First footage of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim released

Bethesda has released the first footage of its upcoming RPG adventure, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Check out the old world, powered by a new engine.

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Bethesda has just released the first gameplay trailer for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, its upcoming RPG adventure.

Along with showing off its new engine, the footage features the game's hero facing off against a menacing dragon. The footage is cut along with the same voice-over featured in the teaser trailer, which explains the plot of the game.

If that isn't enough for you, Bethesda has re-launched the official Elder Scrolls website in preparation of the upcoming fifth installment in the series.

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim hits the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on November 11.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 24, 2011 7:55 AM

    Comment on First footage of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim released, by Xav de Matos.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 7:56 AM

      Nerd boner.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:00 AM

      Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is INSANE, a must have RPG.

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      February 24, 2011 8:00 AM

      OK - that video is amazing ...

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      February 24, 2011 8:02 AM

      I thought it was the original video at first and didn't pay attention to the first 20 seconds.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 9:11 PM

        So did I, but then the music went up to 11.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:03 AM

      see there should be a way to link our already-raging thread about this to the news story.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:44 AM

        Well, I think the key is that eventually... they will be the same... right? Why start a new thread when you can talk about it in the official thread. The separation between front page and the chatty is like a ghost limb... you think it's there... you can FEEL it... but it's really not there.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 10:49 AM

          often we'll have a thread about something before the news story goes up.

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      February 24, 2011 8:05 AM

      i'm eagerly looking forward to the many mods that will make this game awesome

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:05 AM

      so very awesome

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:05 AM

      Holy shit.

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      February 24, 2011 8:05 AM

      Shack staffers] Can you guys verify this was console footage and not PC, that would be great, thanks.

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        February 24, 2011 11:23 AM

        I would assume that every game generates their in-game trailer footage using whichever platform looks/performs the best. Since the 360 and PS3 are both 5-6 years old now, I assume that the game will probably look best on a current high-end PC.

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          February 24, 2011 9:12 PM

          Not necessarily true. All footage from Crysis 2 so far has been from the console versions.

        • reply
          February 25, 2011 7:17 AM

          The graphics in this trailer aren't that great, so I'd hope it was console. But then again, the PC version will likely look just like the console version.

          That aside, though, I've noticed most game trailers run the 360 version, even if the PC version looks better. I think the reasoning might be that they want to show it on the platform they expect it to sell the most on, so that most people will be familiar with what they're going to play.

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        February 24, 2011 12:26 PM

        When is it not console footage?

        • reply
          February 25, 2011 7:54 AM

          :) I just want to see the PC footage thats all, I know its not the PC footage.

          If they show the PC footage then the console guys will want and expect that quality, so thats why they don't show it.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:05 AM

      That does look exceedingly nice. Love me some bombastic fantasy bullshit with a soaring orchestral score.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:06 AM

      Looks good, but so did Oblivion and that game turned out to be shallow in the gameplay department. Hopefully the combat is more fun this time around, perhaps as awesome as it was in Dark Messiah of Might & Magic.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:06 AM

      Nice!

      Also, i kind of like this. It makes it easier for me to read about this stuff. And i don't like it i can just collapse the thread and ignore :)

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:06 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:07 AM

      This really look great.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:07 AM

      Must I?

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:07 AM

      SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:08 AM

      Why is November so far from now?

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:08 AM

      player bug: Maximised, you lose all player controls, no way to pause it or un-maximise. Only way out is pressing Escape.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:33 AM

        I guess that's a way to pause and un-maximise though, eh?

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:08 AM

      I REFUSE!

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:26 AM

        This is the new "It's so cold and lonely in here" post that inevitably gets made and then nuked very time the chatty changed from Morning Discussion to Evening Reading.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:10 AM

      wow they sure did build a world that draws you in with all the attention to detail they put in. amazing.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:14 AM

      OMG; the musical cues... :'(

      BRB, got something in my eye

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:15 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:16 AM

      a million boners right now at work....

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:18 AM

      I'm definitely upgrading my video card before this is released. Hopefully, an AMD 6990 will be in my future once the old tax refund shows up. I can't wait to play Skyrim!

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:23 AM

      that's sexy

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:23 AM

      MORROWIND SOUNDTRACK REDUX!!!! That trailer was freaking AMAZING.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:28 AM

      Was this song (minus the singing) in Morrowind or am I just going crazy. It starts sounding real familiar at around the 1:10 mark.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:29 AM

        It's the Elder Scrolls theme that has been used for all of them I believe.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:28 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:29 AM

      It's silly that if you go to the Skyrim game page ( http://www.shacknews.com/game/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim ) and then click the Videos tab, this video isn't there.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:39 AM

        We're still cleaning some issues out. We only just launched.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 8:41 AM

          omg shack is so buggy I'm cancelling my sub.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 8:45 AM

          I understand that. So, what do you recommend we use for reporting little issues like this (or big issues) that we find; the "Submit Tips+" button on the main page?

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 3:45 PM

        That issue should be fixed going forward.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:40 AM

      This is the kind of game that inspires a hardware upgrade.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:43 AM

        It's a good year for that what with BF3 and this.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:44 AM

        i doubt youll need very high-end hardware for this if it's going to be cross platform

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 8:48 AM

          so was oblivion and it ran like crap on low end PCs back then

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:44 AM

      november 11th, you say? well then, I have a while to save up for a sandy bridge uber rig! :D

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 9:04 AM

        The 2166 socket should be out then as well as bulldozer, it'll be an awesome time in PC gaming.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:44 AM

      my sandy vagina is yearning to be filled with skyrim

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:44 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:47 AM

      I can't wait to lose hours and hours on this game.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:47 AM

      awesome.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:51 AM

      The setting and potential plot excite me, but damn if those graphics don't look like shit compared to the newer stuff. Bethesda, get off your ass and write a new engine!

      • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        February 24, 2011 8:53 AM

        Who gives a shit about graphics if the gameplay is there. And from the older Elder Scrolls games, it looks amazing.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:54 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:56 AM

        it says it is a new engine...

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 9:06 AM

          Lies.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 9:06 AM

            they literally said it was a new engine. they told us that. in those words.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 9:08 AM

              pretty sure they said that about fallout 3, too. anyway, it looks awesome, but look at the way that wolf animates. it looks pretty shitty and similar to the current engine

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 9:09 AM

                They're using Havok for character animations, which they've never done before.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 9:10 AM

                Animation and models are what I find unimpressive about this "new" engine.

                • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
                  reply
                  February 24, 2011 9:16 AM

                  They specifically said in interviews that the combat animation has been upgraded. So unless you've seen more than this video how can you say that?

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 10:40 AM

                    Not holding my breath on a great improvement there. The trailer quite clearly shows a sword missing a guy and still doing damage (blood animation plays). Don't especially care as long as the world building is on par with Morrowind.

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 10:46 AM

                      There aren't many games that track physical impacts like that. I think Age of Conan was one.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 10:56 AM

                        I just got horribly spoiled by the melee combat in Demons Souls.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 9:23 AM

                  Difficult to judge when they don't show much animation. I'm not going to judge it yet.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 10:25 AM

                [deleted]

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 11:15 AM

                  im almost positive at some point, i think after initial announcement, that it was a new engine. it then shifted to "modified"

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:54 AM

                yeah that wolf really stuck out to me

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 4:12 PM

                I hate to nitpick but I agree here. That wolf's animation took me right out of the immersion.

            • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
              reply
              February 24, 2011 9:14 AM

              Idiots cannot be reasoned with, I should know I am one. o__o

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 9:46 AM

              its new in the same way that quake 3 TA used a new engine from quake 3, or in the way KOTOR 2 was a new engine from KOTOR. its still the same gamebryo game engine, but with changes. at its core its the same game engine since oblivion though. the "new engine" stuff is marketing primarily, though I will give them credit in that fallout 3's implementation of GB was light years ahead of oblivion. if we see a similiar level of optimization from FO3 to skyrim, then i will nod my hat. But dont let the spiel fool you, its still gamebryo.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:12 AM

                pretty sure they've said before that it is NOT GAMEBRYO

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 11:14 AM

                  No, they haven't been specific.

                  • reply
                    February 25, 2011 6:21 AM

                    Dude, it's not Gamebryo. Gambryo went bankrupt because Bethseda decided not to use the Gamebryo engine for their next game.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 4:27 PM

                  i recall them mentioning that it was an upgraded version of the engine used in fallout 3. i cant remember where. people seem to believe they they have created a brand new game engine from scratch or liscensed some new, never before seen technology. its simply not true. this is gamebryo, it may be highly tweaked, but its gamebryo.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 10:03 AM

              I know they said that, but after watching that I'm pretty sure they meant a new version of their in house gamebryo engine.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:21 AM

                yeah, i think so too. which is what they did/said for FO3. i don't really care, it definitely looks awesome. animations seem improved as well, though its hard to tell. either way i never had much to complain about the engine in FO3 or oblivion

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 4:30 PM

                  FO3 was leaps and bounds better than oblivion. I think a large part of it was that they realized they had to, like, create artwork rather than pumping out some industrial, generic crap that could have been bought from "highfantsyartwork.com" and plugged into the game. It still boggles my mind that FO3 was from the same group that made oblivion, one of my favorite games of the past decade and one of my most hated.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:19 AM

          LOL

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 6:04 PM

          define: new engine

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 9:04 AM

        Are you fucking blind. Looks great.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:21 AM

        They DON'T "look like shit", however they do look like the game is made with a re-badged, newer build of same engine they used in Oblivion :-P

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:53 AM

          if it has the same 64hz stutter bullshit as Oblivion and Fallout 3, it's definitely the same shitty engine and I'm going to kill someone.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:53 AM

      I recently viewed the launch trailers and teasers for oblivion, some of it looked crap, particularly the animations and some effects. It will be interesting to see the games that will put this one to shame

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:55 AM

      omg the videos play at work now thank god!

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 8:55 AM

        I'm stuck in IE6 at work and I can't belive all this stuff works in IE6 great job!

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:55 AM

      I don't know the difference between pornography and art, but that's both.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:57 AM

      Why can't we choose the quality of the video before press Play?

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 9:00 AM

        I think we're trying to add the ability to set your default video resolution in settings. No more clicking anything! 720p all the way.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 8:58 AM

      much better to watch videos here now @ newshack

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 9:00 AM

        Yes! We have a brand new video system. The quality of the old one was terrible.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 9:12 AM

          ^^^^^^^ I am happy

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:24 AM

          Why do I still see some kind of side borders in "fullscreen" view?

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:28 AM

          Thank God. Now I don't have to switch over to GameTrailers.com to watch videos.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:53 PM

        No doubt much nicer video system. I used to have to go to Gamespot to watch videos.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:00 AM

      Well now see that looks alright. It's still got the crappy "can't show a cut longer than 5 second" syndrome, but what trailer doesn't these days? Now if they can just make sure there's cool roleplaying stuff to go along with their ACTION!

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:01 AM

      So hard right now

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:01 AM

      That looks so great. OFFICIALLY HYPED.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:07 AM

      All of my dicks, etc, etc.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:16 AM

      Wonder if I'll need a new machine for this.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:18 AM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 9:35 AM

        Thanks.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 9:50 AM

          how about some beta copies for loyal fans amirite?

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 9:51 AM

          Your art is good! Just tell whoever's in charge that they need better indirect lighting, as shadowed areas are flat. Yes I'm insanely detail oriented and nitckpicky about even the tiniest graphical shortcoming.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 9:53 AM

          Your company is responsible for many hours of sleep that I've not been able to achieve. I hope you're satisfied.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 10:00 AM

            I predict November and December of this year to be dark months, filled with little sleep and much gaming.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 2:52 PM

            I've never thought of it that way. Bethesda must owe me damn near 1000 hours at this point.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:08 AM

          You have to hide a shack logo in some hidden hermit cave in game, perhaps out of nuts and berries.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:14 AM

            No way, integrate the Shack chatty coat of arms into a shield or set of armor; I would pay horse armor dollars for it!

            • reply
              February 25, 2011 6:24 AM

              Even better! Black and orangey/yellow armor, in honor of ancestral shack.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 3:47 PM

          [deleted]

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:27 AM

      Looks really good but they don't have to sell me on it. Bethesda making a new RPG, of course I'm going to buy it.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:34 AM

      If they announced coop multiplayer, the sound of a million nerd splooshing vaginas would be heard.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:37 AM

      It looks like Fallout without guns!

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:48 AM

      Holy Cow! Man does that look good! This is the year for RPG'ish games Dragon Age 2, The Witcher 2, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect 3, Deus Ex and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting! Best RPG of the year anyone? I'm thinking Elder Scrolls.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:51 AM

      i really hope they overhaul the entire magic system. destruction magic in oblivion was pretty much the worst and most boring shit ever.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:29 AM

        so was ranged/bow fighting.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 10:33 AM

          now that i think about it all of the combat sucked.

          archery was the least painful out of all of them since it felt like i was playing an FPS a little bit at least.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 10:34 AM

            a stealth fps i mean, since nothing came to attack me since i got crits from headshots in stealth and it eityher died or high level stealth meant they didn't aggro ( i think )

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:53 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:55 AM

      I regret not watching the trailer when I first saw this post... HOLY SHIT

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:57 AM

      oh my word

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 9:59 AM

      It looks great. High fantasy RPGs kind of bore me, so I'll likely sit it out but man Fallout 4 is going to be amazing.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:01 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:43 AM

        geedeck :(

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:33 AM

          Wha? I mean I think tons of people will have fun with it and I hope they sell like 5 bajillion copies... I just see a sword, a dragon, a magic missle and I fall asleep.

          And it's kind of silly of me, because give me an assault rifle, a mech and FTL travel, man I am happy as a clam.

          I think both get from point A to point B, but technology acknowledges that we know things about the universe. Magic mostly says technology has no point... And then I get really bored because to me it's like they're ignoring half of why the world works, even if there is magic.

          So, really I'm just waiting for Bethesda to get the Shadowrun license.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:47 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:38 PM

        I am with you mr geekdick.

      • reply
        February 27, 2011 11:26 AM

        I don't think High Fantasy RPGs will ever get old to me. I love me some lush natural environments + magic and swords.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:00 AM

      Wow. Not sure why I don't like sandbox RPGs (because I love RPGs) but this looks AMAZING.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:04 AM

      DAT CHOIR

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:41 AM

        Wow soundtrack. That modulation at 2:00 is so badass. I <3 Jeremy Soule.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:10 AM

      This footage is where wet dreams go to lay to rest.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:15 AM

      Yeah, but what do the rats look like?

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:15 AM

        yea, and the skellingtons

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 10:16 AM

          and will there still be photobombs??

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:08 AM

            Sadly, no. They've already said that the dialog system won't 'pause' the game like in Oblivion. Everyone will keep going about their business behind you as you chat with an NPC.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 11:09 AM

              isn't that going to increase photobombing potential as weird shit wanders through while you're talking to somebody? i am excited!

