EDIT 25/3/2012: The interview has been put "on hold" because it's too early for a "post mortem". Feel free to continue proposing new questions and discuss the post launch, the design decisions, what you'd wish Bethesda will do in the future.

We had a few "fan interviews" with Bethesda since the days of Oblivion. While those events were certainly good to build up the anticipation, I wonder if it's possible to organize something similar now that Skyrim has been released and a few months have passed.

This interview would, imho, center around explaining some design decisions more indepth, hearing straight from an insider if there is something he wish it could have been done differently and, of course, some bits of info regarding future expansions.

EXCLUDED from this interview, any question about patches, bugs and stuff like that. There are already forums for that purpose and some developers even participate in the discussion or occasionally drop bits of info.

I was a members of these forums (albeit with another account now lost in the sands of time) when the first fan made interview took shape and it started from a simple thread like this. Let's see if that experiment can be repeated.

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EDIT 23/3/2012 : re-organized the questions in a more flowing manner and by category; added a couple more

Part I) Game design:

-How does Bethesda decide where to locate new TES games and their expansions/DLC? i.e. Do they take into consideration current technology or just the continuation of the series' lore ? Are there other factors which affects the decision or it's mostly based on inputs from the story writers?

-Is someone at Bethesda following the MOD scene by testing them? Have you ever been genuinely impressed by a MOD to the point of saying "How could they do that?!?". Are there some mods for Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim that really impressed you and that made you considering to hire its creator or include the concept into the next game? Is there any MOD in particular you liked?

-Mods for Skyrim appeared from day one and well before the CK was released. Are you surprised that people are so eager to modify your product in ways you did not even think of? Take for example the visual mods that add custom post-processing filters: in what ways (if any) such a drive by the community to customize every little aspect of the game has affected your work especially at the designing phase?

-On game balance: Skyrim introduced big changes to the magic system and also added more weight to the crafting and alchemy ability. Can you explain your view of balance when making decisions about weapons use and why it seems irreconcilable to the view of what is balanced when it comes to spells? Why several spells popular with the fans (the lack of an Open locks spell is particularly felt) were removed with no option to 'craft' our own spells?

-Why was Smithing not made to be recipe based like Alchemy and, faintly, Enchanting?

- What content was removed from Skyrim due to time and resources restraints with design and testing? Is there something you wished to be able to add to the final game in time for the 11/11/11 release date but that had to be cut?

-On the PC interface: some people attribute the shortcomings of the interface to the fact that also the PC version of Skyrim can be used with an Xbox controller. Oblivion had a different interface that worked well with a controller yet it was functional also with a mouse and keyboard combo. What prompted you to change its aspect so radically?


Part II) Assessing the success and the critics

-What mechanisms does BGS use for collecting and classifying feedback? We know that Steam collect usage stats. On average, how much time PC players, so far, have spent on Skyrim? Did someone reach already 1000 hrs?

-What design choice(s) would you say worked the best in practice? What choices, in retrospect, didn't work out at all like you expected in an unfavorable way?

-Which part of the users feedback surprised you in a positive way and what do you think it was least understood by the community about Skyrim? What types of criticisms have been most surprising and unexpected?

-Considering how welcome were the free HiRes texture packs, in the event that another console from Microsoft or Sony is released and is backwards compatible, would you release the official texture pack for those consoles as well?

Part III) Misc Questions

-Looking at the forums, it seems that PC users are the most difficult to please since they seem to nitpick on every small aspect of the game. Is this true?

-Is there a technical reason, that allow you to make Followers able to carry your gear, but will not allow you to create a horse that can carry your gear, or is that a design choice? Seeing as both Oblivion and Skyrim lack mounted combat (despite being technically possible) do you think its inclusion would unbalance the gameplay?

-Just for giggles, what made Dragons fly backward? What was your first reaction to the news making to the front page of many gaming sites. Where you more angry or surprised by the attention received from the gaming community?

-Why are we not allowed to marry all followers, those who follow the player not only because hired, but because of friendship/gratitude/kinship? Are you happy with the current state of romances in Skyrim or you contemplated, at any stage of the game design, to add a whole questline (maybe also related to the main quest) connected to a follower/partner?

More to come...

<sub>I like that idea, I always read the Fan's Interviews intensely. It gave heart from some of the ppl here that loves the series, but still had questions.

I don't whinge about the game, it's the best of it's kind. Sure, it could've been better in some areas, but if I wanted the perfect game....I'll go game designing.

But I'm not fit for that role, but maybe many of the forumusers are? So, get it started.</sub>

Ugh... gamesas have gotten worse over the years with talking to the public...
Look at Borris Vorontsov (ENBseries creator), he told gamesas how to fix many-an-issue and they didn't listen AT ALL...
They want their moneys more than their happy customers now days...

People still buy their games. Don't think people would continue to buy their games if they were unhappy.

I would like to see that. Would love to hear from someone at Bethesda about their choices.

So are you an unhappy customer?

Pin down ONE question you would like to send to Beth.

Simple as that, and the OP can save all this to make a fan-interview.

As long as the questions are formulated in a constructive manner (asking the reason behind some features perceived as lacking and about some controversial design decisions) I will add them to the list.

