[PC/360/Ps3] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Impressions, tweaks and more!

[Hotfreak]

Sure, but skill is ultimately what decides whether you win a fight or not - In Demons Souls at least. For instance, the big guy who always kills you the first 2000 times you try and its part of the story you die? He can be beaten once you've played the game enough.

Oh, I agree with you for the most part.  But I could also tell the story of dying to the Stray Demon in Dark Sls 15 times in a row, zoning out to level up, then killing him in the first try.

Edit: Arkon, yes, it's frustrating and difficult, but also fair and intelligible -- i.e. you know why you died each time.  Anyway, this is a Skyrim thread and I keep derailing.  I apologize.  I do hope Skyrim has a little deeper combat than previous ES games.  I especially hope that they have smoothed out the kooky character development model of Oblivion -- one that rewarded you for avoiding using your main skills and leveling everything else (among other irrationalities).

[Razgon]

Sure, but skill is ultimately what decides whether you win a fight or not - In Demons Souls at least. For instance, the big guy who always kills you the first 2000 times you try and its part of the story you die? He can be beaten once you've played the game enough.

Wait, it is part of the game that no matter what you do, you have to die 2000 times before you can win?  That sounds ridiculously frustrating and not fun.  I will be rather pleased then if Skyrim is nothing at all like Demon Souls/Dark Souls.

Sorry, I'm not explaning myself very well, and apologies for the complete derailing. Its a story plot that you die,since the enemy is insanely strong, BUT it is actually possible to beat him, but only if you have mastered the game.

Anyways, I think the point is, that people would like combat that is different from standing still or backpedalling whille firing arrows.

[Arclight]

How many ways are there to kill something? We just might be coming to the end of new ways to bring things down. 

[EngineNo9]

So I'm looking forward to this game called Skyrim...maybe we could discuss that game here too. 

[CeeKay]

I'm looking forward to it so much I am taking a paid vacation day on the 11th.

[PR_GMR]

Im looking forward to it too. You know what Im digging about this game. It's how grimy it looks. I know that sounds funny, but this looks like the most grimiest medieval fantasy RPG ever. Grimy caves. Grimy dungeons. Grimy cities. I feel dirty and covered in 5 days soot just looking at screenshots.  

[TK-421]

I feel dirty and covered in 5 days sooth just looking at screenshots.

Covered in truth?

[PR_GMR]

I feel dirty and covered in 5 days sooth just looking at screenshots.

Covered in truth?

Oops, I meant 'soot'.

[ericb]

I lucked out since it appears I'm off the 11th anyway (federal holiday)   Now to find a good price between now and then.

[Destructor]

I'm looking forward to it so much I am taking a paid vacation day on the 11th.

I'm taking a week off starting the 13th. Yeah, that Friday and Saturday are going to bug the hell out of me (as I work both days), but a week off after will help that.

[Sarkus]

I'm off (by chance) on the 11th as well. 

[MonkeyFinger]

Hey, if it's a Federal holiday then (technically) I'll be off as well. Woo-hoo!

[Isgrimnur]

No better way to celebrate Veteran's/Armistice Day than with fantasy roleplaying and movies about overthrowing the gods, J Edgar Hoover, an Adam Sandler movie where he gets double the screen time, and a horror movie set in Spain.   

[CeeKay]

No better way to celebrate Veteran's/Armistice Day than with fantasy roleplaying and movies about overthrowing the gods, J Edgar Hoover, an Adam Sandler movie where he gets double the screen time, and a horror movie set in Spain.   

I love how the poster for Into the Abyss shows someone stuffing something down the back of their pants.

[Isgrimnur]

He's handcuffed and in a onesie.  No idea if it they're footied or not. 

[CeeKay]

Ah.  They should have stuck with the smaller image, makes the title more humorous.

[PR_GMR]

I'm off on the 11th as well!! I'll be galivanting thru the grimy lands of Skyrim. I may even be grimy myself and not take a shower that day. 

[Purge]

He's handcuffed and in a onesie.  No idea if it they're footied or not. 

