I'm kinda surprised that crafting isn't a more talked about and anticipated topic around here. It was something VERY lacking in Oblivion, but from what I"m hearing (chopping trees, making jewelry, customizing armor, building badass weapons) it sounds like it will add a TON of depth to an already deep series. Just the thought of hunting deer (which by the way starts its real life season the day after Skyrim comes out, so I won't playing Skyrim for a few days) to harvest the hide to craft that new fancy piece of light armor -sounds amazing.

Im also looking forward to the new crafting gameplay. I like being able to craft different armors and weapons.

Seriously. And it doesn't feel tacked on at all. It is threaded into the mix and very deep from the sounds of it. Customizing the look, tying it to the economy, even being able to make jewelry, etc. I always wished I could use those bear and deer pelts for something other than selling.

There's not alot of info out there on crafting yet... anything we could talk about would pretty much be speculation based on the little we do know.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to it and have semi-high hopes for it.

I do expect a lot from crafting, smithing and enchanting :
Imagine creating a sword, upgrading it (with a workbench), then enchanting it. It would really be a personnal weapon. And if we can upgrade unique items, that would just be perfect. For example, a perfected version of Umbra...

Has making Jewelry been confirmed?! If so I missed this.

Other than MMO's crafting has always been pretty shallow in games. One of the only games to come close to decent crafting experience was Two Worlds 2, but even then all you could do was upgrade equipment. The only way for crafting to be effective, is if you can upgrade AND make weapons/armor and there has to be a lot of them. If there are only a couple type of each sword, axe, and mace then there would be no reason to make them because you could just as easily find them.

I know. I got excited just being able to enchant and name a weapon in Oblivion. The thought of gathering materials, upgrading it, enchanting it, naming it, etc. Awesome. I hope we can determine the look of the weapons as well. And I THINK jewelry was mentioned in one of the hands on previews from a gaming site. Anyone else know?

I doubt it will be anything more that. Collect x amount of items. Activate Workshop. Select Item. Press. Poof, "Hardened Leather Boots have been added to you inventory"

I agree with you about the crafting. And one thing I hope is that you are required to use a crafting station of some kind (like an anvil) and not just do it all from your inventory. I'm playing Two Worlds 2 at the moment and I enjoy it but you can do all that stuff right from your inventory and it's stupid.

On a personal note I couldn't even kill a dear in the game let alone in real life. What is the appeal? If you just enjoy the hunt and getting out in nature and all that can't you just take a picture of it, or shoot it with a paint ball gun? Do you have to kill it?

Yep. Can't remember where though - must be one of the 1 hour demo reviews.

I have never been into crafting in TES games but this game looks to have a lot of depth in that department. I hope there will be ores in dangerous places to craft really spectacular items.

Jewelry making should be interesting. Im more interested in crafting some unique weapons and armors.

To be honest a lot of it is getting out there in nature and challenging yourself with accuracy, patience, wits, and the elements. I use a 45-70 which only holds a single bullet at a time and eat every last bit of meat that I harvest. This can't be said for every hunter, but in my family we have the utmost respect for the sport and the animals. It's almost sacred.

But all that stuff is selfish compared to the real benefits of hunting. Controlling the population. More and more wooded areas are being chopped down which means less habitat and less food for the fauna. If they don't wander into neighborhoods, get hit by cars (killing themselves and the humans in the process) they will simply starve to death unless the populations are controlled in what is comparatively humane.

There is a misconception about hunters (not saying you're guilty of this) that they are all drunken hicks who just like to kill. Not the case. We are raised from 7 years old to kill quickly and humanely and we BETTER be safe and respectful of other hunters and the animals or we are NOT allowed to hunt. But everyone is entitled to their opinion. It's not for everyone. To be honest, I'm happy skyrim gives even more reason to hunt to make it less senseless.

I know the above was off topic, but can I just say what a brilliant mature response. Seriously refreshing.

Now OT: I love crafting in any game I can. Even if its a little change i'll be welcoming it with open arms. I'm hoping you can change weapons as I've read armor has visual implications when crafting (hence less actual armor archtypes) so maybe weapons might be similar?

I agree. Thank you for explaining OP.

From what I've heard, crafting sounds awesome. If they don't cut anything and I've interpreted the information correctly, I'll probably spend the first few days crafting.

Jewelry, eh?

Well said. If more hunters had the same perspective as you, and articulated it in such a mature way, the stereotypical viewpoint of "hick hunters" wouldn't exist. With that said, there is some validity to that particular negative stereotype, but I would hope from the people I know who hunt (where there are quite a bit who take it seriously and respect the animal, understand the necessity of population control, and actually utilize the meat from the kill) they would continue to voice their opinions and eventually overshadow the negative perceptions.

The German Gamepro Hands-On article mentioned it , but its the same article that claims fast travel now costs money ... So I'm a bit skeptical about this .....