sea's (Mostly Technical) Skyrim Initial Impressions

[King Crispy]

I wasn't talking to you, newfag.

 

[villain of the story]

Oh master Villain of the story tell us unworthy untermensch what is the most majestic mortal kombat build in skyrim ?

Sorry, I haven't finished the game seven times yet. I'll sure to let everyone know once I do.

One would think there'd be a little more chivalry here in GRPG but it's still the KKKodex so I guess I deserved that.

But what good is chivalry when there arein't no hoes damsels to impress upon?

I'll stick with Block just because those perks sound cool but NEXT TIME...

Really, don't. It's useless.

I must admit, knocking people or beasts down can occasionally be fun since they actually fly back and up, thanks to the ridiculous physics engine, and you can make short work of targets by knocking them off cliffs or into streams but still, it's just not worth it. Especially considering the requirements.

Go full Heavy or Light Armor + perks, instead.

 

[King Crispy]

okay

 

[villain of the story]

Funny how streamlining turned out, so as not to confuse players with character creation and ending up with bad choices, didn't it?

 

[Monocause]

http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Block

When blocking almost all attacking damage will be cut in half.

I don't get it. What effect does your skill level have in that case? Perhaps it determines your chance for a successful block?

50% off is no joke anyway but still it should've been handled better somehow. On the other hand allowing you to block 100% of damage would be completely OP.

Don't forget that the shield cotributes to your AR which directly reduces the damage you receive. The current thesis on the formula goes like this, according to the UESP:

displayed armor rating = (worn armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * skill/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set) * (1 + Agile Defender or Juggernaut)
+ (shield armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * skill/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set)
+ effects (x-skin spells, Lord Stone, etc.)
hidden armor rating = 40 for wearing (chest) armor + 20 for each additional piece worn
damage reduction% = (displayed armor rating + hidden armor rating) * 0.12

But that's dumb as fuck and I don't know why would Beth pick such an illogical solution. The UESP guys still apparently haven't figured the formula out since I checked that page two days ago and the formula was a flat value of "AR * 0.16" (obviously wrong since armor would have a negligible influence) back then so it's still to be discovered.

Also, Crispy - if you're playing the game on master drop the difficulty a notch. The game seems pretty unbalanced for the highest difficulties when you reach a +10 level, I'd expect it to become unplayable by the time you're in your twenties or thirties.

 

[Kaol]

Playing the game on anything but master would make the game too easy imo

as for blocking, its better than nothing if you have to take a hit, sword and board probably works better once you can make a strong enchanted weapon, then you arnt giving up so much damage compared to two hander.

 

[King Crispy]

Thanks, mono. Good info there.

I actually am playing on Expert.

 

[Machocruz]

Thanks, mono. Good info there.

I actually am playing on Expert.

Even on expert, anyone wielding a two handed weapon has been a pain in the ass since (I'm as lvl 8). Go and try the second Imperial Legion mission (Fort Haggstrad) if you haven't already. Enjoy getting kill animationed at half health.

Blocking isn't completely useless, but it can't be relied upon. More attacking, and less blocking-then-attacking seems to be the better play.

 

[Tel Prydain]

And the introduction was extreme derp. I don't even know WHY or HOW I got on the damn cart. And they still wanted to execute me. FOR WHAT CRIMES EXACTLY? How would other races make sense in this context?

Because that's like TES' thing. Each game is the same.

But it's funny you say that...
When it was my character's turn to step up the guard was all like, "WTF an Elf? That's not right. Shouldn't we look into why this dude is here, because he ob..."
And then the bitch next to him shoots him down and says they are going to kill me anyway.

If I find her I'm going to kill the shit outta that bitch.

Okay I'm only level 5 but I need to know if it's worth it to continue putting points into destruction magic because right now it's doing shit all for damage. I can spam sparks or flame spells on draugur until my mana is nearly gone and the fuckers are still alive. I've been splitting my points evenly between destruction and one-handed.

Skill doesn't effect damage, only mana drain. You need to find better spells.

 

[JrK]

On the flipside with enchantments it is possible to make your spells cost 0 magicka.

Enjoy getting kill animationed at half health.

The reason I installed that no kill moves mod. Kill animations exacerbate the already present unbalance between stronger vs weaker. It's no fun to get stunlocked in the death animation if I would survive without it.

 

[gromit]

And the introduction was extreme derp. I don't even know WHY or HOW I got on the damn cart. And they still wanted to execute me. FOR WHAT CRIMES EXACTLY? How would other races make sense in this context?

