Oh look, light coming out of the ceiling, let's fly up to exit the dungeon!
What is this, invisible wall?

Oh no, they took me into jail. Good thing I can just teleport out, lol :teehee:

Ah i apologize i misread your post

Well, The thing is, I would rather not have spell making then have myself make a full chameleon suit and have the game ruined for me when I realize how cool that stuff could of been rather then easy. I started playing TES with Oblivion, so I wouldn't know how about levitation. But it seems that you could just make it unusable indoors and then people still have levitate and it would fix the problem completely.

im glad they removed spellmaking, levitation and the uber run and swim speeds they had in obivion. technically since im on PC i can "do whatever i want" and "play however i want to play" just by using some console codes. that completely ruins the fun of the game though. games need to have limits and rules and basic guidelines otherwise they would get boring really quick. im sure some people would love to have access to every weapon and armor and spell at the beginning of the game so they could play how they wanted. in the end though it would completely destroy the premise of the game.

I definitely am all for the spell removals, they only things I ever heard about them... (and used myself) were exploitations, such as the drain life for 100 for 1 sec on touch. only used 1 magicka and was literally instant death to anyone i touched for a second. totally saved my butt on occasions dont get me wrong, but i felt myself using it way more than necessary and could do with it's removal.
also, a friend of mine exploited the reduction of skill points on self then got trained, so when the magic wore off, he'd level ridiculously. i for one, am actually pleased that spell creation was removed.

my number one rule for games regarding what the player can do or not do is can a npc with similar stats/build do it also. if my wizard can levitate then other wizards my level should also be able to levitate. if i can make a spell that has 38,000 stackable damage then other wizards should also have access to that spell. specifically regarding skyrim im hoping that since my character can pickpocket i expect there to be a chance of someone else pickpocketing me. only specific quest or lore related stuff like dragon shouts or living forever and being immune to disease such as the neraverine was in morrowind should be unique to my character.

When they say do what you want and be who you want they mean in the confines of Skyrim, not a culmination of ideas from past games. Skyrim is a new game, not a sequel to anything. The only thing they are confined to is elder scrolls lore, every thing else is potentially on the chopping block to make a good game in 2011, not a good game by past standards.

It's obvious they are putting in tons of detail on features that matter. If you can levitate or teleport home, what consequences are there for pissing someone off, or picking a fight you cannot win? A lot of people just don't know what is good for them and cling to useless features of past games out of a few fond memories. I see them moving in a good direction making things that matter, like crafting, cooking, better alchemy. The spells I have seen so far seem to actually work and are different, like chain lighting you can bounce a spell off a wall and get someone coming around a corner... the trap spells you can place on the ground like a land mine, some spells are continuous use, others are instant and last a while. It looks way better than anything in the past.

It's all about bang for the buck and putting a ton of effort in to properly do levitate isn't worth it. A level designer spends a lot of time making a level with traps and puzzles for the player to play... they can levitate over it and bypass things...well its too much crap to spend time on and then have the player miss half of what they designed. It's just not worth it to them nor a large % of fans IMO.

Or they can design all that with levitation in mind. It's perfectly possible to design maps and dungeons when keeping in mind that levitation exists, like the Ministry of Truth in Morrowind. Or design stuff where levitation is of no use at all, as in most indoor situations. Levitate out of a fight? How about the dude you just attacked knows how to do that too? Levitate over a mountain? There are dragons roaming the skies now so you better be prepared to take one on in their own turf.

I'm glad levitation is gone, because it creates headaches for the quest designers when they plan how a quest must function.

^

FFFFFRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOM! For me anyways.

It svcks that they're being a bit hypocritical about it but I don't think I ever used either 3 spells so I don't really mind that much. :shrug:

"Go wherever you want" died with Acrobatics. The removal of Levitation already crippled it, but now it's gone.
Pete Hines said they address the lack of Acrobatics through level design. This basically means "you can go to the top of that mountain" as long as you follow the path they laid out for you.

Do you realize how much time and work it would take to take levitation into account in every single quest and scenario? It would probably add another year to the development time, maybe more.

