One of the first game I ever played on PC was Daggerfall. I basically pressured my father under false pretexts to buy a PC just so I could play Daggerfall, and it still ranks as one of the best game I ever enjoyed.

Morrowind was great too, and was also an instant classic. There were a lot of cuts already in Morrowind, map wise and especially spell wise, but the story was so much better written that it really made it up.

Now Oblivion was more disappointing to say the least and very heavily cut in many aspects (also in the quality of the story imho), but given the few amount of actual RPGs in those last few years, I was still happy with it.

I've read already that for Skyrim some skills will be removed from the game, armors combined, quests not discriminatory on the race, and generally speaking quests with less consequences in your choices, no more hammers to repair, enchanting done in "stations", etc... I'm growing concerns that Skyrim is taking the fast lane that Mass Effect did, going from an "inspired" Kotor RPG system game, to become just another futuristic FPS among many others.
In the fan interview, there was actually very little information about the whole skill and leveling side, which really creates the core of the gameplay for any RPG.

Onto my question: will Skyrim be an actual RPG, in the old sense of the term, or will it be a hack n slash with an RPG flavor to it?

I love the TES storyline and theme so much, it's so full of potential and possibilities, I would be so disappointed to see it all go to waste just to serve as a background for a new Diablo-like game :unsure:

Please don't see this as blind criticism, I am genuinely trying to know if Skyrim will be the next Morrowind, or... just another action game.


Thank you.

Health regenerates automatically over time. Does this answer your question?

Can you please just make a clear definition of "rpg"? There are way too many out there. I think by your definition there is not a single "JRPG" or "KRPG" that is an "RPG".

point of beds are?

I'm afraid nobody will know for sure until the game comes out. Answers like the Alexandur's don't help and are hardly worth paying attention to. It's just people lowering their expectations so they won't be disappointed. I'm reserving my final judgement for when I get the game although I'm pretty excited with the overall product that I've seen so far.

Right now it's in between RPG and Action adventure, to me.

Sleeping, typically.

Skyrim is gonna be hours and hours and weeks/months of fun for me and many others! and thats all that matters

It depends on your definition of an RPG. If it's the really old school wander aimlessly through some cave system and have templates as characters with a spread sheet style menu and skill tree then I'd rather it not be an RPG since those games bore me incredibly. But that's not my definition of an RPG. The only words I can put my definition of an RPG in are "Go play an Elder Scrolls game."

Skyrim will be as RPG as it can be. All RPGs typically have limits. The best RPGs, to me, are table tops. 90% of it is all you.

There is no defined RPG experience.

RPG is the simplest terms is a game in which you are free to play a "role."

Is Skyrim an RPG; yeah.
Is it as diverse in it's presentation as past RPG; no.

Is there enough in the skills/perks system to define your character as unique from any other character? Do your actions have an effect on the world? Will there be consequences for your choices, both in character development and interaction with the world? There's a start then.

It certainly has less RPG-elements in regard to the character system than previous titles. What bothers me just as much is that is also doesn't strive for an intense action gameplay, although you might think that would be the trade-off for less RPG elements. The combat is basically the same it was in Oblivin with finishing moves, and without acrobatics there doesn't even seem to be an active dodge ability in the game.

In my opinion, The Elder Scrolls is moving from an RPG straight to an adventure, with a short detour to action/adventure.

My definition of RPG is being able to collect pillows.

Also please don't mention bioware, I'm trying to forget the trauma induced from spending hours playing their games.

By true definition of RPG, the less skills and more freedom are what it should be. Which is what I feel they are trying to do with Skyrim. Make it less about the numbers and more about what you actually do.

The dragons don't give a rats ass about your class name, so why should it be there? Attributes are still there, just hidden in the background cus they are pointless for the user to actually see. Skills were trimmed to only show what is actually necessary. Why have long blades, mages, axes, short blades, wathammers, etc, when it can all fit under 1 handed and 2 handed? They trimmed the fat, and its looking good to me.


