Roltak

Wasn't possible in Oblivion since as far as I know you didn't really have a way to control which way your character is looking. May be possible in Skyrim but I seriously doubt it. Easy, just crank up the damage enemies do, I think there was a mod that had even harder difficulty settings so if you really like getting killed with 1-5 hits ... check that one out. Not possible Short Answer: Not possible Long Answer: Most likely hard to impossible to do, since you will have to implement the skill, keep track of them, the animations etc. all yourself what would make it a really hard job and most likely with quite some tradeoffs May be possible depending on what you define as cost and benefit, for example look at Deadly Reflexes and Unnecessary Violence both for Oblivion, they have enhanced the game with new combat moves and something like that will most likely come for Skyrim too.

I have no problem with growling, miauing, hissing etc. if I really want to. And since those lizards and cats are intelligent beings, not animals they shouldn't have any problem to "translate" those sounds into their language. Just like I can understand someone who is drunk or speaks the language very poorly. Also there are parrots, they can speak (although not understand) human languages without problem and they don't even have lips, something Kajiit and Argonian posses so I personally think it is just a matter of training properly and enough intellect. And another thing, Kajiit aren't cats and Argonians aren't lizard, they are a mixture of those animals (although I somewhere read/heard that Argonians are actually trees or something like that) with man/mer features, meaning they seem to possess enough human traits to speak our language without problem. So once again I think it is just a matter of training and intelligence, both of which all three groups have enough. The problem is we don't have a way to prove or disprove that in reality, but the range of sounds humans can create if they train themself enough is impressive and I doubt that (at least some) animals can't do sounds that we may recognize as humans if they had the intellect to train with us. Especially if we start injecting human DNA into them and making them halfway like us (same height, same general proportions etc. etc). The Kajiit and Argonians are walking on two legs(neither lizards(yes I know some can but not like this) nor cats do that), are intelligent and can grab things with their hands (neither lizards nor cats can do that). If they were intelligent animals that walk on four legs or half savages/rarely have contact with other species okay, but they are not, in my eyes they are closer to humans then to animals.

Okay that leaves the problem of everyone else in Skyrim, they aren't dragonborn and in Riften there is a Argonian female running a Tavern if I remember that correct, her not understanding the commonly spoke language would be like me opening up a pup in France without speaking a single word french. I couldn't even get the deed of the place let alone run it, the people would get sick very very fast with the whole "point at what you want and then use gestures to decide the price". Because yes everyone can say a view line ... they will sound uninspired, lazy, of low quality and don't make you feel like it is that character at all. It is about giving that character personality, getting the little nuances of the voice right, intone it just right so you believe that is a 100 year old wizard, a goddess etc. and you have to get that consistent with emotions and over several lines. It is like acting everyone can go onto a stage, say his lines and move around but it takes time and effort to make it believable. @race/species: Well I agree and disagree. I agree that most likely a lizard wouldn't be able to form English words with his mouth (I never have seen one try so I can't be 100% sure). But I disagree that the language they are speaking is English. Just like in a movie about ancient Greece the people aren't speaking Greece so we don't have to listen to gibberish, while reading subtitles I doubt that the language they are really using is english,german,french or whatever and I firmly believe that under such circumstances a language would have evolved(next to local dialects and languages), that allowed for some communication with each other by using noises that every race can make and understand. Also even if we presume that they are speaking english, as far as I remember those races were created (Aedra or Daedra, can't remember) so it would be logical (if they wanted any kind of interaction within the different species) to give them somewhat similar abilities to speak. Otherwise, why not put them on different spheres/worlds anyway? And last, the evolution or however you call it in Tamriel seems to be fast enough to transform the Ice Elfs into the Falmer which I think is a pretty impressive transformation so if they couldn't understand each other at the start they would most likely sooner or later adapt some ability to do so, in one way or another. So in short I don't think that they races/species is really a problem seeing how long they have interacted with each other, sooner or later they would have found a way, since there are always a way to communicate and over time they would most likely have developed a language that every species can speak with relative ease.

