Okay, so last I read, Skyrim was a game where you decided where your character can go and what your character can do. You can roleplay how you want and play the game how you wish. There are no boundaries and no significant game-breaking ideas you cant simply ignore or not use. You can choose what you want to be optional because you are playing the game for your own personal experience and not to compete with others.

If this was a multiplayer game, yes I would be here frantic over the fact you can OP your character with crafting professions, or that one playstyle seems overpowered, but this is not a multiplayer game and I do not need to worry about falling behind other peoples "op" characters. So, if I am in a world, where I can choose how, what and where I want to experience my game, why am I going to go around breaking it? Seriously, if you have a problem with "game breaking pieces" why arent you ignoring/not using/limiting yourself? This is a sandbox game, you can play the game how you wish and you wish to purposely "break: your game, knowingly and then come here complaining about it?

I just wonder if people are aware they are playing a sandbox game. Sure if there is something you cannot control, like the compass, deathblow cinematics in questionable hits, I understand why you would be here raising alarm. The idea though is you are given this game and said, we dont care, we have given you all the options to play it how you want, go play it and you choose to point our easily avoidable flaws?

WHy should the developers fix the alchemy, enchanting and blacksmithing professions if they are completely optional?
Why are you playing a sneak character if all your criticisms seem to be you want longer combat?
Why should they take out fast travel, at last I saw ive NEVER been forced to use it? (okay except when followers get stuck)?

Like seriously, is it that the game has been created wrong or that your approach to the game is wrong. There are enough people here that I know see that. They see all these arguents about areas of the game where you can completely make a solid decision whether you want to use it or not. Yet, there are some who seem to think they HAVE TO or are FORCED TO use something in a single player, open world, non-competitive, RPG.

Anyone agree/disagree?

I am not saying every criticism on the game is wrong or shouldnt be made, the game does have criticism that is needed. I am just saying that when you can choose whether or not you can abuse it, is it the devs fault or your own fault for ruining the experience?

Just thought I'd interject here and say that, even if your followers get stuck, you can just use the wait feature, thus never needing to FT at all.

I agree that not everything has to be perfectly balanced in a single player game.

But I still think melee warriors/archers are a bit TOO op compared to magic. From a purely numerical, ease-of-play standpoint, there's no reason for anyone not to pick a warrior over a mage. Magic does less damage than weapons, and there are only a couple of magic effects in this game that can't already be duplicated in some non-magical way. If it wasn't for my undying love of always playing magic-users, and my not caring at all about what build is more powerful than another, I'd probably have played a warrior.

Ill agree that an underpowered destruction should be a main addressed concern. As a warrior, even without stamina I can still deal damage, without magicka a mage becomes a walking target. I still dont understand how NPCs put out so much damage with destruction when they follow similar stat mechanics to the player. Getting hit by a Forsworn Briarhearts Hoarfrost is like getting hit by a train without magic resists.

agree with the OP entirely. BUT that doesnt excuse bethesda from needing to tweak some of the more ludicrously over-powered elements - so that people who ARENT looking to ruin their game by deliberately finding what's broken and exploiting it, don't unintentionally run into something that spoils it for them

People can play what they WANT to play. If what you want to play is simply the strongest character you can, then you'll probably start over a few times to see which class/build is strongest (combat, magic, stealth). Wanting to play a mage over a fighter is all the "reason" a person should need with a game like this.

I agree to some degree. If you want to number crunch and make the challenge easier, you should be able to. You shouldn't break the game though. A mage with one-handed enchantments isn't hitting as hard as a warrior with the same one-handed enchantments and can't go toe to toe with some of the toughest enemies. However, on the magic side of things, once you get to that magical 100% spell reduction, someone who has spent the bare minimum of perks and still has base 100 magicka gets the same effectiveness as a pure blooded mage. While you're leveling up, being a pure mage makes some sense, but when you get to the "end-game", the system breaks. Seems easy enough for Bethesda to change some of those breaking points and making them not quite break. Having only 90% spell cost reduction compared to 100% changes little for a pure mage but prevents a warrior from spamming expert and destruction spells. It is the same sort of logic why you can't get 100% physical resistance, or supposedly why you can't get 100% magic resistance (although it sure seems like my Breton isn't taking any magic damage...)

