We've all seen the videos now, so I won't post them (but if you haven't seen the twenty minutes of uncut E3 footage in all it's glory, get off this forum and go do that now). My beef with BGS is this: why doesn't magic seem to impact enemies at all until they're killed?

From the very first time that waraxe cleaved that Draugr's face and snapped his neck backwards, we've taken note of the wonderful impact of, well, impact. As was also shown early during the dual-wield fight against the lone bandit with a shield, both enemies and the PC are impacted by the force of melee attacks and recoil when struck, even if the damage taken is not sufficient to kill. This is not new to the series, but greatly improved.

Magic, on the other hand, is made of cotton. I can count two large explosions from the fireball spell seen in the videos that, despite damaging their targets, did not impact them in the slightest (one against a frost troll [who should be weak to fire] and one against the dragon priest [very thin and frail, albeit possibly magic-resistant]). Now, other spells, such as that (frost?) rune placed on the ground and chain lightning, impacted their targets a great deal, but only after death. IIRC, this is the same as in Oblivion--targets do nothing more than take damage from anything other than melee (that is, spells or magic) up until they actually die, in which case force is finally applied to them. Granted, it might make sense for someone not to be pushed back or something from the force of a flamethrower type of spell (frost/shockthrower?), but EXPLOSIONS DON'T EVEN NUDGE TARGETS.

I kindly request that you fine folks bring attention to this detail and refuse to allow Beth to ignore it; even a tiny dagger may stagger an opponent whereas a fifteen-foot wide (powerful) explosion will not. With mechanics like this, all the spells may as well just apply flashy-looking poison damage :sadvaultboy:

Because if it did, you could just throw magic at them and survive 100% of the time.

we don't want magic to be so powerful that a basic fireball throws around everything it hits like a toy

While that sounds like a good point, take into consideration that enemies could do that to you as well, and that, even if you're resistant, impact'd make it difficult or stupid to spam powerful explosions in a small room.

Besides, don't you want to gather a dozen NPCs somewhere (say, right outside a tavern) and blow them up at least once? Surely you've made it rain people before in OB! :laugh:

play the game first :sadvaultboy:

On a serious note, I'm not suggesting that the impact be that powerful--after all, people don't fly away every time you bat them with a hammer until you actually kill them. Spells can generally be spammed only as fast as melee attacks, so there's a recovery time for both parties. I'd say it'd be balanced if there was noticeable and realistic recoil (that is, a basic fireball wouldn't "throw around everything it hits like a toy").

Impact during combat, I say, with no resistance to the impact whatsoever when the enemy dies (as would be expected), just like with melee.

Yeah, let's boycott BGS! MO' EXPLOSIONS, YO!! That's what my picket sign will read. How 'bout yers? :celebrate:

I know where you're coming from about not knocking it 'til I try it, but this isn't speculation here; there was footage (albeit old, so I'm sure things have gotten better), and this would not be the first time a TES game was lacking in this mechanic.