Role of Children : V - Skyrim

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:38 am

You're leaving out the part where it is the pc they want to be able to romance her. I don't think incist would go very far on these forums, either.

Then why make her so sixually attractive?
I don't get it.

Nevermind though, don't want to derail the thread any further.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:05 am

I think the kids are a good addition. It's not like you have to have one of your own or to play silly games with them. They should be pretty much negligible outsides quests where you save them. "Rescue my kid from cave x" sounds more meaningful than "Retrieve my sword from tomb y". Children bring into the game another dimension that is for me more interesting than children per se: the family spirit. The relationships. I expect to see mothers grabbing children to protect them when the dragon hits the town. i expect to see fathers teaching their sons fishing. I expect to hear parents calling their missing children (btw, did you notice how little vocal are the npcs of Oblivion? Except the preacher in Anvil and the horse couriers, there is very little street sound. I'd like itinerant merchants advertising out loud on the streets, guards yelling at people to get inside the houses when dragons strike, bosses shouting orders to workers, all this kind of sounds that fill the air ).

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:41 pm

some children might be involved in some minor quests such as finding there lost pet or a parent wanting you to rescue there son from bandits and i imagine just like advlts they will have there own schedules cept mostly doing stuff with there parents or the other local children

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:30 pm

That depends. On one hand I'd really like children in the game as it could definitely add to the immersion. On the other hand though, if you are not allowed to do The Unmentionable to children that can be even more of an immersion breaker than not having them at all.

My oft-stated view of it, nailed squarely on the head. No children in view = paranoid society keeping them hidden from heavily-armed strangers, immersion remains intact. Children in plain view, random dragon attack, they run out of dragon-fire blasts completely unharmed 'cause you know, they're invulnerable = immersion wiped completely out.

Yeah, "it would help immersion" my ass.

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:35 pm

I hope Argonian and Khajiit kids are pulling each other's tails because I always wanted to do that to their parents :laugh:

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:01 am

I expect city kids, would play in the streets, beg for food, steal things, do odd jobs, work in their parents store or another store sweeping and such, learning skills from their parents friends or just practising, eating, running up to you and whining, screaming, chasing giant rats, expecting you give them a charitable donation, cut your purse, be disrespectful, and start quests. Those are going to be some fun children.

In the country I expect them to be working with their parents, doing chores, playing and learning skills. Those are going to be some nice children.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:10 am

Well, since it's not a post apocalyptic world like Fallout, I expect they will be enrolled in some sort of educational institution, craft apprentice program, or with caregivers.
I would expect to see them playing in groups, running errands with or for their parents, and running into the occasional socially malajusted brat. There will probably be a few quests involving rescuing/finding/assisting them and/or their parents. Here's to hoping that those quests would be side quests, and not directly related to the main quest.
Children can be distracting in that you must manage their behavior, needs, and above all, safety. I would think that once dragons make their appearance, Skyrim parents will be more cautious.

I'll be angry if any but the rich are enrolled in educational institutions. In an early medieval setting (and we've been told Skyrim will be more primitive), that's a privilege that even the rich won't often have.

That said, I'm glad kids are included; I hope Bethesda does them right, but I have confidence that they will.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:07 am

I have to say, I am amazed this thread hasn't been locked yet.

Usually someone says a certain mix of words and pow.
I hope their part of the world and apart of quests, maybe even a stupid little gang of tag.

People saying its more immersion breaking to have invulnerable kids than no kids at all, I highly disagree. I'd rather have non-attackable kids than none at all. Oh wow TES is full of advlts and they just pop right out of the ground. :0

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:36 am

I hope it is like real life...some kids are just totally nasty brats. And since they are immortal...that makes it twice as bad!

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:00 am

Kids, the new Cliff Racers.

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:23 pm

Kids, the new Cliff Racers.

I 2nd that plus they'll be essential which is even worse (I'm not suggesting the obvious, you would be putting words in my mouth)

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:48 pm

I'll be angry if any but the rich are enrolled in educational institutions. In an early medieval setting (and we've been told Skyrim will be more primitive), that's a privilege that even the rich won't often have.

That said, I'm glad kids are included; I hope Bethesda does them right, but I have confidence that they will.

This isn't an "early medieval setting" that parallels real world history. More primitive doesn't mean outright stupid. I'd expect to see many apprenticeships at the least.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:01 am

Little Lamplight made my blood boil... I hope the kids in Skyrim are like real medieval children, doing hard work at the fields, having high respect to advlts and often disregarded by their parents because of limited supplies. (And huge number of them)

Actually medieval children were treated wonderfully. They wore loose clothes, and were allowed a lot of freedom and playtime.

