Preview Oblivion daily update

[Section8]

You just described an incredibly boring RPG. Or an average simulation game.

"With my blades skill, I can swing a sword and it kills people."

That's a boring RPG too. Or a poor FPS.

If you look at a single skill in an RPG, chances are, the use of it exclusively is boring. Almost assuredly if it's Morrowind.

Regardless of whether Chefe's example is a good standalone game, adding layers of complexity to a multifaceted system is a step in the right direction. Cutting skills because they're boring is an exceedingly limited view. To illustrate why that attitude would result in no Oblivion:

Axe - Repeated clicking = boring = Cut it.
Blunt Weapon - Repeated clicking = boring = Cut it.
Hand to Hand - Repeated clicking = boring = Cut it.
Long Blade - Repeated clicking = boring = Cut it.
Short Blade - Repeated clicking = boring = Cut it.
Spear - Repeated clicking = boring = Cut it.
Marksman - Overrides my l33t FPS skillz. Boring. Cut it.

Block - Passive. Boring. Cut it.
Light Armor - Passive. Boring. Cut it.
Medium Armor - Passive. Boring. Cut it.
Heavy Armor - Passive. Boring. Cut it.
Unarmored - Passive. Boring. Cut it.

Acrobatics - Passive. Boring. Cut it.
Alchemy - Mediocre recipe based trade skill. Typical MMOG shit. Cut it.
Armorer - Use repair tool. Click on item. Boring. Cut it.
Athletics - Passive. Boring. Cut it.
Enchant - Passive use, or even simpler trade skill than Alchemy. Boring. Cut it.
Mercantile - Passive. Economy broken anyway. Cut it.
Security - Use pick/tool until door/chest is unlocked/disarmed. Boring. Cut it.
Sneak - I can hide. Wheeeee. Cut it.
Speechcraft - Obsolete. Bribery just as good. Cut it.

Alteration - Makes me fly, makes for Security/Armour Skills/Carrying capacity obsolete. Keep it.
Conjuration - Summon creatures to fight while I do nothing. Boring. Cut it.
Destruction - Click something. It dies. Boring. Cut it.
Illusion - Makes combat pointless. Boring. Cut it.
Mysticism - Makes travelling less boring, and combat more boring. Maybe we keep it.
Restoration - Obsolete. Potions are better. Cut it.

So basically, instead of Oblivion, we'd have The Elder Scrolls 4: Alteration Mystic Apocalypse!

 

[Kuato]

Just let this game be rpg of the year already so we can put it behind us

 

[elander_]

SHAKING BOOBIES AND SPEARS !!!!

 

[Voss]

To illustrate why that attitude would result in no Oblivion:

All things considered (previous elder scrolls games, and in particular the use of a heavy weight on computer keys as a leveling up-equivalency tool, and the lack of anything resembling an actual RPG), I fail to see how that would be a bad thing.

Patrick Stewart seems to be a sign of things, frankly. Once highly trained in legitimate theatre, now the biggest whore in Hollow-wood.

 

[franc kaos]

On the subject of extra skills, I was planning on trying to mod Oblivion to split long and short blade back into two separate skills. Assuming there is some way to detect which type of weapon the player currently has equipped, and what their skill level is (including partial advancements, ideally), then it should be possible to hold short and long blade in two separate globals, and hotswap the correct value in depending on the currently eqiupped weapon.

Trouble is, I have my suspicions that there wil be no way to tell if an equipped blade is short or long.
[...]
So just like Morrowind then

If that is possible, how about changing it to three blade skills (I always thought two was pretty arbitrary anyway).

Dagger, one and two handed swords. This, to my mind, is far more elegant and differentiates the attack type, ie thrusting (dagger), bashing (two handed) and slicing (one handed).

Also (to an.other poster), metal interferes with magic (although in all three previous games when I've answered the questions the game has always classified me as a battlemage - which is why I always create my own class; Rogue Mage), so the penalty based system (finally a point in Oblivions favour), is actually going the right way in a role playing game.

 

[kingcomrade]

Dagger, one and two handed swords. This, to my mind, is far more elegant and differentiates the attack type, ie thrusting (dagger), bashing (two handed) and slicing (one handed).

http://rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9948

Similar to what I was saying.

 

[franc kaos]

Dagger, one and two handed swords. This, to my mind, is far more elegant and differentiates the attack type, ie thrusting (dagger), bashing (two handed) and slicing (one handed).

http://rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9948

Similar to what I was saying.

Wow, a deep and interesting thread (especially what Ypsl said about hiding the mechanics to satisfy both the FPS and RPG crowd). Perhaps that whole thread should be emailed to the Gothic3 developers.

I liked the idea of fuzzy skills rising, it could be made to work within the limitations of the one blade skill (maybe - I'm no programmer or mathematician), so using the long blade constantly would slowly increase the dagger and two handed weapons - and using the perks to slowly pick out one preference.

I'm still royally pissed off about staves tho'.