But they have confirmed crafting and alchemy. Unfortunately all the reviewers did essentially the same thing and pick up an axe and start hitting bandits and wolves. None looked into jobs, crafting, spell making, or into any large guilds. Out of the large number o previews this week with unprecedented access, very little info was released other how great the game is.

But if it feels Crammed, that is a problem to. It strains credulity for one thing.

120 dungeons spread out over a 24 or 32 square mile radius just seems to make a lot more sense than the same number of dungeons spread over 16 square mile radius.

You shouldn't bump into a different building with every twenty paces.

A wilderness like Skyrim should be well inhabited, but if it feels PACKED with too many things compressed into a very small space like sardines in a can, it can make the world feel much smaller and less exploratively wondrous.

1.The merged curias/greaves was mainly taken out of Skyrim because many armor in the game doesn't seem right as just curias/greaves. It also has its ups, too (more types of armor, able to fit more npcs at 1 time and less space)
2.Duration type spells:confirmed. I personally think detect life should be one of the new magic type things. Same with light spells: if you're not a mage then use a torch. Seems fair to me. As for others, no one really knows so i wouldn't say the magic system is ruined just yet.
3.Skyrim is smaller than Cyrodill. It wouldn't make since to make it bigger than oblivion.

Hope i eased your worring a little bit. B)

I think bringing back the enchantment skill is a good sign that magic will be more robust compared to Oblivion. I know Todd said he wanted to avoid "spreadsheety" things, but it's possible they found a way to add spell creation without it having tons of numbers. Don't be so pessimistic lol, there's hope yet! :icecream:

lawl. These threads be erewhere. I hope some day us forum goers can not only receive inner peace and reconciliation like this gent (or gal?) but also just not make entire threads devoted to it.

:brokencomputer:

I may be less optimistic, but still optimistic... none-the-less.

I'm still hoping there are ways to boost your running speed and jumping height, even if momentarily (bring back the jump augmenting spell effect from Morrowind?).
Also still hoping for spell creation or at least stronger versions of each spell effect/ type. And the ability to delete outdated spells from your spellbook.

What has impacted my optimism. At first I saw a map with 9 towns. Now I here there are only going to be 5? Was the map of 9 towns fan made & wishful thinking on our part?
Vsions admitting to the fact they don't have time to implement digigrade legs for beast folk. I don't want to start thinking of what else they ran out of time for.
They better at least a have a complete & polished final product with no holes left behind, like unlike Oblivion did.

Thankfully, I'm hoping these new professions and reputation system will add a lot to the game.

I'm also curious as to what drove the 11.11.11 deadline. Was it an ambitious goal the devs set for themselves or did too many rabid fans push for, "I want a new TES, NAAAOOOO!!!".

As a huge fan of Spellmaking in Morrowind (I never got a chance to use it in Oblivion because, to this point, I've never had a character that has advanced that far through the Mage's Guild), I'm not too concerned about Spellmaking not being in Skyrim. Perhaps it's because it was never a part of my gameplay in Oblivion for the past 5 years, and perhaps it's because we can equip 2 spells and combine their effects anyways, so it's essentially the same deal. I believe I've heard spells even combine if you cast them together, no?

Less armor slots is disappointing, but not game breaking. Like some people have said, getting different armor sets to look good together was difficult anyways. I was able to get a few mix and match here or there that looked decent together, and looked decent for my character, but it's not game breaking. So what is it? Greaves are combined with the curaiss, and boots and helms are still separate? Eh, not a biggie.

The issue that I am most concerned about is the possibility of the spellcasting. I am concerned about the possibility of needing to keep one hand occupied to keep a spell effect in play. If I need to keep a hand occupied in battle to maintain a Sheild effect, or a Summon effect, or countless other spells and buffs that are used in the aiding of combat, it's going to ruin magical gameplay for me. However, the only evidence of that (unless there's been a confirmation between the time I left for work, and now when I just got in?) is the constant cast of Detect Life in the QuakeCon video, and even in that instance, we don't have full knowledge of what capabilities the spell had. We do have visual confirmation of set duration spells (Bound Battle Axe for 300 seconds), so there is precedent for them in game, and I have a hard time believing Bethesda would make the magicka system so clumsy and cumbersome. Everything that I've seen about the magic system to this point looks absolutely amazing. I'm really hoping this is just something that is being taken out of context, and blown out of proportion. I imagine that to be the case, but I must admit, I am going to be incredibly disappointed in this game if I am wrong about it.

I may be a bit late to the party, and I didn't have time to read EVERY post, but so far I've heard armour is one piece and I've heard its not. Since I'm not much of a hardcoe buffed out magic user I don't really care too much about spells. Also, Todd said 'roughly the same size as OB, but with more content' well, something like that, so that's what really counts right? More content? Isn't that why people want a bigger map? MORE CONTENT. Significantly more, I've heard.