Guess I'm the only one that liked MacCready, I used childlike so I didn't even have to do the quest.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:43 am

I 2nd that plus they'll be essential which is even worse (I'm not suggesting the obvious, you would be putting words in my mouth)

There is always the box in the construction set. The one labeled with a certain three-syllable word beginning with es and ending with al. The one you can un-check. Or get a mod to un-check for you.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:39 am

Just a couple of points...

First, Wasn't oblivion forced to remove children because of the game getting accused of virtual violence or somesuch against children? What is different now that skyrim is allowed to portray kids in the universe.

Second, What role will such children have in said game? Will they be just other NPCs populating the world or will they actually be able to do something, as in be part of a quest ( Imagine rescuing the son/daughter of someone for a quest )

Third, What would the routines be for children? Will they actually have schedules or will they go around following their parents?

Thats it for now.

Discuss

Niker

First: Dunno
Second: Their job is gettin in the way
Third: Hopefully they will be collecting shrooms while i play

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:13 pm

This isn't an "early medieval setting" that parallels real world history. More primitive doesn't mean outright stupid. I'd expect to see many apprenticeships at the least.

I made a point about this in a similar topic.

Time period? By which you mean 4E 200? This is a fantasy world, mate. Skyrim may be based on old Scandinavia, but that doesn't mean the people are illiterate. By the time they came to Tamriel from Atmora, which was at the latest in early First Era, but possibly by the end of the Merethic Age, they had an invasion force. That's beyond the Vikings, who were just raiders. So they're already beyond Vikings in 1E 68 (at the latest). Then you realize there's been roughly 5082 years between that and 4E 200. That makes them, at the very least, roughly 3071 years in our future. Even with their equivalent of the Dark Ages (the Second Era), they would still be at about 1933 at least. Yet they're still based on old Scandinavia.

Then south of them, you have your Imperials, who are in Renaissance mode. While there are the fantastical equivalent of vikings bordering them. That's a roughly 300 year anachronism. And relations? Way off what they would be if that situations were even possible in real life. Really, my brain is starting to hurt.

See? Everything is possible in the wonderful world of fantasyland.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:49 am

as long as they are not annoying little brats, i hope they are a big part of the game

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:30 pm

Just remember people, you were all whiney little brats at one point in life.

I hope for bullies, foul-mouths, brats, dummies, whiners, pranksters, goody-two-shoes, tattletales, lizards,and kittens.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:19 am

People saying its more immersion breaking to have invulnerable kids than no kids at all, I highly disagree. I'd rather have non-attackable kids than none at all. Oh wow TES is full of advlts and they just pop right out of the ground. :0

I agree: the Children of Morrowind mod did a great work adding children, and they were invulnerable as well.

I do think they were seen a bit too much in a modern way in that mod: playgrounds for children in a medieval setting is probably too much... I guess just having them playing in a street or field with wooden swords would be enough.
Oh, and they were too much well-behaved in my opinion, also. At least, there should be a bunch of little maveriks in the crowd of them!

As for education, there could be classes in the temples to teach children to read and write, for example. After all, it seems that in Tamriel almost everyone is literate at least to a minimum degree, which make the world much more like ours than a medieval setting.
It's one of those things that help the average player to better relate to the game world, I think.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:22 am

Yeah, if there's kids in Fallout, Bethesda should be safe putting them in Skyrim xD Fallout: New Vegas was pretty much one of the most brutal mainstream games of all times with some of the themes it presented, and TES is more about fantasy and wonder and such

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:01 am

I would laugh if there was a kid working for the thieves guild called Jimmy the hand. Two cents to the person who knows what I mean.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:40 am

Two cents to the person who knows what I mean.

aint he from feists work.

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:23 am

aint he from feists work.

Two cents to you

Theres nothing like sorta on topic side tracks

.

Anyway yeah, children will be unkillable so ill hide behind them when a dragon attacks.

» Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:34 pm

I remember having a bit of "Buch cassidy and the SunDance kid" (if I'm thinking of the right film) in fallout 3 with the help of a companion mod... After you saved that kid from the fire breathing ants I adopted him and took him round the wasteland with me. Was pretty epic until I equiped a load of stealth boys and watch the little guy take on a platoon of Raiders and deathclaw by himself and win.... after that I stuck with mortal companions!

» Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:37 am

This isn't an "early medieval setting" that parallels real world history. More primitive doesn't mean outright stupid. I'd expect to see many apprenticeships at the least.

I never said anything about anyone being stupid. Uneducated =/= stupid. I'm merely saying that universal public education would be about the most immersion-breaking thing I'd ever seen in a game. Apprenticeships are very likely; schools are highly unlikely, being a very modern invention (really, 19th century in the way we would define schools).