then just add a short cooldown to spells to represent that and give me my bloody freedom to be defensive/offensive with a block.

The question with the shield thing is how long will it take to switch between the two? A quick switch will work fine (and has some logic to it beyond a lack of buttons). A long switch will greatly reduce or emilinate several styles of play.

Another question is what if I am using a sword in one hand and nothing in the other, can I block or not? How about a sword and a torch, can I block then? And while it is likely that dual-weilding will be the same as a spell, a confirmation would be nice to have.

Wouldn't a cooldown time serve the same purpose as the time it takes to switch back to unarmed in the spell hand?

yeah, they could have done that way, it seems they have taken that to an "extreme". But, on my side, both ways would be fine. I'm not bothered too muchj about this. I'm ratgher more concerned about the magnetism thing.

I'm not entirely sure that they are contradictory. At least, I can come up with a (somewhat forced) interpretation of the quote from Todd which reconciles it with the French info. The idea is that when Todd says that "pressing the left trigger makes you block", that's in the context of having a weapon in your right hand. If you have a weapon in your right hand, pressing the right trigger makes you swing the weapon in your right hand. But if you have a weapon in both hands, then how do you block? Well, according to the French info, you press both triggers. And here's how I think we can interpret Todd as also meaning something like this: when he says "pressing the left trigger makes you block", he means that pressing the left trigger makes you block when you are also pressing the right trigger. The thing is, given the new casting system, this might not work for spells. Holding down the right trigger and pressing the left trigger might alter the spell you are casting, but it won't make you block.

Of course, that's a strained way of reading Todd's words. And there are other questions it raises:
1) What about if you're using a one-handed weapon without anything in the other hand, or you are using a two-handed weapon? Answer: easy, pressing left trigger makes you block, whether or not you are also holding down the right trigger.
2) What about if you are holding down the left trigger and then press the right trigger - would that make you block? Answer: well, if my interpretation is right, then yes it would.
3) But then, why does Todd only refer to the left trigger, rather than saying something like "pressing one trigger while holding down the other"? Answer: this is exactly why it's a strained interpretation.

But, it's worth keeping in mind:
1) Just because a journalist puts something in quotation marks, it doesn't mean that this is exactly what Todd uttered. Journalists routinely misquote. Examples can be provided upon request.
2) Whether my interpretation is right or not seems to depend a lot on the context in which Todd was saying whatever he said. Depending on what sorts of presuppositions were in play about what the character had equipped, what it was doing in combat, and so on, then my interpretation is more or less natural.

Anyway: just some thoughts if you want to remain optimistic.

Sorry if this has been asked but what If you have a sword in your main and offhand, can you still not block brcause of 2 weapons?

P.s. Am I the only one excited about bullet time? Using and ancient word of power to heighten your reflexes and awareness to that of a dragon, making mortals seem slow in comparison? (my interpretation ^.^)

Yeah seriously, realism svcks.

I just want to swipe at my enemy the entire time until he falls down. That is probably exactly how people used to kill each other back in the day. I bet no one ever stabbed anybody.

People come back for vengeance if you killed their family members? Hmm....

Slay a smith for selling me a bad weapon. Twenty years later....

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

There is conflicting information and no-one really knows unfortunately

:thumbsup:

Though I'm guessing it'll be sooner than twenty years.

most likly yes, I have a hard time believing they banish weapon blocking to the land of two handed weapons.

Yes you can. I believe the French magazine said that on the consoles to block with two melee weapons, you hold both the triggers at the same time.

Probably not the son, but then you will be watching your back fearing his wife vengeance. You know how dangerous women are when they get pissed.

On another thread about a foreign mag it had the same info about arrows a slight pull to target like COD. i was confused too

As a university professor in the U.S., I can confirm that this is quite widely accepted as fact among those who teach at this level.

But Skyrim will be great, regardless!
:disco:

Thanks, they're excellent thoughts - I hadn't considered those interpretations (strained or not), but I think you might be right. And I get the feeling Todd puts rather complex thoughts into very, perhaps overly simple words for game journalists, and a lot of the detail we'd need to make a definite call is lost.

It's too late here for me to stay awake and counter-speculate, so I'll assume the system's pretty close to the one you described until we learn more.

You realize you don't have to use dragon shouts right?

There will not, at any point in the game, be a time where a message pops up saying "Use dragon shout now or you will not be allowed to continue with the game."

Jesus, find something to complain about that actually matters instead of complaining about having the ability to do something that you're not forced to do anyways.

