Part of the problem is people playing on lower difficulty, min/maxing and abusing the crafting system(spamming dozens of the same item to level) then gaining access to gamebreaking equipment.

This isn't Warcraft. Play the game as your character would.

Why would a character make 100 of a single item to level skill points?

My mage doesn't pick locks - how would he know that?
My assassin crafts only poisons - why would he craft anything else?

All my characters only loot things they can use - why would my mage loot a 2H sword, even if it is valuable?

Let the skills level with your character naturally as you play the game. It's designed to grow flexibly with you as you play, not as a level grind to make the most epic character then break the game by level 40.

I'm not having fun with voluntary handicap though. Yeah i can play the game naked, pure mage, with all points in health. It's difficult now, great. Bottom line if i have to ignore a substantial amount of content to not break the game it's unsatisfying.
I'm playing a pure destruction mage with nothing but a +100% regen robe and it's easy on master. Not even abusing stunlock. Not using paralyze. Nothing. It's like I'm a toddler and the game gives me the i win button, yawn.

I find the game pretty hard on the hardest setting - I'm still on my first playthrough and have tried to play 'naturally' so I haven't thought about the skills I've used I have just used them - one handed, destruction, restoration, bit of sneak, bit of light armour. I'm at level 33, I think, and at times the game has been incredibly tough, I can't help thinking that the people who are saying the game is too easy are those that have manipulated the slightly skewed enchanting, smithing and alchemy skills or they're playing on 'medium'

:foodndrink:

I think the issue is with people that don't roleplay as they progress. It's just a game, with levels and accomplishments. They play to unlock achievements, etc.

This game, and previous TES games, just aren't designed with that playstyle in mind. *shrugs*

Because an important part of such games is to look for character improvement and have fun doing that.
Having to look for ways to make your character worse instead of better as you advance in the game is not something that adds to the experience.
In Skyrim the non-combat related Perks arent even implemented in a meaningfull way.
With Pickpocketing and Speechcraft you only get more money that you have no use for (and in a way that isnt even remotely interesting), with Lockpicking you make a mini game easier that isnt even difficult in the first place.
It is like:
"Oh nice I just defeated Juzkrokon the Ancient Arch Evil of Gugropimp Falls and got his Mystic Blade Of Most Impressive Evilness...oh wait Iam already OP and its better then mine, lets throw that thing I came here for away."
"Cool I also leveled up and could get Paralyze now....oh no wait I could kill enemys with a Toothpick if I pick that one, lets just not get anything and Perk Pickpocketing because is has no use to me."

:jammasterjay:

It's the truth though, all ES have been this way if not easier. Why buy a game assuming that the difficulty is going to be harder when the past games in that franchise never even showed much of a challenge? That is plain common sence. It's on the same lines of people playing WoW expecting that there will be no grinding to get that smithing and mining level ups.

some people don't play for a challenge and roleplay the hell out of it. I'm sure anyone here will tell you, this game was not the one to buy if you were looking for some dark soul/demon soul difficulty and challenge.

Ding ding ding. This right here, seals the deal for anyone saying "Stop breaking the game". Skyrim is the equivalent of a bike that explodes if you ride it over 12 MPH. You can defend the bike maker and say "Well, these type of bikes aren't made for riding fast, if you ride it fast, it is your own fault if the bike explodes", but that is utter crap, because you aren't riding it THAT FAST. It isn't as if you are going 30 MPH or something. The game should be able to handle being played by a serious gamer type.

It shouldn't work like this. In TES, level is the consequence of progression, not the cause, and there is no logical reason why you should require a certain "level" before doing things.

What SHOULD be done, is simply a progressive reduction of what lower materials contribute to raising your skill, and easier crafts participating less.

For example, an iron dagger should give you 1/5th of a smithing point until you're 10 in smithing, then 1/10 until you're 20, then 1/20th until you're 30, then nothing.
An iron briastplate would give you respectively 1/2 point until 10, then 1/5th until 20, then 1/10th until 30, then 1/20 until 40.
And so on (of course, the numbers I give are made completely on the fly, it's just to illustrate the concept).

Too easy? I still get spanked pretty bad on Expert from a couple bandit highwayman even if I have a follower. I try to stay on master. I prefer being a sword wielding mage, somewhat strange I suppose. Its the kids these days. Rush rush rush, then cry about it being over so quick. Oh well. I will continue to enjoy the game.

Gave that a try... Holy boss fight in every room. Last night I had a lovely brawl with 15 gloom lurkers as a level 15... I'll stick to vanilla master, it's more fun lol.
While master is easy, it is about equal to me as normal for previous games. Think that is where the source of most peoples problems are. I don't mind too much that way. That's normal for TES. Just tried PISE because I misunderstood what it did. I for some reason thought it made master like normal difficulty damage and hitpoints but more mob spawns with more frequent higher level mobs. Not epic HP pool boss swarm extravaganza. They just take so long to die! Think my left finger died from clicking too much lol!

Your anology is kinda pointless because you're not tying it to any specific ISSUE. What is gamebreakingly easy? Levelling? Smithing? What playstyle(s) are you using?

Without providing any details, your opinion is pointless because there's no way to either validate it or refute it.

