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[LoSboccacc]

See my previous post on the subject of spells. The Master tier spells are practically useless and, from my experience, out damaged by the Expert/Adept tiers. One of the biggest handicaps for a mage in vanilla Skyrim is the lack of spell-crafting, so your spells will always be limited to the power which they were obtained at with the slight exception of Fortify Destruction potions.

I've also had more than annoying trip-up with releasing a spell charge that resulted in my being mauled by bears. Tembra has earned a permanent ally in her crusade...

dunno, has anyone tested maximum spell power using the same alchemy/crafting/enchanting combo done for armors, but with fortify magica spells? (is even there an enchanting effect that adds to spell damage?)

[Glowcat]

See my previous post on the subject of spells. The Master tier spells are practically useless and, from my experience, out damaged by the Expert/Adept tiers. One of the biggest handicaps for a mage in vanilla Skyrim is the lack of spell-crafting, so your spells will always be limited to the power which they were obtained at with the slight exception of Fortify Destruction potions.

I've also had more than annoying trip-up with releasing a spell charge that resulted in my being mauled by bears. Tembra has earned a permanent ally in her crusade...

dunno, has anyone tested maximum spell power using the same alchemy/crafting/enchanting combo done for armors, but with fortify magica spells? (is even there an enchanting effect that adds to spell damage?)

That's the problem, there isn't an Enchantment to boost spell damage, only reduce mana costs. Although I've gotten to the point where my spells literally cost 0 mana and my mana bar stays hidden while casting even the Master destruction spells.

[irbis]

See my previous post on the subject of spells. The Master tier spells are practically useless and, from my experience, out damaged by the Expert/Adept tiers. One of the biggest handicaps for a mage in vanilla Skyrim is the lack of spell-crafting, so your spells will always be limited to the power which they were obtained at with the slight exception of Fortify Destruction potions.

I've also had more than annoying trip-up with releasing a spell charge that resulted in my being mauled by bears. Tembra has earned a permanent ally in her crusade...

dunno, has anyone tested maximum spell power using the same alchemy/crafting/enchanting combo done for armors, but with fortify magica spells? (is even there an enchanting effect that adds to spell damage?)

thats the problem. from my knowledge thres no effect that buffs your spells DAMAGE except the potions. and i dont feel like drinking a potion each time i want to cast a spell like a fraking steroids lol. Warriors with high enchanting+smithing+alchemy can skyrocket. Mages? they just get faster mana regen and more base mana. ive noticed its actualy more practical to forget about the dmg spells and focus on summoning. Fire Antroch beats the crap out of most enemies for 60sec and is summoned once, or resummoned if it dies. people say that Deadric Summon is a even stronger so i imagine myself running in, summoning a Deadra and closing the door and having a smoke waiting for the fight to end.
thats not a magehood i wanted, really. and it gets borring and repetetive very fast

EDIT: damn you Glowcat for ninja-posting me! D:

EDIT2: oh and dont get my whining wrong. its not that the mages and magic in general is bad in Skyrim. its just that... it could have been soo much better! it feels untested and unpolished.
really only the MMORPG are running beta-tests these days? i cant imagne beta testers providing no feedback for so many obvious flaws. i miss the days when games havent been rushed

[LoSboccacc]

I guess they had to prevent magic to become stronger than shouts, making those irrelevant, as they are too capped (I think).

[Reiina]

Doesn't fortify destruction boost spell damage? Quite sure you can enchant that on armor.

As for the shouts, I love them, gives every class a bit of magic on the side without having to resort to leveling magic, like

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mark for death and the detect life whisper for my assassin.

[Yoink]

None of my characters have hit level 20 yet, but I've been playing my new grouchy, old-man-magician character and have been having tonnes of fun with the magic system! Setting people on fire, finishing them off with a zap of lightning, and then re-animating them to brutally slaughter their once-friends is fun!
...Now they should know better than to insult me.

Also, guards are ludicrously powerful. Dude. They're guards. City guards. Not soldiers. Think medieval police or something.
Yet somehow they're all superhumans descended from gods, who can kill the shit out of anything. Thought Bethesda had learnt from Oblivion, but no, they're even worse...

