In the past I've been a staunch opponent of Skyrim's perks. But after reading sammuthegreat's perk list I've changed my tune. Not only were a significant number of the perks he listed useful, new abilities with real gameplay applications, but they were pretty frickin' cool! I was under the impression that most - if not all - of the perks would be: "increases damage by 10%", or something to that effect. Some of them are from that mold, and that's okay; it even makes sense.

I've come to realize that the reason I have argued against perks in the past is that somehow they were always presented as the alternative to attributes. And really, if you look at those perks in the aforementioned list, they're not at all a replacement for attributes. They offer completely new abilities in many cases.

I would still prefer to have attributes in the organizational center of the character scheme, where they would control everything else in a way that makes the game a little more like a simulation. There are many benefits to having attributes, most of which have been discussed to the point of exhaustion here on the forums. But that's not the point here, the point is that we shouldn't really be arguing at all! Perks and attributes should be able to co-exist.

The perks are great, and while I still wish for more skills like hand-to-hand, individualized weapon skills (axe, mace, short sword, and long sword. Mostly because there are some awesome perk possibilities with those more specific weapon types), I am more than content with the way things are shaping up. I want to applaud Bethesda's efforts! Great job guys!

So, has anybody else experienced a conversion recently? Share in my joy darn it!

Could not agree with you more!

Pretty much the same first, I was very sceptical at first but it changed.

I still hate the word "perk" though - I'm not playing Call of Duty damnit.

I love the perks in Fallout...the only negative is that it's hard to choose! I have many favorites that I always choose and try new ones when I can fit them in. In Skyrim, they'll all be new the first time. Perks add even more to replayability.

:tes:

I wouldn't call it a conversion, but I'm happy that they aren't as bad as I feared. Many, as you said, offer real new abilites and aren't just flat bonuses.

I'm still waiting for the light armor perks, though. They will make or break nearly all of my playstyles.

I like the Perks but I'm concerned that I won't be able to get as many as I'd like.

Clearly you won't need all the perks in any one skill, but I easily see myself using:

Destruction
One Handed
Restoration
Alteration
Enchanting
Light Armor
Smithing

....a great deal, and I don't know where I can forgo certain perks

Perks are amazing. Beth outdid themselves. :clap:

I have been happy with the idea since they were announced. Initially they said you could take 50 out of 180, and my first thought was that is four playthroughs to take every one. Immediately that gives this game one advantage over Oblivion, the need to make decisions. I know there were more initial character choices in OB, but looking at the lists, seems like every level up is going to be a difficult choice from a dozen or whatever that you think you really want. And I don't think too many of our end game characters will turn out to be identical.

Yeah choosing which perks to take is going to be tough. I'm sure I'll be agonizing over my options every time I level up. Maybe drawing up a plan preemptively will help?

I am, and it's not going well!

I'm over quite substantially - I need to get rid of about 18 or so, not ideal!

Quite a few of the perk trees exceeded my expectations. The only perk tree I was a little bummed out about was speechcraft but that is because I let my imagination run wild and started expecting things like being able to communicate with some creatures. :facepalm: lmao

The perks that are there are good too though.

Still it will give the game real meaning to me, more choices eventhough it will cost me much sleep no doubt!

Sharing! Huzzah!

I like to think I'm very open (or wishywashy indecisive, a detractor might say), so I didn't mind the loss of attributes. Maybe only one con, a very convincing argument that perks would be useless all "+10% yada yada," like you mentioned. Waste of perks, silly deletion of stats. Even taking that into consideration, I just viewed it as TES's evolution away from tabletop numbercrunching and hairsplitting. Oblivion was already like a halfbaked transition out of the early games. It had minor perks, skills affected a lot more things, and stats weren't really that noticeable (except for maxing mana, imo). Knowing that some perks are real abilities is pretty exciting! (Though the Pickpocketing tree already was a spoiler. Even if those abilities weren't as cool. Hummm.)

So yes! There are cool abilities and not all pure bonus. Huzzah!
I find Enchanting quite fascinating, as a side note. It was so difficult in Morrowind, unless you went all gamebreaky +1000 Int potions.

edit:

oh blah, I was expecting that too! Just cuz daggerfall had animal-talking skills. Creatures won't aggro and all that, haha

yeah, I was hoping for separate Etiquette and Streetwise. Different perks for persuade and intimidate will do though.

My character is going to have 3x Frags, Stopping Power and Deep Impact. I think thats all i need to say.
Perks is a bad name for it. Skills is taken but fits it better IMHO.

That's funny because the speechcraft tree is one that I thought was really brilliant. I think they were forced to be a little more creative than usual with those perks. It's a unique skill after all.

limiting perks to around 50 out of 150+ is a slap in the face to those people who like to attempt to max out an invincible character in all disciplines. I love it for this reason alone! :thumbsup:

I don't think you're alone!