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:14 AM

                I suppose it does, but gone are the days of a nice still-frame shot of some mutant Oblivion NPC poking its head in over Modryn Oreyn's shoulders or something.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:16 AM

      Looks fantastic! It looks like the shoddy animation system is a thing of the past thank god, the improvement is really noticeable. Definitely looking forward to it!

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:25 AM

      Ho. Ly. Shit.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:29 AM

      Is the lame level scaling shit gone???

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:32 AM

        I remember reading so in one of the interviews earlier this month. That's a relief, that thing was such a bad idea.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 10:52 AM

          good idea. people just didn't use the slider. the funniest thing was the backfiring of people trying to turbo level everything, going out of normal gameplay, then go UGH THE MUD CRABS RIPPED MY FACE OFF

          well you spent 5 hours jumping around to level athleticism to max in the starting area....

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 10:54 AM

            the fundamental flaw in oblivion was gear. the random gear leveled with you, but if you levelled up too fast you'd never have time to collect gear appropriate gear for your level and soon you'd be level 10 but with a shitty iron sword and rags for armor

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 11:00 AM

              One of my favorite mods for Oblivion leveled level-specific loot with you. So a particular dagger that was, say, a reward from a chain of quests would level automatically with you.

              I think it also leveled those stones you got from closing gates.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:01 AM

                iirc those stones always leveled.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 11:04 AM

              that's true, but ultimately turbo-levelling had some drawbacks that people uncovered by consuming levels as fast as possible.

              it just needed some more merchants to sell things IMO, like our pal in the DAO camp. always ready to sell you some scalable loot. then you can ENCHANTMENT??????? it and you are good to go.

              but given that oblivion has skills that translate to levelling in those weapons, you'll still be levelling up.. you can hold down the conjuration button on the low magicka summon spell and gain 10 levels super fast and you haven't even moved. same with alchemy, which had the added benefit of selling tons of shit, which of course levels up speechcraft or whatever.....

              so people's needs to do things faster exposed the flaw, in my opinion, as oblivion is a "do whatever you want" game. it doesn't have loot on rails. what you do will gain you levels. if you are super active and finding ways to level up fast, you have just chosen to leave gear behind. that was a choice the player made. the slider was always there to bail you out, but people didn't give a fuck and blamed something other than themselves.

              and if the things didn't have some sort of auto level, the opposite would be true. you'd have the same turbo-levelling maximizers then say UGH THE WHOLE WORLD IS TOO EASY THIS IS DUMB

              but oh wait, the slider was still there

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:08 AM

                the slider is a cop-out for good game balance

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 11:10 AM

                  I like it in oblivion. you do whatever you want, and can adjust it if necessary.

                  if it was on rails, people would be super pissed off since it would then be polarized ONLY, and then we'd still be bitching about game balance because it's locked to what the developers wanted...

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 11:12 AM

                    it's good that it's there, just like it's good that games have cheat codes. but i consider these things as being external to the game experience on some level.

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 11:17 AM

                      well it's a nice option to augment how you are playing the game, it balances out how the player didn't account for their actions to keep them in the game.

                      since this type of game is all you, the slider is crucial. you could clear the first dungeon you come across and level up to max in there, we all know that. does that mean the game design is broken? fuck no. use the slider.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 11:21 AM

                        i think it does mean the game design is broken. you shouldn't be able to level up to max in the first dungeon.

                        this is really about my expectations for game difficulty: i expect that at the beginning of the game i'm going to pick a challenge level, and that the game is going to get gradually but not insurmountably harder from there in a pretty much linear fashion until the finale of the game. this is how most games work. if i have to lower the difficulty midstream, i feel like i've failed as a player to keep up with the difficulty progression, and that's a bad feeling.

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 11:24 AM

                          That is of course the ideal for every game. The problem is that most games simply cannot deliver that experience. Hell, it's that exact line of thinking that I'm sure pushed Bethesda to implement the level scaling system in the first place. The slider basically ensures that you can get the gaming experience that you deserve. It's almost like a recognition on the developer's part of their inevitable failure to live up to expectations of pacing like yours. They did the best they could with their vision, but they're cool enough to say "if you don't feel like it's working, customize this bitch yourself!"

                          I never even used the slider for the entirety of the Oblivion main storyline/most of the guilds, though. I didn't think the difficulty was that out of wack until I started playing again recently.

                          • reply
                            February 24, 2011 11:29 AM

                            most games do deliver that experience, at least at standard difficulty. i think it's mostly a problem in oblivion because it's sandboxy and you can break the difficulty curve despite playing how you're "supposed" to play. the example is kvatch, which is routinely too hard for a green character to finish by the time they get there.

                            • reply
                              February 24, 2011 11:32 AM

                              Kvatch was actually really weird. Due to the way they scaled it, level 2-5 characters could frequently breeze through it, while level 10+ characters would get absolutely destroyed.

                              • reply
                                February 24, 2011 11:41 AM

                                right, which is why it seems broken. it's not that it's hard or easy, it's that it's totally arbitrary. i think it was around level 10 that the leveled-up-without-finding-appropriate-gear problem was very severe. unfortunately it was easy to do this if you explored a few diversions on your way to kvatch, which the whole sandboxy nature of the game encourages you to do.

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 11:33 AM

                          that second sentence is the crux. in the open world games, people want that freedom. if you choose to do that, the game now is warped around your decision.

                          if they clamp it down and levelling is locked, you have severely changed the gameplay and restricted options... which would also backfire.

                          so, the slider is there, and it works both ways.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 11:10 AM

                  The slider turned my Oblivion experience from "oh wow, here's some more bandits with fucking glass armor that take 5 minutes to kill" to a quite tolerable RPG more in line with traditional stuff. Lowering it by 1 percent when I felt things weren't reacting how they should could mean all the difference. I liked that it was there and it better still be there in Skyrim.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:15 AM

                I think I prefer the model in MMOs where different areas are level appropriate

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 11:35 AM

                  that is a more defined scenario, like WoW for example, where it works really well. you have specific quest hubs to guide you through the zones and then you hit max level.

                  however, the entire world is supposed to be that zone and allow you to go where you want, when you want, and level how you want.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 11:37 AM

                    I think it would be cool to just have different dungeons and zones and to randomly set their levels at the start of a game, so it turns out different next time you play -- as opposed to dynamically changing

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 11:43 AM

                      if it's random how do you know when it's level appropriate?

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 11:48 AM

                        when you get your ass kicked and you come back later.. or you pay attention to their equipment

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 11:49 AM

                          everquest had a feature where you could query a mob to find out if it was easy, your level, or way out there in terms of difficulty. certainly something similar could exist, as a spell if nothing else

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 10:59 AM

            Imagine how crazy Oblivion player characters must've seemed to the NPCs.
            Standing in one place for hours without moving, waiting for stores to open or something.
            Jumping all the time, everywhere.
            Always running, even just to cross a room.
            Repeatedly setting themselves aflame with magic spells without a second thought.
            And all the time, staying silent except for the occasional grunt of pain when they fall from a height or get hit with a particularly nasty weapon.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:58 AM

        It's going to work similarly to FO3. So, each dungeon will have a 5 level scale, and it will spawn as close to your level as possible, and it locks in when it is spawned. So for example,
        Dungeon 1 (level 5-10)
        Dungeon 2 (level 15-20)
        Dungeon 3 (level 25-30)

        You take your level 16 guy into Dungeon 1. Creatures in there will be level 10, and you thrash all you see. You go to Dungeon 2, and the mobs there are level 16, and it's a good solid fight. You try out Dungeon 3, and the mobs there are level 25 and push your shit in. You come back to Dungeon 3 later, as a level 30 guy, and it is still a level 25 dungeon.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 1:32 PM

          This is a good explanation and is also acceptable as a game mechanic. weeee

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:13 AM

        Every open world game has level scaling; stop bitching about the entire concept

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 3:51 PM

          um it's stupid so why would I stop bitching about it?

