Well i'm not sure what the general consensus is, but speaking for myself i can only say that i am a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls and have no interest in the Witcher 2, this is because i am not appreciative of fixed storylines and am rather spectacularly allergic to linearity, i approach a game in sandbox mode as it were and the witcher has nothing to offer me as a fan of free roaming games with a self emergent storyline, not one pre-written.

No idea how common or uncommon my opinion is however

Yes Indeed I really wonder is Skyrim will include a high end graphics setting like 'Ubersampling' for those who want to push their machines


Right now TW2 Ubersampling mode is a benchmark for graphics cards

Linearity?

Doubt we'll get anything alike, as we already heard Todd speaking.
Feels as if Bethesda doesn't want to do more than what's pretty much absoutely necessary.

Yes, linearity in the sense that it's not a true open world game like TES. See a couple of vsions posts for a nice explanation of some of the things that make TES more open as well.

When a game chooses things for you, who to be, where to go, when an ending makes you stop playing, that kind of thing, not a big fan of those games myself.

Skyrim don't need to learn lessons from The Witcher 2

That's like saying The Witcher 2 is alot better but it ain't

The Witcher 2 need to learn lessons from The Elder Scrolls Series ...Enough said....

i doubt bethesda can achieve ubersampling that is just a cd projekt red secret nobody will ever learn

I doubt that very much. I'm not saying Skyrim will have it, but it's not some super tech secret that no one will ever be able to crack.

I think both can learn from each other.

Skyrim can learn from Witcher 2 in terms of mature story and theme, as well as really epic and beautiful environments.
Witcher 2 can learn from Skyrim in terms of combat (I think... so far) and the theme of freedom (that you can literally go anywhere and do so much).

That's very subjective as far as learning from Witcher's "mature" theme. Also, Skyrim will have epic environments too. If they aren't as good technically they will more than make up for it on the art side.

I think Skyrim already got Beautiful environments A Good theme also but Mature story i don't know about that and maybe that's something that they can learn from Witcher 2 ,,,,

What could Skyrim learn from The Witcher 2?

Well... it's difficulty for starters... TW2 has you using your full arsenal to be effective on the normal difficulty. Hard is even harder and insane is just that... insane. It doesn't hold your hand, it's up to you to learn the depth of it's combat, learn about your enemies etc (the first true boss you fight in the game can kill you in two blows on normal, in one on hard). I'm one of those people that likes it that you can't just drink potions in combat, you have to think ahead and prepare. Now I'm not saying Skyrim should do the same things (like not being able to drink potions mid combat since I'm sure a LOT of people will dislike that), but make combat more difficult, challenging and rewarding.

I like the way the characters feel, they feel authentic, they don't feel like stereotypes (*cough* DA2 *cough*), they feel normal yet exceptional and interesting at he same time (by comparison OB's characers are uninteresting and bland apart from a few of them like good'ol Sheo). I'm constantly questioning their motives and only trust one person in the game so far (Triss). Apart from Geralt's wish to catch the king slayer there's a web of political and racial conflicts surrounding that plot.

Quests are very interesting. Hangover is the best quest ever

Choices do make a huge difference as to how the game plays out. And it's not all black and white, you have to think about the consequences, maybe that person you saved will betray you later on or maybe you'll get a pretty awesome magical item from them (TW2 players know the events I'm referring to), maybe you choose to turn your back on things and it will come back later on and bite you in the ass, maybe you'll be able to avoid a bad sitiations by doing so etc.

Graphically it looks great. Best looking RPG I have ever played. Aesthetically, the attention to detail is amazing.

Unlike The Witcher 1 it actually feels mature without failing by trying to hard, the six scenes are erotic but feel natural, you don't stumble across them every 5 minutes. I'm not saying that Skyrim should have six scenes (blacked out or not), no. What I'm saying is that if it's an M game make it feel like an M game.

The hunt for rare crafting materials is awesome. You can craft a LOT of things, I hope Skyrim features such depth in the crafting aspect.


Now, what should Skyrim not do?

