This is a thread I started http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615803-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/61098630 that, I realized, might be better posted where a Bethesda employee might actually read it:

I love Skyrim. I'm having absurd amounts of fun, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

That said, there is one aspect that just irks me, and that irk has gown over the last several days since I breached level 50 and the levels started coming much more slowly; how is it acceptable, in a modern game with "talent trees", to not allow some form of respec?

Look, I get it. This is an Elder Scrolls game, and that means permanence in character choices are used to help solidify your character's "growth" and make it feel more natural. And that's fine, until you give me a gaggle of talent trees, and only a very finite amount of points.

Sure, I had an idea of what I wanted my character to be before I even put the disc in the tray, but a byproduct of this new, more organic leveling system is that I found myself going "well, maybe I need a few more points in the block tree, or perhaps one or two more in destruction" in response to individual encounters. These aren't Perks I NEED, but rather, Perks I thought might be useful, and they were Perks I took with 10 or 20 hours already invested in my character.

And now that I'm over level 50 and finally have a concrete idea of what I want my character to be, and how to mold him thusly? Well, those experimental perks are little more than lingering regrets. I REALLY wish I could go back in time and salvage those 2-3 points that I "wasted".

So, I reiterate; In a game spanning hundreds of hours, a game rife with choice but no real direction on what to choose, why punish your players for exploring the talent trees you've laid out? Why penalize experimentation?

It just makes no sense.

EDIT: One point I thought worth mentioning that arose from the discussion of tihs topic over on GameFAQs is that I'm not asking for a free-anytime-respec. The very concept of a respec fits perfectly as a reward for some repeatable hour+ long "pilgrimage" quest-line, kind of like the atonement quest you could undertake for Oblivion's Knights of the Nine.

To a point, I agree. In fairness though, I see why they don't allow "respecs." The canned argument you will see is: "just reroll"

That said, rerolling from scratch is somewhat brutal if all you were wanting to do was shift around a couple of perk points.

Here's what I do: Anytime I am about to veer off into something "experimental" I save first, then store the save file somewhere else on my computer (not sure how the save system works on consoles but I assume you can so similar?) So if I end up not liking what I tried out, or otherwise change my mind, I can simply roll back to that save file, without having to start the game completely over. svcks sorta, but at least it saves *some* time and allows for some experimenting with lower consequences.

PS: I wouldn't object to being able to legitly respec at least once within the story. I think it'd be cool to be able to do a quest chain and/or pay a hefty price to do it.

I agree, it is silly. I also think it is silly for games to not have character planners on their websites on game launch that continually gets updated and instead players have to build it themselves - which by the time that is usually created you have already leveled up your character anyways.

However, the easiest thing to do is just use console commands in the mean time and pretend that they put in a respec system into the game. I would much rather go on a quest to reset perks that is somewhat challenging and fulfilling than to "cheat" since that creates a slippery slope. For example, the idea of finite ammo - although realistic is an enormous burden for players wishing to pursue a ranged only approach, so to get around this I end up console commanding arrows. (This was the worst thing about playing a Ranger in Everquest until you got the Endless Quiver AA). I am of the opinion that FINDING or crafting the ammo should be incredibly rare, but once you find it you never run out (insert some magical arrow bs).

There are some good perk calculators out there if you need. See here: http://www.anuconsulting.com/skyrim/skyrimperkpicker.html

For them to add a respec feature in would mean they concede that their new skill/perk system isn't really all that robust, I think. That's probably the biggest reason as to why you wont see it unless you play in the PC where there will inevitably be a mod for it.

Uh it isn't robust at all. Everyone by now knows which Enchanting Perks, Alchemy Perks, and Smithing Perks to take with the rest of them just being obviously not worth grabbing. Any other points are just fluff and it is painfully obvious that anything that modifies abilities by a % is going to scale wildly out of control. Most perks do not feel unique at all and are just different ranks that do not add any new abilities per rank. If you are going to have a Perk system in, allow each path to feel like you are making an investment other than just modifying the effectiveness of the chosen tree.