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:23 PM

        I hope so; the leveling always bothered me and kept me from finishing past ES games.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:33 AM

      That's all great.. I just hope the game has more "life" than Oblivion did.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:41 AM

        yeah Oblivion promised this but never delivered. Fallout: New Vegas started to feel close to this for me.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:40 AM

      Cup filled.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:44 AM

      Yeah, sign me up, that looks AWESOME!

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:48 AM

        It might be a small thing... but that waterfall-like river looks really nice.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:51 AM

      I'm going to have sex with this game.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 10:54 AM

      Gameplay trailer has no gameplay.

      Absolutely hated Oblivion. Where was its "radiant a.i."?

      Don't. trust. the. hype.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 10:55 AM

        if you go back and watch the oblivion trailer and then compare it to your actual gameplay experience, this trailer becomes a lot less exciting

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:13 AM

          I think I disagree. The Oblivion trailer, watching it now after having played a shitload of Oblivion, clearly shows all the ultra-stiff animations and pretty simplistic combat. I think the combat shown in the Skyrim trailer has much greater potential for variety.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:14 AM

            the combat does look highly improved, but i remember the combat and stuff in oblivion looking great to me in 2006.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 11:20 AM

              Same here. I like to give a developer like Bethesda the benefit of the doubt in a case like this, though. The difference in terms of gameplay polish/execution from 2006 to now is pretty striking in general. I mean, look at the jump in terms of quality/production values from NWN2 to DA:O, or something like the Witcher 2. I'm not saying anything about the individual merits of those games, just that the standard for quality has been raised the fuck up.

              That kind of ideology, coupled with my absolute trust in Bethesda (especially given their proven track record of progression; Morrowind->Oblivion->FO3) make Skyrim my least worried-about high profile game of 2011.

              Bethesda won't steer you wrong with the Elder Scrolls.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:22 AM

                i'm sure i'll play this for 100+ hours like i did with morrowind and oblivion and fallout 3, but i am trying to take the trailer with the appropriate grain of salt and remember it'll probably still have some of the same flaws as those games.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 11:25 AM

                  Definitely, you really gotta let your inner Elder Scrolls uber-nerd jizz all over this though, just this once. It looks fantastic.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 11:40 AM

                    I tried that with Civ 5 and Fable 3 :( No more I say! Show my good gamepaly or gtfo (never did like Oblivion)

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:08 AM

        Extremely masculine female orc in a flowery robe: "I saw a mudcrab the other day."

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:13 AM

        This is my problem as well, and the previews I've read don't encourage in this point. I love me some good graphics, but I don't buy a game because of them.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:17 AM

        compare the AI in oblivion to other open world games and you will see the answer

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:27 AM

          What do you mean by this, good sir?

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:29 AM

          Despite the quirks, the character AI in Oblivion was far, far ahead of anything we've seen in other open world games. In most open world games, you're lucky to have some mediocre combat and avoidance AI; non-combat behaviors are virtually nonexistent.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:42 AM

            Ultima VII had day / night cycles of characters years before Oblivion. The underlying tech wasn't as advanced (each NPC was scripted, I assume) and Ultima VII was less freeform compared to Oblivion, but still.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:46 AM

            That is a load of crap, even you know it, just read that back to yourself.

            Oblivion barely has an a.i., anybody whose done modding of it knows it. I've done some FO3 modding myself, very moddable game, very very stupid a.i.

            Radiant AI was PRed so much before release as some kind of revolutionary step up, that AI would know and act intelligently, would have needs and wants and work to satisfy them. None of that is true, nothing happened. The AI routine in Oblivion is not as good as Gothic's, and older game, with no animation at all on either ends, they just stare at walls for 8 hours in different places.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 11:55 AM

              No, it's not a load of crap, and I've looked at the modding system, including the characters. There are quite a lot of options for defining autonomous behaviors there.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 12:06 PM

                It's a load of crap.

                The toolset doesn't allow anything the devs haven't already used for the game.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:11 PM

                  That's relevant...how?

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:55 PM

                    It's not in the game pal.

                    Radiant AI doesn't exist. I'll believe it if they say they worked on something that they called Radiant AI, but it's never worked and so it never shipped.

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 1:08 PM

                      So, wait, does your argument essentially amount to "I couldn't find a section in the editor labeled 'Radiant AI', therefore Radiant AI doesn't exist"?

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 4:40 PM

                        i think his argument is that the AI in oblivion was so bad, that it does not justify the term AI. its really just alot of A. I cannot comprehend how someone would look at oblivion and think "this is good, well coded AI behavior". it was fucking atrocious. I dont care how robust the scripting was in the construcion set, i dont care how many boxes you could check for things it could do, i dont care how many lines of scripting you could plug into it; it was fucking awful. Everything it did, or was done with it through the construction set that was remotely interesting was completely scripted.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 4:43 PM

                        lol this is getting dumb. if this is a real life convo I'd promptly walk away

                        radiant ai isn't some hidden editor option that's archaic and in the background. it was heavily marketed. nothing like what was said before release about it was in the actual game.

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 4:47 PM

                          this is the exact same situation we are in now with this "new engine" malarky.

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 4:56 PM

                          The problem is you're entirely wrong. The AI will walk around and have spontaneous conversations with other AI characters. Characters that are set up to do so will find and eat food at certain times. Not specific food, either. There's a quest based on that where you put a poisoned apple down, they eat it, and die, and you can use the apple to kill other people because of the behavior. Guards respond to certain behavior, even if it's not the PC doing it. You can set up these behaviors in the editor. It's not labeled "Radiant AI", but it's there.

                          • reply
                            February 24, 2011 5:19 PM

                            That's not Radiant AI.

                            NPCs walk to their spot, stare at a wall for 8 hours, then it's time to move on to their next spot. What food they eat are spawned directly in their inventory, nothing's lifted off the tables, and there are a looot of tables full of stuff. Guards will chase you into the bottom of the rivers. Etc.

                            So basically a much-publicized feature isn't there. What is there's easily not as good as the one Gothic 2 has, many years before. Lifelessness doesn't just come from one thing, it's from all of these things - the crippled ai, the large world full of nondescript reshuffled assets, the single digit npc on screen at all times.

                            Given everything, I don't believe a thing Bethesda says in regards to TES until it actually happens in the game itself, with the game running. Fallout revival gives it a little credit, and honestly that is its own thing with its own established fanbase.

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 1:27 PM

                      why are you so angry?

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:47 AM

            ^^^^^^^^

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 11:53 AM

            it's a weird tradeoff. in Oblivion all of the miscellaneous city-dwellers are NPCs you can talk to or fight with or rob or whatever. they all have homes and personalities. however, there just aren't that many of them, and the result is that towns feel like ghost towns. OTOH you have GTA or Assassin's Creed, where the city is full of miscellaneous mostly non-interactive nobodies but the cities feel alive.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 11:58 AM

              The GTA games always felt pretty empty to me. Yeah, there are a lot of bodies, but they're really more like vaguely mobile obstacles than actual people. Assassin's Creed did better, since there was more variety to the characters, and the characters seemed to have more different types of reactions and behaviors.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 11:59 AM

                GTA people are potential victims imo

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:04 PM

                  It's hard for me to think of blatantly mindless drones as "victims".

