skyrim vs oblivion

[us11csalyer]

Besides the small gameplay changes and game world what is the difference between the two? I didn't play oblivion much but skyrim feels like an updated version of oblivion with new story..

[Lachdonin]

There are some rather radical gameplay changes. The graphics system has changed. Several core mechanics have changed (Spell making, durability). They really are two different games in the same genre, rather than just an updated version of one another.

 

Personally, i like Skyrim more. Less because it's "revolutionary" or "polished", but because the new systems have the potential to become so much more than Oblivion ever could. For me, at least, potential is infinately more important than polish.

 

That's not to say Oblivion didn't get some things right. Storytelling in Oblivion, at it worse, was pretty much on par with Skyrim at its best. They both pale in comparison to Morrowind in that regard though, so its something of a non-point. Oblivion was also the start of vastly improved AI (On a TES scale anyway) which in many ways has gone backwards in Skyrim.

 

Still, i'm enjoying vanillar Skyrim more than i enjoyed vanilla Oblivion. And i think thats an important distinction to consider, because most people seem to base their judgements on their Oblivion experiences with the late-gen mods which vastly improved the game. If you;re going to judge them, do it on the basic package, not the heavily modded version (Of which Skyrim current lacks)

[Harlequin83]

There are some rather radical gameplay changes. The graphics system has changed. Several core mechanics have changed (Spell making, durability). They really are two different games in the same genre, rather than just an updated version of one another.

 

Personally, i like Skyrim more. Less because it's "revolutionary" or "polished", but because the new systems have the potential to become so much more than Oblivion ever could. For me, at least, potential is infinately more important than polish.

 

That's not to say Oblivion didn't get some things right. Storytelling in Oblivion, at it worse, was pretty much on par with Skyrim at its best. They both pale in comparison to Morrowind in that regard though, so its something of a non-point. Oblivion was also the start of vastly improved AI (On a TES scale anyway) which in many ways has gone backwards in Skyrim.

 

Still, i'm enjoying vanillar Skyrim more than i enjoyed vanilla Oblivion. And i think thats an important distinction to consider, because most people seem to base their judgements on their Oblivion experiences with the late-gen mods which vastly improved the game. If you;re going to judge them, do it on the basic package, not the heavily modded version (Of which Skyrim current lacks)

 

Skyrim is a grea step ahead under graphical comparision, oblivion is simply old (but with right mod is fantastic..).. in gameplay are is very similar. but there isn't standard class, only perk and perk have some minor ability at cost of 1 skill point gained at every level up (every level up we gain a skill point to use in a perk) to enable some bonus like less encumber of armor, more damage with weapons, use 2 hand spell etc etc...(you gain nothing gaining 75 to a skill, only the possibility to access a skill perk that need at least 75 of ability)

I completed all quest [main and secondary] in skyrim in 270 hours, adn explored every meter of gaming world, so the land of skyrim are smaller of oblivion, but more concentrated we cannot walk for more of 20 seconds without meet a cave/city/shrine etc etc but landscape and world is all the time mountain and snow with little valley (very little....) or different landscape... so can be boring... the quest are very boring, all similar, ther isn't speech/talking ability to gain more info or quest from npc... and the great problem of skyrim is that the world and people are completely passive with you... my char is: archmage, assassins leader, thief leader ,head of warrior companion, thane of all feuds etc etc, i saved the world, i kill dragon and gain their power, i know the word of powers, i walked the land many and many times, i'm a little lord in all capital, i'm a walking miracle... and people don't know this... 1 second before i was an hero, 1 second after the same npc deride me... and don't remember who em i.... the quest route are short and stupid, do 3 quest and become archmage of skyrim, do 4 quest and become head of warriors companion, there is no more infamy/fame, you kill the emperor of tamriel or a important Noble and if you got arrestend paying 1000 gold u can go out and people forgot what have you done..... (kill an empire isn't a little thing....) if you join a faction or another nothing of great different happend... (stormcloak of imperial change only 2- or 3 target quest [assaout a city instead of another or defend a fort insteand of another] and quest giver npc...) world see you and stop you are dovakin only for 15 second ... and then you are trash...

