Dawnguard Vampire Attacks = Game Killer?

[BrettM]

Also, in 40+ hours of gameplay, I have yet to have ONE NPC die from vampire attacks, seriously the vampires are so easy to kill that if they are managing to take out NPCs your doing something wrong.

Once I fast traveled to Morthal to visit the apothecary. A mudcrab popped out of the swamp at the other end of town and took down an NPC with one shot. I had less than a second to react and the NPC was yards away. Even if I had already had a bow in hand, I could not possibly have nocked, drawn, and fired at a distant target in the time available. Please tell me what I did wrong.

 

Once I fast traveled to the Riften Stable. A dragon appeared and I ran to engage him. So did the stable master and his assistant though they are unarmed and unarmored. The dragon insta-charred them before I got in my first hit. Please tell me what I did wrong.

 

I started Dawnguard with a level 74 character. I mapped to Whiterun. I heard shouting behind me. By the time I drew my sword, turned around, and ran towards the commotion at the gate -- a matter of seconds -- Adrienne and Ulfberth were dead. Please tell me what I did wrong.

 

This didn't start with Dawnguard, but the vampire attacks are making it more common. It is annoying, though not "game breaking", to no longer be able to buy a horse in Riften or to do business at Warmaiden's. But I don't see how that annoyance is caused by any failure on my part. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect me to do the impossible, especially when faced with NPCs who are stupid enough to try fisticuffs against a dragon instead of running away.

[sajuukkhar9000]

Considering Mudcrabs do like 5-10 damage with their attacks, and even the weakest NPCs has around 50hp, said NPC couldn't have died in one hit, what you did wrong was make up a literally impossible senario.

 

You failed to draw aggro by attacking the Dragon with a spell or bow causing him to attack you first.

 

You failed to notice the Vampire NPCs that spawns when you first mapped in. Had you been paying attention to what happened when the cell first loaded you would have been able to stop it.

 

If you don't see how you not paying attention, or failing to understand game mechanics, is your fault then........... well...... then your like most people who deny their own fault and instead finger point the blame on everything but themselves. but given how our society is based around "it can never be MY fault, its ALWAYS someone else" itdoesn;t suprise me it happens so often.

Edited August 7, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000

[SFBryan18]

Doesn't bother me. I use a mod that makes unique NPC's respawn, plus my guards are all super soldiers because of my mod Steel Soldiers, so the vampires don't have a chance.

[Maigrets]

Considering Mudcrabs do like 5-10 damage with their attacks, and even the weakest NPCs has around 50hp, said NPC couldn't have died in one hit, what you did wrong was make up a literally impossible senario.

 

You failed to draw aggro by attacking the Dragon with a spell or bow causing him to attack you first.

 

You failed to notice the Vampire NPCs that spawns when you first mapped in. Had you been paying attention to what happened when the cell first loaded you would have been able to stop it.

 

If you don't see how you not paying attention, or failing to understand game mechanics, is your fault then........... well...... then your like most people who deny their own fault and instead finger point the blame on everything but themselves. but given how our society is based around "it can never be MY fault, its ALWAYS someone else" itdoesn;t suprise me it happens so often.

 

 

It must be nice to be perfect and never make a mistake. I don't have DG, but I've certainly read a lot about it, good and bad.

Bethesda's tried and true tricks to fake more exciting game play is nothing but an annoyance, just like the Radiant quests, the thieves in Riften and the dragon attacks in towns. These vampire attacks, as described by many users here and elsewhere, do NOT make the game harder or more challenging. They are there as a failed attempt at making the world seem more dangerous, which gets really old, really quickly.

 

 

Co-incidentally, I just came from reading about Dawnguard and it's price in Australia on the Steam forums (because I was bored) and I see you employ these circular tactics there in the thread I was reading as well as others.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2852205

 

Why can't you concede that you appear to play differently to others, stop dictating how they should play and recognize that everyone's experience is different, especially when it comes to random events and how they spawn.

[sajuukkhar9000]

Lol really? that is your retort? That I said, or implied, I was perfect, and never made mistakes? or that I expect others to be perfect, or never make mistakes? You don't have to be perfect to not have a NPC die in Skyrim, the game is VERY lenient in your favor at keeping NPCs alive.

 

I suggest you learn what circular logic is, because it has not been made. My arguments do not begin with what I am trying to end up with. Seriously, if your gonna use a personal attack against someone at least use one that is true. Call me blunt, abrasive, or lacking the common "niceties" people normally use when talking/typing, because all of those are true.