The concept of how leveling works I think is the biggest issue. If you do not have any way of planning your levels, since some things will randomly level you up - players may invest points in something they do not need because it is available to them then. I like the idea of skills leveling up constantly, it gives you the feeling of constant progression - I am NOT a fan of leveling up based on the use of skills however. I like basic Experience Bars based on combat - split the crafting so THOSE perks are separate from Combat abilities. These levels progress based on crafting. --Crafting Level & Combat Level

This is a singleplayer game, not a competitive game as WoW can be. Personally I avoid smithing and enchanting because I find them boring and not fitting for my own personality, but yeah, if all people care about is power in a game where you aren't competing with anyone, so be it.

Why would you intentionally handicap yourself? I mean when you have the choice between one skill that does 10% damage, and another that does 15% it is a no-brainer. I personally do not like a system in which each "rank" or level only modifies the effectiveness of an ability. I like feeling as if I have made an investment that plays and operates like how I am specialized. The difference between a "Thief" and a "Warrior" should not just be a Thief uses daggers and a warrior uses a sword. In TES Skyrim, you are either a Magic user or not. That is really the only extent of customization. Everything more or less plays the same.

So your whining that you picked the wrong perk and didn't think of loading from a earlier time?

Not sure why you quoted me. We're in agreement.

lol not everyone uses the autosave, some people have found turning it off to help lag/freezes/etc.

but i think there should be something. maybe not a total respec, but maybe like being able to change one perk at a time, maybe for gold or something

this is the only kind of 'cheating' i've done in the game. I have an assassin and for some reason i picked up one perk into destruction. about 30 levels later i need 1 freaking perk to max smithing, i make a decision. Console command to remove destruction perk, console command to add smithing perk...voila, respec.

Having it on gives me no issues and I'm just too lazy to turn it off. If you pick a wrong perk, it's your fault. If you could respec, all people would do is change their spec to however the patch favored a particular set up.

That's about it, I think.

I don't get the respec argument. I mean, I get it - I've read all the OP's views. But I just don't see why you need it. This is a game built to be replayed and replayed. Why put in a feature where you can essentially do everything in one playthrough?

Perhaps one point in the game where you can respec could be justified (if it was story-specific). But otherwise, I just get the sense that respecs only matter if it's a game where there's a clear "finish" point.

And if you get to a point where your perk choices have messed up your chances... well, try different things out. That's the fun of playing games, isn't it?

The solution is to continue playing until you have all 240 perks, at which time you should be right around level 80.

I don't know if there are cheat commands for the perk system, but that might be another option.

And last, wait for one of the players to publish a mod that will let you re-set your perk points. I'm betting this will probably happen very soon, since there are probably a few million of us that want to reset now lol.

Good luck.

Also, your argument is invalid because if you can't respec, you HAVE to experiment with what you have chosen.

Done the same myself, for me I don't mind doing it. I feel for the ps3/xbox guys, and a quest that could in the end give you the choice to respec or for example reward you with an extra perk instead could be cool.

I allready started a new char once, because I felt high-elf was not the way to go for a warrior.
Ye it exist console commands for that, but that was to take it a bit far even for me lol

player.addperk
player.removeperk

The trouble with these games is that by the time the next one comes along you've spent so much time mastering the old one you are literally swamped by the possibilities.

You don't like being told you have to re-discover yourself and how to succeed.

You feel you already know it and in some cases you resent the new game for failing to live up to your expectations of how you feel it should pan out and progress.

However the "Elder Scrolls" series contains the greatest "Respec" ability in the history of gaming: The Construction Set.

The the ability to MOD comes the ability to tear apart the masterpiece that is "Skyrim" and twist it into some graven image of your personal preference and ideas of "how it should have been done".

The only punishment here is self mollification as you obsess over what could have been.

Lay down your burdens and play yoru game.

Try and look forward and play your character to the end rather than worrying because you focussed on "sword" insteady of "mace" in the skill tree.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword

1.) You can do this already through the use of console commands.
2.) How is it your fault if you pick the wrong perk when you may have to level up 30 some odd levels before you realize it was the wrong choice?
3.) The game is not a competitive game with Player versus Player, so it does not matter if players "respec" based on fotm "specs".
4.) Why argue against an alternative to a "cheating" system that enables players to respec in a manner that still follows some sort of story line, takes time, and is fulfilling? IE a system that does not adversely affect you at all?
5.) You are not playing on a dedicated server online. Bethesda does not care if you play for 1 minute, or 10000 minutes as long as you buy the game.

I have to agree with the OP. Any modern game should offer the ability to respec. I do not think it should be as easy as a click of the button however, more so in MMORPGs or competitive games.