How will FO3 influence TESV?

[Forest Dweller]

the problem with beth is that they have really good lore writers but no good dialog or quest writers.

Are they always seperate?

 

[Redeye]

I recall from the Lore in Morrowind that the Dwemer had the knowledge of Sending.

Sending being something like radio communication.

This was from the story about the Dwemer that infiltrated the Dunmer inside of a construct given as a gift.

If the knowledge of Sending has been rediscovered by TESV...

oh noes!

Perhaps the Imperial Guard will have an Aetherial Resonance Wave through which it spreads propaganda.

etc etc

Instead of a PipBoy, you have a Aetheric Resonance Mandala. Modify and upgrade it with various crystals. The crystals can be like the teleporter indexes from Morrowind, as well as other things.

 

[Barrow_Bug]

Also, I guess Bethesda missed the memo that NWN2's ending, replete with unsatisfying PC death, Photoshop-painted storyboards and a meager voice-over of player choices was perhaps the shittiest ending ever.

That's ONE ending. You can also choose the selfish ending, and they don't make you out to be a coward like in Fallout 3. It was a satisfying ending, and in my opinion the right one. And what's bad about the storyboards? It's identical to Fallout 1 and 2 endings.

I don't want to avoid your point, but let me say: I'm not into the whole multiple ending business. Just give me a good one, one without a hands-off cinematic and a pastiche slideshow telling me what I did in the game. I know what I did, dammit. I don't need the game reviewing my own actions for me like some sort of filmstrip highlight reel. Give me a real ending.

Now here's a funny that shall serve as self-conscious strawman:

The writing in Fallout 3 is equal to and sometimes better than most of what Bioware does.

I think what remains good about Fallout 3's dialogue is what is comparably most Oblivion about it-- that is, what the NPCs actually say when the trees aren't in the way. There might be the whole multiple outcomes stuff but NPCs typically don't form any relationship with you that matters, like they do in Oblivion. However, some of the old Bethesda charm manages to survive despite all of it.

I agree with you that what Bethesda puts in the mouths of their NPCs is often much better, more interesting and more engaging than what Bioware manages; but I can't agree with that for Fallout 3 as a whole.

What was added to facilitate the branching trees--the PC choices, of course, are often horrific, pure Bioware slag: restate premise nicely, perhaps in the form of a question; express tonal uncertainty while restating premise; snappily refute premise with a dash of profanity to keep it interesting and keep your evil quotient up. That sort of junk, which doesn't always happen but is there enough, is in no way (to my mind, anyhow), better than a solidly written but linear experience like the ones that Bethesda has always offered in the past, and which I'd personally hate to see them abandon in TESV simply because doing it in FO3 made them seem like geniuses to the uninitiated and earned them huge piles of cash.

Whilst I'm still boycotting this thread, you've got to be fucking joking about Beth writing better dialogs than Bioware. Beth can't write at all. Have you had to sit through that lame shit in the Citadel? Were you actually listening to three or so VO actors continually raping the same lines again and again, though out the entire game?

Are you fucking high to say that what Beth writes is ENGAGING? Fuck me. The dialog is derivative at best. The VO actors get ZERO direction with their performances, all of which they phone in- literally.

I want you to totally re-examine what you've just posted, it's complete horseshit.

 

[Helton]

I recall from the Lore in Morrowind that the Dwemer had the knowledge of Sending.

Sending being something like radio communication.

This was from the story about the Dwemer that infiltrated the Dunmer inside of a construct given as a gift.

If the knowledge of Sending has been rediscovered by TESV...

oh noes!

Perhaps the Imperial Guard will have an Aetherial Resonance Wave through which it spreads propaganda.

etc etc

Instead of a PipBoy, you have a Aetheric Resonance Mandala. Modify and upgrade it with various crystals. The crystals can be like the teleporter indexes from Morrowind, as well as other things.

