Things You Never Knew About Skyrim

[Shawn Hopkins]

''

It's possible that you do know some of the items in Did You Know Gaming's? look at Skyrim, but there might be a few that surprise you. Here are some highlights:

• Bethesda could have made official Game of Thrones games, based on the books, but turned down the offer to focus on Skyrim.

• Skyrim is an intentional shift toward surreal and unique culture, a direct move away from the generic fantasy themes of Oblivion and an attempt to recapture the feeling of exploration from Morrowind.

• The game's main theme was recorded with a choir of over 30 people, with three performances layered to create the effect of having 90 voices.

• Lars Battle-Born has fully voiced dialogue thanking you for killing Braith, suggesting that child-killing was at one point possible in the game's development.

View the Post on the Blog

 

[Toxius]

''

It's possible that you do know some of the items in Did You Know Gaming's? look at Skyrim, but there might be a few that surprise you. Here are some highlights:

• Bethesda could have made official Game of Thrones games, based on the books, but turned down the offer to focus on Skyrim.

• Skyrim is an intentional shift toward surreal and unique culture, a direct move away from the generic fantasy themes of Oblivion and an attempt to recapture the feeling of exploration from Morrowind.

• The game's main theme was recorded with a choir of over 30 people, with three performances layered to create the effect of having 90 voices.

• Lars Battle-Born has fully voiced dialogue thanking you for killing Braith, suggesting that child-killing was at one point possible in the game's development.

View the Post on the Blog

The second one couldn't possibly be true, Compare the Morrowind's journal to skyrim's journal (The descriptions are just bland, and the game is set for the more casual gamer). True there might be moments where you're in awe over some places and just want to go exploring around the dynamic climates of skyrim or the dark reaches of Blackreach, and not limited to the "Forest" that was Cyrodiil. The theme fits perfectly with the game, it gives off a really relaxing feel while playing the game.

Overall Skyrim is not a bad game just a disappointing one when it comes to the Main and guild quests, which I felt they could have expanded on.

 

[KritikalPT]

''

It's possible that you do know some of the items in Did You Know Gaming's? look at Skyrim, but there might be a few that surprise you. Here are some highlights:

• Bethesda could have made official Game of Thrones games, based on the books, but turned down the offer to focus on Skyrim.

• Skyrim is an intentional shift toward surreal and unique culture, a direct move away from the generic fantasy themes of Oblivion and an attempt to recapture the feeling of exploration from Morrowind.

• The game's main theme was recorded with a choir of over 30 people, with three performances layered to create the effect of having 90 voices.

• Lars Battle-Born has fully voiced dialogue thanking you for killing Braith, suggesting that child-killing was at one point possible in the game's development.

View the Post on the Blog

The second one couldn't possibly be true, Compare the Morrowind's journal to skyrim's journal (The descriptions are just bland, and the game is set for the more casual gamer). True there might be moments where you're in awe over some places and just want to go exploring around the dynamic climates of skyrim or the dark reaches of Blackreach, and not limited to the "Forest" that was Cyrodiil. The theme fits perfectly with the game, it gives off a really relaxing feel while playing the game.

Overall Skyrim is not a bad game just a disappointing one when it comes to the Main and guild quests, which I felt they could have expanded on.

It's not just that the descriptions are bland, they're borderline useless. Say you mod the game to remove the quest marker; with a good journal it would tell you roughly where the location is, that way even if after a few irl days pass, you can look at the journal and still know where to go based on the directions written. Skyrim, on the other hand, just adds a bit of text like "I need to go to X and talk with Person McGuy". It doesn't tell how how to go there, instead, it only tells you your destination, and that's not useful.

 

[Toxius]

It's not just that the descriptions are bland, they're borderline useless. Say you mod the game to remove the quest marker; with a good journal it would tell you roughly where the location is, that way even if after a few irl days pass, you can look at the journal and still know where to go based on the directions written. Skyrim, on the other hand, just adds a bit of text like "I need to go to X and talk with Person McGuy". It doesn't tell how how to go there, instead, it only tells you your destination, and that's not useful.

Possible spoilers, if you have not finished Skyrim nor played Oblivion or Morrowind.

