http://skyrimperfect.wordpress.com/

Skyrim is unquestionably a great game, and arguably one of the best role playing open world games of all time. But what makes a great game perfect? The devil is always in the details. Even such a magnificent game as Skyrim isn’t without its faults and flaws. What makes a great game shine is a developer’s care and attention to their game after it hits the shelves. It is my hope to see Skyrim become the best game of all time, and addressing a few common complaints through patches will improve the game immensely. (This is for console versions of the game)

1) INTERFACE AND MENUS

Improve the Save/Load Menu

It is absolutely essential that the save/load menu is improved! Most importantly, there needs to be a better method for managing multiple characters. With a single list of saves mixed with auto-saves, it can become near impossible to effectively manage save games, especially if there are a lot of them. It is common to save over other games on accident, especially for other characters. If multiple players use the same console, you have to trust that they will not accidentally save over your games. A separate save list is needed for each character. In addition, in-game save menu text size should be increased, because it is often unreadable because of its small size. The option to name saves would be dramatically helpful over the default save names like C34 and C37.

Improve Start Menu UI

The start menu is in need of some improvement for readability. The menu was clearly designed for HD TVs and does not work well with small screen and Standard Definition TVs. Increasing the text size would be nice. I’m squinting even when playing on an HDTV, not to mention the difficulty of reading on small screens and Standard Definition TVs. Furthermore, a black background is necessary for the journal screen and save menu, because the white text often blends into the background that the player is facing.

Option to Allow for Adjustment of Screen Limits

An option is needed in the settings menu for adjustment of outer screen limits (for consoles players). Some text and icons appear partly off-screen on Standard Definition TVs because of screen stretching. Help text which tells you that you are over-encumbered or going out of the map bounds does not appear on the screen of some SD TVs because of its placement in the corner of the screen.

Menu Lag

There is noticeable menu lag at random times when entering any kind of menu or the favorites list. Sometimes there will be no way to scroll down the menu for a good 20 seconds after opening it, sometimes a menu will freeze and you will be forced to exit it and try entering the menu again.

2) COMPANION CHARACTERS

Make Companions Non-Essential in Combat

I am a firm believer in a game that does not limit itself for the sake of hand-holding. Making all companions essential in combat simply makes the game too easy. Companions can easily take on most enemies single-handedly and they will never die in battle. When companions are injured critically, they will cover on the ground and enemies will no longer attack them. Within a few seconds, your companion will come back to the battle with full health. This is easily exploited by sending your companion ahead of you to clear out enemies while the player sits back and watches—removing the challenge of dungeon crawls. Part of the fun of a good game is to be challenged sometimes. Since so many characters can be recruited via the radiant story system, it makes sense that your companions should be able to die. The player will have to be more tactical before entering a combat situation, assisting his companion or allowing them to die when necessary. The only exception is dragon battles which the player sometimes is forced into and in which companions will often be targets.

Better Control Companions in Battle

There is a general lack of the ability to control companions in battle. They will sometimes not respond to your commands in the middle of a fight and will sometimes engage the enemy when you don’t want them too. There is also no option to make allies yield, and they will pursue any “enemy” to the death…often when that enemy was a friendly NPC you accidentally hit or even when your opponent surrenders and begs for mercy. A “stand down” command would be very helpful.

Make Horses only fight Defensively in Combat

Horses are not offensive creatures, and in Skyrim, they are worth a significant investment of the player’s gold. When combat initiates, horses will suicidal attack any enemy in the nearby vicinity. This is sometimes helpful, but more often than not it will be a massive irritation to the player. A horse will often get killed by much stronger enemies. At other times your horse will be hit by your own attacks if you are facing an opponent at range with magic or a bow. You also do not gain as much experience when your horse takes on your enemies for you. The obvious solution is to make horse only fight when directly attacked.

Mark Active Companions on Map

The awkward path-finding of NPCs makes this feature a necessity and a no-brainer.

3) MISCELLANEOUS

Character Interaction While on Horseback

When on a horse, NPCs will rarely—if ever—speak to you or interact in any way. This includes all manner of travelers along the roads, including bandits, highwaymen, or other encounters. A considerable part of the exploration experience is lost because these interactions do not take place and you need to get off your horse to talk to people because you cannot tell when you are facing a character to speak with them. This leads to the following request…

Bring Back First-Person Horseriding

It boggles my mind as to why this was ever taken from the game. Oblivion’s first-person horse-riding wasn’t the best, but it certainly added to the immersive experience. A player who wishes to play in first person should be able to at all times, and in a game with a motto like “do what you want” this seems like an irritating limitation. Part of the beautiful exploration of the world is lost without the ability to see in first person while riding a horse. This also creates other problems. Watching the sky for dragons becomes very difficult in 3rd person. You also cannot see the details of the world that are important for many players—spotting useful ingredients or watching for dangerous enemies on the horizon. First-person horse-riding would also make interacting with other characters easier while on horseback. A host of players begged for this during the game’s development, it makes little sense that this simple but wonderful feature from Oblivion did not make Skyrim’s cut.

Giving NPCs proper reactions to Crimes

NPCs in Skyrim often overreact to crimes. Killing a chicken in a town is often equated to murder and players will find hosts of angry townspeople pursuing them idiotically to the ends of oblivion to get their revenge.

A further nuisance is that of “all-knowing guards” in which a seemingly clean getaway will often land the player in jail. This bug is often associated with horsetheft, which will get you jailtime no matter if anyone was around when you got on the horse or not. Is it those darn rabbits reporting crimes again?


Allow Players the option of Yielding to Any NPC

There are many circumstances where yielding is neccesary to survive. If you have committed a crime or accidentally coerced an NPC into attacking you, often there is no way to surrender. Sheathing your weapon and speaking to guard only works once, if you choose to fight and then wish to surrender later, guards will not respond to you. In this same manner, townspeople and NCPs will not initatiate dialogue when you commit a crime and wish to surrender (the chicken killing incident). This means either you are forced to kill the townspeople or somehow escape them–all for committing a petty crime. It would also be nice to yield to enemies who have surrendered so that they will become non-hostile, a roleplaying aspect that many players would appreciate.