» Sat May 08, 2010 11:44 am I think people are more worried about some promises not being fulfilled, one of them being that Skyrim would "walk the line between Oblivion and Morrowind".
Given how absolutely vague that statement was predicating the decision to express righteous indignation or barely simmering rage on their ability meet a specific expectation one has based on it seems like a losing proposition.
Based on Bloodmoon I think they've got some hardcoe nordiphiles on their writing staff - so I do have high hopes that the setting will be given a similar depth and richness to that in Morrowind. Yes it will be almost impossible for it to feel as new or as foreign as Morrowind did (unless you are a big fan of Frank Herbert). Since this richness and novelty of setting was nearly universally praised despite the similarly universal criticism of the old-school dialogue and generic NPCs - it stands to reason this is the bit of Morrowind they aspire to at least in the way of depth. Obviously Norse and Germanic tribalism inspired culture won't feel quite as novel as a high-fantasy setting that is most apparently inspired by Dune than anything else (possibly coincidence.)
Because of the alien landscape and a few non-Tolkienesque influences, Morrowind managed to be fresh and avoided many of the typical high-fantasy tropes. Unfortunately the broad inspirations for the basic culture and setting of Skyrim have real world anologs and have been the basis of other high fantasy settings. It will then inevitably feel less novel than Morrowind could - so I'm hoping they go for depth in the setting. Seeing local shamans practicing decidedly non-imperial ceremonies as part of their day would do this a heck of a lot better than someone sweeping their porch (though that does at a touch of beleivability.) Since many aspects of the setting will feel more familiar, they should have fun and elaborate on the interesting cultural aspects which make the setting very different from Cyrodil.
The most important thing that really worked for Morrowind was the factions. Even the thieves and fighters guilds didn't feel quite as generic as they did in Cyrodil - they were mired in regional politics just like the Great Houses. It took me a long time to realize that this is one of the most significant things that was lacking from the setting in Oblivion. The factions or groups or political blocks should feel beleivable and when it makes sense that they would be in conflict then maybe they should be. It's not always good and evil but competition and sectarianism, tribalism, etc. Considering the diverse architecture in Oblivion - it always seemed sort of hollow how even in an empire thrown into chaos most of the lords kept to themselves and anything bad or creepy was mostly kept within their spheres of influence. This is something that I hope does not more resemble Oblivion than it does Morrowind.
I'm somewhat curious about what aspects of Oblivion the author thought this was displaying. Without more gameplay footage - uninterupted - it's hard to say for sure. The depth and appeal of the setting is, to me, the most important dichotomy - and the short demo seems wholly insufficient for judging that at least. I do admit I would have liked to have heard of them using the Radiant Story system to display aspects of the setting - I mean you kill a great and ancient bear blessed by Hircine and the village spiritual leader and a few villagers coming out to the body to perform funeral rights as a sign of respect to it would be a nice touch and seems like something they (or modders) could accomplish very easily - though it would imply dedicating a decent amount of voice over time to little touches like that. Even something simple like traditional Skyrim-style warriors offering to buy you a mug of mead if they spot you in a tavern after you bring down a dragon near the town. If it's not going to be surreal and novel like mushroom forests and blighted ash wastes in the shadow of a sinisterly named volcano but it can at least feel fleshed out and respond more realistically. Maybe the author was describing how the setting is, regardless of whether or not it ends up being rich and complex, one with a decidedly familiar European high fantasy feel to it.
Maybe the author was talking about the combat looking more like Oblivion than Morrowind. From the video footage we have actually seen so far this seems to be giving Oblivion's combat overly high marks. In first person Oblivion did look a lot less goofy when you were slogging away in a melee than the almost Daggerfall-like flailing insubstantial weapon waving of Morrowind. But beyond that and the addition of movement based power moves and active blocking, it could get similarly repetitive. This repetitive combat was sometimes made more tedious by how Oblivion did blocking by NPCs. Perhaps that is the root of the constant shield use comment, though without seeing it played through a little that's not enough to say whether or not all the weapons and shields appear to be made out of recycled bouncy balls. The inclusion of dual wielding and the wider range of play styles it affords (spell, shield, weapon in various combinations + shouts) does seem to give some hope about that and the repetitiveness. Again though, hard to say one way or the other without eat least seeing a minute of contiguous game-play.
So what can we actually infer from the vague comparison in the article? Probably just that the author knows how to create controversy and inflame the passion of Morrowind fans like myself - that is they've have probably read at least one relevent thread in any number of message boards and hit on the perfect way to stir up the nerdrage. And hey, if they wanted people talking about and arguing about one of their articles then they've succeeded. Also - where is the line between Morrowind and Oblivion and what aspects are they trying to balance that way. It better not be the combat because halfway between Oblivion and Morrowind combat would be a step backwards regardless of which it felt more like. (Oh and they said they were trying to walk "the line" between the two. Not only is hat a vague statement on its own - it's not a promise but a general statement about one or more aspects of the design philosophy. Calling that a promise is like calling "learning from a successes and from your failures" a strict ethical code.
But yeah - I wish they'd post some more gameplay footage and use the same mechanisms that allow villagers to logically go about various mundane chores to allow them to act in ways that make it clear this isn't northern Cyrodil. If ithey can use Radiant Story and AI to start a fight over a weapon you drop then they should hopefully use it to have the various Skyrim population centers, factions, and some individuals react in distinctly Skyrim ways. You recover the body of a murdered hunter? Maybe their family and the local priest of whoever or tribal leader holds a brief ceremony and orders a funeral pyre constructed later that evening (if you're around at least.) You're looking for information and want to butter up the patrons of a local lodge so you buy a round of drinks for the house to them happier to answer your questions. Too bad you didn't notice the braggarts from a rival lodge having a heated debate in the far corner over which lodge's members had mothers that were gorkers and fathers that smelled of cromberries. Looks like you just stared a booze fueled brawl between the same berserkers you hoped to ask questions of.
That is the kind of stuff I would love to see when they show off things like radiant story and a faction, political, and cultural landscape less harmonious than that of Oblivion (ie. even "good" guys or at least non-evil groups do come into conflict with each other.) At this point that's nothing more than wishful thinking, but one or two videos showing off things like that would make me very happy. Even mentions of rivalries or conflict between regional or cultural groups with a little more ambiguity than things like mages vs. the evil mages (necromancers) or thieves-guild vs a guard with a napoleon complex who seems like the Imperial equivalent of Colonel Klink. I'm optimistic that they could, in that way and a few other key aspects, remind us of the things that Morrowind did very well. Something between Morrowind and Oblivion though? That doesn't tell us much at all and it doesn't sound particularly appealing interpreted a great number of different ways. I want it to be Skyrim - but not to forget the successes and failings of its predecessors nor which were which. Outlook - hopeful (more video would help if I haven't said that already.
Just went to the gas station and found the latest issue of the german PC Magazine PCGames and saw that there is a 10-pages-coverage of skyrim.
