Skyrim- the erosion of a once great series

[Dodece]

That list is supposed to be damning, but it is actually affirming. These are all improvements over the predecessor. In the end it will make this game more fun. Rather then less fun regardless of how hardcore you think you are. Let me give my spin in a numbered form like the original author.

1. There is nothing wrong with auto aim in itself. We need to know how hard or soft it is prior to making judgements. A little more of it in Oblivion would have saved a lot of frustration, and created more combat options. Many players even if they didn't notice it consciously compensated by either using ranged attacks with soft edges, or in the melee opted for larger weapons. This could allow more bow usage as compared to destruction spells, or it can allow for players to balance power and speed with handheld weapons. Bottom line this does more good then harm.

Romances are fun to do in games. Virtual worlds cry out for virtual relationships. This should improve immersion. I also applaud health regeneration. This will help alleviate some stresses involving inventory management, and the big risk of getting trapped. This isn't going to make the game less challenging. It will help to prevent a lot of repetition however. Not to mention it will allow players greater freedom in leveling. Be honest how many here poured most of their coin, experience, and time into restoration first to have cheap heals. Wouldn't it be much nicer to have more of a choice. I play in first person blood spray will help me a lot. Sometimes in Oblivion I would get attacked by an enemy and not know that it was happening.

2. Good the armor is getting slimmed down. Less clutter in my inventory, and it should make specialized armor swapping a viable option in game. Now armor can be treated more like interchangeable buffs rather then static buffs. Haven't you played games with armors that work best in different situations. The start up class system was a little fun, but it was constricting, and it didn't marry up well with the rest of Oblivion. Where you unlocked all the other things anyway. This new system they are showing looks to have more strategic promise. Mounted combat wouldn't be much of a loss, and randomly generated quests provide for endless content. They are a staple in the majority of massive titles for a reason. They offer short time play.

3. Most of the quests in Oblivion were linear quests. What game were you playing. Getting terribly lost doesn't really qualify as exploration. They are just giving you a guideline if you need one. You do not need to follow it, and that is actually proof as to how extensive some of these dungeons will be. Clothing is another inventory sink in a game where inventory matters. Speaking to spears, flails, and crossbows. We have to see what may be there to compensate, and perhaps they would have functioned poorly in this game.

4. Once again did you play Oblivion. Open world random encounters were never all one or all the other. You are going to face strong dragons and weak dragons. All the dragons cannot be super strong. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to level the character, or progress through the story. I actually like the fact that the dragons will not just be boss fodder. They should offer some interesting open world combat. Seeing as they would be much harder to terrain kite. They offer ranged attacks, and they do not have to stay ground bound. These dragons are going to offer up a massive improvement in enemies. I love the fact that they will spawn again. What fun would it be if that were not the case.

5. This is not even a argument against the game. A whole slew of developers put consoles first. The reason being obviously due to the prevalence of piracy on computers. What justification would there be for preferential work being put in to a platform that will sell fewer copies. Console gamers are just generating the majority of support for the games. They should get special consideration. Rather then treated badly. Any way there is no reason that the game will not work well on a computer, and as others have pointed out thanks to mods. It should have plenty of variations to serve very discerning tastes.

6. Strange I found nothing wrong with the setting in Oblivion. Given the size of the world I welcome fast travel. It isn't as if I am not rewarded for exploring. Beyond that I think you are exaggerating. Even though Oblivion was a little spartan on the models. They did manage to make it look fairly good. When developers make worlds this big they are going to make some sacrifices. The scale more then makes up for the detail.

7. Compulsory dark factions aren't necessarily all that attractive. The Dark Brotherhood was a interesting concept, but it didn't offer much overlap with the rest of the game, or offer much in the mechanics department. It wasn't as if being in the brotherhood gave you access to anything that was not readily available in the rest of the game. So it wasn't different enough to be torn up about losing, and if it means they can put more depth into the other three groups that would probably be for the best.

8. Sub species are incredibly cool in concept. In practice however they offer only minor entertainment. Before you even take into consideration tradeoffs. The problem is they are treated as buffs, and not much else. Which is a shame. The crime here isn't a lack of inclusion, but the lack of development. It was a near worthless feature to be found in Oblivion. That doesn't mean it couldn't have been given real flesh. Say species related quests, or the obvious abilities. The Vampires in Oblivion were a real let down. What fun is it to be a Vampire if you cannot fly, turn other people into Vampires, or hypnotize opponents. It was a very weak feature. Diseases were also a fairly weak feature. Might be cool if you had to cook up your own medicine, but in the end it was just an excuse to run back to town.

9. Level scaling is always going to be a issue in these games. Nothing is going to make everybody happy. I do not know what kind of economy you think would be right for this game. It is a sandbox style game with all the things that comes with that. With some time and effort your always going to get rich in these types of games. That said in the Oblivion economy you weren't getting rich off just a handful of scores. It took dozens of hours before you started to see a surplus in your wallet. They put in a lot of things to buy, and a lot of things to make. Plus a large number of money sinks.

10. Athletics and Acrobatics weren't exactly something that should have been earned in the first place. All those had people doing was mindlessly jumping and swimming. Entirely unrewarding activities. Your character was very much crippled to start, and you had to heal them. Mysticism was equally under utilized in Oblivion. It wasn't that the skills weren't useful, but they were limited. Being that they were defensive, and only useful in certain places it rarely made sense to place them on the wheel. Anyway these things could be placed within a ring making them far more intuitive.

Your entire post was a smear campaign. You implied vacancy where some of these features were removed. While choosing to omit what was taking their place. I have a feeling I know why. You know if people were given the whole truth almost nobody would side with you. Skill trees are far more complex and rewarding then a facade of a class system with a all you can eat buffet underneath. You talk about weapons being removed, but then forget to mention differentiation in the remaining weapons, dual wielding, and forging. You talk about no crossbow, but decide not to comment on the improvement of the bow. Oh and yeah if my math is correct there are more skills in the new game then there were in the old game.

Do you care to make an honest comparison in response?