Graphics Don't Cut It

[Eglaerinion]

If the graphics were not any better than say Oblivion I might still enjoy the quests but after it was finished I wouldn't care anymore about the game.

 

So you're saying that the graphics are a key feature in the game? IE: They must be good for you to thoroughly enjoy it?

I like to be amazed when I play a game. Especially a game with such a high budget and production values set in a sandbox world.

[brokenergy]

Ah finally someone agrees with me (well maybe to an extent but still!). It's really unfair that a game with a five year development time that it has to suffer on story. Story is one of the elements that immerse a player into the world, just like characters and graphics. I'm not saying that they should "can" graphics department but as a AAA developer they should have tons of resources to invest in their writing department. The fact that they used "tradition" as an excuse to not explore the world (or change the story for that matter) is to me lazy at best.

Hold on, can you tell me what you think the story of Skyrim actually is before the game comes out, I'd like to know how Beth got lazy on developing the world or relied too heavily on tradition, I'd imagine there's still some room for the stroy to expand from the alpha version you somehow acquired as there is still months of dev time ahead.

 

If you have played the last four TES games then you can pretty much bet that the main story is a rehash of Arena, which means you get out of gaol (jail for US) and become a champion (and do something for the empire while at it or at this case, stop the civil war). The fact that you have a very special name is a giant hint of your status. The main plot is always predictable in TES, it's the side quests that are much more interesting (especially the Dark Brotherhood). I know that they have tons of lore about Nords, I knew about their "shouts" for a long time, before Skyrim. The fact is that Beth doesn't really expand their lore (for example we know so little about the southern provinces) and they don't use other story telling techniques to their advantage. It always is the same story, it just became too obvious in Oblivion.

[XC00P3RX]

Games really don't have to have good graphics to be great. I mean, just look at Minecraft. That was one guy who designed all of that and I'm pretty sure he's a millionaire now.

[Marthos]

Games really don't have to have good graphics to be great. I mean, just look at Minecraft. That was one guy who designed all of that and I'm pretty sure he's a millionaire now.

 

 

Why do people feel the need to bang on about this ?

 

If graphics aren't important to you then thats great for you, but not everybody thinks the same way and some folks like good graphics and hey, why not ?

 

Everybody is different and all have their own preferences.

 

Personally I like good graphics, but if a game draws me in and is enjoyable to me then having good graphics is the icing on the cake.

[marksman_sniper]

Games really don't have to have good graphics to be great. I mean, just look at Minecraft. That was one guy who designed all of that and I'm pretty sure he's a millionaire now.

 

Agreed.

Any game with a good story will be good of course. Sadly, story alone doesn't mean realism. I want to be consumed by Skyrim with all its' technological advances. Something in which I can run away from the real life but STILL be in a very realistic "life". All I'm saying is an epic story makes an epic game but in the end a realistic game combined with that epic story will have a much better impact on the consumer.

[CommanderCrazy]

Graphics enhance the experience, but they dont (IMO) have an impact on the playability or story whatsoever. Hell, I still play Daggerfall on DOSbox! :D

[Herculine]

Games really don't have to have good graphics to be great. I mean, just look at Minecraft. That was one guy who designed all of that and I'm pretty sure he's a millionaire now.

 

 

Why do people feel the need to bang on about this ?

 

If graphics aren't important to you then thats great for you, but not everybody thinks the same way and some folks like good graphics and hey, why not ?

 

Everybody is different and all have their own preferences.

 

Personally I like good graphics, but if a game draws me in and is enjoyable to me then having good graphics is the icing on the cake.

 

 

 

We just like to vent about it here I guess. I'm guilty of cluttering up the boards with my moaning too...

 

...when really what I should say is that I hope the graphics quality is adjustable. Then everyone can be happy one way or the other.

 

And I expect it will indeed be adjustable; Bethsoft has been very good about giving us those options so a wider range of players from a wider economic base can still enjoy their games.