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 12:00 PM

                they're not perfect but i think both of these franchises do that "this is a real city" feeling much better than Elder Scrolls. in Fallout 3 i could forgive it more because, well, it is a wasteland. but still, why are you standing around a shitty shop all day when you live in a town with 10 people? can't they just come find you when they want to buy something?

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:41 PM

                  *grabs long list of logic problems with FO3*

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:58 PM

                    every game has this problem. how many people really come through here buying swords? and if it's just me, why are you stocking stuff i would never buy?!!?!

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 1:39 PM

                      One of my favorites: you hack three computer terminals to gain access the lowest level of the facility to find tires, heaps of dirt, and junk. Oh, and the lights are still on.

                      • reply
                        February 25, 2011 9:09 PM

                        You attempt to hack a computer. You guess the password wrong three times. If you guess it wrong again, you will be locked out of the system. You step away from the computer and return. You have four chances again.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 11:36 AM

        The hype for each TES game is like the biggest mass delusion ever. When you take off the glasses there really is quite nothing worth the hype, high review scores and commercial success in The Elder Scrolls games. So empty, cold and vacuous games. The epitome of mediocrity and so on.

        Those couple of times I've decided to give a TES game a try I've ended up asking myself why the heck I'm bothering with this crap and what is it that makes these games sell so well. Perhaps it's because The Elder Scrolls is really equivalent to the Lady Gaga's and Justin Bieber's of the music world.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 11:37 AM

          I think it's because they're actually pretty good games.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 12:00 PM

          the epitome of mediocrity? if TES games are mediocre, whats good?

          • reply
            February 25, 2011 7:38 AM

            Well, Gothic 2 slayed Morrowind, buried it, and pissed on its tombstone. Hell, Gothic 2 did that to Oblivion and Fallout 3 as well.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 12:04 PM

          I don't know what it is that's in this game that brings out the absolute mental midget in a lot of people.

          When people said Oblivion is lifeless, that's a conclusion they arrived at after many double digit hours in the game with an eye toward qualities that already exist in contemporary games. Give them props for all that art in the game, the gameplay's basic diablo in 3D.

          So yeah I agree when you called it a mass delusion, it's happened with Doom 3 as well.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 12:08 PM

            i played this game for a hundred hours before i realized hey this game is boring

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 12:14 PM

              a hundred for slow people

              it shouldn't take more than 20, maybe 25 hours to get a good feel for the game.

              if all the randomly generated semi-identical holes in the ground didn't tip you off after like 5 or 10 of them straight, maybe repetitiveness does it for you

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 12:19 PM

                bethesda fixed the random-pointless-dungeon problem in fallout 3 and i don't expect they'll backslide for skyrim

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 2:17 PM

                so skyrim should be bulletstorm in length, and no repetition, and unique art assets for all visuals

                what else is on your list

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 4:44 PM

                  you know what I mean. quit acting dumb.

                  no middle-ground people shouldn't be in any discussions

                  • reply
                    February 25, 2011 6:12 AM

                    Don't be ridiculous.

                    You seem to be highly aditated over this game. I'm guessing you've spent, what, at least 300+ hours playing this game for your reactions to be this obtuse.

                    There are a few more considerations to take for Oblivion than just 1 dimensional AI or repetative cave systems. Do you think everyone plays games just the way you do?

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 12:10 PM

            Vast, carefully detailed worlds with rich backstory and literally scores of individual stories to investigate.

            Yeah, you're right, people enjoying that and being hyped about it is completely inexplicable.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 12:12 PM

              Hint: Whacking monsters isn't the point.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 12:24 PM

                yeah, if whacking monsters ala diablo isn't the point, there's no point left.

                it amazing to me that you're compelled by its story when lined up against the stark contrast of the presentation, with like maybe 10 npcs on screen max. It's like the story tries to be goliath and the presentation david.

                go walk about the different towns, see how many outer walls you find that an average guy can pull himself up and over, and then think about the big siege machines. I remember one's like chest high in one spot.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:25 PM

                  breaking news: a game has an uneven sense of scale. more at 11.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:36 PM

                    Funny you should mention scale, and that you're saying it's somehow okay to call a few little huts with a big hut in the middle a city, and not a village.

                    If you can only show villages, tell village stories, tell human stories, not some epic world-spanning world-saving story where a few villages are at stake. Those are some crappy low stakes compare to the fantasy you're selling.

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 12:37 PM

                      well, that's most games. the cities in dragon age are a joke, size-wise. RPGs in particular suffer from this due to technological issues.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 12:40 PM

                        Yep. And quite a lot of the side content in Oblivion was more about individuals than anything with a grand scope.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 12:46 PM

                        The Witcher doesn't. And it's not a matter of technology at all.

                        It's a matter of ability to tell a detailed story that is lacking.

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 12:49 PM

                          the witcher certainly has that issue

                          • reply
                            February 24, 2011 12:52 PM

                            They made it believable.

                            They did it by making it clear that what you saw was only a very small part of the world, and when in cities, they were only sections of the larger city.

                            • reply
                              February 24, 2011 12:59 PM

                              in either case though, you know it's an illusion. i don't see how making gates permanently locked and placing invisible walls in the player's path is any more effective than having an epic tale of intrigue occur in a "city" of 100 citizens.

                              • reply
                                February 24, 2011 4:39 PM

                                One has a working illusion, and Oblivion doesn't.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:34 PM

                  You seem incapable of grasping the notion that exploration and discovery can be fun in and of themselves, with no other particular benefit or reward.

                  http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=25352316#itemanchor_25352316

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:42 PM

                    That's exactly my point.

                    It's insane to me that you can enjoy exploring randomly generated holes in the ground, and cut and paste apartments with little to no supplementary story. What a waste of time. At least diablo promises something at the bottom.


                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 12:44 PM

                      They weren't randomly generated in Oblivion, though they may not all have each been super-detailed in terms of purpose. That latter flaw was corrected in Fallout 3, and as others have pointed out, there's no reason at all to think they'll regress on that point.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 12:49 PM

                        They were. Those were the worst offenders.

                        Then there's the apartments, which are cut/paste with a few details changed by hand.

                        Real 100% hand-made environment supported by story's easily falls around or below 1/5 of the actual content.

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 1:09 PM

                          Do you actually have a reference about them being randomly generated, or are you just assuming that because you don't think they were interesting enough?

                          And again, Fallout 3 was definitively not randomly generated.

                          • reply
                            February 24, 2011 4:45 PM

                            Refer to any previews, interviews before Oblivion came out.

                            Nobody said anything about FO3 having generated stuff.

                        • reply
                          February 25, 2011 3:34 PM

                          [deleted]

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:45 PM

                  Xulu, just ask Arcanum why you can't read books in FO3.

                • reply
                  February 25, 2011 9:36 AM

                  Xulu, you've got to get that sand out of your vagina; it's making you cranky. Does it itch?

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 12:24 PM

              I don't know about carefully detailed. Most of Oblivion was speed tree + cut and paste + level scaling. Hardly carefully crafted.

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 12:26 PM

                the entire world and every dungeon was handmade. i thought the locales were pretty varied and the different topographies were interesting.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:29 PM

                  the impressive part of the game for me was the Cyrodiil overworld. so many good environments.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:32 PM

                    yep. i never cared for the oblivion gates past the first couple. but the overworld, that was fun shit to explore. and yeah, some dungeons were similar to others. in that they contained stairs, traps, and doors. and yeah, some dungeons had no big surprise at the end, no tough boss, and maybe not even great loot. but that's kind of the point: you never know what's around the corner.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:33 PM

                    yep. i never cared for the oblivion gates past the first couple. but the overworld, that was fun shit to explore. and yeah, some dungeons were similar to others. in that they contained stairs, traps, and doors. and yeah, some dungeons had no big surprise at the end, no tough boss, and maybe not even great loot. but that's kind of the point: you never know what's around the corner.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 5:31 PM

                    Not to mention the Shivering Isles pretty much made up for the shortcomings of Cyrodiil.

