Discuss!!

(and remember that you need to make money)

jack you know there are like 120 threads on this XD (exaggeration) SearchBar ftw.


for entertainment I'd make sure the gameplay didn't resemble past games, and would be VASTLY improved instead of a new coat of paint and a tune up ;p and I would have done this Years ago when Oblivion was lining my coffers with its success.

but of course Ideals go out the window when the money signs pop in, then it becomes lessen work, Maximize profits.

Made the journal entries more interesting for a start, and put a few short directions for each quest. As it stands, it's a list of things to do, and little more.

TEXT. I would have hired someone that can write, and paid them to do that. The journal has nothing useful in it, and quest directions and descriptions in this game basically come down to "here's the marker, go."

Lame.

I most certainly would have kept the focus on dialogue and exchange like they have tried to do. However, I would not have removed the text that underpins everything, I would have built on top of it.

I would've actually visited the UI design guys.

I would have invested in a completely new engine, If Crytek can do it then i'm sure Bethesda can, Considering that Skyrim is developed from the ground up with modding in mind it would be folly not to make proper use of multicore CPU's & crossfire/SLI configurations.
A game of Skyrim's ilk with it's CPU bound nature does not bode well for a modder who wishes to extend upon cities & add lots more NPC's.

I would have employed a few more voice actors too.

After many years being very successful with the previous TES & the Fallout series, A little risk & investment is well worth the reward.

Written dialogue to save money, put in toggles for EVERYTHING.

Since I have no idea what constraints they were under, I really have no chance at all of answering this responsibly. The reason they are a successful company is that they know how to put out a product, and the reason many other companies fail is that they have some idea guy telling them what they need to do, even though it can't be done.

^ then tell them to do things that they can do?

More Khajiit and Argonians for sure. Beast legs. Keep acrobatics. Keep attributes. Keep Arena. Add harder puzzles and more puzzle variety. Make way more speechcraft checks in dialogue. More dialogue options for the player. Guilds that expel you if you join rival guilds. Harder to earn money, huge money sinks for later (properties that cost 500,000 or even milions). Completely different journal, more detailed. Completely diferent UI, less Apple more function! Brothel and prosttutes. Make those carriages go in real time.

I would've scraqed that horrible release date, that's the 1st thing I would've done and delayed it another year.

I would've made improvements from what Oblivion did. I guess it would basically be what Skyrim currently is but with Better Writing/Quests, more attributes (At least 6 and they are static like Fallout 3), Better more organized Journal, Weapon/Armor Degradation but not done like Oblivion, I would've kept Blade and Blunt Seperated, Alduin would actually be a real fight. Lastly I would fix the perk system, have a maximum of 50 perks that you can choose but also make the perks better, fix the percentages as 20% increase might be too high.

Spell Creation would probably be in DLC if it couldn't be implemented in time (I'm hopeful they'll actually do that).

I would first make sure all the Basics are bug free... Perks and quests no matter how much time it takes to accomplish. Second, i would cut down on some of the misc. armor and weapon types and instead have more Faction based equipment. A bunch of different legion variations to get as rewards when youre promoted... Same for stormcloaks. Id also cut down on the many variations of enchanted gear and instead make them more precious and powerful when they are found

Had some writers.

I didn't say anything about the release date because I'm under the impression that Bethesda softworks and or Zenimax are in control of the release dates.


still the release date was crap. also there's no telling on public information at least that they could have afforded the Delay, even if Oblivion/FO3 and their DLC's were a massive success.

that said I'd have reconsidered how to tackle design decisions since Skyrim stinks of wtf design decisions

FIRE TODD ,HIRE KEN

Make it an RPG instead of a hack-and-slash.

LOOOOOL
Isn't ken the one who pulled that level scaling on us?

5 Months ago i would have said preaching to the choir...but KOA seems to have slinked off into a crack

I think Skyrim suffered from too much isolation between dev members. Some stuff doesn't make sense as if there was a lot of people each working on a tiny part and not communicating with each other. So I'd do something to improve that

What would I have done differently?

Not much, honestly.

I would have put back in some of the missing spell effects (mostly, I miss the different summons, Command spells, and the added Bound spells)

I would add something that was in the gamejam video awhile back - combining different spell effects when casting.

But outside of some small things, this team pretty much did everything right with Skyrim, with improvements all the way around the board.

I would have released the game as it was 11/11/11 as a demo. Than look what the crowd says. Look what the modders do. And than remake everything they complain too much about

Nothing. I follow Beth's vision and I agree with everything they've done.

Lol at Ken Rolston. He didn't even have a jump button in Amalur.

Get rid of the forums for a solid six months or so after release, until it becomes tolerable. Or just make a general complaints board. >_>

Really though, make more of a focus on the civil war. Delay the dragon debut until at least a few missions in, and give the players a few more options to help or hinder either side.

Oh, and balance magic so that it's more of an option. As is, anything that's not heavy armor and melee requires jumping through hoops.

Dragons already don't show up until a few quests in.

-Kept Spellmaking in.
-Kept all traditional spells.
-Spells Scale.
-Lose Dual Casting.
-Cap reductions in spell costs @ 66%-75%.
-Kept Major Skills in. [Attributes still out] Perks more like Fallout, no tree.
-Kept Birthsigns in, Standing stones remain.
-More pronounced race differences at start.
-Normal difficulty closer to Expert. If magic was strong like it was in Oblivion/Morrowind, then the issue with Smithing/Enchanting being overpowered can be addressed with increasing enemy NPCs for all.
-Added levitation similar to "Airstream" mod and designed over the few areas where there was a major issue with puzzles. Add many more hidden areas.
-Let Khajiit in the cities, feels odd being the only one.
-Balanced the progression of the guilds to require a percentage of the side quests that are already there.
-Custom UI for PC.
-A certain fix for a certain dragon.
-Less essential NPCs.