[SneakyHat]

Better game-play->Skyrim

Story line's-> Oblivion

Best Story line's and faction's and most interesting back drop and best everything except Game play-> Morrowind

 

Unfortunately Morrowind style game's just DON'T FIT in modern game value's. Half the "Gamers" I know, will not play anything that is not fast, punchy, action-y, and full of blood and gore and special effect's. Look at all the latest block buster's, they are all full of gun's, explosion's and other **** like that. When something new come's along, without all that, in my experience, many main stream gamers reject it, because it is not what they are used to.

 

people like what is familiar, game's like Morrowind are not and thus will not be as popular. Might just be my experience because I have to put up with testosterone full idiot's in year 9 and 10 of High school, but that's just my experience.

 

Feel free to flame me all you want I posted what I have seen.

[gloomygrim]

I kinda agree with sneakyhat, sadly im about to say it, morrowind wins hands down....ugh im that crew now lol.

 

Skyrims graphics, combat, magic, crafting and companions (housekarls ect) are all great and IMO better than both morrowind and oblivion. Its downfalls are it so short and the landmass isnt as large as either morrowind or oblivion, but that can be based on the size of the province in the lore i guess.

 

Oblivion did have a great story, finally your not the all powerfull demi god hero type. Its size was imense to and the DLC were great, although we havnt seen skyrims yet so a comparison there is impossible.

 

Morrowind had the best story of all, awsome spellmaking and enchanting, the factions all hard pretty lengthy storylines. The landmass was pretty varied and stunning, back when it was released, and the DLC were great bloodmoon itself could have been released as a game on its own and still done well.

[NordicMist]

The world of Skyrim offers a rather stark change from Oblivion, and in my opinion the best for each category is...

 

Graphics: Skyrim (newer, although unoptimized for PCs)

 

Size: same (Bethesda promised a bigger world for Skyrim, but since most of it cannot be explored...)

 

Combat: Skyrim (not really much different, but more functional and interesting)

 

Spells: Skyrim (I preferred Oblivion's variety but I love the new spells, more originality in this area is welcome)

 

Magic system: Oblivion (Skyrim's system is terrible in comparison, especially if you want to play a fighter-mage)

 

Story line: Oblivion (however Skyrim's culture, politics, etc. is more detailed)

 

Setting: Oblivion (all sorts of scenic landscape etc. and an open, classic fantasy settings; matter of personal preference, compare with Skyrim's arctic landscape, wars and talking dragons)

 

Main quest: Skyrim (unfortunately it lacks any impact on the world and on NPCs, unlike Oblivion's MQ)

 

Quests: Oblivion (the new Radiant Story is nice, but as far as quests are concerned I find Oblivion's quests more interesting)

 

NPCs: Oblivion (amazing what you can do with just a handful of voice actors; in comparison I find most NPCs in Skyrim either boring or irritating, and it doesn't feel like there are 70 (really?) voice actors)

 

Roleplay: Oblivion, hands down (mods or not, Skyrim is useless in this regard; it simply doesn't feel like an RPG, plus Oblivion is based on stats, classes, birthsigns, etc. instead of the perk tree; however Skyrim incorporates a few ideas from its mods, like cooking, crafting and the companion system)

[Flipout6]

I prefer Skyrim's spells, but I hate that you can't create new spells. Combat is better, and I prefer the arctic landscape and story (sure, it's as cliche as oblivion's, but at least it has more variety.)

 

all and all, Skyrim. I don't feel like details right now.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Flipout6

[Lachdonin]

]Roleplay: Oblivion, hands down (mods or not, Skyrim is useless in this regard; it simply doesn't feel like an RPG, plus Oblivion is based on stats, classes, birthsigns, etc. instead of the perk tree;

 

I still can't understand claims like this. How is having arbitrary skill-sets forced on you (classes) and managing more arbitrary numbers (stats) more RP than freeform development? Role Playing is about developing a new existance through the medium, and yes, for decades this has been through classes, skills and stats. However, when you're working out, you don't suddenly realise "Hey, my strength went up to 30! Awesome". You also aren't limited through progression in life by your 'job'. An accountant doesn't spin his wheels if he decides to take up bio-chemesty.

 

The new system in Skyrim is, in my mind, actually an improvement over the classic RPG system. It grands free form progression depending on your actions, rather than the old system which dictates what actions you have to take to progress. To add to this, the perks allow for specialization within larger skill-schools without the cumbersome management of extra skills. The new system, even in its current, unrefined state, offers way more RP potential than the old, classic D&D inspired one does.