                • reply
                  February 24, 2011 12:34 PM

                  If that's true it sure didn't feel like it. Most of the world was empty space and every cave I went in was practically the same as the last.

                  Morrowind was a lot better in that regard. I actually enjoyed exploring that world and it seemed like more care went into it's construction. Oblivion's world was straight up boring and uninspiring to me.

                  • reply
                    February 24, 2011 12:40 PM

                    [deleted]

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 12:47 PM

                      We'll see. Fallout 3 benefited from having real-life source material to work with. Fantasy settings require more imagination. I like what is being shown in Skyrim though so far but they really need to create interesting landmarks this time. Endless rolling green hills and trees isn't going to be nearly enough to keep it interesting.

                      I'm most concerned with them releasing a stable game on a new engine though. Their track record with that is the absolute worse.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 12:51 PM

                        oblivion was substantially more varied than that. mountains, snow in the north, the swamps down south, the meadowy plains near skingrad, the distinct architecture for all the cities...

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 12:56 PM

                          There might have been different environments but there was nothing of interest in the environments themselves other than another fucking cave or underground ruin. Exploring environments is boring if there is nothing in them to discover.

                          • reply
                            February 24, 2011 12:57 PM

                            ultimately, but i certainly had fun figuring out there was nothing there worth looking for

                          • reply
                            February 24, 2011 1:01 PM

                            Daedric Shrines+Quests?

                            Those were great to stumble upon and discover through exploration.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 1:20 PM

                        [deleted]

                    • reply
                      February 24, 2011 1:10 PM

                      Yeah the games are different but I don't think you'll be disappointed in this regard. Dungeons in particular are something I'm heavily involved with in Skyrim.

                      • reply
                        February 24, 2011 1:22 PM

                        [deleted]

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 1:28 PM

                          i just want weather effects to make a comeback, i really missed rain in fallout 3

                        • reply
                          February 24, 2011 1:35 PM

                          I don't know offhand how many env artists there are, but there's about 100 people total on the dev team. That doesn't include marketing, QA, admin and that sort of thing, just developers.

          • reply
            February 25, 2011 7:43 AM

            It's true. Oblivion was a piece... Bethesda have terrible low production values, I wouldn't call them a AAA studio. Their models, animations, AI, UI, terrain formation (looks much better in ESV tho), and DIALOG are all pisspoor. The dialog is as if it were written by a 13 year old. Just seems loopy and baby-ish. This fits with Bethesda's forum management, though, where it's basically a playpen for toddlers. I can only guess that the whole "from the minds of tots" thing is a theme that stems from Bethesda ownership.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 12:07 PM

          i guess i'm supremely successful at deluding myself because i've sunk over 100 hours into oblivion and countless dozens more into past elder scrolls games

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 12:10 PM

          who'd have guessed that people like different things from you. mindblowing.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 2:49 PM

          YES you have figured it out everyone who likes what you don't is delusional!

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 4:43 PM

          you just made me hard. lets go make love to one another, and shit up some oblivion threads. ill show you some of my oblivion shitting secrets, and you can show me some of yours. i think we could create something beautiful together, you and i.

        • reply
          February 25, 2011 7:48 AM

          Cold and vacuous are good descriptions. They're technically crap, too. Bloodmoon was great in its time, but since then Bethesda have just not produced anything of quality. Bethesda truly has the lowest production values of any AAA studio, and it makes their games an embarrassment to play, imo.

          Their models, animations, AI, UI, terrain formation (looks much better in ESV tho), and DIALOG are all pisspoor. The dialog is as if it were written by a 13 year old. Just seems beyond basic and baby-ish. This fits with Bethesda's forum management, though, where it's basically a playpen for toddlers. I can only guess that the whole "from the minds of tots" thing is a theme that stems from Bethesda ownership.

          In addition, the voice delivery in their games is just plain awful. It makes the characters seems really loopy and gives the game a padded-walls feel that kills the atmosphere.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:01 PM

        Except, you know, for all the gameplay it had in it.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:03 PM

        Don't. trust. the. hype. haha yeah this game series is definitely built on hype man good call

      • reply
        February 25, 2011 9:10 AM

        Oblivion was a fantastic game. Flawed, but fun as all hell. I am greatly looking forward to Skyrim.

        You might want to get that sand in your vagina cleaned out.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 11:11 AM

      looks crazy :D

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 11:43 AM

      please be the iteration where pressing "Take All" actually fills your inventory with things you might want.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 11:58 AM

      MAX motherfucking VON SYDOW!
      I hope he has hours and hours worth of dialogue, and isn't killed off immediately like Patrick Stewart.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 12:07 PM

      The combat looks very visceral. The character getting knocked around seems like it's gonna be great. I also like the implementation of viewbob when you are running right at the beginning. It gives some weight to the movement.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 2:32 PM

        We'll see if it works this time. I've never been a fan of FPS sword fighting. Oblivion did it okay, but still lacked a certain something.

    • reply
      February 24, 2011 12:30 PM

      YEAR OF MY PC UPGRADE

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:40 PM

        yes I think so too

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 12:41 PM

          should I get a GTX460?

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 12:45 PM

            I would wait until closer to the release. The 460 is awesome though :)

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 12:50 PM

              i bought that 9.99 or whatever Batman:AA deal (haven't played it yet) and want to play with PhysX... thinking about it...

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 12:58 PM

                Depends on if you want to upgrade now or later, the Radeon 7000 series will be out before Skyrim and likely Nvidia's 600 series too.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:41 PM

        I have already started. My GTX570 showed up last Friday.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:47 PM

        Yeah, me too. It's time to finally retire my good ol' Pentium D 3.2Ghz and my trusty 8800GT. They have both served me well.... but they are really starting to show their age lately.

      • reply
        February 24, 2011 12:47 PM

        me too! I think I will wait until the fall though...

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 1:02 PM

          Yeah, see if AMD's Bulldozer is any good.

          • reply
            February 24, 2011 1:05 PM

            Radeon 7000 series, GTX 600's, and the 2133 SB (or is it Ivy Bridge?) should be out around then too, a very exciting time.

            • reply
              February 24, 2011 1:10 PM

              I thought Ivy Bridge was early '12 or is it still 1155?

              • reply
                February 24, 2011 1:15 PM

                They're saying it might show up on 1155 in the second half of this year, and I meant 2011 socket, which looks like it'll be suped up Sandy Bridge.

        • reply
          February 24, 2011 3:34 PM

          Yup. I'll be pulling the trigger around Oct/Nov with BF3 and Skyrim. Its going to be so fricken awesome!

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        February 24, 2011 1:04 PM

        I really hope the new engine doesn't run like shit. I can play Bulletstorm with all details maxed on my Q6600 with a new nVidia card and that game is gorgeous.

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        February 24, 2011 1:18 PM

        I'm gonna have to SLI my 460. I'm not in the mood to plunk down $200+ on a new card again.

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          February 24, 2011 1:23 PM

          a single 460 won't handle this you think?

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          February 24, 2011 2:35 PM

          SLI solutions suck generally. Boost framerate but not gameplay latency (maybe doesn't matter for this)

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        February 24, 2011 2:33 PM

        Me thinks too for this + BF3 + Rage + I dunno what else

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        February 24, 2011 2:47 PM

        LOL I Second this suggestion.

