I don't agree at all with this thread's title, Skyrim is a modern days TES game and hence more of character-action game than a rpg at all but it is a vast improvement to Oblivion, forgeting that wicked interface of course (who the hell came up with the idea of those freaking constelations for skill treess?? not that the rest of the interface is any good, but man that tree is very likely the worst idea in the long history of utter interface failures, lmao(in that regard Oblivion was so MUUUUUUUCH better).
Interface-wise even Vi is much better.
Though skill constellations are still by far the most ergonomic part of Skyrim's interface.
Also, I think I was a pretty unsubtle assassin in that I had no problems with guard massacres once I killed the target in the Mages Guild or a Palace. Even though I had Invisibility and Stealth and could have left without a fight, I made the wrong choice, and I think the punishment was being known as a mass cop killer. Apparently, the game expects you to avoid killing guards and run away, irrespective of how strong you are. Maybe if I avoided fighting, this reputation loss would never happen. (That said, maybe the consequence is the same even if you avoid it?)
Well, cop-killer reputation, or criminal reputation in general follows being successfully attacked by a guard.
A connecting attack capable of dealing damage triggers surrender prompt and reputation hit. If the attack doesn't connect because of whatever reason (sitting on a roof with a bow and cart full of arrows, backpedalling while swinging wildly or being a werewolf and having immunity to normal weapons), there is no prompt and no reputation hit IIRC.
Also, Morrowind had one very very simple, but very very interesting quest. A kidnapped tax collector is held in a Telvanni Wizard's home. You find the collector imprisoned in the basement. And you find a summoning room with Daedroth and Dwemer Centurion guarding a Telvanni Wizard. Ask him about his tax non-payment and his forced detention of the people there. The wizard tells you he was there in the town before the Imperial soldiers ever came. He was there before Gnisis was formed. He was there before the previous kingdom ruling the area was established. In his centuries of long living, he saw empires and kingdoms come and go in his area. And he doesn't owe them a single thing, because he was the one who settled there long before anyone else. And he could just kill everybody in town if he felt like it, Imperials included, but he doesn't do so, because he tolerates them. How can you argue against that - he was totally right. He wasn't under the town's protection or its mercy - it was the other way round.
Well, Baladas was quite a
.
TBH the worst thing about Skyrim is that it unnecessarily drops a lot of interesting stuff. Spell customization? Gone. Levitation and waterwalk? Gone. Mysticism? Gone. Attributes? Gone. Spears/crossbows/thrown weapons? Gone.
With different spell types levitation would be thrilling and fairly balanced as master level alteration spell - requiring both hands and continuous cast. Why the fuck drop it if you could for the first time implement it without giving it combat utility? And I don't want to hear about walled in cities - you can specify max altitude, limit ability to levitate upwards and, as failsafe, implement soft barrier (such as air currents) blocking player's way and concealing ultimate barrier - invisible walls.
Why drop spears, if they would make *perfect* sense in a game where you battle dragons and giants?
Also dragons are disappointing - frequent, very poor AI and not much versatility. They are effectively cliffracers 2.0, except with much more "fuck your day" potential. Make them rarer, far,far more powerful and cunning, so that encountering one would become "FFFUUUU- I'm gonna die!" moment, rather than "FFFFUUU- I don't have time for this!" one would work far better. They should also be more inclined to save their own hides - it's all fine and dandy when you're an equivalent of an A-10 strafing a mediaval village, but you don't live up to millennia if you can't recognize when you're having your tail kicked.
Other than that Skyrim is surprisingly good. Especially after dismal turd that was oblivion.
I'm actually cautiously hopeful about future TES. Yeah, TESO will likely be a turd and lies outside my scope of interest anyway, but do notice that it's a prequel. It seems someone doesn't want to fuck up the status quo with derpy MMO, which implies future SP TES games.
Maybe all those monkeys will finally type up some Shakespeare.
