No more birthsigns?

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 3:04 am

The whole perk system is like one big Birthsign. You make your own stars. Are people really this unimaginative when they game? Do they need the game to tell them who they are?

People are so pessimistic about change. :confused:
User avatar
neen
 
Posts: 3517
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:19 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 3:41 am

Things will be based upon what you use, not what you choose. But you can control that by careful planning and using the skills you want to increase:
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/b/xbox360/archive/2011/01/28/skyrim-menu-system-overhaul.aspx

Three prominent nebulae dominate the Skyrim heavens – the thief, the warrior, and the mage. Each of these represents one of the three master skill sets. Each nebula houses six constellations, each of which represents a skill. As in Oblivion, every player starts out with the ability to use all 18 skills – any player can use a two-handed weapon, try alchemy, or cast a destruction spell (provided you find or purchase one). As you use these skills in Skyrim, they will level up and contribute to driving your character's overall level higher.

Every time players rank up their overall level, they can choose a supplemental perk ability for one of the 18 skills. For instance, if you fight most of your battles with a mace, you may want to choose the perk that allows you to ignore armor while using the weapon. As in Fallout 3, several of the perks have their own leveling system as well, allowing you to choose them multiple times. Once you choose a perk, it lights up the corresponding star in the constellation, making it visible when looking up to the heavens while interacting in the world.

User avatar
kiss my weasel
 
Posts: 3221
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:08 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 8:17 am

The whole perk system is like one big Birthsign. You make you're own stars. Are people really this unimaginative when they game? Do they need the game to tell them who they are?

People are so pessimistic about change. :confused:

Nicely said.
User avatar
Sarah Bishop
 
Posts: 3387
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:59 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 5:58 am

The whole perk system is like one big Birthsign. You make you're own stars. Are people really this unimaginative when they game? Do they need the game to tell them who they are?




EDIT: Dragonborn1 beat me to it
User avatar
Penny Wills
 
Posts: 3474
Joined: Wed Sep 27, 2006 6:16 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 10:46 am

Birthsigns? No problem. Most of them were pointless. But Intelligence? Willpower? That is too bad... :mellow: Oh well....I am sure chugging skooma while shrieking enemies to death using dragon yells and sweet finishing moves will at least be fun and entertaining, even if it is dumbed down a little. :mohawk:
User avatar
Britta Gronkowski
 
Posts: 3475
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:14 pm

Post » Mon May 02, 2011 7:06 pm


hth do they take out birthsigns


Considering I seem to recall they weren't in Arena or Daggerfall, it should be obvious how they can take them out.

Birthsigns, I'm pretty sure, weren't added until Morrowind, where they served a specific purpose in the story as it was said that the Nerevarine was born under a certain sign (It wasn't specified which one, of course, but that's so you could choose.) In Oblivion, they were likely only there because they were in Morrowind, and now they won't be in Skyrim, which is fine to me, birthsigns are just one out of the different ways to customize your character, they are not in themselves a vital part of the series. What's important is the level of customization the game affords the player, how that is achieved I don't really care as long as the results are good.
User avatar
Daddy Cool!
 
Posts: 3381
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:34 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 6:22 am

I will judge it when I play it. Kepping an open mind.
User avatar
Lori Joe
 
Posts: 3539
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:10 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 12:16 am

Removal of birth signs is rather disappointing... it was another option for giving flavor and/or experimenting with a character concept.

Although most were worthless, the concepts were valid, and could be usable with the appropriate tweak to power level. (eg: Make them mostly passive abilities instead of daily abilities)

eg: Being able to heal yourself of minor wounds once a day is worthless, but if that were instead turned into a permanent passive regeneration amount at the expense of being susceptible to fire damage, that would be great.

