Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:01:26 GMT
I have a love/hate relationship with Bethesda. They used to make fantastic games that made you think, but now they cater to the lowest common denominator. Skyrim has no choice/consequence scenarios and the stupid waypoint walks you everywhere you need to go. The Mages Guild is ridiculous and you only need to cast one learner spell and the Thieves Guild is riddled with plot holes. They've gone from ambitious to lazy.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:10:25 GMT
I have a love/hate relationship with Bethesda. They used to make fantastic games that made you think, but now they cater to the lowest common denominator. Skyrim has no choice/consequence scenarios and the stupid waypoint walks you everywhere you need to go. The Mages Guild is ridiculous and you only need to cast one learner spell and the Thieves Guild is riddled with plot holes. They've gone from ambitious to lazy. I will agree with you there. As beautiful as Skyrim is/was it's nowhere near as challenging as the previous titles were. I compare it somewhat to ASOIAF the books compared to GoT the show ... watered down a bit and simplified to bring in mass gamers/viewers. That's ok, I can understand that from the marketing aspect. If you've been playing games as long as I have you realize almost all games coming out these days are much more simplified than oldschool titles. Maybe that's why I've switched from RPG story games to strategy games in preference. I need my mind challenged just a little! No offence to the TellTale series, but it's an example of what I find lacking in many modern day games. A great deal of effort spent on high production value and graphics, cut scenes, voice acting, etc... but the game itself is over simplified. Obviously the TellTale series are meant to be enjoyed more as an interactive play-along story - so I get it. But unfortunately many games that tout themselves as real adventure/action games or RPG are doing the same and this is especially true for the online MMO genre. If any of you played Star Wars The Old Republic you will know exactly what I am talking about. I worked for them (Bioware QA) for a bit and I saw the frustration happening for the developers. Marketing wants the game to appeal to a wider audience so they force the game to be created on a level that will draw in the most players and quality of gameplay suffers. They spent an obscene amount of money on that game's graphics, cut scenes, acting, etc... but the gameplay itself is very linear and over simplified. You can just aim in the general vicinity of a monster and kill it. There's no skill needed. Some games ARE starting to return to a more skill-based system ... slowly but surely the tide is turning back in the direction of actually working up your player skills to defeat a game instead of just riding a wagon of progression through it. It takes time to change these things. The gaming industry is very competitive and game studios are vying for the most money up front that they can. This has caused game quality to suffer for the past 5-10 years really. Mass market is to blame. |
|
|
|
Post by Basil on Aug 9, 2015 18:15:30 GMT
I'm not really a big fan of TES, tbh, although admittedly, the only Elder Scrolls I've played excessively was Skyrim. It's a beautiful game, the music is awesome and you get so many things to do, but everything is so freaking shallow. The storyline strives to be epic, but it's actually quite underwhelming, imo, there are basically no characters, only quest givers, and almost all the quests are just fetch-quests anyway. I also find the battle system to be rather clunky and unresponsive, especially after playing games like Dark Souls or even Dragon's Dogma, the battle system in Skyrim is just pure chaos in comparison. You get so much loot, but most of it is worthless garbage, all the lore is told through books, which sounds like a cool idea at first, but after realizing that they're like hundreds upon hundreds of books in this game, I mean, it's really not a very exciting way to present lore, for the player, it's basically like reading the TES-Wiki.
