Darker, Edgier...Some Motivation

[BlackCompany]

I'm not trollin' here. Not lookin to down Skyrim. I don't regret the hundred or so hours I have in the game. In the world. I'd do it again - get up at 430 cause I can't sleep any more; go out and get breakfast and start playin' by 5am cause I can't wait any more. Felt like a kid that day unwrappin' the only Christmas present he ever really wanted. Man I missed that feeling. Special sort of emotion, that - ain't got the words for it, really.

 

But now...ahh, now.

 

Now I'm struggling to stay interested. Lead the companions with one character. Thieve's Guild with another. Done a little of my own modding, mostly to make combat heavier and harder hittin' cause I just couldn't stand the lighter than air weapons. Mods work, but they're not for everyone.

 

Now though, I'm losing interest in the game. Seems every quest is the same: Go here, pick something up in this dungeon and bring it back. No real consequences; nothing to really tie you to the world, to get you invested in it. Nothing to make you feel like anything you do has a purpose.

 

Now, I'm one tells myself a story when I play these games. How did I get here, why am I struggling in this cold, harsh world. What do I hope to achieve? All that sort of thing. And while that's a neat thing to do, it would be nice if there were some reason to keep on keepin' on. But I can't find it if its there.

 

So I'm wondering: First is anyone else having the same problem? Does anyone else find the world and the characters in it sort of shallow, or hollow? Does anyone use a particular subset of mods to help with this? Anything darker or edgier would make for a nice change. Probably too early for it, to be honest, especially with the new and complex scripting language in Skyrim. But thought I would ask, anyway.

 

If anyone has any advice I will come back and check this thread later. See what people have to say. I'd welcome a little discussion about the game and ideas on how we can stay interested, keep it fresh and fun. Eager to hear what others have to say.

 

Skyrim is a good game with the potential for greatness. Hopefully, future quests and DLC will offer something a little crueler, a little darker, with a little more edge and some consequence. Something to get emotionally invested in the world you're a part of.

[PsYchotic666Joker]

Try downloading a ton of mods to make it harder and add more to the game, like Wars in Skyrim, WARZONES, Deadly Dragons, PISE, Midas Magic ( and many other magic ones ) some house mods if you like those, deadly traps, play everything to it's hardest setting and game set on master, learn the Creation Kit more and try making stuff as you learn, learn to roleplay a ton, take things slow, and pretend you don't know what's going to happen with the story or quests if you've already beaten it and done a ton. some other things you can do is get the hud mods and remove you compass etc, and no fast traveling, walk in cities and maybe on roads?

 

other than that, take a long break and come back sometime after you get the itch to play again, i myself stopped playing after a few weeks when the game released, just now starting to get back into it..i was burnt out on the game after about 250 hours played and 4-5 restarts.

 

pretty much everything i listed i have and i do.

[BlackCompany]

Try downloading a ton of mods to make it harder and add more to the game, like Wars in Skyrim, WARZONES, Deadly Dragons, PISE, Midas Magic ( and many other magic ones ) some house mods if you like those, deadly traps, play everything to it's hardest setting and game set on master, learn the Creation Kit more and try making stuff as you learn, learn to roleplay a ton, take things slow, and pretend you don't know what's going to happen with the story or quests if you've already beaten it and done a ton. some other things you can do is get the hud mods and remove you compass etc, and no fast traveling, walk in cities and maybe on roads?

 

other than that, take a long break and come back sometime after you get the itch to play again, i myself stopped playing after a few weeks when the game released, just now starting to get back into it..i was burnt out on the game after about 250 hours played and 4-5 restarts.

 

pretty much everything i listed i have and i do.

 

 

All good suggestions. Looking into modding now. I have my own more challenging combat and Dragon mods. Made to taste, so to speak. And its nice having that. I can stagger opponents, knock em around a bit - but only when I catch them failing to block. And in my game, they block and bash A LOT more often. Much smarter NPC's in my game. Nice change.

 

I think a break might be in order. I love the game. I do. But I think maybe taking some time away, maybe doing a little modding and workin' at learning the scripting language, might do me some good. Too much of a good thing, I guess. But it does make me wonder how some people can stay interested and get to 300+ hours in a month or two. Gotta be tough at times.

[Thoreai]

I had the same problem, stoped playing the game nearly 2 months ago, now i just start it to check a few mods here and there, but i cant play it for longer then 10min before i get totaly uninterested.

 

Now im not saying they did a bad job at the game, but for me their games arent really progressing..while browsing trough internet i stumbled upon a topic where someone said that bethesdas gameplay is still somewhere in the 90's and i have to agree.

 

They put a lot of effort for discovering, but as you said, the world is shalow and for me no matter how much locations they add, it wont change the fact that the whole game is being done for the sake of being done...i dont feel enthusiasm in it and maybe that's also the reason why their games are so generic.

 

After seeing the vid of the 1 week mod jam, where bethesdas employees done amazing job at making mods for the game, it just proven to me that these guys arent given any freedom at being creative and i honestly dont believe they ever will.

 

Im buying next week Kingdoms of Amalur and i hope it will partially replace bethesdas TES for me, untill some other game studio comes out that will do something similiar to their games, but with depth, interesting gameplay and modable.

 

Also as PsYchotic666Joker sugested, taking a long break sometimes helps...and you got over 400hours in the game wich is more then enough to get bored, i stoped playing after 150 or a bit more i think.

Edited February 21, 2012 by pavy

[natelovesyou]

You could try this mod, for one: Deadlier Dragons

 

There are a good amount of mods that can make the game more frightening, intense, and deadly. You just have to know where to look. Deadlier Dragons is one of them.

[BlackCompany]

Here comes the fun part.

