Skyrim Information

[LordWushin]

The only good thing about prison starts is the fact you can 'customize' your character even more - with the fill-in-the-blank past. Starting prisoner is getting a little repetitive, I would have liked being a wounded warrior in rehab.

 

Seeing how you are 'saved from execution,' prisoner start may be a different twist, like you are a blade being killed kind of thing. Morrowind you were like a prisoner getting probation and serving the emperors spies, while Oblivion was kind of like breaking out and getting pardoned for it!?!

[ita]

I'm all for difference in opinion. But I still consider having the main character start out in a prison is a perfectly legitimate way to begin a game, even if it's been done a couple of times before. As Terry Pratchett once wrote, "the reason that clichés become clichés is that they are the hammers and screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication."

 

Although I wouldn't mind if the devs took things in a completely different direction, like having your character in Skyrim wake up on a slab in a huge mortuary, suffering from amnesia and being greeted by a floating skull.

 

@LordWushin: in Oblivion it was more like being pardoned, since the Emperor and his guards more or less invited you to follow them through the secret passageway. It's not like you did any active jailbreaking as in picking the lock in your cell door and sneaking out.

Edited February 11, 2011 by GenocideLolita

[brokenergy]

I've played plenty of games (including DA but that's for another thread), no matter what you do you are still the chosen one because the story surrounds you, the character. That's how writers propel the story, and in-fact that's how most games in general use. The only game that you become a sidekick that I remember is in NWN and you could finish it in under 10 seconds.

 

Besides we all know that you are the chosen one in every single TES game from the beginning. It's not that I hate Skyrim or TES in general, it's that I hate that the same plot starter is used constantly. It shows lack of creativity from the writers to explore their world in new ways since it was changed in 200 odd years. My point is that they should have moved from prison breaks and started somewhere else since they are changing other aspects of the game, such as combat and AI. I'm disappointed that they didn't at least try to break the mold of TES, and go in a new direction but then again I'm not surprised. I find that "tradition" is a poor excuse when it comes to writing.

 

LordWushin: You don't need prisons to customize your PC even more, I can start from a ship wreck and be saved by a stranger and still customize the same way as starting in a farm. All these give the same blank slate to customize your character.

 

GenocideLolita: There is a difference between clichés and tropes. Clichés are tropes that are overused so much that it has lost it's meaning or has become stale while tropes are the most common type of stories (overall there are 7 tropes that are used in writing). I don't mind trope being used from time to time but I do mind when it becomes cliché and it is used in the same series over and over again, it gets dull.

Edited February 11, 2011 by brokenergy

[Fatalmasterpiece]

I see your point Broken but we will just disagree on the jailbreak thing. To me it is a minor plot device that doesn't detract from the story but enables it to be flexible.

 

I think though we may find common ground in disappointment that yet again you are the chosen one and yet again you have to save the world from the unspeakable evil. As you said, why can they not break the mold and try something new for a change? What if my character is evil and doesn't want to change the world, or wants to see it die. What if my character is good but more concerned in taking over the mages guild and finding secret artifacts rather than becoming the OMG UBER ONE!!!111N!N!1

 

I don't care about learning all the dragon shouts or stopping the dragons from killing towns or becoming the next Dragonborne uber man of omgwtfbbqpwn. I just want to explore the landscape, become powerful, have great battles, discover amazing locations and do it all without being pidgeonholed into the same ol same ol your the chosen one bull pucky.

[TheMastersSon]

Quote from Gameinformer's article:

 

"Before they started planning missions for Skyrim, Howard and his team reflected on what they liked about their older projects. They kept returning to the randomized encounters in Fallout 3 and Daggerfall. To build off the success of those models and improve the experience so the random encounters feel less forced or arbitrary, Bethesda undertook the ambitious task of constructing a new story management system dubbed Radiant Story. Many quests are still completely governed by Bethesda, but the Radiant Story system helps randomize and relate the side quests to players to make the experience as dynamic and reactive as possible. Rather than inundate you with a string of unrelated and mundane tasks, it tailors missions based on who your character is, where you're at, what you've done in the past, and what you're currently doing."

 

Random is good. For a lot of people It's the foundation of replay value. For years I've wished game developers would start adding randomized locations that are dynamically created at the start of each game. No way of knowing who, what or even where you'll run into. Replay value would be virtually infinite.

[brokenergy]

You misunderstood Fatalmasterpiece. I don't mind being a hero in a story from time to time, it is great story device if used right. I do mind that Beth writers don't seem to explore their world though story anymore. It would be a nice change if they twist their lore and invent something new and darker. All well, I'm currently excited about DA2 (No chosen hero story this time! Now it's rags to riches instead) and wishing that I can become the Godfather of Kirkwall, maybe I can become one. I might pick The Witcher 2 later on too, after reviews and patches. Skyrim isn't on my radar at the moment and might buy it months after release and this is from a major TES fan.

 

^ Edit: Somehow this Radiant Story would only work for side quests and some main quests only. I don't see the overall main story changing very much.

