[Axelfish]

I'm anticipating it greatly. I always loved The Elder Scrolls series: the game world with all its lore, factions, the different guilds you can join, etc.

Strangely, I didn't really care for The Witcher, which I was recommended based on my love for Morrowind and Oblivion. That game just felt overdone in comparison.

[Weare6]

Yes one of my most anticipated games of the year
followed by BIOSHOCK: infinite..... and DeusX........ and RAGE....
oh god who am i kidding there's so much awesomeness but it all starts
with this baby "SKYRIM"..

[rayvio]

so I swore I wouldn't get my hopes up for this game after the disappointment of Oblivion, but the more I read about the game the harder that becomes... of course it also helps that the Elder Scrolls games are shipped with a full construction kit meaning there's a ton of player-made mods, many of which happen to fix the flaws of the games (in fact many of the complaints I had about vanilla Oblivion have actually been fixed by modders, to rather impressive effect)

unofficial Skyrim information compendium

* Radiant Story: Many quests are still completely governed by Bethesda, but the Radiant Story system helps randomize and relate the side quests to players to make the experience as dynamic and reactive as possible. Rather than inundate you with a string of unrelated and mundane tasks, it tailors missions based on who your character is, where you're at, what you've done in the past, and what you're currently doing. Radiant Story is also smart enough to know which caves and dungeons you've already visited and thus conditionalize where, for instance, a kidnapped person is being held to direct you toward a specific place you haven't been to before, populated with a specific level of enemy. Skyrim also tracks your friendships and grudges to generate missions. Do a small favor for a farmer and it may eventually lead to a larger quest. Some NPCs will even agree to be your companion to help you out in specific situations.

* New, updated Radiant AI: You won't find townspeople loitering aimlessly in town squares anymore. Each NPC performs tasks that make sense in their environment. To impart the towns and cities with a greater sense of life, Bethesda has populated them with mills, farms, and mines that give the NPCs believable tasks to occupy their day. The improved Radiant AI technology is also more aware of how a citizen should react to your actions. As you perform tasks for them or terrorize them by ransacking their home, the NPCs develop feelings about you. If you're good friends with a particular NPC and barge into his house during the middle of the night, he may offer you lodging rather than demand you leave the premises. If you swing your weapon near an NPC, knock items off their dinner table, or try to steal something of value, they'll react with an appropriate level of hostility given their prior relationship to you.
* If you drop an item on the ground near NPCs they will react to that as well, such as a child might try to give you the sword back, two men will fight over it or someone might even try to kill you with it if they dislike you.
* If you kill a shop owner, their family member will inherit the shop and will be angry about you, but still give you missions, which could then improve your relation with them.

* Traps and puzzles are used to make dungeons more interesting.
* Every town has it's own Economic System. If you destroy a city's means of income, they'll need to buy from another nearby city, and prices in the city will go up or some products will not be available in that city at all.

but...

4E ?? — Morrowind is conquered by the Argonians.
* With the absence of Vivec, the Ministry of Truth becomes unstable. Vuhon creates an Ingenium in order to keep the rock stable by using first dozens of dying souls, then a small number of living ones as fuel. Sul fights Vuhon over his wife, who was being used as a living battery causing the Ministry of Truth to crash into Vvardenfell, destroying much of the island and killing many of the people. The Argonians of Black Marsh invade and conquer the crippled Dunmer.

poor beloved Morrowind! but at least the Argonians get revenge on the Dunmer slavers!

Gameplay trailer

GTTV E3 Skyrim Coverage

G4 E3 Skyrim Coverage

provided they don't pull a molyneux and completely fail to deliver on their hype, Skyrim promises to be a pretty damned impressive game...
and if they do somehow mess it up, there's always The Nexus

[Sotha]

yeah, I didn't think I'd have any interest in the next ES after Oblivion either, but damn it all. Also, not that long until the release date. Aww yeah.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Not sure if this has been posted here yet, but...

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Official Gameplay Trailer (choose 780p resolution)

...crank up your headphones high.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I am OFFICIALLY STOKED for this game.

I know I've stated before that it's gonna be rather difficult to traipse through the entirety of Skyrim alone and largely without my own ragtag band of fellow thrill seeker friends (i.e. Varric, Aveline, Isabela, Lelianna, Zevran, Alistair, Wynne, Morrigan, and the others), but reading about Skyrim's promise to occasionally let NPCs accompany you on some quests eases it a bit for me.