 

-I never believed, said, or implied, that others don't play differently then me, were you got that is beyond me. However, no matter your playstyle, be it warrior, mage, or thief, the games throws TONS of chances for you to keep NPCs alive. If you can't try turning down the difficulty, because your obviously having troubles with the one you are on.

-I am not dictating how anyone should play, all paths, if played half decently, give the same result, aka keeping everyone alive, and I have don't care about which path people take. I would like you to point out a spot where I did say "there is only one right path" or "you must play MY path", if you do I will concede that point. All I care about is people not blaming a game for something that is entirely 100% preventable if they play better by learning the game.

-Beyond that I fully understand that random events happen differently for people, that IS why they are called random, however the game has certain limitations in its coding that prevent a unstoppable situation from happening. It's all about using the game to your own advantage.

 

 

 

I find it laughable that is this considered a bad thing at all. I remember when Skyrim first came out two of the biggest complaints was that there were too many unkillable NPCs, and that the killable NPCs were never in any danger.

 

It's funny that after s much complaining from he fans of NPCs not being in any danger Bethesda adds something that puts them in danger and fans STILL complain.

 

You don't have a feature in a product, people complain, you add a feature people said they wanted, people complain. the world of game development, a lose-lose situation.

Edited August 7, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000

[Satorinu]

Snip

Bethesda's tried and true tricks to fake more exciting game play is nothing but an annoyance, just like the Radiant quests, the thieves in Riften and the dragon attacks in towns. These vampire attacks, as described by many users here and elsewhere, do NOT make the game harder or more challenging. They are there as a failed attempt at making the world seem more dangerous, which gets really old, really quickly.

Snip

 

Bethesda's 'tricks' actually do make the game more thrilling and alive, I adore seeing a thief run off at random, the DB attempts, the vampire attacks; even if I were to lose NPC's over it (which.. thus far 0 npc's lost except 1 useless guard who got ganged up on by three vampires, one being a master.. no big loss.. the other two guards wiped them.. or something to that effect.. far more than that lost in the below spoiler and not of my doing xD.); wish there were loads more totally random things preferably of which don't even involve combat; it's the only thing that makes the original skyrim have ANY life about it at all, and as mods are applied; they add to the total life-like nature of Skyrim. So while your entitled to your opinion of them and obviously you really dislike the random acts; I'm entitled to mine in saying - They are an awesome success that I wish would be fleshed out far more, and likely will be in the mod scene to a major overhauly degree, or I can dream at least. :P Even if I someday lose a NPC or three or twenty I care about, it's still worth it. New, interesting experiences.

 

You do however have to be in the mindset that no character, no matter who it is in the game, is important enough to be spared from murder in your playthrough; if they die, they die. You keep going and know your next experience will be different.

 

 

God knows there were a TON of total deaths, a decent number (3-4 I believe) innocent deaths during the Forsworn escape from the mining prison; during one playthrough I lost 4-6 from just a insane amount of NPC's having been gathered in the path of the escape and the guards poorly being across from them with arrow fire; but naturally the guards of the city were rolled; this latest playthrough two innocent NPC's were accidentally caught in the crossfire between the guards and forsworn at random trying to flee from newly sprung battlefield; and I'm still going strong, bound to lose many more over the course of 100+ hours.. knowing when I'm ready to start a new game they'll be alive again and who knows what will happen.

 

 

and that sort of hellish event could occur in Morrowind, or Oblivion' just not as likely until you added mods to them for that purpose.. while now you can add mods in skyrim to make such things happen less often; but if the potential to lose a useful NPC at some point to a sudden attack is not making your Skyrim experience more thrilling with each passing moment and even more so during such random events, then your not playing how it was designed to be played (mentally) and.. well mods will cure that I suppose, I just don't mind losing that precious smithy or quest giver knowing there are tons more to do and a new game to consider 'eventually' even if I did start losing villagers left and right; dragon's however have always been the ones to cause such doom and still can if they get lucky.. the vampires.. such.. suuuuuuch a slim chance of successfully killing a villager, at least across my 50+ hours of Dawnguard thus far; they may kill a guard but never a villager; I actually am looking forward to when they do; might host a burial ceremony for the fallen with torches around the corpse and see if ... hmm.. new mod request.. use item concepts from camping kit of the northern ranger to design a carryable coffin that can be placed anywhere.. :nods nods:. Ah well, I'll think of something' .. perhaps raise it back to life just to practice my magic until it turns to ash.. something'

 

That's all, my 'opinion' and nothing more than that.

