Why I love Skyrim

[CT Phipps]

Anyone else remember that quest in Skyrim where you had to find proof that an inkeeper had been having a little bit of casual sex here and there, and you had to use that knowledge to blackmail her in to leaving town?

Quality A* deep writing there Emil.

You can also murder a beggar, a man for playing bad music, and generally several other monstrous acts. It's called player freedom. Part of the reason why it's roleplaying is you have to choose what acts you perform and what your character would do.

You'd think that would be something this group would praise. They're always talking about player freedom in games.

What does it say about you, you're helping in blackmailing?

 

[Deleted member 93956]

Sheer variety of quests...

Many much plenty often multiplying MOTHERFUCKING DRAUGR

 

[SarcasticGoodGuy]

Reminds me of this

Oh boy Draugr spam.

Geez where did all of the originality go, it's like I'm on r/Jokes

 

[CT Phipps]

You go into tombs, you should expect zombies.

That's all I'm saying.

But yes, you have:

Main Quest
Civil War Quest (which is shit, admittedly, save for the main quest parts)
College of Mage Quest
Thieves Guild Quest
The Bard College Quest
The Companion Quest
Dark Brotherhood Quest
The Morthal Vampire Quest Chain
The Silverblood/Forsaken Quest Chain

That's a shit ton of quests

Not even including the Daedric Quest chains and memorable ones like the Wolf Queen

 

[CerberusGate]

The problem about the game is that it is as shallow as a puddle even with the stuff it has. I had fun with it when I first got it but subsequent replays have made me realize how shallow and flawed it was. Nothing wrong with liking the game but don't go forcing opinions down throats here, Phipps. It's quite immature.

@JO'Geran and @SarcasticGoodGuy have managed to sum up many of my problems with Skyrim up nicely. In fact, I agree with Sarcastic's point on showing not being superior to telling since a game that possesses its own cultures and arts cannot really show due to differing cultural values in their world. In classic Silent Hill, showing rather than telling may work but for a open-world sandbox, showing is insufficient since context is needed.

The lore and extra stuff are merely secondary materials to a bland main quest that barely references any of them. Here are things I've noted;

• Something like the Emperor's murder in the Dark Brotherhood would be sending shockwaves throughout the land (and not hand-waved by in-game justifications). So having only guards reference this really shows how irrelevant these quests tie to the story.
• The much touted Civil War had interesting implications and ideas but in execution, it was dull and rather pointless (only serving to act as more Radiant Quest sources). A lot of wasted potential that only mods can fix (and a base game should not have to rely on mods to fix them).
• The Companions barely have any history or plot save for being a source of radiant quests and only having a werewolf curse to make them seem 'interesting'. Plus the faction barely does anything even in the Civil War or during the Dragon crisis.
• The College, for being a school of magic, winds up being embroiled in a crisis rather quickly and spews up similar types of quests (Radiant, dungeon crawling etc.) rather than anything really interesting or immersive like Morrowind or Oblivion did.
• The Thieves Guild... okay, they did put some effort into the Thieves Guild. I just wish the characters were far more interesting than the stereotypes in the actual game.

Anyone else remember that quest in Skyrim where you had to find proof that an inkeeper had been having a little bit of casual sex here and there, and you had to use that knowledge to blackmail her in to leaving town?

Wasn't it blackmailing her to make her ward like you more?

Yes, it's almost like if you did a Superman movie about how being Superman and saving people was awesome.

They did. It's called All Star Superman (which did not adapt that famous panel from the original comics but it's still alright) but Skyrim barely compares to something like All Star Superman.

The Chosen One concept here is even weaker as you are more like an irrelevant floating specter that floats between places and are only recognized by specifically coded NPCs. So no, Skyrim is not a reconstruction of the Chosen One concept; it's simple basic Chosen One concepts being stretched out to seem 'complex'.

You can also murder a beggar, a man for playing bad music, and generally several other monstrous acts. It's called player freedom. Part of the reason why it's roleplaying is you have to choose what acts you perform and what your character would do.

You'd think that would be something this group would praise. They're always talking about player freedom in games.

What does it say about you, you're helping in blackmailing?

It's not real roleplaying but rather fulfilling a checklist. All those actions will be completed by most players simply because they got a quest that needs to be completed.

 

[SarcasticGoodGuy]

You can also murder a beggar, a man for playing bad music, and generally several other monstrous acts. It's called player freedom. Part of the reason why it's roleplaying is you have to choose what acts you perform and what your character would do.

You'd think that would be something this group would praise. They're always talking about player freedom in games.

Killing for shits n' giggles != player freedom.

Killing anyone should be the standard in an open world RPG. It's like praising something for achieving the bare minimum.

The problem with player freedom in Skyrim is the atrocious variety in quests. It's all well and good pretending you're a noble Paladin, but sooner or later you'll be clearing out a dungeon. Same with mage, thief, archer whatever. Heck they should move Skyrim into the dungeon crawler category on Steam.