I can also learn the Conjuration spell again to summon critters to tag along so I won't be lonely (riding a horsey helps too), like I did when I played Oblivion. Sadly, however, said critters won't talk.

I just have to have company with me, particularly when it's gonna be 300 hours of running around (yep, according to Todd Howard there is 300 hours of awesomeness).

[haptsonir]

This will be as nothing before it. The mentally wayward Bethesda vision thing finally released from any remaining trappings of sense, refracted through their magic powers of inanity into a sprawling, miserable, massively stupid monstrousity. We're talking about the greatest Repetitive Puerile Grind ever since Dragon Age.

I'm siked.

[UPtimist]

Always the optimist

[haptsonir]

Considering the direction of previous Beth games, considering the liberating effect of positive feedback toward those games from the same people who thought Dragon Age and The Witcher were "too difficult" and think Bioware romance is "brilliant writing", considering the ridiculous sensibility paraded in the previews and trailers... the above post was the roses and ponies feel-good summer hit of the year scenario for Skyrim.

But don't let me get you down Teho(P). I bet you will enjoy the inane little details of Radiant AI and be "immersed" into 300+ hours of hiking and fighting the assorted evil cult people, aliens, unlimited dragons and what not in the game sure to steal the throne of "greatest RPG combat system ever" from Dragon Age 2.

[UPtimist]

I do agree about the Bioware stuff, I'll just wait to see first before I declare fail. At least they're fixing some of the biggest problems Oblivion had...

And besides (or perhaps "however"), I suppose I am much more a casual RPGer

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by haptsonir

Considering the direction of previous Beth games, considering the liberating effect of positive feedback toward those games from the same people who thought Dragon Age and The Witcher were "too difficult" and think Bioware romance is "brilliant writing", considering the ridiculous sensibility paraded in the previews and trailers... the above post was the roses and ponies feel-good summer hit of the year scenario for Skyrim.

But don't let me get you down Teho(P). I bet you will enjoy the inane little details of Radiant AI and be "immersed" into 300+ hours of hiking and fighting the assorted evil cult people, aliens, unlimited dragons and what not in the game sure to steal the throne of "greatest RPG combat system ever" from Dragon Age 2.

Yeah, how dare someone like another RPG than you.

[larissa]

This looks soooo good. But is that for real about the Ministry of Truth destroying Vvardenfall? It's like, two rooms big and two feet off the ground. Grr.

[Weare6]

Ahhhh I want this game so bad my eyes are bleeding..............

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Weare6

Ahhhh I want this game so bad my eyes are bleeding..............

I'll get you a doctor.

[rayvio]

Originally Posted by larissa

This looks soooo good. But is that for real about the Ministry of Truth destroying Vvardenfall? It's like, two rooms big and two feet off the ground. Grr.

I think lorewise it's supposed to be bigger than it appeared in Morrowind. also there was something about it retaining it's momentum due to being held outside of time or something rather than actually held in place, so it's still hitting with the force of the full fall. also, volcanic region plus big falling rock leads to messy lava explosions. maybe we should've just sided with Dagoth Ur, that way the Ministry wouldn't have fallen and I think it'd have prevented the Oblivion crisis as well...

Originally Posted by haptsonir

Considering the direction of previous Beth games, considering the liberating effect of positive feedback toward those games from the same people who thought Dragon Age and The Witcher were "too difficult" and think Bioware romance is "brilliant writing", considering the ridiculous sensibility paraded in the previews and trailers... the above post was the roses and ponies feel-good summer hit of the year scenario for Skyrim.

But don't let me get you down Teho(P). I bet you will enjoy the inane little details of Radiant AI and be "immersed" into 300+ hours of hiking and fighting the assorted evil cult people, aliens, unlimited dragons and what not in the game sure to steal the throne of "greatest RPG combat system ever" from Dragon Age 2.

BioWare romances are good... for a computer game. obviously such things have been done better in books, movies, etc but most game developers don't tend to put a lot of effort into variable depths of relationships with other characters, usually any friendships and romances are entirely part of the story rather than an optional extra as in BioWare's games. that's pretty much the reason for the praise, not that they're perfect but that they're better than what most offer

as for Bethesda, well Oblivion was a definite step in the wrong direction but Skyrim will show whether or not they've learned from the mistakes. much like BioWare will have to prove the same with the next Dragon Age instalment. I won't be pre-ordering either, but I will be keeping a close eye on both

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Yeah, how dare someone like another RPG than you.

