Hopefully there already isn't a thread about this.

As the title suggests, this thread is about your character's body being viewable in the first person mode. This was lacking in earlier TES games, for technical reasons, but honestly should have been in Oblivion (and Fallout 3). There have been a few attempts to remedy this in Oblivion, but no fully working product was ever achieved. With an entire new game in the Elder Scrolls series, a new start, and a new engine, this is something that needs to be in there.

This feature is a pretty big immersion factor as well as being imperative for functionality. Now we don't know much about TES V yet, but I'm hoping there will be a much more in depth combat system (kicking, bashing, and all the good stuff). What fun would kicking be without seeing your legs and feet? Jumping and platforming is also much easier when you can see exactly how close you are to the edge of a roof or cliff as well. Instead of guesswork you would get a nice visualization.

Now, I'm not the most hardcoe role-player, but every once in a while I do like to imagine that I am my character running around swinging my shining sword to save the day. When I complete a quest line or delve deep into a dungeon, that shiny glass cuirass I earn needs to be seen in first person. Think of it as a constant reminder of your hard work, as well giving you the feeling of actually wearing a suit of armor.

Also, there is the idea of helmet view (parts of the helmet obscuring your vision). Although this may not be as important, it would really add to the atmosphere as well! Think about clunking around a dark misty cave in a full suit of steel plate, sword out, and a torch to guide your way as you battle through enemies far and wide! The immersion would be fantastic! (Helmet view is just a concept, and might hinder your vision too much for functional gameplay. The main focus is the visible first person body)

Anyone else on board and feel that this NEEDS to be in TES V: Skyrim?

No. I do most of my play in third person anyway, and only switch to first person for combat. And in combat, having bits of your own limbs obscuring the camera is irritating. It's actually something I hope they don't do. I don't feel any loss of immersion by not being able to see the end of my own nose in first person.

It would be pretty nice, seeing your legs stomping forward, your chest right under you, a arrow pointing out of your chest... And that part with the helmet obscuring the view would be awesome. Had we had that in Morrowind you wouldnt have been able to see anything in a Ebony helmet!

Your hand needs to appear when you open a door, other than that, meh.

The body would be nice, but not necessary. And to the helmet view: NO!! That's a horrible idea. Especially if the view depends on the helmet. I mean, what if you're wearing a glass or daedric helmet? You would hardly be able to see anything! And it would be quite easily added by mods. So no.

I don't think I'd like my view obscured by my helmet. But sure, being able to look down and see my legs and armor would be sweet.

And here we have a prime example of how such a concept just wouldn't be practical.

I see your point, but I'd probably get annoyed if my view kept getting obstructed - especially if it were my limbs blocking the view! And I'd never wear a helmet if that were the case either - I wear glasses IRL and being aware of the frame is annoying enough for me

Yeah, the part about the helmet view would have some downsides, but it would make it a trade off of visibility versus protection. I like things that add more challenge as well as immersion to the game.

This thread is mainly about the first person body though, not the helmet view!

Feet maybe, but not any other parts (well, maybe your whole body when you look directly down. I mean, that's what happened in real life). But obscured vision is not fun. Yes, realistic, but if you need a very close simulation you better off do it in real life. After all video game is all about fun, and real life for regular guys is everything but fun. You get the idea

And what exactly would be the point ?

If I switch to first person and look to the ground, I want to examine the ground more closely.

Not check out my ingame shoes.

It would be pretty awkward I'm guessing. It makes it more difficult to pick up stuff from the floor and it is likely to have all sorts of clipping issues.

For me the point of playing in 1st person is that I DON'T get my view obstructed by by own body. If I want to see myself fightig, I switch to 3rd person, if I want to admire my armor, I go to the items menu. The possibility to play in 1st person without anything blocking my view was one of the things that made Morrowind an Oblivion worth playing for me in the first place...

Perhaps you need to read through the first post again.

Immersion, obviously.

While I'm not sure where I stand on the helmet obscuring view deal, I do think being able to see your legs and part of your chest would be nice. It's strange to me, looking down and ending up looking all the way straight down. Makes it seem as though you're just a floating head.

To some point, yes. I do want to see my lower body and feet from a first person view, not feeling like a camera flowting in the air and a sword coming out of nowhere. +

Immersion, people like seeing their characters. I think Dark Messiah was cool because it played like Oblivion, but you could see your legs, for example there is a part where you are fighting a Giant Cyclops well if the cyclops hits you and you go flying you will hit the ground on your back. When you pick your head up, you look down and see your armor and shuffling legs, plus a giant cyclops stomping towards you. Just saying it is a nice touch basically. You know it has to be cool to look down and see your badass black armor.

In too many games, the lack of seeing your body just leaves a cheap impression of the 1st person view in the game, and TES is not an exception. If you think that the slight obstruction of your view when you look DOWN is a problem, you have some issues. It also greatly adds to the immersion and prevents the far too common floating eye effect.

This is solely an engine issue. If they have to remodel/relocate the armor appearance for the 1st person separately, it's perfectly justified to let the 1st person body out. Otherwise, not.

I be quite happy to be able to see our body in first person perspective. It really does help in grounding you in the world and also I find it can help in really getting a feel of your space in the world. Which can actually be a benefit, ie; jumping, traps, exactly how far away from someone you are, etc.

For myself I would love to see things go a step further with animations and such tied to this. So say healing like in Far Cry 2 with actually seeing you patching yourself up. Or the animations you see in Mirror's Edge, obviously we won't have parkour but the way the body (and particular arms) move and interact with the environment.

Yes, Mirror's Edge is a pretty good example of well done first person perspective. The animations are well done and the whole game flows very smoothly. I've never played a better first person platformer.

I like the idea of viewable body parts. I think it would add immersion and make role-plays more believable and fun.

I cant believe how many people here advocate for an obviously extremely stupid idea that adds absolutely nothing to the game itself, just because "it adds to immersion".

Immersion ?

The most immersive game I've ever played was CHESS ! And it was not because of great graphics. Dammit, I couldnt even sleep because I kept thinking about the current situation on the chessboard. No other game ever archieved that one.

And about the "helmet" thing, thats even more riddiculous. Every reallife helmet will obscure your view much less than a computer monitor already does. Thats for simple reasons, because of how the eye works.

If you want to make your game more immersive, then make it a better game. Dont add stupid crap that will enrage most people.

Although I feel the first person experience is more immersive, in rpgs I just wanna see how bad-ass my character is... at ALL times.

Your opinion is completely your own, and I respect that. But you have to realize that it is also completely subjective, and bias to your own views. Don't be so hasty to put down the views of others as "stupid."

The helmet view could be a bit ridiculous, but as I've stated multiple times, it is not the main point of this thread.

You claim to speak for "most" people, but I doubt that considering you can't even be civil.

I would absolutely love this to see this feature in Skyrim I've liked this feature a lot in all the games I've played with it (Thief 3, FEAR and so on), and it helps with the immersion greatly