What I would like to seeConstructive Critique

Post » Sun May 13, 2012 9:07 pm

First off well done Bethesda your new game is great. That having been said I do have some thoughts. Skyrim has provided me with many hours of entertainment already and will provide more I am sure, but seems to be at risk of having less long lasting results than morrowind. A main reason for this is that each faction questline feels rather short and direct. Personally I have only completed the main storyline and have had friends talk about their reactions to the others. The main storyline was greatly improved over oblivions in that you could pick it up and put it down without roleplay guilt from ignoring a dire situation. The downside is that it was a lot of running back and forth dipping your feet into things you may not really care to. This is not entirely a bad thing, I feel like you handled the game very well by acquaining us with the wizards college and theives guild as part of the main quest. However it often led to situations starting that I didn't want to finish which either nagged at my ability to rp the character or at least cluttered my journal. I would recommend making the option to say no more apparent, or available at all ever, and that working with an orgainization not require joining it. You did a good job making the plot interesting and winding enough to not be predictable which i chalk up to great storyboarding and writing. Still it could have been longer and more mysterious having us do more than gruntwork. Finally we get far too few dialogue options that actually change anything, as the thane of Markarth (A title I sought out after absolutely hating the place so much that i decided to have some voice in it for all my efforts) I would never allow it to change hands in the peace treaty yet there is no way to stop the process even as the character with all the power.

On completely different notes here are some things I have noticed:
* Light armor, though sufficient, is pointless to specialize in. the downside of heavy armor is that it is heavy but the perk to make it weigh 0 which is exactly the same as the light armor perk renders light armor a stupid choice. Also 10% dodge < 10% redirect am i right?
*Axe-Mace-Blade differentiation in swing time, hit strength, and perk variation is great! Thank you for letting us Duelwield (though the upside to it w/o perks is questionable), You really did weapons right.
*The dwemer stuff from the main quest is amazing thank you very much for that, why can't i find dwemer weapons and armor in their ruins? too much scaled stuff. Also, the contents of the box make little sense to me.
*Please add spears and digitigrade leg option to the next game. i am grateful for the curled horn option return on argonians and how well the face manage works for them. And although medium armor doesn't really have a place i'd like to see its return. maybe thrown weapons too.
*Guild type questlines are linear short and out of the way. I don't want to have to travel halfway across the map to start getting theif or mage quests please make them available and have more than one quest possibility at any given time. I loved the depth of morrowinds guilds, but only the dark brotherhood from oblivion.
*Shouts, I like collecting them but don't find many of them particularily useful.
*Armor, it's really rare to find any parts of armor. i assume that since there are only 4 components each is rarer but really it's difficult to find a set before it's outdated by level entirely.
*Smithing/repair: I appreciate that you put it in for those who do smithing in mmo's and think that it is sufficiently worthwile to do, i'd like to see things need repair still. maybe not break all together but a gold sink and everyday use for the skill would be nice.
*Fast travel was totally necessary with all the running around, kind of broke immersion having to go all over the place for every errand.

***Give a non-story mode. I'd like to be able to make a character that doesn't have to go through the opening sequence, that isn't the special hero of prophesy and just does their own thing. Mostly the opening, starting at a desired town, maybe even intertown travel like silt striders were. to make starting feel right. Also, stop dragging us into plots that can't be turned down other than ignored w/o penalty.
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NEGRO
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 8:13 pm

Some good points :)

- i agree with the lack of spears , we could also add some of the most common medieval weapons like halberds and crossbows as well as flails (ball and chains)

- i think like you , the "fast travel" , it's good that it exists , but it somehow ruins the gameplay a bit (since a part of the game's interest is exploring ) , it should have been made something to "earn" , like in Morrowind for instance , with the " mark and teleport" scrolls . Or perhaps been made a spell

I also agree with the other points you made (like quests) but i doubt it will be changed , but for me a more pressing issue is the level scaling (both level scaled loot and level scaled enemies ) , if there is one thing i REALLY dislike in this great game , it is it . I hope modders will work on that in priority
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helen buchan
 
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