As far as I could understand it he is complaining that several Abilities(Chameleon, Reflect Damage etc.) that could be used to totally break the game and make yourself invincible were removed. And that several Skills are in the false category, although I have to disagree about Alchemy and Archery, taking a bow and shooting pointy sticks at people isn't necessarily stealthy, so in my opinion it is more a combat then a stealth/rogue ability. And Alchemy has some magical attributes to it, but I think it has just as much reason to be in the rogue part as it has in the magical part, perhaps more. Poisons are one of the key ingredients to an assassin, while a mage can be a mage without any potions etc. And I doubt that Bethesda is that stupid as not to realize such a flaw that would make them change large parts of the game, I guess they just wanted to streamline the game and take out the possibility of making yourself invincible as well as being lazy by making balancing all of that easier. And calling the shouts a byproduct of the system? Even though half the game evolves around that shouts and the dragons that use them? It would have been faaaaaaaaar easier to change the whole system to accommodate those changes instead of writing in all of the graybeards as well as all the reactions to your shouts, the dragons using that shouts etc. Also once again I don't think that the change in the Enchanting mechanic has anything to do with them being too stupid to think the concept through to the end and some reason to take Enchanting away from Magic, they simply wanted to a) Make Enchanting possible for every char b) wanted to make balancing easier and c) failed miserably at balancing nonetheless(Smithing + Enchanting + Alchemy) And using the argument that there already exist mods to fix those issues well ... with that logic I can take Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and Morrowind and say exactly the same. The players/modders just love to change stuff to their liking I personally and if it is easy enough to do they will make things easier/harder/different the second they can. Finally I still don't really understand what exactly you are criticizing about the perks, that there aren't enough to pick everything? That they changed some skills around? Or what exactly? Large parts of your post seem to be about not being able to make yourself invincible by enchanting and how you don't like the change of the skills so is that your complain?

Also if you run out of things to steal for bedlam jobs try to get a sweep and a bedlam job in the same city after you get the second item for the sweep job you have completed the bedlam job too.

Oh they exist, unfortunately they always spawn right next to flame atronachs so you can't see them for the split second they exist.

Although I can understand your frustration/train of thoughts and I once or twice felt like writing something like that myself, I don't think that it is helping or anything ... it is just going to be another flamethread. Also I don't think that every critic on Skyrim, Steam, Bethesda etc. is bad ... most of the people/critic I read just seem to be annoyed by some aspects of them and I can relate to that, we all know that Skyrim isn't perfect. The only people who annoy me are those who either say stuff like "Skyrim is the biggest crap on the planet, no discussion" or "Everyone who disagrees that *thing xy* is crap, is a stupid fanboy", but as far as I can see those are the (hopefully soon gone) minority. All the other people seem to me like they enjoy the game and just critic certain parts and discussions about the problems can lead to very good mods that fix those issues. So depending on which group you mean exactly: Agree but your tone was too aggressive or: Disagree because criticizing a game is not the same as hating it.