Part 6: Chimarvamidium
After many battles, it was clear who would win the War. The Chimer had great skills in magick and bladery, but against the armored battalions of the Dwemer, clad in the finest shielding wrought by Jnaggo, there was little hope of their ever winning. In the interests of keeping some measure of peace in the Land, Sthovin the Warlord agreed to a truce with Karenithil Barif the Beast. In exchange for the Disputed Lands, Sthovin gave Barif a mighty golem, which would protect the Chimer's territory from the excursions of the Northern Barbarians.

Barif was delighted with his gift and brought it back to his camp, where all his warriors gaped in awe at it. Sparkling gold in hue, it resembled a Dwemer cavalier with a proud aspect. To test its strength, they placed the golem in the center of an arena and flung magickal bolts of lightning at it. Its agility was such that few of the bolts struck it. It had the wherewithal to pivot on its hips to avoid the brunt of the attacks without losing its balance, feet firmly planted on the ground. A vault of fireballs followed, which the golem ably dodged, bending its knees and its legs to spin around the blasts. The few times it was struck, it made certain to be hit in the chest and waist, the strongest parts of its body.

The troops cheered at the sight of such an agile and powerful creation. With it leading the defense, the Barbarians of Skyrim would never again successfully raid their villages. They named it Chimarvamidium, the Hope of the Chimer.

Barif has the golem brought to his chambers with all his housethanes. There they tested Chimarvamidium further, its strength, its speed, its resiliency. They could find no flaw with its design.

"Imagine when the naked barbarians first meet this on one of their raids," laughed one of the housethanes.

"It is only unfortunate that it resembles a Dwemer instead of one of our own," mused Karenithil Barif. "It is revolting to think that they will have a greater respect for our other enemies than us."

"I think we should never accepted the peace terms that we did," said another, one of the most aggressive of the housethanes. "Is it too late to surprise the warlord Sthovin with an attack?"

"It is never too late to attack," said Barif. "But what of his great armored warriors?"

"I understand," said Barif's spymaster. "That his soldiers always wake at dawn. If we strike an hour before, we can catch them defenseless, before they've had a chance to bathe, let alone don their armor."

"If we capture their armorer Jnaggo, then we too would know the secrets of blacksmithery," said Barif. "Let it be done. We attack tomorrow, an hour before dawn."

So it was settled. The Chimer army marched at night, and swarmed into the Dwemer camp. They were relying on Chimarvamidium to lead the first wave, but it malfunctioned and began attacking the Chimer's own troops. Added to that, the Dwemer were fully armored, well-rested, and eager for battle. The surprise was turned, and most of the high-ranking Chimer, including Karenithil Barif the Beast, were captured.

Though they were too proud to ask, Sthovin explained to them that he had been warned of their attack by a Calling by one of his men.

"What man of yours is in our camp?" sneered Barif.

Chimarvamidium, standing erect by the side of the captured, removed its head. Within its metal body was Jnaggo, the armorer.

"A Dwemer child of eight can create a golem," he explained. "But only a truly great warrior and armorer can pretend to be one."

Publisher's Note:

This is one of the few tales in this collection, which can actually be traced to the Dwemer. The wording of the story is quite different from older versions in Aldmeris, but the essence is the same. "Chimarvamidium" may be the Dwemer "Nchmarthurnidamz." This word occurs several times in plans of Dwemer armor and Animunculi, but it's meaning is not known. It is almost certainly not "Hope of the Chimer," however.

The Dwemer were probably the first to use heavy armors. It is important to note how a man dressed in armor could fool many of the Chimer in this story. Also note how the Chimer warriors react. When this story was first told, armor that covered the whole body must have still been uncommon and new, whereas even then, Dwemer creations like golems and centurions were well known.

In a rare scholarly moment, Marobar Sul leaves a few pieces of the original story intact, such as parts of the original line in Aldmeris, "A Dwemer of eight can create a golem, but an eight of Dwemer can become one."

