How much was sacrificed just to make the 11/11/11 deadline? Because I'm sorry, this game just seems lifeless at times. Back in Oblivion, you could follow a single person around all day and they'd actually do unique things. Stop and chat, eat, read, wander. Sure it was standard sandbox AI package stuff, nothing complicated, but it was convincing. It seems like in this game people either stand around waiting for you to do their quest (MMO style, anyone?) or they do their little sandbox package...and then stand/sit and wait for you to do their quest.

There are some NPCs that NEVER budge from thier original location (all the hirelings/potential followers) becuase they have a quest for you. There's even one guy in Riften that sits on a bridge all day and night, every day, until you talk to him. Do you know how annoying things like this can be as a thief? And why are children out wandering the streets while their parents are sleeping? Actually that little tidbit is believable, and it's not like all people in real life go to sleep as soon as the clock stikes 12, but still...more often than not, in Skyrim NPCs are just sitting around doing nothing (preventing you from robbing their goods in peace) until you do their damned quest.

So is that where we're headed? A step toward single-player MMOdom? NPCs that are not only un-immersively immortal but stationary just so you absolutely know they're a "quest giver"?

They have schedules. They actually go to work in this game.

I would imagine it was in part a response to people being unable to find the relevant NPC. The same way quest markers appeared in OB, because of the Dwemer Puzzle Box. It's probably better to see it in terms of simple cause and effect than turning it into a huge end of the world "this is where we're heading" thing. That's just going to get you depressed.

And this. I forgot to say this.

NPC's have schedules in Skyrim. Oblivion did.

True, some blacksmiths even start work earlier than they sell, and I found that cool. But how many lifeless NPCs that don't work does that leave? Too many.

Not many, i like the npc's over oblivions ones.

I've noticed this slightly, I wish they'd done this for every NPC instead of select ones.

Like Hulda in the Bannered Mare, she is always standing at the bar day in and day out. At least in Oblivion even the barmen/women went to sleep.

This is only one of my gripes with Skyrim really...

Oh how I love the clash of Idelogy and opinion

Some NPCs never go to sleep.

Love how people mine and stuff it's really cool, love how one of the cooks in a inn goes to the wood chop to gather fire wood

I agree with that.Rusheddd

Also, their schedules worked. Oblivion's didn't lololol

see: all innkeepers.

they have schedules

the end

They wanted to make the game more like Morrowind

That was part of the many very cool things about Oblivion. At times frustrating, until you got used to it. It annoyed me the first week of the game (oblivion), because I was used to merchant npc's just sitting there, in the kiosk, waiting for you to sell them something, or buy something from them, 24 hours a day. So I expected that.

In Skyrim, allot of the npcs DO have schedules. But the ones for quests, tend to stay in one place so you can find them without trouble.

The blacksmiths go to the tavern at night, then they go home. Belethor isn't open on Middas. All the merchants, and random NPCs with no real quests have schedules.

Haha, ouch! Touche

[citation needed]

Gee where do these npcs keep going at night time?

They have schedules, but not to the extend of Oblivion. There are far more stationary NPC's in this gamen even from the start. The grand majority of Oblivion NPC's checked off their checklist on a daily basis. Rudimentary, standard stuff, but like the OP said: Believable as opposed to sitting down all day, night, week, etc.

I like that the NPC's are actually working. While I do feel that they don't appear in random places quite as much as Oblivion NPC's did, at least they aren't irrelevantly walking around making small talk about mudcrabs.

There's PLENTY to be disappointed in with Skyrim, but I don't believe this is one of them. The dialog is more of a pressing issue.

Yep. Take for example Amren's wife in Whiterun. Sits in her house all day, doing nothing.

but that was a nice thing, now NPCs cannot talk to other NPCs save conversations, that never change, the first time you enter a city (and the time you enter it in 3 days...and another 3 days...and another 3 days..and in another 3 days it will still have the exact same conversation going on) and most NPCs do absolutly nothing but stand someplace and be immortal (of course, this does not pertain to every NPC but waaaaaaay too many do nothign but stand around immortaly), these NPCs are horrible

I know, at times it's almost like Morrowind.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

The dwemer puzzle box symbolises everything thats right with TES. You can speedrun the entire Skyrim MQ in the time it takes a Morrowind noob to find that box.