As long as I still get to cast spells and be a mage, I don't care if there is really a menu that gives me that title.

however., I still liked it for role play. Encountering an NPC and them having a class like Healer, Assassin, Knight etc, just adds a bit to their Character. If most people don't have a class then everyone is a kinda grey. Though that maybe cool not really knowing that someone is actually a thief

well if you want to be a mage dont use weapon,if you want to be a knigth dont use magic ,simple as that.

i always love to use jack of trades so this is a welcome addition to me.

Not really. It sounds like we no longer increase our stats when we gain a level (as it says we put points directly into health, stamina, and magicka instead), but that's about all we know about it.

On the subject of titles, well, that's why we have guilds. Hopefully more npcs will actually refer to use by our ranks in the guilds.

The new system still encourages specialization just as well as the class system did, by leveling you faster if you specialize in a few skills. But it does so in an organic way, rather than requiring you to lock yourself into your specialization at the start of the game.

So yeah, it's an improvement, overall. The class system was always an artifact of something the games aren't.

I like it, now I don't have to start over if I decide I want to try doing magic, instead I can start practicing magic and eventually get really good at it. I feel like that on the hole is more realistic.

I mean the last system was restrictive in the magic sense. I mean if you created a class that was a fighter, you couldn't do magic, at least not really effectively. It would require you to pump points level after level into intelligence in order to get the Magicka rating to cast a simple on touch spell.

I don't know where the attributes have gone but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those just got absorbed into the health stamina and magicka ratings. Though its too early to say. Whatever decision Bethesda makes though, I imagine it's an educated decision. I have a fair amount of trust in Bethesda.

Not as many menu's and making some things a tiny bit simpler does not automatically equal casual gaming. I think they're really just trying to refine their already existing system.

I'd be worried if Todd pulled a Molyneux and started rambling on about how they're getting rid of experiance points and such and they're making the game more action packed and blah diddy blah, but they aren't.

That actually happened to me in Morrowind. I started as a warrior/thief combo, only to discover way late in the game that I liked magic MUCH better.


Good riddance! Without that temptation people will focus more on the game and not calculating how to max out their next level-up's bonuses. Two big thumbs up for Bethesda for finally getting rid of power-leveling! I can still remember how much people complained about it on the forums between TES 3 and 4.


My guess? It'll probably be the same as Oblivion - one or two attributes assigned to each skill that affect how big a bonus you get to those attributes at level up based on which skills you upped to achieve it. I just hope you don't have to select a rigid 3 attributes at each level up like in the last games - that's a real !@$# in the $#@% for jack-of-all-trade players.


There was nothing keeping people from doing it in Morrowind or Oblivion Nothing's changed.

Overall thoughts? It really seems to me that how "good" or "bad" the leveling system is cannot be decided without considering Level Scaling 2.0 in tandem. Since that is till in the mist, we'll just have to wait and see...

Pure genious Beth. Classes have been used too much in RPGs and I'm glad there might finally be a game where a class is not something you choose, but that you earn. Warrior, Knight, Thief, Mage - all these "classes" are titles, and titles are earned through action. Only a selected few have earned such prestige to choose their own title and while this would be an awesome addition to the game I really can't imagine how it would be properly done with the voice acting. Besides I never quite understood why my class should be "Warrior" when I was the head of the Mages Guild. (Not that I actually ever played anything except Custom classes, but the theory is there)

Now, let's celebrate! :foodndrink:

ditto

I would usually be the first to whine when one of the original mechanics of the series is changed but this is a change I welcome. It makes more sense to me this way. If you are new to the game you can spend a few levels testing out different skills and then learn where you want your specialty to be. The game will be more flexible and more realistic.

I see a lot of people are missing the point. I haven't read the original article, but from my udnerstanding it works so that all skills contribute to leveling, but your highest skills contribute the most. Basicaly we'll have a unnamed dynamic class, where your highest skills acs like major skills. And once you reach level 50 leveling will slow down somehow. Possibly level 50 is the maximum level and once you reach it, it becomes harder to increase your skills. This will NOT make it easier to max out all skills, it just puts an end to the "majors are minors" gameplay style that was present in Oblivion. It might even make it harder to max out all skills, depending on what exactly happens at the soft cap of level 50. And with the new system you can still play a mage, a warrior, or a thief. Your chaarcter is a mage if you have high magic skills, your character is a warrior if you have high combat skills, and your character is a thief if you have high stealthy skills. And one extra benefit is that if all your skills start at 5 + racial bonus, it makes the racial bonus much more important than it was in Oblivion. After all 15 is 3 times as much as 5, but 50 is only 25% more than 40.

