The ruining effect

[screendrop]

When Skyrim was released, the very day, I was far from home. Even more, I had no knowledge of what Skyrim was or even what the Elder Scrolls were. In my perception of the title, they were only another second hand alternative to every other fantasy/action/roleplaying game, ever.

So, I was far from home. I was at a mate’s house doing the annual stay and game trip. He'd just got Skyrim in the mail but we opted instead to play something else, maybe it was COD, perhaps. I do not remember because it was over shadowed by an event that would ultimately change my life.

We played this other title for a while before he asked me,

"Do you wanna play Skyrim?"

All of my instincts told me to say no, to not be involved in what I assumed to be a mundane and generic game but out of respect to social convention, I said yes.

So we put the game in his PS3 and started. On the carriage to Helgen I was immediately taken by the chaotic beauty of the landscape and the fact that I had no idea what was going on, what the story would eventually pertain to but continued with the short pre-game dialogue.

I marvelled like a young child in their first candy shop at the detail of the Imperial armour (regardless of it being on a PS3 rather than a PC) and gawked at the immense detail that Helgen was rendered in.

We spent the next few minutes creating the character, blindly picking a starting race, not understanding the boons and perks of each one and ended up sitting with a Woodelf before watching Loki die.

Then, with increasing trepidation, we slowly trekked towards the block as General Tulius gave his speech that I could not comprehend to Ulfric and finally watch a rebel soldier die.

As it was our turn, I began to become confused about where this was going and the back story and how this situation had arisen.

Then Alduin attacked.

The following minutes spent escaping, to me, defined what Skyrim entails. Insane chaos with moments of clarity. Scrambling up as our vision begins to clear up as fireballs fall, killing and crushing indiscrimately and searching furiously for cover. Fighting aimlessly with the UI as we try to find what the objective is and finally making our way to the keep, then out of the cave and finally to Riverwood before killing our first chicken.

After that, I left my friend’s house and returned home before purchasing a PC with the sole intention of playing Skyrim.

200 Hours later and something happened that changed my perception of Skyrim.

Minus 200 hours of Skyrim now and I realise that Skyrim has one thing going for it that attracted me.

The fact, which I outlined previously, that I had no Idea what was going on enthralled me. Even upon leaving, exploring new areas, finding new enemies and even having no idea where I am or having no distinct image of what anything looks like is what attracted and kept me for 200 hours.

Often, the pure confusion and fact that in reality, I had no idea of what was happening appealled to me in the same way that it is often comforting to be surrounded by concepts that are relatable. 200 hours ruined this.

In 200 hours, I have nearly memorized the map, every weapon, NPC, location, item you name it.

The initial confusion of not knowing where I was has all but disappeared and now all that’s left is to rediscover places that I had in fact discovered 30 times already.

This I call the ruining effect. My comprehensive knowledge of Skyrim has ruined it for me. No longer can I walk in awe though the Whiterun hold because I had done it too many time already.

Knowledge is powerful but also, knowledge can ruin an experience.

 

Does anyone else have this problem and if they do, can they share a way that they have overcome this issue?

 

~SD

[Lachdonin]

So... Do you have Dawnguard? Or are you planning on getting Dragonborn?

 

Clearly, the appeal to you is the descovery and the question "Whats around the next corner". If that's the case, no game is going to consistantly feed that drive forever. Even randomly generated games, like Diablo 2 and Daggerfall, are going to wear dry eventually when you know that the Stony Fields leads to the Highlands, or that the King of Worms lairs in such-and-such).

 

Still, 200 hours out of a game is more than one can say for most games out there these days.

[screendrop]

I do not have Dawnguard but I have Hearthfire and am planning on getting Dragonborn.

Its more that I feel the need to have no Idea of what's going. I suppose you're right though, I do need some whats around the corner moments.

I can sort of extend my fascination with mods, which I have been doing, but I am set to purchase Far Cry 3 and AC 3 next week and I don't want to completely let Skyrim disappear from my life.

[AnimeOtaku102]

At 749 hours here. Skyrim has lost a lot of its luster, but stubborn persistence for a "perfect" game (all artifacts collected, all quests done in a way that fits the character's personality, all homes built, all the right stewards assigned... no bugged savegames, which is annoyingly hard to accomplish) has carried me through. Also frequent breaks with other games.

[screendrop]

I agree but ive restarted id have to say around 50 times. I suppose its difficulty as the "consistent" play really helps.

I tend to "skip" through games, only partially playing other games, Skyrim is really only the game that I can obtain "full immersion"

[UrgeNexus]

According to Steam I just clocked 1000 hours a couple of days ago, I still haven't seen everything the game has to offer.

 

To be fair, I do know the game very well, I know most of the ins and outs of how it all works, though that is helped quite a bit by me playing Morrowind for far longer and Oblivion for at least a hundred hours or so. I never really liked Oblivion, Morrowind was the game that got me into TES and gaming as a hobby in general, so it's obviously tremendously important to me in several ways, Oblivion had no way of living up to the game that literally made me into the person I am today. In the end I played it on and off every now and then, testing various mods.

 

Now, to explain why I enjoyed Skyrim a lot more than Oblivion and why I still play it (I am planning a new character soon, so I have some time to prepare a good one for Dragonborn.) I will first have to talk a little bit about Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. There are other reasons I've played the game for as long as I have, but I'll get to that.