... and he's a Doctor!

[Isgrimnur]

Took me a minute.  Not quite.  That's "Death Row".

[Purge]

It says

D
R
.

(you just can't see the dot on account of the pants in the way. )

[CeeKay]

Todd Howard interview: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/10/30/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-todd-howard-interview/

PC Gamer: We’ve heard about the Radiant Story system ensuring a kidnap victim is someone you’ve already met. Can you give any other examples of stuff you’ve seen it do, maybe stuff that surprised you?

Todd Howard: Let’s see… something that was good lately – but this was a bug – lately we realized that chickens were reporting crimes. I found that very funny. That was just last week: “Why are we getting caught?” “Oh, the chickens are reporting the crimes!”

on dragons:

PC Gamer: When you’re not doing the main quest, how common is it for you to run into a dragon?

Todd Howard: You have to do a little bit of the main quest – just the initial stuff – for the dragons to really start appearing, because it sits in with the story. After that point, the more of the main quest you do, the more dragons you’ll run into. But it’s hard to quantify it. They appear every once in a while. Not at a rate that is annoying… it still feels special. It’s hard to know how people will play the game and it’s a little bit random.

hopefully they don't get as bad as Oblivion gates-  those suckers were popping up so much it felt like the Daedras should have just been able to take over.

[TiLT]

on dragons:

PC Gamer: When you’re not doing the main quest, how common is it for you to run into a dragon?

Todd Howard: You have to do a little bit of the main quest – just the initial stuff – for the dragons to really start appearing, because it sits in with the story. After that point, the more of the main quest you do, the more dragons you’ll run into. But it’s hard to quantify it. They appear every once in a while. Not at a rate that is annoying… it still feels special. It’s hard to know how people will play the game and it’s a little bit random.

hopefully they don't get as bad as Oblivion gates-  those suckers were popping up so much it felt like the Daedras should have just been able to take over.

It's official: Dragons are the new cliff racers.

[hepcat]

Then I would guess they'll be modded out just as quickly as they were in Morrowind.   

That's the great thing about the Elder Scrolls games.  Don't like something?  Give it about a week and if others agree, there will be a mod removing it.  Same for stuff that should be in the game.

[rittchard]

Then I would guess they'll be modded out just as quickly as they were in Morrowind.   

That's the great thing about the Elder Scrolls games.  Don't like something?  Give it about a week and if others agree, there will be a mod removing it.  Same for stuff that should be in the game.

Wait til George Lucas gets his hands on it!  10,000 more Ewoks for Skyrim!!

[CeeKay]

review copies have been going out, but it's officially gone gold.  c'mon Friday!

[Chordian]

Although it looks damn cool, I'm going to wait a while for patches. Fool me once...

[Sarkus]

Although it looks damn cool, I'm going to wait a while for patches. Fool me once...

I'm not waiting.  I've purchased the last three Bethesda RPG's at launch and had no significant problems with any of them. 

[jersoc]

Although it looks damn cool, I'm going to wait a while for patches. Fool me once...

I'm not waiting.  I've purchased the last three Bethesda RPG's at launch and had no significant problems with any of them. 

It's obsidian you need to avoid imo.

Are there any deals? I can't find poop. This might be the first game I pay full price for in years.

Also, is steam unlocking at 2am? Seems that way, but they sometimes change to 2pm.

[Sarkus]

Although it looks damn cool, I'm going to wait a while for patches. Fool me once...

I'm not waiting.  I've purchased the last three Bethesda RPG's at launch and had no significant problems with any of them. 

It's obsidian you need to avoid imo.

Are there any deals? I can't find poop. This might be the first game I pay full price for in years.

Also, is steam unlocking at 2am? Seems that way, but they sometimes change to 2pm.

According to the most recent info from Pete Hines, they are trying for a midnight EST/9PM PST Steam unlock.  They did it for Rage, so it will probably happen for Skyrim as well.

[Wargus]

Although it looks damn cool, I'm going to wait a while for patches. Fool me once...

