Generally a lot of the complaining I hear tends to ignore that new things are being added to replace skills and attributes and give immersion and customizability without the use of spreadsheets and statistics. Most people who leap to the game's defense ignore that attributes and classes were removed to add them in.

I am saying that, based on descriptions, I like the sound of the system brought in to replace classes. It sounds a lot more organic and accessible while still sounding deep and RPG-ish. It still fulfills the function of balancing playstyles without the overuse of labels and numbers. Does this mean I didn't like classes before? No. I liked the Morrowind and Oblivion class system. However, doing nothing but what has worked in the past is the beeline to stagnation. So I am glad they are trying the new system and I expect it to be very good.

EDIT: And if it crashes and burns, I bet that TESVI will go back to classes. So either it works or you get to run back to it next time.

I really like what you're saying in this post, and feel the same way. They are Bethesda! they know how to make an rpg!

if people are too lazy to read about how skills/classes work, then they should play a different game...not simplify a game so they dont have to pay any attention or do any reading.

"pffft im too lazy to read, i just want to jump in and play, the game will take care of the rest!" No...how about people see what each skill does / class does. Its not that difficult. Reading is fundamental. haha ; ]

Great post, Eldron. I love your enthusiasm.

Well said OP. This is a design philosophy I've always thought TES to have approached (one of the reasons I've loved the series since discovering Morrowind), and Skyrim looks to be a significant step closer to perfecting it. By comparison, Oblivion seemed to be more of a sidestep.

Incidentally, I used to roleplay like this a lot - we called it "freeform" roleplaying, forsaking dice and ruleset specifics in favour of imagination, skill, and trust. It's something MMOs and linear RPGs will never capture; one needs either a group of able roleplayers (and a suitable game engine, or PnP/tabletop), or an open world single player environment for it to work.

Skyrim's beautiful open world, "you are what you do" classless progression, single player freedom and strong modding support makes it the best platform for this style of play by far; a few disappointments (not to mention several very pleasant surprises) so far haven't done anything to change that.

We don't know that is not that big of a change. It might turn out to be a disaster, or to be fine, or even the most marvelous thing that has happened to gaming. There is no way we can know any of that yet. Hype is the way games are sold, and from this side of the release of the game we can't tell how true or not the hype is.

First of all I love the new system. I agree with what was said above, class is just a title, but on top of that it limits what you can level up off of and that's bullcrap. It's like, you get wiser and stronger if you use a blade a lot, but using a mace doesn't do anything for you? Really? But I digress, I think the new system will be really good, better than before.

Also, anyone who's been arguing with this ZzAr.:hu guy I wouldn't bother. I've seen other posts by him..very stubborn.

Well yeah, but let's face it if you've played any of TES games you really shouldn't have to read the skills, and even if you're new, they're pretty self explanatory
Enchanting
Armorer
One-handed weapons
Two-handed weapons
Survival (not confirmed but hell they have "raw salmon" and "cooked salmon" in the E3 Demo, so let's assume)

Cooking has been confirmed to be not tied to a skill.

Hahah man i agree SO much with this statement.....not necessarily on the classes....but more so on quests(addition of quest markers)......and travel(addition of fast travel).....

I like the way skyrim is going....

I think his point was that instead of now being locked into a playstyle you create your own.....the way youre asking...to pick your class at the start would not really lend to people being as unique as they can be now....as it is now they have infinitely more options at the early game and with limits to perks/etc it will just make everyone that much more unique. But i do like the idea of classes a lot its just not a big deal for me to not have a title.....

You keep saying entire playstyles were forcably cut such as your mysticism playstyle.....sorry im not sure but is there anything in skyrim thats preventing you from using only those types of spells again like you did before.....unless of course youre mainly wanting the title or word mysticism

Awh man what crap >.< That saddens me a little.

I am not excited about getting rid of classes, but I'm not disappointed by it either. As many pointed out, most of us created a custom class. So, really, it's just the word they got ride of. So, I'm indifferent in the end but I see this as at least a decent move and I'm optimistic about the game. However, all these people asking to get rid of leveling.. what? Will you be asking for Elder Scrolls: The Journey, next, or has Fable really not been a disappointment to you people and you really want to take TES down that path?

I think what Fable has done has worked for Fable, which is a completely different style of game, both as a means of interactive entertainment and as a work of fantasy fiction. I would not want TES to start acting like fable any more than I want legend of Zelda to start acting like TES. If they were all the same, then I'd have less different things to like. It's like how I like Discworld, Song of ice and Fire and The Lord of the Rings. They are very different from one another despite being fantasy novel series. If they were too similar, then I would probably only like the best of the three.

I am excited that they got rid of the horrible leveling system. It was broken pure and simple.

The leveling system and your character leveling up are totally differing things. I think we can all agree that the former svcked, but some people want to former as well... that makes me think Fable, and that makes me sad.

For anyone who doesn't like the new system, all they have to do is level those skills for the class they would have chosen and limit themselves to those skills (The only thing I could think of going wrong is if you weren't disciplined enough to stick with those skills)

What playstyles?

I was thinking the same thing. I mean just cause you can't title your characters class..if your "playstyle" is thief, then focus or barter(or whatever they have now), sneak, one handed weapons or marksman or something..stick to wearing light armor..just cause you aren't restricted to leveling off of seven specific skills doesn't mean you can't choose to focus on a specific set of skills. Besides, I think we can all agree that it was really annoying making your own custom class, and being unsatisfied with the class cause you had to choose between, say, destruction or alteration. (edit-) What if I want to have a warrior-mageish character that focuses on mostly combat, but wants to have more than just one or two at best magic skills to back me up?