NPC armor doesn't level with us like in Oblivion

Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:29 pm

Hello,

This has been something that was bothering me for a long time. If all of us stick to a character and eventually attain a high enough level we will acquire pieces of gear that are not necessarily "unique" but leveled, shall we say, ie Deadric armor, Ebony armor, Glass armor. When I'm all by myself wearing my sweet set of Daedric armor I feel like a BAMF, but when I go into town I stick out like a sore thumb. What, there are no other adventurers out there getting gear and hunting for treasure like me? Back in Oblivion NPC's would pick up these types of armor and weapons as my level progressed, which would not only make you feel less like an outcast, but gave you a sweet pickpocket goal (I mean seriously, WTF point does pickpocket have anymore?).

I understand that the guards and the NPC's are dressed an armored as they would be if the truly did live in a land like Skyrim, but now when I get a piece of steel I look weird and out of place in the city. I'm no hardcoe RP'er who would carry a set of clothes or fur around with me so I can blend in at town but If i could somehow level low level armors to have a playable armor stats for end game play I would wear them. I think the Iron armor set is the coolest and most realistic in the game, but after level 12 you'd be an idiot to continue wearing them.

There was a time were, depending on my level, some NPC's would be wearing glass weapons and even Daedric armor. Feeling individualistic and special is all well and good, but when you slap on a set of armor above Steel grade you immediately become TOO special. By keeping "immersion" alive andarmoring level 50 bandits in fur (or heaven forbid a full set of plate mail) not only have you made it so I no longer see an enemy and think to myself "Oh my god! He has a Glass claymore!! I've been looking for one of those, I must kill him for it." but by "Immersion" logic my Daedric armor clad Dova should be able to laugh at inferior weapon types as they bounce of my sinister-looking briast plate.

In Skyrim I know run around, looking like some sort of god having no thrill in treasure hunting. I see treasure chests all the time and think "Oh boy, I've already opened ten of those, maybe the random loot generator will give my warrior something to use.....maybe." I've lost my treasure hunting drive, and it's lonely being the only kid in the world with Xbox-live (That's my real life comparison to my character being the ONLY PERSON IN ALL OF SKYRIM to have a Daedric weapon/armor.)

Thanks for reading!!!
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Quick draw II
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:36 pm

What?! You won't find glass armor on a thief that's trying to rob you as you walk down a path when you're level 10, but you will when you're level 45. C'mon, man?
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Mimi BC
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:06 am

Mixture of scaled enemies and set enemies please.

I would very much love to stroll through town at level 10 and see some current hero decked out in Daedric gear.
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Ice Fire
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:49 pm

Hello,

This has been something that was bothering me for a long time. If all of us stick to a character and eventually attain a high enough level we will acquire pieces of gear that are not necessarily "unique" but leveled, shall we say, ie Deadric armor, Ebony armor, Glass armor. When I'm all by myself wearing my sweet set of Daedric armor I feel like a BAMF, but when I go into town I stick out like a sore thumb. What, there are no other adventurers out there getting gear and hunting for treasure like me? Back in Oblivion NPC's would pick up these types of armor and weapons as my level progressed, which would not only make you feel less like an outcast, but gave you a sweet pickpocket goal (I mean seriously, WTF point does pickpocket have anymore?).

I understand that the guards and the NPC's are dressed an armored as they would be if the truly did live in a land like Skyrim, but now when I get a piece of steel I look weird and out of place in the city. I'm no hardcoe RP'er who would carry a set of clothes or fur around with me so I can blend in at town but If i could somehow level low level armors to have a playable armor stats for end game play I would wear them. I think the Iron armor set is the coolest and most realistic in the game, but after level 12 you'd be an idiot to continue wearing them.

There was a time were, depending on my level, some NPC's would be wearing glass weapons and even Daedric armor. Feeling individualistic and special is all well and good, but when you slap on a set of armor above Steel grade you immediately become TOO special. By keeping "immersion" alive andarmoring level 50 bandits in fur (or heaven forbid a full set of plate mail) not only have you made it so I no longer see an enemy and think to myself "Oh my god! He has a Glass claymore!! I've been looking for one of those, I must kill him for it." but by "Immersion" logic my Daedric armor clad Dova should be able to laugh at inferior weapon types as they bounce of my sinister-looking briast plate.

In Skyrim I know run around, looking like some sort of god having no thrill in treasure hunting. I see treasure chests all the time and think "Oh boy, I've already opened ten of those, maybe the random loot generator will give my warrior something to use.....maybe." I've lost my treasure hunting drive, and it's lonely being the only kid in the world with Xbox-live (That's my real life comparison to my character being the ONLY PERSON IN ALL OF SKYRIM to have a Daedric weapon/armor.)