I enjoyed Skyrim for what it was, but I honestly don't get the hype.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:31:59 GMT
I'm not really a big fan of TES, tbh, although admittedly, the only Elder Scrolls I've played excessively was Skyrim. It's a beautiful game, the music is awesome and you get so many things to do, but everything is so freaking shallow. The storyline strives to be epic, but it's actually quite underwhelming, imo, there are basically no characters, only quest givers, and almost all the quests are just fetch-quests anyway. I also find the battle system to be rather clunky and unresponsive, especially after playing games like Dark Souls or even Dragon's Dogma, the battle system in Skyrim is just pure chaos in comparison. You get so much loot, but most of it is worthless garbage, all the lore is told through books, which sounds like a cool idea at first, but after realizing that they're like hundreds upon hundreds of books in this game, I mean, it's really not a very exciting way to present lore, for the player, it's basically like reading the TES-Wiki. I enjoyed Skyrim for what it was, but I honestly don't get the hype. Well if your entire view of Elder Scrolls is limited by only playing Skyrim, then that's probably about as accurate as me saying I didn't like Final Fantasy because I played the MMO version.  I should probably give one of the single player RPG versions a try. I'm not fond of the anime/asian graphics of a lot of those games though so I think that is my main detractor, not the story itself which I've actually read some of and is very good as far as deep fantasy goes. You should try Oblivion or Morrowind. The graphics are old, it's true - but the story is so much better than Skyrim. Also, for what it's worth, I have NEVER played through the Dragonborn story in Skyrim all the way to the end so that should tell you something about my playstyle. I have over 600 hours sunk into Skyrim and maybe 20 of that is on a dragonborn storyline. The way I play Skyrim is as a clueless nobody, freed from imprisonment who takes off into the wilderness and does whatever life in Skyrim throws at her. She's been (in various different forms and names) an assassin, a mage, a master thief, a vampire, and even a lowly hunter/trader who just travels from town to town doing odd jobs. I tend to play Skyrim heavily modded though. The game is an entirely different game when you play with survival mods like Frostfall installed. I urge you to try again and play it as a survival game (unless you hate that kind of game) instead of Skyrim the Dragonslayer story game. www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/22/skyrim-survival-mods/You will see the game in a whole new way!  |
|
|
|
Post by Basil on Aug 9, 2015 18:33:43 GMT
I have a love/hate relationship with Bethesda. They used to make fantastic games that made you think, but now they cater to the lowest common denominator. Skyrim has no choice/consequence scenarios and the stupid waypoint walks you everywhere you need to go. The Mages Guild is ridiculous and you only need to cast one learner spell and the Thieves Guild is riddled with plot holes. They've gone from ambitious to lazy. I will agree with you there. As beautiful as Skyrim is/was it's nowhere near as challenging as the previous titles were. I compare it somewhat to ASOIAF the books compared to GoT the show ... watered down a bit and simplified to bring in mass gamers/viewers. That's ok, I can understand that from the marketing aspect. If you've been playing games as long as I have you realize almost all games coming out these days are much more simplified than oldschool titles. Maybe that's why I've switched from RPG story games to strategy games in preference. I need my mind challenged just a little! No offence to the TellTale series, but it's an example of what I find lacking in many modern day games. A great deal of effort spent on high production value and graphics, cut scenes, voice acting, etc... but the game itself is over simplified. Obviously the TellTale series are meant to be enjoyed more as an interactive play-along story - so I get it. But unfortunately many games that tout themselves as real adventure/action games or RPG are doing the same and this is especially true for the online MMO genre. If any of you played Star Wars The Old Republic you will know exactly what I am talking about. I worked for them (Bioware QA) for a bit and I saw the frustration happening for the developers. Marketing wants the game to appeal to a wider audience so they force the game to be created on a level that will draw in the most players and quality of gameplay suffers. They spent an obscene amount of money on that game's graphics, cut scenes, acting, etc... but the gameplay itself is very linear and over simplified. You can just aim in the general vicinity of a monster and kill it. There's no skill needed. Some games ARE starting to return to a more skill-based system ... slowly but surely the tide is turning back in the direction of actually working up your player skills to defeat a game instead of just riding a wagon of progression through it. It takes time to change these things. The gaming industry is very competitive and game studios are vying for the most money up front that they can. This has caused game quality to suffer for the past 5-10 years really. Mass market is to blame. I've never played the MMO (because like I said, I don't like MMOs), but I count the two Knights of the Old Republic single player games, TOR's prequels, among my favourite games of all time (although the second one was made by Obsidian, I think, not Bioware). Personally, I value an engaging storyline more than gameplay, but that's just me. Without their amazing stories, games like Final Fantasy wouldn't appeal to me as much as they do. I enjoy certain strategy games, or games like Minecraft, that don't have any kind of story, but those are just good "time wasters" for me. I don't get any emotional response out of them, whereas I would compare games like Final Fantasy (or the two KotoR games) to good books, it's an interactive story at first, the gameplay is secondary. In terms of storytelling, I think games have improved a lot over the last ten years. Nowadays, we have games like "The Last of Us", the BioShock-Series, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, games that can rival any book, movie and TV show in terms of epic storylines. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:33:58 GMT
I love Skyrim...
...but Morrowind I love more.