I never tried magic at high level in Skyrim but seeing that the damage stays the same no matter what level yes that is pretty stupid and the guild quests ... well I kinda prefere the thieves quest in Skyrim a bit more, because to me there were more memorable and interesting characters in it and it felt more epic etc. but I wish they would have added some better quests for "conquering" the cities, take out competitors, ruin merchants etc. just something more, it didn't feel like enough to do 5 radiant quests and 1 "special" mission and suddenly be king of the underworld of that city. So in short the quality is better in my opinion, the length/quantity should have been improved. Same for DB questline, it just felt a bit rushed but for example the first one, when all the kids come to congratulate you felt great. Or the one where you have to decide which one to kill. Or the one starting at Hags Cure where you really hear what happened, why you kill them and why she made that decision. Also: Also i just adore Babette, don't know why but I love killers like her, they are just that more creepy. On the other hand the story of Oblivion was longer and there were more "memorable" kills so I would say in my opinion they are even in quality but Oblivion wins in Quantity again. I finished neither the Companion quests nor the Mages quest so I can't say that much about them, but the Companions feel too centralized for me, the warrior guild was all over the place and you were active in (almost?) every city so I kinda prefere them . The overall quests ... well I would say that they are once again about even quality, many of the quests don't seem as epic as in Oblivion but there are small quests that help flesh out the war and the world in general in my opinion, like the one where you have to find out what happened to that one daughter or where you have to free that brother. I helps make the war feel real, while in Oblivion no one really seemed to care about the Oblivion doors opening all over Tamriel. In Quantity Skyrim wins, if only because of the Radiant quests .. if that is good or not I don't know, it gives you always something to do but buries the better quests under a pile of generic ones. So a matter of taste I guess. All in all I don't really know which one I prefere. I kinda like the setting and art style of Oblivion more (I don't really have something for snow and mountains) as well as the issues up there. On the other hand Skyrim really improves on several things like Dual Wielding, Crafting, more fleshed out realistic world (in my opinion) etc. so in conclusion ... both have a spot in my heart, next to Morrowind and several other games .. and I want the CK now to finally start costumizing it.

Are you really really really sure about that? Absolutely? Because if so, you manage to do something what I simply can't do, peel away all the little mods that made the game better. The first time I played Nehrim I was downright shocked at all the small things the mods added and how unfamiliar it all felt without it. No matter how hard I try, I can't really imagine Oblivion without high rez textures, the better Body mods including fitting body armor, the mod that marked all the chests I had already opened and all the other small things that are already Vanilla for me so I can't remember them right now. I am not saying that you can't I just want that you really think about it, can you see Oblivion without any mods and without any kind of nostalgic feeling etc. and really honestly just see it as the game it is and compare it to Skyrim? Because I can't do that and I doubt many people can.

Because the more land they have in the game the sparser the content becomes. Imagine the content of Skyrim stretched out on 2-3 times the current size. So I prefere it when they let it stay reasonable small but fill it with content. I kind of want Elsweyr, not because I like the Khajiit (never had a Khajiit char as far as I remember) but I love deserts, they are at the same wide open and can still hide cities right in front of your eyes, water might be a problem, nomads, giant mountains, ancient cities full of undeads ... and no snow. Can't really expain it, but give me either a normal climate like Cyrodill or a desert + perhaps a bit of jungle and I am happy. Another possibility (although one unlikely) for me would be an Oblivion plane, something like Shivering Isles only even freakier. It would open up the possibilities for architecture and landscape that are impossible in Tamriel. Perhaps houses made out of giant walking or at least living bugs or a world where the whole landscape is floating in the skies, littles isles of dirt with one or two houses on it, flying next or over each other making up whole cities. I know that sounds more like ideas for mods then something Bethesda would ever do but I can dream can't I? But the realist in me thinks that yes .. the conflict with the Aldmeri Dominion will be the next big game (too big for a DLC ... perhaps an Addon, but I doubt it) so most likely it will be about the same as in Skyrim, you can join one side or the other and slowly take over the cities and ultimately kill the opposite leader.

That is a good point, I once read an article about that problem, although it was specifically about NPCs. In essence the author came to the conclusion, that making things more realistic doesn't always make them less immersion breaking/more believeable. And I have to kinda agree, in many earlier games most of the NPCs around you were cardboard cutouts, they rarely moved, didn't talk to one another, just standing in that one spot 24/7 to give you a quest, a tip or just to say something. The shopowner wasn't the guy you meet at the pub after his store closes, he was a vending machine for potions, weapons, armor etc). Yes they sometimes had a personality through their dialogue but if you think about it they didn't behave human. But because of that they were just part of the scenery and lifed solely based on their dialog and for their designated purpose, making them more like a book/story/machine and less like a person. But by giving them the ability to move around, to have a life etc. we start to see them as human and every failure they have is getting even more obvious and "in your face". The same for everything else, the more the world becomes like ours the more we expect things to work like they do in our world. In earlier games we just accepted that all that weapons the shop owner has laying around can't be picked up, that shop owners were not attackable or that certain characters can't be killed etc-, but the more realistic Skyrim becomes the more those borders begin to bug and annoy us. I don't think that is because we are greedy or spoiled it just is natural that when something looks like it could be real and offer all the possibilities of reality plus some more the more we get annoyed and ripped out of our experience when we realize that it isn't and doesn't. I find such questions quite fascinating, how far can we drive games towards realism before our acceptance of borders fails to kick in. Or I am just interpreting too much into it and ramble nonsense.

