First of all, Skyrim sounds like it'll be my new favourite game for decades to come. I've never found a series better than TES.

However I do have some fears about Skyrim:

1) Remember climbing mountains in Oblivion? Not fun was it? When traversing mountains you were almost forced to stay on preset paths, unless you had good acrobatics. Now look at what we know of Skyrim. It'll be full of jagged, steep, mountains of great size. If Bethesda doesn't add back the fly spell, or make some new ability to 'climb' things that are too steep to walk up, then Skyrim may prove to be a very tedious game indeed.

2) Crashing!!! At one point in Oblivion (I know I'm using a lot of Oblivion references, I've played the other games, Oblivion just applies the best.), when the Great Gate to Oblivion opens and monsters are streaming out, my game very neerly crashed. With the new draw distances, graphics, and everything else going on all at once, crashing it seems may be a huge issue. Even compacting then unzipping data to keep in managable doesn't work indefinately, eventually system limits will catch up with Bethesda. Lets hope they work this out!

3) My third and final concern is that Bethesda will make a game too much for the masses. The major difference between Oblivion and other TES games, is that Oblivion was a game designed to attract all kinds of players, while the other TES games were deep, immersive, and offered the greatest fun to hard-core RPGers. I'm one of those hard-core RPGers, and found Oblivion lacking in certain areas. My concern is that, Oblivion was designed for the masses, and was the biggest hit of all TES games. Bethesda may try to maximize the profitability of Skyrim by following the lead of Oblivion.

Adressing my 3rd concern, I admit that it is possible to develop a game for both the masses and those hard-core RPGers, but it will take some time and an active effort on the part of Bethesda's designers. So we can only hope that this is one of their focuses.

What do you guys think? Are my concerns legitimate, or do you think I'm totally wrong about how the game should be, or how it will be for that matter. What concerns do you have? What do you think will be the best part of Skyrim?

The only thing I'm concerned about is whether or not they make the main quest horrible repetitive like Oblivion.

I thought about mentioning this, however I am not really concerned about it. I think this is one of the many things Bethesda learned from Oblivion, and from the looks of it Skyrim's main quest will be new and innovative with each turn.

Unless of course half of it consists of you running out to various dungeons to find dragon shout walls... that'd really svck...

I dont really think that Oblivion was made for the masses....I believe Todd (I think?) said it best. Bethesda doesnt just try to create the game that WE the gamers want, even though ultimately they do have a financial interest in the game. But he explained that they simply try to make the game THEY always wanted to play. With that said, there was nothing mainstream or wrong with Oblivion. It was an amazing entry to and incredible series. Unfortunately, there are A LOT of people who havent played this game, or even heard of TES. Personally I am one of the few of my friends who plays this series and a lot of my friends are the 'mainstream gamers' you refer to.

I have fears for Skyrim, but they are not about Skyrim being like Oblivion. Im looking forward to the mechanical upgrades the game will see after 5 years, and how the systems have been updated. Similar to Morrowind- If the game is like the previous one but has been upgraded to todays standards, I will undoubtedly love it. Thtas right, Im saying even if this game were like Obvliion, it would still be excellent.

I don't really have concerns. I loved oblivion almost as much as I loved morrowind. They can only improve on Oblivion. I don't think the game will be as good as Morrowind, but a perfect game is too much to ask. There will be some flaws in Skyrim, but I really don't care.

What I'm mostly worried about is how different the scripting language will be from Oblivion/Fallout and how easy to use their construction set will be. My main in-game concern is any problem that is engine based e.g. climbing mountains which can't be fixed by a mod easily. I still worry about whether or not my computer will run it but that's rather minor.

It will be interesting to see what they do with the mountains. Go sideways instead of up and trying to find a point to advanced was very annoying.
Perhaps they will have more paths through the mountains with stone cut steps and stuff. It will be up to the player to decide which path they choose.

Oblivion had fantastic combat mechanics but a horrible main quest and guild quests. Fingers crossed they nail it this time.

Player skill verses character skill is the other biggy. The people who excelled in Oblivion were the ones who understood the combat and levelling concepts, it had very little to do with the character themselves. I really hope they will fix that.

"Your save game has been corrupted"
and
Messed up leveling system.

