Skyrim "Hardcore" Playstyle

[BIGwooly]

The funny thing about armor and roleplay is that basically nobody actually wore armor like is depicted in video games and hollywood. Weapons, too. Swords were A: expensive, and B: not as useful as polearms in actual battle. They were more like an officer's pistol, than the soldier's assault rifle.

Full plate armor was worn by a fraction of a percent of fighting forces, and these were the rich people who had wagons to truck in their gear, and squires to help them put it on. And they didn't travel in it either. Most soldiers wore CLOTH armor. Not chain mail, not even leather as that was still very expensive, and most soldiers were very poor.

So. Your typical soldier, mercenary, etc... was a guy basically wearing thick clothing, good boots if he could afford them, and having some type of spear, maybe a halberd or something. With probably a dagger/knife for utility and eating. If we're going off the assumption he's a more noble born guy with some wealth, then he might have some mix of mail and some leathers. But that's still adding a lot of weight. and since 99.9% of your job is moving from one place to another, the benefits aren't always worth the drawbacks... And if he used only a sword, you could expect him to die to the nearest peasant who had a spear

But I like your guys' style. Roleplay in a single player game is not my thing at all, but I do hate how watered down the ES games constantly are made. Mostly in regards to having an arrow pointing out where to go, and fast travel everywhere. So, basically, bring that back to Morrowind's level and this game would be amazing.

I agree with everything you say. The trouble is, everyone in the game is wearing all sorts of armor, so it's simply not an option to wander around without armor. Especially not on 'master' difficulty, lol. And there's no spears in the game, so yeah. d;-)

As for Morrowind, I did play this way in that game and it was awesome. And it was great because you got verbal directions on how to get somewhere instead of a compass that just leads you there like a horse with a carrot in front of him. Like you, I really do hate how they are simplifying and watering down each new release. But that's how it's going to be. Bethesda wants to sell as many games as possible and the number of people that will buy the game just to rush through it and get to the next new release is huge. I just wish they would give us more options to play a more immersive style so I wouldn't have to make up a million rules, lol.

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

Thanks, it makes a lot more sense now.

 

[BIGwooly]

Thanks, it makes a lot more sense now.

You bet. Also, I don't worry about spending EXACTLY 300 gold. I just try to get close. So sometimes I might spend 310 or 320 or 305. Whatever.

 

[makoman8]

You bet. Also, I don't worry about spending EXACTLY 300 gold. I just try to get close. So sometimes I might spend 310 or 320 or 305. Whatever.

I like the fast travel to town from the most recent autosave too. More accurate, I think. Also, I wasn't a big fan of buying food/drink and then consuming it. I didn't want to make the mistake of adding it to my current food inventory and leaving extra stuff or consuming things that were legitimately in my inventory. So I go to any random public barrel or crate in the town and put 290 gold into it. Tried it once with the chest in my inn room, but apparently that was a crime. Got a rude wake-up call the next morning!

 

[osheao]

Okay, here's how it works. If you die you go back to your previous save which was at an inn, right? Once that save is loaded, you talk to the innkeeper and purchase 300 gold worth of food (I usually purchase the expensive wines and meads because it's easier). You then eat/drink all that you just purchased.

Now you use the 'wait' feature and you wait for 6 24hr periods. Then, you talk to the innkeeper again and rent a room. You then sleep for 24 hours and when you wake up you save. Boom. Done.

Now, I recently revised how I do this (forgot to update it here, but it's updated in my character journal which is linked in my signature). Now, if I die, I go back to the most recent save which is most likely an autosave. I'm still only allowed to manual save after sleeping in a bed or bedroll.

The advantage of this change is that it's more realistic. Because now after I die and reload that most recent save I just travel back to the nearest town and pay the 300 gold and rest and sleep for 7 days, and when I'm done all of the enemies I killed before are still dead and all of the potions I used are still gone, etc. Whereas before I was doing a lot of that all over again and it just didn't make sense.

