Did Bethesda make ANY attempt to make the NPCs react to the

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:11 pm

The worst for me was when Ulfric asked me something along the lines of "why would a foreigner want to join the StormCloaks"?

Ummm, because I'm not a foreigner; I'm a Nord. The whole reason I chose Nord was to have an attachment to the conflict but I get the exact same dialogue that my Dunmer got? Lame.



Shaky logic. Your race is Nord. That doesn't dictate what nationality you are. Both of my god-daughter's parents are of 100% Irish stock. All ancestors were from Ireland or only had Irish parents.

My god-daughter is not Irish however. She's an American. Her racial background is Irish but her nationality is not. If she visits Ireland, she will be a foreigner. I also know an American that was born in Ireland. He's not Irish.

Your Nord is a foreigner because he was not born in Skyrim, according to the game.
User avatar
Siidney
 
Posts: 3378
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:54 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:50 am

B*tch, b*tch, b*tch, moan, moan, moan.

You know that the Bioware forums actually talk about how ungrateful you people are? Yeah, you're THAT BAD.
User avatar
naana
 
Posts: 3362
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:00 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:48 am

They don't force you into becoming Dragonborn. You are Dragonborn. It's how the rumor got started that I'm curious about.


This.

You're DragonBORN... meaning you were born with the soul of a dragon already imparted into you.

I'm sure someone may even just joke about you being the Dragonborn simply because you're the new guy and so good at what you do. Jokes become rumors, rumors become facts through the telephone game. Take it as a simple misunderstanding generated through rumor if you will.
User avatar
Gemma Woods Illustration
 
Posts: 3356
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 8:48 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:54 pm

Become a thane of a town, still told I am being watched sneak thief.
How many times can the one BS in whiterun tell me she helped her father more ways then one?
Become a prominent member of stormcloaks, but still able to chill with imperials.



B*tch, b*tch, b*tch, moan, moan, moan.

You know that the Bioware forums actually talk about how ungrateful you people are? Yeah, you're THAT BAD.


Because Skyrim went the dragon age 2 route. So I could care less what they say.
User avatar
(G-yen)
 
Posts: 3385
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:10 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:28 am

They react to my actions all of the time "You killed the Glenmoril witches" and so on. Sometimes they repeat past ones, but usually they're correct.

So...what?
User avatar
Fiori Pra
 
Posts: 3446
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:30 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:25 pm

Totally agree with the OP.

My current character is a two-hander wielding nord warrior wearing full ancient nordic armor (with the weight meter maxed out), and Aela the huntress just told me "So I've heard you may actually be stronger than you look..."

WHAT?

Ridiculous.
User avatar
Breautiful
 
Posts: 3539
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:51 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:59 am

They react to my actions all of the time "You killed the Glenmoril witches" and so on. Sometimes they repeat past ones, but usually they're correct.

So...what?



So what? Its called immersion. Feeling as if you are part of the game world. That your actions affect the in game world.
User avatar
Chris Cross Cabaret Man
 
Posts: 3301
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 11:33 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:55 am

its always a good sign when people find the slightest little loopholes to complain about, it only shows how great this game is and how demanding people are towards it being perfect.


Those are bad, but the one that irks me the most is when I shoot a bandit in the face, run back while I'm still hidden in the shadows, and then after he walks like 15 feet to look for whoever just fractured his skull and pierced his brain with a projectile weapon, he says "ah, I guess it was nothing." as if he thought he heard a skeever running around or something. "Nevermind the arrow sticking out of my head, it was probably just rats!"

the AI is pretty bad.


see there is a big "conflict of interestst" between the AI behaviour and the sneak mechanics there, the AI will have seevral degrees of awareness to which he reacts differently, a arrow hit, will put him in the highest alert state aswell as "pull it" towards where the arrow came from, this will alays lead to detection if the player char isnt skilled/perked in sneak, even if you use stuff like invisibility, the AI will stay at max awareness and follow you through noise and stuff, and attack you.
this is there are 2 more variables there, one is enemey detection, you will notice some mobs will have a very easy time detecting you even if you are skilled in sneak, while others will be pratically be blind to you if you are even average skill of sneak.
the other is the skill in sneak, the higher it does, the more traits your character ignores of the AI detection, such as noice, visibility, movement etc.

so yes its awckward to shoot a target that simply resets its state of alertness because it cant find you, but you have to remember, the rpg component of it, sneak is made so that you "beat" AI awareness like that.

there are issues, minor ones I found with AI, usually pathing related, but to say Skyrim AI is bad, is just flatout wrong, in fact its the best AI of any game I can think of... be it rpg TPS or FPS for that matter.
User avatar
le GraiN
 
Posts: 3436
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:48 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:33 pm


Because Skyrim went the dragon age 2 route. So I could care less what they say.


