Looking through the forums and reading opinions, Also basing off of my opinions, I can say almost certainly that the vast majority of fans want Morrowind style gameplay. More complicated. But there is also the growing fan-base and a game like that would probably throw most first time players off the bandwagon and only true gamers would take the effort to hop back on. To get to the topic, They could simply make the Difficulty Slider to more then just effect the damage ratios. The game itself isn't any harder, It just puts more pressure on you to actually sneak for the critical and enchant so you can balance out the damage input/output you give/receive from monsters.

Now, What I was thinking was something along the lines of the higher on the slider you go, It could make it so that you'd actually have to ask around for clues instead of paying a beggar 5 coins and you know to go to cave __ by hill __ outside of __. Quest markers could then me made to point you in the general direction until you get into the area you need to be in then it's up to you to find whoever you need to kill or whatever you need to find on your own merits more like Morrowind. And if new players are having trouble they could turn the slider down and get help/clues more easily and more pin-point quest markers like Oblivion. It could (Probably not easily) be made to effect much more then just quests, Possibly NPC interactions/personalities, Random encounters, Ect. And could turn it into a whole new game depending on where your preference in difficulty lies.

Thoughts?

Edit: Ok since a reply pointed out having so many things effected with 1 slider would be a bad idea (And i do agree). There would be one main slider effecting basic aspects with option sliders below it so that you could effect what you would/wouldn't want or effecting how often it happens, Ect.

Sounds very very complicated to implement, but I do agree with this part "Difficulty Slider to more then just effect the damage ratios." How? I do not know.

I dont think this is a good idea anyways because it sounds like it would split the game too much.

another edit... In other thought I think I like what they are doing by trying to find middle ground between what they did with MW and OB, to please both sides without splitting the game into two vastly different gameplay options.

Skyrim should be, and will be, Skyrim.

It's a bad and HARD idea to have so many different things attached to the same slider. What if you want one thing but don't want the other thing? Bad idea, sorry.

If things are optional, they are best to be seperated.

Each game so far had there own gameplay style, no reasons to change it now.

As much as I really really hate when people say this.... I ... agree with this on this topic. (You wont get me to say that twice!!)

By all means, I wasn't saying make Skyrim into Morrowind or Oblivion. Just changing certain aspects in order for fans of the other games to feel more comfortable.



Fair point. Is that the only reason it'd be a bad idea? What if it was made so that the main difficulty slider effected more basic things but you have sub options to change some things you'd want and some you wouldn't?

If all options are seperated, then it can be better. But really, too many optional gameplay settings is bad imo. Why? It makes it feel like "Eh... who's game am I really playing? My game through a bunch of settings?"
At some point, Bethesda should simply just take a stand, which is hopefully a balance between the good of both sides and even some completely new sides.

This this this this this. I really just want to experience whatever Bethesda makes, how they think it should be made. There are a few rather minor things that I'd like to be a certain way, but I know whether those things are implemented how I want them to be or not that Skyrim is still going to be an amazing game.

Let me use some very rough numbers so you can get the gist of why Bethesda makes the decisions they do.

Oblivion, Morrowinds mainstream successor shipped 1.7 million copies in less than a month and over 3 million copies in a little less than a years time.

We have 194,320 members on this forum. According to poll statistics roughly 65% of the people are here for the elderscrolls.

Thats 126,308 people..give or take tens of thousands.

Thats roughly 4% of Bethesda market.

Pleasing the majority will result in more money and a larger market next time around. And the majority of people who don't come here are just as picky as us...they just favor certain things.

I wouldn't mind a more sophisticated game but at the same time, I want bethesda to make money.

Bethesda doesn't make games to make money. They make money so they can make games.

Shipped =/= sold.

there is a false assumption there. if indeed only 4% of people are in the forums that means we have no idea what the remaining 96% feel about the game. they could have either loved it or hated it.....no one knows. clearly by either doing focus groups, watching the forums listening to feedback from customers (people are more likely to send emails to complain rather than to compliment) they have found major flaws in oblivions design. level scaling being the big culprit. they have gone out of their way to mention time and time again that skyrim will not have oblivions awful level scaling, then there are generic dungeons, animations, puttng carraiges in etc. etc.

they have made so many changes in fact that clearly they didnt get all rosy feedback from oblivion or they wouldnt have changed so much of it. i have no doubt that if they made skyrim as "complicated" as morrowind it would still be a huge seller.

as to the issue of the slider i can see so many problems popping up from a system like that. ill just wait for mods.

Morrowind and oblivion were 90% flaws 10% awesome, however TES is as far as I know the only series in its catagory, and lets face it Skyrim is going to be the best game ever made, simply because its the only game that is even trying. Call of Dootie #400 or whatever? Pathetic. Witcher 2? Total failure, classic example of trailers being made of BS. Bioware? Got bought out by EA, granted the stories and writing are still good, but come on its been 9 years since neverwinter nights was the best game ever, and they are still trying to recapture it...wait im losing my point anyway, as far as I see it theres only one thing Skyrim needs


MWPEs o yeah!!!