Another aspect of this legend that scholars like myself find interesting is the mention of "the Calling." In this legend and in others, there is a suggestion that the Dwemer race as a whole had some sort of silent and magickal communication. There are records of the Psijic Order which suggest they, too, share this secret. Whatever the case, there are no documented spells of "calling." The Cyrodiil historian Borgusilus Malier first proposed this as a solution to the disappearance of the Dwemer. He theorized that in 1E 668, the Dwemer enclaves were called together by one of their powerful philosopher-sorcerers ("Kagrnak" in some documents) to embark on a great journey, one of such sublime profundity that they abandoned all their cities and lands to join the quest to foreign climes as an entire culture.

http://www.imperial-library.info/mwbooks/marobar.shtml

I've read that story half a dozen times and I never remembered that part, lol.

 

[Redeye]

I recall from the Lore in Morrowind that the Dwemer had the knowledge of Sending.

Sending being something like radio communication.

...

...

Though they were too proud to ask, Sthovin explained to them that he had been warned of their attack by a Calling by one of his men.
...
Another aspect of this legend that scholars like myself find interesting is the mention of "the Calling." In this legend and in others, there is a suggestion that the Dwemer race as a whole had some sort of silent and magickal communication. There are records of the Psijic Order which suggest they, too, share this secret. Whatever the case, there are no documented spells of "calling."

http://www.imperial-library.info/mwbooks/marobar.shtml

I've read that story half a dozen times and I never remembered that part, lol.

Ok, so it is called "Calling".


Radio Stations in Elder Scrolls.

lol

 

[bhlaab]

Gonna have to agree with your opinion on the linear dialogs in Oblivion, they are well done, and voice acted pretty well. Uriel Septim, in particular, was a great character. You have to admit, the beginning of Obliv actually made it seem like the rest of the game would be worth a damn.

Whoa whoa whoa were we playing the same game? The intro was the first 3 minutes of Morrowind stretched into twenty and Septim looked like a child predator made out of mud, and hearing Captain Picard trying to do a Gandalf impression made me wretch. Typical "Destiny has crossed our paths... you are the chosen one!" bullshit.

Fallout 3 is better than Oblivion in every every every single possibly concievable way, it just takes looking past its massive failures to live up to the fallout brand to see that.

 

[Volourn]

"Also, I guess Bethesda missed the memo that NWN2's ending, replete with unsatisfying PC death"

PC didn't die in NWN2 OC. And, that was obvious. The whining about NWN2 OC ending was retarded. It was a pretty cool ending. Period.

 

[The Ticktockman]

I would just like to mention that Rhalle's opinion about everything is wrong. You know, fyi.

 

[DraQ]

Whoa whoa whoa were we playing the same game? The intro was the first 3 minutes of Morrowind stretched into twenty and Septim looked like a child predator made out of mud, and hearing Captain Picard trying to do a Gandalf impression made me wretch. Typical "Destiny has crossed our paths... you are the chosen one!" bullshit.

'Real' Uriel Septim VII>>Oblibian's Alzheimer grandpa.

 

[Texas Red]

"Also, I guess Bethesda missed the memo that NWN2's ending, replete with unsatisfying PC death"

PC didn't die in NWN2 OC. And, that was obvious. The whining about NWN2 OC ending was retarded. It was a pretty cool ending. Period.

I agree with doctor Volourn. Yet, Biowarians whine about the pure awesomeness of MotB ending, so...

(Why don't you answer the question posed in GD, Vol?)

 

[elander_]

The only way for Bethesda to make a great TES game again is for them to fire Todd and hire Ken Rolston, Michel K. and Ted Peterson again.

And if you want great dialogs and memorable characters made by Bethesda with choices and consequences then look at this:
http://www.imperial-library.info/tsobs/

There's dialog quality in there that even the most linearity and story whore won't complain.

 

[JarlFrank]

Rest well this night, for tomorrow you sail for the kingdom of Daggerfall!

