Copied from the previous thread:
The Skyrim cover was revealed at 11:00 AM CST!!!!!!
"And yeah, once people read this, heads will explode." - Andy McNamara, Editor-In-Chief of Game Informer
When responding to a question asking how the game looks:
As most of us know the February issue of the Game Informer magazine will feature 14 whole pages of Skyrim information/pictures/awesomeness.
The prestigious cover of the mag will also belong to Skyrim!
This thread is for thoughtful discussion and speculation of the topic and what we think will be revealed. Once the cover has been revealed we can keep all discussions to this series of threads so the mods don't have to spend all their time redirecting people's rants about how the cover is "zomg cool". Once the Mag is shipped to subscribers we can post small bits of information to share with other forum members who don't subscribe to GI.
For information on the rules of posting info on the magazine click on this Magnificent Link.*
It seems people keep missing the above Magnificent link. GO READ THAT BEFORE POSTING ABOUT THE ARTICLE PLEASE. It covers the forum rules on Scans, Transcripts and Links. Thank you - Outlander
*
Fortunately Todd Howard has already stated that "when we show it, we want to show a lot, because there's a lot of game there to play right now." Link
Here is the link to the Game Informer article on the matter: Link
Here is the link to the Bethesda Podcast in which Todd Howard touches on the subject: Link
(They start talking about GI around the 6:50 mark in the podcast if anyone just wants to skip to it.) - Wahoo
"They saw a lot [Game Informer visited the office of Bethesda last week] and I think, I hope, everybody is surprised with how much stuff were showing. It's... it's a lot. We wanted to sorta compress the amount of time that we talked about the game. It's still eleven months, it's a long time, but traditionally we're going on like two years talking about a game, so we start out very slow and we wanted to come out of the gate with a lot of... A lot of STUFF. So I think the fans will be excited." - Todd Howard
"And wait until you see what this game is all about! Mind...blown..." - Andrew Reiner
"Our Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim coverage has expanded from 12 pages to 14, making it our largest game-based cover story." - Andrew Reiner Link
If anyone has any other information then post it here and I will add it to the first post.
What we have learned so far (copied from MrTamarian's Got The Magazine thread):
Confirmed Features:
-2-handed weapons and duel wielding confirmed.
-A variation of level scaling.
-18 skills.
-Perk picking at every level-up
-Finishing moves, unique to each weapon and enemy you fight.
-Dynamic Shadows
-Kids
-Overhauled Combat-system Example Dual wielding spells, able to pick diffrent spells for each hand, or put the same in both for a more powerful effect.)
Radiant story
-5 Major Cities
-Improved Faces/Improved Models Example: Faces have been dramatically overhauled. Characters now exhibit more emotion show of distinctions between different races and just plain looks better.
-Radiant AI
-Updated Engine Snow falls dynamically (not as a basic texture on the ground)
Trees and branches move independently with the wind
Water flows and huge draw distances !
-The Hero has a mentor: His name is Esbern and Voiced by Mark Von Sydow (Surviving Blade)
-The game takes place 2 centuries after Oblivion
-Initiating a conversation between a NPC no longer zooms: Quote (Conversations aren't done in a zoomed in static shot anymore. Start a conversation with some and they will act like someone would in real life, looking at you occasionally and walking around a bit and also continue doing a task if they were doing one while talking.)
-Sprint is added !
-Randomly generated quests.
-Beards
- Dialog will pop up when you approach an enemy
- You can't run backwards as fast as you do forward.
- 10 races to choose from
- confirmed creatures: zombies, skeletons, trolls, giants, ice wraiths, giant spiders, dragons, wolves, horses Elk, mammoth, saber-toothed cats
- presumeably open cities (as dragons can attack)
- cooking/farming/mining/woodcutting/blacksmithing
-Hud-free first-person view and improved third-person perspective
-5 Magic Schools Destruction Alteration Conjuration Restoration Illusion. (Alchemy Enchant (now added) are not magic schools (?) )
-very unique landscapes! Also unique dungeons! In other words, lots of uniqueness!
-Character creation improved, body features customizable
-Radiant story
-Plot: The plot is that you are possibly the last Dragonborn, a group characterized by their ability to hunt dragons. The Septim line was a prominent Dragonborn line protected by the Dragonguards which eventually became the blades. After the death of the Septim line, the Blades were hunted down and killed one by one and now are almost completely gone. The return of the dragons was foretold in the Elder Scrolls and was ushered in by the destruction of the Staff of Chaos, the creation of the Numidium, the events at Red Mountain and the Oblivion Crisis. The last event to unfold before the dragons return was the people of Skyrim turning against each other which is happening at the beginning of the game. Dragons start to appear in greater and greater numbers as the game goes on and will eventually culminate with Alduin possibly coming into the world, but we have no idea yet.
-Combat: The combat system has once again been overhauled. Now you may choose what you place in each hand, whether it be a sword and shield, dagger and sword, two swords or even a weapon in one hand and a spell in another. Assaulting with your shield is now apart of melee combat, being able to shield bash them to stagger them to give yourself an advantage in combat. Spells can now be dedicated to a certain hand meaning you can fight with your left hand aflame while your right hand is charged with lightning. Ranged combat has been improved by increasing the damage bows deal significantly, so much so that it is possible for one to one shot an npc from stealth but also so the draw time of your bow has been increased. Ranged combat shouldn't be able to be abused from stealth like in Oblivion due to the fact that NPCs are FAR more intelligent than any TES game ever and possibly any game to date, we shall see.
Have something new to add to the list? Post and I will try to add it.
Useful Links:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1156583-skyrim-game-informer-thread-xvii/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1156392-got-the-magazine-iii/
http://www.gameinformer.com/p/esv.aspx