I was thinking about how conversations are now real time and interactive to some extent, and what this could bring to the game.

I had an idea, which I thought was quite spiffy. Interactive training. You know how you instantly gain an advance in a skill when an NPC trains you, but the conversations are in real time? Or how NPCs are supposed to be able to come up to you for http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/b/xbox360/archive/2011/01/17/the-technology-behind-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim.aspx?PostPageIndex=2

Well, my thought was this. Take the block skill as an example. When you ask a block trainer for training, they will give you the "boxing handguards", which are shields which you can duel wield. Then, the trainer hits you a couple of times, giving you some feedback on how you do, and Bobs your uncle. Lesson learned, skill advanced.

Using marksman as an example, the trainer gets you to draw an arrow and then gives you some feedback.

Using destruction as an example, a random NPC approaches you and asks for some training, so you go with him to a target and give him some feedback as he casts a spell.

Liking the idea? It could be implemented for all 18 skills present in the game, EASY.

We'll have real time animations for all the crafting abilities, and for the side jobs like woodcutting, mining, etc.

I see no reason why this shouldn't be in the game as the new default system for training with trainers and for training others. Bethesda's already boosting their animation work tenfold, according to what they've been showing and telling the public, so this could be among those great new additions like finishers, simple jobs, real time conversations, etc.

Nice suggestion, OP. I say double yes.

Definitely sounds ok, as long as it's not too involved or lengthy. There have been threads where it has been suggested that you have to spend hours practicing, or do little quests, every time you want training, but in that case I would pass. Spend a lot of time doing repetitive tasks to get training and pay for it, or practice in a dungeon and get rewarded with loot? Keep it to less than say half a minute and I'm all for it.

Sure, as long as it's much faster than actually fighting.

that and real dummy training would work a treat.

That would get old extremely quickly.

Sometimes you train up to five or so times in a row. Can you imagine sitting through the same animation five times?

The reason why people use training in the first place is to save time.

If I have to wait for my skill anyways i might as well hunt trolls to get the skill.

This reeks of minigames, and as such I'm squarely in the "Nope" camp.

I like minigames... they are far more engaging than dice.

It doesn't have to be long or complex, and should be able to draw on a number of sequences (Not mere animations). I liked the "Training" sequences from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, so something like that could be fun.

The time it would take for such a session would be <10 seconds for beginning levels, and 5-15 seconds at lower levels, while expanding exponentially from there. But, it wouldn't exceed 5 minutes to go from 99 to 100 in a skill. It would still be far, far faster than trying to self-train. It would be possible to outright fail if the training session becomes dangerous to the PC, but for the most part, poor performance would merely lengthen the training time.

I hope they also don't include a cap on the number of times you can train (That really, really bothered me in Oblivion, because the training sessions became "Too Awesome to Use")

Perhaps, if it's optional.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14560 for Oblivion does something like this without minigames, at least for the fighters and mages guilds. You have to get accredited or certified in certain skills to advance in rank. The way you get accredited is by taking tests by using the skill in real time.

The mod also adds a trainer to each of the fighters guilds which train you in real time, by giving you a weapon of your choice that does no damage.

There are also mods for MW and OB which make the training dummies you find everywhere actually usable!

So, real time training is obviously possible, and adds a lot more to the game than just the screen turning black for a second and your skill increasing. Todd has mentioned real time "jobs" that the player can perform, I don't see why they couldn't do something similar with skill training. If not, modders definitely will.

Real time training actually sounds pretty interesting. I have no idea how to implement it though. It's either gonna be a minigame, or it's gonna performing an action that normally raises that skill, but speed of skill growth is now boosted because you have an expert supervising your work.

Thanks for the positive feedback guys!

I agree with the minigame concerns




To be honest, this is more what I was thinking. Not minigames, that would be truly awful.

Using blade as an example, I was more thinking that you go up to the trainer, ask for training, attack once with your sword, he says "WOW! That was perfect" or "Hold the hilt like this" or something along those lines and BOOM. Skill trained.




Yep. If it was me developing the game, I'd tend towards the latter. The object being to make the game more interesting and engaging without starting up a minigame.