In the Metal Gear franchise, there are certain stealth camoflauge items you can get... but they only give you 99% stealth, allowing you to be seen in circumstances that might break the game if you couldn't be seen, but making you essentially invisible in almost every other context. This same approach would benefit Skyrim - extremely powerful, but not breaking the game.

Here's the problem with this argument: in my opinion failing to balance game mechanics in a sandbox game actually reduces the play-style options available to the player. If there is a play-style I enjoy, but choose not to use it because it makes the game too easy, how is that a good thing? It's not fun to constantly try to find ways to limit yourself to make sure you're being appropriately challenged. Even in a sandbox game certain core mechanics need to be balanced. To me, making certain character paths too powerful is just as bad as making character paths that are uselessly weak...either way they are things that are to be avoided so as not to lessen the gaming experience. In fact, I'd argue that really open games like the TES series need more work on balance than most types of single-player games for that reason. What's the point in opening avenues to the player that are not viable and/or not fun/rewarding? Those are non-choices.

Before you say I "don't get" TES games or something like that...I've been playing TES games since Arena was released in 1994.


See, this is a paradox. If the idea of the game is to give you unlimited options then no approach to the game should be "wrong." :shrug:

But the core mechnaics are almost balanced with a few exceptions to the degree in which a few of the skills can be abused. You need a conscious decision to abuse the alchemy/enchanting/blacksmithing "exploits". Its not simple "I used, therefore its OP." you actually need some conception of how the TES system works in order to commit the abuse. This makes an issue like this completely optional and totally avoidable. I am not saying the game doesnt need work, I am saying that as critics on the forums, we are trying to hone in on things that really dont need criticizing. Theres probably 100 or more people who hate fast travelling and come here arguing it shouldnt be in the game? Why not? Its optional, all i have to NOT do is hit an icon.

If you want to be an op god of war, you can always use the aclhemy/blacksmithing/enchanting system and abuse it to your hearts desire, however, the base ideas behind them as independant professions are not op. Yet we also have everyone coming here pointing out how easily they can be abused?

I think the idea I am getting at is that these obvious exploits are planted in the game so that everyone can choose how they spend their time. I am not saying that the game doesnt require balance, what I am saying is that in purely optional (avoidable) situations like fast-travelling, completely avoidable circumstances shouldnt be an issue because this is a roleplay game. This is the part that I think a lot of people forget. SOme people play tis the way you play World of Warcraft or Diablo 2, expecting everything to be completely and utterly balanced, except that not everyone wants balance. Some people want to be chastised or self-aware that there are certain things they want to do in the game, others want to be the OP God o War or simply dont have the time to walk from location to location.

So whats the point about having an entire thread on how "wrong" fast travelling is or how these need fixing when their are genuine game issues that need options or resolutions to them? It seems like a waste of development time and resources to work on mundane criticisms that are totally avoidable and are actually benefits to a different playerbase.

Its not a paradox because the idea is that an unlimited game with different ways of approaching it, not limiting. The player, at all times of the game, chooses the approach to play the game. I think you are getting at the idea, which I tried to avoid, that all criticism is wrong. See I dont believe that, I think there are tweaks and balances needed to the game. Bows need less damage, Destruction needs damage buffs and a hard cap on spell cast degradation. I am just saying that in totally acoidable gripes, these shouldnt be issues for the devs to fix for the exact reason that I am saying, they are totally optional in every way.

I dont consider combat styles to be optional btw. Thats a core gaming function. Core gaming functions need to be perfected and balanced. Combat is a core gaming function, 60% (probably more) of the game is combat. Map travel is not a core gaming concept, why can I make this argument? Because you arent forced to use it like you are forced into combat at times.

Being a mage here. Just hit level 19 and I can already feel some effects of being 'underpowered' but I am not going to whine, I know what I am getting myself into and I shall preserve. Conjuration is your friend. I also found the Storm Call shout today, so BRING IT ON!