Because that's like TES' thing. Each game is the same.

But it's funny you say that...
When it was my character's turn to step up the guard was all like, "WTF an Elf? That's not right. Shouldn't we look into why this dude is here, because he ob..."
And then the bitch next to him shoots him down and says they are going to kill me anyway.

If I find her I'm going to kill the shit outta that bitch.

I was on the phone with a pal of mine last night: apparently a Dunmer is assumed (by either the guards or the writers, not sure) to be a refugee, and the guard says "I'm so sorry... I'll make sure your remains are returned to Morrowind." The impression he and his brother got across starting a few characters is that the empire may be a little kill-happy - again, whether or not that was the intent of the writers.

LARP, "death of the author," or work of genius?

 

[Monocause]

Playing the game on anything but master would make the game too easy imo

You got the wrong impression, probably due to the fact that you're either low level or haven't travelled much. When you reach +10 lvl take the carriage to some other region and be prepared to be completely raped by the wildlife (recognisable by changed names like 'ice wolf' or 'snow sabrecat') in 2-3 hits, with your most powerful spells/weapons taking out 1/10 of the enemy's health at most. It gets only worse after that. Not to mention that your damage-controlling skills increase slower because the actual damage you deal is reduced so unless you're going to spend a lot of cash on training you'll be sorely lagging behind.

Even on expert, anyone wielding a two handed weapon has been a pain in the ass since (I'm as lvl 8). Go and try the second Imperial Legion mission (Fort Haggstrad) if you haven't already. Enjoy getting kill animationed at half health.

Level scaling doesn't work like in Oblivion. Areas have level ranges and I think that faction quests and corresponding areas are designed for higher level characters. Follow the main quest a bit more or do some of the radiant quests (ie. ask the barkeep for work) and return later, worked for me so far.

 

[Gord]

displayed armor rating = (worn armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * skill/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set) * (1 + Agile Defender or Juggernaut)
+ (shield armor rating + item quality) * (1 + 0.4 * skill/100) * (1 + Custom Fit or Well Fitted + Matching Set)
+ effects (x-skin spells, Lord Stone, etc.)
hidden armor rating = 40 for wearing (chest) armor + 20 for each additional piece worn
damage reduction% = (displayed armor rating + hidden armor rating) * 0.12

But that's dumb as fuck and I don't know why would Beth pick such an illogical solution. The UESP guys still apparently haven't figured the formula out since I checked that page two days ago and the formula was a flat value of "AR * 0.16" (obviously wrong since armor would have a negligible influence) back then so it's still to be discovered.

This intransparent armor system, together with the UI makes me think they actively tried to keep the player away from everything that serves as an abstraction layer between player and character. They might think it makes sure the player "just plays the game" but it's really just stupid.

Really, the old percentage based system was nothing to write home about, but it was easy to understand.

 

[baronjohn]

looks like modders are on the case to fix the UI:

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... g-the-gui/

That looks like crap, even if it is more usable. Skyrim has a very stylish default UI.

 

[Kaol]

Playing the game on anything but master would make the game too easy imo

You got the wrong impression, probably due to the fact that you're either low level or haven't travelled much. When you reach +10 lvl take the carriage to some other region and be prepared to be completely raped by the wildlife (recognisable by changed names like 'ice wolf' or 'snow sabrecat') in 2-3 hits, with your most powerful spells/weapons taking out 1/10 of the enemy's health at most. It gets only worse after that. Not to mention that your damage-controlling skills increase slower because the actual damage you deal is reduced so unless you're going to spend a lot of cash on training you'll be sorely lagging behind.

Even on expert, anyone wielding a two handed weapon has been a pain in the ass since (I'm as lvl 8). Go and try the second Imperial Legion mission (Fort Haggstrad) if you haven't already. Enjoy getting kill animationed at half health.

Level scaling doesn't work like in Oblivion. Areas have level ranges and I think that faction quests and corresponding areas are designed for higher level characters. Follow the main quest a bit more or do some of the radiant quests (ie. ask the barkeep for work) and return later, worked for me so far.

I havn't had that so far although i'm on level 10 at the moment and doing quests in markath. I like the idea of dangerous wildlife though. So far i've died once to a random encounter, "redguard" woman started blasting me with fireballs so i ran away only to get 1 shot on around 30% health by a mudcrab . On reload she was replaced by a nord who just kept blocking while i chiseled her hp away with a 2-hander.

Other than that i'm enjoying being able to play cautiously and keep the death count down.

