My impression about Bethesda's focus on the Community is a "mixed bag" at best. News seems to be released first through other mediums than here where, in theory, the most actively interested players would come for information and discussion...
Emergency updates on the Bethesda Blog were done, but the focus doesn't seem on "feeding news to the community"...so...no...I don't think that Bethesda actively scans these forums or other internet mediums they created (such as the blog) to have the pulse of the community, find ideas or
define their priorities for bug-hunting. The attempt to be interactive is appreciated, but the approach is definitely leaning toward the typical "top-down Corporation approach"...


...however...were Bethesda scanning these forums and hunting for threads telling them what you'd like to see solved and/or improved in their game*...what would you ask them?

Jashkar


* = By "improvement" I mean something that could be done on the game without changing the gameplay in a significant way. It's more like "polishing" than "adding".

P.S.: Please, avoid "fan-boy" or destructive criticism approaches...just say what you'd see solved or improved.

"Don't listen to the community, Beth. DEAR GOD, DON'T DO IT!"

Best
Post
Ever.

I think most people simply ask too much. It is their game, and their vision. As far as I'm concerned, they have no obligation to listen to me or the community. I am simply happy they chose to share their product with me.

"Please sir, can I have some more?"

I'd ask them why they don't do it more often. It seems to me that the development cycle is really long for what we get.

Honestly, I could not of said it better. Siggin' this

From my point of view, I'd really like to see the following:

- More carefully defined graphic settings, especially for the Ultra level (since Bethesda knows the innards of the game, they should have the best capacity to fine-tune their settings to improve FPS vs. quality ratio...and since they make complex games, I don't think that finding a way to more closely adjust the
settings to one's rig would be hard for them).
- A 64-bit exe version made available (if not for anything else, just to support larger quantities of memory).
- Better quadcore processing support.
- Better game stability.

While I do complain, apart from the sub-optimal graphic settings and use of memory and cores, I never truly met a real bug in Skyrim (but, obviously, if they squash all of them I am more than happy!).

"Why?"

I would ask them to try to balance their games more. They are doing a great job and this is the best game theyve made yet

Why can't blacksmiths upgrade my equipment but my non-blacksmith character can?

Honestly, this is the only complaint I have.

+1

Personally I would thank them for the game which has given me many, many hours of enjoyment to date and just mention what I think it would be cool to see.

It wouldn't be "bring back attributes" or "go backwards" but rather "I think it would be cool to have some more vampire content or some content for giants or X, Y and Z factions. Don't know whether that is possible, but don't worry, it wont interfer with my enjoyment, thanks again, I am going back to play your game now"

Reduce all base enchantment values by half.

I like you.

Completely remove everything you had from MW. Even the dark elves.

I'm just kidding, all I want is the next elder scrolls to be in VR. Do it.

More books!

Is Maiq going to make a reference to "Arrow to the knee" joke in the next game?

I'd ask them why the physics reacts the way it does, and why I can no longer interact with all the objects that are lying around. Like a fork. Maybe I don't want it on the table any more.

I'd also ask why I can not swing a weapon underwater

Indeed.

IF I were to ask however, I would ask: "Can you promise that guns and other major technological advancements never make it into a TES game?"

The ability to divorce your spouse or re-marry if they die.
A wider range of possible spouses mainly a nice female Bosmer.
Other than that the games pretty much fine. Great job!

They didn't "share"...they "sold" you their product. Listening to the community is about keeping customer loyalty and ensuring better sales for the next game (or DLC).

I still remember when my mother bought me Temple of Elemental Evil. It was an Atari game, but was so buggy and ill-supported that I was so angry that when Atari released Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of Underdark, while I did have Neverwinter Nights I didn't buy them!

...so Atari lost my money for many years until Neverwinter Nights 2 was released.

They "hungry and dumb Corporation" approach doesn't pay...


They develop quite complex games. In my opinion they should expand their idea of "taking hints" from the modding community...as insiders they've better knowledge of their game, but modders have a better understanding of the community desires.

However, a too much "forced way" approach should be avoided...I mean...as a gamer I'd have deeply resented if the Steam Workshop thing was forced upon me, because the Steam Workshop tastes like the "hungry and dumb Corporation" approach,
but if they used that to better "understand" the modding community, it could make some sense...

I would ask them: "Would you take an arrow in the knee........for us?"

What game companies truly interact with their own forums, in the way the OP is asking for? Very very few. I'm sure they read the forums from time to time though.

Honestly, I would ask them to not rush the development cycle and take their time bug testing and balance testing the game so all archetypes are equally viable. If they had done that most of the peoples complaints would have little or at least less weight. As it is most well spoken complaints are fairly valid. Such as Smithing and Enchanting being badly balanced and the game being horribly optimized for the PS3 and especially the PC. Also the various and many game breaking bugs people have been encountering.