TES V: Skyrim

[Kyyla]

I dont see why it matters if the bandits have daedric armor or not when they can soak tons of damage on higher levels anyway. Luckily there are still some lower level mobs around.

 

[Vadi]

There seem to be, yes, but wouldn't it be boring to just meet low level mobs after some time?
If you look at it abstractly you realize that you cannot possibly simulate a complete world, so I'd see it as an automatic filter to mostly show you encounters which you'd not run away from or kill in one hit anyway.


The current 4GB patch does eliminate the crash I got repeatedly, but the graphic corruption stays.

Also I like to lower fCloudNearFadeDistance to one, 9000 was a bit much.

 

[Kyyla]

It is a decent compromise. Much better than Oblivion for sure. It does tend to bland the experience somewhat once you realize what is going on.

Bethesda should look at Gothic 2 for examples on how to balance difficulty without auto levelling. For me it is still the best RPG experience. For some people the amount of asskicking you receive early on when going to dark places might be too much though

 

[Entropy]

Thanks for the auto-levelling input.

I find auto-levelling detestable both because it (partially or wholly) removes the impetus to improve your character in order to be able to tackle new challenges, and because it makes the world behave very oddly, (goblins in glass armor in the same dreary cave they used to fight with sticks in, or gradually all people in the world getting über), thus breaking the immersiveness of the simulated fantasy world. Which, for an Elder Scrolls game, is disaster.

So Chalnoths comments regarding gear levelling on critters being saner, and Kyylas comment that the mobs are comprised by higher level opponents rather than super powered low level ones are somewhat encouraging, along with the comments that the overall impression is less glaring than in Oblivion.

Hmm. But still.

Again, thanks. I'll mull it over since I really like these kinds of games. Morrowind is definitely one of my best gaming experiences ever. Never got around to finishing the main quest, I just kept getting sidetracked.

 

[Grall]

If there's no auto-leveling you have to make the player stick to areas with mobs that are killable at their own level. That would totally dictate the flow of the game, which breaks the free-flow form of the Elder Scrolls series at least from Morrowind and onwards (I never played the previous games.)

You can't both have caek and eat it, I don't really mind the autoleveling, I never have. In fact, if it means I can go in any direction I want at any time that's a boon in my view, as if I re-play the game I won't have to repeat the same areas in the same order I did last playthrough.

 

[Dresden]

Auto-leveling or not, there are still mini-bosses throughout the game. Most of which are incredibly hard, depending on the difficulty you play on. Even some mobs have kicked my ass and took a few tries to kill. As opposed to Oblivion, where I literally walked through that game and obliterated everything in my path.

 

[KimB]

Hehe, just found out that with enchanting, the cost decrease enchantments for spells stack linearly, so that if you have two items with 25% cost decrease in destruction, for instance, destruction spells cost half as much. And there's no cap.

So it is quite possible, once you have enchanting up to 100, to have zero-cost spells in one school of magic. Yes, my mage now has (effectively) infinite magicka.

 

[Jedi2016]

The only enchantment I'm really interested in is +One-handed damage. I think you can get somewhere around triple damage with all available pieces enchanted at max.

 

[Sxotty]

Hehe, just found out that with enchanting, the cost decrease enchantments for spells stack linearly, so that if you have two items with 25% cost decrease in destruction, for instance, destruction spells cost half as much. And there's no cap.

So it is quite possible, once you have enchanting up to 100, to have zero-cost spells in one school of magic. Yes, my mage now has (effectively) infinite magicka.

do you know what items can be enchantted in what ways? I thought that any attribute enhancment coulld go on any apparel, but that was mistaken. I am not sure if I haven't found the right item to disenchant or what thoug. I always liked enchanting armor in the past but it seems more restrictive now than I remember/misremember it.

 

[ERP]

Thanks for the auto-levelling input.

I find auto-levelling detestable both because it (partially or wholly) removes the impetus to improve your character in order to be able to tackle new challenges, and because it makes the world behave very oddly, (goblins in glass armor in the same dreary cave they used to fight with sticks in, or gradually all people in the world getting über), thus breaking the immersiveness of the simulated fantasy world. Which, for an Elder Scrolls game, is disaster.

So Chalnoths comments regarding gear levelling on critters being saner, and Kyylas comment that the mobs are comprised by higher level opponents rather than super powered low level ones are somewhat encouraging, along with the comments that the overall impression is less glaring than in Oblivion.

Hmm. But still.

Again, thanks. I'll mull it over since I really like these kinds of games. Morrowind is definitely one of my best gaming experiences ever. Never got around to finishing the main quest, I just kept getting sidetracked.

Oblivions auto leveling was totally broken in Oblivion, to the point that you either ran through the main quest or waited until it capped (which I think was level 26) to do it.
It's a lot less noticeable in Skyrim.
And FWIW there are plenty of sub bosses that are just plain hard without exploits.

But think about it this way, without auto leveling the game would dictate the order in which you could do quests, removing a huge amount of freedom.

