How are people complaining that the game is too short? : V - Skyrim

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:15 pm

I have seen three of four posts where people have been complaining that they have everything done after 30/40 hours ... what the hell have you guys been doing?

I have 23 hours done so far, and I have only seen about 10% of the map - I have two of the main quests done, none of the Guild quests even started .. and the Civil War quests...... Have'nt even blinked at them yet.

I have been making potions and selling them for some shiny gold, which paid for my house in Whiterun :celebration:

Also been hunting deer in and around Riverwood.... and its still as fun as day one

I have three dungeons cleared..

I reckon I will pass the 100hr mark with this character alone...

People who are running through the game and maybe first time ES players that do not know about the plethora of quests that Bethesda have hidden inside books, items, NPC's etc

Yet I believe this game will be immense and legendary once the mod community start adding to it if OB is anything to go by

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:52 am

Its just like the "I'm on Master and dont wear armour, yet the game is still too easy" comments - lies in other words.

I'm approaching 35hrs and have only done the Civil war quest line and two of the Companions quests.
To get it done any faster then that'd have had to fast travel everywhere - if you fast travel then complain about game length, gtfo.

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:10 pm

This is why you haven't realized how short the game is yet. Do yourself a favor and go start a guild quest, then you'll understand how severely disappointing and short they are.
Right now you're under the illusion there's tons more to come, because yes, the game world is huge and you haven't experienced a single guild. When you experience the guilds though, then you realize there really wasn't anything to experience at all.

For the record, I'm 45 hours, I've completed two guilds, the main quest and picked a side in the war. Not sure how many side quests I've done.

How much of the map have you discovered?

» Mon May 14, 2012 3:48 am

Bethesda games aren't for power-gamer achievers. You either get it or you don't. If you're going to go through this detailed game world with blinders, only following the main quest, using fast travel, then you won't understand why people make such a big deal about Elder Scrolls games. I like to explore. I like to discover the small shack off the beaten path that suggests a story. People don't always get a sandbox game. They like to be told what to do. I don't try to change their minds. I just accept that it isn't for everyone.

That's not what 'power gaming' is defined as in the Compuer Game Dictionary?. 'Power gaming' is the act of going out of ones way to ensure that your character is as powerful as they possible can be based on the levelling system in a game. The irony iro of your statement about Bethesda, is that's exactly what some people who played Morrowind and Oblivion did!

I guess a 'Speed runner' would be a more suitable description for the person you've described.

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:48 pm

People who rush through the mainquest and stuff ruin the game for themselves, I am not planning on finishing the main quest for another couple of months, I havent joined a side in the war yet or any of the factions.

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:09 pm

That's not what 'power gaming' is defined as in the Compuer Game Dictionary?. 'Power gaming' is the act of going out of ones way to ensure that your character is as powerful as they possible can be based on the levelling system in a game. The irony iro of your statement about Bethesda, is that's exactly what some people who played Morrowind and Oblivion did!

I guess a 'Speed runner' would be a more suitable description for the person you've described.

Speed runner would probably be a better description, Someone who purposely gimps a character is probably attempting to RP a certain style. Which is fair enough IMO.

Self imposed rules can be fun.

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:42 pm

This is why you haven't realized how short the game is yet. Do yourself a favor and go start a guild quest, then you'll understand how severely disappointing and short they are.
Right now you're under the illusion there's tons more to come, because yes, the game world is huge and you haven't experienced a single guild. When you experience the guilds though, then you realize there really wasn't anything to experience at all.

I think it's just 2 different play styles. For me the quests are largely acting as a backdrop and framework for the rest of the game. It's what happens in between, on the way to quests, random events and discoveries travelling around the world that makes up the best part of the adventure. The reason some people have put in a lot of hours without experiencing that many quests, is because they're having too much fun playing the game to worry about quests. For me, the quests are almost incidental, although I've really enjoyed the ones I've done so far.

» Mon May 14, 2012 1:07 am

I have seen three of four posts where people have been complaining that they have everything done after 30/40 hours ... what the hell have you guys been doing?

I have 23 hours done so far, and I have only seen about 10% of the map - I have two of the main quests done, none of the Guild quests even started .. and the Civil War quests...... Have'nt even blinked at them yet.

I have been making potions and selling them for some shiny gold, which paid for my house in Whiterun :celebration:

Also been hunting deer in and around Riverwood.... and its still as fun as day one

I have three dungeons cleared..