Hope that explains it.

what do you mean by "all of the enemies i killed before are STILL dead and potions gone?"
do you manually drink the potions and remember what you used during a combat session?
or, am i an idiot and not thinking clearly after my barbeque, lol!

are you hoping that the reload eliminates any previous enemies?

btw, great point about redoing not making sense. hmm, makes me wonder how hard it would be to program this kind of stuff into a game? as far as, death and the game recognizing everything in its current state and continuing from that point forward. not with a reload, but, with the understanding that you died.?

 

[BIGwooly]

what do you mean by "all of the enemies i killed before are STILL dead and potions gone?"
do you manually drink the potions and remember what you used during a combat session?
or, am i an idiot and not thinking clearly after my barbeque, lol!

are you hoping that the reload eliminates any previous enemies?

btw, great point about redoing not making sense. hmm, makes me wonder how hard it would be to program this kind of stuff into a game? as far as, death and the game recognizing everything in its current state and continuing from that point forward. not with a reload, but, with the understanding that you died.?

So, let's say I have a manual save in the morning after I sleep. I then head out to adventure and kill some bandits and use up a soul gem to recharge my weapon. Then I arrive at the cave I want to clear and as I enter the game autosaves. I kill a bunch of spiders and some falmer, using up another soul gem and using up a health potion and some poison potions as well. I head through a door into another section of the cave and get another autosave. A moment later I run into a chaurus and it kills me.

Now if I go back to my save from that morning, I will still have those soul gems, those potions, those poisons .. and all the spiders and falmer that I killed will still be alive. BUT, if I use the very last autosave then they will all still be dead when I return to the cave a week later. The difference being that the potions and soul gems I used are still gone as well. It's more realistic I think. Plus it's kind of tedious to go back and re-kill what you have already killed.

From the perspective of my journal it frees me up to be more creative in my writing as well. I no longer HAVE to write while at an inn. I can write any time I want right after an auto-save, because even if I die the story stays the same up to that point. Whereas before I might have an awesome story moment but I can no longer tell it because I'm reloading and I have to go fight through those creatures again .. and the way it goes down will be different perhaps.

 

[osheao]

So, let's say I have a manual save in the morning after I sleep. I then head out to adventure and kill some bandits and use up a soul gem to recharge my weapon. Then I arrive at the cave I want to clear and as I enter the game autosaves. I kill a bunch of spiders and some falmer, using up another soul gem and using up a health potion and some poison potions as well. I head through a door into another section of the cave and get another autosave. A moment later I run into a chaurus and it kills me.

Now if I go back to my save from that morning, I will still have those soul gems, those potions, those poisons .. and all the spiders and falmer that I killed will still be alive. BUT, if I use the very last autosave then they will all still be dead when I return to the cave a week later. The difference being that the potions and soul gems I used are still gone as well. It's more realistic I think. Plus it's kind of tedious to go back and re-kill what you have already killed.

From the perspective of my journal it frees me up to be more creative in my writing as well. I no longer HAVE to write while at an inn. I can write any time I want right after an auto-save, because even if I die the story stays the same up to that point. Whereas before I might have an awesome story moment but I can no longer tell it because I'm reloading and I have to go fight through those creatures again .. and the way it goes down will be different perhaps.

lol! see, i told you i'm an idiot! uh, use the save after using the stuff, lol, so to speak.

so you have to hoof it back.

i'm thinking a manual save would be proper, since, i'm just going to keep doing it over and over again. which, is what i was talking about as far as the future of games.

does your encumbrance adherence account for obvious impossibilities: 5 greatswords?

 

[BIGwooly]

lol! see, i told you i'm an idiot! uh, use the save after using the stuff, lol, so to speak.

so you have to hoof it back.

i'm thinking a manual save would be proper, since, i'm just going to keep doing it over and over again. which, is what i was talking about as far as the future of games.

does your encumbrance adherence account for obvious impossibilities: 5 greatswords?

