes in the written dragon language. Can you see how each character could be written by a creature with three front talons and a dewclaw? Even the shape of the letters echoes claw marks.

After months of work, the dragon language began to take shape and be implemented into the game. Even now, the designers at Bethesda continue to add new words to support the in-game existence of the dragonborn and dragon shouts. An entire internal wiki at Bethesda contains an evolving vocabulary list of words and phrases used in the game – any new uses of the dragon language have to be checked back against this list for consistency.

In the game, the final result of all the hard work is exhilarating, and even more so when you know how deep the rabbit hole goes. Every ancient wall you encounter carries an ancient legend. Every creature that cries out in dragon is saying an actual translatable thing to you. And perhaps most importantly, every dragon shout you acquire carries real meaning behind it. One power used in the game acts like a sort of invisible push of staggering power. Spoken in the game, your hero will intone the three words for the full shout: “Fus, Ro, Dah!” Translated into English, “Fus” means force, “Ro” means balance, and “Dah” means push.

After collecting more than 60 individual words that form up into over 20 complete shouts, Skyrim’s hero will be a force to be reckoned with, especially considering that these dragon-based abilities will be layered on top of his normal leveled-up abilities in combat, traditional magic, and stealth. He’ll be able to slow down time around him with one shout, or use a special whispered dragon shout to stealthily move close to an enemy in a mere instant. And while they’re cagey about the details, Bethesda says that one shout will let a player summon an actual dragon, calling him by name to fight.

The new dragon shout system, and the language that supports it prove one thing without a doubt. Bethesda is crafting one of the most intricate video game worlds ever made. Layered on top of over 15 years of previous Elder Scrolls games, the land of Tamriel has a depth of fiction you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else but in the most elaborate and well-loved fantasy novels. Many players may dive into the world of Skyrim this coming November and perceive the magic of the dragons and their shouts as a mere afterthought. You know better.

TrickyNicky 02-25-2011 01:44 PM

I hope the new game engine works well. The gamebryo one that Bethesda has used since Morrowind is due for a long, welcome retirement.

Hammock Parties 02-25-2011 08:12 PM

Quote:

“This is the Jedi game to end all Jedi games. If you're a gamer and you don't throw your hands up in triumph when you get your first lightsaber, you're not really alive. This game is, bar none, the best interactive Star Wars experience ever.” – VI
This sounds like reeruned hyperbole.

Unless it's an action game there's no way TOR can be that awesome.

Best SW game of all time remains the Jedi Knight series.

KcFanInGA 02-25-2011 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClayWhit (Post 7453647)
This sounds like reeruned hyperbole.

Unless it's an action game there's no way TOR can be that awesome.

Best SW game of all time remains the Jedi Knight series.

Not sure how to post link, but a new gameplay vid was just released for ES5 Skyrim...oh and the best Star Wars game is Knights of the Old Republic for the old school Xbox...hands down.

Hammock Parties 02-25-2011 08:39 PM

It's good for a turn-based RPG, but it's not an action game...so it can't be the best SW game.

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keg in kc 02-25-2011 08:51 PM

KotOR blows every star wars game ever made completely away.

As far as TOR goes, I haven't played it so I can't comment. But it wouldn't surprise me if it's that good. BioWare has come a long way from KotOR when it comes to making cinematic games.

Frazod 02-25-2011 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 7453703)
KotOR blows every star wars game ever made completely away.

As far as TOR goes, I haven't played it so I can't comment. But it wouldn't surprise me if it's that good. BioWare has come a long way from KotOR when it comes to making cinematic games.

This.

MMXcalibur 02-25-2011 10:14 PM

I couldn't get into Oblivion because of the first person aspect and horrible third person views. I get nauseous in first person games...

Fire Me Boy! 03-01-2011 02:42 PM

‘Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim’ Babies Will Get Every Bethesda Game For Free
 
This is just awesome.

http://gamerant.com/elder-scrolls-5-...es-dyce-69447/

Quote:

Bethesda has finally given an idea of the prize awaiting babies born on the game’s release date: a free Steam key for every game Zenimax/Bethesda has ever, and will ever release.

http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/u...Free-Games.jpg

We told you a few days ago that Bethesda had come up with a one of a kind quest for their fans in the lead-up to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The challenge was simple enough: give birth to a child on the game’s release date, name them ‘Dovahkiin’ after the protagonist, and help yourself to an “unknown reward.” Not a small thing to ask of prospective parents, but now the developer has revealed just one part of the prize, and it may have you thinking twice about adding to the family. If the child is born, and named as they have asked, then they will be blessed with a Steam key, granting them access to every Zenimax/Bethesda title. Past, Present, and Future.

Before you abandon your computer to talk your significant other into reconsidering their previous stance, we should give a little context here. If you’ve never heard of The Elder Scrolls, then you will likely read this story and laugh at its ridiculousness. If, however, you are familiar with one of the greatest RPG franchises in past and modern gaming, then you know just what a fantastic experience to expect from Skyrim.

Honestly, how many games can be generating this amount of buzz before any fan has seen a single second of gameplay footage?

There is no underestimating the die-hard Elder Scrolls fans, or just how well-known the franchise is to gamers around the world.