I reckon I will pass the 100hr mark with this character alone...

I can't understand how "too short" can ever be applied to this game.

I don't know how many hours I've put into it but I've been playing every time I can since it came out and I feel that I'm now getting past half the game content. Of course, I've been taking my time, doing all sorts of stuff, not just rushing through the main quest.

I've finished games in a weekend and this one, for the same money, is giving me so much more than I'd expected. Not to even mention the replayability value of it... I'm going as a warrior but I'm already planning my pure mage and then the stealthy assassin. Something that games like CoD don't have.

So I'm baffled by complaints about this, I guess some people just have too much time and they just lose track of how much content is in this. I see it as a compliment to Bethesda, when people go through it all and still want more.

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:34 am

Or maybe it's because some people don't see hours and hours endless loot grinding through Dungeons are the main feature of the game... just saying.

» Mon May 14, 2012 12:45 am

Many gamers consider that after finishing the main quest/faction quests the game is over, and doing those is easily 30-40 hours. Most don't think outside of that and i even know a few that say sidequests not linked to main story are useless. So yeah for those gamers Skyrim is short lived.

I do agree however that faction quests are ridiculously short, main quest could also be longer, but i'm having fun exploring the place (it does get annoying having too many quests to do tho).

As soon as the creation kit gets out i'm certain we'll see the community "fixing" these short quests.

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:52 pm

This all depends on how people play really... Some people are more driven to find out about the main quests or the rebellion pans out. People who are used to playing RPG's and TES series such as myself are more used to wandering around and getting involved with the world and the environment, rather than just picking up a quest, doing it straight away, getting next, doing it, etc.

RPG's are really meant for people to go out and explore. On one of my characters I've clocked 30 hours and I've only seen the greybeards, not joined the war, not done any faction quests. Just seen the Jarl of Windrun then gone and done my own thing. I've just been exploring, spelunking the dungeons and getting involved with side quests. It's all dependant on how you want to play the game. If you rush the main quest then IMHO you'll ruin the game and you won't see 99% of the world that was created, but that's your call.

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:39 am

I don't know how many hours exactly but I know it is around 40 and I have barely dine anything, I havecompleted the barely any main, a couple dark brotherhood, havent even been accepted completely into the thieves guild, just now finished civil war (only because I felt all that should be done at once not spread out as it would give time for darn imperials to gather up forces) and I have about 40 or so misc quests in my journal needed to
Be done and there are still around 10039 side quests left to do in the game! So if people think the game goes to fast and there is nothing to do you are wrong.

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:42 am

I guess some of us like to stop and smell the roses and some of us don't. I intend to make skyrim last for a long long time, and when i do eventually get bored of playing 'find the arrow' amongst the scraggy grasses of whiterun, i have a whole plethora of books ive been slowly gathering back at my breezehome for those short winter nights infront of the fire. Lydia is back there now dusting them off for me..

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:33 pm

This.

Many of the side quests are more compelling and intricate then the main story line.

People believe that the side quests are just "go here, kill this" quests, as in other games.
Not here, they have stories of their own, just like the main quest, some side quests spanning a chain of quests that have you playing for 20-40 hours just for this specific quest chain.
And thats one of the near hundret out there.

This game is amazing and extremly deep, and if you play it right, following the war, doing some of the more interesting side quests, not all, and the main story line. it will take you atleast 200 hours of game time before you are done.

That people are even able to rush through the main story in 30h I must say is very dissapointing though.
I had hoped that even through a rush through, it would take atleast 75-100h.

That said: I did my first completion of Dark Souls in 80h. And then I was running through the second half of the story.
I saw people that completed it in 30h.

So my guess is, if I focus on the main story the way I like to play, which includes exploring, doing some alchemy, smithing etc, and NOT taking side quests, I still probably need around 75h to complete it. Im certain.

I just cant believe why you want to destroy a game for yourself by running through it.
I can understand for many titles out there, but not for TES and Skyrim.

Main quest took me 15 hours rushing through it. I just wanted to get it out of the way so I could start playing the real game.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:14 pm

If you're the type of person who like/are used to games that tell you what to do, well then Skyrim is "short", since you will do the mainquest and that's it pretty much. If you are a freethinking individual who enjoy exploring and creating your own adventure first hand, then this is the biggest game there is.