I could not agree with you more, this is just the first of small problems in skyrim, You can get rid of the floating quest markers as well as remove the compass but it's impossible to do those quests if you're without the quest marker pointing it out on the map.
In Morrowind, what was a quest marker? You had to find the locations for yourself, which was fairly easy to do with signs and asking people in which general direction the town was located in.
Skyrim main quest, which I feel the same about Oblivion, where is the real crisis? Sure Helgen might be the only place that is destroyed and you get to trap a dragon, but a dragon's idea of attacking a city is landing near it's boundary (That watchtower in whiterun). Even then those few guards could easily kill that dragon without the Dragonborn's help.
Oblivion, All the Deadra seem to love hanging around outside their portals instead of invading. There might have been two scenes where it introduced and concluded the crisis, but even they were fairly limited in soldiers and deadra.

Morrowind just had so much to work with, maybe the exception was the combat system. Main quest and expansions were just good, the guild quests felt like I was apart of that guild instead of finishing the mage's quest in skyrim to be awarded to what seemed like a player house, or the terrible thieves guild quest line.
The guild quests in Skyrim were just utterly too short for my taste as well.

I just say, thank goodness for mods.

 

[KritikalPT]

Morrowind just had so much to work with, maybe the exception was the combat system. Main quest and expansions were just good, the guild quests felt like I was apart of that guild instead of finishing the mage's quest in skyrim to be awarded to what seemed like a player house, or the terrible thieves guild quest line.
The guild quests in Skyrim were just utterly too short for my taste as well.

Yeah, the combat system was the thing keeping me from playing it. The game is great, a prime example of a game world feeling big, instead of being big just for its own sake, but that combat mechanic... I do understand from a technical standpoint, where you can't expect to land a hit every single time, but it wasn't done well in my opinion, it was missing something.

The guild quests in Skyrim are actually the worse one of the bunch. Daggerfall and Morrowind you actually had to become better at the guild's main skills, and also have a higher reputation with them, before starting to climb the hierarchy. Skyrim, however, you join the Companions, and two days later "All hail the new Harbinger!".

The game is fun, just watered down heavily so that everyone pick up and play, which might sound good on paper, but not good when you actually make that your game. Thank goodness for mods, indeed.

 

[Toxius]

Morrowind just had so much to work with, maybe the exception was the combat system. Main quest and expansions were just good, the guild quests felt like I was apart of that guild instead of finishing the mage's quest in skyrim to be awarded to what seemed like a player house, or the terrible thieves guild quest line.
The guild quests in Skyrim were just utterly too short for my taste as well.

Yeah, the combat system was the thing keeping me from playing it. The game is great, a prime example of a game world feeling big, instead of being big just for its own sake, but that combat mechanic... I do understand from a technical standpoint, where you can't expect to land a hit every single time, but it wasn't done well in my opinion, it was missing something.

The guild quests in Skyrim are actually the worse one of the bunch. Daggerfall and Morrowind you actually had to become better at the guild's main skills, and also have a higher reputation with them, before starting to climb the hierarchy. Skyrim, however, you join the Companions, and two days later "All hail the new Harbinger!".

The game is fun, just watered down heavily so that everyone pick up and play, which might sound good on paper, but not good when you actually make that your game. Thank goodness for mods, indeed.

There were what, three different forms of attack. Stamina affected stagger to failing attacks, not to mention proper dodging on both parts. The combat system idea was good but not refined for actual combat, I say that they should have focused more on the combat aspects and they would of had a pretty good system. Instead they decided to remove most of the good parts, which resulting in a primary hack and slash game.
I mean they even removed the hand to hand stat, which did fatigue damage not health damage, until you did stagger the opponent which provided a lot of damage.

 

[KritikalPT]

Morrowind just had so much to work with, maybe the exception was the combat system. Main quest and expansions were just good, the guild quests felt like I was apart of that guild instead of finishing the mage's quest in skyrim to be awarded to what seemed like a player house, or the terrible thieves guild quest line.
The guild quests in Skyrim were just utterly too short for my taste as well.

Yeah, the combat system was the thing keeping me from playing it. The game is great, a prime example of a game world feeling big, instead of being big just for its own sake, but that combat mechanic... I do understand from a technical standpoint, where you can't expect to land a hit every single time, but it wasn't done well in my opinion, it was missing something.