[sajuukkhar9000]

snip

You are certainly someone who gets why the Vampire attacks, and resulting NPCs deaths, aren't as big of a deal as people make them out to be.

[Stemin]

Considering Mudcrabs do like 5-10 damage with their attacks, and even the weakest NPCs has around 50hp, said NPC couldn't have died in one hit, what you did wrong was make up a literally impossible senario.

 

You failed to draw aggro by attacking the Dragon with a spell or bow causing him to attack you first.

 

You failed to notice the Vampire NPCs that spawns when you first mapped in. Had you been paying attention to what happened when the cell first loaded you would have been able to stop it.

 

If you don't see how you not paying attention, or failing to understand game mechanics, is your fault then........... well...... then your like most people who deny their own fault and instead finger point the blame on everything but themselves. but given how our society is based around "it can never be MY fault, its ALWAYS someone else" itdoesn;t suprise me it happens so often.

 

That's your argument. Everyone in this thread is a liar or incompetent except you. Ignore listed.

[Flamdring]

Strange that you guys complain about vampires killing off random NPCs in towns so easily. I have a level 64 character and use mods which make NPCs - pretty much anyone from Dragons to Mud Crabs - quite dangerous opponents e.g. today it has taken me two real hours to fend off an attack on Riverwood from three dragons none of which were maximum level (two arctic and one spectral). Hell, a Volkihar Master Vampire is able to end my warrior's life in a split second unless I am very careful and use potions/buffs prior to battle. The reason why I have various mods that make NPCs much stronger is because the stock game is so damn easy even on Master difficulty. In Vanilla it takes only a couple of bash and cut attacks to bring down even the toughest of dragons when they are on the ground (in mine - "Dragonrend" is ineffective against higher level dragons) while common bandits are slain with one or two simple slashes from a daedric sword - where is fun in that?

 

What I am saying is that unless you have mods that make your opponents stronger, I do not see how low level vampires can kill off so many NPCs in your game. In fact, since Sunday I have encountered only one vampire attack, in Markarth, and with all my combat difficulty enhancing mods that vampire was brutally cut to pieces by an army of guards (two of whom died), yet it managed to take Ghorza gra-Bagol with him to the other plane of existence! Mind you, that vampire could cast powerful healing spells on himself, use various destructive spells, had a pretty strong melee attack in addition to its life draining abilities. It also revived fallen guards to fight on his side.

 

Now if I encounter more of such... madness with Dawnguard installed, I will scream from joy, because the game will finally become even more challenging! :P

Edited August 7, 2012 by Flamdring

[Stemin]

Strange that you guys complain about vampires killing off random NPCs in towns so easily. I have a level 64 character and use mods which make NPCs - pretty much anyone from Dragons to Mud Crabs - quite dangerous opponents e.g. today it has taken me two real hours to fend off an attack on Riverwood from three dragons none of which were maximum level (two arctic and one spectral). Hell, a Volkihar Master Vampire is able to end my warrior's life in a split second unless I am very careful and use potions/buffs prior to battle. The reason why I have various mods that make NPCs much stronger is because the stock game is so damn easy even on Master difficulty. In Vanilla it takes only a couple of bash and cut attacks to bring down even the toughest of dragons when they are on the ground (in mine - "Dragonrend" is ineffective against higher level dragons) while common bandits are slain with one or two simple slashes from a daedric sword - where is fun in that?

 

What I am saying is that unless you have mods that make your opponents stronger, I do not see how low level vampires can kill off so many NPCs in your game. In fact, since Sunday I have encountered only one vampire attack, in Markarth, and with all my combat difficulty enhancing mods that vampire was brutally cut to pieces by an army of guards (two of whom died), yet it managed to take Ghorza gra-Bagol with him to the other plane of existence! Mind you, that vampire could cast powerful healing spells on himself, use various destructive spells, had a pretty strong melee attack in addition to its life draining abilities. It also revived fallen guards to fight on his side.

 

Now if I encounter more of such... madness with Dawnguard installed, I will scream from joy, because the game will finally become even more challenging! :P

 

So you're another one who isn't playing the game stock and yet you're telling us how the stock game should behave. Fantastic.