I've been on the Bioware forums (frequently I might add) during the time that Dragon Age 2 came out. Yes there was ALOT of complaining, but it was nowhere near this bad. Seems like people on here don't even appreciate how difficult it is to make a game. Let alone one THIS MASSIVE. There are no other games out there quite like Elder Scrolls, so you kinda have to take what you can get, and stop b*tching about every single little detail that doesn't suit all of your personal needs. At least be greatful for what they did include. Most new features were added because of the constant whining they got from these forums, but there's no pleasing these people.
User avatar
Neko Jenny
 
Posts: 3409
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:29 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:47 pm

I completely agree about this. It seems like Bethesda made NO EFFORT to fix this.

The sad part about this is that it is very easy to fix. I mean, come one, how hard can it be to have a trigger (IF status=dragonborn then x dialogue, z dialogue).

I am the arch-mage and I don't know how many times people have suggested I "join the college".

The motto is "be anything you can be"... but they forgot to add "just don't expect any NPCs to recognize your achievements".
User avatar
Jodie Bardgett
 
Posts: 3491
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:38 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:21 am

Oh my favorite is putting an arrow in a bandits head from sneak, then hear him say "Must have been my imagination" :spotted owl:
User avatar
ezra
 
Posts: 3510
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:40 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:49 pm

So what? Its called immersion. Feeling as if you are part of the game world. That your actions affect the in game world.


No, the comment was so...what? As in what? Confusion? They respond correctly in my game most of the time. "Hail Companion" and bringing up things I did.
User avatar
Jonny
 
Posts: 3508
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:04 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:23 pm

Shaky logic. Your race is Nord. That doesn't dictate what nationality you are. Both of my god-daughter's parents are of 100% Irish stock. All ancestors were from Ireland or only had Irish parents.

My god-daughter is not Irish however. She's an American. Her racial background is Irish but her nationality is not. If she visits Ireland, she will be a foreigner. I also know an American that was born in Ireland. He's not Irish.

Your Nord is a foreigner because he was not born in Skyrim, according to the game.


Oh great the [censored] is back. Your logic is flawed and has nothing to do with the current debate. Bethesda was too lazy/forgot to implement implement comments regarding your race.
User avatar
Je suis
 
Posts: 3350
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:44 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:15 pm

see there is a big "conflict of interestst" between the AI behaviour and the sneak mechanics there, the AI will have seevral degrees of awareness to which he reacts differently, a arrow hit, will put him in the highest alert state aswell as "pull it" towards where the arrow came from, this will alays lead to detection if the player char isnt skilled/perked in sneak, even if you use stuff like invisibility, the AI will stay at max awareness and follow you through noise and stuff, and attack you.
this is there are 2 more variables there, one is enemey detection, you will notice some mobs will have a very easy time detecting you even if you are skilled in sneak, while others will be pratically be blind to you if you are even average skill of sneak.
the other is the skill in sneak, the higher it does, the more traits your character ignores of the AI detection, such as noice, visibility, movement etc.

so yes its awckward to shoot a target that simply resets its state of alertness because it cant find you, but you have to remember, the rpg component of it, sneak is made so that you "beat" AI awareness like that.

Hello, there is a very easy fix for that, and it's been pointed at already in the thread. This excuse is lousy.
there are issues, minor ones I found with AI, usually pathing related, but to say Skyrim AI is bad, is just flatout wrong, in fact its the best AI of any game I can think of... be it rpg TPS or FPS for that matter.

Not to say it's horrible, but saying it's the best just highlight the degree of bias you have.

I've been on the Bioware forums (frequently I might add) during the time that Dragon Age 2 came out. Yes there was ALOT of complaining, but it was nowhere near this bad.

I've been on the Bioware forums (frequently I might add) during the time that Dragon Age 2 came out, and it was WAY worse than what Skyrim is getting.
Despite the (vivid and often deserved) criticisms, Skyrim is still considered a good game. DA2 was on the whole considered a failure.

