Pax Demo Accounts

[tony1892]

Let me start by saying these accounts are not my own I am simply posting for your benefit ....Enjoy.

GiantMudCrabs Pax demo Experience

 

Ok, so let me first start off by saying that at PAX today I tried to do as much stuff as possible for all you guys so let me get into it. First off, I got to talk to Pete Hines before I was up to play and he was such a nice guy! Also, for this demo I used an argonian and they look great. So as I started I went towards the birthstones that were in the todd howard walkthrough. I decided to take a hop in the river and use my underwater breathing to catch some salmon. *NOTE* I also noticed butterflies on a nearby bush and collected there wings as alchemy ingredients. I headed to the town, but got a little bored so I pulled out my sword and flame combo and started slaughtering some locals... (I'm so bad...) This wasn't too challenging as I picked some easy looking people and no guards were near by. *NOTE* Fatigue management is more difficult due to the sprint feature. It drains it fast so use it sparingly. Due to fear and time, I decided to leave the town and head into the mountains. I grabbed some mushrooms off a stump and some floweres on the way up and then I came across a small cabin. I went to the fire to try and cook my salmon, but there were 2 burned bodies there and that seemed more interesting. I went inside the cabin to look for clues as to who did this and found a note on the table reading something like "We heard rumors about the dragons but didn't believe it until we saw one recently." So basically they were torched. I took this oppurtunity to rest in the bed (which was not owned :D) and travel at night. *NOTE* At night everything looks great. The moonlight adds a cool atmosphere. Anyways, I decided follow a small creek by the cabin to see where it led and on the way I caught some dragonflies (lots of bugs). I was then promptly attacked by a patrol of bandits. *NOTE* The AI is much improved in this game. A mage was walking towards me with a shield spell and using a frost spell to deal damage while 2 melee units flanked me. I was close to death so I opened the menu and popped some health potions, as well as a swift foot potion and a strength potion which increased speed and damage respectively. Unfortunately my demo was coming to an end so I quickly climbed to the highest point a jumped off to my death before they came to shut me down. Equipment: So after creating my character, I was put into the same location as the todd howard demo and we are told we don't have any items equipped. I opted for the light armor which was all "Hide." As for weapons, I tried out all sorts so let me cover those.-Bow & Arrow: WOW the bow is good! Feels a lot more responsive and has a very satisfying *thud* to it when it hits it's mark. Only got to shoot wolves and a bunny with it but it felt great.-Dual melee: I went with the sword and mace combo and I have to say I am highly unimpressed with the dual wielding. Something didn't feel right to me and using one weapon felt way more effective and practical. I did not look at the one handed melee perks so I can't say now if it will be improved by perks however my guess is there will be a dual wielding attack speed perk at the very least.-2 handed: Used a claymore and I gotta say I love it. It was slow, but packed a punch with a great sense of impact when you hit people. Also, the killing blow was awesome, you spear the guy and lift his whole body up before throwing him back down and pulling the sword out.-Sword & Magic:My personal favorite, this was almost OP at level one. I easily dispatched of 3 bandits who attacked me at night. I was using a flamethrower like spell and as they closed in one or 2 hits was all it took to drop them.-Dual magic: Really good, massive flamethrower took people down before they could touch me, did I mention how good the magic looks?-Sword and shield: I am a newb at blocking and I used this for like 3 seconds and stopped. Not much to say here. Perks: So I was on a time limit, so I only looked at some of the perks. Some of them had multiple levels a la fallout, but here are some examples...-Chance to stagger greatly increased when dual wielding magic-Critical hit chance increased with bows (I can't remember if this had multiple levels but it started out at 10%)-Silent footsteps while sneakingSORRY I CAN'T REMEMBER MORE IT WAS SO OVERWHELMING D: Closing Comments: So as much as this feels like a new game, it still feels like it's predecessors. Strange and new but definitely familiar. The back peddling speed did seem slow, but not completly unreasonable to use in combat. If you like any of the elder scrolls game, I know you will like this game. To sum it up... amazing.

 

SekuTrayvond's Pax Demo Experience

 

Ok, so let me first start off by saying that at PAX today I tried to do as much stuff as possible for all you guys so let me get into it.

First off, I got to talk to Pete Hines before I was up to play and he was such a nice guy! Also, for this demo I used an argonian and they look great. So as I started I went towards the birthstones that were in the todd howard walkthrough. I decided to take a hop in the river and use my underwater breathing to catch some salmon. *NOTE* I also noticed butterflies on a nearby bush and collected there wings as alchemy ingredients. I headed to the town, but got a little bored so I pulled out my sword and flame combo and started slaughtering some locals... (I'm so bad...) This wasn't too challenging as I picked some easy looking people and no guards were near by. *NOTE* Fatigue management is more difficult due to the sprint feature. It drains it fast so use it sparingly. Due to fear and time, I decided to leave the town and head into the mountains. I grabbed some mushrooms off a stump and some floweres oWell all, I spent two days at PAX and played the demo twice and spent a decent amount of time watching others play.