Thanks for reading!!!

I think its better how it is NOW, but it isn't full circle. I know what you're getting at and what you mean, but the problem is with the current implementation.

When you think about it, being a Bandit is basically a "job". Bandits go out and pillage other people. Why? Cuz they're broke. They need money so they rob other people. Since they're broke they're going to just use the bare minimum armor, and use numbers to overwhelm the people they pillage. In relation to their implementation in the game, it's pretty well done actually! Bandits look broke: they wear just fur and band together to swarm over people they encounter. However what Skyrim is missing that you're actually looking for is more "jobs".

If there's adventurers in the game there should be an adventurer "job", or a thief "job", a lumberjack "job", etc, and have those NPCs located in the appropriate areas. Meaning, if you go out adventuring in a cave, you should find an adventurer sometimes. When you go around and find some chests you might find some of them already opened, with an adventurer, or an adventurer party strolling through the cave. This lets you know that you're not the only person who ventures out an explores. At that point the adventurer also becomes the "treasure chest", and you have to ask yourself if you're willing to kill for the treasure. That starts to define you as a player and your roleplay within the world. All because an adventurer took a stroll through a dungeon.

There's not enough jobs in the world basically, or not enough occurrences that makes each NPC feel unique. Where are the lumberjacks? The adventurers? The Orc war parties? The imperial scouts in the wilderness?

What the game really needs is more jobs to fill in the gaps and make it feel more alive; not glass armor on bandits (God no, never again >_<).
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Emmie Cate
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:37 pm

You must be [censored] joking me. all throughout oblivion people complained about how bandits had full deadric armour and it actually made the end-game harder then the initial start of the game.
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Sharra Llenos
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:04 pm

Most characters wouldn't have access to the best stuff. If bandits could afford daedric, for example, they wouldn't have to resort to banditry in the first place. Some character equipment does scale, though. Those mercenaries you pass on the roads who are so coy about telling you where they are headed to generally have scaled equipment, for example. In fact, I've followed them before hoping that monsters would kill them so I could loot their bodies ...
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Ana Torrecilla Cabeza
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:12 pm

What's silly is the fact that bandits start doing 500+ damage to you at higher levels, with iron and steel weapons. I mean, come on, there is no way you can do that much damage with that low-grade of a weapon. It would make much more sense if the devs just gave them some daedric weapons instead and had them doing the same amount of damage.
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Sophie Payne
 
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Post » Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:59 am

What's silly is the fact that bandits start doing 500+ damage to you at higher levels, with iron and steel weapons. I mean, come on, there is no way you can do that much damage with that low-grade of a weapon. It would make much more sense if the devs just gave them some daedric weapons instead and had them doing the same amount of damage.

That's just one of the MANY problems with Oblivion and Skyrim Level Scaling. The balance is way off.

The end result is boredom. Treasure becomes meaningless once you can smith and enchant.
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A Dardzz
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:40 pm

It's so easy to achieve though. Have enemies with set equiptment at every few levels, and have a % chance of them spawning. The higher level you are, the higher the chance of seeing higher leveled enemies.

Whilst at level 1 you come across crappy bandits more often, with the rare chance of finding a high level creature.
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Deon Knight
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:29 pm

I never want to see random bandits in daedric armour. That was arguably one of Oblivion's most heinous faults, and I'm glad they didn't repeat it with Skyrim.
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Nick Pryce
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:05 pm

I think its better how it is NOW, but it isn't full circle. I know what you're getting at and what you mean, but the problem is with the current implementation.

When you think about it, being a Bandit is basically a "job". Bandits go out and pillage other people. Why? Cuz they're broke. They need money so they rob other people. Since they're broke they're going to just use the bare minimum armor, and use numbers to overwhelm the people they pillage. In relation to their implementation in the game, it's pretty well done actually! Bandits look broke: they wear just fur and band together to swarm over people they encounter. However what Skyrim is missing that you're actually looking for is more "jobs".

If there's adventurers in the game there should be an adventurer "job", or a thief "job", a lumberjack "job", etc, and have those NPCs located in the appropriate areas. Meaning, if you go out adventuring in a cave, you should find an adventurer sometimes. When you go around and find some chests you might find some of them already opened, with an adventurer, or an adventurer party strolling through the cave. This lets you know that you're not the only person who ventures out an explores. At that point the adventurer also becomes the "treasure chest", and you have to ask yourself if you're willing to kill for the treasure. That starts to define you as a player and your roleplay within the world. All because an adventurer took a stroll through a dungeon.

