Well in that case, a tree a rock and a plant are numbers as well. That's what a frakking computer does -- nothing but numbers. The GPU takes those numbers and paints you a picture using texture #5 at location (x,y,z) that doesn't mean that you need to see that set of numbers. I don't think all the numbers you love have been removed anyway, what's happened is that the Dungeon Master in the computer isn't necessarily telling you all of those numbers so that you can focus on whether or not your dovahkiin likes the Stormcloaks or the Imperials.
The numbers are still there for the most part It's the way they're implemented that's the problem.
Take stamina for example. What they've basically done is lumped two character attributes (strength and endurance) together, so you can't increase one without increasing the other. Kind've dumb, really. A physically strong person isn't necessarily going to be a good long distance runner; nor is a long distance runner necessarily going to be able to lift heavy weights.
Things such as jump height and running speed are still there technically, as you can use console commands to increase both. But they're both no longer there as something the player can choose to define who their character is.
This is why I prefer perks to straight stat increases. With a stat or skill increase I get a stat increase. Nothing about it gives you a choice -- heavy armour just makes you take less damage in heavy armour makes it last longer. With perks you get a choice as to what your new mastery of Heavy Armour means -- either taking less damage or having the iron aromour last longer BUT NOT BOTH. That means making a choice. So much for dumbed down. I'd rather have some say in how the stats increase rather than the way Morrowind or Oblivion handled it -- it was a communist election. You will take less damage as you increase your block skill or you will take less damage with this block skill increase -- oh and choose wisely. Some choice.
Perks, in theory, aren't a bad idea at all. They can be a good compliment to skills and attributes, giving the player some more things to think about when deciding how they want their character to progress.
The problem I have with perks in Skyrim however, is:
- Progression seems too reliant on them. Skill progression feels fairly non-existent and there mostly to present milestones that unlock new perks (level 20, level 50, level 70, level 100, etc). So instead of a natural progression over time, it feels more like i'm not really progressing at all in a skill, until suddenly I pick a perk and receive a 30% increase in damage or whatever.
- The way the perk trees are structured means that I often find myself picking perks I have absolutely no interest in just to gain access to something further down the line. So much for perks giving complete freedom of choice.
- There are enough perk points that I can pretty much unlock all the perks in every skill i'm interested in, which kind've defeats the idea of them making characters unique or encouraging the player to think carefully.
RPGs in particular should be about the choices -- choosing to do one thing means choosing not to do another. Choosing to side with one great house means choosing not to side with the other too. Yes its a stat but it's not presented as a spreadsheet, just as a CHOICE.
I feel as though I have less of a say over who my character is than in previous TES games (especially Daggerfall) because there are fewer skills and no attributes.
My character started out in Skyrim as a blank, default slate in Skyrim. No choice there. In Daggerfall I could pretty much decide what kind of person they were, what their basic strengths and weaknesses were, etc.
Instead of choosing whether I want a character who's physically strong but slow, or physically weak but agile, I basically just alternate between Health and Stamina when levelling up. Not much choice really.
» Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:24 pm 
