# The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846 "2010-12-12T02:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/81 "2011-01-08T00:24:15Z")
Hot piss. Duel wielding spells, weapons and shields confirmed. 18 skills, as opposed to Oblivion’s 21 - apparently Mysticism has been removed, Enchantment added - don’t know what else has been removed. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/82 "2011-01-08T00:26:31Z")
Ugh. The crouch position from those scans looks like we’re in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/83 "2011-01-08T02:22:16Z")
Fifteen dollars says leveling still sucks. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/84 "2011-01-08T02:45:29Z")
> [@Mr. Kobayashi](#): > > Hot piss. Duel wielding spells, weapons and shields confirmed. 18 skills, as opposed to Oblivion’s 21 - apparently Mysticism has been removed, Enchantment added - don’t know what else has been removed. Umm… maybe I’m not understanding, but while dual=-wielding spells sounds quite nice for magic-using characters, how are shields and weapons even marginally suprising? I’m more than a little worried about removing skills. Every Elder Scrolls game since Daggerfall has done this, and it seems to constantly herald removed features. The game really needs climbing back and real flying/levitation, and the technology simply should NOT be that hard. Yes, I expect that enemies only melee capability should be limited in an all-magic world of spell-slingers and super-archers. Still, perhaps (not likely, but _maybe_) Bethsoft has learned that you can _gasp_ add and improve your sequels. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/85 "2011-01-08T02:49:46Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Umm… maybe I’m not understanding, but while dual=-wielding spells sounds quite nice for magic-using characters, how are shields and weapons even marginally suprising? They didn’t have dual-wielding weapons in Morrowind or Oblivion. What they NEED to add is mounted combat. Oblivion would have been near-perfect if they’d had mounted combat. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/86 "2011-01-08T03:13:29Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > They didn’t have dual-wielding weapons in Morrowind or Oblivion. Oh, I didn’t understand what you wrote there. Dual-wielding anything is indeed a feature that makes me shout “Finally!” > [@](#): > > What they NEED to add is mounted combat. Oblivion would have been near-perfect if they’d had mounted combat. Hoo boy… I dunno. It’s difficult to do right. Mount and Blade manages with a lot less fancy system, but even then it’s something of a game breaker. And Oblivon’s flaws went _FAR_ deeper than lacking mounted combat. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/87 "2011-01-08T03:21:48Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Hoo boy… I dunno. It’s difficult to do right. Mount and Blade manages with a lot less fancy system, but even then it’s something of a game breaker. Tough. They shouldn’t have had horses at all, then. It was just a slap in the face to have them but make it impossible to fight while riding them. And I don’t think it would be a game-breaker. Most of the combat takes place either inside, in caves or in Oblivion, places you can’t take horses anyway. > [@smiling](#): > > And Oblivon’s flaws went _FAR_ deeper than lacking mounted combat. I didn’t mind anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/88 "2011-01-08T03:21:59Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > They didn’t have dual-wielding weapons in Morrowind or Oblivion. > > What they NEED to add is mounted combat. Oblivion would have been near-perfect if they’d had mounted combat. Wait, mounted combat? Does that still mean like, combat on horses? That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/89 "2011-01-08T03:26:35Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Wait, mounted combat? Does that still mean like, combat on horses? That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. They had horses in Oblivion. They had an order of knights that you could join in Oblivion. The idea that you could swing your sword while mounted on a horse is the stupidest you’ve ever heard? Are you feeling OK? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/90 "2011-01-08T03:51:12Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > The game really needs climbing back and real flying/levitation, and the technology simply should NOT be that hard. I understand that people have created flying mods for Oblivion, so evidently it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/91 "2011-01-08T04:09:59Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > They had horses in Oblivion. They had an order of knights that you could join in Oblivion. The idea that you could swing your sword while mounted on a horse is the stupidest you’ve ever heard? Are you feeling OK? Yeah. I don’t see horse combat as being anything other than a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/92 "2011-01-08T04:18:10Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I didn’t mind anything else. :eek: The god-awful levelling, the shallow interaction, the complete voice/character mismatch outside of the big names, the shallow and full main quest, the erratic quality of other quests, the nightmarish level scaling, the lack of climbing or flying, the tedious dungeons, the badly-done bakgroudn conversation system, the overly-grindy skill levelling, the lack of good player housing where you wanted it, the endless bug-fest, and poor coding, the idiotic polygon budgets… well, that’s enough to _start_. Seriosuly? None of that bothered you? The lack of mounted combat is minor sideshow. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/93 "2011-01-08T04:19:55Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > :eek: > > The god-awful levelling, the shallow interaction, the complete voice/character mismatch outside of the big names, the shallow and full main quest, the erratic quality of other quests, the nightmarish level scaling, the lack of climbing or flying, the tedious dungeons, the badly-done bakgroudn conversation system, the overly-grindy skill levelling, the lack of good player housing where you wanted it, the endless bug-fest, and poor coding, the idiotic polygon budgets… > > well, that’s enough to _start_. Did you ever play Morrowind? ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/94 "2011-01-08T15:38:04Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Fifteen dollars says leveling still sucks. I’ll take that bet. 😃 [http://kotaku.com/5728236/the-next-elder-scrolls-has-new-combat--levelling](http://kotaku.com/5728236/the-next-elder-scrolls-has-new-combat--levelling) > [@](#): > > Another change to the way Skyrim plays compared to its predecessor, Oblivion, is in how you gain new powers and abilities. This game does entirely away with the concept of class creation, Bethesda’s thinking being it’s a bit naff asking people to predict how they’re going to play a game when they haven’t played it yet. > > Replacing this, then, is an organic system of attribute growth based on use: the more you do something, the better you get at it. While this has long been a staple of RPG games, even dating back to the Quest for Glory series, but in Skyrim it’s not just complementing a class structure, it’s replacing it. So you won’t be cast in stone as a mage if you use lots of magic, you’ll just be some adventurer with a higher magic number in their stats. > > You level up according to how you progress your most-used skills. “Raising one skill from 34 to 35 is going to level you faster than raising one from 11 to 12”, Bethesda’s Todd Howard tells Game Informer. If you stick to what you like/do best, you’ll level up quickly. Conversely, if you want to take things slowly, you can raise all or most of your skills, as not focusing on one or two in particular will mean a slower rise through the levels. > > One wildly unpopular aspect of Oblivion was the fact basic enemies levelled up alongside you, meaning even the most powerful warriors could sometimes be undone by sewer rats or angry crabs. In Skyrim, though, your opponent’s levelling is more like that found in Fallout 3. > > Continuing Bethesda’s work with Fallout 3, each new level you gain in Skyrim will also give you a perk, which you can apply to give you added bonuses relative to how you want to play the game. Whoo! Perks! ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/95 "2011-01-08T16:12:39Z")
Perks in my Elder Scrolls? Sounds great. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/96 "2011-01-08T16:34:40Z")
Interesting. I’m most interested in the “Raising one skill from 34 to 35 is going to level you faster than raising one from 11 to 12” thing. Maybe it will be a blend of the systems from the recent Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. You could gain XP from raising skills (and possibly also killing enemies and finishing quests); with enough XP, you get a FO3-style level up screen where you can boost your base stats and choose your perk. I want to see how they’ll handle enchanting and spellmaking. Both were tons of fun in Morrowind, but they wrecked them in Oblivion. Not only did they both get ludicrously low caps on everything, but they took out auto-recharging for items. I don’t think any custom-made enchantment was even close to the strength of a sigil stone. In Morrowind your enchanted items gradually recharge on their own (the rate depending on your enchanting skill); I hope they bring that back so we don’t have to dick around with soul gems and soul trap spells so much. ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/97 "2011-01-08T17:07:57Z")
Here’s what I want to see: I want lockpicking to be exactly like FO3, because it feels good. I’m also totally sick of the stereotypical highfantsy. I liked Morrowind’s silt striders, guars, and netches. Spice that shit up a bit. I’d like less hassles. I can’t play Morrowind for all the cliff racers; I can’t play Oblivion for all the wolves. It’s just a boring, cluttering detour: ‘oh great, let me stop what I’m doing at stab at this fucking bird for thirty seconds’. Stop protecting the game from players fucking it up. In Morrowind, I enjoyed murdering Caius Cosades and dooming the world. I enjoyed making spells that crippled the game. An army of 50 Golden Saints was hilarious to drag around. Also, dual wielding sounds exceptionally cool. It’s not even a stupid gimmick either! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/98 "2011-01-08T19:26:50Z")
> [@Walmarticus](#): > > I’m also totally sick of the stereotypical highfantsy. I liked Morrowind’s silt striders, guars, and netches. That’s something I agree with. Morrowind felt exotic, alien; Cyrodil in Oblivion felt like Generic Fantasy Setting #6453051 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/99 "2011-01-08T22:04:11Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s something I agree with. Morrowind felt exotic, alien; Cyrodil in Oblivion felt like Generic Fantasy Setting #6453051 Funny thing was, it wasn’t supposed to be. Cyrodiil is a jungle, not a forest! Or it was, at any rate. They tore it out and replaced it with a very bog-standard. I think it would have been cool to run about with Roman government ruling over orders of Knights fighting in the Jungle. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/100 "2011-01-11T05:24:58Z")
A behind the scenes look, including concept art and a map of the gameworld (!): [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/10/video-behind-the-scenes-of-skyrim.aspx](http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/10/video-behind-the-scenes-of-skyrim.aspx) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846.md?page=6)