The guild quests in Skyrim are actually the worse one of the bunch. Daggerfall and Morrowind you actually had to become better at the guild's main skills, and also have a higher reputation with them, before starting to climb the hierarchy. Skyrim, however, you join the Companions, and two days later "All hail the new Harbinger!".

The game is fun, just watered down heavily so that everyone pick up and play, which might sound good on paper, but not good when you actually make that your game. Thank goodness for mods, indeed.

There were what, three different forms of attack. Stamina affected stagger to failing attacks, not to mention proper dodging on both parts. The combat system idea was good but not refined for actual combat, I say that they should have focused more on the combat aspects and they would of had a pretty good system. Instead they decided to remove most of the good parts, which resulting in a primary hack and slash game.
I mean they even removed the hand to hand stat, which did fatigue damage not health damage, until you did stagger the opponent which provided a lot of damage.

Barring the combat, which had some flaws in it, Morrowind is really good. I still say that it's one step below Daggerfall (though that might just be me with my nostalgia glasses on), but it did make sure players had a lot of freedom to do anything they wanted, almost literally, while still slapping them the moment they screwed up, like not training the proper skills since they were tied with their stats, or killing quest essential NPCs (I'm looking at you, Vivec). Even Oblivion had a bit of that, and the guild quests were really fun, and you did feel like you were progressing a bit, though they were a bit "Hey, I know you joined us a week ago, but you're the new Arch-Mage, so here's your swag". I especially liked the Thieves' Guild, where you actually had to, you know, be a thief to earn your spot. Shocking, right?

I will say this: if I were to rank the games, Skyrim would be #3, just below Morrowind. They did improve a lot in comparison to the previous title, but the streamline sticks out like a sore thumb, and it's a shame. Can you imagine if they went wild with the game, adding a lot of features and gameplay elements from Daggerfall and Morrowind, but still maintained its key mechanics? Now THAT would be worthy of "Game of the Year".

 

[Toxius]

Yeah, the combat system was the thing keeping me from playing it. The game is great, a prime example of a game world feeling big, instead of being big just for its own sake, but that combat mechanic... I do understand from a technical standpoint, where you can't expect to land a hit every single time, but it wasn't done well in my opinion, it was missing something.

The guild quests in Skyrim are actually the worse one of the bunch. Daggerfall and Morrowind you actually had to become better at the guild's main skills, and also have a higher reputation with them, before starting to climb the hierarchy. Skyrim, however, you join the Companions, and two days later "All hail the new Harbinger!".

The game is fun, just watered down heavily so that everyone pick up and play, which might sound good on paper, but not good when you actually make that your game. Thank goodness for mods, indeed.

There were what, three different forms of attack. Stamina affected stagger to failing attacks, not to mention proper dodging on both parts. The combat system idea was good but not refined for actual combat, I say that they should have focused more on the combat aspects and they would of had a pretty good system. Instead they decided to remove most of the good parts, which resulting in a primary hack and slash game.
I mean they even removed the hand to hand stat, which did fatigue damage not health damage, until you did stagger the opponent which provided a lot of damage.

Barring the combat, which had some flaws in it, Morrowind is really good. I still say that it's one step below Daggerfall (though that might just be me with my nostalgia glasses on), but it did make sure players had a lot of freedom to do anything they wanted, almost literally, while still slapping them the moment they screwed up, like not training the proper skills since they were tied with their stats, or killing quest essential NPCs (I'm looking at you, Vivec). Even Oblivion had a bit of that, and the guild quests were really fun, and you did feel like you were progressing a bit, though they were a bit "Hey, I know you joined us a week ago, but you're the new Arch-Mage, so here's your swag". I especially liked the Thieves' Guild, where you actually had to, you know, be a thief to earn your spot. Shocking, right?

I will say this: if I were to rank the games, Skyrim would be #3, just below Morrowind. They did improve a lot in comparison to the previous title, but the streamline sticks out like a sore thumb, and it's a shame. Can you imagine if they went wild with the game, adding a lot of features and gameplay elements from Daggerfall and Morrowind, but still maintained its key mechanics? Now THAT would be worthy of "Game of the Year".

