Yes that's a giant spider. It was in the GI-article, and in the Gamereactor too
I like the idea of giant spiders (well, they can be kind of creepy, but still a really cool dungeon monster).

Just noticed also, there are two "unique" pictures in http://www.computerbild.de/videos/Video-CBS-Ausgabe-03-2011-Test-Michael-Jackson-The-Experience-5943802.html.
One is at 00:26 (the undead; it's a little different from the "usual" undead pic, but it's still pretty much the same).
The second one is at 00:33 (the player agains the dragon in the sky; this is also pretty alike the "snow/dragon" picture in the GI though).

I'm rather skeptic about this... it sounds too big, like Radiant a.i. used to. If every ecosystem is organic, then I expect them to spread the word if their things keep disappearing from their houses, to alert the guards if they see me sneaking around, to try to steal from each other when they're out of food, to buy things in the shops, to repair the mills if I burn(?) them. That's organic, to react to my actions not only individually, but as a community.

Hopefully we can finally fish in an Elder Scrolls game! This would be wicked!

Low fantasy? What do they mean low fantasy?

Well... yeah, it does sound big. But I think they've learned quite a bit from AI during these 4,5 years. I'm hopeful
Also, the writer said (after playing/watching the game, I guess) that what struck him the most in Skyrim was exactly this... how the world felt like "a living organism".
So if the writer said that, it has to be good... I hope



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_fantasy is your friend

But I'm your friend too, so I'll say that ... low fantasy means that the game resembles more to our world (but it's still a fantasy... with magic and dragons in this case). Especially in terms of environment and such.
Morrowind was no low fantasy (there were huge mushroom trees growing everywhere!). Oblivion was more low fantasy. Skyrim will be low fantasy as well, with a touch of "Tolkienesque".

Wishful thinking, honestly. There's no such thing.

The screenshot of the undead is also new. Compare them both.

also the one with the PC and the dragon is new.

Thanks :foodndrink:
If that is low fantasy then I expect Skyrim to be the same as Oblivion because they can't go lower than that with all thoses weird dragons and fire mages. I just hope there is a darker world in terms of mature dialogue, tougher law enforcement, violent people in shady parts of towns, I like the low fantasy to imply more danger for the player coming from "earthly" sources, such as money lenders, bounty hunters, assassins, corrupt guards, caught in the middle by rival clans,etc. Oblivion felt a bit too safe, even around the Oblivion gates people kept doing their chores and gossiping mudcrabs like nothing bad happened.

I'm interested in that as well.

I'm confused by this though..."There are no pre-determined meetings with dragons"

Well what about the final boss?

I seriously doubt the final boss is going to be a sword fight with Alduin... dude is the god of time.

More realistic armor and weapons than seen previously is very nice, hopefully they mean both in stats and visual appearance.



There's more grey areas than they claim though. I think of Warhammer as being quite low-fantasy, even though it has a lot of elements that depart from the classic low-fantasy setting. Warcraft, on the other hand, is quite high fantasy, even though they're directly related in terms of ancestry.

Alduin will most likely not randomly spawn. That would be crazy

A few bit extra added about dragons is that when a dragon spawn if you're interested:

You might just see the dragon fly past to the horizon, or you might stumble across a dragon slumbering in a cave...

I'll add this to the topic. Anyway, what I like especially about this is that dragons might just fly far away from you and not notice you
It would create a tension in the game and make you fear dragons, I think.

The one thing they still haven't talked about with dragons are the actual fights, which I'm concerned about.

Wooohooo! Thanks a bunch, man! :thumbsup:

Bethesda is purposely holding information back in order to spread out the release of news until the game is released.

Indeed it does sound a bit (a big big bit) to big... ...don't trust it...
But to me it would involve one more thing... smaller society's might not have guards but if your crimes in (or towards anyone from/in) that town are big enough the villagers might gather in groups against you... could you imagine one day returning to your home to be meet by a mob with nothing but woodsmans axes, pitchforks, and torches, perhaps a few bows in bad condition too, saying they don't want you here and will kill you and roast you over their campfire if you don't leave and never come back... and no matter if that bounty gets paid or whatever you do they will never let you in, if someone from that town is out hunting/wood chopping and see you they will run back home and gather the villagers... that would be so cool I'd do unspeakable things (like finishing moves) towards villages, in the hopes of seeing this in work...

After 2 years, I'm pretty sure the dragon team have come up with something absolutely amazing that we will never forget

Didn't Todd say some time how he started a game when he was bored, just to fight dragons? Or perhaps it was just to see dragons...

We do know that dragons will be very difficult. And we do know they got really great AI and can do lots and lots of moves.
We'll have to wait and see for the actual fights...

Sorry OT: Who is the guy in your avatar pic?

Excited about the thief tracking encounter...

Now I may have got this all wrong but I'm sure I saw in an article or heard on the podcast that dragons would randomly appear in the game world. If thats the case what happens if a dragon randomly appears above a city, kills an important NPC/quest giver/someone important for the story/someone who can't be replaced with a sister or brother? That would be infuriating.

OMG that sounds so cool :goodjob: I'd very much appreciate that sort of collective behaviour. It's just that I think it's too advanced even for the improved Radiant AI, I expect just a slightly improvement from Oblivion.

He said that when he gets bored he summons dragons to watch them terrorize citizens (24:20).

Colonel John Sheppard from the TV-series Stargate Atlantis




The most important people are invincible like in Oblivion. Not sure about people who aren't important but can't get replaced though.
We do know that people will start running and finding shelder (or someone who can defend them) when dragons are attacking in towns. Don't remember where I heard that, but I'm sure it was from somewhere.

Still, I think they have thought of this and come up with something.

Why am I imagining the new Toddtest cell having hundreds of dragons in it? :spotted owl:

Hahah that would be funny

We gotta check the Toddtest cell out! We just gotta...
TODD, if you're reading this (or if a dev is reading this, please tell it to Todd!). Leave something "special" for us in your cell! Please Todd! Like... the ability to become a werewolf, using a spear while riding a dragon