Also, what are you all on? Attronach sign was by far the most powerful and useful.
User avatar
Robert Garcia
 
Posts: 3323
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:26 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 7:33 am

Birthsigns? No problem. Most of them were pointless. But Intelligence? Willpower? That is too bad... :mellow: Oh well....I am sure chugging skooma while shrieking enemies to death using dragon yells and sweet finishing moves will at least be fun and entertaining, even if it is dumbed down a little. :mohawk:

In Oblivion, Intelligence should have been called "magicka divided by two" and Willpower should have been called "magicka regen rate... and fatigue modifier."

Really, most of the attributes did barely anything beyond deriving other stats. You can say "well I should have an option to make my high elf wizard more intelligent than your orc barbarian," but that doesn't change the fact that my orc could read the same books, use the same witty conversation options, and solve the same puzzles. The best thing to do, on an unlimited budget with unlimited time, would be to keep the attributes and make them truly useful in the game, but it makes no sense to keep the same broken system.
User avatar
Jessie Rae Brouillette
 
Posts: 3469
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:50 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 12:36 am


Also, what are you all on? Attronach sign was by far the most powerful and useful.


There is likely be a perk that allows the player to absorb some magicka. Maybe not as much as the Atronach sign gave us but still... every little bit helps right?
User avatar
lauraa
 
Posts: 3362
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:20 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 10:10 am

I will judge it when I play it. Kepping an open mind.

Spoken like a wise man.
User avatar
ANaIs GRelot
 
Posts: 3401
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:19 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 8:37 am

You can build whole RPs around birth signs alone.
User avatar
Mélida Brunet
 
Posts: 3440
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:45 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 10:03 am

Removal of birth signs is rather disappointing... it was another option for giving flavor and/or experimenting with a character concept.

Although most were worthless, the concepts were valid, and could be usable with the appropriate tweak to power level. (eg: Make them mostly passive abilities instead of daily abilities)

eg: Being able to heal yourself of minor wounds once a day is worthless, but if that were instead turned into a permanent passive regeneration amount at the expense of being susceptible to fire damage, that would be great.

Also, what are you all on? Attronach sign was by far the most powerful and useful.


The birthsign your talking about - the Lord, gave you the second most cost effective healing spell (behind the one everyone starts with) in the game until your character was at a very high level of restoration. You could use it as many times per day as you wanted and it was one of the most useful birthsigns for many warriors who could use it as a substitute for restoration and then could choose an extra major skill. It was one of the most useful birthsigns imo.
User avatar
Philip Lyon
 
Posts: 3297
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:08 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 3:29 am

Watch the new interview with Todd on http://bethblog.com/. Birthsigns are out.


No birthsigns? I am not pleased..
User avatar
Len swann
 
Posts: 3466
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:02 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 3:01 am

In Oblivion, Intelligence should have been called "magicka divided by two" and Willpower should have been called "magicka regen rate... and fatigue modifier."

You are right. Which is why I always thought OB was a bland caricature of what possible for a mage. There was much that could be done with the attributes in MW (though unbalanced) that had great potential if it were delved into. I was hoping that it would be fixed in this game, not just cut out again.

There still is strong possibility with this new system. I am just not so sure any more.
User avatar
Samantha Mitchell
 
Posts: 3459
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:33 pm

Post » Mon May 02, 2011 9:42 pm

While I don't mind them taking out birthsigns as we know them in TES, I was hoping for an overhaul of the system.

Rather than a few early stat boosts that don't matter in the long run, I was hoping for something that follows your character the whole game.

Ie. The Warrior: small bonus to % of damage dealt out with every hit, The Serpent: small % that a stealth attack will automatically kill the victim.

Yeah, I thought they might do something like this or like the OP said. I'm with Xarnac. Granted MW and OB birthsigns were mostly lame, but they're a little piece that makes a TES game, so instead of cutting..... why not just incorporate birthsigns into the new system? Make that the first perk you choose. It doesn't have to be a major one. Strange that they would just drop them entirely. Oh, well. Not a big deal, but just a little thing that'll bother me.
User avatar
SexyPimpAss
 
Posts: 3416
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:24 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 1:36 am

It makes little sense that they would get rid of birth signs when this game is going to have more of a emphasis on astronomy, but I can live without them I guess. :cold: I'll be fine. . . someday.