[Domenique]

Spoiler: Thoughts on the Civil War (click to show/hide)

 Now dig this:
Beth has provided two different political entities: one cosmopolitaine and one xenophobic.

The cosmopolitaine one was liberal and in our views the correct one, because right now we live in a golden age: no major wars, no major shortages, problems only in economy; this has allowed the world to more or less evolve in a cultural manner, spread of liberalism (let's call it the more civilized outlook) and the demise of conservatism (the opposite). Now that is fine when the times are good, there's no need to make harsh decisions, the empire can remain strong as a federal state.

But what happens when times get dire? That chaos can only be controlled by a strong ruler, not some emperor of highly decentralized empire, because the people start degrading into extremists, and the government must assume (authoritarian) such a position, otherwise it will be too weak to control the situation. The empire is a prime example, as decentralized as it was, attacked by the dominion and crushed, not being able to contain a rebellion in skyrim that isn't even supported by majority of nords!

As the situation and society degrades, so must the government. Almost every constitution has an article in which is stated that the president of the country can take full executive power in dire times. Also, Roman Empire - the dictators that could rule for half a year in case of a dire need. The situation degrades, so does the government.

That is why maintaining somewhat utopian empire is stupid and won't help fighting against Thalmor.

[Rex_Nex]

Can you still infinitely backpedal from guards while throwing shit at them? It was kinda funny in Oblivion, but made getting guard armor redonkulously easy. Either you used a bow or used that flame spell that you start with and just backpedaled for 5-10 minutes and killed it

Actually, thats how you dealt with just about any melee enemy in Oblivion.

[SalmonGod]

I'll go ahead and follow Yoink by throwing in my own complaints.

1.  Menus.  Minor complaint.

2.  Melee combat is rather dull.  Block, power attack, and normal attack.  They can definitely do better.  I'd love to see something a little more in-depth like Mount & Blade's melee system.

3.  I have mixed feelings about the enchanting system.  I really just don't like the whole soul gem thing.  I wish it were a little more like alchemy, where you just get to mix stuff.  I really like the alchemy system.  The process of trapping souls is too cumbersome.  Also, why the hell can't you wear two magic rings?

4.  I think some trees could use better perk options.

5.  I can see what Yoink is saying about the spell repertoire.  I've only dabbled in spellcasting, so I haven't experienced these problems myself yet.

And that's it.  Really not much.  It feels quite solid.  This is way beyond Fallout 3 or Oblivion in world and gameplay design.  I'm glad I gave this game a chance, because I wasn't interested through all of the pre-hype... but I couldn't ignore everyone raving about it after it came out.

Can you still infinitely backpedal from guards while throwing shit at them? It was kinda funny in Oblivion, but made getting guard armor redonkulously easy. Either you used a bow or used that flame spell that you start with and just backpedaled for 5-10 minutes and killed it

Actually, thats how you dealt with just about any melee enemy in Oblivion.

Maybe?  You could use a spell that slows your opponent down, or get the bow perks that allow you to fire faster and stun your opponent.  My archer is now able to backpedal and ping most opponents to death.

[scriver]

Wish I could let myself read whatever discussion is going on behind those civil war spoilers... But, well, spoilers

2.  Melee combat is rather dull.  Block, power attack, and normal attack.  They can definitely do better.  I'd love to see something a little more in-depth like Mount & Blade's melee system.

It's slightly more indepth than that, though. What with different spells having different effect and block-bashing interrupting power attacks. I know, not much, and definitively not what I would call an engaging system, but there's a lityle meat on those bones at least.

Also, guards are ludicrously powerful. Dude. They're guards. City guards. Not soldiers. Think medieval police or something.
Yet somehow they're all superhumans descended from gods, who can kill the shit out of anything. Thought Bethesda had learnt from Oblivion, but no, they're even worse...

Man, soldiers shouldn't be that tough. They're farmers with a sharp tool in their hands and hardly any training on how to use it. Well, they should be, I mean. Not goddamn warriors.