I'll wait on patches & mods.  I'm not sure what their deal is, but it always feels like they know they don't have to finish things properly because modders will do it for them.  Take character models; they been making these games for how long now and they have yet to make a decent body or face model. 

[EddieA]

Are there any deals? I can't find poop. This might be the first game I pay full price for in years.

Also, is steam unlocking at 2am? Seems that way, but they sometimes change to 2pm.

Direct2Drive has the game at 10% off for preordering, or $53.95.  However, depending on where you live, D2D might charge tax, which would negate most of the discount.  You can also sign up for IGN Prime which takes 15% off, bringing it down to $45.86.  At one time, IGN Prime offered a free trial, but I can't find any working links to that offer.  It's normally $6.95/month, so you'd still save $1 and the discount is good on all D2D games for the whole month.

As for unlocking, Bethesda tweeted that it would be available at midnight in each time zone, but my Steam clock is counting down to 2am on Friday as the unlock time.

[CeeKay]

As for unlocking, Bethesda tweeted that it would be available at midnight in each time zone, but my Steam clock is counting down to 2am on Friday as the unlock time.

yeah, mine is saying 1am.  of course things can change.

[Destructor]

Although it looks damn cool, I'm going to wait a while for patches. Fool me once...

I'll wait on patches & mods.  I'm not sure what their deal is, but it always feels like they know they don't have to finish things properly because modders will do it for them.  Take character models; they been making these games for how long now and they have yet to make a decent body or face model. 

Have you looked at the current body and face models? They're DRASTICALLY improved over Oblivion.

And Bethesda's games have always been solid at launch. And if any bugs come up, the modding community (on the PC version) will fix them very quickly. And Bethesda has been traditionally fast as well.

[Vidiot]

Are there any deals? I can't find poop. This might be the first game I pay full price for in years.

Also, is steam unlocking at 2am? Seems that way, but they sometimes change to 2pm.

Direct2Drive has the game at 10% off for preordering, or $53.95.  However, depending on where you live, D2D might charge tax, which would negate most of the discount.  You can also sign up for IGN Prime which takes 15% off, bringing it down to $45.86.  At one time, IGN Prime offered a free trial, but I can't find any working links to that offer.  It's normally $6.95/month, so you'd still save $1 and the discount is good on all D2D games for the whole month.

As for unlocking, Bethesda tweeted that it would be available at midnight in each time zone, but my Steam clock is counting down to 2am on Friday as the unlock time.

Thanks for the tip!  I will need to remember that 15% off in the future for Steamworks games.

[jersoc]

6 bucks, not worth it over steam. Guess i'll just preorder it there.

Hope it does unlock at 12am EST, then i'll have it unlocked when I get home from work.

[rshetts2]

Is it the 11th yet?  Im anxious to try out my new GTX 590 on Skyrim.  I picked up Crysis 2 when it was on sale and this card doesnt even blink at that.  I even played some free WoW just to see and as expected it was prettier but no more interesting than before.  I need me some fresh gaming and Skyrim is already on pre order,  so get here already before I succumb to the LOTR War in the North forum effects!

[EddieA]

From a post at NeoGAF -

23 hours in, I'm level 13 and am starting to explore more of the world now. I've only just reached another large city after Whiterun (the first city you go to), simply because there's so much damn stuff to do, and not just in terms of the abundance of quests you receive. Spent way too much time collecting ingredients, hunting animals, crafting items to make armour and weapons, cooking food, making potions, chopping wood, mining ore, etc.

 

It's going to be a long week of waiting......

[Caine]

can't wait, can't wait.

going to go in on the 360 version for now, but i anticipate a double dip once the modding community has gone whole hog on it.

[hepcat]

6 bucks, not worth it over steam. Guess i'll just preorder it there.

Hope it does unlock at 12am EST, then i'll have it unlocked when I get home from work.

If I'm not mistaken, no matter where you buy it, it uses Steam.

[PR_GMR]

Preorder placed at Steam! Also here hoping that it unlocks at 12 midnight on Thursday night. It'll download overnight and I'll be able to play it with a cup of coffee on my Friday holiday morning.