I feel the complete opposite.
I loved the freedom Morrowind gave me to do as I please with the game world.
It did not ruin the game for me, it greatly enhanced its shelflife.
Where with a normal linear and boxed-in game I would just shelve it after a playthrough or two, with Morrowind I kept at it, trying to figure out what the game would let me do, and generally enjoying myself immensly.
This has nothing to do with nonsense such as every weapon at the beginning of the game.
It has to do with freedom and replayability versus linear, boxed-in and limited.
Limited in many ways, including replayability.

And I agree with Faulgor.
No levitation or acrobatics is an invitation to lazy level design.
I wonder how often in Skyrim Ill be able to see my goal right there but wont be able to go that way because of a boulder I cant jump, Ill have to go round and round.
I wonder how often these limitations will be used to create a false sense of size and difficulty, a.k.a. lazy level design.

A thruster spell (think, "flying with a broomstick") approach could make levitation a level design marble rather than a restraint. The MW way was just far too powerful and I never liked it myself. With other proper mechanics, the spell could do more things depending on how strong your skill was:
* Buoyancy (make you lighter in already low gravity).
* Water Walking
* Feather
* Slowfall
* Low gravity high jumps (to reach balconies etc).
* Limited Levitation.

So basically you learn the spell for level 1, then have to put 5 additional ranks into it. Effects depends on weather you cast it, hold it, or hold it with both hands. Limited Levitation would quickly drain you out, especially on lower levels, and skill would determine how much weight you could negotiate. Flying spell? No way. Additional fun? Much so. Sacrifices? Most likely to overcome the weight. So it's very much a players choice. Even at best possible skill, level, and no weight, the effect shouldn't be overpowered. Limited Levitation would require holding spell with two hands, there would be no "air combat". Prevent level design? Just put the "hole in the ceiling" high enough so it can't be reached at best possible conditions (max height you can reach).

Usage: While holding the spell, just point the direction opposite of the thruster force. I.e. in water and you sink and drown, you use this spell. If you weight a lot, you'd have to point it a lot more up (more force down), so you wouldn't be quick moving forward in the water. If you weight less, you can put it at an angle and also gain speed.

I like these ideas.
Maybe something for Bethesda to consider for TES VI, or perhaps someone good at modding will make something like it for Skyrim.

This.

It's unfortunate, but i've kind've accepted the fact that Skyrim is going to feel a lot more linear and restrictive than previous TES games. I think that kind of approach goes against the very thing that made TES great, but whatever, I'm not the one designing the game. Linear RPGs are popular at the moment, so i'm sure a lot of players won't have many complaints if less freedom means better visuals and better quests.

Restricted because you can't jump 50,000' in the air. Awesome.

Its a fair point, but its still necessary to limit the player in order to keep the game challenging, people can break boss fights and dungeons by purely levitating, it took from the challenge of the game, and on the whole had less benefits than situations it could ruin, we can still do what we want, as long as it doesn't break/ruin the game.

Well to be blunt, that's not really my problem. Just do it. If they can hire a bunch of people who only worked on dragons for 2 years, then surely they can figure this out as well. Besides that, it's not like they have to make everything 'levitation compatible'. They're saying that they like to design stuff and people must play it as designed (i.e. their way, not your way) and that way we get to admire the work and effort put into it. Basically they want us to see the pretty things they have made. Using levitation you can still admire all that and more, just from a different point of view. :shrug:

yeah, we might as well be playing a linear corridor/level shooter which takes the control of our char away from us every 7 seconds for a cutscene. In fact, I can see no appreciative difference between the two now.

There is no difference between a place I can't reach because I can't jump higher than 2 feet, or a place I can't reach because of invisible walls.

How does levitating ruin a dungeon?

Are you people nuts as butts?

It is freedom; have you played all of the TES games? We are always at the mercy of what is in the game but what was in MW, OB, and now Skyrim we can choose where to go and do what we want within the game. In any TES game we are never made to do something else, sure they may tell us it is dire to give the amulet to Juaffre but didn't have to.

From what I am seeing so far, I love the choices we get to make and the places we get to visit. Personally I don't see what anyone would complain about?