True, not like the thieves of skyrim. To idiotic to realize their own treasury was being cleaned out, not to mention the damn door was also right by their sleeping quarters. I wonder and still wonder to this day how he lugged all that out without waking them up, but can not even sneak past a damn draugr.

Yes, I miss being an thief. Though nothing can compare to that final oblivion heist, Vivec was quite a pain to kill (He was one of the hardest just before Umbra in my opinion).
Bethesda should really look at their previous games and what made their fans happy, I just wonder what they cooking up for TES:6. Another disappointment or a game that lives up to Morrowind, Daggerfall. Also maybe being as huge as Arena was, except with the randomly generated terrain (But that could just be a singleplayer ESO).

 

[KritikalPT]

There were what, three different forms of attack. Stamina affected stagger to failing attacks, not to mention proper dodging on both parts. The combat system idea was good but not refined for actual combat, I say that they should have focused more on the combat aspects and they would of had a pretty good system. Instead they decided to remove most of the good parts, which resulting in a primary hack and slash game.
I mean they even removed the hand to hand stat, which did fatigue damage not health damage, until you did stagger the opponent which provided a lot of damage.

Barring the combat, which had some flaws in it, Morrowind is really good. I still say that it's one step below Daggerfall (though that might just be me with my nostalgia glasses on), but it did make sure players had a lot of freedom to do anything they wanted, almost literally, while still slapping them the moment they screwed up, like not training the proper skills since they were tied with their stats, or killing quest essential NPCs (I'm looking at you, Vivec). Even Oblivion had a bit of that, and the guild quests were really fun, and you did feel like you were progressing a bit, though they were a bit "Hey, I know you joined us a week ago, but you're the new Arch-Mage, so here's your swag". I especially liked the Thieves' Guild, where you actually had to, you know, be a thief to earn your spot. Shocking, right?

I will say this: if I were to rank the games, Skyrim would be #3, just below Morrowind. They did improve a lot in comparison to the previous title, but the streamline sticks out like a sore thumb, and it's a shame. Can you imagine if they went wild with the game, adding a lot of features and gameplay elements from Daggerfall and Morrowind, but still maintained its key mechanics? Now THAT would be worthy of "Game of the Year".

True, not like the thieves of skyrim. To idiotic to realize their own treasury was being cleaned out, not to mention the damn door was also right by their sleeping quarters. I wonder and still wonder to this day how he lugged all that out without waking them up, but can not even sneak past a damn draugr.

Yes, I miss being an thief. Though nothing can compare to that final oblivion heist, Vivec was quite a pain to kill (He was one of the hardest just before Umbra in my opinion).
Bethesda should really look at their previous games and what made their fans happy, I just wonder what they cooking up for TES:6. Another disappointment or a game that lives up to Morrowind, Daggerfall. Also maybe being as huge as Arena was, except with the randomly generated terrain (But that could just be a singleplayer ESO).

Honestly at this point I can't be hyped anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious. I already hated what they did to Fallout 3. Obsidian Entertainment did a good job with New Vegas (as they should, considering a lot of employees there were from Black Isle) but they had to work with a subpar game mechanic and a mix of RPG/FPS that just does nothing except contradict itself. It's a self Tug-of-War.

I hope that they will make a proper TES game, but I don't hold any hope anymore. For all I care, they're another version of Bioware: a reverse Midas's Touch that turns anything they touch into disappointment. The only thing worse would be EA, and hopefully they won't go down that road as well.

 

[Toxius]

Barring the combat, which had some flaws in it, Morrowind is really good. I still say that it's one step below Daggerfall (though that might just be me with my nostalgia glasses on), but it did make sure players had a lot of freedom to do anything they wanted, almost literally, while still slapping them the moment they screwed up, like not training the proper skills since they were tied with their stats, or killing quest essential NPCs (I'm looking at you, Vivec). Even Oblivion had a bit of that, and the guild quests were really fun, and you did feel like you were progressing a bit, though they were a bit "Hey, I know you joined us a week ago, but you're the new Arch-Mage, so here's your swag". I especially liked the Thieves' Guild, where you actually had to, you know, be a thief to earn your spot. Shocking, right?