Edited February 11, 2011 by brokenergy

[hector530]

brokenergy you complain a lot about beths story telling but they they more then make up for it in subsistence, something bioware needs to learn. i like that beth works on making a game a complete package rather them bioware's style of making games story first gameplay second in mass effect 2 i got 100% completion with everyone surviving... my game time 14 hours.... srsly and im rounding up. in dragon age i got 100% in 17 hours this was with DLCs and me doing everything to prolong the game from ending to soon. but i played dragon age twice, mass effect i couldn't go finish the 2nd run though, guns that feel underpowered(all 4 of them), only one set of armor in the game(lol), annoying planet scans to upgrade your crappy weapons so they can suck less, weak special attacks, teammates that love to take it in the face and die... i couldnt go though with it and this coming from someone who thinks mass effect has the best story ever put in a game.

 

you play bioware games only play to see what happens next in the story.

 

in TES you play to see what happens next in the story, to see whats in that cave, to go explore somewhere you havent been, to do this side quest, to go get that weapon, to steal from this person, to kill that person, to learn this spell, to become the leader of a guild..etc...

 

yep ill take the complete package. ill buy ME 3 and DA 2 when they're 50% off

[LordWushin]

I understand what your point is broken. Prison is being a little overused, especially in the past history context.

 

Radiant story makes sense side quest, main quest tho need a new umph to it so to speak. Morrowind was epic in main quest because of all the stuff one had to do, and because it was so out here at time. Oblivion was too straight foward for me. Go get this, go get that, no become mayor or general and things. Hopefully Skyrim will be a combo of both, straight foward and broad (having to go everywhere under the sun). Hoping, just hoping!

[MarshyMan]

The only good thing about prison starts is the fact you can 'customize' your character even more - with the fill-in-the-blank past. Starting prisoner is getting a little repetitive, I would have liked being a wounded warrior in rehab.

 

Seeing how you are 'saved from execution,' prisoner start may be a different twist, like you are a blade being killed kind of thing. Morrowind you were like a prisoner getting probation and serving the emperors spies, while Oblivion was kind of like breaking out and getting pardoned for it!?!

I would really like to see some repercussions from pre-prison life come to bite you in the rear during your adventure in Skyrim.

 

Maybe you had a friend who, one day, had an idea that would end in tons of money. You were reluctant but, seeing as how you have fought side by side with this man, you invest yourself in his idea. As you are pulling off the heist (which could be anything ranging from raiding a preserved dwemer mine to stealing from a former blade member) you are found out. As you are running away, your friend, in all his greediness, attempts to snatch one last gold amulet. In doing so the pursuer was able to get his broadsword lodged in your friend's leg, right above the knee. You wish you could do something but you know that any hesitation could swiftly end your life. As you're leaping over obstacles and knocking over anything to stop your follower, a thick wooden club meets your forehead, and everything is black. You wake up in prison, you see no familiar faces, no trace of your attackers, and no trace of your friend. Next thing you know, 4 years have passed and the Elder Scrolls V begins.

Much further into the game, you are perusing around town and see a vaguely familiar face. It is a dirty Khajiit missing fur in several places, nearly no clothing, and a missing leg, cut right above the knee.

 

This could lead into an interesting quest and a little backstory as to who you are, rather than just an anonymous prisoner.

I don't know...

That's what I would do.

Edited February 11, 2011 by MarshyMan

[brokenergy]

brokenergy you complain a lot about beths story telling but they they more then make up for it in subsistence, something bioware needs to learn. i like that beth works on making a game a complete package rather them bioware's style of making games story first gameplay second in mass effect 2 i got 100% completion with everyone surviving... my game time 14 hours.... srsly and im rounding up. in dragon age i got 100% in 17 hours this was with DLCs and me doing everything to prolong the game from ending to soon. but i played dragon age twice, mass effect i couldn't go finish the 2nd run though, guns that feel underpowered(all 4 of them), only one set of armor in the game(lol), annoying planet scans to upgrade your crappy weapons so they can suck less, weak special attacks, teammates that love to take it in the face and die... i couldnt go though with it and this coming from someone who thinks mass effect has the best story ever put in a game.

 

It's not a "complete package" though. I can't travel beyond Skyrim, I can't travel south west to Hammerfall nor East to Morrowind without mods. I can't talk my way out of fight, I can't pretend dead, I can't marry the prince etc. I'm still limited to the developers intent of the game. The fact that BioWare restricts free-roam to focus on story is their design philosophy and has nothing to do with what I was talking about. I'm stating that Beth can't change their story and this over time it feels stale. A sandbox game doesn't need to fail in story, they can do much better than that.

 

you play bioware games only play to see what happens next in the story.

 

Yes that's why I play BioWare games, not why I play Beth games.

 

in TES you play to see what happens next in the story, to see whats in that cave, to go explore somewhere you havent been, to do this side quest, to go get that weapon, to steal from this person, to kill that person, to learn this spell, to become the leader of a guild..etc...

 

After you clocked over 300 hours of Skyrim with mods, what you do then? After you searched every nook and cranny, created 20 or so characters and became everything that you wanted, what will you do then? What happens when you done all of these things? What would you do after that? Will you wander off and kill people randomly? Or use so many mods that Skyrim become artificial? Yes you can do anything you want in TES, it gives you too much freedom. You could say the same thing with Sims as well.

 

yep ill take the complete package. ill buy ME 3 and DA 2 when they're 50% off

 

Okay, whatever suits your boat.

 

LordWushin: Sure I'll get Skyrim someday (just not of release) but it won't be because of story. Will they replicate the atmosphere of Morrowind that remains to be seen but if it ends up like Oblivion then I'll be really annoyed.