I always found this "one-piece armor" thing a non issue, I just don't see why breaking the armor to millions of pieces is so much better.
More customization, I guess, but if i would decide to go shirtless, that always comes in the price of lesser AC, and possibly my demise.
Some games have less others have more, for me the overall number of equipment matters a bit more...

As for spells you fail to see the real strenghts of it. A lot of people just stops at the fact that it looks better and sometimes just leaves remarks how it's "flashy with no substance". Thing is, this way spells are more unique, no two spells are the same.
This problem you're having with only two effects would only work if all spells would work that way. They don't, that's the beauty of this system, not every spell have to follow the same rule. There are spells that would work better if they would be like an on/off switch, spells like breathing underwater, shield, life-detect, they will probably work in a way that you have to cast them continuously. But there are many spells that doesn't work that way, conjuration spells, the light spell and there's supposed to be an "ironclad" spell for alteration as well...

As for the size... did you find Oblivion small or something? I would think everything will be more detailed, like in Morrowind but at the size of Oblivion. I would say, that's pretty big.
Having big empty plains, unless you have some sort of fast traveling vehicle or something seems like a waste...

Lol, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyZDZCGQJf8

I hope so as well. :thumbsup: At this point, I wish I could just get my hands on a controler and fiddle around for an hour. So much could be put to rest if a well informed forum member got to play the demo.

Since this is an enthusiasm thread, and I hate to make another one, I'll just say here that I am extremely optimistic about this game.

No, I haven't played Arena, and no, I haven't played Daggerfall, so I'm not one of the long time vets that can talk about the great old days. My first Elder Scrolls experience was Morrowind on the PC when it released, and I have to say, as far as I'm concerned, it's the greatest game I've ever played. It finally gave me what I wanted in a video game RPG - I could create my character, in my own vision, put him in a completely open world, and have him experience that world in whatever way I wanted to. I could join whatever factions I wanted, I could be good or bad as I wanted, I could do whatever quests I wanted, however I wanted, in whatever order I wanted. It was a truly amazing game. Sure, I went and did the main quest, but the beauty of the game was that the main quest was secondary to experiencing a wide open world and doing what I wanted to do. Sure, there were some things I'd have liked to have seen in the game - crafting, dual wielding - and this being my first time to Elder Scrolls, there were some things that caught me off guard that I wasn't a huge fan of, in comparison to my previous RPG endeavors, such as Summon spells that were timer based, but hey, one game can't have everything. And I thought that everything it did have was absolutely amazing.

Then came Oblivion. I hyped it, because it was the sequel to my favorite game ever. There was lots of new [censored] they were doing that sounded awesome. In the end, I don't think the game lived up to the overall magic of Morrowind, but I still felt like it was an amazing game. To this day, I still don't understand all the ill will towards it. Sure, it doesn't have the same level of creative options as Morrowind - there are less guilds, there are less skills - but it still hits all the same notes as Morrowind, being a completely open world where I can create a character to my vision and have him experience that world in whatever way I see fit. I still see more depth and more content than pretty much anything else on the market, so I have a hard time calling it "dumbed down", even if it doesn't have the same level of depth as Morrowind. Okay, it's simpler than the deepest game that I've ever played (at least deepest game in my opinion), but it's deeper than anything else out there. Hard to call it dumbed down. I'm about 3 characters in on Oblivion - each time I've tried to do the main quest with a "main" character, I'd end up having computer issues and losing all my progress - but now I am over 60 hours deep into my 3rd character, this time on X-Box 360, looking to finally complete the main quest. 60+ hours for a game from me is not a feat that comes commonly. Only a Bethesda style game, like Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, or soon to be Skyrim, can get that type of game time from me.

Then I heard about Fallout 3. Didn't know what to expect, had never heard of the Fallout series before, and it was a new IP, so I didn't know what to expect from it. Found out it was essentially Oblivion-with-guns, and it turned out to again, be one of the greatest games I've ever played. It hit certain notes better than Oblivion, and didn't hit others as well, but overall was of the same quality of game as Morrowind and Oblivion. As far as I'm concerned, Bethesda has developed an incredible reputation in my eyes. The big 3 of Morrowind, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 are all, in my book, on an entirely different level of game than anything else that's out there. My "favorites of all time" list basically has the Bethesda games at the top, and then everything else.

