Just picked up the latest OPSM which came out the other day and they've got a nice 12 page preview of the game complete with an interview with Todd Howard and lead designer Bruce Neswith.

I'm still reading through it and I'll update this post with more info after I'm done but I'm on the second page now and they've thus far delved a bit more into combat and spells; including something described as magnetism meaning our attacks will be slightly attracted to enemies so as to avoid 'friendly fire' in the bigger fights, they've spoken a little bit on dungeons and its enemies and puzzles and a little bit on spells. I'll arrange the major points in a summary here soon so this is just a heads up.

Edit with the info:
-'Magnetism' in your attacks draws them more towards enemies rather than allies so as there is no 'friendly fire' in bigger battles.
-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.
-Quest givers won't be so specific, an example given is say in Oblivion a QG would say you'd be paid 200 gold for doing something, they've tried to make it more natural so the QG would say something more along the lines if 'I'd happily pay if you could do this for me'. (Maybe your payment is dependant on how well you pull off the task?)
-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)
-People will be more vague or specific when talking to you or giving you quests depending on how much they like you.
-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.
-They mention some new spells such as one which acts as a shield against magic
-They talk about dungeons; one in specific which they go to on a quest *Minor spoilers ahead* called 'Bleak Falls Barrow' - it is inhabited mainly by the Draugr (the undead guys in the screenshots we've seen), a 'ghostly dragon priest' who bursts out of a sarcophagus to attack and startle the player and the 'boss' of the dungeon - a giant 'Frostbite Spider'. They said that they were proceeding through the dungeon when it dropped down from the ceiling where it was hiding, it was said to be terrifying.
-A rune that you can throw down and it fires out shards of ice, similar to the flamethrower one we've heard about.
-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.
-Outside of quests you can perform; Woodcutting, Cooking, Mining and metalwork
-They mention some of the 18 skills although I don't know if they're being specific or general (ie they could be grouping a few skills into one, and these are probably not the names of them): Combat, Magic, Stealth, Conversationalist.
-They mention a Dragon Shout that acts as a sort of 'Bullet Time'.
-Riverwood is described as 'A smattering of timber buildings, including a sawmill'
-They get the quest to go to Bleak Falls Barrow from a shopkeeper called Lucan who has had his antique golden dragon claw stolen and wants you to retrieve it.
-Radiant Story is in part inspired by the random encounters in Fallout 3.
-The game apparently looks amazing in motion, with great environment effects such as the wind making the water swirl and make waves.
-Some Dragon Shouts are found in dungeons.
-It is possible to raise all skills to 100 but not possible to get all perks.
-The King of Skyrim is dead, which has sparked the Civil War.
-Dragon Encounters aren't scripted and they will 'Merrily ravage towns without warning'/
-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.
-"Every big settlement is unique. The city of Markarth Side, for example, is set into dramatic stone cliffs, with buildings teetering on the end of sheer drops"
-Haarfingar is said to be home to the largest trading port in Skyrim.
-They mention breaking and entering to find out more about people, but I'm not sure as to what extent - "Because of the open world set up you can even progress by snooping around - following people, looking out for strange behaviour and even some light breaking and entering".

There is one screen that I haven't seen before, It's a dragon standing on top of a large mountain (not the one looking out at mountains, thats in here aswell) - the dragon is seen from the front very clearly and I must say looks very badass. The animations seem to be pretty good from the shots aswell, as the dragons feet are positioned correctly depending on where he is standing in the 3 shots they appear in.

There is also some concept art of what appears to be Dwemer Ruins? possibly, I'm not entirely sure. It looks cool though

Anyway, thats most of what I can remember from the main article and interview, I haven't delved too much into the surrounding screens captions or the massive annotated map of tamriel, but if there's anything else I find I'll add it in.

Enjoy.

Quickly!

Edit: cheers.

Good man, more stuff the better, even stuff we know if explained slightly differently is good.

Great. I wonder how this magnetism will be. Hopefully not too "strong", but I see why they'd implement such a thing.

It could be good to counter friendly fire.
But... not too strong, yes. Definitely not.

And it better be optional; some can actually aim pretty good.

:facepalm:
Get off the forums and finish reading it already....

Any possible new info is great.

You not updated it yet ....come on dude get a grip! :shakehead:
Joking
I'm looking forward to see if there is anything different from OXM UK. :thumbsup:
Give us our fix.......please!

magnetism will be a good thing, I hate killing somebody I am trying to keep alive because they won't get out of my way. hurry and update please=)

:swear: :ahhh: :flame: :flame: :flame: :flame: :ahhh: :swear:

It's about the only element so far that I've really felt the need to complain about... so here's hoping it's very subtle or better yet, completely optional.

yeah i picked that up myself yesterday love all the pictures init, couldnt really find anything new i do remember something about blocking,

If somebody likes you enough. sometimes they'll explain something exactly and sometimes they'll be vague because of the radiant nature

I have it too, will post some snippets that can later be added to the OP



- Wind stirs the surface of water (as well as blowing trees about)

- 2 new pics as far as I'm aware. One of a giant spider with the PC holding a big two handed axe and running at the vile creature . And what looks like http://www.flickr.com/photos/47857688@N08/5435786419/ picture but a close up at the dragon from a different angle.

- Confirmed that taverns are a major place to pick up quests. They learned a lot from the Fallout style random encounters, but would like to keep the quests mainly from towns. Note especially taverns

- Radiant Story; if a quest giver likes you a lot he will give you very specific directions, other wise it can be somewhat vague.

- Todd definitely conforms if you have magic in one hand and a weapon in the other, you cannot block. His reasoning for this is that if you have a fireball and a shiled then you're playing offensive. He also says there is a magic shield spell, but that'd not designed for melee, more magic. He does however emphasise it will be very easier to switch between play styles so you can block if needs be

you have to press down on both trigger buttons on a controller to block if you don't have a shield, heard that in a podcast or read it in a article

This was the only thing that i heard,that i didn't like either.
But now,i don't think it will be as bad as it sounds.
Would prefer a toggle,but i'm not worried about it the same now.

In fact ,that could tie into a perk that does location damage maybe...who knows.

I was quoting from the magazine that was Todd's own words.

I think that's in the gi article.

if this "magnetism" is anything like FO's auto-aim it will be one of the first things modded out. I dont need help pointing my bow or sword in the right direction and having to be careful about not hitting allies is just another gameplay element for me. Unless its due to stupid AI like in NV where Boone, sniper that he supposedly is, runs into a narrow corridor full of my mines and where im lobbing grenades and spraying bullets. In which case the solution really is better AI and not targeting help.

though i suppose its understandable for consoles who dont have the precision of a mouse... :bolt:

That sounds flawed though? If I have a weapon in one hand and nothing in the other I can block but I can't if I have a spell equipped? Why can't I just raise the weapon with my one hand and block? You don't need a free hand to block with a weapon.

Read my above post. It's very easier to switch between play styles and deselect the spell. I think it's to stop when in Oblivion if you blocked with a shield you could actually cast magic faster.

Updated the OP.

My point exactly, although in reality if you had a spell in one hand and a weapon in another it would be possible to block but I guess its for balancing purposes.

This makes me very excited! Thank you!

That's ... weird

This means no quest compass? or at least the compass won't be like the one in oblivion where it tells you exactly where to go every time.

Flawed mechanic is flawed.

You can raise a weapon with the hand holding it too block. You don't need to use two hands to block.

No confirmation or denying it. There is definitely a compass (that has been confirmed elsewhere). But this does suggest it's more Morrowind style in the giving of directions.