I really like it. Having all skills influence leveling was one of the main things I was asking for and now I got it. :happy:

Technically yes. But I never did it. I made different characters with different classes. I found it ridiculous to be a wood elf, thief and leader of the guild. And then suddenly start "using magic" (without any "training" in it) and joining the mages guild. In all I'd have liked they added restrictions, in stead of giving us even more "freedom".

Plus, the idea of classes seems much nicer to me. I could create a mage, select a birthsign and class to further enhance his magicka, I could roleplay as a young mage with an exceptional gift for the magical arts. That seems to be lost now. Asside from small racial bonuses, everyone most likely has the same magicka at the start of the game. Huge mistake in my opinion.

This is exactly how I pictured the new system to be handled. This gives much more flexibility to the player and still allows people to RP if they want. I've never been much of a RP'er so the loss of the static class system isn't a big deal for me.

i think you should have a title, not a class.
and you should be able to pick from a ton of names that give a minor statboost.
or create your own.
and wherever you go you are called by that name.
"drifter"
"druid"
"Blade"
there should be tons of options so you dont always have to create a custom one.

This is great news.

Goodbye efficient leveling. I won't miss you. Not even a little bit.

I was pretty dumbfounded at first, but after thinking about it, I'm excited. It's good that Beth is taking a bold new approach to the system, which is really what it needs.

Nothing is stopping you from restricting yourself from anything. The freedom is there for the players who want it and that means you also have the freedom to *gasp* not take advantage of that system! (omg noooeeez!) It's rare to see people in RPG forums COMPLAINING about game freedom.

The article did not say that birthsigns have been removed so we can not assume either way. And if you want to RP as a mage then *omg* You can use mage related skills! (wow!!! really?) -__-

People in this forum disappoint me.

When I first read the article I shed a silent tear, but I have come to terms with the removal of classes. I will miss not being able to name my class, as I have been doing for years now, and I will miss setting my character up at the start, but overall classes were restrictive and nonsensical in a game that boasts limitless growth. Doing away with classes is the right move for Skyrim, even if the series is slowly losing the flavor it once had.

This.

It's a neat way of getting around the some of the basic problems with the leveling system. And Bethesda hasn't simply taken an axe to the idea of classes. What we've got instead is a new, dynamic custom class system (due to the fact that higher level skills affect your leveling progress more so than lower skills - effectively allowing the player to turn minor/misc skills into major ones by usage).

This means that players will find that they define their own class as they play, without the restrictions created by stipulating 'major skills' before they've even really got into the game, or developed an understanding of it. Combined with the apparent lack of attributes, and we've got something far more intuitive and fluid, which also removes the problems inherent in the old system.

People will still be able to effectively specialize into a role. If you focus on Magic skills, for example, then you will still be a 'mage' - and the magic skills will still effectively be the chief source of leveling experience for your character. It's just a lot less rigid.

The only time I ever used an official class in either Oblivion or Morrowind was when I was picking a mage so losing the system doesnt bother me at all. The new system sounds pretty interesting and I hope that it is implemented well.

Guys you know the class system is still
There right, I've read the article and the only difference is you don't choose your class at the start of the game, it let's you level your character for a few levels AND THEN you choose your class so you get a better idea before you choose your class. Just read the article, Jesus some of you just read the first few lines of the paragraph without reading the rest!

nope, never used it.

But interstingly enough, I'm OK with it in PnP :shrug:

I just care about being able to name my class...

Technically, the constellations in the sky are still divided into one part of the heavens for magic, one part for combat and one for stealth...

So some semblance of "classes" will still be visible.

But yeah, I think the new approach to skills and leveling sounds like a vast improvement.

For the people whining about not being able to name your class, grow up! Is it really so hard to pick skills and call your self an Assassin? Role, Play pretend have fun! It's not like you need to name your class to name your class.

Yeah, brilliant game and game of the year.

As has been mentioned a couple times I'm very excited for it as a means of eliminating the "efficient leveling" thing. I never really liked that putting skills I was going to have no bonus in as my major skills ultimately led to having a higher level cap since it meant I had more room to grow in those skills. Always bugged me and I feel like this is Beth's way of solving that and it seems very clever and effective.