As stated above, that is what they want with all the trimming. They are keeping what truly matters for gameplay and leaving the rest up to you and your actions.

As I understand it, the game is designed primarily for the player, not the dragons.



Incorrect.



Different types of weapons require different skills. Weapon proficiency is much more complicated than 1h and 2h.

I think someone with proficient mastery of a Claymore would be rather ineffective with a Katana, and vice versa.

TES should have gone into more specialization, not less. Fat cutting makes the meal very bland.

O_O...




Yes, ok, I get what everybody says "define RPG", what is "RPG", "It's your role to make it an RPG". Sure, on the same idea Call Of Duty is an RPG, I'm playing the role of a soldier, there you go, role playing game, uh?

Everybody did see what I meant though. Daggerfall/Morrowind were to me decent adaptationw of difficult rules and skill sets birthed on table RPGs. Oblivion was really starting to slow down on that, making much less options available, less possibilities, etc...

A real RPG to me is a game were you feel free, an I'm not just talking about the size of the map and where you can go, but also about how you grow your character, what you wear, your choices, etc... and with a rule for each of those possibilities. It has been done before, several times, so there is no reason why Skyrim couldn't do the same. But obviously, the mitigated reply from everyone dodging the answer by asking me to "define" an RPG like it wasn't obvious and playing dumb (didn't I mention Daggerfall and Morrowind up there?!), seems to heavily hint toward what Skyrim will actually be: an Action game with a reminiscence of RPG... which is very disappointing for a TES episode.

I don't get the health regenerating over time... even Fallout didn't have that, what the hell?!

Absolutely. By my definition Skyrim is not going to be a "proper" RPG (I use the term loosely). It seems to incorporate aspects from many genres and will certainly have RPG elements.

I fully expect Skyrim to be more like Oblivion than Morrowind. I think there's zero chance of it being another Morrowind.

Edit:

Interesting, I think the opposite. For me an RPG is all about the numbers and skills, they define the role you play within the game. The apparent reason for the lack of pre-defined characters/classes is because too many people restarted the game after finding the character wasn't what they thought it would be.

I'd beg to differ, he seems so far the only one actually answering my questions and definitely not beating around the bush like everyone else is.

They have WAY more specialization because inside the one handed and two handed trees are the perks for axes and claymores and short swords and long swords and bows and staffs.... they have just been trimming the fat and keeping it lean, they've been doing this for a looooong time. I feel like we should trust them to make the best elder scrolls they can! and i understand the point Echonite makes sense. The dragons arent going to care whether or not your playing as a bard or not, i feel as though its a great cut because instead of having skills set right from the start it allows a player to be more flexible, i mean i really doubt any warrior in REAL LIFE was dumb enough to pass up the chance to do something easier instead of charging straight in. I feel like there making it more like real life where you dont get magical bonuses to start off, you just have a tendency to do it. and the more you do it the better you become in it.

Guess I'm not buying Skyrim, then.

Oh well, back to Mount + Blade.

To me, Skyrim is feeling less like a RPG in the traditional sense. Skyrim is about do whatever you want, whenever you want it. It has no limitations. Right from the get-go, you can wear any armor, wield any weapon, cast any spell, If you want to wipe out an entire town, you can and you won't get penalized for it. Skyrim is about letting your mind run wild with all the possibilities of actions.

As for your question of is Skyrim an RPG, no, I don't think Skyrim is a "true" RPG. It doesn't give experience when you kill a monster, it's done away with attributes, and you're decisions in quests don't carry much weight in the game world, but it's all about the fun you can experience while playing this great game.

Daggerfalls skills were so tiny that they could fit into half a perk in Skyrim.

We don't know!

We all just don't know!

Most people will tell you it's supposed to be an RPG but will be less of one than Beth would like you to believe.

I believe the opposite; it's going to be a great complex RPG better than Oblivion and even Morrwind ( in some ways ) but it's just being marketed like an action-adventure game for sales. Mostly, I believe that because I am hopeful.