Will Skyrim have better presentation of leveling stats? Oblivion only shows a "progress bar" of how many times you have upped your major skills in a level. I would like to see the number of times ANY SKILL has gone up during a level. I would also like to see the number of times an ATTRIBUTE has gone up during a level. For instance:

Alchemy, 46, +2 this level
Conjuration, 34, +0 this level
Mysticism, 38, +1 this level

Destruction, 39, +0 this level
Alteration, 38, +2 this level
Restoration, +46, +5 this level

Intelligence, 75, +3 this level
Willpower, 70, +7 this level

At least they should group the skills together by attribute as shown above, not like in Oblivion, where the skill list is shown in an arbitrary order.


My last question is will it be less tedious to improve Mercantile skill in Skyrim than in Oblivion? In Oblivion, it's the number of times, not quantity of items, you sell that determines how much you increase your Mercantile skill. Selling 10 potatoes in one transaction and selling 1 potato give you the same increase. So you have to tediously sell them in 10 separate transactions to get the 10x skill increase. Can just they give me 10x skill increase no matter the number of transactions?

If would also help if we are shown how many "actions" it would take for a skill to up one level. E.g. Conjuration - cast 6 spells to up one; Mercantile - sell 200 items to up one.

I thought it was in alphabetical order?



We can only hope. I'll take a leap of faith and assume the developers were smart enough to take heed of the number of complaints that particular mechanic got and fix it.

The major skills are in alphabetical order, but the minor skills are seemingly arbitrarily listed.

I hope there is a major overhaul of mercantile altogether. Below is a quote and my response from a previous thread. Leveling up in mercantile based on your ability to actually make money would be awesome.


These two are excellent ideas. Add to that a dynamic pricing system. Nothing too fancy... it sounds like this radiant AI should be able to implement a simple bartering system that from time to time spikes the prices of certain items of need. A space game I used to play, Escape Velocity, had a rudimentary system like this. If you stopped at a planet and read the news it would tell you, "A recent outbreak has increased the price of medical supplies on such-and-such planet." This set a timer where if you showed up at that planet in the next few weeks you could sell medical supplies at inflated prices... That was the case for all of the bartered goods in the game. That, and some planets had higher or lower prices for the same goods depending on the "need" of the planet. You could go to one planet buy metals at low prices and fly a few systems over and sell them at high prices. At the risk of getting attacked by pirates, of course.

This Skyrim AI sounds like it should be able to handle something even a little more complex. Add in the ability to buy pack animals that cannot fast travel for the moving of goods...

Imagine you have shops that from time to time request certain high value items for special customers. You walk into a trader, he tells you "I have a customer that's been asking around for glass armor, you wouldn't know where to get some, would you?" It's not a specific quest so to say, but if you happen to show up with some glass armor over the next week or two perhaps you then can sell it to him at very a handy profit. This would add an interesting dynamic... you sell your high-value loot at piddling prices when you get it to make quick cash, or you build a stash until you hear of someone wanting it and then sell it at full value.

The AI could spit out all sorts of mini events... ie you overhear a conversation in an inn... "So I hear there is an epidemic in such-and-such town..." You, the vigilant alchemist, show up there with healing potions up the wazoo... and mint... Following up on tips and delivering "special" orders for sellers would be the means to build up skills in the merchant skill....urr..if there still is one....I haven't kept up on this stuff. I thought the merchant skill in Oblivion was silly as you gained exp for every single sell.... If the skill still exists in Skyrim moving up in skill points could be determined by ones ability to sell at higher prices. If you sell at normal price...no xp increase. The perk system could even be worked in... with perks being the opportunities to buy/sell to high-value or unique item dealers... selling less legal items to certain individuals...buying up your own particular shop or trading company and selling your loot...or potions...in your own shop... (yeah that last one is a stretch)