» Mon May 14, 2012 3:14 am

You really have no idea what your talking about. Some faction quests are very long and there are quite a few misc. quests that took a good long time to complete. Try doing the Daedra Quests, and then tell me that;s short, go do the Brotherhood quests and tell me that is short. Your making [censored] up.

Every time I see your name, I get that song stuck in my head. And I'm not even old enough to have heard it when it was made.

And I agree, the side quests, even outside of the guild type quests can get very lengthy and there are so damn many of them. The content in this game should be looked at as a massive achievement, not a part of the game that is lacking.

» Sun May 13, 2012 2:51 pm

I'm at 100 hours and I've just started my second guild line, Over two characters. I'm an alt-o-holic so there will be much more to come.

How is that even possible! The game came out 6 days ago. That's 144 hours. Assuming you sleep 8 hours a night (48 hours worth) that gives you -4 hours (144 - 100 hours played - 48 hours slept) to do anything else at all during that time other than playing. Have you even showered or eaten anything?

» Mon May 14, 2012 1:02 am

Its just like the "I'm on Master and dont wear armour, yet the game is still too easy" comments - lies in other words.

I'm approaching 35hrs and have only done the Civil war quest line and two of the Companions quests.
To get it done any faster then that'd have had to fast travel everywhere - if you fast travel then complain about game length, gtfo.

Yeah that's [censored], even on Adept with Heavy Armor and a shield I get rocked a lot.

» Sun May 13, 2012 1:54 pm

I must be around 30 hours in and I've barely done a thing bar wander around visiting new places. I did slay a couple of giants though ...from a safe point high above ground. Oh, and ran away from a dragon...

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:31 am

I think the reason faction quests feel short is because there's only 1 "guildhouse" for each faction in this game. In previous ES games, every major city had its own chapter of the Thieves Guild, Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, etc. each with their own set of quests to do. So I can understand why people feel that the College of Winterhold quests, Thieves Guild quests etc. feel very short.

But also those are only a fraction of the game. This game has the most epic non-main-quest and non-faction-related quests I've ever seen in any ES game except maybe Daggerfall. Some of the obscure side quests rival the entire main quest in scope and depth. Go explore the world and do more side quests then come back. There are TONS of epic side quests.

And I find that only ES gamers can complain about 45 hours of content being too short...lol. 99.9% of every other game out there barely makes it past 40 hours for everything.

To give you an idea of how NOT short this game is, I'm 50 hours in, level 21, and have completed dozens of quests but have not touched the main quest or any guilds. Seriously. You're not looking hard enough.

Edit: Not directed at anyone in particular, just all those people who think the game is too short.

» Sun May 13, 2012 9:38 pm

Yeah that's [censored], even on Adept with Heavy Armor and a shield I get rocked a lot.

Yep, but some people need to fee important. So they come to a forum and make stuff up. Go figure, you'd reckon we cared or something

I don't think having a small number of quests for guilds is a bad thing.
Oblivion was ridiculous, copious amounts of padded out rubbish quests. It wasn't engaging it wasn't fun and it sure as hell didn't tell a story.

I mean how many times in the thieves guild did you get sent from one side of Cyrodiil to the other, only to be turned around and sent back.
Give me a short, well written, structured and engaging questline over a padded copy paste one any day.

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:27 pm

I have about 19 hours in. Dark Brotherhood quests are done, I have finished two Daedric Shrine quests...Explored roughly 11 or 12 dungeons...I'm just sort of taking my time, listening to NPCs, considering my actions, and looking at the little things that make this game amazing.

There's tons of unexplored areas on the map. My quest log has TONS of quests in it. Not even counting all the ones in 'miscellaneous.'
I'm also a Vampire, so that adds another aspect to my style of play that's really fun to have to deal with. (This is my opinion)

Some people consider the main quest to be "the game" when the game is really what you make of it, just like past Elder Scrolls titles. I probably won't touch the main story line until even farther down the line, I'm having too much fun with other things at the moment to focus on it. Hell, I think the little cookie cutter "kill x bandits at y cave" are fun, just because I enjoy the combat system. Take things at your own pace, if you want to zoom through content, awesome. I just don't see the reason to complain about content being short if you're rushing through it.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:54 pm

I also feel that leaving the MQ until later gives it a little more of an "epic" feeling to the battles.
I mean, its a little weak when you're fighting say Mehrunes dagon in leather armour and an iron sword...