There's not enough jobs in the world basically, or not enough occurrences that makes each NPC feel unique. Where are the lumberjacks? The adventurers? The Orc war parties? The imperial scouts in the wilderness?

What the game really needs is more jobs to fill in the gaps and make it feel more alive; not glass armor on bandits (God no, never again >_<).

I agree with this. Oblivion had a few "adventurers" that would randomly spawn in certain dungeons, like the Orc adventurer who would sometimes spawn in the bandit cave just outside the Imperial City between the Stables and the Waterfront. It would be nice if Skyrim had something similar to add a little flavor and those NPCs should get leveled armor. But leveled armor should be very rare on NPCs and should definately not be seen on Bandits. Way too much of that in Oblivion.
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Phillip Brunyee
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:47 pm

There are random encounters in Skyrim with "racial archetypes (labelled 'Nord,' 'Orc' etc," though they are relatively rare.
These NPCs are always hostile and wear levelled gear.
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Céline Rémy
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:18 pm

You must be [censored] joking me. all throughout oblivion people complained about how bandits had full deadric armour and it actually made the end-game harder then the initial start of the game.
And what are people complaining about in Skyrim? End-game is too easy. I agree with the OP that it would make more sense for enemies and friendlies alike to scale their armor and weapons to the players level.
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Cedric Pearson
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:30 am

It's much better in Skyrim then it was in Oblivion, everybody at level 20 in Oblivion got Glass Armor. That made the scaling so unrealistic as regular bandits would get Glass Armor which excluding Shivering Isles is the best light armor in the game. Skyrim's scaling is much more realistic, bandits have fur armor and sometimes Leather or Scaled. Is Skyrim's scaling perfect, no but it's much better then Oblivion.
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Jade MacSpade
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:58 pm

Oblivions economy was butchered by the extreme level scaling. A single dungeon could easily bring in 25,000 to 30,000 gold, since the merchants had infinite money. Not to mention how it opposed the lore. Deadric gear is supposed to be very powerful and very rare, yet every other lowlife to bandit had it. I much prefer bandits having uber iron weapons to them carrying super good gear.
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Lexy Corpsey
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:20 pm

Repeat after me ... this is a good thing .. daedric is supposed to be ultra rare. What bugs me more though is that only you have access to upgraded equipment - what are all those smiths doing.
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m Gardner
 
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Post » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:46 am

I agree there should be random adventurers popping up in dungeons now and then, but I think only in non-storyline dungeons, only random dungeons where there is no quest for it. They obviously should be wearing some leveled gear they could have "found" like you, but they shouldn't be decked out in all high level gear, just some, like typical scavenger types. I miss goblins. I wish they coulda fixed the totem-hunting goblin system described in the oblivion game guide. I found every totem and put them in a chest in my house in anvil expecting Goblins to be swarming the place, but was bummed when I found out they never implemented it into the game afterall. :stare:
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Add Me
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:55 pm

At level 38 I ran into a Thief in glass armor. We were both fighting a frost troll. He ended up dead and became my Thrall...for a while.

I agree though that it would be nice to see a few others out there in higher level armor, not too many and not bandits. Would be cool to see an adventurer in Glass or Ebony haning out in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. He could have some stories to tell.


What's silly is the fact that bandits start doing 500+ damage to you at higher levels, with iron and steel weapons. I mean, come on, there is no way you can do that much damage with that low-grade of a weapon. It would make much more sense if the devs just gave them some daedric weapons instead and had them doing the same amount of damage.

Maybe they threw on their Fortify Alchemy gear and made some uber Fortify Enchant potions before taking their weapons to the grinding wheel.
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Angelina Mayo
 
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Post » Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:09 pm

OP has a point, though. Either extreme is usually the wrong answer, even though Bethesda has never really been good at mixes, compromises, blending, balance, or anything that involves shades of grey. Bethesda solves their problems with an axe, they always have.

That said, the best way to go about things would be to have both systems at once. Certainly, your average bandit or maurauder doesn't need to be romping around in glass or daedric. At the same time, though, somebody should be. Morrowind had rich Telvani wizards that had full daedric from the start of the game, among other things.

So those of you arguing for compromise are probably right. I will, however, point out that gamesas isn't likely to see it that way.
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Your Mum
 
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Post » Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:30 am

i just saw a generic mercanary in full ebony around level 45ish, also had an assassin with a glass longsword attack me. There are rare "leveled" npcs with good armor
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IsAiah AkA figgy
 
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