Let’s make one thing clear: we sincerely doubt that anyone is going to plan a pregnancy around what will amount to a few hundred dollars worth of prizes, and give their child a name that will be making grade school a daily pain. But desire isn’t the only factor that needs to be taken into account.

We should point out that it appears the publishers themselves haven’t even decided what the final reward will be for ‘Conception Quest’ completion. They obviously are aware of how much they’re asking, since the first prize they’re revealing would be a dream come true to Bethesda fans.
“If anyone is seriously considering this, we’ve got a few ideas in mind for a collection of quest rewards. How’s this for a shower gift: a Steam key that will grant you, and presumably Dovahkiin him/herself, every ZeniMax/Bethesda game — past, present and future — for life. Once your child eventually achieves cognition — and grows old enough to play intense video games — we think it will agree that this key blows away a pink pleated onesie. As for the rest of the loot, we’ll leave it as a surprise.”
You read that correctly, the lucky family will get access to every Bethesda/Zenimax title for the rest of their lives. In case you don’t recognize just how much is implied by that statement, allow us to remind you that aside from the Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3 maker, Zenimax Media are also the proud owners of id Software, makers of Quake, Doom, and the upcoming RAGE. We don’t know how much thought they’ve put into this so far, but you see our point.

If you’re thinking what we’re thinking, then they must have some big ideas to let this one slip so early. Regardless of the prize, it seems that people should be seeing this as a sweepstakes or lottery, not a marketing or cash-grab like other cases of people tattooing logos on themselves for a quick buck.

There are certainly huge fans of TES who have already named their children after characters, and are anticipating Skyrim more than any other title. Because of that, Bethesda wants to really do something special with their next hit.

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Think of it this way: somewhere out there, a fan of The Elder Scrolls is hunched over their computer monitor, taking in every single detail about Skyrim that they can find. While a small addition to their family is slowly and secretly taking shape, their thoughts are completely occupied with dreams of waiting in line for the game’s release, and calling in sick for a few weeks to lose themselves in the teased world of dragons, giants, and undead.

But on November 11, they won’t be lined up outside GameStop - they will be at the hospital. While their friends will be Facebook-ing their delight with finally having the game in their hands, and tweeting their progression through the game’s story, our fan will instead be living a life of diaper-changing and eardrum-shattering screams.

No dragons for them, just months until they will have a good night’s sleep, let alone time to play a video game. Rather than have this story end so sadly, Bethesda is willing to show that they care. Give your child a name from the game series you so dearly love to prove you’re a fan, and you’ll never have to pay a cent for one of their games ever again.

You will have paid more than enough, and gotten the privilege of celebrating the newest entry in your own epic story alongside the game’s publisher. If only other publishers would show the same level of commitment to their fans.

When you think of it that way, this kind of seems like a fantastic idea, doesn’t it? There is little chance of it happening, and even if it does it will barely cost Bethesda a penny. But it could just mean the world to one family out there, and that’s the whole point.

You might want to watch the game’s first in-game video released tomorrow before you decide, as nothing would be worse than naming your child after one of the year’s biggest disappointments.

We’ll find out if there is a lucky winner or not when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is released for the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 on November 11, 2011.

Skyy God 03-01-2011 04:12 PM

Dammit, I've missed the deadline.

Fire Me Boy! 03-17-2011 12:50 PM

http://www.oxm.co.uk/26165/interview...elder-scrolls/

Quote:

As part of our extensive coverage of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, we sat down for an exclusive chat with Game Director, Todd Howard, about the world of Elder Scrolls and how it's developed over the previous games.

Read on to find out what makes the Elder Scrolls tick, what his least favourite moment has been, and how the Elder Scrolls community play a bigger role in the game than you might be expecting.
http://www.oxm.co.uk/26155/bethesdas...olls-5-skyrim/

Quote:

Skyrim! Jewel of the north, farthest frontier of Tamriel. Land of sparkling peaks and gloomy caverns! Land of frost, and giants, and frost giants!

Skyrim! Where wolf packs roam primeval forests in search of juicy, nourishing peasants. Where men in horned helmets smash seven shades of sherbet out of each other with hunks of repurposed masonry. Skyrim! Open to all, regardless of age, race, profession or pillaging propensity, providing you can stomach the risk of being sat on by a dragon.

Sofa King 03-22-2011 10:26 AM

I was just pondering purchasing Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion.


Does anyone have that game? Is it awesome? worth 30 bucks on Amazon?

I'm looking for a good RPG game for PS3.

QuikSsurfer 03-22-2011 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sofa King (Post 7508451)
I was just pondering purchasing Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion.


Does anyone have that game? Is it awesome? worth 30 bucks on Amazon?

I'm looking for a good RPG game for PS3.

If you can find the GOTY edition - get that. Shivering Isles was really good.

Skyy God 03-22-2011 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sofa King (Post 7508451)
I was just pondering purchasing Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion.


Does anyone have that game? Is it awesome? worth 30 bucks on Amazon?

I'm looking for a good RPG game for PS3.

2nd Quickies.

Amazon has the GOTY edition for the same price. Shivering Isles is really trippy and Lewis Carroll-esque.


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