 

Fallout 3 was the game that took me from using mods, to making mods. I had used mods since Morrowind but I never really understood what went on "under the hood" so to speak. I still largely don't, look at my mods and you'll see some basic retextures and a few house mods of varying quality, but making my own mods and getting a better understanding of how mods work made me invest more time in the Fallout games. I no longer installed mods indiscriminately and in turn, had far less problems that impaired my enjoyment of the game. Falout: New Vegas took this one step further, with me getting better (slightly) at modding myself and the superb writing by Obsidian which kept me more invested in the story and my own characters different personalities.

 

The other important factor to me is roleplaying. Playing a TES game without roleplaying is inconcievable to me, I simply can not understand how people enjoy it. A character with every skill maxed out in full Daedric armour regardless of playstyle sounds unbelievably boring to me. That's not what Skyrim is about for me, it's about making a character and behaving as that character would. This leads to me making a ton of characters, because I always come up with an idea that seems more fun or more interesting, it's a condition known as altoholism and it can be a blessing and a curse. The positive side is that it gives longevity to the game, it's the reason I still haven't seen and done everything. I've seen most of it certainly, but not everything. The negative is that it often keeps me from making any real progress and that in turn frustrates me.

 

To sum up, I can still find enjoyment in Skyrim. Creating new characters with their own personalities and quirks, testing new mods that make the game look better or add new content, or reading the various books all over the place and learning new things about the world or having fond memories of Morrowind by reading books that carried over from earlier games, all of these things add up and ultimately keep me coming back for more. The game does get boring at times, I take breaks, but I've been coming back for more every time.

 

My played time will not stop at 1000 hours, I can guarantee that much. As I said, I want to make a new character and prepare for Dragonborn and when I've done that I'll probably make yet another character to do Dragonborn again, but maybe in a different way. The possibilities are endless.

[screendrop]

You sound intriguingly like myself. Only in that, I cannot stand "full powered" players. I play with mods that inhibit my growth and make my game supremely difficult, so much so that I have definitely spent more time healing, running and dying than actually fighting. Of course, this means that constant running ruins the searching and exploring aspects. Unfortunately, my mind seems to soak in information and with exploring as a second instinct, I have managed to amass a large base of knowledge of the game and its quirks.

With this said, recently I have really begun to use "immersion" mods such as TRO basic needs and Hypothermia cold weather and water survival to bring added complexity to the game but also, to increase the amount of effort required to perform tasks with the paradoxical hope of incresaing the enjoyment.

In addition to this, I have found that the console has become an issue. I have multiple content mods and spawning them in had become a very rampant occourance.

It has taken me a while to develop my gaming habits and I feel that I have become a more "mature" gamer rather than the spoilt gamer that forces items into existance because without a story of how they came to be added to my inventory.

I suppose I needed to personalize myself with my character more.

Thanks for replying

 

~SD

[FiftyTifty]

Aside from working on my own worldspace, I found that adding a bigger trees mod and lusher grass made everything an adventure. I get lost all the time, places look completely different and new, you can take cover behind the flora, etc.

Really changes the game for the better.

 

Imaginator allows you to change the colour scheme, which is nice. Adds quite a different atmosphere to the game, should you choose a particular direction.

 

Nerfing yourself is also fun. It gets boring when your the bandit-killing-dragon-slaying-werewolf-eating-dragonborn rather fast. Becoming the guy that needs to use strategy and/or run away is much more fun than mindless hacking and slashing.

[Relativelybest]

In 200 hours, I have nearly memorized the map, every weapon, NPC, location, item you name it.

The initial confusion of not knowing where I was has all but disappeared and now all that’s left is to rediscover places that I had in fact discovered 30 times already.

This I call the ruining effect. My comprehensive knowledge of Skyrim has ruined it for me. No longer can I walk in awe though the Whiterun hold because I had done it too many time already.

 

I think this is what is more accuratelly refered to as the What Always Happens If You Play A Game Enough Effect. Turns out that novelty wears of when it ceases to be new. Who'da thunk?

 

Yeah, I remember stumbling out of Helgen and having no idea where I was, and starting to head towards Riverwood but caught sight of Bleak Falls Barrow and was like "What is that over there!?" I was level 50 or something by the time I actually found the Warrior, Thief and Mage Stones.

 

Does a part of me wish I could play Skyrim that way again? Sure. But a much larger part of me recognizes that this is not possible with less than invasive brain surgery to erase my memories of the first playthrough.

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lynwx2SAxu1qec6u3o1_r1_500.jpg

I've logged 200 hours in Skyrim? I don't know what that means, but I'm intrigued.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Relativelybest

[Lachdonin]

I think this is what is more accuratelly refered to as the What Always Happens If You Play A Game Enough Effect. Turns out that novelty wears of when it ceases to be new. Who'da thunk?

 

This is really the crux of the problem. Morrowind has a much bigger "WTF is going on!?" vibe to it (even moreso than Daggerfall, i found) and even then... once you get through all the main stories, read some books and talk to a few dozen people, you know just about everything. Sure, i can go back 10 years later and i may have a surprise here and there, but after said surprise all you get is a "Oh, i forgot about that" rather than a "Woah! That was ausmazing!".

 

Because technology still limits us in the realm of actual changing, living worlds (without the constant attention of an army of programmers) it is totally impossible for you to hold onto that feeling of exploration and confusion forever. Still, anything more than 40 hours of gameplay is money well spent, IMO. I think i managed to put 6 into Assassin's Creed 3 before i was bored out of my mind...