I came across this peculiar thought today and decided to make a thread about it.

So what if Bethesda had decided to focus their resources, time and skill elsewhere? Skyrim's Dragons obviously needed alot of time to model, animate and to make unique A.I. properties for them.

Personally I think dragons do not add much to Skyrim. Yes the story evolves around them, they look cool and add something unique to this game.

But do we really need dragons? I think the costs exceed the benefits in the case of dragons.

Dragons add only to the bestiary of TES. Not to the RPG aspect atleast and that matters most in my opinion. I'd rather had Beth concentrate on the many complaints that many people have like making certain features more balanced and fun, more weapons, more npc, more factions, more everything really.

Share your thoughts

Open the flame gates....

Seriously though, the Dragon's are crucial to the story. I mean, its just like having Oblivion with no Oblivion Gates!

for me, they mean alot. I've always wanted some big boss creatures (without them being actual bosses) in TES. Dragons is the perfect answer to my prayers, and they look awesome. I couldnt be happier

Because they decided to make the story evolve around them. A story does not need to have dragons to be awesome, in my opinion atleast. Skyrim is not all about dragons and the end of the world I think Skyrim has plenty of room for other story's.

Dragons have always been in TES Lore for the most part. If anything they're probably adding something they previously didn't have the time or resources for.

Sure they could of left Dragon's out and added more of the stuff we (TES's fans) like but that would probably get rid of a lot of the people buying the game just because it has Dragons. I would still play it if the storyline was about Flying Monkey's but then again I don't play for storyline.

Dragons. Are. Todding Great

I think they included Dragons purely from the aspect of making this game appealing to bigger public. I think that if bethesda evolved the story around the giants, people would also would have been flabbergasted. Dragons are way more impressive but in the end, what do they add to this RPG besides the story which could have evolved around something else?

It's not a sure thing that any cost 'wasted' on dragons would have been redistributed back around to the content you're asking for. In all likelihood, any cost saved by not implementing Dragons would have gone into making similar enemies and set-pieces for whatever that alternative universes Skyrim would have featured.

Again... Dragons have always been apart of TES Lore.


And Dragons will only be a central focus in the game if you make them that. I've had characters in Oblivion who are level 40+ and have never seen an Oblivion gate. Same with Morrowind. I've had characters at an extremely high level and never had a hint that he is Nerevar reborn.

Bethesda has stated that they've been wishing to include dragons in their games since morrowind, but up until now they didn't know how to really make them work as they will in Skyrim. Also dragons are the nuclear weapons of fantasy games, they make things THAT much interesting. More weapons, quests, armor, etc can all be easily modded whereas dragons are abit harder to mod inside unless they're already part of the vanilla game. I'm glad that they included them in Skyrim, and I wish they will include them in the next TES installments

Says you? Sorry if I do not take your word for it when it is about what Beth would have done with the time and resources if dragons were not in.

Beth could have used to time for more factions, more weapons, more armor & clothing options, more fighting styles, balancing features and on and on.

They could have focused on the things that make an rpg.

That they have been part of it does not mean they should be in it.

I have no problem with focusing on dragons and the story, I have problems with what they will eventually give us besides an airborne creature and a story.




How do dragons make things more interesting besides for combat and main quest?

If Dragons were the central focus then it wouldn't be an Elder Scrolls game. An Elder Scrolls game is a go anywhere, do anything type of game. You have the freedom to become what you want. And to stop myself from regurgitating what you already know, I'm going to leave it at that. If you're that concerned about the content, then buy it on PC and mod to your hearts content. (No pun intended.) Adding dragons to the game isn't take away from it, it's doing what it says they're doing. Adding dragons to the game.


Apart from the Cliffracers how many aerial combatants were their in previous ES games? I for one am excited to see a different type of combatant so that I can vary my combat style. So it's not repeatedly hack and slash. Or cast and back. Or sneak and stab. It brings an entire new ballgame. They've got several guilds in the game. Imperial Legion, Stormcloaks, Companions, The College Of Winterhold, Blades (Esbern only), Thieves Guild, and The Darkbrotherhood in the game.

Should I even mention that the team is much larger than what they had working on all of their other games? Also that only one part of the Bethesda team is going to be devoted to how the Dragon behaves?

Let's see.. Dragonbone armor, Voice Language (Dragon Shouts), Alchemy Ingredients, more apparent use of racial advantages like Dunmer's 50% additional resistance to fire damage, having to stay cautious of what is above you and not just your ground level/below you, they enhance Skyrim visually (cmon! don't tell me that seeing a dragon fly afar doesn't make the world more beautiful), they provide a satisfying challenge, their wild/fearful look sure does make Skyrim appear more 'rugged' (as described in the Lore. Check out my http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1230012-fire-and-frost-dragon-screenshots/ to see some dragon screenshots I took personally).

I like the oh [censored] factor dragons bring to the game, not to mention a very interesting new creature, shouts and story.

Sorry but what good is more of what we already have "armor, factions, etc" at the cost of removing dragons? And what makes you think it won't be an in depth RPG just because they added dragons. That is fear logic is all. They have already said its the biggest most crazy game they have ever made adding 40 more people from fallout, so we can probably expect 40% more content than fallout which is insane.

From the looks of Fallout there will be loads of factions, armor and stuff to do. I mean when I played fallout 3 the whole time I was thinking "if they make the next TES game like this I will be very happy" because it was a huge step forward from Oblivion, and then I played fallout new vegas and its even more diversified in terms of factions and loads of content. And dont' say that is because it was made at Obsideon because all they did was what they were told. Beth handed them a design document and was in control of everything, and I'm extremely happy with the direction of it all.

This +1

I was thinking of all this too. I'm tempted to see if I can RP as some kind of dragon scholar - collecting books on their history, learning the language and possibly collecting any other artifacts (we already know there is a golden claw, for example). I don't know if that's what the OP meant by "RP aspects", but I'm looking forward to it.

It is like you said: It's about freedom.

Why not expand onf freedom instead of bestiary? Because of the story? They could have made another one not involving dragons. The team might be bigger, but the rpg content is still more limited because of dragons. They obviously took alot of time to create them.



Do we need dragons for all you mentioned except for the dragonbone armor?

Well first of, the good would be more freedom. Why do you want to buy this game? Because of dragons and flashy finishers? Or because of the freedom it offers? I also never said Skyrim would not be an in-depth RPG because of dragons, I stated it could more in-depth without dragons.

But the story is cool, involving the end of the world. Dragons rock, and they are very interesting, in TES. And thanks to them, we have Thu'um... when they announced Skyrim, while watching the trailer, I was wishing that the things from the mouths of the people in the wall were Thu'um. And when it was confirmed that it was in, I got very excited.

Complaints--from people who have never actually played Skyrim. Oy.... :facepalm:

My thoughts are that even if they decided on something else instead of dragons, it would still have to be something epic, just to give the PC that hero status. So whatever they had chosen it would have taken resources. Who's to say they didn't reject other ideas because they were too labour intensive?
I know you want freedom, but TES does have to have a MQ.

So your logic also means that people being positive about features in skyrim are to be not taken serious either? because they have never played it?

TES does not need an MQ to make TES the game that is known for its freedom. Don't think I find the MQ redundant! Not it all! I find it very enjoyable!

TES should indeed have a nice MQ, but does a MQ need dragons?