Technically, no .. but realistically .. yes. In other words, I 'could' carry 5 greatswords but I wouldn't be carrying anything else. A greatsword is around 20-25 in weight if I remember right. At level 34 I can still only carry 106. So 5 greatswords would be literally all I could carry, if that. I wouldn't be able to carry any potions, armor, food, etc. So while I 'could' maybe carry 4 or 5 greatswords .. I never would.

If you restrict the carry capacity enough and have the difficulty high enough, it works itself out more or less.

 

[osheao]

Technically, no .. but realistically .. yes. In other words, I 'could' carry 5 greatswords but I wouldn't be carrying anything else. A greatsword is around 20-25 in weight if I remember right. At level 34 I can still only carry 106. So 5 greatswords would be literally all I could carry, if that. I wouldn't be able to carry any potions, armor, food, etc. So while I 'could' maybe carry 4 or 5 greatswords .. I never would.

If you restrict the carry capacity enough and have the difficulty high enough, it works itself out more or less.

got ya. i think, for me, i'll add the 'realistic' proportion rule to my encumbrance, since, 5 greatswords doesn't make sense to me, though, it falls within the weight rule.

though, remember, after buying a horse i apply my 'cart/wagon' rule, lol.

 

[Akim]

I just wish they would give us more options to play a more immersive style so I wouldn't have to make up a million rules, lol.

I would love if the next game had not only a difficulty option, but something like a "barebones" option. Obviously not as hardcore, or strict, as you guys are wanting, but one that would help the more casual gamer like me stay true to his gaming morals lol. Namely, NO arrow marker in your HUD. No fast travel besides the silt strider/wagon type methods at major cities. Those are my two main, big ones.

Maybe, when you get a quest from an NPC and he says "It's a small tombsite just north of town, and west of the statue" you can sort of have an "area" marked on the map, much larger than the location, so there is still a lot of guess work (all on the map you have to look at, not on your HUD). And with high enough persuasion you MIGHT have an option for him to mark your map more specifically, but only if that NPC would actually know the place well. Stuff like that.

Some of my best moments in Morrowind I was completely lost, with only vague directions to a camp or something, searching for hours... Only to find out I was pretty far off base, lol.

 

[BIGwooly]

Fast travel is already a 'choice' option. In other words, it's your choice to use it or not.

But on the compass I totally agree. If you want the compass visible so that you know which way is north, you have no choice but to have markers all over it and it just makes me feel like I'm having my hand held. Having the option to have the compass only with nothing else on screen would be nice. Or even having the compass as an item in your inventory would be pretty sweet.

Like you, I definitely miss how quests were given in Morrowind. You really felt like you were part of the world because there was no magical quest marker leading you around by the nose. People would tell you where to go, with words and description. It was glorious. And if you forgot you would check your journal, which didn't always have ALL the information they gave you verbally, which meant you had to try and pay attention when they were talking too. It was perfect. The new system has all but taken out the fun of exploration IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next version you could just fast travel to the quest location, whether you've been there before or not.

My request would just be to give us options. I understand Bethesda is trying to reach a larger market base, and that means selling to people who have no gaming patience. That's fine. But don't leave me by the curb. Put some options in the menu to turn things off. Thank god they gave me the ability to turn off the HUD or I would really despise this game. As it is, it made the game very playable for me. I would also like to turn off regenerating health. That would make my day.

 

[osheao]

Fast travel is already a 'choice' option. In other words, it's your choice to use it or not.

But on the compass I totally agree. If you want the compass visible so that you know which way is north, you have no choice but to have markers all over it and it just makes me feel like I'm having my hand held. Having the option to have the compass only with nothing else on screen would be nice. Or even having the compass as an item in your inventory would be pretty sweet.

Like you, I definitely miss how quests were given in Morrowind. You really felt like you were part of the world because there was no magical quest marker leading you around by the nose. People would tell you where to go, with words and description. It was glorious. And if you forgot you would check your journal, which didn't always have ALL the information they gave you verbally, which meant you had to try and pay attention when they were talking too. It was perfect. The new system has all but taken out the fun of exploration IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next version you could just fast travel to the quest location, whether you've been there before or not.