 

My first playthrough (after standing in line for 2 1/2 hours) was atrocious. Was too amped, forgot to go to the setting screen and spent my time spinning in circles too often because RS was waaaaaay too sensitive.

 

I did encounter (and die at the hands of) a Wisp. They are now aetherial looking females rather than glowy orbs. Killed me handily all the same, but prettier to look at.

 

One of the load screens mentions a hagraven: vicious half female/half bird baddies.

 

btw...load screens are just gorgeous, imo.

 

I did pick some flowers as my wife back home would want me to do so. Turns out Thistle gives resist frost when ingested. Ha!

 

I spent no time with the character creator. First demo I was a redguard and second an altmer. Not playing as a Nord till Skyrim is MINE!

 

Demo 2 went MUCH better. Changed the settings from the get go and had an enjoyable 15-20 minutes. Didn't die this time. Yay me!

 

Headed toward Riften. Not sure if this is known bu Matt Carofano noted at the public demo that Riften houses the Thieves Guild.

 

Anyhoo, on my travels I encountered a fairly large structure that was gated and locked. No guards or anything. It appeared it may be a keep but even approaching the door gave me no info. Weird.

 

Furtheron, got ambushed by 4 bandits and took them down with the dual wield sword-mace combo. Nice!

 

After ransacking their bodies (nothing of note) beyond standard bandit garb/weaponry. I did find a spell tome for a fire spell.

 

Continued my march toward Riften and discovered a dungeon called Haeram's (spelling?) Shame. Cool name, imo. Shortly inside a Vampire Thrall started peppering me with arrows. I took him out, this time with some upgraded steel weapons I had previously secured from dead bandits. Scouring the vamp's lookout post and found a nice mace that did extra fire damage. Found some more lockpicks too and was already to try my lockpicking on a nearby chest when time was called.

 

Sigh.

 

Other things I noticed:

 

Stamina is kinda important now. You run, your stamina gets drained in a hurry. You use a shield- same thing. LB is now for sprint (or burst). I found that I was using my speed in relative bursts and then really taking advantage of sprint against archers. Hold down LB, close very quickly and chop em up with weapons of your choosing. It doesn't appear feasible now to run everywhere and expect to be in top form if you get ambushed. Your blows will not land as solidly, as I understand things so far.

 

Lockpicking appears exactly as FO3. Excellent change, imo.

 

Argonians regenerate health faster than normal as their special attribute.

 

Nords have Battlecry as their special. I assume this is some sort of frenzy.

 

Breton are much more resistant to magika.

 

Witnessed another player collect a shout for Animal Allegiance.

 

Bounty for burning a chicken is 5 gold. LOL. Saw the game note this as hold-specific, i.e. Whiterun.

 

Horses come to your defense. Provided a funny moment in the public demo.

 

Enchanting altars have a skull surrounded by a bunch of candles. Kinda spooky.

 

Encountered a hunter. He would sell you pelts or meat. Made sense.

 

You can "pick" butterflies and bees.

 

Saw a signpost at an intersection for a town(?) called Belgen.

 

There are ice wolves.

 

I swam in a river. Swimming remains an unremarkable experience, ala OB.

 

Found a Hunting Bow in some loot. Did not note its stats.

 

Watched another player approach Whiterun. The guard house is away from the city. Just thought this was a nice touch.

 

In the public demo, Todd finally showed the mini-puzzle game associated with the Golden Claw item. You spin the claw around and it is marked with three animal totems. At the locked wall/door you are confronted with a 3 rings that need to be aligned correctly for the lock to be disengaged. Looking at the claw gives you the answer. Like the animation for lockpicking, it is appropriately olden looking. When you'd turn a ring you'd get this loud, stone-on-stone grinding sound.

 

The game felt like TES. I had a suspicion that it might feel a little like FO3 in the way it behaved but I felt none of that with controller in hand. This is TES, folks.

 

To wrap-up: Pete Hines is really nice. He remembered me from Day One and asked if the demo was just as good the second time around. Best part of public demo was Todd mocking the audience member who cried out for him to demonstrate 3rd person jumping (which does look appropriate now, btw). For those who have played FO3, jumping looked idiotic in 3rd person.

 

Oh, and Todd told us at the public demo that the game is "almost done." I wonder if September 1st is a target date of some sort- but that is just me musing/interpreting and nothing more.

 

If there are other things you'd like to confirm or want clarification, please ask. I'll do my best to remember tomorrow.

 

 

This is a great game, folks. Didn't want to leave. Could've easily stood there all day entranced.

