Have a feeling the reporters mix up dragon shouts and standard spells, same way as sigil stones in Oblivion did not removed enchanting but could easy be misinterpreted as so.
But if removed it would be very bad indeed as in pure mages would not work at all.

Didn't they say that we'll be able to customize our character even more then any of their previous games. I think that right there is a major step in the right direction.

There's only one constant in TES. That every game is radically different, yet somehow familiar. I much doubt Skyrim will be changing that.

Great for new games ~bad for series games. (especially since the incentive to buy a next installment is that you like the previous one)
Relic made Dawn of War, and is making Space Marine... Space Marine is a new game, and sounds great, but if it were released as Dawn of War 3, I'd be quite disappointed in it.

I think for many it comes from the want to grind their magic skill through the use of "do nothing, cost nothing" spells. Which was an exploit, plain and simple. Lots of people love the exploits present in the TES games and get up in arms the more of them get removed.

Transport in Fallout 3? fallout 3 had fast travel just as Daggerfall and Oblivion, yes it had the railroad and boat to get to new word areas but it's like calling the oblivion gates transport.
even if the boat was pretty cool.
Morrowind's transport was unique to Morrowind and personally I prefer fast travel,

just want to inform you that I wrote an email to the italian reporter who wrote that spellmaking won't be in skyrim.
I asked him what Todd exaclty said during the interview, just to clear things out.

I believe it is the "explorer" type gamer that enjoys this the most and will be most upset about it. All of the "achiever" types are adamant against the possibility of exploit. For those interested in what I'm talking about the article for the Bartle Test is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test.

This....and bethesda decides whats TES not us...it's their baby.
Yes we buy it and should have opinions,but it's always up to them....end of story.
Don't fear change,it keeps things fresh....And how are they meant to improve if they don't change things ( test the water )?

Until I play the game, I really can't see getting this worked up over the changes they have, or have not made :shrug:

I think the main source of the possible confusion concerning spellmaking, is the new concept of combining spells when a different spell is equipped in each hand.

Before this came up, Todd had talked about combining spell effects being something which was complex, and that they may or may not [be able to] implement. So you've got two spell slots, multiple effects, two distinct design considerations for a new spell combination system, a new casting-time/skill-based spell modification system, and then you add the traditional spellmaking and translated journalist-speak to the mix and no one really knows how spellcasting works at all.

@OP
I think you're perhaps putting too much emphasis on categorisation of game features, and on genres, and not enough on tangible gameplay changes. If anything, the character development aspects of Skyrim seem to've become more complex, if more elegant, than previous Elder Scrolls games. And what defines an RPG really isn't relevant to what defines an enjoyable open-world roleplaying game unless you have very specific requirements and tastes; in which case I'm surprised Morrowind, let alone Oblivion, satisfied them either.

We are allowed to have our own opinions about the games that they create, that's the sole reason they make subforums for the games. I'm simply expressing my concerns, and I'm not breaking any rules. I'm allowed to do that, and I'm pretty sure it's encouraged by Bethesda.

It will most certainly be "dumbed down". It is more profitable for them to market a game that is faced paced to grab and keep people's attention.
I am sure that it will be nothing like Morrowind. The series seems to be changing for the worse. I would say Morrowind was the pinnacle of the TES series (I know many will disagree and say Daggerfell was better, but Morrowind I found overall more enjoyable).
I will most likely buy it unless I hear reviews that say its complete rubbish. I will see what IGN says.
But I'm sure it will turn out to be a good game. Just not to Morrowind's standards.
And if they have werewolves it will automatically raise my disposition to the game :hubbahubba:

I enjoy the same liberties.

fable does have some good points, which pretty much relate dirrectly to TES's motto of "you are what you do".
like how if you use magic alot, you gain a magical appearance.

that said, fable is pretty much a brainfart with little depth.

on topic - you havnt been taking the info in the right way.

its not just combat that they have been improving.

- what about the new creation engine that can create environments that are simply stunning?

- what about the new radiant AI? this time it will (probably) work like it was vaunted to in oblivion. that sounds amazing for role playing

seriously dude, just because they have decided to buff combat doesnt mean they biffed all the other elements of TES out the window.
It seems to me like they are just trying to make a more rounded game.

