There are two kinds of "doing something about it". There's optimizing the situation with everything from less references stored, turning off V-SYNC, etc. to work around the PS3's split memory architecture. The other kind is creating a completely different engine - years of development and millions of dollars - for which there is no guarantee other bugs or problems wouldn't spring up. A brand new engine is a much greater entity than many people realize, and Bethesda knows how to work gameplay magic with what they've already got. Much of the randomness, Murphy's Law moments, and unpredictability that we all love about The Elder Scrolls is because the current engine allows for it (I've seen how it works on a code level).

You can't recreate Skyrim with a different engine and expect the exact same experience that just runs better. It would be a fundamentally different game. Suddenly, the game runs at 30 fps constantly, but at what cost? Whose to say the experience feels familiar, or is enjoyable? Maybe it's not even fun anymore.

My point is, the programming that Bethesa uses to tie the worlds of Morrowind, Cyrodiil, the Capital Wastes, and Skyrim together is an excellent system that doesn't play nice with the way the PS3 splits its memory. Bethesda released the best product they could in the time given to themselves, knowing full well they would have a long road of patches and optimizing ahead of them. I don't fault them for doing their best. Their PR svcks, their communication with fans and consumers svcks, and I would have loved a game that runs at 30 fps constantly.

It's not the PS3's fault - the splitting of its memory allows for fantastic game experiences using very specific programming (see: Uncharted). It's not Betheda's fault - their engine works wonders but depends on a certain amount of available memory. In the end, the situation just svcks. If you're currently dealing with unplayable lag, I wish you the best. Optimizations and fixes are coming, but if your save file is already gargantuan, there's only so much that changes can do for you with all the values and references the game has indexed for you. For others, their save files were manageable size (4-8) prior to the most recent patch, and further patches will be more noticeable for them. For those starting a new game, enjoy the experience - the current state of the game, and Bethesda's plans for updates, will give you an incredible experience for a very long time to come.

Its not bethesdas fault? They did not make allowances for how the ps3 handles memory. I'm guessing since they're developers and have made games for the ps3 before they should know how the ps3 handles memory.

I don't believe for a second they forgot, I think other devious things. You don't just forget how to code for a system after it's been out for 5 yrs or discount it's unique architecture, you just dont.

I would LOVE to see how Pete responds to this.

Of course it's not beth's fault. She only made a game which takes 3 hours to beat. All of the extras were just fluff and filler.

I don't think the coders are to blame. 256 MB of RAM is really low compared to modern standards. It might very well be that the PS3 simply is not powerful enough to run a game as vast and complex as Skyrim, no matter how good the code is. If that is indeed the case, this game should never have been released for the PS3.

See my previous post. It's not the game, or the system. It's the way the engine interacts with the hardware, or rather, the way the hardware and the engine are fundamentally conflicted.

I don't think the coders are to blame. 256 MB of RAM is really low compared to modern standards. It might very well be that the PS3 simply is not powerful enough to run a game as vast and complex as Skyrim, no matter how good the code is. If that is indeed the case, this game should never have been released for the PS3.

So basically the game just wasn't optimized for the PS3. Has anyone from Bethesda confirmed this yet?

So the closest thing that describes the issue is what the Obsidian developer said? Has this been shared on IGN or Gamespot yet?

I know it's probably been said but meh, I'll say it again just incase.

This is Bethesdas fault, NOT the engine (fully anyway, without hands on time with the engine, I don't think any of us can really say much about it nor without any hands on time with the PS3 dev suite). I don't like playing the blame game but look at it from this perspective:

Bethesda focuses on the 360 version first and with it being similar to the PC in terms of architecture makes the PC version run good as well.

They ported it to the PS3 WITHOUT making proper use of the PS3 features or it's memory properly. That is the main cause of these PS3 issues.

Just a small correction: The PC version does not run good as well.

In fact, it's not optimized for the PC overall, though not the complete trainwreck the PS3 version has turned out to be.

So is it safe to assume that my copy of Skyrim on PS3 will never get fixed?