 

I suppose I really shouldn't complain.

[Telyn]

I've seen the graphics in the trailer and honestly I didn't think the graphics were all that improved. I don't care. One of my favorite games of all times is one of the oldest surviving MMOs, Dark Ages by Kru (not DAOC). It's very pixelly anime style that can't even boast 256 colors, a highly modified/localized port of a very old game called Legends of Darkness. In its heyday rp was mandatory. It has dungeons something like 20 levels deep. It had complex skills, quests, and levelling. Can't play it anymore because it can't handle 64 bit. All that said, I do like good graphics, but the graphics in that Skyrim trailer are going to be modded and improved nearly instantly once the game is released. So just give it time. There will be optimized replacers for people with older computers. There will be graphics which require people with gaming computers to upgrade cards, and everything in between. Any moddable game is soon modded. That's an additional reason the graphics aren't really the most important thing. Story can be modded, too. To some degree the engine and gameplay will be modded, but people have to love a game enough right out of the box for a modding community to truly thrive. Elder Scrolls games have a long history of creating that level of fandom. I am just hoping Skyrim can do the same. Story and AI are important. Settings are important, but if you want to know the most important thing of all which ultimately determines which games fade quickly and which ones are around years later, still selling, the answer to that is...YOU. You the player. Game franchises that attract good communities are the ones that last. In reality, all they have to do is make sure Skyrim does not drive that community away as some other companies have done by not listening to players, by using buggy, overly intrusive or ethically dubious forms of DRM on paying customers, charging too much for the DLCs, etc. If they don't do that, we will buy it, and if we don't love it right away, players will transform it into something they do love. The most important thing that Bethesda can do really is care about players and give them an interesting world as a canvas. They've done it before, and I think they will do it again. If people are still buying Skyrim 5 years from now, then they have done their job. No matter how terrific the graphics are now, they aren't going to blow people away in 5 years, and I think they know that by now. I hope they do.

[LadyMilla]

I've seen the graphics in the trailer and honestly.... I don't care. ... All that said, I do like good graphics, but the graphics in that Skyrim trailer are going to be modded and improved nearly instantly once the game is released.

 

For me, the latest installments of the Elder Scrolls series (Morrowind, Oblivion) represent the maximum level of freedom that can be achieved in a game in terms of exploration and modding (I would say, Fallout 3 offers the same experience... I wonder how a Creation engined based Fallout 4 would look). If Bethesda sacrifices a bit of visual quality for creating a vast and immersive environment so be it. Graphics, models, animations... they can be improved by talented modders.

[Th0raxeIV]

In one hand....I love great looking games...I love it because of imersion (I just love small details)......on the other hand I think a good game is only has good has it story (well most of time.....Battlefield 2 didn't have a Story to speak of BUT it was fun as hell)

 

Skyrim looks....amazing (you have to think that the video was on the Xbox so I'm geasing...and hopping that the PC looks epic, DirectX 11 included) and I belive that Beth will deliver both in looks and story...I mean its not impossible, just look at Red Dead one of the best looking games ever with one of the greastest stories to (IMO)....or GTA IV (I mean when they showed the first trailer of Niko just going from indoor to outdoor with no loading screen...that blew my mind)

 

If I had to choice.....story....I mean no questions asked and I belive that Bethesda will deliver in both fronts (I mean just look at their track record)

 

I like the ideia of the Radiant Story because it means more time for the main quests.

 

Look dont mean S%$= .....just look at games that are ugly but are fun as hell...Minecraft....Mount & Blade....Fallout 1 and 2 (yeah ok for the time they were good looking but still)....GTA (yeah in the last gen it was one ugly looking game) and the list goes on.

 

IMO Skyrim will be balance having the best of both worlds (I mean I think Bethesda will go for GOTY so IMO they will want excelent graphics with excelent story telling and refreshing gameplay aspects)