Being able to decide to just run through the Assassins guild quests rather than spreading them out over 80 hours of play makes them feel much more immediate.

In fact I think I'm coming around to Skyrim being the best of the games, unlike Morrowind and Oblivion where the games felt like the main quest was the driving motivation, in Skyrim the main quest still feels important and significant without dominating.

I finished the main quest at 88 hours (doing most of the significant side quests) then started a second character specifically to do the two major quest lines I knew I skipped.

I do really wish they would either improve the helper AI or just make it so you can't kill them, the number of times I had one run in front of a high level destruction spell just as I released the mouse button in my first play through was irritating.

 

[pcchen]

do you know what items can be enchantted in what ways? I thought that any attribute enhancment coulld go on any apparel, but that was mistaken. I am not sure if I haven't found the right item to disenchant or what thoug. I always liked enchanting armor in the past but it seems more restrictive now than I remember/misremember it.

Here is a detailed list of all enchanting effects and their available positions.

 

[Davros]

If there's no auto-leveling you have to make the player stick to areas with mobs that are killable at their own level.

No you dont, you can let the player go to places he will get his ass kicked

 

[I.S.T.]

One of my favorite gameplay experiences was sneaking past shit in Fable 1 to get to a city where I could exploit the game's economy. I had to dodge and kill a lot of MUCH stronger fuckers than me.

Of course, it was my second playthrough, but...

 

[Grall]

Well, that's pretty much what I said isn't it, just using different words.

You can't play a game where you're getting your ass kicked constantly, that means zero progress...

 

[Kyyla]

Well, that's pretty much what I said isn't it, just using different words.

You can't play a game where you're getting your ass kicked constantly, that means zero progress...

Beating those obstacles brings a sense of achievement.

 

[ERP]

Beating those obstacles brings a sense of achievement.

Only if you don't walk away from the game first.
The games got to reward you at various intervals or it's just not fun.
It's a little different on 2nd play throughs because you know what the reward is and what its value to you is and you can determine if it's worth the effort to get to it.

I just had this exact experience with Dark Souls it just wasn't worth my time to play the game far enough to feel powerful.

 

[KKRT]

Well, that's pretty much what I said isn't it, just using different words.

You can't play a game where you're getting your ass kicked constantly, that means zero progress...

Actually thats not true. Oblivion without level scaling was amazing. Every fight was unknown, every dungeon was terrifying. Of course that sense will fade out as You level up, but first 30-40 hours are amazing. I remember today, when i was going to dungeons and sneaking out at every corner, then i saw a battle between some guys and daedra, she killed few, so i run as fast as could, grab some loot and escape

Some level scaling is required on higher levels, but Skyrim hasnt nailed it and game is too easy.

 

[ERP]

Actually thats not true. Oblivion without level scaling was amazing. Every fight was unknown, every dungeon was terrifying. Of course that sense will fade out as You level up, but first 30-40 hours are amazing. I remember today, when i was going to dungeons and sneaking out at every corner, then i saw a battle between some guys and daedra, she killed few, so i run as fast as could, grab some loot and escape

Some level scaling is required on higher levels, but Skyrim hasnt nailed it and game is too easy.

This entirely dependent on the experience your expecting though

I'd argue about Skyrim being too easy, but it's such a nebulous thing. Back when Mario club provided feedback for every Nintendo game, you'd often see feedback from one tester "XXX is too easy" and another tester would state "XXX is too hard", both would dock you points for the statements
I've seen the same thing from players or reviewers etc etc etc.

I don't want to play a game where I spend 30 or 40 hours trying to avoid getting my ass kicked, just so I can fee accomplished when I go back and kick ass in hour 41. And I'm not sure the majority of game players do either.

I have no objection to the developer offering a "hardcore" or "extreme" difficulty setting where this is the case, but I'd hate to see it as the nom.

 

[Colourless]

In fact I think I'm coming around to Skyrim being the best of the games, unlike Morrowind and Oblivion where the games felt like the main quest was the driving motivation, in Skyrim the main quest still feels important and significant without dominating.

Very much agree. I don't feel irresponsible for not doing the main quest. It doesn't have the THIS IS URGENT THE WORLD IS ENDING RIGHT NOW feel to the main quest that other games have. The game is much better for it as far as I am concerned..

 

[KKRT]

I'd argue about Skyrim being too easy, but it's such a nebulous thing. Back when Mario club provided feedback for every Nintendo game, you'd often see feedback from one tester "XXX is too easy" and another tester would state "XXX is too hard", both would dock you points for the statements
I've seen the same thing from players or reviewers etc etc etc.

Thats completely different case, because Mario didnt have difficulty levels and Skyrim does. I still remember how hard Morrowind was even when You played on 70% of difficulty bar and Skyrim does not, even on Master.
There should just be additional difficulty level for 'hardcore' players

And I agree that Skyrim has better main quest than earlier games. Morrowind had quite nice main quest, but i didnt like Oblivions at all.