That's the thing, I guess, you draw your own "birthsign" in the sky as you go along.

My nostalgic self are feeling a bit let down I think, but truly, I also love this new idea.
User avatar
Andres Lechuga
 
Posts: 3406
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 8:47 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 3:46 am

That's the thing, I guess, you draw your own "birthsign" in the sky as you go along.

My nostalgic self are feeling a bit let down I think, but truly, I also love this new idea.

Same here. It's just a little bit less RP/custom stuff for the character at the start. Not a big loss, but like you said only nostalgia and now you just have to pretend you've got a certain birthsign. Not too bad. It's interesting that they didn't add it until MW. Didn't know that. I've only played console games.
User avatar
Hannah Whitlock
 
Posts: 3485
Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:21 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 1:37 am

Another dumb exclusion.


Oh, right. Birthsigns were SO useful gameplay-speaking...their added spells are the ones I've used less in my life, and I've never picked up any that boosted my attributes (which makes no sense anyway, as attributes are out, too).

The only way I'll miss them is lore-speaking, but little else apart from that. And besides, the removal could even be lore-wise: your char simply hasn't been born in any necessary star-pattern to grow birthsign' powers. That's all.

I think that this removal is the less traumatic I've seen so far.
User avatar
Tyrel
 
Posts: 3304
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:52 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 12:51 am

Same here. It's just a little bit less RP/custom stuff for the character at the start. Not a big loss, but like you said only nostalgia and now you just have to pretend you've got a certain birthsign. Not too bad. It's interesting that they didn't add it until MW. Didn't know that. I've only played console games.


Besides. Instead of actively picking your birthsign yourself, it can be viewed to be even more in line with the discovery of your destiny through events and action, as a parallel to Morrowind, which surely should be a nostalgia boost for many =P
User avatar
lillian luna
 
Posts: 3432
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:43 pm

Post » Mon May 02, 2011 10:54 pm

It's more a concern for me with regards to the flavour and concept of what the Birth Signs represented, and was one of those iconic features I associate with TES. Though I am optimistic, as there could be very strong story reasons for them not being added (I hope there is some explination). For example haps part of the reason they are not around is it is somehow linked to the Dragons arrival and they may not be seen in the heavens anymore, which is why the character can effectivly make their own constelation through their skill and perk choices.

Though the linking to skills does tailor back to the questions you can answer to determine your characters class, which was the promenent feature of them in Arena and Daggerfall.

Worst comes to worst I'd mod them in as perks (as im sure many other modders would look at dooing), because I'd like to see them in there assuming they have no reason not to be that is.
User avatar
Sophie Payne
 
Posts: 3377
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:49 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 1:27 am

Oh, right. Birthsigns were SO useful gameplay-speaking...their added spells are the ones I've used less in my life, and I've never picked up any that boosted my attributes (which makes no sense anyway, as attributes are out, too).

They weren't great in MW and OB, but this is the chance to fix them. They'd go great with the new perk system, I think. They should be improved, not cut. Of course, if there's some story element that requires their removal, that's different.
User avatar
Roberta Obrien
 
Posts: 3499
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:43 pm

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 5:56 am

Should be fairly easy to mod them back in.
User avatar
Bee Baby
 
Posts: 3450
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 4:47 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 1:24 am

I can live without them, I think the new system is better than the old one and hope the game won′t prove me otherwise.
User avatar
Liii BLATES
 
Posts: 3423
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:41 am

Post » Tue May 03, 2011 1:55 am

Be nice to at least pick your sign even if it didn't add any changes just to feel more official.

But whatever.
User avatar
Anna Kyselova
 
Posts: 3431
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:42 am

PreviousNext

Return to V - Skyrim