Oh god I hate mini games. Doesn't matter how they're done. I've always hated them.

I don't consider alchemy a mini game though. Seems strange to include it in a poll like this, especially when you leave out enchanting and spellmaking which have a similar interface.

Edit: And can you add a "I don't like minigames" to the last section of the poll? I can't vote otherwise.

I'm not very fond of the lockpicking and persuation minigames.

I have an idea for the lockpicking minigame.
Bethesda should start using lock levels, like they did in Morrowind... and to pick a lock you will need a lockpicking skill equal to or higher than the lock level of the lock.
If you fail at the minigame, the minigame will exit when you character is changing lockpick, making it possible for guards to spot you until your new lockpick is ready and you try again.
There should also be traps on some doors and containers, and tools to disarm them. A similar system could be used for this.

Oblivion's persuation minigame is horrible. I have no good ideas for a new minigame for this. Morrowind's system was much better than Oblivion's... not that Morrowind's system was great.

I really think there should be some kind of "Bardic" skills, so as I can achieve my dream of going on a Tamriel-wide tour, spinning tales of myself and other fantastic adventurers.

I do not mind minigames as long as they do NOT replace a skill. I do not mind minigames like fishing, archery practice or singing that are not vital to the game and can serve as a distraction. But what Oblivion did with persuation and with lockpick is terrible. I hope the persuation skill is totally revamped and depends on the character verbal skill, not the player. As far as lockpicking goes, Oblivon did it terrible, Fallout 3 did it even worse (yes, it is possible to make that system worse). Please, give me the Morrowind's system any day and twice on Sundays.

Replace persuasion with the skill checks that the Fallouts have.

no :swear: way, fallout and oblivion are totally different kinds of games when it comes to that, it would destroy the feeling of a fantasy game to me :shrug:

The skill limit to open locks can be implemented in a more natural way. A way that would not seem out of place in such an environment.

There can be different kind of locks and different methods of locking doors or items, so the fact that you have learned the way to open a type of locks, it would not mean that you can unlock the other type of locks, and you have to acquire at least the basics of the methods that you need in order to be able to start working on those types of locks.

So some types of locks are above your capabilities until you find a teacher who can teach you how to tackle with them, (give you the perk), but the teacher might inform you that those are way above your class, or they are still above your capabilities, or you still need a bit more finesse, so lets get more experienced with locks before I try to teach you the trick, so come back when you are a bit more experienced.

After a while the teacher might inform you that you are ready to learn the trick and gives you the perk that lets you tackle with those types of locks, but there might be still other types of more complicated methods to lock items, so you have still more milestones ahead of you.

Some types of locks might be extremely resilient to magic and would require high level of lock picking skill in order to learn their distinctive method of lock picking.

I think that those different methods need different types of minigames, so that we know that they are different types of locks.

Edit:

I don't understand, why the option to talk skillfully about a subject, whenever you are actually skillful in that subject would seem out of place in an elderscrolls game?

This can be implemented in a way that would not seem out of place in about any type of environment, even in a game that is about some cavemen in about 15000 years ago on Earth, so that when you have learned about making fire, then you can talk about that subject, in your own language of course. :shrug:

I like all the mini games except for persuasion. I don't want it to be like the Fallout series. They should make something specific for Elder Scrolls instead of borrowing from there other series.
Lockpicking was more fun in Oblivion than fallout in my opinion. There is always room for improvement though.

I would love to see some form of gambling, fishing, maybe even cooking?

He was not talking about the option to talk skillfully about a subject, but about replacing persuation with the skillful talk.

I love minigames They add more stuff to do, I would like fishing and gambling stuff.

But I HATE THAT DAMN PERSUATION MINIGAME! Never again Bethesda, please. Use FNV skill/speech checks for this sort of stuff.

@Lattice:

I added it in the first section -- seemed more appropriate.


@Sphagne:

That's some really good ideas.I would love to see something like that in the game. Locks are, after all, different, and your ideas make more sense than the current system. And yes some locks should be resilient against magic to some degree -- this would make the balance between mages and rogues better too.

I really liked how the did minigames, I learned a lot about lock-picking, the only thing I didn't like about it was speech, because you had to be a flippen genesis to get it right.

What? You mean genius? It was a wheel spinning around and what you basically did was clicking on the smiley face when it was big and avoid clicking on sour faces. :S

no I mean genesis, you have to begin all over again (im just trying to cover up my mistakes), yeh genius I have been studying french for 2 hours, so sorry. And yeh that was the basics, but you had to like plan ahead with everything, I had a bunch of cash though, so I just bought my way out.

@Swarley

Ma tête aussi est toujours un peu brouillée après avoir parlé fran?ais Je melange des mots comme un fou.

my head is *something* a *something something* after speaking french. I *something* words *something*
meh I did all right, I am only in the 10th grade and taking a french college class 120

I think that, often, minigames themselves are more useful then dice rolls because A: they keep the player active and B: they slow down time and give you contol of how your player thinks and acts. However, Skill (and to some extent, dice rolls) should play a huge part in your abilty to suceede or not suceede in the games. If the they implement them well, than there should be a minigame for just about everything.

Also, transition to nd from minigmes should be as seemless and realistic as possible, (no pop-up side-views of a lock)

I really think that something like alchemy could benefit greatly from a mini game.

I’m not talking about a game where if you succeed in it then the potion is created and if you don’t the potion fails. I’m thinking more along the lines of something that allows you to determine how much of each ingredient you use, how you prepare it and how you mix them, and giving each process its own effect on the resulting potion. This could be implemented by selections and text boxes, but would be much more interesting, and give greater value to potions if you had to make each individually through a mini game. It would also mean that each potion would vary in quality and slightly in effects depending how much and how well you prepared and processed each ingredient.

Well some of us are cack-handed. I can't open an easy door with lock-pick skill 100. Games shouldn't only be for the dextrous.

Both minigames and dice rolls could work together, right? Oblivion had a "dice roll" alternative to the lockpicking minigame.

I would love a fishing, cooking,and crafting skills. Eh the lockpicking in oblivion was ok, although I liked MW's better, even though it looked like I was stabbing the chest/door with a big pin.Persuasion should be affected by your speech, imo.The persausion minigame was meh, they couldve done better with it.

Yes and this should always be included for the cack-handed amongst us.

I voted for fishing, because I was suddenly reminded of fishing in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. What fun. Probably totally out of place for an Elder Scrolls game, but ....

I like them. I think the lock picking in Oblivion was good

Persuasion was awful though

The difference was that a lockpick in MW would last for about 25 attempts before wearing out and breaking, whereas you broke one on each failed attempt in OB. Pressing the "auto attempt" button in OB resulted in a stack of broken lockpicks; you had about an even chance of losing ONE before opening the lock in MW, assuming a difficulty level "on par" with the player's skill in both cases. It's not that MW's system was that good, but that the mini-game in OB was almost totally unaffected by your skill level in OB. Each of them was "half the answer".