[Schneckchen ^.^]

And another one for the lols

And sorry I don't know how to scale it.

[Monolith]

I'm just so surprised the game was so much more gratuitous than I thought. lol

Well then, I guess Skyrim is on par with disney in terms of gore.

The funny thing is, Oblivion didn't have all that much gore. No dismembering either.

[TimovieMan]

So, to compare with Fallout 3 again, you're getting VATS-style deathblows, but without the 'Bloody Mess' perk?

[Schneckchen ^.^]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

So, to compare with Fallout 3 again, you're getting VATS-style deathblows, but without the 'Bloody Mess' perk?

I'd say even Fallout 3 is a lot more violent. I've only ever seen a couple of decapitations in Skyrim. You don't have to worry about the violence in that game.

[Lucien21]

Originally Posted by Schneckchen ^.^

I'd say even Fallout 3 is a lot more violent. I've only ever seen a couple of decapitations in Skyrim. You don't have to worry about the violence in that game.

Just severe creepiness from the players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHvx0l_tVEw

[Rolandesch]

To quote Keanu Reeves - "Whoa". That is creepy.
I have about 30 hours of gameplay so far and I enjoy it almost all of the time but as in past Bethesda games I am getting a bit tired of hearing the same voice actors over and over again. I understand it is a huge world with lots of characters in it but I think they could have used more actors. It isn't a big problem but I think some of them are the same as from Fallout 3 and NV maybe even from Oblivion and hearing the same voices this much in all of their games does get a bit tiring. And thats the only bad thing so far. I couldn't believe it until I played it myself but the 3rd person camera is finally playable and even more then playable it is GREAT, the variety of locations is astounding and I find it very easy to get lost in this world. I actually didn't get to my first dragon battle for a long time since I decided to go southwest right at the start of the game and not to Riverwood to follow the main quest and after 10 hours of gameplay I told my brother how the game is great but I am yet to see any dragons. Where are they!? Did I really miss all of them? Are they magical dragons that can turn invisible? Of course he told me that the first dragon has to appear during a quest... *facepalm* ... well off to Riverwood I guess
I could go on and on about the leveling, music, visual bits of poetry, at most times great dialogue and so on but I really have to go play more now. Just hope I don't get an arrow to the knee or it's game over for me

[Schneckchen ^.^]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

Just severe creepiness from the players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHvx0l_tVEw

LOL I love it! And I thought my huge pile of skulls was cool.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

How realistic is the blood in this? Actually realistic or over the top gory?

There's very little blood shown, a small spray which disappears quickly. The gore mostly comes from the gratuitous deathblows. If your attack will produce damage in excess of a targets remaining health by a big margin you'll get a 'cinematic' death blow animation of running your weapon through someone or kicking our their legs and stabbing them on the ground, or spinning like a top cleaving their head off.

There are deathblow animations for many different enemy types, animals are not spared with you breaking their backs or opening their throats. There are deathblows for stealthy characters. If you attack from stealth behind your target you cut their throat. If you attack from stealth around a corner you might surprise! gut them.

There are even some which occur entirely in first person, most frequently lodging your weapon in their skull then yanking it out.

So no, not quite the level of blood that Dragon Age 2 had (Which has since been patched out by Bioware), but more gruesome and in line with Dragon Age Origins which also had deathblows.

Is the game harder or easier when playing as a mage? And how about as a melee tank? Allround I mean, not just the first levels.

My question basically boils down to: how well balanced is the combat system?

For the most part Mages can cruise on the Destruction skill alone provided you focus on it. It requires good, careful aim because friendly fire is on. A chain lightning spell or frost storm can wipe out your companions just as easily as an enemy. If its a big battle with lots of allies you can quickly turn everyone hostile because you caused too much 'friendly' damage.

Your mana pool is really small though, you are always looking for means to 'cheapen' the cost of your spells by items and skill upgrades.

Because you spend so much of your time levelling your magic, you really can't afford the same kind of armour training as a melee character. You certainly don't have as much hit points either. Anything other than basic mobs can two hit kill you if they land a melee blow when you don't have some Alteration protection or a ward active.

Melee characters can take a few blows but you're also wise to dump points into stamina which fuels your special attacks. You can knock everyone around with shield blows and charges, power attack to break enemy blocks and to deal big damage. Nearly every enemy (and you) can be staggered, disarmed, flanked and knocked over.

Each weapon has a different attack style, varying speed and effect. Swords are quick with long reach and can critical, maces are slow but cut through armour, axes are clumsy but they deal bleeding (persistent) damage. Two handed weapons are crummy at blocking but deal super damage if you manage to land a blow.

The hardest for me to manage is dual wielding. It requires mental ambidexterity, with mouse1 swinging the right hand, and mouse2 the left hand, timing the attacks is a confusing nightmare. Enemies who dual wield are damage powerhouses that need to be dealt with first.

I think mages have the upper hand because the AI is programmed to focus on melee attackers (followers) and summoned creatures first, leaving you the breathing space to destroy everything. Its worth getting the 'Impact' perk in the destruction tree to knock back enemies when dual casting spells.

[Stonez]

Got this game day one. I can't stop playing it! It's moments like this that just keep bringing me back...

[Hammerite]

I've been really enjoying it so far. Only really have a few really minor problems with it - occasional bugs (but then I find them too humorous to be annoyed at, for the most part), the stealth system is still nowhere near as well-executed as in Thief or Deus Ex, and everywhere I've seen thus far looks to be in the trad-fantasy style of Oblivion instead of the weirder style of Morrowind (though the screenshot above proves me wrong, which excites me).

Loving it, though. Wish I had more time to play it...

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Hammerite

I've been really enjoying it so far. Only really have a few really minor problems with it - occasional bugs (but then I find them too humorous to be annoyed at, for the most part), the stealth system is still nowhere near as well-executed as in Thief or Deus Ex, and everywhere I've seen thus far looks to be in the trad-fantasy style of Oblivion instead of the weirder style of Morrowind (though the screenshot above proves me wrong, which excites me).

Loving it, though. Wish I had more time to play it...

I disagree with the 'it looks like oblivion' than Morrowind. Once you leave the confines of the nordic homesteads, you will see more than just your idea of Trad Fantasy.

[Hammerite]

That is very pleasing news!

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Hammerite

That is very pleasing news!

Also you get to visit Dwarven Ruins like those found in Morrowind. The most adventure like side quest is probably the ones received at the Winterhold Mage's College. Check it out.

[TiAgUh]

There was a mystery story about a kid ghost and some vampires in a cold village which was actually pretty interesting till it got to the typical go cave kill baddie thing.

It was in:

Spoiler:

Morthal