-- Beorn
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:40:59 GMT
I love Skyrim... ...but Morrowind I love more. -- Beorn Morrowind really was special in the Elder Scrolls line. Did you know there's a massive crew of people putting together a complete game overhaul Mod for Skyrim that will bring you the amazing Skyrim world graphics but the Morrowind story and location? I've been following it for a long while and look forward to them finishing it! It's amazing what the fanbase and Modding community has done with Skyrim over the years. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:42:05 GMT
Daggerfall is my favorite. TES is my favorite game series, but Bethesda has been making bizarre design decisions a little too much for me lately. I have zero expectations for Fallout 4 and will buy their next game from the bargain bin.
|
|
|
|
Post by Basil on Aug 9, 2015 18:50:38 GMT
Well if your entire view of Elder Scrolls is limited by only playing Skyrim, then that's probably about as accurate as me saying I didn't like Final Fantasy because I played the MMO version. I should probably give one of the single player RPG versions a try. I'm not fond of the anime/asian graphics of a lot of those games though so I think that is my main detractor, not the story itself which I've actually read some of and is very good as far as deep fantasy goes. You should try Oblivion or Morrowind. The graphics are old, it's true - but the story is so much better than Skyrim. Also, for what it's worth, I have NEVER played through the Dragonborn story in Skyrim all the way to the end so that should tell you something about my playstyle. I have over 600 hours sunk into Skyrim and maybe 20 of that is on a dragonborn storyline. The way I play Skyrim is as a clueless nobody, freed from imprisonment who takes off into the wilderness and does whatever life in Skyrim throws at her. She's been (in various different forms and names) an assassin, a mage, a master thief, a vampire, and even a lowly hunter/trader who just travels from town to town doing odd jobs. I tend to play Skyrim heavily modded though. The game is an entirely different game when you play with survival mods like Frostfall installed. I urge you to try again and play it as a survival game (unless you hate that kind of game) instead of Skyrim the Dragonslayer story game. www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/22/skyrim-survival-mods/You will see the game in a whole new way! Unfortunately, I play Skyrim on PS3, so I can't use any mods.  I'm also quite sure that the laptop I'm currently using won't be able to handle Skyrim, but someday, when I buy myself a new system, I'd definitely give it another try, with mods this time. Usually when I play Skyrim, I do the thieves quest line first, because I love being sneaky in this game and to break into people's houses at night to steal their stuff.  I also hate it when I'm not able to open a chest or a door, so I always invest all my early levels into lockpicking. I've heard only good things about Morrowind, so maybe I will check it out. As for Oblivion, I already own it but sadly, it doesn't appeal to me at all, I've played it for a few hours, but I've lost interest very quickly. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:53:35 GMT
Well if your entire view of Elder Scrolls is limited by only playing Skyrim, then that's probably about as accurate as me saying I didn't like Final Fantasy because I played the MMO version. I should probably give one of the single player RPG versions a try. I'm not fond of the anime/asian graphics of a lot of those games though so I think that is my main detractor, not the story itself which I've actually read some of and is very good as far as deep fantasy goes. You should try Oblivion or Morrowind. The graphics are old, it's true - but the story is so much better than Skyrim. Also, for what it's worth, I have NEVER played through the Dragonborn story in Skyrim all the way to the end so that should tell you something about my playstyle. I have over 600 hours sunk into Skyrim and maybe 20 of that is on a dragonborn storyline. The way I play Skyrim is as a clueless nobody, freed from imprisonment who takes off into the wilderness and does whatever life in Skyrim throws at her. She's been (in various different forms and names) an assassin, a mage, a master thief, a vampire, and even a lowly hunter/trader who just travels from town to town doing odd jobs. I tend to play Skyrim heavily modded though. The game is an entirely different game when you play with survival mods like Frostfall installed. I urge you to try again and play it as a survival game (unless you hate that kind of game) instead of Skyrim the Dragonslayer story game. www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/22/skyrim-survival-mods/You will see the game in a whole new way! Unfortunately, I play Skyrim on PS3, so I can't use any mods. I'm also quite sure that the laptop I'm currently using won't be able to handle Skyrim, but someday, when I buy myself a new system, I'd definitely give it another try, with mods this time. Usually when I play Skyrim, I do the thieves quest line first, because I love being sneaky in this game and to break into people's houses at night to steal their stuff. I also hate it when I'm not able to open a chest or a door, so I always invest all my early levels into lockpicking. I've heard only good things about Morrowind, so maybe I will check it out. As for Oblivion, I already own it but sadly, it doesn't appeal to me at all, I've played it for a few hours, but I've lost interest very quickly. Oblivion is shite. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:54:32 GMT