One thing that both forums have in common is the amount of fan-boys who will bite at anyone who point a flaw, but sadly this is hardly a special feature of these forums, as it's what happens in EVERY forum of EVERY SINGLE game, regardless of the quality of the said games.
User avatar
Tessa Mullins
 
Posts: 3354
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:17 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:35 am

obviously bethesda didnt do this on purpose. ive hated skyrim moreso than ANY other TES game and ill still admit that they never meant for this to happen. BUT, it did and they have to deal with it. i can live with race not being a factor in trust. a nord could just as easily be born outside of skyrim and have no respect at all in skyrim. but theres absolutely no excuse for the end of the dark brotherhood qustline not being mentioned. bethesda should be ashamed of themselves for how that quest was handled. there were maybe 4 guards leading up to him and they were all weak. and when it was done, noone in the world mentioned it AT ALL. like they didnt even care. had this been oblivion, it would be ALL OVER the place and EVERYONE would be talking about it.
User avatar
Benji
 
Posts: 3447
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:58 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:00 pm

To anyone saying we don't appreciate how hard it is to make a TES game consider this. Their team has grown, not smaller but bigger, they've had the same time to make Skyrim as they had to make Oblivion and even Morrowind. Morrowind may have been radically different from Skyrim but Oblivion was not, yet in Oblivion they did many things right that they did wrong in Skyrim, and on top of that many thing were done wrong in Oblivion that were done right in Morrowind (but really due to the change from text to spoken dialogue and due to NPC schedules those two can't be compared in the same way).

What did they pour all that manpower and time into with Skyrim that made them not have the resources or time to do what they did in Oblivion ? They poured it into making the game pretty... Skyrim really looks amazing, I can't stress this enough, the environments are awesome, the character models are awesome, the animations are awesome, the monsters & wildlife looks awesome, every single item looks good, heck they even gave us a way to view said items easily from every angle in our menu so we could fully appreciate it! Skyrim looks AWESOME!

Would I throw that all out for a more Oblivion like experience ? In a heartbeat. When I first started considering how the next TES game would be after having played my share of both Oblivion and Morrowind what I hoped for was a game with the looks and animations of Oblivion but the depth and variety of Morrowind, not a game that would turn Oblivion into a golden middle road between those that don't care much for animation and graphics but do care about the rest that makes up a TES game, and those that really do care about them but don't care too much about what else makes up a TES game.

Because really this is what Oblivion has become now, a middle point that gives you a taste of everything but not exactly what anyone really desires, which is why if you put up a poll casting votes between the 3 latest games you're probably going to end up with Oblivion taking 3rd place with only a handful of people liking a bit of both worlds while the rest are either like me and will vote for Morrowind for what it had to offer or are the opposite and will vote for what Skyrim brings to the table.

In my opinion and you've probably already guessed it by now, Morrowind comes first, then Oblivion and Skyrim follows last.

Is Skyrim a bad game ? No, no it's not. In fact it's one of my top 10 favorite games.

Is Skyrim a bad game compared to previous installments in the series ? Yes, I have to say so, I have to admit I've never gotten a good taste of Arena or Daggerfall (have them installed on my PC but never find the time to play them), but from the 3 games I have played for any serious amount of time I find Skyrim the most lacking. The graphics and looks just don't appeal to what I desire in a TES game enough for me to ignore the bad points of the game.

So quite frankly, and I know this will never happen, I'm hoping the next TES game will have either equal or less graphics and looks than Skyrim does. I hope they don't immediately assume everything will crash and burn if they don't keep up with modern graphics when it comes to game because they truly don't, just look at Minecraft, if people can enjoy that right now then people can enjoy Skyrim graphics 5 years down the road, or heck people could even enjoy Oblivion graphics I say (I wouldn't go as far as saying that a majority of people would enjoy Morrowind type of graphics but considering I still enjoy playing Morrowind despite how it looks un-modded I don't think its graphics will ever become too obsolete for me to enjoy).

Really there should be a poll somewhere on these forums "5 years from now, would you dislike if TES VI had Skyrim or even Oblivion graphics ?".
User avatar
Elizabeth Davis
 
Posts: 3406
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:30 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:56 am

I actually don't mind that much right now because I will be playing the story although very slowly
User avatar
Jack
 
Posts: 3483
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:08 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:08 pm