TES is about a world. As far as I concern, we are just moving to a northern neighbor. Gameplay mechanics can use huge improvements and I am glad they did go far beyond my own expectations.


I am relatively new but I agree with you. But all I see are lists of countless improvements. I don't think that fits here?


I agree with you here. They should make this time because modders can't add it later seamlessly integrated to the game world as Beth did in Morrowind.


Now we don't know about attributes, they must have hidden but still there. I don't know how they can make it work otherwise. Also Spellmaking doesn't make sense to me. I want it to be based on our magicka so if you want longer duration just continue casting a heal spell? If I lean a heal spell then I should be able to channel it the way I prefer without going through menus, cast on self or target should be a real time thing. Combining magic is now a part of dual wielding which sounds nice. It is balancing. I don't know maybe it is something different. We should wait and see.

Also some NPCs just have rumors to tell and nothing else in Morrowind and Oblivion too. I am not worried about that info.


Haha, in a streamline progression, those two would be the only ones left and glorified with endless cutscenes. Main quest in TES is almost a hidden feature. Any change in that would make me worry.

Simplification does not automatically = lack of depth. See my sig. Just my opinion.

I tend to agree.
But I'm not even asking them to "make it just like Morrowind". Morrowind, IMO was the pinnacle of the series, no questions. It was an amazing sandbox RPG. Then Oblivion came out. A fun game, but not near to the scale of Morrowind.
The thing is, there are many things that I enjoyed about both recent games. Morrowind had its ups and downs, and so did Oblivion. But I like Morrowind more.
But I'm not asking for Skyrim to be a Morrowind duplicate. I'm just asking for a more deep RPG that isn't Fable, and that's what it seems to be shaping up too be. It got worse with Oblivion, and now it seems it's getting further away from an RPG and more to a Action/Adventure game. If I wanted to buy Fable 3, I'd go buy it. But I want to buy TES.

This game will be amazing.

I think it'll be a great game if you "take it for what it is", sure. But that bodes nothing for people with expectations.

My thoughts: I've seen this thread many times before. Do you really think that what you said adds anything useful to this tired old "dumbing down" vs. "they're moving the genre forward" debate? Did you even read the earlier threads on this topic to see the points people made? Or do you think that you are such an original free-thinker that nobody else has even considered the issues you are raising.

/rant

Can't call it removal if there wasn't any in Oblivion. As it is, we got solid hints that they will pay attention to making exploration worth the while - beautiful vista marked by architectural hints, so we'd go there, better random encounters, more varied dungeons, more interesting fights... It's actually an improvement from the previous game. I mean, I'm no fan of click-on-map fast travel, and even I have stop grumbling.


Not even been definitely said. I mean, it's likely, but that kinda proves how little we know about that part, how they will make up for it to make choice of race matter (they said it would), or even if perks won't even work better than that. I did mess up my levelling enough times in Morrowind to be willing to listen, at least.


Again, not definite. And even so, it's been said that we would have more varied magic, with new spells, in forms yet unseen (rune cast on the ground, magic trap...). Throw dual wielding in that, that's a fair bargain magic gets. I mean, spellmaking is fun, but kinda overpowered as it is, if you know what you're doing.


Yes, you can talk to them. You just can't question them - I suppose they say only rumours, like some Oblivion NPCs already do. Keep the unique different lines, leave out the ones they all repeat. I mean, I'd love to have unique dialogue trees for all NPCs, but I'd settle happily for not interrogating ten NPCs to get 80% identical lines, all said in the same voice. And we don't even know if those untalkative NPCs don't get to talk at some point of your game - they could very well become quest-givers in those Radiant Story "Kill my neighbour/save my daughter" quests we've heard about, for all we know.

In short, can we wait for solid info to hitch a ride on the drama-llama, please ?

yes

This. I won't pass judgment before I actually play the game.

So, you're telling me that there have been countless threads like this before? Discussing this same issue?
So...
You're telling me, I'm not alone in my way of thinking?
So...
You're telling me, that if thousands of people come to someone in charge of "something", and say, "hey, this isn't right!" that they are all in the wrong? Maybe it's time to start listening?