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        February 24, 2011 3:50 PM

        [deleted]

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        February 27, 2011 11:16 AM

        Haha, this. My current PC is from right before Oblivion's release, except for the 8800GT I later added cheaply.

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      February 24, 2011 12:31 PM

      That looks hot. How can I quit my job and play video games for a living? :(

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      February 24, 2011 1:14 PM

      Art looks very good, technically it looks competent, that river looks like shit, areas in shadow look flat and lifeless. Where's my gameplay?

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      February 24, 2011 1:20 PM

      All I want with this is Steamworks and I will buy this fucker at full price! Even if its $60... Shit, did I just say that?

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      February 24, 2011 2:13 PM

      Oh hell yes.

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      February 24, 2011 2:17 PM

      Seriously though, I know I'm supposed to be all cool and levelheaded when it comes to games because I need to look at it with a critics eye but... ALL OVER MY FACE.

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        February 24, 2011 2:29 PM

        it's ok. It's face worthy

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        February 24, 2011 2:29 PM

        yea that shit looks siiiiick!

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        February 24, 2011 2:36 PM

        Xav, did you hear they wrote their own dragon language?

        !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DRAGONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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          February 24, 2011 2:43 PM

          I've been told by a friend that inventing a language actually isn't that hard.

          He once did something in primary school - he can't remember what - that made the teacher so angry, they told him to go sit in the cupboard. He spent the rest of the year in there. He never told his parents because he was afraid they'd go mental at him (at that age, teachers are always right) and so he entertained himself in the free time he had after finishing his work by developing his own language.

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            February 24, 2011 2:51 PM

            I suspect there's a big difference between what a kid throws together in primary school sitting in a closet and a rational, reasonably consistent language that can be learned and used by multiple people.

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        February 24, 2011 3:44 PM

        [deleted]

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      February 24, 2011 2:39 PM

      I hope the towns have a more real feel, better atmosphere. I hated in Morrowind & Oblivion walkng into a bar and hearing dead silence. No one running around, no liveliness.

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        February 24, 2011 2:41 PM

        Radiant AI is supposedly improved, hopefully including ambient things like this.

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        February 24, 2011 2:44 PM

        considering how awesome the soundtrack is, they really need some diegetic music in these games. bars should have a dude playing the lute once in a while.

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      February 24, 2011 2:39 PM

      [deleted]

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        February 24, 2011 2:53 PM

        If it bleeds we can kill it

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      February 24, 2011 2:43 PM

      GOTdamn

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      February 24, 2011 2:51 PM

      Fuck that spider!

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      February 24, 2011 2:55 PM

      Looks decent enough - certainly a bunch of improvements have been made to the game engine (by the looks of it), but at the same time, I still find it oddly underwhelming. I thought the dragon flying animation at the very end was pretty clunky-looking. :( Still, I'm sure it'll deliver what it's trying to deliver, and in spades. :)

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        February 25, 2011 8:32 AM

        I totally agree about the clunky flying animation at the end. The relatively small wings also make it look a bit weird.

        Apart from that, I'm very impressed with the trailer.

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      February 24, 2011 2:56 PM

      EPIC !!!!!!!!!!!

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      February 24, 2011 3:14 PM

      APATHY CANCELLED.

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      February 24, 2011 3:32 PM

      FUS RO DAH!!!

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      February 24, 2011 3:39 PM

      Between this and Guild Wars 2 Jeremy Soule is getting a lot of work.

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      February 24, 2011 3:56 PM

      Welp, time to start shopping for computer parts. :(

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      February 24, 2011 4:13 PM

      I think the "Comment on" phrase is awkward and doesn't need to be there in these posts.

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      February 24, 2011 4:24 PM

      Hard to believe, but this is all 360 footage.

      This game is going to look awesome on PC

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      February 24, 2011 4:29 PM

      Ok, this trailer completely squashed my interested in Two Worlds 2. It seems like I can now wait for my rpg fix.

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      February 24, 2011 4:31 PM

      [deleted]

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      February 24, 2011 4:33 PM

      looks good

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      February 24, 2011 4:38 PM

      Can't wait to get my hoard on with a thief again.

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      February 24, 2011 4:52 PM

      [deleted]

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      February 24, 2011 4:54 PM

      om nom nom

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      February 24, 2011 5:54 PM

      We got this game for single player and BF3 for multiplayer and then Portal 2 for coop crossplatform puzzle play. These three games alone (not to mention their inevitable DLC) could easily keep me busy for a year or more. This year is definitely one for the record books.

      I generally upgrade my PC at my own pace when it is most affordable but not for 2011. This time the actual content is so compelling I am willing to start saving now to buy new hardware just for a handful of titles, not to mention the other 6+ solid releases we're getting.

      One for the record books...

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      February 24, 2011 5:56 PM

      Holy cow, this is an awesome trailer. I especially like the narrator. I recognize his voice, but can't place his name....

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        February 24, 2011 6:00 PM

        max von sydow. You may remember him from such films as rush hour 3 and judge dread.

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      February 24, 2011 5:59 PM

      So i played morrowind for all of 5 minutes before dying to some guards and quit forever, I never played oblivion even once. I've put countless hours into fallout 3 and new vegas. Should this game be given a chance?

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        February 24, 2011 6:04 PM

        Are you on drugs? It has DRAGONS!

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        February 24, 2011 7:21 PM

        You should play Morrowind. It was awesome. The combat was a bit crappy (alright, a lot crappy) but the story was fantastic.

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          February 24, 2011 7:24 PM

          The quest log was also god-awful. And cliff racers. >:(

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        February 24, 2011 7:24 PM

        sounds like you have a great attention span

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      February 24, 2011 6:10 PM

      oh god, those liquid walls give me acid flashbacks

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      February 24, 2011 6:22 PM

      how long do you think the Skyrim threads will be after it gets released. I remember Oblivion had to its own separate chatty for like 2 weeks.

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        February 24, 2011 6:30 PM

        With the new combined chatty structure, "long enough to crush the chatty on lesser computers" seems entirely plausible.

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        February 24, 2011 9:14 PM

        24 hours

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      February 24, 2011 6:31 PM

      fuck the spider things though >:(

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      February 24, 2011 6:40 PM

      daaaaaaayum!
      color me impressed.

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      February 24, 2011 8:01 PM

      Holy crap that looks amazing. I wasn;t expecting such a jump in graphics from Oblivion.

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        February 24, 2011 9:20 PM

        I have a feeling come release it's going to look noticeably worse than this early media.

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          February 24, 2011 9:35 PM

          I kinda doubt it. This isn't like Oblivion where they showed us stuff way early in development with consoles they were uncertain of the power of. They know what they can do, and the game is coming out later this year...I'd wager that is about how the game will look, and most of "in-game" looking stuff really did look exactly like I'd expect. It's a step up from Oblivion/FO3, but not a leap.

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          February 24, 2011 10:28 PM

          this has never been the case with previous bethesda games. why would that be the case now?

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          February 24, 2011 11:36 PM

          They are 8.5 months from release, so they won't be making any large art or tech changes at this point.

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            February 25, 2011 12:07 AM

            When optimization time comes as release gets closer, that's when sacrifices are made and visual fidelity starts going down in many titles, especially when trying to squeeze more performance from the consoles. That doesn't mean the PC version has to suffer too, but Vincent Grayson mentioning Oblivion reminded me of them ditching their dynamic shadowing from the E3 build they were showing off before release.