A word of advice though: Bethesda PR managers are less likely to give the green light to such an initiative if all the questions feel like a public trial against Skyrim and/or its creators.

Okay, I have a Question, maybe a bit stupid, but I want to know:

"Why are we not allowed to marry all followers?"

For explanation: I have saved Illia and took her to my follower, after around 100 hours of being together I wanted to marry her and I was forced to use console command. I think all followers should be marryable, because they are sharing a lot of time with the character, enough to fall in Love.

I would like to know:

Why can't I mix my jewelery smithing skills and my weapons smithing skills?

I'd really love to be able to have a flawless Emerald at the base of a skyforge steel sword. And I'd like to be able to create my own "warrior crown" complete with horns (from animals I've slain) and precious gems (from my mining work). Perhaps in the next installment there will be some kind of workbench where the player can craft completely unique items from an amalgam of game-world items.

I want to bedazzle my blacksmith apron!

My questions:

1. How does Bethesda decide where to locate new TES games and their expansions/DLC? i.e. Do they take into consideration current technology or just the continuation of the series' lore?

2. What content was removed from Skyrim due to time restraints with design and testing? I believe I read somewhere that beast legs were such a feature. Any others?

Keep 'em coming... I'll add the questions to the first post later this day.

I'd like to know:
"Why do the PC version gets the same gamepad-oriented interface as console versions"?

Because even Oblivion's UI is not that bad. Darn didn't really change the tabs and stuff. This new system is mouse+keyboard nightmare

My one question:

Why does Stamina, in relation to combat abilities such as a Power Attack or Shield Bash, not work in the exact same fashion as Magicka does with spells? Why is it I can still perform a Power Attack when I have only 1 Stamina, despite the fact that it takes out a large chunk of the Stamina meter?

Actually, another question to add:

Why was Smithing not made to be recipe based like Alchemy and, faintly, Enchanting? With Alchemy you have to experiment or buy recipes, with Enchanting you have to disenchant and destroy an item to learn how to create it; Smithing however is simple "I select the Perk and now I know how to make everything for that Perk."

Indeed. It would appear we are not off to a good start, lol.

Added the first batch of questions to the first post. I hope I didn't miss anyone

Keep them coming. I'm actually surprised to see this topic still on the first page with so few posts. Was there a forum downtime in the past 12 hours?

Just for crap and giggles:
"What made the dragons fly backwards in 1.2 patch?"

As in, did you screw up the animation data itself or something else is wrong?

Because I REALLY want to know how they managed to do that. Screwing up animation order is possible, reversing a direction should not be possible

Here are mine:

-what are the reason behind removing the ability to open a lock with a spell or scroll?

-which part of the users feedback surprised you in a positive way and what do you think it was least understood by the community about Skyrim?

Let's not softball this... or make it an inquisition.

What design choice(s) would you say worked the best in practice?

What choices, in retrospect, didn't work out at all like you expected in an unfavorable way?

What types of criticisms have been most surprising?

What mechanisms does BGS use for collecting and classifying feedback?

Is the PC segment of your audience the most difficult to please?

I believe the point of fan interviews is to ask the developer questions, not provide them with an amateur's list of "how I'd do things if I were in charge."

And last I checked, game sales and online ratings had a lot to do with the satisfaction of the customer base. And since both of those are sky-high, I'm going to go ahead and say that the customers are happy.

Why does killing the Emperor's Cousin invoke the same reaction as attacking a chicken?


Why do almost all of the Unique Items in game look like standard weapons with different names? (Pale Blade, Eduj, Okin, etc)


Where the hell are shortswords?

Added another question from me:

We know that Steam collect usage stats. On average, how much time PC players, so far, have spent on Skyrim? Did someone reach already 1000 hrs?

I beg you to avoid provocatory questions.

Honestly I had hoped for a wider response from the community. Four days and the thread was already slipping in oblivion. At any rate, by the end of the week, I'll try to contact one or more administrators of the boards to see if it still possible to send whatever questions we collected.

I agree with the idea you have for smithing, The perks should unlock the ability to make that class eg. Glass, Elven and Ebony. But you should have to buy the design/reciept to make one. Imagine a piece of paper with a sketch of the sword or armor piece and scribbled below the pieces needed - 2 Ebony Ingot, 2 Leather, 2 Leather Strips. Like that then its added to your forge lists and you dont have to carry the paper with you anymore just sell it or store it.

They could add unique crafted weapons into the game by having these 'forge reciepts' as rewards or loot.

Want to give a warrior the ability to make an enchanted sword without needing the high skill lvl? add in some fire salts and a filled soul gem to a unique design to get a sword that when forged comes with an enchantment.

id ask what they're willing to change? like would they mabye completely rearrange a skills perk order? take out/ add new perks? add NEW skills?

Why are there left over files and the beginning of a dialogue tree for more in depth Civil War quests in the games files? Why were these cut from the game? Was the 11/11/11 release date truly that important? http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1359648-civil-war-cut-content/

Btw yes the game was rushed. There is evidence to prove it. However they did have to release the game, however idk why they had to do the 11/11/11 release and have just waited to make one of their MAIN quests more impressive. I blame the PR department.

Who came up with the "arrow in the knee" line and what was bethesda's reaction to it's popularity?