Having the Falmer be Blind is Just Stupid

[IsharaMeradin]

Here are my own results of fighting Falmer on the adept setting. Take it for what you will...

 

With a follower,

they always find me. I blame the follower.

 

Without a follower,

If I attack at a great distance, they will wander around "looking" or trying to sense the source of the disturbance.

If I attack at a closer distance, they will charge the direction the attack came from. Typically not even attacking until right upon me. They literally bump into me. It's my own fear and noise making as I backpedal that get them to attack sooner.

If I plan my ranged attack with a place to hide nearby, I can attack and quickly move to my hiding spot. The closer ones will try to locate the source of the disturbance. So long as I remain in my hiding spot and don't move, they can't find me. In this scenario, I've had them look directly at me and not see me. Only if one should get close enough to literally bump into me does it then attack and alert the others to my presence.

 

Perhaps things are different on other game settings, but my experience when solo falls in line with the idea that they are truly blind. So much so that I've seen on at least one occasion a Falmer literally walk off the edge of a platform and fall to its death. Any that do find me before bumping into me are magic users and very well could have cast some sort of spell to locate me.

[sajuukkhar9000]

I'm gonna have to go with "its magic"

 

Elder scrolls is a series that has taken the players ability to pause time when they open up the menu into lore.

 

Hell, Bethesda went so far as to put the modding tools into lore.

 

Trying to use logic to determine why the falmer are the way they are, seems kinda dumb.

Edited September 17, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000

[Lachdonin]

With incontrovertible proof that the Falmer have the ability to see, it is a bit astonishing that there is still an unwavering conviction that the Falmer are blind because lore says so and therefore any suggestion they have any level of ability to see must be unfounded.

 

You offer absolutely no proof besides gameplay mechanics, which we already know don't fully represent the world (though, the world does partially acomidated gameplay mechanics, as Sajuukhar points out). The fact that one observer (2, in fact, when you count Celebor) note that the Falmer are on the verge undergoing another change doesn't in the slightest indicate that they are not blind.

 

None of which is to say, of course, that they are not fully functional. We already know that there are creatures who 'see' magicka. We know that some Daedra (most notably those serving Molag Bal) 'see' living things and can home in on them like a missile. We know from our own wolrd (and something which cannot be expressly tested, since we can't disect a Falmer's head) that it is a rather simple thing to evolve to navigate complext environments without sight.

 

Sight being, of course, the translation of a certian portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from red to violet, into an optically visualised perception of ones surroundings. In this case, the Falmer are most definately blind. Being blind, however, does not mean they do not have a means by which they can perceive their environment.

[Tidus44]

With incontrovertible proof that the Falmer have the ability to see, it is a bit astonishing that there is still an unwavering conviction that the Falmer are blind because lore says so and therefore any suggestion they have any level of ability to see must be unfounded.

 

You offer absolutely no proof besides gameplay mechanics, which we already know don't fully represent the world

In this case, the Falmer are most definately blind.

 

 

I have read a fair amount of unmitigated BS and some absolutely asinine drivel but this is magnificent in its absolute denial of fact and unsubstantiated blather bordering on the delusional.

 

Obviously, the capabilities of the Falmer within the game to use bows and arrows with a comparative degree of accuracy and finesse and of being quite capable in locating and identifying enemies from a distance is just a meaningless aberration and thus cannot be accepted as evidence the Falmer have some ability to see because the game play mechanics are not representative of the world.

 

Really?

 

Then please explain exactly how the blind Falmer are capable of the feats seen in the game using substantiated fact and science from the real world and not some garbage about magicka or some fantasy statement like "it is a rather simple thing to evolve to navigate complext environments without sight."

 

I think I may be waiting a long, long time for that explanation.

[sajuukkhar9000]

Then please explain exactly how the blind Falmer are capable of the feats seen in the game using substantiated fact and science from the real world and not some garbage about magicka or some fantasy statement like "it is a rather simple thing to evolve to navigate complext environments without sight."

Fun fact, the Elder Scrolls is not the real world, trying to demand a real world explanation for feats performed in a FANTASY game series is asinine drivel that this is magnificent in its absolute denial of fact and unsubstantiated blather bordering on the delusional.

[Carmelpoptart]

They can probably hear your heart beat and smell your breath. which also raises the question why you can even sneak past them. but it's the only somewhat good explanation for why their so handy with a bow despite being blind.

[IsharaMeradin]

maybe they are extreme light sensitive meaning that the brighter it is the harder it is for them to see. Thus those who have lived to tell the tale assume that the Falmer are blind because they had been on the surface when encountered.

 

it's a logical explanation that fits game mechanics and lore :P

[thompsonar]

If game mechanics define the lore then what higher power is dropping all these mammoths and dragon skeletons from the sky? That's what I want to know.

[Tidus44]

Then please explain exactly how the blind Falmer are capable of the feats seen in the game using substantiated fact and science from the real world and not some garbage about magicka or some fantasy statement like "it is a rather simple thing to evolve to navigate complext environments without sight."

Fun fact, the Elder Scrolls is not the real world, trying to demand a real world explanation for feats performed in a FANTASY game series is asinine drivel that this is magnificent in its absolute denial of fact and unsubstantiated blather bordering on the delusional.

 

Since you have chosen not to read the post I was replying to and have simply taken my comments out of context to serve your need to be antagonistic and inflammatory it is likely entirely useless for me to attmpt to reply.

 

It is strongly suggested in future you actually read things instead of becoming hostile and abusive about things you do not fully understand.

[sajuukkhar9000]

Since you have chosen not to read the post I was replying to and have simply taken my comments out of context to serve your need to be antagonistic and inflammatory it is likely entirely useless for me to attmpt to reply.

 

It is strongly suggested in future you actually read things instead of becoming hostile and abusive about things you do not fully understand.

No I did read what you typed, and what you were replaying to, and what the post you were replaying to was replaying to, and I believe you are wrong, and kinda being a dick.

 

There has been literally zero proof provided that the Flamer can see, in any way, and yet you, by your word words, say

With incontrovertible proof that the Falmer have the ability to see, it is a bit astonishing that there is still an unwavering conviction that the Falmer are blind because lore says so and therefore any suggestion they have any level of ability to see must be unfounded.

You use a quip from the book “The Falmer: A Study”, to try to back up your claim, yet anyone who knows anything about Elder scrolls lore knows that In-game books are some of, if not the single most, untrustworthy sources of information in the game.

 

Or should I remind everyone of how wrong books such as The Amulet of Kings are? And lets not forget my favorite lie told by books in Elder scrolls, that Tiber Septim was a nord from Atmora.

 

The Falmer are blind, in their entirety, and lack any ability to see, be it physical or magical, and they will remain that way until a developer says otherwise.

Edited September 18, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000