There are kids as young as 12 who are in some of the most prestigious colleges in the world. Physicists, scientists, mathemeticians all under legal drinking age in the US.

I'm glad the game doesn't require me to be a certain "age" to accomplish something. It's a useless restriction.

I'm honestly kind of tired of hearing how smithing is so 'easy'. It's only easy if you allow it to be, by purchasing all the ingots and using the cheapest, smallest item to level up. The game ALLOWS you to do that simply because it's a playstyle and some people WANT to do that.

If you don't want to powerlevel, don't. Mine all your ore. Make different items.

Please, please stop asking the game to restrict PLAYER knowledge from CHARACTER knowledge. This is a TRUE RPG- in which you as the player, are expected to set the rules for what your character can and cannot do, instead of the game telling you what to do. That's why people love the TES series.

another ironic point is, if the game was made more difficult, you'd hear the same amount, if not more complaints about how ridiculously hard the game was.

I don't know why people assume that anyone who wants a challenge can't be role playing. It was posted in a previous comment but I think it needs repeating. If I am role-playing a character, I want to treat that character with some respect. If he comes across a weapon that is better than his own, is he going say, "ahh, screw it, let's make this world a little more dangerous". Gimping yourself purposefully is not a good substitute here. It isn't to impress the ladies over the internet that I would like a challenge, it makes the game feel more immersive. I should be able to play a setting where I can feel challenged while roleplaying a warrior. If I want to roleplay a thief, my heightened skills in some areas should be offset by weaknesses in the other, or else the whole point of roleplaying is lost. Imagination will always be necessary, but the purpose of the game-world and its mechanics is to ease that process. If I have to continuously take myself out of the game and say, "I won't do this it will ruin my fun", that is immersion breaking.

The assumption underlying a lot of these posts is that the default way the world works should be as follows:
at any time you should be able to become overpowered by using the mechanics right in front of you. If you don't want this ability, consciously limit yourself to maintain a level of challenge.

vs

The game world should be structured that you cannot become ridiculously powerful using the normal game mechanics. Should you want to do so, you will either have to look for interesting tweaks in these mechanics, search for specific items that will give you such effects, or lower the difficulty.

TES has classically followed the first formula. However, it is fallacious to say that because it has been done in the past, it must be correct to continue into the future. Ask yourself these questions...
1. If you would like to play an overpowered character why would you want to play on a master difficulty setting? A system that doesn't allow you to exploit it easily, but with a lowered difficulty setting gives you the same result --> you are overpowered. What parts of the current system that you enjoy would be lost?
2. If you would like to be challenged as a warrior, can you do so under the current system? Everyone emphasizes the freedom to make yourself a God, but no talks about your freedom to play for a challenge. If you can't use 4-5 of the skills is in the game without overpowering yourself, is this adding to your freedom, or taking away from it?
If I play an orc warrior, it makes sense that I should smith, and that I should seek the best armour I can find. Does it make sense for me to perk speechcraft to keep my combat skill down? If the best way to role-play is to go against the game mechanics, there seems to be an issue...

TLDR: if you want to be overpowered, lowering the difficulty works wonders. If you want to be underpowered, shouldn't you be able to raise the difficulty?
consciously gimping yourself is not equivalent, and DOES NOT enhance role-playing.

You mean, an unexploitable game for people who like to exploit games?

Sounds to me that you'd be better off playing arcade games.

For those who think it's too easy:
This isn't Modern Warfare. It's about an all encompassing gaming experience wrapped around a compelling story with multiple sub-plots. Calm down, switch to decaf and enjoy the game. Read a few lore books. Furnish your Whiterun home.
Otherwise, sell your game and - as Destor says - play Dark Souls. You die a lot. You'll love it.

If the game design was obviously such that skills aren't supposed to be used together, your point is completely valid. An exploit is a way to try to circumvent otherwise solid mechanics. Do you really think this is the case here?

Yeah, you know what? It is. I've tried posting constructively in threads like these before. It's a waste of time, and I don't feel like going over the same points over and over again in thread after thread.

What I really wish is that someone would post something new for once, instead of the same topic 200 times. But alas, wishes are wind.

Or wake up and realize you're playing an RPG, not a FPS.

Wouldn't you expect to be ridiculously powerful after spending a ridiculous amount of time smithing iron daggers? Duh...

or or... play with your elbows!

You can choose to not exploit crafting. I agree You shouldn't have to but it is something you actively need to choose to do (fast travelling between towns/waiting over and over to get materials, spamming daggers, restoration potions) not something you have to go out of your way to avoid.

One mechanic is broken (the crafting) just leave it alone until a patch.

Yeah it shouldn't be like this but the game as a whole is not broken unlike vanilla morrowind/oblivion. You don't need to larp to get fun out of this game.

It's posts like these that show why we'll never get anywhere in a discussion like this.

The idea that an RPG shouldn't be challenging is absurd. The challenge is what makes the struggle personal, and what gives you a sense of achievement for doing things in the game.

Breezing through the game, saving the world, and becoming the headmaster of all your chosen guilds without even trying does nothing but prevent suspension of disbelief.

More cowbell