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. Socrates(469 BC - 399 BC) I am not defending the trolls and idiots coming to the forum but I am saying that demonizing the younger player and saying they are responsible is the wrong way to go. We can't see who is behind the keyboard and I have personally known a person that was by all definition of the word adult, he was older then me, could talk well, was nice, helpful ... all around a nice guy, then I met him online and if I didn't know better I would have either called an exorcist or said he was a 5 year old playing "How much can I flame and insult before I get banned.". It is a problem yes, but it was bound to happen with Skyrim being one of the big hits of this year. It drives hundreds of people to sites like this and quite a bunch of trolls and idiots, at some point they will go away again(or get banned) and the ones that are really interested in the game will stay, at the moment it seems so horrible because the ones that are flaming etc. are the most visible ones while the ones just looking for mods, browsing the forums and writing one or two comments are barely visible.

Just to add to it, there is also a bug, where when you bind a sharpened weapon to a button it will loose that binding sometimes, don't exactly know when but I think it is when you equip another weapon while having that one equipped or something like that.

Yes it is you, simply because of your taste, since some other people enjoy it skyrim can't completely suck Skyrim has its flaws, its mayor mayor flaws(whoever decided that PC gamers don't need a new UI: Die in a fire!), but it's still really good (in my eyes). Beside your complain about the melee and casting I can't really agree though. The NPCs are halfway varied it wouldn't be realistical for everyone to wear completely different clothes but there is still enough variety in my eyes, the constant babbling(arrow in the knee etc.) can be annoying, but listening to it I find it much more pleasing then the random sentences the Oblivion NPCs were saying to one another. Markarath, Solitude, Riften, Whiterun even Windhelm to some extend ... each one looks and feel different to me. The small villages are a bit forgetable though. The weapons, you forgot elven, I think there were nordic weapons/armors too and something with the Skyforge I think(don't know if that was nordic stuff or something different). If you also count the daedric artifacts and the dozens of different enchantments you can find on those weapons you come to quite a number. If you start looking at the armor you also have scaled armor as well as imperial one, the stormcloak stuff, 3 thieves outfits 1 db outfit, the mages guild stuff etc. Could it be more? Yes, especially since often the enchantments you find are useless for you but I think the variety isn't horrible. @Crafting is only for MMORPG: One of the most wanted (at least for me) features next to dual wield was crafting. I installed every mod I could find that dealt with crafting or anything remotely related to it. And every Char of mine was an Alchemist. Why? Because it gave me something to do beside mindlessly killing stuff or running from a to b. But to each his own, if you prefere Oblivion then more power to you, play it and come back in about 1-2 years, try out the mods that are out by that point and then you can make a fair comparison between Skyrim and Oblivion. Because in my opinion many people make the comparison between the modded Oblivion and unmodded Skyrim which simply isn't a fair comparison. But if you really prefere the unmodded vanilla Oblivion over Skyrim well everyone has his opinion, there are people prefering Morrowind over Skyrim or Daggerfall(If the control didn't feel so unnatural to me I might actually prefere that over Skyrim) over Morrowind, everyone has his own taste.

Well there was the Open City Mod for Oblivion so I bet sooner or later something similiar will come out for Skyrim .. if it is possible naturally and I doubt that many computer would be able to do that with a playable performance. But yes I bet there are many other places where looking at it from above will ruin the experience but on the other hand if you are a dragon you will most likely fly high above so the low poly models they have in place for some of those places might be enough ... except naturally for starting and landing.