Now, I know that character creation was completely done away with in Skyrim to a point where I don't even consider it a RPG, but I think they could at least have taken advantage of some of the features they added to make us feel like we actually created a character.

FONV let you pick a few perks to begin with, and as I recall also a few perks that gimped your character. What I think would've been awesome is if that had been used in Skyrim, if nothing else, then to give your character some personality and traits. It could even be a 1-to-1 trade where you got to pick a few perks in the existing skill trees in exchange for receiving some penalties, like vulnerability to an element, slower movement, inability to use magic or some religious rule preventing you form using a certain type of weapon or armour. Anything really, instead of the non-existing character creation Beth came up with =/

What do y'all think?

I actually miss my Altmer's weakness to magic. You already start with a goal, needing to find items to compensate. It was a defining characteristic of the race. Even if weaknesses were only 10% or whatever, would make things more interesting.

The only thing I miss about the typical RPG character creation is having a feeling that I'm not starting as a lowly peasant, ie. I have some already established skills (beyond the racial bonuses) that I then go on to develop. But in terms of mechanics, Skyrim's system makes more sense as you won't be completely tied down to something you chose at the start for the entirety of the game.

I'm glad they got rid of classes in Skyrim. Now I can be in full control over my character and it makes the game a lot more fun to roleplay, without the restrictions, in my opinion.

I like the free non-class system in Skyrim too, but one thing I find to be absolutely lame is that everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, knows magic. I want to play a Nord warrior, so why am I cursed with the ability to cast magic regardless that I don't ever want to cast a spell?

Picking a perk in the beginning of the game that gave me some sort of bonus as a warrior, and then gimping it with the inability to cast magic would've been perfect for me. Now I always have the knowledge in the back of my head that my warrior who hates magic can cast healing spells and fireballs if he wants to. That's pretty lame imo.

i agree 100%, i have next to no attachment to either of my characters in skyrim. unlike my characters in FO3 and FO:NV......sigh

Well, I choose to simply ignore the fact when I'm playing a warrior but I agree that it is kinda lame. But you always have the options of not using it

A simple solution is to be able to pick what you want your character to be able to learn. Like I could choose that my character is unable to comprehend the teachings of destruction, conjuration, healing etc.

Yeah, something like that. "Destruction Dummy" would be a great perk. You can never learn destruction magic, GREAT!

Counter that with "Sugar Lips" which always gives you two chances to persuade for instance. Little things like that really helps define a character without taking away the freedom the current system provides. It just personalizes it.

I would prefer not to get any bonus except from my race. But little things to personalize your character really helps.

I agree to a large extent (although I still consider Skyrim a RPG)

What I'd have liked kept:

• Birthsigns
  
• Some kind of prior experience - could be as simple as Tag skills from FO3
  
• An advantages/disadvantages system would've been good although it hasn't been in TES for a long time (since DF)

all pre-game character creation meaningfulness is gone. i'm a generic nothing. race, ethnic, religion, skills, attributes, philosophy, alignment, are all worthless at the outset. and, are negligibly changed during the game.

yes, give us something. something to differentiate besides meaningles cosmetic choices.

This is not something that started with Skyrim. It was in Oblivion too. In Oblivion all characters started with a Flare spell and a Heal spell no matter what class or race we picked.

You are talking about the classic "traits" from Fallout.

Yeah...those were cool! Like "one-hander", you can′t dual wield, but your right hand does extra damage, or "big frame", you get extra carrying capacity, but your sneak effeciency is reduced...

What copy of Skyrim are you people playing?

Exactly. They give enough to put an impression of your character in your mind, but not enough that it has a massive impact on the game. Perfect.

What do you mean?

uh, the one where you choose nothing but cosmetics at the beginning. and, then play to become what you want to be.

that, i'm sure, is the definition of pre-game meaninglessness.

then, you level up what you use in-game.

is there anything i need to really think about at all in this game, besides, what i want to roleplay?

nope.

I can totally get behind this. But there's no reason you can't implement them on your own right now. My first character was afraid of water. Made for some interesting scenarios. Why not use this thread to create a "quirks & gimps" list for others to try out.

Here's a couple:

Fear of water (Will not enter water that appears deeper than your knees).
Alcoholic (must consume six "drinks" per day or "give up" an ability until you get properly sauced (like, say, spell casting, sprinting, sneaking, etc.)

Edit: typos

I'd love a system like the original Fallouts (and other RPGs of that era - though I think that Fallout did it in one of the best ways), as papercut_ninja said. I agree that while I am able to be attached to my character in Skyrim, I think I could get behind him/her a lot more if there were real defining features: things that made each playthrough right from the get-go different.

I would love to see a mod address this type of thing - but I have no idea how plausible it is to implement.

I never had to cast a spell. Dont know what youre talking about. In Morrowind, Nords had 'Woad' as a starting spell and in Oblivion everyone started with restoration and flames

This same dead horse keeps getting beaten, and to be honest I don't even know why I'm commenting on this.

I'll just say it one more time :

Classes have gone nowhere, indeed attributes are still in the game and you can create your character in roughly the same manner as previous games.... sans restrictions.

Hyperbole is very unbecoming of otherwise reasonable folk, if you believe that there are less options when it comes to character creation and attributes or static 'classes'... then say that. That there are less, much less, or WAY less options.

Saying there are no classes, no attributes, and no options is simply uninformed at best... and simple minded naysaying at worst.

I'll leave you all to the echo chamber, please continue.

I am glad they got rid of classes, I never said it provided less opportunity's.

you either chose a class or you didn't. that's it.

to ignore the fact that skyrim has fewer character creation choices is ridiculous. there's so much less of just about everything.

yes, you level up what you use. neat. big whoop. that's it. there is nothing else. THAT is all skyrim actually has. and, a great looking world.

the choices are far less. the options and customization are gone. many skills are meaningless. content is the same no matter who you roleplay. nothing changes.

this is a roleplaying sim.

But you ARE still CHOOSING! Nobody says you havve to use every skill. I don't understand. Isn't everybody really still starting with an idea of what they want to be and then developing that plan?? I don't see the difference.

We can all really just roleplay as much as we want, it won't impact the game mechanics a bit. Hell, we can just sit in front of the computer without turning it on and imagine we're playing Skyrim, or even better, go back to the old table top RPGs, but that's not really the topic here. The point is I'd like more of these things IN THE GAME as an intergral part of the game, where I HAVE to make a decision in the game and then MUST adhere to those decisions throughout the game. Just imagining that they're there doesn't really provide a whole lot extra to the game experience. If you like spears you can also just imagine that your sword is a spear since it's really only a minor difference in graphics. Get it?