Enemy combat AI (not just the monsters, even the humans) isn't very good in TW2. But the again Beth can't really claim they did a great job with combat AI either.

It should stay faithful to it's sandbox approach of go where you want and do what you want.

Using inventory lists... it's annoying as hell. MW's grid system inventory was informative and easy to use.

I've already finished this game, and although I loved it a lot, the only thing that really has to be in Skyrim is non-linear story. But I guess it's already in, because we have that civil war and maybe we could join some of the sides... Concerning the Witcher, it's too different. And sometimes it seemed that the swares are just for the sake of swares there... Still have nothing against genitals :dance:

Okay, I'm sorry if this is turning into another UI flaming thread but...

More informative? How?
You have to hover over every item to see what it actually does? The only advantage it has is that there are more items that you can see in one page.

And the funny thing is that Witcher 2 also has a list inventory...

What he said.

Bethesda needs to learn storytelling, something the Witcher 2 does pretty good, there you go. Yes Skyrim will probably be a great game, but that dosen't mean it's God.
Like when comparing any game team, they can both learn stuff from each other. Have you even played Witcher 2?

I don't know if W2 is a financial success but i love it as much as i love W1 .
That be said i doubt that a game with the scale of TES can be done with the detail and depth of W2.


In most TES games there are innocents and villains and all you have to do is either making the point of the innocents understood or refuse to , in TW1 everyone has a point and everything is both right and wrong innocent and corrupt so what the game ask you is to make a personal statement , pick a side and face the consequences .
Your character is free to find his place into the world , shape himself through mistakes, misjudgements and clear cut statements and it is never about loot , financial or sixual rewards , it is about navigating through very familiar themes like racism , xenophobia , sixism , corruption , abuse of authority without being judged . Mature audiences love this approach , i find it unlikely for Bethesda to ever follow this path because their games are targeting the kid inside us not the troubled advlt.

Not for me they don't, again i do not know how representative my style of play is in the player base, whether a lot, a little or 50-50, but to me story just means restrictiveness and linearity, i want to make my own story as i play, not sit through someone elses, just my opinion of course.

Collector's edition. Learn from that Bethesda! Please make awesome Collector's edition!

Exactly! Comparing a focused story, for a pre made character, in a non open world game to a game that let's you choose your character and the world is completely open is fallacious at best.

Skyrim has ABSOLUTELY nothing to learn from TW2.
Keep on the good work Bethesda and no worryes about over hyped Witcher 2

A good story doesn't get in the way of exploration or a game feeling sandbox-ish. It can have a great, interesting and deep story line with enough stuff to do outside it. Great story and sandbox aren't mutually exclusive. And yes, Beth didn't exactly do a great job with the story in OB.

@ Bukee
I'll have to reword that one since it doesn't make sense given the section it's in.

But what I mean is that having to scroll through lists is annoying because inventories tend to get filled with a lot of stuff in an RPG, and having to sort through all the junk to find that shiny sword/potion/whatever is time consuming. I'm well aware that TW2 has lists too, one of the things I don't like (reason why I have to edit my post, since that particular sentence isn't worded too well).

I consider them more informative because I can see with a quick glance how much junk I'm carrying around, what I'll keep and what I won't. Yes, you have to hover over things to see their stats but you only have to do it once with each item/item type. I can quickly sell drop what I don't need, I don't need to go through the entire list and go "Keep, keep, keep, sell, sell, sell, drop, sell etc." IDK, maybe it's my packrat mentality, but I find grid inventories way easier to manage than lists.

Yeah that's why ppl with N9800GTX are complaining that they get about 15ish FPS at low settings

I disagree. Strong storytelling doesn't have to limit itself to a more engaging main quest. It can add depth and meaning to side quests, characters, and events. I want to actually care about and experience the random people I meet and whatever stories of their lives I may walk into and change, for better or for worse. The fact that the majority of the characters in past bethesda games are unmemorable could be a great stain on Skyrim, which could achieve true greatness by trashing that preconceived notion and proving it wrong.

As far as I am concerned, anyone who says a game can't or shouldn't learn from another game's success and failures has their ears and eyes covered. There is always room to learn and become greater.