 

TheScrollThief's Pax Demo Experience

 

I only had a Friday Badge so i was unable to attend the presentation today unfortunately. But i got to play Skyrim at Pax yesterday which is my highlight of the summer (i know pathetic haha). Also got to see Todd Howard in the bathroom... haha was pretty swell (also saw Daniel Erikson and Tobuscus all right by the bathroom haha idk thats just wierd)

 

So I looked at all the classes with my first few minutes. Got to see the Argonian up close on my screen (jizzam) also checked out all the other races... going to be ohnest the elves look a little funky and im dissapointed with the Orcs because they lost their fantasy look from Oblivion and Skyrim gave them a more Human definition except they have bigger teeth...or fangs whatever you want to call them...tusks maybe. I ended up rolling Khajiit they look absolutely amazing!!! i will be making mine look like a snow leopard. But since i was running on a short time limit i skipped face customization and my character...ready for this: Player Name got dropped into the world of Skyrim (hahaha like i said Player Name was on Limited time schedule)

 

So right off the bat i check out PN (player name) in 3rd person which is my view of preference (except when in combat) and he is swaggin it out with the expected priosner outfit and shackles. However this is cooler than it sounds because the second i started running out of the ice cavern i was dropped into PN wrapped his arms around himself for warmth due to the.... well icyness. I understand its a little unrealistic that the feline race would be in need of warmth but im just going to go with the thought process that Skyrim is really really really really really cold. And for any race that isnt Khajiit it looks proper anyhow so no complaint. as i exit the cavern i notice its the same area as the demo that Todd is giving in all the expo presentations (which was also expected). at this point i figured PN shouldnt suffer anymore and i clothed him in Hide armour. note: they have connected the leggings with the torso for armour sets however you can still choose boots gauntlets and helmet seperately. also im not sure if armour sets are done the same as town clothes or not.

 

Anyways time for the action... I equipped my khajiit with nothing as a weapon because i wanted to see the clawing combat for unarmed which is a racial bonus. I was dissapointed to find out that when i clawed a bunny the motion PN made was definatly a swooping slash kind of thing but you cant actually see the claws. that might be my only dissapointment on the demo. next i decided to run about a little, i took a mildly different direction to Riverwood then the main road. instead i cut throught the woods and ended up running myself into an orc encampment. i equipped the war axe and short sword and dispatched the three bandits in brutal fashion ending with a killmove showing PN driving the short sword tip first downward into the side of the bandits neck. I continued on to Riverwod and took a different exit out of the town towards a main city...most likely Whiterun. taking in the great field of depth in the game every step of the way. literally its like real life you can see as far as the world extends in great detail.

 

i was coming to the end of my demo when i ran across the Three patrol guards taking out a troll. of course this would happen to me, in an attempt to provide support for the guards i dispatched a well placed arrow going straight for the Trolls leg... unfortunately the troll was killed before my arrow hit and then slammed into the side of a guards shield. In response the three guards turned to me and began charging... i heard 5 minutes left on the demo and decided ahhhh fuk it and charged in as well. This is the part that was great. seeing how the guards were considerably better than me i was instantly taken out... it took one arrow to drop my health half way and One brutal swing of a claymore to take me down. reason i loved this is because now when i make a mistake there is no running away from guards while arrows fly into your back. basically if your being a dick your going to get destroyed. so dont be a dick.

 

so thats my Skyrim Experience i understand i didnt give any new info but i just wanted to express on this forum how much fun i had playing this game and how much more my anticipation has been built up for it.

 

NEW INFO

• There Is a Shivering Animation (For When your Naked I assume.
• Hand -To-Hand can be lethal(Outside of bar fights I assume) Confirmed by Pete Hines.
• Beast Races get a claw bonus for Hand-To-Hand.

 

 

More Will Be Added Later Enjoy For Now Though!

Edited August 28, 2011 by tony1892

[jedimembrain]

did the third person cam stick to your character? .. when you move right and left do you still sidestep in third person or can you move the right thumbstick about and control the cam?

[tony1892]

Edit: You can move the camera. Edited August 28, 2011 by tony1892

[AltreU]

That's quite a but of interesting info. Especially the hand to hand for me, I'll definitely be playing a monk/assassin first time around.

[MizerD]

That's quite a but of interesting info. Especially the hand to hand for me, I'll definitely be playing a monk/assassin first time around.

 

 

Hahah i love that idea of a monk assassin.

[Alcrin]

Continued my march toward Riften and discovered a dungeon called Haeram's (spelling?) Shame. Cool name, imo. Shortly inside a Vampire Thrall started peppering me with arrows.

 

Hmm, a vampire thrall? Strange it would be called that. Pure speculation, but maybe Skyrim has Unholy Darkness-esque thralls that vampires can make? Can the player make these too?

Edited August 29, 2011 by Alcrin

[Lowk]

Need to...pick...butterflies...now!

 

Thanks for the compilation of accounts! Definitely some good info in there; I'm becoming more and more intrigued by the beast races this time around, and may have to go the "HtH kitty" route as well.