 

[Machocruz]

Level scaling doesn't work like in Oblivion. Areas have level ranges and I think that faction quests and corresponding areas are designed for higher level characters. Follow the main quest a bit more or do some of the radiant quests (ie. ask the barkeep for work) and return later, worked for me so far.

I knew the level scaling wasn't the same, but I wrongly assumed that all bandits would be low level pushovers no matter where I went.

I ignored the now obvious signs (first time seeing a sabre-tooth ) that the region I was entering was rougher.

Also seems like magic users do a ton of damage lately.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

looks like modders are on the case to fix the UI:

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... g-the-gui/

Jesus Christ I want that. GIVE IT TO ME.

 

[Ulminati]

looks like modders are on the case to fix the UI:

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... g-the-gui/

Jesus Christ I want that. GIVE IT TO ME.

The dragon just stirred in my pants

 

[villain of the story]

I agree that Skyrim UI looks stylish but could've been much much better, faster, more functional and still as stylish.

That^ on the other hand looks very functional. I'd rather use it.

 

[crufty]

But it's funny you say that...
When it was my character's turn to step up the guard was all like, "WTF an Elf? That's not right. Shouldn't we look into why this dude is here, because he ob..."
And then the bitch next to him shoots him down and says they are going to kill me anyway.

If I find her I'm going to kill the shit outta that bitch.

Yah same here. She's going down.

Anyway I thought it was a good start. The game really implied I was wrong place wrong time. It might have even said it outright, that I got swept up and since I happened to be near public enemy no 1, game over man.


Daggerfall, if I remember, you just started IN jail. With a rusty dagger. Same with morrowind. i would be filled with neck beard nerd rage of old if that happened again. So I liked the start. Right to the thick of it. Because they were going to off me, I was splitsville, no imperial faction for me.

 

[7hm]

But it's funny you say that...
When it was my character's turn to step up the guard was all like, "WTF an Elf? That's not right. Shouldn't we look into why this dude is here, because he ob..."
And then the bitch next to him shoots him down and says they are going to kill me anyway.

If I find her I'm going to kill the shit outta that bitch.

Yah same here. She's going down.

Anyway I thought it was a good start. The game really implied I was wrong place wrong time. It might have even said it outright, that I got swept up and since I happened to be near public enemy no 1, game over man.


Daggerfall, if I remember, you just started IN jail. With a rusty dagger. Same with morrowind. i would be filled with neck beard nerd rage of old if that happened again. So I liked the start. Right to the thick of it. Because they were going to off me, I was splitsville, no imperial faction for me.

You start in a tutorial dungeon in Daggerfall, at your campsite. Not a jail. I don't remember if there's a story associated with that.

You're not really in a jail in Morrowind, though I guess it's not far off.

I really was barely following the tutorial for Skyrim. Not a fan of the railroaded stuff. Much prefer the Daggerfall and Morrowind starts. Though, this was better than Oblivion. That tutorial dungeon was fucking painful to play through (and my first attempt at Oblivion ended as soon as I left it and experienced completely derp level scaling in one of the dungeons nearby).

 

[gromit]

You start in a tutorial dungeon in Daggerfall, at your campsite. Not a jail. I don't remember if there's a story associated with that.

Weren't you supposed to be the same guy as in Arena in Daggerfall?

 

[Nael]

You start in a tutorial dungeon in Daggerfall, at your campsite. Not a jail. I don't remember if there's a story associated with that.

The Emperor sent you by boat from Cyrodiil to Daggerfall but you are shipwrecked and crawl yourself into a sea cave that leads to your starting location in the tutorial dungeon.

You start in a tutorial dungeon in Daggerfall, at your campsite. Not a jail. I don't remember if there's a story associated with that.

Weren't you supposed to be the same guy as in Arena in Daggerfall?

No. There are a variety of player creation related reasons why the Emperor likes you but you are basically just some random courier at his behest.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

looks like modders are on the case to fix the UI:

*pretty pic*

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... g-the-gui/

Jesus Christ I want that. GIVE IT TO ME.

The dragon just stirred in my pants

Sure it's for real? The background image is of a promo screenshot and it's missing the favourites tab.

 

[Nael]

looks like modders are on the case to fix the UI:

*pretty pic*

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... g-the-gui/

Jesus Christ I want that. GIVE IT TO ME.

The dragon just stirred in my pants

Sure it's for real? The background image is of a promo screenshot and it's missing the favourites tab.

Of course it's not real. The tools haven't even been released yet AFAIK. It's just a mock-up to show a possible layout once modding can begin.