This one is really minor but it kinda bugged me at the time. I was in Markarth accepting a misc. quest from the Jarl to kill some Forsworn in a cave. He tells me I'm a dishonourable sellsword but he'd hire me for this task. I thought, ''I'm not a dishonourable sellsword I'm the Harbinger of the Companions, he should be pleased to have the Harbinger himself deal personally with this quest but no he doesn't know who I am.....''
I just pretended he didn't know that I was in the Companions let alone the Harbinger, perhaps news from Whiterun hadn't reached Markarth maybe this Jarl simply didn't care about the Companions (though I thought they were supposed to be legendary and famous).
Oh well, like I said very minor. The NPC's don't get it right all the time but I think it's an improvement over OB. Sometimes guards tell me I fetch the mead when I'm actually the Harbinger, sometimes they tell me that they respect me for using both my hands for my weapon when I'm actually carrying a one handed sword and shield etc (but 8 times out of 10 it's ''hail companion'' or some comment about me being the harbinger or about me killing the witches. Accurate comments on my armour) but noone seems particulary bothered by the events in the final DB quest which is very odd (at least noone notices in my play through, maybe someone someone where does but I've never met them)
User avatar
Lady Shocka
 
Posts: 3452
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:59 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:03 pm

What they should have made sure of is that contradictory lines like that don't happen. What they should have attempted is actual consequences to your actions.
User avatar
Brandi Norton
 
Posts: 3334
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:24 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:59 am

Like most of the other posts on this thread my post here is on topic, but also has a small spoiler:

After killing some bandits I found a dead woman with a note that said she was after the bandits to get back family heirloom.

The bandits had an enchanted necklace, on them that I thought must be the heirloom.
It was only worth 600 gold so, and I felt bad for the dead woman so I put the necklace on her body (in her inventory.)

And as my companion was lost (an IA issue I will be fixing once the CK is out in January) I needed help with my next mission so I Resurrected her to be a follower for a little while.

When the magic Resurrection finally came to an end and she "died" again she said "thank you" to me as she slumped to the ground.

Did she say thank you to me for the necklace? Or for something else? I do not know but it creeped me out a LOT and impressed me with the DEV forethought of this side encounter (they predicted that a player would do this) that I am now praying I will see a lot more of this kind of interaction with the player either in this game or in future games like this.

Or it could be serendipity caused by the fact that there are so many interacting systems layered in the AI that things like this can happen for other reasons but my mind interpreted this event as the zombie woman reacting to my pity for her by placing the necklace on her dead body when really it was a glitch in the subroutines of her vocal responses.

This happen with DOG (the robot in Half life) were his head shacked as if to say NO to a rhetorical question do to a glitch in the animation code, but it was SO FUNNY because of the situation that the DEV then programmed this in the game on purpose for the scene.


I don't know, I had someone react when I dropped some armor on the floor. She was like, "Can I have that armor?"
They also react to my lack of clothing.
I do think there are lots of parts of the AI that could be improved, but those are nice touches.

User avatar
Chris Ellis
 
Posts: 3447
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:00 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:13 pm

NPCs react to me being naked, telling me off for dropping stuff, what I'm wearing, and being part of different guilds. I think Beth did a great job.
User avatar
James Shaw
 
Posts: 3399
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:23 pm

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:01 pm

This hurts even more, since I just came from playing FNV, which was AMAZING in NPC reactions.
User avatar
Evaa
 
Posts: 3502
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:11 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:25 am

i have had 1 of the cooks/servants in 1 of the jarls palaces ask for the fine clothing i dropped, which i found a nice touch.

i will agree that the little things are done well. its the larger things i, and a lot of other people, have a problem with
User avatar
Ashley Tamen
 
Posts: 3477
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:17 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:37 am

I'm just gonna point this out. The guild thing is weird, I know, but..

The MQ? Of course you're not going to be greeted by crowds of adoring fans. You did almost everything in private, save for things in Whiterun, and the peace treatie.
User avatar
Miss Hayley
 
Posts: 3414
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:31 am

Post » Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:08 pm

Your title question does not support your post

Yes, it is odd that the people know you're Dragonborn, and yes I agree it is a flaw.

However, your title question is: "Did Bethesda make ANY attempt to make the NPCs react to the player actions?", and the answer is, blatantly, yes, they did make 'any attempt'. In your own description, the NPCs at least acknowledge that you exist. And when you go to a merchant, they sell things to you correct? And you can start dialogue with NPCs, yes? And bandits attack you, is that right?

So YES, Bethesda did make some kind of attempt. You have just found a very annoying gameplay flaw, that frankly should never have gone un-caught



I understood the OP completely. I am smart enough to figure out the context of his post, that going on outside of the context arguing semantics would be nothing more than simple flaming. I agree pretty much with what he said. I do think however, that the dialogue in Oblivion was worse, because in Skyrim, there was more expository convos than in Oblivion (if Oblivion even had any).
User avatar
Amber Hubbard
 
Posts: 3537
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:59 pm

PreviousNext

Return to V - Skyrim