You really seem to struggle with vocalizing (in this case typing out) a thought. I still have no idea what it is you were originally angry about, or why you think you have to use a certain dragon shout, or why you think that because there is a spell available to you that you HAVE to use it or else you can't be a mage, even though you can cast 15 other different spells.

With every post, you have made it more and more difficult to figure out what it is you're even complaining about.

:( that is sad to hear, I could understand NPCs being this way but hopefully it does not affect our characters(at least a toggle). I never used followers anyways.

-'Magnetism' in your attacks draws them more towards enemies rather than allies so as there is no 'friendly fire' in bigger battles.
This is useful. Friendly fire made team battles all but frustrating.

-Taverns will play a large role in getting information, gossip and rumours from a town as it's naturally where most people go after working and you can listen to peoples conversation and learn more about the town and/or skyrim itseld - it's a lot more natural.
-People will be more vague or specific when talking to you or giving you quests depending on how much they like you.
Good touches for immersion, but not game-changers really.

-There will be some enchanted weapons which don't tell you what they do - so you'll know it's magical in some way but you won't know how exactly, you'd have to find out yourself - (this would most likely apply to the things you find in dungeons, ie people wouldn't know about it so the PC wouldn't either untill it's used)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Oblivion's best artifacts behave the same way? :unsure: I mean, you'd have a single "Special effect" effect that you didn't have a clue would do.

-If you are using a two handed weapon then you use Left Trigger to block and Right trigger to attack, however if you have a one handed weapon in one hand and a spell in the other, you won't be able to block - left trigger will then be a spell and right will be attack - it is done to make you play more stratigically - be more offensive, defensive, magic based etc.
... what? No weapon-block for One-Handed? BUUUUMMMMERRRR :unsure2: Oh well, more dodging then, and I guess I should turn towards Acrobatics. Those backflips rock. :thumbsup:

-They describe a finishing move they perform on a bandit - they 'plunge the sword into his chest' and the bandit can be heard gurgling his blood as he dies.
Ouch. M (17) rating guaranteed.

-Outside of quests you can perform; Woodcutting, Cooking, Mining and metalwork
Metalwork, as in, Smithing?

-Some Dragon Shouts are found in dungeons.
No surprize here.

-Dragon Encounters aren't scripted and they will 'Merrily ravage towns without warning'/
Fun for the whole family! :biggrin:

-NPC's are said to be improved, having proper jobs and routines now and some will even take out a vendetta on you and will come to find you if you killed a loved one or relative for example.
Anything that goes beyond them being better-looking tamagochi's is welcome.

*wipes off the dripping sarcasm*

Hope you read on a bit for my clarification.

But I want fantasy, realistic combat isn't my ideal, especially if it incorporates numerous button combinations, etc. I never blinked at the simplicity of MW's combat. OB's got too complicated for me, and it was a step towards more realistic combat. The trend, albeit a short one and the little evidence that's out there about Skyrim make me quite hesitant about melee. Dunno, it's the whole where does one emphasize game development: realism, graphics, mechanics, story, etc. That's for another thread.

I prefer the fantasy, story, and brain bending aspects more than the combat :shrug:

In oblivion when you selected an enchanted weapon it would tell you what it did (you may be thinking of alchemy ingredients, the first effect would always be shown but the other 3 would only be shown after the PC reaches a certain alchemy level.

As for Metalwork meaning Smithing, I'm not sure - they said metalwork in the magazine so thats what I wrote down.

Am I the only one happy about being unable to block with the sword+spell combo? I think being able to weild a sword, block, and fling spells about would make you over powered and unstopable. Plus it makes sense, blocking with one hand is near impossible, with two handed weapons it's possible but should jack up your weapon and still let some damage through, duel weilded swords should block by crossing them at the hilt guard with the same result as two handed sword, and one handed swords (and IMO) sword and spell should parry, but throw you a bit off balance making you stagger for second or two, but not strait up block.

My favorite parts about this post was about the wind blowing the water around and the hint that we may be getting actual directions instead of the omnipotent waypoints (the unknown enchantments also makes me think this because they they are doing that because the PC wouldn't know the enchantment then he also wouldn't know the location the armor piece lost for 1000 year in some cave, or where a missing person is).

This info is awesome!!!!!! :mohawk:

I think what the no block with a spell ready realy is designed to do is deal with the fact that magic has to be designed for the mage and they cant block and they have lousy armor if any armor for that matter.. they are more offesive oriented then a 2 handed warrior. Because they have to be.

So either your depending on the magic to defend you or your counting on it to kill them or your casting a wquck spell and swapped it a shield or weapon. The one thing your not doing is blocking while ready to cast. Because mages dont fight that way.