I'm gonna agree and say I liked the way the Journal was in Oblivion ( I can't comment on before that as I don't know) and I wish they would have brought it back the same way.

That being said... you know their's a book right? and yes I know it costs extra.

As it happens I like the book. Even though I wouldn't have bought it for myself. My husband bought it for me as an early Christmas present. And of course I had to look through it Or hurt his feelings ( you gotta understand he doesn't EVER buy me present's) 10 year's and I think the book is the second present I have gotten. I usually just buy my own present's and tell him what he got me. lol

Anyway... as I looked through it I realized that it would make a good tool as long as I didn't keep it on my lap as I played. For Radiant quest's well it ain't all that great. just gives a very very basic discription. But for any of the "regular" quests it gives very good information.

I know I have looked up a quest that has sat in the journal for a while and just read the " main information" part...not how to do the whole quest. Now that's not saying that I haven't read through a whole quest line I have... and even if I started playing those quest lines today I wouldn't remember every detail I read a month ago.

But the book gives ALL the information that some of you are saying that you want... plus some. It doesn't however tell you HOW to play, just suggestions. ie make sure you pick up these items, look for that chest you might wanna.....etc. But then again IF your looking the stuff up on the net...same thing. IMO same thing. Yes it does tell you how to do the puzzles and stuff like that, don't mean ya gotta read that part.

I gotta feeling some are going to be really unhappy about "the Book", OK, fine feel free to flame me to Hades, I have a rather thick skin. And remember I did say I liked the journal the way it was before! I can't change it... Beth may not wanna change it... ie the book.

Hmmpf.. I write things down, but only because I have to. If the game had at least some journal descriptions gesides the "go kill/locate/deliver" one-liners I'd really not have to resort to keeping my own written descriptions.

Because if I don't write things down after a while many of the one-line quest entries mean absolutely nothing to me when I revisit them. I often forget who gave the quest, the surcomstances of the quest, what stage of the quest I'm at, where I'm supposed to go, etc. Forcing me to either simply follow the arrows to solve that particular quest, or look up the entry at the TES Wiki or at the UESP. The latter, looking up the entry at the TES Wiki or at the UESP, has a major downside because it's quite difficult to avoid spoilers.

Imho being forced to write things down, or to just follow the pointers, or to look the quest up online, is unnecessarily immersion breaking.

I do use the compass, and the markers. It does save some tedious looking around and searching, and it stops me from being sidetracked too much while questing. The Skyrim quest-journal with the one-line entries is great for activating/deactivating those quests. It's great as a well organised top-layer quick overview, it's great as a list of check marks of completed quests and quest stages. But imho it sorely needs some additional descriptions. The old games, Morrowind (Tribunal) and Oblivion, did have these descriptions, enabling you to look through the quest descriptions and even the dialogue entries for a particular quest, with in-game dates even. When looking in the Skyrim journal I always feel the descriptions could have been just one click away, keeping the uncluttered one-liner overview, but giving the one line entries a clicky so that when you click on the one-liner you get a more meaningfull description about the entry. For me it's a big fail, for me it breaks immersion in an otherwise extremely immersive game.


You know, the game is loaded with books. Which are just the tip of the massively extensive Elder Scrolls lore iceberg. And the events which take place in TESV will no doubt be added to the next TES game as a book, just as the events of the previous games have always been added.

Besides, anyone who won't like reading would never have to. All the mechanics are there to never have to read, so the need to read will always be optional even if there'd be some more meaningfull descriptions in the journal.

I have the book, too. The dude at Gamestop gave it to me by accident, but i didn't say a damn thing about it, cause that thing is expensive. Anyway, I think it's a cool resource, but like I said before, i don't think players should have to buy the book for back-story and details that should be in-game.

Also, the book is riddled with grammar and spelling errors. Haha, not that it matters.

i would realy realy love to have a better journal and timestamps. sometimes there is just missing information for a quest. you are dependent on the marker. i think the ui is a big step backward compared to oblivion. although that interface was not the best either.

that is the worst comment in 2012. sure, it is a new year but you made quite a start!

this is actually a very valid point, I have a friend that didnt speak english very well at all, and he was kind of a slow learner in school, mostly because he wasnt interested.

anyhow, he started playing world of warcraft like 3 years ago, and with the tiny bits of learning hidden in the massive game, he has actually gotten quite good at both reading, writing and speaking english. its not like it changed over night, but every little bit counts.

http://www.michaels.com/artist%27sloft-darkscript-journal/fa1480,default,pd.html?cgid=products-artsupplies-journals&start=13

I got this one at michaels arts and crafts like 6 months ago, it would be perfect for writing down all my quests

I recall a certain quest in Morrowind called Cavern of the Incarnate that proved to be rather frustrating to find exact location. You had to locate a place given a description that was a riddle. The riddle was fairly easy to figure out, but it was still difficult to find the exact location because of the discrepancy between the description and the actual surroundings. This was incredibly annoying and ever since that quest, I have come to appreciate quest markers .

