The more I play skyrim, the more one point becomes very clear.

The Game is 100% what you make it.

Gold - Basically become worthless if you want it to be.
Raising just about all skills - Basically can be mindless or even "rubber-banded" if you want it to be
Combat difficulty - as easy as you want.
Armor and weaps - as godly as you want with enchanting/alchemy loop.
Elapsing time - unlimited and with no regard.


With the above being possible for anyone who choses to play like that...(and I am not one of those people), why can we not respec?

Im a casual gamer who has made it to ~ lvl 50'ish over the past 6-7 months playing a few hours a week. And really looking forward to those hours.

Now i find myself less excited about playing bc i wasted many perc points on things that "sounded cool" only to now find out they are basically worthless.... Starting a new character would be even more painful with my limited playtime.

Seems like such a simple fix. Allowthem to be purchased or even unlocked by doing (more) mindless quests or something... Spending dragon souls on them (like in a mod i read about) is another option.

Just my opinion.

I support this.

Its not like I don't see your point. I wouldn't mind a one time respec option, as long as the crafting trees are left out. In a way, I feel like Skyrim is the last line of games that will make decisions when it comes to your character's abilities permanent. Dragon Age: Origins also had your character specs permanent, but you could respec when you transfered that character into the Awakening expansion. I would have no problem if Bethesda did the same thing with DLC for Skyrim.
Edit: OP, thanks for being civil. Ill try to do the same so I can avoid getting another 3 day ban

A game has to have boundaries in order to be playable and have any kind of challenge. Over the years, the Elder Scrolls games have become more 'streamlined' to allow more mainstream gamers to enjoy the experience, which has taken a lot of the challenge out of the game- classes, for instance, are now gone, as well as penalties for choosing certain skills. It's debatable on whether that's a good or bad thing, and another topic altogether. My point is that the game has to have some world rules, structure, and limitations in order to have something to strive towards, or fight against. Without limitations on some aspects of play, the game would be too easy and have no challenge. There would be no point to playing the game.

Honestly, I find skyrim to be too easy later in the game on Apprentice. So I buff the difficulty to Adept and Expert. I think most people start Skyrim on the lower difficulties then buff it when they reach higher levels. I believe the game would be too easy if you have unlimited respecs

This is exactly my point... the things i list at the begining of my post (gold/skills/armor/weaps/time) have no "integrity", for lack of a better word, associated with them.

The game is 100% what you make it for how you enjoy to play it. Some people find running around on easy lighting every living thing on fire is fun, while some find sneaking through hundreds of hours of dungeons knowing one miss-step will be death to be fun.

This game is basically a sandbox! Which is quite an accomplishment for a single player game.

All that being said... percs and respec'ing come off as an annoyance or hicup in that sandbox.

And above all... if respec'ing became available, no one would be forced to used it (just like no one is forced to change difficulty settings). 1 player respec'ing would have zero effect on your game play.

I get the impression that those who are strongly against a respec play a style with their own "rules" implimented to maximize their experience. These "diehard" players would probably chose to not respec... like they may chose to not elapse time, or use alchemy/enchant potions or etc. etc....

It is all what you make of it.

I hear you... It just seems to me that this is a MMO mentality being applied to a single player game. We all have the reset/start over button anytime we want it. So actually, no choice will ever be permanent.

Reality, at least in my case, is less interest in playing / less likely to buy DLC bc the perc "constraints" limits the otherwise complete sandbox of the game.

You point is valid. Some people might avoid sneak, for example, because they feel its OP. My original post sums up my feelings. I've made plenty of mistakes with perks, namely atronach and the base perk in heavy armor. More options is always better, but I would prefer for there to be some sort of limit to respect. Your ideas are great and are a fresh take on the respec argument. I like the idea of rewarding player's with a respec after a lengthy quest or series of quests

I support a respecialization option as well, preferably one with a gold, material, or dragon soul sink. Like 50,000 gold, 2 dragon bones and 2 dragon scales to respecialize one perk point. Would give me something to work towards. I like that.

I completely understand having limited time to play games. As a college student, I usually have limited time. Add in the fact im VP of a club at my college, and im pretty busy, at least in the fall and spring. When it comes to purchasing DLC, im having the same thoughts with Battlefield 3. I love the game, but the devs made so many changes that I hardly have fun while playing it. I understand your hesitance completely

I have started over many times and I am about to do so again. And its not bad when you know what is you want to change and have a plan. Leveling is pretty quick and you can just keep the first standing stone to increase your leveling. And in no time you will be back to where you left off but with the perks you wanted.

Although I suspect we disagree about some things like classes, I agree with the main thrust of your post. Challenge is absolutely essential in a game. When challenge is lacking, you're left with a toy. I've had many posts about the difference between a game and a toy, so for now let it suffice for me to say that a toy can be a wonderful thing - Spore is a horrible game but an absolutely historically great toy in a computer "game" - but, well, if you want a toy and not a game, turn the difficulty down to novice, grind your skills all the way to 100, use the smithing-enchanting-alchemy loop, and go play around with killing hundreds of enemies with a flick of a finger. I get the appeal - everybody remembers playing around on Doom (old school Doom, of course) in God mode.

But if you want a game, then challenge has to be present. Console players don't have the option of using mods, but they can still turn up the difficulty and learn to live with the consequences of their decisions.

Hell, as for wasting time and effort in a poorly-chosen perk, think about all the people who graduated college with a B.A. in some liberal art that are now having problems finding a job that pays more than serving coffee at Starbucks? Choices do matter in Skyrim.

The fact that the Creation Kit exists shows how little Bethesda cares about rules and boundaries. Ultimately, they just want us to have fun.