My request would just be to give us options. I understand Bethesda is trying to reach a larger market base, and that means selling to people who have no gaming patience. That's fine. But don't leave me by the curb. Put some options in the menu to turn things off. Thank god they gave me the ability to turn off the HUD or I would really despise this game. As it is, it made the game very playable for me. I would also like to turn off regenerating health. That would make my day.

btw, i've been switching back and forth between 'appropriate' times when to use certain 'rules.'

none have stuck.

Fast travel is already a 'choice' option. In other words, it's your choice to use it or not.

But on the compass I totally agree. If you want the compass visible so that you know which way is north, you have no choice but to have markers all over it and it just makes me feel like I'm having my hand held. Having the option to have the compass only with nothing else on screen would be nice. Or even having the compass as an item in your inventory would be pretty sweet.

Like you, I definitely miss how quests were given in Morrowind. You really felt like you were part of the world because there was no magical quest marker leading you around by the nose. People would tell you where to go, with words and description. It was glorious. And if you forgot you would check your journal, which didn't always have ALL the information they gave you verbally, which meant you had to try and pay attention when they were talking too. It was perfect. The new system has all but taken out the fun of exploration IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next version you could just fast travel to the quest location, whether you've been there before or not.

My request would just be to give us options. I understand Bethesda is trying to reach a larger market base, and that means selling to people who have no gaming patience. That's fine. But don't leave me by the curb. Put some options in the menu to turn things off. Thank god they gave me the ability to turn off the HUD or I would really despise this game. As it is, it made the game very playable for me. I would also like to turn off regenerating health. That would make my day.

i'm sure there are people you know that still won't giveus that answer.

delay or inability?
we've been talking about thiscrap for years. 20 years for me.

and, this is basic shiite. new vegas is now a whore and a letdown.

 

[Akim]

Well, I know it's a choice... it's just not an easy one to stick with when you are looking at the map where you need to go and your pointer goes right to "fast travel??"... I'm lazy, I need *some* motivation to walk somewhere...

 

[Hunfar]

... And if he used only a sword, you could expect him to die to the nearest peasant who had a spear

Seems like spears would have a huge weakness though. If you swung at the right time and pushed the tip away and charge at him, he'd be screwed. Although, I imagine it's harder to to than it sounds.

 

[osheao]

new vegas

 

[Akim]

Seems like spears would have a huge weakness though. If you swung at the right time and pushed the tip away and charge at him, he'd be screwed. Although, I imagine it's harder to to than it sounds.

indeed easier said than done. I mean, sure Miyamoto Musashi used wooden training swords to beat amazing swordsmen equipped with real swords in duels. But that doesn't mean wooden training swords are a better weapon than Katana...

There are thousands of "what ifs" in real combat, and a lot of it comes down to luck or chance or what have you. But you simply can not argue the added range of a spear or polearm in martial combat. And this is shown through history of what armies actually used. But they're not quite as glamorous as intricately choreographed sword duels for the big screen, so you don't see much of it.

 

[TaranTatsuuchi]

This is why I prefer games like this on the PC, the mods.

They can get us closer to the game we should have had in the first place, they just need time.



This is the reason I haven't really done much playing of Skyrim yet, still waiting on the good mods to get finished.

 

[Sabath]

Im trying to not open any chests, i don't want to get all the good stuff so the game is harder. I feel like this will be an ultimate challenge, im also going by every single hardcore thing listed above. Wish me luck im level 2!

 

[azali100]

Master + 30 arrow limit = impossible

 

[DarkEastwood]

Master + 30 arrow limit = impossible

Not really. You just need to know how to get frequent sneak attacks, utilize poisons, and hit your target. All I can really say it does is make you (truly) a better archer. I could say so for myself, and others.