 

[bhlaab]

I don't know why everyone is pretending like Oblivion's dialogue system was any good

There was nothing shittier than finding some guy in the middle of nowhere, thinking "hey cool, wonder what this dude has to say" and being presented with

"HELLO!"
-RUMORS
-BYE

 

[DraQ]

I don't know why everyone is pretending like Oblivion's dialogue system was any good

It's called .

 

[Rhalle]

Are you fucking high to say that what Beth writes is ENGAGING? Fuck me. The dialog is derivative at best. The VO actors get ZERO direction with their performances, all of which they phone in- literally.

I want you to totally re-examine what you've just posted, it's complete horseshit.

A little stable of voice actors that doing their dramatic readings is no doubt different from something more explicitly cinematic; one either connects with the weird charm of it or they don't; and if they don't, then the whole game is a loss. I'll agree with you about the literal phoning-in, to a degree. It is clear from the quality of some of the soundfiles in Fallout 3 that McDowell did literally phone bits of it in-- and not on a particularly good connection. I can't say it's as egregious anywhere else, but I don't doubt it's there. And maybe you're right; perhaps it's there a lot of it, but I never really noticed it.

Huh? I honestly don't know where you're coming from on that.

I'm defending the way Oblivion did things as opposed to the way Fallout 3 does things, hoping that TESV doesn't abandon TESIV in order to be Fallout 3 With Swords, because I enjoyed Oblvion but not Fallout 3. And my point is that Bethesda created better NPC connections with the PC (as well as a better game overall) in their linear Oblivion mode. Bethesda's neophyte attempt at dialogue trees actually gets in the way of what they do best: directed and somewhat limited (but quirkily intimate) interactions and narrative.

The Biowarish stuff in FO3 doesn't open up the game, but rather makes it more narrow and less well-crafted since Bethesda tries to serve two masters.

And (ironically?) the only NPC that comes out of it all mostly unscathed is Moira Brown.

PC didn't die in NWN2 OC. And, that was obvious. The whining about NWN2 OC ending was retarded. It was a pretty cool ending. Period.

The ending of NWN2 was disquieting because Obsidian might as well have flashed across the screen:

"We've run out of money for this one, motherfuckers, and even we don't know if there will be a sequel."

Steve-the-janitor's voiceover and slideshow was such a low-rent anticlimax that it wasn't apparent there was any more money left for another NWN game, ever.

With the virtue of MotB and hindisght, it looks a little better.

 

[DraQ]

What is this shit?

*disgust*

 

[elander_]

" Bethesda's neophyte attempt at dialogue trees actually gets in the way of what they do best: directed and somewhat limited (but quirkily intimate) interactions and narrative. "

How do you expect some kind of interaction if the only thing you do in Oblivion is to click on a single dialog line to advance the story? Even Bioware games provide more than this.

Also if you have a speech skill it's retarded that you can't use it for solving quests through dialog, otherwise its better not have any speech skill and have only combat related skills.

 

[Forest Dweller]

PC didn't die in NWN2 OC. And, that was obvious. The whining about NWN2 OC ending was retarded. It was a pretty cool ending. Period.

The ending of NWN2 was disquieting because Obsidian might as well have flashed across the screen:

"We've run out of money for this one, motherfuckers, and even we don't know if there will be a sequel."

Steve-the-janitor's voiceover and slideshow was such a low-rent anticlimax that it wasn't apparent there was any more money left for another NWN game, ever.

With the virtue of MotB and hindisght, it looks a little better.

Ah okay, you were talking about the OC. I thought you were talking about MotB since it offers a "sacrifice yourself or go on living" option similar to Fallout 3.

There's two ways to look at that ending. If you look at it as a segway into MotB (which I did) then its okay. And I think they were always planning that. If you look at it as an ending by itself then its a complete piece of shit, I agree.

And yes, the voice actor for that was a fag. The MotB guy was better.