 

[SarcasticGoodGuy]

That's a shit ton of quests

Well I'm glad that you've accepted that they're shit. Can we move on now?

 

[CerberusGate]

The problem with player freedom in Skyrim is the atrocious variety in quests. It's all well and good pretending you're a noble Paladin, but sooner or later you'll be clearing out a dungeon. Same with mage, thief, archer whatever. Heck they should move Skyrim into the dungeon crawler category on Steam.

You fool, there is only one true class!

EDIT:

That's a shit ton of quests

That all winds up being the same. Only a few try to be unique but they tend to be more cliched rather than inspired. The rest are Radiant Quests, fetch quests, and FAR too many dungeon quests featuring everyone's favorite Draugrs.

The descent into Fallout 4's rather mediocre quest and story design began from somewhere. Skyrim is the closest link and there are signs of it.

 

[CT Phipps]

Well, I'm sorry you guys didn't like it.

I'm happy to discuss individual elements but I've said why I liked it and you said why you didn't.

 

[Millim]

I like Skyrim, but it's the worst in the main line series by far.
If seems to make a few steps forward from Oblivion and in terms of environments and conflicts (civil war was interesting) but takes steps back in terms of Side Quests and dialogue.

It's a step in the right direction, but it's only borderline 'Okay'

 

[CT Phipps]

I really didn't like Oblivion.

 

[0wing]

The loverslab content for Skyrim is superb, though. Even includes some of the A+ quests.

 

[joevonzombie]

I don't understand the appeal of what Bethesda does at all. Their games are perplexing to me. I have friends that love Skyrim and still complain that the game is a big fat broken mess that's poorly written and looks ike shit...
What exactly is there to enjoy?

 

[CT Phipps]

I don't understand the appeal of what Bethesda does at all. Their games are perplexing to me. I have friends that love Skyrim and still complain that the game is a big fat broken mess that's poorly written and looks ike shit...
What exactly is there to enjoy?

It's as beautiful as Tolkien in appearance.

And the music!

 

[joevonzombie]

It's as beautiful as Tolkien in appearance.

And the music!

Eh, I'd rather play The Witcher 2.

 

[Millim]

Skyrim is something I can play and have mindless fun for a few hours.
It's also the last game where I fell like they gave a shit.

While the game isn't without its massive set of flaws, there's at least something to do everytime you play it.

It's not as enjoyable or in depth as Morrowind, but it sure is a good time waster.

It's not a masterpiece like CT is trying to say, it's more of a very average sandbox.

 

[CerberusGate]

It's as beautiful as Tolkien in appearance.

So is a lot of RPGs set in medieval times. After all, most fantasy worlds are heavily set around Tolkien's roles and tropes.

In summary, I'd rather stick to Morrowind or The Witcher trilogy for my medieval-esque RPGs.

 

[Black Angel]

Killing for shits n' giggles != player freedom.

On top of that, essential NPCs completely obliterate the majority of player freedom in the game.

Sure, Skyrim seemed to be a game where you can do anything you want, at first glance, when you haven't played RPGs at all.

Now, though, I'd say (again, and again) Dark Souls had much, much more player freedom than Skyrim. You can ACTUALLY kill for shits n' giggles. But like many other good games, for every choice you make, a consequence await you in the Dark.

 

[CT Phipps]

So is a lot of RPGs set in medieval times. After all, most fantasy worlds are heavily set around Tolkien's roles and tropes.

In summary, I'd rather stick to Morrowind or The Witcher trilogy for my medieval-esque RPGs.

I should probably clarify that Skyrim is objectively a worse game in terms of technical terms as well as storytelling than The Witcher 3. Certainly, the characters are less deep and the risks taken are less severe. However, I am talking about Skyrim as my favorite game in terms of the amount of enjoyment I have taken from the game.

The Witcher 3's combat was frustrating to me and the massive number of identical villages also lowered my score versus the smaller but more developed Holds. If I was comparing Skyrim to, say, Blood and Wine I'd also say that The Witcher's DLC is better in terms of every single respect--but again, Skyrim is a game which just gave me a giddy sense of joy all throughout and will stick with me decades from now.

Albeit, I should mention I think the Witcher 2 is a better game even though it's far shorter and has far less freedom.

I also rank Dragon Age: Origins over the Witcher games even though, again, the Witcher 2&3 is better in all "respects" but how much I liked it.

If that makes sense.

 

[SarcasticGoodGuy]

I also rank Dragon Age: Origins over the Witcher games even though, again, the Witcher 2&3 is better in all "respects" but how much I liked it.

If that makes sense.

See this is why people get pissed off. You have superior products that you admit are superior, yet you still prefer Bethesda's shit. It's like each Bethesda game slowly lowers your expectations so that you can be fucked over by the next one with its lazy DLC, shitty business practices, terrible writing, casualized gimmicks...

Bethesda fans are like tribals now, they just love their games so much.