 

Warning: What I am about to write - about skyrim the game, not the community - may be viewed as sacrilege/blasphemy on this site. You were warned:

 

Pavy: I am willing to bet - real money, mind you and I live in America, where it ain't so easy to come by as once it was - I am willing to bet you will like Amalur better. It ain't pretty; but you won't notice. Amalur's cartoon asthetic could leave you pining away for Skyrim's craggy mountains and amazing vistas, if you notice their absence.

 

But you won't.

 

The writing in Amalur is worlds better than Skyrim. You make decisions. Real, someone-lives-and-someone dies decisions. You can anger factions, get people killed. Be a benevolent savior on some quests or a complete asshat. And people care about your decisions. You get the feeling those decisions matter to someone. They have...gasp...consequences.

 

Now like it or love it, Skyrim lacks consequences. Please don't argue here; we all know it. I was lead to believe Skyrim was the adult's action RPG, with a gritty, bloody world full of tough decisions and tougher circumstances. I was lead to believe Amalur was the childish RPG with cartoon graphics and a hunky dory, all-is-well-in-candy-land plot line.

 

The opposite is closer to the truth. The story and atmosphere of Amalur make Skyrim look like - and more importantly feel like - a child's game. Amalur won't overwhelm you with decisions Witcher style, but they are there. And they do matter. They change the plot/story. Amalur has a lot to like.

 

And that is before you get to the combat system. Which is, simply put, light years better than Skyrim. For starts, Amalur's combat is fun out of the box. One tic mark up on Skyrim already. Its varied. Another tic mark. Your "class" (aka destiny, which you can respec any time) has a DRAMATIC affect on moves, weapons, spells/abilities available, etc. It also affects whether you stay at range, lay traps and sneak or barge into combat yelling about freedom with a sword bigger than your...well, its big.

 

Its cartoonish, and that takes away from a mature plot line full of mystery and death. Amalur would be darker with a heavier, realistic art style. Wish it had one. But I love it, and after playing it find returning to Skyrim difficult. I suspect that lies at the heart of my post here, in fact. Skyrim is more pleasing to the eye, but it feels...hollow, and the mechanics are simply ancient and not at all fun.

[Fortunado3]

Yeah, Skyrim is pretty watered down. Give it a few months for the mods to get rolling.

[trees415]

Totally agree with you, the last part of the game took me the longest to complete simply because I couldn't play the game for longer than a half hour. The quests were all based off the same templates, and there were many questlines I would've preferred to be shorter whereas others should have been longer. the civil war questline is one example of a questline that was waaayyy too short, because those were some of my favorite quests as they were always original.

Hopefully the DLC's offer something new, and, I'm not gonna put too much faith in the quest mods that the community produces until I see them...

Edited February 21, 2012 by trees415

[PsxMeUP]

The problem with the last 3 Elder Scroll games is the depth of gameplay. The world has a lot of loot which you can pickup, sell and jump (badly) on, and a bounty system tied to killing and thieving, but that's about it. There world is very cardboard. It has been for years. You can't climb through windows, or make your way onto a rooftop. You can't properly hide behind objects, or perform complex moves like slide, crawl, roll, parry, deflect, etc. I don't even know if the game has ladders, let alone ropes and stuff. And I agree about consequences. The civil war is very under-developed. There should be more consequences and rewards when picking a side, like access to soldier companions, squads you can order around, etc.

[Thoreai]

Here comes the fun part.

 

Warning: What I am about to write - about skyrim the game, not the community - may be viewed as sacrilege/blasphemy on this site. You were warned:

 

Pavy: I am willing to bet - real money, mind you and I live in America, where it ain't so easy to come by as once it was - I am willing to bet you will like Amalur better. It ain't pretty; but you won't notice. Amalur's cartoon asthetic could leave you pining away for Skyrim's craggy mountains and amazing vistas, if you notice their absence.

 

But you won't.

 

The writing in Amalur is worlds better than Skyrim. You make decisions. Real, someone-lives-and-someone dies decisions. You can anger factions, get people killed. Be a benevolent savior on some quests or a complete asshat. And people care about your decisions. You get the feeling those decisions matter to someone. They have...gasp...consequences.

 

Now like it or love it, Skyrim lacks consequences. Please don't argue here; we all know it. I was lead to believe Skyrim was the adult's action RPG, with a gritty, bloody world full of tough decisions and tougher circumstances. I was lead to believe Amalur was the childish RPG with cartoon graphics and a hunky dory, all-is-well-in-candy-land plot line.

 

The opposite is closer to the truth. The story and atmosphere of Amalur make Skyrim look like - and more importantly feel like - a child's game. Amalur won't overwhelm you with decisions Witcher style, but they are there. And they do matter. They change the plot/story. Amalur has a lot to like.

 

And that is before you get to the combat system. Which is, simply put, light years better than Skyrim. For starts, Amalur's combat is fun out of the box. One tic mark up on Skyrim already. Its varied. Another tic mark. Your "class" (aka destiny, which you can respec any time) has a DRAMATIC affect on moves, weapons, spells/abilities available, etc. It also affects whether you stay at range, lay traps and sneak or barge into combat yelling about freedom with a sword bigger than your...well, its big.

 

Its cartoonish, and that takes away from a mature plot line full of mystery and death. Amalur would be darker with a heavier, realistic art style. Wish it had one. But I love it, and after playing it find returning to Skyrim difficult. I suspect that lies at the heart of my post here, in fact. Skyrim is more pleasing to the eye, but it feels...hollow, and the mechanics are simply ancient and not at all fun.

Im really looking forward to that game, graphics were never a seling point to me, its the gameplay and interesting features of a game.

 

I know the combat is flashy and stylish, from what i saw, it looks really good, i just hope it wont be all about that, but there seems to be a lot of talking going on wich is good thing.