I will say this: if I were to rank the games, Skyrim would be #3, just below Morrowind. They did improve a lot in comparison to the previous title, but the streamline sticks out like a sore thumb, and it's a shame. Can you imagine if they went wild with the game, adding a lot of features and gameplay elements from Daggerfall and Morrowind, but still maintained its key mechanics? Now THAT would be worthy of "Game of the Year".

True, not like the thieves of skyrim. To idiotic to realize their own treasury was being cleaned out, not to mention the damn door was also right by their sleeping quarters. I wonder and still wonder to this day how he lugged all that out without waking them up, but can not even sneak past a damn draugr.

Yes, I miss being an thief. Though nothing can compare to that final oblivion heist, Vivec was quite a pain to kill (He was one of the hardest just before Umbra in my opinion).
Bethesda should really look at their previous games and what made their fans happy, I just wonder what they cooking up for TES:6. Another disappointment or a game that lives up to Morrowind, Daggerfall. Also maybe being as huge as Arena was, except with the randomly generated terrain (But that could just be a singleplayer ESO).

Honestly at this point I can't be hyped anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious. I already hated what they did to Fallout 3. Obsidian Entertainment did a good job with New Vegas (as they should, considering a lot of employees there were from Black Isle) but they had to work with a subpar game mechanic and a mix of RPG/FPS that just does nothing except contradict itself. It's a self Tug-of-War.

I hope that they will make a proper TES game, but I don't hold any hope anymore. For all I care, they're another version of Bioware: a reverse Midas's Touch that turns anything they touch into disappointment. The only thing worse would be EA, and hopefully they won't go down that road as well.

Nowadays it's more based on better graphics than storyline and user interaction. Developers had to work to get their games to sell, unlike today. Put on some nice metallic case, bonus content, and maybe get it earlier if you Pre-order it, and it's sold. I generally have no hope for most of the developers these days, there are notable exceptions like Dark souls (maybe Bethesda could learn from them).

Fallout 3 felt empty, while New Vegas was surprisingly well made. Ea do I not know them, I have no clue why I bought battlefield 4 (With all those bugs, patches, and promises), perhaps certain friends had quite an influence I guess.

 

[KritikalPT]

True, not like the thieves of skyrim. To idiotic to realize their own treasury was being cleaned out, not to mention the damn door was also right by their sleeping quarters. I wonder and still wonder to this day how he lugged all that out without waking them up, but can not even sneak past a damn draugr.

Yes, I miss being an thief. Though nothing can compare to that final oblivion heist, Vivec was quite a pain to kill (He was one of the hardest just before Umbra in my opinion).
Bethesda should really look at their previous games and what made their fans happy, I just wonder what they cooking up for TES:6. Another disappointment or a game that lives up to Morrowind, Daggerfall. Also maybe being as huge as Arena was, except with the randomly generated terrain (But that could just be a singleplayer ESO).

Honestly at this point I can't be hyped anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious. I already hated what they did to Fallout 3. Obsidian Entertainment did a good job with New Vegas (as they should, considering a lot of employees there were from Black Isle) but they had to work with a subpar game mechanic and a mix of RPG/FPS that just does nothing except contradict itself. It's a self Tug-of-War.

I hope that they will make a proper TES game, but I don't hold any hope anymore. For all I care, they're another version of Bioware: a reverse Midas's Touch that turns anything they touch into disappointment. The only thing worse would be EA, and hopefully they won't go down that road as well.

Nowadays it's more based on better graphics than storyline and user interaction. Developers had to work to get their games to sell, unlike today. Put on some nice metallic case, bonus content, and maybe get it earlier if you Pre-order it, and it's sold. I generally have no hope for most of the developers these days, there are notable exceptions like Dark souls (maybe Bethesda could learn from them).

Fallout 3 felt empty, while New Vegas was surprisingly well made. Ea do I not know them, I have no clue why I bought battlefield 4 (With all those bugs, patches, and promises), perhaps certain friends had quite an influence I guess.

I find it hard to understand how people claim that Fallout 3 is better than New Vegas, even though their arguments are standard fanboy fare.


After what EA did to Ultima they won't ever see my money again.

 

[Epic Keith]

THEY TURNED DOWN A GAME OF THRONES GAME?! WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY DO THAT!

 

[Toxius]

THEY TURNED DOWN A GAME OF THRONES GAME?! WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY DO THAT!

