# 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:** 9
**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:** [February 26, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/161 "2011-02-26T18:17:34Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Oh god no. Why must there be Multi-player in EVERYTHING? > > This is a single player game and a single-player experience. Making it co-op would degrade the experience beyond recognition. > > There are plenty of other games where Co-op and multi-player make sense. > > This isn’t one of them. Yesssss. More multiplayer, please. I half kid, though. Some games just aren’t meant to be played online and are better off left as single-player campaigns only. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/162 "2011-02-27T20:41:57Z")
It’s not about meant to be. It’ about resources. You’ve only got a set number of time and resources to finish a game. EVERYTHING in an Elder Scrolls game should be put forward towards making a great single player experience. Anything wasted on some stupid multi-player feature will NECESSARILY take away form that single player experience. BTW, I know the devs said that was Xbox 360 footage on the video. But I’m very skeptical. I downloaded the HD footage form their site, and I noticed that all transparency and geometry is lacking AA. There isn’t a single jaggie anywhere. Whatever is runnign that footage is running super sampling at at least 4x. When was the last time the Xbox 360 used 4x supersampling AA? The answer is never. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/163 "2011-02-27T20:51:41Z")
Thinking about it, it might be the video compression that is affecting AA. Hmmm, nevermind then. ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/164 "2011-02-28T06:14:52Z")
I play a lot of Warcraft and whenever I play any single player game, it always feels so lonesome. However, multiplayer is not how I want to experience the Elderscrolls. I want to experience it the same way I do a very dense book- at my own pace, under my own volition. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/165 "2011-02-28T12:30:25Z")
Yeah, I don’t think another player is going to tolerate the amount of time I spend compulsively harvesting every flower I can see. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/166 "2011-02-28T13:16:55Z")
I first encountered the ES series with Morrowind. My first thought was “It’s a single player MMO!” It’s like playing WoW or LOTRO but without a fanboy running past with the name “DRGNCOK” spamming chat channels. So no, please no multiplayer in the core ES games. If they so release a dedicated MMO though, I am most definately interested. With all the backstory created over the years, the RP servers will be a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/167 "2011-02-28T14:36:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’ve never finished either Oblivion or Morrowind. Not for lack of playing Neither did I. My main hopes are that 1. I’ll be able to run the game on my computer 2)That the enemies won’t be leveled according to the player’s own level as it is the case in Oblivion. I hated that (for a reason opposite to the usual one : I’m uber-cautious in CRPGs, hate to die and to reload, and as a result I’m always searching for easy targets, non-existing in Oblivion). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/168 "2011-02-28T15:43:46Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > 2)That the enemies won’t be leveled according to the player’s own level as it is the case in Oblivion. I hated that (for a reason opposite to the usual one : I’m uber-cautious in CRPGs, hate to die and to reload, and as a result I’m always searching for easy targets, non-existing in Oblivion). Far as I can tell that \*is \*the usual one. The most common complaint I see is how at higher levels even bandits are decked in full Daedric armor - which is of course plenty dumb from a lore/RP perspective (“gimme 100 gold ! My gear is worth 40.000 !”), but also makes them much harder than common outlaws have any right to be. Same with every encounter being levelled just above you to give you a hard time throughout - it’s dumb, it’s not fun and it destroys any sense of progression or rise in power you could have had. Most players think it’s OK to have to run from outlaws and goblins at level 1, not so much at level 20 and decked in artifacts from head to toe. That being said, I don’t really worry about it, or any game mechanic really. I’m confident there’ll be 35.000 mods out to correct them the evening after release 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/169 "2011-02-28T17:23:46Z")
Well, if the bandits were anything like me, they wouldn’t be able to sell their armour because no merchant would pay more than 2 grand 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/170 "2011-02-28T21:28:04Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Yeah, I don’t think another player is going to tolerate the amount of time I spend compulsively harvesting every flower I can see. Because of alchemy, or is it OCD? I love alchemy. I spend so much time making potions. I also have to read every book. I actually collect and read the text in each book. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/171 "2011-02-28T21:59:40Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > 2)That the enemies won’t be leveled according to the player’s own level as it is the case in Oblivion. I hated that (for a reason opposite to the usual one : I’m uber-cautious in CRPGs, hate to die and to reload, and as a result I’m always searching for easy targets, non-existing in Oblivion). From what I’ve read, enemies will _partially_ scale, like in the recent Fallout games. My guess is that they’ll have slightly better stats as you level (capped at a certain point), but won’t actually get better gear. