I did not preorder Skyrim.

I did not preorder Skyrim, because in many ways, as good a game as it was, Oblivion disappointed on many aspects I had come to expect from an Elder Scrolls game. Thus far, I am encouraged by the number of "I can't figure out how to play!" threads (I've briefly perused the list); shows they haven't dumbed it down excessively. But I have other questions about Skyrim. Answer as you are able; I know you guys just got this thing, like, yesterday.


1. Magic: IIRC, levitiation and any kind of flying was declared to be out. Do I recall correctly? Also, does it seem to matter that it's out? (Answer only if you began with Morrowind, at the latest.) How about teleportation, such as mark and recall, or the Intervention spells of Morrowind?

2. Factions: how many joinable factions? Daggerfall's were countless (and indistinguishable); Morrowind's were 9 or more and interwoven plotwise; Oblivion's were 4 and may as well have existed as entirely different games. If Skyrim's factions are few and isolated... does it matter, or does Skyrim have something cooler that makes that device obsolete?

3. Level scaling: I highly doubt Beth would make the Oblivion mistake again... but just to be sure, are we back to leveling being a good thing that makes earlier parts easier and opens more difficult areas (as it should be), or does leveling your character make everything harder (to the point of being broken), like in Oblivion? (Yes, I am well aware there were workarounds, and did master a method of my own for Oblivion; still, it struck me as a rather severe design flaw.)

4. Skills: I am already aware there are many fewer skills in Skyrim than in Oblivion, just as there were fewer in Oblivion than in Morrowind, and fewer in Morrowind than in Daggerfall. I joke that TES7 will have a grand total of four skills: Fight, Magic, Item, and Run. Does the new advancement system make up for the lower level of skill resolution, or do the old Morrowind and earlier fans think it tolerable, at best?

5. Pacing: tell me nothing about the main plot (this being the general forum and all). Oblivion was enjoyable, but I missed the slower plot development that Morrowind had. My question: How is the pacing of the main plot? Is it a linear cinematic ride like in Oblivion, or does it have natural breaking points for side questing like in Morrowind?

Now that the game's been out for a few days, maybe someone can answer these questions. I've seen indirect answers in other threads, but I still think direct answers to these questions would help be decide whether to pay the early adopter price now or wait until the game's been out for a while and dropped in price.

I guess I can take the trouble to respond, even though you obviously just joined the forums because of the hype around Skyrim...






There are no levitation spells. No Scroll of Icarus either. No teleportation spells either.


Not much experience with factions so far - I've only joined one and am not far into it yet.


It certainly seems like the higher my level gets, the harder the enemies get. Also for a while all I found was iron, then iron and steel, now at level 14 I'm finding the odd orcish item too. Seems similar to Oblivion in that respect.


Attributes (Strength, Luck, etc.) are gone completely. Some skills (acrobatics, athletics) are gone, some new ones in place (one-handed, two-handed). However as you advance in the various skills, you can learn perks, which allows for a surprising amount of customization. As somebody that has played Daggerfall extensively, I'm content with Skyrim's system.


Not far enough in to comment on this. The opening was certainly very cinematic though, even more so than any point in Oblivion.

I started playing TES since daggerfall.
So far Skyrim is the best game in the series imo.

But to answer your questions:

1) No teleport spells as far as I know. Don't really care. But it has more spell effects than Oblivion, that's for sure.

2) Don't know exactly how many, have knowledge of 6 joinable guilds so far (only a member of 2 of them). Among them there's a "Bard college".

3) They use "soft scaling". So some things are "easy" and others are "hard" on your level. Once a quest is started, it stays at the same level.

4) Game has less skills that Morrowind, but there's more to most skills than in Morrowind. Overal, this game is much better designed. Sometimes less is more.
Also, the perk System is good. Solved a lot of the issues in the older games too.

5) Hard to say, I have played a little bit of the main plot. So far, I think it's going to be quite short.

As a big Morrowind fan, I have to say that Skyrim (with the compass off) is a return to form after the disappointment of Oblivion. PC UI and UI controls are awful, terrible, deplorable — but the game is solid gold. I rank it equal to Morrowind, and it will be better than Morrowind if patches or mods fix the UI.

They have a bard college? That almost sells it right there.

Hmmmm, yea. Morrowind is the best...for now... I think the game will be in the Black Marsh (it could also be in Valenwood or Elsweyr)


2. Well, in Morrowind, there's more than 9 factions... Count the fighter, mage, thief, Morag tung, dark brotherhood, emperial, the houses, the faction in Ebonheart that I don't remember, Almexia (Tribunal)...
These are by memory...but there's more on UESP...

For number 5, I'm not too far in the main quest yet but, at least straight after the tutorial its fairly relaxed, like "Ehh, go talk to this guy if you want to", not so much as Morrowinds but definitely better than Oblivions "GO TALK TO JAUFFRE OR THE WORLD WILL END"

I will answer your questions, as an Elder Scrolls fan since Morrowind:


They are all out. No, I haven't really noticed it. I didn't particularly take notice of it in Oblivion either, to be honest.



I cannot accurately answer this question. That I know of, there is a Fighters Guild (Companions), Mages Guild (College of Winterhold), Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood.

But I believe there are also other factions like Imperial Legion / Stormcloaks, and some others.



So far, it totally feels closer to Morrowind than Oblivion. I've gone in some areas and had pretty good success, and gone in other areas and struggled mightily. Doesn't seem like NPC's scale like Oblivion.



Fewer skills in number, but much more versatility and variety than at least Oblivion, and maybe even Morrowind. Perks trees do wonders.



Pacing feels closer to Oblivion than Morrowind, but I've only done like 2 main quests.

Thanks for the help, guys. The game sounds good. My copy will be arriving by Tuesday... but knowing Amazon, it may well arrive Monday.

The level scaling is like Fallout 3. You can walk out into the wilderness and run into a giant at level 2, who will then proceed to one-shot you. This game also has challenge! I am level 19 thief at the moment, and any animal with the name "snow" before it will likely kill me if it sees me first.