I love Skyrim... ...but Morrowind I love more. -- Beorn Morrowind really was special in the Elder Scrolls line. Did you know there's a massive crew of people putting together a complete game overhaul Mod for Skyrim that will bring you the amazing Skyrim world graphics but the Morrowind story and location? I've been following it for a long while and look forward to them finishing it! It's amazing what the fanbase and Modding community has done with Skyrim over the years. I like to call that mod Morrowind 2.0. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:56:28 GMT
Daggerfall is my favorite. TES is my favorite game series, but Bethesda has been making bizarre design decisions a little too much for me lately. I have zero expectations for Fallout 4 and will buy their next game from the bargain bin. If they try to do with Fallout 4 what they did with TES (watering it down/ mass market appeal) then they will gain a younger/newer audience but lose their oldtimer fans for good. I think Fallout is probably a little more beloved than TES even and they need to handle it with care. I am cautious/skeptical at this point because I was a massive Fallout 3 fan, but didn't care for New Vegas nearly as much even though it was still the same root game at heart - it went a different direction with the plot and theme than I was expecting. I didn't care for the faction based story that much and played it far less than Fallout 3, which I will still occasionally play with all the mods I love for it too. So yes, I can see your point a little bit, but I'm going to buy it simply because I am such a huge overall fan, just as I bought Skyrim and have enjoyed it for what it does well. I guess in that way, I can say like Game of Thrones, I can enjoy something for one thing even if it lacks other things. The GoT show lacks some things the books have that it will never be able to achieve simply because it's an entirely different format and going for mainstream appeal. I get it. I know enough about marketing for games to understand this concept and at the end of the day, I ask myself if it was a $20, $40 or $60 well spent for my time and enjoyment. With ESO I would say NO... but with Skyrim I say definitely yes even if it's not as good as it's predecessors story wise. So for Fallout 4 it's a no brainer for me. Even if it's a Skyrim version of Fallout, I'll find plenty to enjoy. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 18:59:57 GMT
Is the sixth main TES set in where, or will it be like Daggerfall. I hope it's not more than one region. Online is crappy IMO.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 19:09:49 GMT
Daggerfall is my favorite. TES is my favorite game series, but Bethesda has been making bizarre design decisions a little too much for me lately. I have zero expectations for Fallout 4 and will buy their next game from the bargain bin. If they try to do with Fallout 4 what they did with TES (watering it down/ mass market appeal) then they will gain a younger/newer audience but lose their oldtimer fans for good. I think Fallout is probably a little more beloved than TES even and they need to handle it with care. I am cautious/skeptical at this point because I was a massive Fallout 3 fan, but didn't care for New Vegas nearly as much even though it was still the same root game at heart - it went a different direction with the plot and theme than I was expecting. I didn't care for the faction based story that much and played it far less than Fallout 3, which I will still occasionally play with all the mods I love for it too. So yes, I can see your point a little bit, but I'm going to buy it simply because I am such a huge overall fan, just as I bought Skyrim and have enjoyed it for what it does well. I guess in that way, I can say like Game of Thrones, I can enjoy something for one thing even if it lacks other things. The GoT show lacks some things the books have that it will never be able to achieve simply because it's an entirely different format and going for mainstream appeal. I get it. I know enough about marketing for games to understand this concept and at the end of the day, I ask myself if it was a $20, $40 or $60 well spent for my time and enjoyment. With ESO I would say NO... but with Skyrim I say definitely yes even if it's not as good as it's predecessors story wise. So for Fallout 4 it's a no brainer for me. Even if it's a Skyrim version of Fallout, I'll find plenty to enjoy. Meh. I thought Fallout 3 was terrible. I honestly don't feel Bethesda has made an exceptional game in the last 10 years. I've been a fan of theirs for 20 years and have bought all of their offerings. Not just Bethesda Game Studios developed games, but even their published offerings like Dishonored and The Evil Within. I know a lot of their fanbase started to develop and grow with Oblivion and Skyrim, but I've been there since 1996 with Daggerfall's launch. I was a mainstay on their official forum, but I've left about a year ago and most of the old school fans/vets have left over the years. They are focusing too much on the casuals and my 7 year old niece can play Skyrim from start to finish without any problems which is sad. Give her Daggerfall and Morrowind and it's a completely different story. CD Projekt RED's design ethos are the blueprint today for what Bethesda should be following. Yes, they need to cater to a bigger audience and grow, but also treat their long time fans as intelligent beings that matter. Witcher 3 did a much better job than Skyrim at this. They've managed to quadruple their fanbase and sales while still having numerous choices and consequences that effect gameplay and mechanics not built for 7 year olds. It's not perfect, but they're on the right path. Bethesda fell off that path long ago. CDPR also didn't sell out to DRM, but that's a subject for another day. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 19:15:01 GMT
Well we'll just have to disagree on the Fallout series then, because I think it started out strong and got weaker. I don't know if that trend will continue with Fallout 4 but I'm such a fan of the genre and theme I will get it anyways.