[The Merchant Of Menace]

This is a world which is ravaged by war, dragons and regularly has incursions from the demonic planes of Oblivion. I think having a high standard of training for guards is pretty normal really.

[Yoink]

Personally I love the melee combat. Sure, you don't need to use that much strategy, but it's still really, really fun. Some of the slow-mo finishers look kinda silly depending on what weapon you're using, but eh.

As for the backpedaling from guards: I've not experimented with any slow/frost spells or anything else to slow the enemy down, but without that, nope, backpedaling certainly doesn't work! The guard (or whatever else) will charge fowards and hit you rather painfully if you aren't blocking.
If you want to run away, you'll have to actually turn tail and sprint, not shooting arrows at them like in Oblivion.

And how strictly leveled are guards in Skyrim? Do you eventually reach a point when you can cleave through them like a hot knife through butter, or are they always leveled to be nigh-invincible, badass telepathic supersoldiers?

@Merchant of Menace: Well, of course! But there's a difference between 'high standard of training' and 'swords just bounce off the guy like rain off a duck's back'. I could understand if the Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers, or any trained warriors were really badass, but I can pulverise them with ease whilst a city guard who stands around handling petty crime and neighborhood disputes stomps me with glee. 


Also, can't wait to level up conjuration some more. 

[The Merchant Of Menace]

Some of the slo-mo finishers for H2H are pretty awesome, grabbing an enemy by the neck and beating their face in. Always satisfying.

[Yoink]

Oh, I edited my post to reply to ya, by the way.

[zehive]

I've highly enjoyed Skyrim. Sandbox rpg games for me are about how I personally develop my character. How I decide to do quests, not dialouge options or rewards, is my development. Level only matters for me in what I choose for my character to do next.

The real bread and butter for me is all the little unexpected things that happen from game design complexity.


Like doing the Dark Brotherhood quests, understanding the lore of the destroyed Brotherhood and what I wanted to become of the Brotherhood. I walked outside and Lydia (companion) was standing next to a slain dragon, by all appearances she killed it. I went to examine, absorbed its soul and I hear 'Still here!' from Lydia. I later married her.

Then, once, I had a Dragon appear randomly as I was looting some Bandits in The Reach. It was mayhem and chaos.

I can't recount how many times I've been caught between skirmishes of 4 Stormcloaks and 4 Imperials while doing adventuring on the front lines, or seen prisoners rescued by Stormcloaks or Imperials on the front lines.

Or fast-travelling to Riverwood. I had a high bounty on my head on a different hold, and a gang of Bandits showed up to take me. But at the same time, a dragon attacked the village. The very same moment, a thief ran past through the village out into the wilderness.

There was a proper battle with all the chaos going on!

And being a theif or an assassin, getting caught in the act and the escape necessary to get out of dodge. I once jumped my horse off a bridge in The Reach into a river to get away from town guards. They shot at me from the bridge while I swum down river. As I got further down river, some more guards assaulted me, and I faced bandits while leaving the hold.

Not to mention all the little moments of watching packs of wolves chase down Elk and Deer as they flee for their lives, hunters in the deep wilderness stalking prey, and by armok the vampires! I helped a whole family of some and didn't even realise, and I'm afraid of little children now!

Or how about dragons attacking in the middle of cities, or hell I had a dragon get mixed into a battle over a fort! I mean, I savour games like Skyrim, Oblivion, Fallout and even Dwarf Fortress for their little odds and ends that all add together to make something incredibly unique and absolutely never the same, even if you're doing the same quests over and over. And with different paths your character can take, different classes and different decisions.. I mean, I can be a sneaky guy with a bow, or a sword, or even a lowly dagger! I can be that mage who can either raise an army of the undead or summon powerful monsters! I can be a berserker with two axes and heavy/light armour, a knight-based character, a theif, an assassin (without even needing the Dark Brotherhood), a treasure hunter or flippin Indiana Jones, and have the entire world develop in amusing, enthralling or interesting ways.

But thats just my 2 septims.