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Post » Thu Dec 15, 2011 3:23 am

This has been talked about to death, I understand. However, it was a thought that came to mind. Now I want to get some things down first:

Disclaimer: This thread is not to say Oblivion or any other game is the Holy Grail of games. I'm not trying to make a game better than Skyrim or make Skyrim look poor. I'm sorta tired of this misunderstanding. As a writer, I have to practice my writing. I also read books and edit other people's works. It's how you practice your craft and make it better. That's why I bring other games for comparison. I usually try to stick to the genre RPGs. If this was an FPS game I would bring up other FPSs. But this is a RPG, so I will bring up RPGs.

Now to the topic at hand. I wanted to say the lack of teamwork in Skyrim is disappointing. In Oblivion we had zombies, skeletons, and wraiths working together to attack the main character. Now I want to make clear this wasn't exactly well done. I'm not saying Oblivion is the miracle baby of RPGs. I'm just using it as a comparison. In Skyrim we always have one enemy variant. What I mean is this: First level bandits or necromancers, Second Level Draugr and then more Draugr. Never do you see Draugr and Skeletons or Draugr and Ghost....maybe a few quest dungeons, but rarely.

Another game I will bring up is Fable. Now Fable 3 seemed to abandon this a great deal, but it was is more noticeable in Fable 1 and Fable 2. The fairies turned children into hobs and then worked alongside the hobs. We had enemies working together.

Now I understand as stated that Fable is a lot smaller than Skyrim and not as grand, but it's to bring up points. Enemies need more teamwork and we need more enemies working together. We always seem to have Bandits fighting Draugr and Falmer fighting Dwemer machines. Now I understand Draugr are not going to negotiate well with bandits. And Dwemer machines aren't exactly known for their honey words. But enemy variance and enemy teamwork adds excitement into the game.

I'm not trying to say I hate Skyrim nor am I saying that the two games I pointed out are better than Skyrim, please do not mistake this. I just feel Bethseda has had time to work on their craft. They've worked alongside other companies now to see what they are doing to get some ideas. To be able to practice their craft and make their writing as sharp as they can. What it feels like is Bethseda has hit the their plateau. In the writing business a writer starts at the bottom and makes their way up. Then the writer hits a flat period of their writing, that's their peak. It feels like Bethseda has hit their peak and when you hit your peak you eventually have to come down.

I'm not trying to say they will make bad games. But what I am trying to say is a writer who thinks he is good enough and never challenges himself further has already lost his ability. And I know that video game development is a little different from writing, but it's an expression and metaphor for better understanding.
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