LOL I've read grieving posts like those so many times that I've become numb to them. That's pretty much the mentality some of us gamers choose to cultivate - "I will NEVER be satisfied, therefore your game already sucks before it even comes out."

Even Evan Dickens, former Editor-in-Chief of Adventure Gamers, wrote an article about it:

We Already Hate Your Game | Adventure Gamers

February 15th, 2001

Dear Developer,

I read the announcement about the name of your game today, and I’m concerned. It sounds like just another boring, pointless shoot-em-up with a story. I realize that absolutely nothing about the game has been announced, but I think the title makes it clear the direction you’re going, and the last thing we need is another crappy hybrid. I hope you’ll rethink this direction, or I won’t buy the game.

August 8th, 2001

Dear Suckbag Sellout,

Way to go, screwups. The short teaser demo of the game confirmed that it will be absolutely terrible. Why did you think that we would want to see any part of the game before it’s ready to be released? And why is it so far away from release anyway? What’s a matter, forty hours a week is too much for you guys? I don’t know anything about your company or your staff, but you’re obviously slackers. And can’t this demo be any longer? It’s like, just when I’m really interested in what happens next, it ends!

In any case, I've thus far had good, satisfying experiences with games from Bioware and Bethesda. On that I base my confidence (NOT faith) that Skyrim will turn out well. Not perfect (no game ever is if you stubbornly impose impossible demands on it), but well. Very, very well.

[haptsonir]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Yeah, how dare someone like another RPG than you.

I'm mostly just messing with Upsie. As said, I bet you'll enjoy it.

Regarding that article - Bethesda has previous form, and they've revealed a fair bit about the game.

BioWare romances are good... for a computer game. obviously such things have been done better in books, movies, etc but most game developers don't tend to put a lot of effort into variable depths of relationships with other characters, usually any friendships and romances are entirely part of the story rather than an optional extra as in BioWare's games. that's pretty much the reason for the praise, not that they're perfect but that they're better than what most offer

Listen to some inane plastic character babble on about their stupid life until they decide they wish to sleep with you. Love story of the century. (well, actually... ) My problem with Bioware's approach is that the games increasingly seem to be about providing these banal fanfic grade love interests for every taste at the expense of actual gameplay or plot. They've stripped off more of those central aspects with every game since BG2, but my disappointment about Bio is off topic here. As you were, boys.

[rayvio]

well they remain optional, and they do have some good moments (personally I found some of Leliana's romance to be adorable and Alistair is sometimes hilariously awkward). it's not entirely off topic though given that Bethesda have allegedly confirmed romances in Skyrim, although given that the interview in which it was stated was a translation (from German I think) it may just have been misunderstood and meant relationships as in friendships between characters. personally I think it's great to do things like this to add more character interaction but it does need to be done well. the problem is that since it's optional (as it should be) it's presumably a lower priority to devote resources to writing it
I don't think inclusion of romances is the reason for some of the 'dumbing down'/cutting some elements of gameplay though, that I suspect is more to do with mainstream customer demands. while many gamers do still love complexity they're no longer the majority so developers are having to make at least some of the complexity optional and when that's not possible reduce it. if Skyrim does feature romances and if the game is even more 'dumbed down' than Oblivion I doubt the two will actually be connected

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by rayvio

while many gamers do still love complexity they're no longer the majority so developers are having to make at least some of the complexity optional and when that's not possible reduce it. if Skyrim does feature romances and if the game is even more 'dumbed down' than Oblivion I doubt the two will actually be connected

I find it interesting how many hardcore gamers would love to have more people play and appreciate video games and constantly complain that their passion is not being taken seriously. But now that it is being taken seriously and the games industry " in 2007 was about $41.9 billion. [15] " and " expected to grow 9.1% annually to $48.9 in 2011 and $68 billion in 2012", they're now complaining that the games are being dumbed down.

The games are not being dumbed down, they're instead diversifying, and doing so to attract a more diverse demographic all over the world, from casual gamers to multi-genre lovers to purists and hardcore traditionalists. If you don't like a certain game, chances are there's another game out there that you'd love.

[Lucien21]

Preorder Skyrim and you will get a cloth map.

http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2011/1778.html