[magnemoe]

]Roleplay: Oblivion, hands down (mods or not, Skyrim is useless in this regard; it simply doesn't feel like an RPG, plus Oblivion is based on stats, classes, birthsigns, etc. instead of the perk tree;

 

I still can't understand claims like this. How is having arbitrary skill-sets forced on you (classes) and managing more arbitrary numbers (stats) more RP than freeform development? Role Playing is about developing a new existance through the medium, and yes, for decades this has been through classes, skills and stats. However, when you're working out, you don't suddenly realise "Hey, my strength went up to 30! Awesome". You also aren't limited through progression in life by your 'job'. An accountant doesn't spin his wheels if he decides to take up bio-chemesty.

 

The new system in Skyrim is, in my mind, actually an improvement over the classic RPG system. It grands free form progression depending on your actions, rather than the old system which dictates what actions you have to take to progress. To add to this, the perks allow for specialization within larger skill-schools without the cumbersome management of extra skills. The new system, even in its current, unrefined state, offers way more RP potential than the old, classic D&D inspired one does.

I pretty much agree with this, atributes in Oblivion became an chore as you wanted to get +4 or 5 on level up, lots of meta gaming and grinding for leveling them up.

Add that you was punished for playing pure classes, an fighter with all three strength based skills would be weaker than one with just one and used the other to level skill.

Not an issue in Morrowind as we had more skills and unlimited training and the game was very easy at high levels.

 

Else I agree with the other here, Skyrim is better than Oblivion except magic, quests and npc, I would actually prefer npc talking about mudcrabs over babbling npc who follow you into your house to say their one liner.

http://193.212.164.88/vbftplk/ScreenShot24.jpg

Edited February 1, 2012 by magnemoe

[Dukkah]

]Roleplay: Oblivion, hands down (mods or not, Skyrim is useless in this regard; it simply doesn't feel like an RPG, plus Oblivion is based on stats, classes, birthsigns, etc. instead of the perk tree;

 

I still can't understand claims like this. How is having arbitrary skill-sets forced on you (classes) and managing more arbitrary numbers (stats) more RP than freeform development? Role Playing is about developing a new existance through the medium, and yes, for decades this has been through classes, skills and stats. However, when you're working out, you don't suddenly realise "Hey, my strength went up to 30! Awesome". You also aren't limited through progression in life by your 'job'. An accountant doesn't spin his wheels if he decides to take up bio-chemesty.

 

The new system in Skyrim is, in my mind, actually an improvement over the classic RPG system. It grands free form progression depending on your actions, rather than the old system which dictates what actions you have to take to progress. To add to this, the perks allow for specialization within larger skill-schools without the cumbersome management of extra skills. The new system, even in its current, unrefined state, offers way more RP potential than the old, classic D&D inspired one does.

 

Perhaps I can shed some light on this issue, friend.

 

While it's true that one isn't limited in progression by his job, it would take time for him or her to learn a completely different one, no? Months if the new one is related to his current, years if it is not. In this way, it makes no sense that someone who spends all his time practicing spells and enhancing his intelligence would suddenly be able to pick up a sword and expect to be as good as a trained warrior.

 

The job system was restrictive, yes, but why would that not make sense? If my background before the story begins is that I was a mathematician, I don't expect to spend a week reading biology, then ace the MCAT. Yes, you're not free to change everything about yourself at the drop of a hat, but when has that ever been the case?

 

Further, though one irl won't be able to track how strong he gets linearly through stats, at least he gets stronger at what he practices. In Skyrim, I can spend all of my time shooting arrows, but that will somehow make me more durable and better at picking locks? That's a deprivation of the RP experience if I've ever seen one. No, my sense of myself is not high enough to know that I'm a certain level of strength, but at least I know I'll be able to hit harder than someone weaker than me. In Skyrim, a mage can hit as hard as a warrior if he has enough perks in the necessary tree.

 

Not to say I am against the perk system. No, what's wrong here is the stripping away of the many stats that informed you how your character was progressing (i.e, how far he'd gone in his role). It makes sense that if I jump around a lot, I should be more athletic. It makes sense that if I only use my fists, I should be better at fist fighting. It makes sense that if I spend all day lifting weights, I should be stronger than the pansy mage that lives next door.

 

Are listed stats the best simulation of an RPG experience? No, of course not, but they're what's possible with the current tech. Problem with Skyrim is that we don't get rid of listed stats; we get a simplified stat system that takes more immersion away than it adds.