Hey all, been a while since i used these forums, but my building excitement for Skyrim has once more called me back.
For me, the TES games mean a step forward in the RPG genre, every single one seems to push the boundaries of open world RPG to a new level, yet there are always minor things that I feel the games are missing.
Because of this, I'd like to broadcast my views on what could be added to add that extra level of immersion to the game, and I would like to hear your thoughts on what could be improved too.
For me its interaction. Oblivion itself was an incredibly immersive experience, yet there was still minor interaction that i felt was missing
. Despite being able to sit in an inn with other citizens, there was often not a lot going on. For me, a fantasy Inn should be a smoke filled place with music and pvssyr, yet the inns in Oblivion lacked this..rowdy atmosphere. Small, but for many Im sure it broke the immersion.
To add to this, perhaps we should be allowed to play music, to work as a bard for our room for the night. Again its nothing game changing, but a small change that would add a whole new dimension to the "role playing" part of the game. Indeed, there could be some kind of small minigame to accompany this, just as lockpicking has its own minigame, or perhaps it could be added in as a skill. At lower levels the crowd may have a chance to shout abuse and chase you out of the inn because of your poor skills as a musician.
There is also the lack of things to do whilst out on the road. When I travel across the region, surely I must feel hunger at some point. But no, I was superman, I didnt need food, yet I feel that hunting wild animals should be encouraged, especially if you are embarking upon a long journey. It would also be nice to be able to create a campfire, or even to collect the logs first. If the bandits get small camps, why cant I have my little fire to cook my meat on?
I also feel that towns should become less robotic and more spontaneous, and more lively, however I wont dwell too much upon this as i believe that there is another thread that directly addresses the issue of towns and settlements.

As you can see, the few ideas I have proposed are very small in terms of gameplay mechanics, but I'm sure that for many people, they would create a much more believable world, one that players would LIKE to engage with and become a part of. I understand that not everything is possible, but I would like to see another step made towards a fully immersive experience, as I view the game world as more important than other things such as combat mechanics.

Finally, I know that there are mods for these things, and yes I do play on pc, yet I feel that everybody should benefit from an improved game world regardless of platform, and I feel that it is something that is becoming expected of RPG's.
Sorry for the long post but thank you for reading and be sure to add your own ideas in order to make this game great!

immersion is over rated

No, it is not.

I understand the point of this thread is to give our ideas about how to make the game have more immersion...but why have the poll? Might as well just make a poll with the question "would you like Skyrim to be a good game?" Hmm, I wonder why so many people are picking yes!

When it comes down to it, I believe people are going to complain about Skyrim's loading. Just as Oblivion, it's likely going to be pretty slow and break a lot of people's immersion. If they could make cities open and perhaps natural caves (without doors and therefore loading screens), they could really combat the problem.

For me, immersion is really in the NPCs having character. These NPCs being a refreshing part of the game is essential. As recently as fallout, I've found talking to most of them is tiresome rather then something I'd want to do. Other then that, it all comes down to setting. Oblivion did it alright, Morrowind was also okay. I just hope they don't slap a bunch of earth-tone colors everywhere and call it a job well done.

The poll is there to see whether people actually WANT more immersion. there are always going to be those players who simply play to blast their way to the end and care little for the journey, so Im interested to see what the numbers are like.
Anyway your right, loading IS an issue, but perhaps is unavoidable, especially for a game of this size(?).
You nailed it with the NPC's though, and perhaps adding some spontaneity to not only their actions, but also to their dialogue would make the game better. It does become tiresome when they churn out the same phrases over and over again.

AHH MY IMMERSION"S BROKEN :violin:

Sorry, just a reflex I've developed due to my opinion that many players make much ado about the littlest things....

And now to the OP

Nice post!

Sure, I'd like to be able to do those things as well, but not having them won't bother me at all. On a side note, if there is food and sleep req's, I sure hope that the developers would slow down the time scale :nod: Also, regarding immersion, while you state that the gameworld is the most important to you, for others, the combat mechanics not being real are just as immersion breaking. Shoot, I remember a long thread about how the horses in OB didn't act correctly when riding or somesuch.

The question is where does one draw the line between a game and trying to recreate reality? There will always be unsatisfied customers :shrug:

People uninterested in the world and just want to do cool stuff now, bash a monster every 10 yards etc. are always going to be in the minority in a forum as (and i don't mean to be elitist here) it's the people with a deeper connection to the games that are going to be the ones to bother posting about it and they'll tend to be people whose interests extend beyond the immediate gratification.

I definitely want more effort put into improving the world and how it functions. I think that the integrity of the world adds immeasurably to the enjoyment of the game and anything that fleshes out the setting is good.

Your right indeed. For me its the ability to act as the NPC's do, so instead of feeling like some kind of weird outsider, I CAN blend in. But life as well, I always felt that the world could do with extra life in some form or another, but it would have to be realistic. I dont want hundreds of robot clones walking round the city. It is nitpicky, but its an RPG I guess, and I always expect big things from these games. Despite this, the game wont be ruined if it lacks these features, because Oblivion was still great in this sense, and there are always mods. However, what i want to see is the developers looking at what they had, and taking a step forwards. All they have to do is build upon what they did before, and there are so many possibilities out there

I think you're bumping into the limitations of cRPG's vs. PnP + your imagination and a good GM. (OHHH I need that line for another thread I just posted in!!) One is bound by the box and script in a cRPG while there is so much flexibility in a PnP game (depending on your GM).

I agree about looking at what they had and moving forward :nod:

(now's the time for that hackneyed "at what cost man. there's only so much time!!!! rebuttle

Definitely. In Oblivion and Fallout 3 (Haven't played NV yet) there just wasn't enough immersion. I want to see the player interacting with the world, like when the player might meet a new character he/she would shake said character's hand or when something like a trap (Rolling logs, swinging flails, etc) hits you I don't want to just see some blurred screen effects I want to be knocked over and then have to get back up. Maybe the player could have recieved some sort of back injury or nothing at all, depending on their attributes.