            I wish they would make some large scale art and tech changes though. Some of the art on the models and stuff like rocks especially have that same overtly fake / poorly rendered look that was big in Oblivion and Fallout 3. They said it was an all new engine and while some things do look much improved it still retains some of those not so aesthetically pleasing aspects that really bugged me. I've never been able to put it into words that other people can comprehend sufficiently, they have decent artists but the way their engine renders those assets reminds me of software modes in older games, but in HD and with bumpmapping and shaders and normal maps and that kind of junk thrust on top for better or worse if that makes any sense. It's not as natural looking as it could be or should be. Not quite that Doom 3 plasticy thing, but just slightly off from something that would look really impressive and immersive.

            I'm rambling now so I'll stop!

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              February 25, 2011 12:55 AM

              I really don't think we'll see any major upgrades until there's a new console generation. While I'm sure there's still room to improve on the current generation, I doubt we're going to see a lot of games that look significantly better than what we have now.

              I'm fine with how the game looks from these trailers, and I think it looks better enough to account for an improved engine and what they've learned from the past two games, but not so good that it's clearly going to get knocked down a notch or two before release.

              Honestly, I'm mostly excited about how combat looked to be more dynamic with some techniques beyond "hit guy with weapon" and "hit guy with weapon from another angle", and while I didn't see dynamic shadows on everything, it at least looked like maybe they've finally got them outdoors (on buildings and such), which would go a long way to improving the look of the game.

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              February 25, 2011 1:38 AM

              They need the texture artists from The Witcher http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422113

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      February 24, 2011 8:18 PM

      I think the bigger news here is that Shacknews is SELF AWARE

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      February 24, 2011 9:05 PM

      I can't believe I am about to say this.. but I think this game is going to take my mind off wondering where Episode 3 is.

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      February 24, 2011 10:16 PM

      here's some morrowind music to chillax too after seeing that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pywkwAoENBY

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      February 24, 2011 10:45 PM

      I've been randomly adding DRAGON BORN!!!! to random thoughts and moments in my head after the first teaser

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      February 24, 2011 11:20 PM

      I know everyone is gushing over this and it does look very good however at the 1:27 - 1:29 mark not sure if its the video but the game looks like ass.

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      February 24, 2011 11:33 PM

      I know I'm supposed to be excited but...dragons? Yawn.

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      February 25, 2011 12:44 AM

      what is wrong with that water? the phrase "good from far, but far from good" comes to mind.

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      February 25, 2011 12:46 AM

      W O W

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      February 25, 2011 1:50 AM

      i need to go to bed but the skyrim song is stuck in my head. what can i do?

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      February 25, 2011 7:33 AM

      Hopefully this one isn't terrible like Oblivion was. The graphics are pretty poor, though. The trees (and well, everything) are ridiculously low poly and that wolf animation is... um, not worthy of a B studio. The water is a flat scrolling texture (lol), and the terrain surface is kept quite flat to reduce polys. Textures aren't great, either.

      People shouldn't be fooled by this small video, wait till high res screenshots come out, this looks graphically well dated. Before someone says the Gameplay > Graphics argument... neither can make it on their own without the other. Believable environments draw you in as much as anything does, sometimes moreso than the other elements... but a scrolling texture to simulate a river doesn't qualify as believable.

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        February 25, 2011 7:35 AM

        [deleted]

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          February 25, 2011 7:50 AM

          I agree that this is probably the 360 version, and sometimes a PC version will look better, but I don't think that it'll be so here. I doubt Bethesda have a whole separate set of textures, models, animations, water rendering for the PC version. I think the PC version will look like the 360, with the difference being draw distance.

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        February 25, 2011 7:40 AM

        yeah looks terrible ! god why can't I have an open world crysis 2 running at 180 fps

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          February 25, 2011 7:49 AM

          Actually, that's probably not an unreasonable request for something like ~5 years from now.

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            February 25, 2011 7:50 AM

            I WANT IT NOW

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          February 25, 2011 7:51 AM

          gmd, this space you add in front of your exclamation points is starting to get on my nerves

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        February 25, 2011 7:47 AM

        [deleted]

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          February 25, 2011 7:48 AM

          the anti-Bethesda basement dwellers are out in full force saying how dungeon master gothic winter nights 5 was vastly superior in every way.

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          February 25, 2011 7:55 AM

          Now that's not true at all. I don't know if you're blurring the line between graphics and world design, but Gothic 3 had far superior graphics years ago (but it was not a console game), though the game was a big flop. I don't remember which other open world RPGs I've played in the last few years, so I can't make more comparisons. Still, I'm not comparing open world RPG to open world RPG. I'm comparing decent modern graphics to this. It's only consoles that couldn't handle far greater graphics and still be an open world setting.

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        February 25, 2011 7:52 AM

        high-res screenshots you say: http://throwmeaway.imgur.com/tes_v_skyrim__hi_res_stills_from_feb_24_trailer#FBhbc

        You front pagers better step up your game.

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          February 25, 2011 7:53 AM

          I forgot this is a front page article which explains most of the comments

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            February 25, 2011 7:57 AM

            If you mean this isn't the Bethesda forums... you'd be correct there.

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            February 25, 2011 8:01 AM

            Oh, and part of the reason why this may look so different than the Bethesda forums is because there they ban anyone who criticizes their games, or even links to places that criticize their games as an act of criticism. That place is a toddler's daycare with nazi moderating.

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          February 25, 2011 7:57 AM

          Lol, those are not high res, haha. And they also confirm the critique: muddy textures, like Oblivion had, flat terrain surface, low poly trees...

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        February 25, 2011 8:02 AM

        Uhh.... LOL I remember playing a lot of games that were awesome but had shit for graphics. Namely just about every game according to your standards.

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          February 25, 2011 8:29 AM

          Really? Every good game you've played failed to meet the standard of "decent modern" graphics? My standard doesn't ask for superb or industry leading, it just asks for decent. Many elements of Oblivion were not decent by contemporary standards on its release, such as the textures, animations, dialog, and the models received some critique as well. The gameplay of Oblivion was also terrible, so there was no redeemable quality from that aspect.

          If ES V has really awesome gameplay despite its poor graphics, I would be satisfied, but Bethesda have a bad track record when it comes to gameplay... it tends to be even more sub-par than their games' graphics.

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        February 28, 2011 8:54 PM

        Oblivion was awesome, this looks awesome, and you're on crack.

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      February 26, 2011 12:21 PM

      Instant purchase based on the Morrowind Theme Song

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      February 26, 2011 5:42 PM

      For oblivion and most sandbox games, I usually play through with a stealth/assassin character. However, there's just something epic about going toe to toe with dragons using a brute force based character and recreating moments like 1:07 in the trailer.

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      February 26, 2011 9:05 PM

      Wow these game designers bust there asses to bring the general public a great game and all you people do is complain about it, I'd love to see just one of you make a $30 million game that everyone will enjoy playing.

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      February 27, 2011 11:23 AM

      I find it amusing when people who clearly want something other than what these games try to offer drop by threads to shit all over them.

      By all means, they should improve their animations, graphics, voice work, AI, and main story, but by no means will weaknesses in those areas keep me from enjoying the shit out of exploring this new world and carving my character's own path through it.

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      February 27, 2011 11:29 AM

      I'm excited to see dragons in this game, for no other reason than it means there will be some big badass enemies in the world. That was one issue I definitely had with ES 3 & 4 was that all the enemies were kind of human-sized and there weren't any big badass enemies hidden off in the corners of the world to go challenge yourself with. (think of the dragons in BG2)

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      February 28, 2011 2:35 AM

      i wanna hear more music like this its very ambient but more so cant wait for this kick ass game hop it gets game of the year

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      February 28, 2011 5:48 PM

      [deleted]

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