My worrys are if they ruin alcermy or take it out (which I douht) if theres will still be enchanting and spell making in it and if they make the levling system like fallout because that would svck I liked having to wack someone with a sword for a few minutes to level up that skill not having to level up to do it and finally please don't change the lock picking I loved how it worked in oblivion was more challenging than fallout 3 and don't want to have to be a master lock picker to try picking a very hard lock jeez that anoyed the hell out of me in fallout

"Oh sweet! Boots of Blinding speed!"


*Beast races cannot equip Boots*

"FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!"

Biggest fear : the return of the speechcraft mini game.
Biggest hope : the new magic system is so good that spell making isn't missed.

"Hahahahaha. Where did ya get that? That's good!"

My biggest fears are or were:
1) Poor/awkward/ugly character animation (I play in third-person view).
-Put to rest by the gameplay trailer; animations look great.

2) Limited or reduced freedom and modability due to a focus on main quest structure, intrusive design philosophy, and/or Radiant Story.
-Partly put to rest by new info.

3) Reduced or pseudo- class-based character progression & combat options due to arbitrary and restrictive design (eg. no blocking w/ weapon + spell equipped).

4) Lack of consideration for the PC platform's interface & graphical capabilities.


Best things about Skyrim:
1) ... Pretty much everything else. So far, Skyrim seems like it's going to be stellar.


@OP
I think the three concerns you listed are all legitimate, but personally I don't share them, except perhaps the first.
1) Doesn't worry me too much. I'm happy for flightless or less-mobile characters to take more linear routes around obvious terrain barriers; and the advantages of a more "vertical" landscape more than make up for any difficulties. I do agree that more features which minimise or circumvent those difficulties is necessary to create the best experience.

2) I've never had many problems with crashing, although I do take the time to configure, personalise and optimise my PC and its software as much as possible. I'm confident that I won't have any (unfixable) problems running Skyrim.

3) Selfishly, a non-issue for me. A combination of my playing style, strong imagination, and mod use/modding overcomes the vast majority of the "dumbing down" and "streamlining" that many gamers seem concerned with nowadays.

I have no real fears when it comes to Skyirm. Although I'm worried about how the races are going to look. I hope they don't make the Bretons too ugly.

Are you crazy? :bonk:

First, you have to think Bethesda has a plan with making the land and for you to go over stuff. They would most likely have areas with high elevations except they are flat at top for exploring. As seen in the gameplay trailer, there is the large cliff the player almost falls off of; there is the fly-by that shows the land like I explained.

Second, if you have problems with the game crashing, then I guess your computer is not capable for running the game.

Third, Skyrim will be great and already looks hardcoe. :thumbsup:

My biggest fear? That they learned nothing from the release of Fallout:NV and limit QA testing to 2 monkeys and a typewriter.....

That they are going even more to action/combat rather than intrigue, subtlety, or brian-bending

I am most worried that the current consoles won't be able to handle Skyrim without lag, which is pretty irrational as no team would make a game that couldn't run well on the system it was designed for, but after seeing just how good it looks I can't help but worry about it.

1. Omnicense Guards
2. Abording Fan

I don't get exactly what you found so horribly repetitive in Oblivion with regards to the mq. Assuming you're talking about the gates, you only needed to close the main ones, and there were not that many. Hopefully Skyrim offers you less repitition I guess?

Not in particular order

1) Graphics over gameplay
2) Half-assed fast travel
3) Generic enemies with no fantasy elements
4) Crashes glitches and bugs
5) Not enough voice actors
6) Jeff Baker not doing the dunmer male voice

I am afraid of the rumor that the night sky will change as you level your skills and pick perks. That seems incredibly inexplicable, egocentric and immersion-breaking to me.

I hadn't read that but it sounds dumb. Would every NPC in the game see a different sky?

Did they mean the in-game night sky, or the menu night sky?

the only thing im concerned about is whether facial expressions will suit the situation remember luciens not so angry expression but his absolutly enraged voice when he found out you killed ungolim yeah thats what i mean =.= but still i hope at least once i can go to this forum and see a positive thread not just worst fears and ranting about the water in the trailer ( ITS A WATERFALL ITS SUPPOSED TO LOOK THAT WAY)