I would also like some more information in the journal, perhaps optional so others who like the current one won't be forced to sift trough a lot of text. I think I would prefer it if the used the current list as a short overview of every quest and then you can activate a quest and it will give a more detailed walk trough of your progress on the quest so far and where, how and from whom you got it like it was in Morrowind (and perhaps before Morrowind).

I would love to see some better descriptions in the quest, too. I really miss being able to look in the journal to see what I'm doing if I don't get a chance to finish a quest on the same playtime as I picked it up (which is most of the time).

Yes, yes he would

There was a really good thread on this yesterday but it hit the 200 quickly. It basically blames the quest markers for killing this aspect of the game. Very good read.
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1329053-a-very-good-explanation-of-why-people-hate-quest-markers/page__st__21

You'll miss out on a lot of great RPGs with that mindset. Books tell a story; RPGs tell a story. I had that mindset when I first played Xenogears. I quickly stopped playing because of all the damn reading. Sometime later though I gave it another shot. Turned out to be one the best RPGs I've ever played with an amazing storyline.

Edit: There's also Lone Wolf, an RPG in actual books. Which is really, really awesome and I would recommend it to anyone that likes RPGs. Especially since you can legally get them for free on the internet.

http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Books

As for the topic, yes I want quest descriptions back including directions and everything. The option to turn off quest markers does not help you when that's the only way to be able to find what you need to find.

It's an RPG, not an FPS. You enjoy detail and depth in RPGs, you mindlessly kill things ad infinitum for shallow recreation in an FPS. See the difference?

See, ^ these are the sort of people that Bethesda is trying to pander to and why Skyrim has become more about following the arrow than reading into what people tell you.

*sighs* Sadly, you are right.

Many of the quests have absolutely nothing.


So why not log the dialogue so we can see what was said, where, in what building, when, by whom, and our responses? I'm drowning in quests due to being a CRPG where everything presents itself always at first opportunity. Unlike DRPG where the GM present things in a more natural order. Nobody can be expected ti remember everything that happens. In DRPG we even took notes, but on a computer I want to take notes using the computer as the tool to do so.

I listen to it at the time. But I have kids, a job, and other responsibilities. I often have to stop playing before finishing a quest, or I have several ongoing simultaneously to maximize my time. I would love a refresher by looking on the old journal.

Also, no one gives directions anymore. They just assume you'll be using the quest marker. I mean, sure the directions in Morrowind would leave something to be desired, but they gave them. I really miss people giving me directions.

I just had a thought! Maybe we just need to get our pens and paper out again. Just like with the original rpgs 20 years ago...


How ironic is that? With Bethesda dumbing down the game because `no one wants to read and everyone wants to just follow the triangle` It`s now actually easier to write down quest requests if you want to actually remeber what your quests was about?

The irony.

Getting a pad and pencil, I`m gonna see if this works.

Well that's actually what I did so far but I'm using my phone instead of pen and paper. Brought back memories

But seriously, as soon as the CK is out I'm going to check if there's a way to mod a pad in, it would be pure awesomeness.

Not almost impossible. You can write up a script that writes the entry for you. I believe Ron or some one made up a post with and example.

Yes, they should just ditch the journal altogether and streamline it more. Like all you need is a map with arrows and keywords like "fetch" "deliver" "kill" "talk to" which would cover everything. They could use different colors too for the arrows, so red is like for the main quest and other colors for less important ones.

Shut up don't give them IDEAS!

True, and it is because of these people that Bethesda will never opt to go back to the old system.

This is why this topic is offering an alternative: choice. By simply adding a few extra lines to the quest descriptions and making the arrow optional they can make the quest system worthwhile for both kind of gamers.

You mean you ll have to start to read ?

Listen to the people who gives the quest to you and write down what they've said

There, quest descriptions.



But how silly I am, this is TRULY about the [censored] target audience who cannot read or write herp derp