What do you all think about these skills in skyrim? What have you heard? You think it will add to the game? You think cooking will just be an extension of alchemy?

No, they have no skill relation and that is confirmed. Mining, Cooking, Woodcutting, possibly Fishing, these are all activities you can do but have no related skill.

My character is not a peasant. We don't have to cook or farm. That would really ruin the game i think.

If there was cooking & Farming involved it would remind me too much of The Sims,

I once played as a peasant on Oblivion. I made myself a little farm in the construction set, downloaded a mod that let me use farming equipment as weapons and hunted animals in the surrounding area. It was fun for a while.
Hopefully we can cook, but farming will probably be limited to just harvesting pre-placed plants and mining will just be opening ore veins like containers.

It might ruin it for you, but I'll bet there are hundreds or even thousands of players who would disagree with you. Like me for instance.

Yup I would like to farm, cook, etc. Not just kill everything in my way.

Yeah i know alot of people will like it. But for me, it would just remind me of Simulation games.

Ah, but that's the beauty of a game like this. You don't have to cook, mine or farm if you don't care to.

There is a screen shot of a gently flowing river. I plan on finding that spot, and if I can fish I will be fishing. The scene is nearly perfect.

Still there are over a hundred 'dungeons' and over a hundred places of interest to discover and explore, so dragging a half ton of wood back to town to be turned into arrows and weapon hafts shouldn't be an issue.

If they have fixed the economy, and loot values stay low, we might have to augment our funds by helping out in a mine for a couple of days. If nothing else it could add a different dimension to the game. Especially if there is a hardcoe mode where we need to feed ourselves, dress warmly, and drink water to survive, cooking might become very important.

all you need is to breed animals and you'll have something for everyone

I hope you can use the wood you've cut down to build/improve your house. Maybe not build a proper house, but like a little log cabin or something

Isnt that the whole point of an RPG, They should have more simulation aspects.

I will not be doing any cooking, mining or farming if I don't have to. That's just not the type of character my guy is.

It wont be added as a skill, No.
It will be like a mini game, Like hunting deers etc.
But cooking, farming, mining, woodcutting, It gives you more of a realism I think, And It would be fun, Than to do those things. (Especially when your bored, and too a low a level etc)

Has a mod in Oblivion who let me plant plants, they grow up and become standard plants, pretty nice for rare ingredients like hadera, yes the hadera will attack just like the standard one. No you can not have a farm as you has to stay away for three days for the plants to respawn so it’s better to have it in a out of way place where you also go to harvest other plants.
No matter how they do this in Skyrim I hope they change repining and plants most of all, pretty stupid if you buy a farm and have to stay away for the plants to grow up .)

Yes, and you don't have to go around killing dragons and mindlessly slaying crap because all you can do is kill like a brute.

Thoughts - A couple posts I made on other threads:

As far back as she can remember, she heard them whisper in her dreams, but, she knew not the meaning of the dragon's tongue. These dreams haunted her, and it seemed that her need to learn of what the dragons spoke had been burned into her very soul.

Cooking:

My character, Sibyl is walking from one town to another, perhaps to address a given quest.

She is following along a rushing river. The sun is a few fingers from setting, so time to set up a camp.

Using her crafting skills, a lean-to is established, and her bedroll placed inside. A small campfire is started.

Sibyl wanders to the river's edge and sees fish swimming. After catching a couple, she uses her dagger to "harvest" product, and cooks it over her campfire. As the hot embers glow, a small orange spark is spit from the burning wood. An ear of corn is placed to roast close to the embers. The smell of the smoke and the cooking food intensifies her hunger. She begins to salivate in anticiipation.

Stars begin to twinkle in the dusk.

Crickets are chirping, and an owl has started it's nightly call. The sounds of the small waves from the river relax her.

While sitting on a log, close to the fire, Sibyl savors the taste of the fish and the roasted, buttered corn. This is done while sipping the sweetness of honeywine from a horn. The warmth the drink produces inside her causes a small shiver, as it chases away a chill. Coolness is starting to penetrate the night.

It is getting darker now, and the fire is banked just a little. A few more sips of mead and the bedroll beckons her.

With her staff and dagger nearby, it is time to dream.

Will the dragons speak again this night?
Life is good, sometimes.

Crafting:

A few snowflakes landed on Sibyl's nose, and tickeled her. She looked up at the sky and knew the weather was going to get colder. As she examined the wolf tracks in the snow, she knew It was time to collect some fur and make some warm weather gear.

She returned to her campsite. The embers of the small fire were a nice warm red glow, and she warmed her bare hands. She know she needed some gloves, Glancing over at her lean-to, Sibyl evaluated the equipment available for making traps. She hoped it was enough.

As Sibyl contemplated, sipping honeywine from a horn, a glowing cinder popped from the flames, landed in the snow, and promptly cooled with a faint sizzle. A slight shift in the direction of a light breeze caused smoke to drift toward her face. Her eyes immediately watered. As she brushed her tears away, Sibyl moved out of the offending smoke and collected her traps, bow and dagger.

It was time to hunt...

I would love to "harvest" items like fur in the game and manufacture something useful, like gloves, using developing crafting skills and tools.

In most Viking homes there was a loom and linen was produced. I hope we have something like that. Skyrim crafting has a lot of potential.

100% agreed, thank god he isn't working on skyrim.

Well, cooking and mining will be in, so there's no reason wondering about it. As for farming....maybe. Idk, honestly.

I think I will enjoy using all these skills. Since my characters always excel at whatever I want to do, I will enjoy the ability to become proficient at theses side-jobs and use them to great benefit. I would also love some crafting that is based on plant and animal materials, especially dragon stuff. The possibilities for what you can do in-game are increased exponentially by the addition of these side tasks. They give you money, resources, items, and physical sustenance. What's not to like?

So much win, god damnit.

right but nobody says you have to do all of those things. Just because it is in the game does not mean you are forced at gun point to do it. What it boils down to is whether or not the game will be fun. I am most certain it will be so I see no issue.

Then don't do it. Nobody is forcing you, but for me the ability to do what others can do makes my character more believable. It makes the world itself also more believable. This is a feature I've been asking for since Morrowind.

I would like to grow some plants to make poisons with, it's too bad this probably won't happen.

I like that idea

I also like the possibility of a hardcoe mode. I did it in Fallout New Vegas and it was not difficult to continue getting food water and sleep. It actually was more fun and made it feel more like I was surviving in the wasteland rather than just being there. I would welcome that level of difficulty so long as it were an option.