I play on the console
Hello, I played Skyrim for about 100-200 hours and I do not think I will be playing any more. Simply, nothing I do matters and it is frustrating. I recently bought Fallout:New Vegas and I am astounded at how this game puts Skyrim to shame in almost every area except graphics. It's like they made huge leaps forward in terms of story/quest/dialogue construction in FNV, but decided to ignore everything when they made Skyrim.
It just feels like after the first 50 hours on any character it is the same quest styles with no real choice or consequence; go kill x or collect y. In FNV the factions I decide to join and the quests I take on matter because it could negatively impact my character in the future. In this game however, I can be and do whatever I want and join any faction no matter how nefarious without consequence. I am just in a sandbox with pretty scenery, not a living breathing world. There are just so many quests and npcs but hardly any value outside of the main quest.
This is a shallow, superficial game. I think they should have taken 6 months after they finished the world to include branching quests and dialogue choices that end differently and interestingly depending on choices made. Is this really too much to demand? It has been done in about every Bioware game and Fallout 3/NV.
There is no longevitiy, only volume. The only replayability is in creating different character builds. This is the 21st century, games have progressed beyond that. Sorry for the rushed feel of this post, I kind of just threw it together to share my thoughts on a game that is both progressive in terms of visuals but massively regressive in terms of choice and consequence.
The argument that "nothing I do matters" is a flawed concept. Clearly, each choice you make, from choosing which direction to wander in to choosing what type of armor you wear to what skills you choose to pursue, has an effect and consequence. Aside from mere gameplay choices, such as you'd never discover town X if you never travelled in that direction, the quest choices you are presented with always- ALWAYS have a consequence- you can choose to stop pursuing that questline- even the main questline- at any time. Clearly this also has a series of consequences. If you never choose to keep following questline Y you will not acheive reward Z.
From your choice to play stealthily or not, to rely on magic or brawn, to the clothes you wear to the towns you visit (or terrorize), to the more global aspects of the main quest, everything you do has consequences. Some of them are done in a very subtle way, in terms of people or groups you may meet on the road. Some of them are overt, such as being told you must kill a particular character the game has almost certainly made you like.
Other aspects are taken for granted, such as the endless 'Imperials vs stormcloaks' threads that we still see here. Players quite plainly see some sort of consequence, since they debate the merits and failings of choosing one side or the other. Skyrim is not a game of clear-cut paths; there is very seldom a "good" path marked out for you. It's shades of gray and I think it was done on purpose, as it's easier to make a 'good choice/evil choice' system. If I'm right and that was on purpose, it's a much more sophisticated system in concept than people want to hear about in general, because most folks lament the gameplay concept on this forum.
I must conclude that despite your assertation that "nothing you do matters", this is merely your flawed perception, not a fact. I can't honestly beleive that you truly mean literally "nothing" you do matters.
You don't like the game; that is fine, it is acceptable- more than acceptable, its your right. But you cannot make any argument that will covince me that "nothing you do" in Skyrim matters. It is my opinion that an objective observer would agree that the game by definition has consequences for actions.
» Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:33 pm 
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