As for Morrowind being the best of the TES series ... I can agree in some ways on that - definitely the difficulty factor.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 19:20:08 GMT
Well we'll just have to disagree on the Fallout series then, because I think it started out strong and got weaker. I don't know if that trend will continue with Fallout 4 but I'm such a fan of the genre and theme I will get it anyways. As for Morrowind being the best of the TES series ... I can agree in some ways on that - definitely the difficulty factor. Huh? I agree that the Fallout series started strong and has gotten weaker. Fallout 1 and 2 are great. 3 is shit and 4 they are dumbing down even more. They've completely removed skills from the game smh. I never said Morrowind is my favorite TES either. Daggerfall is. Elder Scrolls VI will probably have 1 bar on the HUD which combines Health and Magicka and no skills just perks. They've been gimping every game to get to this point. Skyrim doesn't even have attributes like Daggerfall/Morrowind/Oblivion. Everything got neutered and rolled into Health/Magicka/Stamina. Fucking ridiculous. None of this is meant to sound hostile towards you mind you. I'm just very passionate about TES and Bethesda. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 19:28:37 GMT
Well we'll just have to disagree on the Fallout series then, because I think it started out strong and got weaker. I don't know if that trend will continue with Fallout 4 but I'm such a fan of the genre and theme I will get it anyways. As for Morrowind being the best of the TES series ... I can agree in some ways on that - definitely the difficulty factor. Huh? I agree that the Fallout series started strong and has gotten weaker. Fallout 1 and 2 are great. 3 is shit and 4 they are dumbing down even more. They've completely removed skills from the game smh. I never said Morrowind is my favorite TES either. Daggerfall is. Elder Scrolls VI will probably have 1 bar on the HUD which combines Health and Magicka and no skills just perks. They've been gimping every game to get to this point. Skyrim doesn't even have attributes like Daggerfall/Morrowind/Oblivion. Everything got neutered and rolled into Health/Magicka/Stamina. Fucking ridiculous. Ok let me rephrase that then: We'll have to disagree specifically about Fallout 3.  I don't have such strong opinions about it as you do so I'm trying not to get into a heavy criticism debate on either of the series because I really do love them both so it wouldn't make sense for me to try and refute your opinions because obviously everyone sees it differently. I missed your comment about Daggerfall, sorry. *edit: Actually got your comments mixed up with others as there were replies in rapid succession there. We were talking about Morrowind before and so I mistook your replies as part of the same. Anyways, I'm not trying to argue about the series overall because I started playing them both at the Morrowind and Fallout 3 stages of their release and progression. I am not qualified to comment on the earlier games as I've only watched them being played by someone else and read about them. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 20:10:05 GMT
About to start the 400 Days DLC for TWD Season 1. Heard it's supposed to be like what Fear the Walking Dead is. Different protagonists stories in other areas of the world. Excited to check it out before jumping into TWD Season 2 game and then getting ready for the True Detective finale tonight.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 21:58:23 GMT
Finished the 400 Days DLC. Really enjoyed it. Nice change of pace. Did you guys Kill Stephanie or drive away ? Also, why wasn't Nate at the camp with Russell at the end? Looking forward to seeing if any of these characters pop up in TWD Season 2. |
|
|
|
Post by Basil on Aug 9, 2015 22:11:04 GMT
Finished the 400 Days DLC. Really enjoyed it. Nice change of pace. Did you guys Kill Stephanie or drive away ? Also, why wasn't Nate at the camp with Russell at the end? Looking forward to seeing if any of these characters pop up in TWD Season 2. Well, between Russell's story and the epilogue almost a year has passed. Nate might have died or he and Russell might have gotten separated, I honestly have no idea, but it doesn't really matter anyway. Nate was a huge piece of shit, so I really couldn't care less about him. I didn't kill Stephanie. That was the moment where you kinda realize, that you will never be allowed to leave this group, because if you do, they'll probably come after. That's why I decided to steal the RV and escape. I didnt't see any point in executing Stephanie. I gotta say though, 400 Days did nothing for me. I really did not care for any of the characters, I actually hated most of them, especially Shel's annoying sister. |
|
I should probably give one of the single player RPG versions a try. I'm not fond of the anime/asian graphics of a lot of those games though so I think that is my main detractor, not the story itself which I've actually read some of and is very good as far as deep fantasy goes. 
I'm also quite sure that the laptop I'm currently using won't be able to handle Skyrim, but someday, when I buy myself a new system, I'd definitely give it another try, with mods this time. 
I also hate it when I'm not able to open a chest or a door, so I always invest all my early levels into lockpicking. 
I don't have such strong opinions about it as you do so I'm trying not to get into a heavy criticism debate on either of the series because I really do love them both so it wouldn't make sense for me to try and refute your opinions because obviously everyone sees it differently. I missed your comment about Daggerfall, sorry.