I bet they found the story-line dull in comparison to theirs, arrogant ain't they?

 

[KritikalPT]

THEY TURNED DOWN A GAME OF THRONES GAME?! WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY DO THAT!

To be honest it would have been a big gamble from their part would they agree. At least with their own IP they have creative control on what goes on their game, but when handling GoT not so much, and pleasing yet another different fanbase could have been way too much for them to handle.

 

[tx12001]

''

It's possible that you do know some of the items in Did You Know Gaming's? look at Skyrim, but there might be a few that surprise you. Here are some highlights:

• Bethesda could have made official Game of Thrones games, based on the books, but turned down the offer to focus on Skyrim.

• Skyrim is an intentional shift toward surreal and unique culture, a direct move away from the generic fantasy themes of Oblivion and an attempt to recapture the feeling of exploration from Morrowind.

• The game's main theme was recorded with a choir of over 30 people, with three performances layered to create the effect of having 90 voices.

• Lars Battle-Born has fully voiced dialogue thanking you for killing Braith, suggesting that child-killing was at one point possible in the game's development.

View the Post on the Blog

The second one couldn't possibly be true, Compare the Morrowind's journal to skyrim's journal (The descriptions are just bland, and the game is set for the more casual gamer). True there might be moments where you're in awe over some places and just want to go exploring around the dynamic climates of skyrim or the dark reaches of Blackreach, and not limited to the "Forest" that was Cyrodiil. The theme fits perfectly with the game, it gives off a really relaxing feel while playing the game.

Overall Skyrim is not a bad game just a disappointing one when it comes to the Main and guild quests, which I felt they could have expanded on.

if you think Skyrim is disappointing what are you doing here? and how can it still be one of the most popular games in the world even after 2 and a half years? its not disssapointing the number of sales prove otherwise

 

[KritikalPT]

View the Post on the Blog

The second one couldn't possibly be true, Compare the Morrowind's journal to skyrim's journal (The descriptions are just bland, and the game is set for the more casual gamer). True there might be moments where you're in awe over some places and just want to go exploring around the dynamic climates of skyrim or the dark reaches of Blackreach, and not limited to the "Forest" that was Cyrodiil. The theme fits perfectly with the game, it gives off a really relaxing feel while playing the game.

Overall Skyrim is not a bad game just a disappointing one when it comes to the Main and guild quests, which I felt they could have expanded on.

if you think Skyrim is disappointing what are you doing here? and how can it still be one of the most popular games in the world even after 2 and a half years? its not disssapointing the number of sales prove otherwise

I know that I wasn't the one addressed, but still, hear me out:

It's still a fun game, which is one of the reasons why I personally am here, and also because I want to contribute to discussions on how to improve it and (possible) future sequels and to help other in their game. Can you people just cut it with your "if you find it disappointing then why are you here?" questions? There is more than one reason for people to stay here.

How can it be that it still sells well? Because they published it to both PC and consoles, and they catered the game to more casual players. Believe me, if they stuck the game to PC only it wouldn't get as many sales.

Numbers mean absolutely nothing when comparing to one's regards towards the game. It just means "Look at how many people bought the game". Is it saying how much they enjoyed it? No. Hell, I have 4 copies of the game; 3 physical and one digital because I like the game and the company enough to support them, and yet I found it disappointing.

 

[Toxius]

View the Post on the Blog

The second one couldn't possibly be true, Compare the Morrowind's journal to skyrim's journal (The descriptions are just bland, and the game is set for the more casual gamer). True there might be moments where you're in awe over some places and just want to go exploring around the dynamic climates of skyrim or the dark reaches of Blackreach, and not limited to the "Forest" that was Cyrodiil. The theme fits perfectly with the game, it gives off a really relaxing feel while playing the game.

Overall Skyrim is not a bad game just a disappointing one when it comes to the Main and guild quests, which I felt they could have expanded on.

if you think Skyrim is disappointing what are you doing here? and how can it still be one of the most popular games in the world even after 2 and a half years? its not disssapointing the number of sales prove otherwise

Correction, not the whole skyrim is disappointing, just the guild and main quest, and some minor systems (That can be fixed with mods).
I find skyrim great to roleplay characters in, yet In my personal opinion, daggerfall, Morrowind and oblivion will always be better for me.