Now looking at Skyrim, there's some things I don't like. Some things that I am worried about. But for the most part, everything that I have seen seems incredible. Sure, they took some skills away, and that svcks. From a gameplay perspective, I won't miss skills like Athletics and Acrobatics, because I took a vow ever since I first popped in Morrowind that I would never create a character with those skills. I simply have no desire to level up running and jumping. Other people do, however, so it svcks they are gone, but I personally won't miss them. It also seems like, given their new character leveling system, that Athletics and Acrobatics wouldn't fit anyways, since you simply level up as you do, certain people may not want their level up focus going to Athletics and Acrobatics, but those skills would level uncontrollably on their own, as they do in Morrowind and Oblivion, because simply running, or jumping over a ledge, will go towards leveling up those skills, and in Skyrim, your entire character. It seems like those skills simply didn't fit with their leveling system. But they did bring back skills like Enchant, which to me is huge. It was one of my favorite skills in Morrowind, and was disappointed to see it gone in Oblivion. While losing Blade and Blunt svcks, the same number of weapon skills still exist in 1-handed and 2-handed, and their current system also allows for dual-wielding, which makes me happy. Incredibly happy. Armorer seems to be upgraded to Smithing, which suggests that a level of custom armor and weapons making will be in the game. If so, chalk up another skill I plan to look into with my character. And while 18 is obviously less than 21 (Oblivion), another one of those lost skills (Mysticism) still exists, just in different schools now. So the content is still there. Skill wise, all we really lost was Athletics and Acrobatics.

I'm concerned about the possibility of having to continuously cast duration spells, but I honestly don't think that's how it's going to play out. That aside, everything that I have seen and read for Skyrim seems amazing. The inclusion of dual wield, re-addition of Enchanting, possibilities of Smithing, radiant AI plus radiant story all sound like exceptional character content. The QuakeCon gameplay footage that I saw was absolutely amazing, and gameplay wise, blows Morrowind and Oblivion out of the water (that is assuming that duration spells don't require a hand devoted to keeping the spell cast). If there is one thing missing from Morrowind and Oblivion, it's an adrenaline rush of combat, and it seems like Skyrim is going to provide that. The dual wield system of weapons, magic, and shields looks like it's just going to be incredible, and I can't wait.

All in all, I don't think it's going to top Morrowind. There was just a level of magic that came from my time in Morrowind, and I still re-visit the game on occasion. However, with everything I have seen, I feel extremely confident saying that Skyrim has already placed itself in my "Bethesda" tier of games, sitting in a group alongside Morrowind, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 as the greatest games I have ever played. I don't think it will top Morrowind, but I do expect it to top Oblivion and Fallout 3. The QuakeCon footage I saw was the final straw I needed. I believe this game is gonna be incredible.

The only thing I have to say to this is, I feel that Shield spells would be horrible for a constant cast spell. The point of a Shield spell is to buff you to go into combat. If you have to constantly make sure that effect is on, while you go into combat, as well as sacrificing combat capability because you have to devote a hand to it, that'd be horrible. I certainly would never use a Shield spell.

That would be much better. There was a reporter that overhead another reproter asking Todd why hide armour was nor hiding the character's armour. Has this preorter ever played a RPG before. How did they become a games reporter? Nearly every RPG with medieval tones has hide armour.

Then most of the review gets focused on killing everything and how awesome the flame spell is.

That's why I mentioned the Ironclad spell or whatever it is called (you can hear it in on of the dev videos about sounds...)

I'm sure it will work like a stoneskin spell adding more armor for a duration, while the shield spell would be a more active spell defending you only when casted. It would be the magic version of the... uh... well, the shield.

Yup.

Oh Noes, now Mages are level with Warriors and Thieves >.>

Nonsense.
Its about going from a game that lets you do what you want, to a game where youre boxed in by how the developers think you should play. Its about the difference between RPG and FPS.

Yeah, curse Baldur's Gate and their total lack of RPG-ness!

All of their spells are set, you cannot change them.

And there are the classes, making a clear path about your character development.
Wait a minute, isn't classes too RPG elements? oo:

I know, but there's so much LAmenting becuase th eMage is getting "nerfed" but the mage was mega-overpowered in Oblivion, so nerfing him makes sense. Spelll Creation is the only legitmate complaint in the magic department.

A TES RPG, my dear, A TES RPG.

I have to respectfully disagree. The idea of having to activly use a shield spell is tantalizing. I love alteration, and I like that it'll be treated less like a smart missle that one fires and forgets, and more personal in that it requires you to commit to it.

But like I said before, it's likely we'll get two types of shield spells. One that requires a lot of magicka and shields one a lower percentage, but can be cast and then forgotten while protecting the entire body and last for a durration of time - and another which requires to be constantly cast and only protects from one direction, but requires less magicka to cast and guards a higher amount of the damage.

You have certainly conquered the art of whining about small details.

Magic is completely different in this game. Maybe spell making doesn't make sense. So I'm going to trust that Bethesda knows what they're doing instead of listening to the inane ramblings of people who have never played this game or have any idea of how it works. Remember, assuming makes an ass out of you.

Spell making was never cornerstone of TES series. Open world role playing in a persistent world is the cornerstone of it. That's like claiming that spears or acrobatics are the cornerstone of the series. You are out of your mind.

That doesn't mean anything...

they are different games and both have unique flavours. If speel creation is a staple, then it should be left in. I only played from Morrowind so I dont know about the other games before TES III.

An dos what if mages are overpowered. It is a single player game.