We know Skyrim has 13 Standing Stones (which is the same amount as birthsigns) that each bestows blessings on the player, but only one may be active at a time.

Do we have more information about this? Is this supposed to be the equivalent of Oblivion Birthsign Stones?

In any case, it doesn't look like the game is holding up to Oblivion.
In Oblivion you had:
- 10 classes to choose from, with variants for male and female, with bonuses and powers specific to each (still present, albeit the bonuses are smaller and there is no variety between sixes)
- 3 specializations to choose from (still present in Skyrim in the form of stones, but no starting bonus)
- 2 major attributes and 7 major skills (they level up faster and you get a starting bonus -- not present in Skryim)
- 13 birthsigns to choose from for extra bonuses and powers (not present in Skyrim)
- 13 birthsign stones to choose from for an extra greater power or two (still present in Skyrim, renamed standing stones, possibly different)
- 8 heaven stones, each giving a greater power that you can keep permanently (probably not present in Skyrim, which has 20 shouts instead)
- Vampire status, which gives extra stats (still present in Skyrim, possibly different)

I don't see what the point of this thread is.

What's the point of finding all 13 when only one can be active at a time?

If I'm a warrior, I'll find one, select the warrior stone, and be fine the entire game.

Obviously there's some info being missed here. Hopefully there's some unique an in-depth ones.

I do believe several concepts in Oblivion have been recycled into Skyrim, of course under different names, but the flavors remain the same.

They replace the birthsigns.

You cannot replace something with something that already was present.
It has to be novel to be a replacement.

@Velox, learn to read.


Read what's in parenthesis, I have highlighted the differences.


I never said anything to do with the bonus being available at the beginning of the game. The difference is that in Skyrim, your specialization only affects the leveling of your skills, while in Oblivion, it also gave you higher levels in those skills to begin with.


There are 18 skills (instead of 21 in Oblivion).
Major skills are special skills that you select to be major. This is done when you create your class in Oblivion. This is *in addition* to specialization. Skyrim never allows you to select which skills you want to be major.
Your comment just makes no sense.


There are at least 20 shouts, and it's unlikely that there are more.
As for heaven stones, just play Oblivion, or read the UESP wiki.


The point is to compare the available specialization and bonuses available in both games now that we've had more info on standing stones.
If you don't see the point, I suggest you don't participate instead of introducing senseless noise.

In case this isn't clear, Oblivion had both birth signs and birth sign stones. Skyrim only has the latter.
Ironically enough, those stones are presented as a replacement for birth signs, even though Oblivion had them too in addition to them.

I diden't hear anything... :whistling:

Had to say it, as for OT, all most of the stats are still there, they just don't have tangable numbers. In stead of having major skills and what not, they just made it so each skill contributes to leveling up.

It replaced a system that locked you into something with a system that lets you customize your character 300 hours in.

13 standing stones confirmed. Although we know some things not included, we have absolutely no idea what else is in the game. I will reserve judgement until I play the game. (and I fully expect to enjoy every minute)

Storm

i really dont understand the standing stones thing... they seem to be the same thing as birthsigns (as you can only have one at a time), so what's the bloody point of hiding them in the game world? making us search a little before we can receive the basic character trait of a birthsign? why?! if you absolutely HATE the idea of just sticking with one birthsign (because i just want to be a gemini some days, you know?), then why not just put them all in a big stonhenge-esque circle with a map marker so you could change whenever you wanted? why introduce this system that exists only to artificially lengthen the amount of walking it takes to change your birthsign?

Customization. Exploration. Cornerstones of the franchise.

Well as far as i know the only information on the stones is that they replace the birthsigns and the effects of the stones shown in the gameplay videos

The 3 stones shown in the demo is:

The Warrior: Warrior skills increase at 30% faster rate
The Mage: Mage skills increase at 30% faster rate
The Thief: Stealth skills increase at 30% faster rate

Is this thread about standing stones or about smacking Skyrim? Make up your mind. If it's the latter, how on Earth is Oblivion going to stand up to Skyrim? They got rid of the attributes because they were unnecessary and took away from the game. The birth signs are still there; I greatly prefer them as stones, that way you have to EARN them. There are far more than 20 shouts. Guards and enemies won't be psychic in Skyrim. You can make money in other ways than just looting caves... I don't see what you were trying to say.

The way Skyrim is (at least what we know about it right now - the game hasn't even come out yet for crying out loud) it is far simpler than Oblivion, and much more realistic. And that is what I want from my Elder Scrolls game. I think they are making good progress, no doubt there will bugs, but you can't catch them all.

i would say something but i think you have gotten the idea from previous posts

Your point is.... :shrug:

1. Classes were absolutely useless
2. Specializations? What are you talking about? You are who you are in Skyrim or what you want to be.
3. Wrong here too, supposedly you level quicker in the beginning in Skyrim
4. There are 13 standing stones which equal 39 all together
5. We only know 3 of the 39 :facepalm:
6. :shrug: Not sure what you are talking about, certainly not TES
7. :shrug: What's your point

There are 7 Heaven stones in Oblivion, 8 if you include Nirn Stone (which isn't present in game but it's power is in the CS)
he is most certainly talking about TES.

They are as follows:

Jone Stone
Aetherius Stone
Jode Stone
Sithian Stone
Magnus Stone
Shezarr Stone
Dragon Stone
Nirn Stone

more info here:
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Magical_Stones

Yeah, the three stones we've actually seen so far. They don't even replace Starsigns. These three replace the Specialisation choice from Class creation.

So are there 13 different sets of stones? And the Warrior/Thief/Mage is only one of 13 that we find early on?

Correct. There's one that's grants the power to ressurect as well.

So what? It makes perfect sense that Skyrim, a place with a different culture than Cyrodil, would have a different spiritual system