At the beginning of the game, we all create a character. We pick our race and our gender, and that gives us a small fluctuation in the skills that we have. That's pretty much it, right? I mean, if I create a Female Breton and name her Sue, and you create a Female Breton and name her Barbra, what's the difference? I see no possible way for our characters to have a history, to be customized, to represent our preferences or choice or lifestyles. I see no way to Role Play.

In essence, the only thing I see is that we start the game with the RPG equivalent of a gob of play-doh. We can mold the character based on how we play them, but why can't we create anything interesting to start with?

Use your Imagination.

That's where you use a little thing called- imaggggginnnaaation.

The wonderful thing about Elder Scrolls is that it gives you no backstory. As opposed to more linear RPG's, your character is free for YOU to define.

My female Breton named Sue might have been a fierce warrior from High Rock who is in Skyrim to search for her lost father, wheras your female breton named Barbara might be from a mage from Cyrodil who is an empire loyalist, looking to quel the Skyrim rebellion.

It'd be nice to have more options at the start, sure. The Daggerfall systems (haven't played but, from read) of picking resistances and enemies you are weak/strong against sound great. But you still have the ability t efine your character as different from the get-go, even if it' not specifically supporter by game mechanics.

Sue the Breton enjoys long walk on the beach, 3rd Age Argonian poetry, and Edged Weapons.

Serioulsy, its amazing what some people beeitch about

RPGs aren't about being unique. That was never the objective. Roleplaying is not about having statistical differences between your character and mine. It's what you do.

Character.

The combination of personality, skills, and emotion. Both of your Bretons have the vast potential to be completely different people in their skills, background, motivations, and finally.. their entire build.

Personally, I've found all my characters incredibly interesting from the start. I'm surprised you can talk about role play and not see this. :\

There is definitely a theme that some people want the game to do their roleplaying for them as well.

We had a whole thread defining roleplaying last night. if you want feminine looking dudes in your games there's places you can go to find that niche...

I find it disheartening that nobody here sees any value in the uniqueness of a character in any way other than their own imagination. Why is it better to have identical characters for each of us, and forbidding the ability to distribute skills or attributes in any way that approaches a recognition that our character had an entire life before the moment the game starts?

Why is it that, if I want to have an unusually weak character with an aptitude for alchemy, I can't do that? Why can't I have an unusually large and strong player, that doesn't understand magic at all? How is that better? How is it a better system that all of our characters come out the same, regardless of what we might actually want them to be like?





And how is this post constructive?