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/172 "2011-02-28T23:24:55Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > Because of alchemy, or is it OCD? I love alchemy. I spend so much time making potions. Good question. I do make quite a lot of potions and poisons. The more esoteric/situational stuff (like resist X, restore Z or Feather) I make on the fly when I need them, but I never go anywhere without a healthy supply of health, mana, fatigue, cure disease/poison/paralysis, elemental damage, silence and invisibility pots. But I also find myself stashing tons of components in my house “for a rainy day” and because over time they start weighing me down. I hardly ever take those back out, since usually by the time I need to make a specific potion I have picked up new ones. I’m also loathe to actually use difficult to find or expensive components (like vampire dust or daedra hearts) and will try to figure out where a common component that has similar properties grows, then spend ages getting there and harvesting the stuff. Even if I have 50 vamp dusts _right there_. I won’t sell the expensive ones, either - why, I might need them for potions that I don’t actually make later ! I’m starting to think I may have a problem :). ---
**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:** [March 1, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/173 "2011-03-01T00:03:41Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > From what I’ve read, enemies will _partially_ scale, like in the recent Fallout games. My guess is that they’ll have slightly better stats as you level (capped at a certain point), but won’t actually get better gear. And that was a problem before. You picked up gear automatically once you hit a certain level. There just wasn’t much adventure involved, since about that time every Tom, Dick, and bandit would have it. Morrowind was much better about it: the cool and rare stuff was hard to get early on (though not impossible) and was still great at level 50. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/174 "2011-03-01T07:52:19Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Good question. > I do make quite a lot of potions and poisons. The more esoteric/situational stuff (like resist X, restore Z or Feather) I make on the fly when I need them, but I never go anywhere without a healthy supply of health, mana, fatigue, cure disease/poison/paralysis, elemental damage, silence and invisibility pots. > > But I also find myself stashing tons of components in my house “for a rainy day” and because over time they start weighing me down. I hardly ever take those back out, since usually by the time I need to make a specific potion I have picked up new ones. > I’m also loathe to actually use difficult to find or expensive components (like vampire dust or daedra hearts) and will try to figure out where a common component that has similar properties grows, then spend ages getting there and harvesting the stuff. Even if I have 50 vamp dusts _right there_. I won’t sell the expensive ones, either - why, I might need them for potions that I don’t actually make later ! > I’m starting to think I may have a problem :). I do the same, and even worst : I almost never drink the potions I make, because, who knows, I might need them more latter on. As a result, not only do I have a stash of flowers and vampire dust, but also a stash of potions I never use. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/175 "2011-03-01T07:58:16Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Far as I can tell that \*is \*the usual one. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about being unable to fight early on powerful ennemies in order to get big treasures and high quality stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Headrush042](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Headrush042](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headrush042)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/176 "2011-03-01T15:45:42Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I do the same, and even worst : I almost never drink the potions I make, because, who knows, I might need them more latter on. As a result, not only do I have a stash of flowers and vampire dust, but also a stash of potions I never use. And here I thought there was something seriously wrong with me. Okay, so maybe there’s something seriously wrong with all three of us. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/177 "2011-03-04T00:28:49Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about being unable to fight early on powerful ennemies in order to get big treasures and high quality stuff. That was a big point, too. It’s not trying to cheat anything: preparing and taking on a big challenge is a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/178 "2011-05-10T19:12:12Z")
[These](http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/04/18/new-skyrim-previews-come-in-for-a-landing/) interviews/previews with Todd Howard have me more excited for Skyrim than ever before. It seems that Skyrim will be a combination of Oblivion and Fallout 3. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/179 "2011-05-11T22:21:43Z")
I posted some thoughts about Elder scrolls, and open world games in general whether they be pen n’ paper or what, over here: > **[Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim](https://ruscumag.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/elder-scrolls-5-skyrim/)** > > …and a bunch of random ideas about game design and play I considered not posting this. It’s not as relevant to game design as I usually like (and videogames aren’t really the focu… Edit: and it’s a little long to reproduce here. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846/180 "2011-06-08T18:10:36Z")
There’s a new gameplay video from E3 that looks awesome: > **[GameTrailers](https://www.youtube.com/c/gametrailers)** > > IGN’s home for the latest game trailers, including new gameplay, cinematics, announcements, and reveals. > > Subscribe to stay up to date and get notified when new trailers arrive, that includes during events like Nintendo Directs, Sony State of Plays,... This is probably a must buy for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/563846.md?page=10)