Elder Scrolls V

[Sketcz]

Being just at the beginning of Oblivion, I agree with Pete on the classes. Even though you get a bit of play before choosing class, you don't really get a sense of how you'll approach the game or what you'll need until a bit later, after you've chosen. I actually restarted so I could choose again because I realised that I totally chose a class that would be useless to me.

I actually spent a week on Morrowind and several days on Oblivion, just reading about the class systems, waiting for my game to arrive in the post. It was great fun drafting up plans for each skill I was going to choose and how I would tweak everything.

Went with custom classes both times (Wanderer), focusing on archery and alchemy. Ahh, good times.

[PeteJ]

That's exactly what they are trying to do except you don't have to make choices before you start. You'll still be able to play the same way as before!

[Sketcz]

I've just read that Bethesda have:
Removed the ability to create custom spells.

That was one of the best things about the previous TES games, and now it's gone. The ability to create your own magic, with custom attributes and names, was something unique to TES, and crazy awesome. Especially since if you had a spell with a basic affect (like heal), you could remake it in any form, for example heal on target, which is great for healing allies.

In both Morrowind and Oblivion, I would buy up cheap spells to gain access to a specific effect, and then I'd create my own custom spells, to my own specific standards, at a considerably cheaper price than other people were selling them for. It made me feel like a genuinely unique character, someone with their own variety of unique magic. I mean why spend 1000 on some spell that has an area effect when I can buy a cheap weak version, and then custom make my own for half the price of the strong one, but with parameters more to my liking?

When will all the dumbing down end? When the game is basically an FMV based session of QTEs.

[Flabio]

I don't think I ever used that, I never really got the hang of the magic system in 3 or 4.

[Sketcz]

How did you play without magic?

Yesterday I needed a custom spell to fix a bug in Oblivion.

I caught the vampire disease and used a potion to cure it. But it didn't remove the Vampire Flag that affects NPCs, so now EVERYONE accuses me of being a blood sucker and won't speak to me. in effect my game is broken. So I went and made a custome 100pt charm spell for 2 seconds, it was cheap and doesn't require much magic. Now I have to charm everyone I speak to.

Bethesda are known for their buggy as hell games - it's ridiculous to remove things in the name of preventing you from breaking the game, when it's likely to break anyway.

To be honest I'm not even sure how to correct this buig - actually become a vampire and then do the quest to remove it?

[Finsbury Girl]

Mate I hardly needed any magic at all throughout the entire game and I was/am the head of the magic guild (+thieves guild + warriors guild)!! That's probably my biggest complaint with the game as it ruined my immersion in the reality of the world. The only magic I used a lot was healing to be honest.

Still I'm pretty pumped about the next one - I hope the third person view isn't broken like it was in Oblivion and Fallout 3. I should add that I did eventually get used to the 1st person view, but for combat I would've liked 3rd person - but that's just my bag!

Oblivion is the only 360 game I've maxed (admittedly that's due to most games having rubbish online adversarial cheevos which I'm not into that much).

[DANGEROUS-3]

Having never played any of the Elder Scrolls games before, will Skyrim be a game that is newcomer friendly?
Will I be able to just pick up and play and get into it easily?
The game looks amazing.

[Malc]

Having never played any of the Elder Scrolls games before, will Skyrim be a game that is newcomer friendly?
Will I be able to just pick up and play and get into it easily?
The game looks amazing.

Definitely.

Every new Elder Scrolls has been easier to play than the last one. Oblivion was the first really accessible Elder Scrolls and Skyrim looks to be a nice refinement over that.

The character class system has been dropped as far as i'm aware, so now you really do just pick it up and go; how you play determines what sort of character you will be.

[DANGEROUS-3]

Awesome.
So it's not like you have to know what happened in the previous games?
I guessing it's new characters in each game?

[Flabio]

The games are only *very* loosely linked. There are some lore references, but nothing that will affect your enjoyment (unless they do something radically different with the plot this time).

There's substantial time skip between each game, so the previous games story is always 'that thing that happened in the past that noone alive really remembers'.

[endo]

In terms of story, yes it's new characters. In terms of the types of characters available to play, I think they're still the same. Either way, the game won't require you to know about the story from previous games.

[DANGEROUS-3]

Great, count me in then.

The detail of the graphics combined with the free roaming expanse of of the game world and the spectacular scenery is like nothing I've seen before. Really beautiful. It's like a real living world just waiting for you to explore.

There seems to be a little screen tearing, hopefully that will be minimal in the final game, although I guess it's worth noting the 360 must be getting pushed pretty hard.

[Brad]

Having never played any of the Elder Scrolls games before<snip>.

You know you have to be over 12 to visit these boards right?

;-)

[Dogg Thang]

I hadn't played an Elder Scrolls game until last week! Leave him alone!!!

[Sketcz]

Yeah, leave Dogg Thang's son alone!!!