Getting tired of Skyrim already. Characters are wooden, quest fatigue.

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

You can beat the main quest in any of Bethesda's games in relatively shorty order by just sticking with it.

Heck no. For Oblivion, the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quests >>> main story.

 

[irishScott]

Because finishing the game in 2:16 is a speedrun done by a Bethesda developer

Actually doing just the main quest without running thru it would take much longer.

Yep. Reminds of those descent fly-throughs where they go through the toughest levels in ~1 min barely shooting anything along the way.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I think the crux of the problem *IS* that the characters and NPCs are so forgettable. Why do you even do the quests? For the character in question that is requesting it. And the main quest you do because you're trying to save Skyrim itself (meaning its inhabitants).

But spending all this effort to do things for NPCs that are at best thinly disguised robots with no personality, aspirations, and real backstory whatsoever sucks.

*possible Half Life and Mass Effect spoilers*

Spoiler

I don't really remember a single Bethesda NPC. I remember having amazing fun with HK-47 in KOTOR and being really torn when I had to decide which members of my party had to die in Mass Effect. Or sad when Alyx's father died. Or feeling fulfilled after completing one of my squad mate's personal quests in KOTOR or Mass Effect.

I feel no such thing with these epic Bethesda games. Sure, there's a somewhat interesting main quest, but everything else is so downright boring because there's no real connection with any of the characters, and the characters are at the center of any quest, really. They're the reason you're even doing the quest. Without that, it's just another "let's see what other cool spells and items and peaks I can get" game.

 

[NoSoup4You]

These games are about exploring and going where you want to go, not where some robotic quest-giving NPC tells you to go.

I follow quests when I feel like it, I definitely don't go searching for quests but with TES games they still have a habit of piling up anyway. They're diversions, and sometimes lead somewhere awesome. More importantly, it's about enjoying the ride.

It's about exploration, wanting to see what's around the next corner. These games are handcrafted and designed to reward your curiousity. A lot of people could care less and just want to get to the next action sequence, Mass Effect is better suited to that.

 

[Merad]

Bethesda's character aren't that bad. The problem is that Skyrim is more like real life. You meet tons of people and immediately forget most of them.

There are hundreds of named NPCs in Skyrim. Probably at least 200-300 of which have some type of associated quest or story. In comparison HL2 has what, maybe 5 characters that you associate with through the whole game? Dunno about ME2 (still haven't played it) but in ME1 there are still only maybe 10 characters that you spend a lot time with, and your team is only 6 or so.

Skyrim is all about what you put into it. Just look at all the posts and articles people have made about their reactions/emotions if Lydia was killed in their game. And Lydia's a companion with no story whatsoever and less than 10 lines of dialog.

 

[zinfamous]

I have the same problem with all Bethesda games. I'm starting to think that perhaps the best way to enjoy them would be to plow through to the end ASAP, ignoring all, then using a second replay to immerse yourself in all the game has to offer.

Then, perhaps not as much of a slog, but simply far more to enjoy in a world that *may have been* thoroughly entertaining on first play. It's almost an entirely new game at that point, as I'm sure you open up far more skills, play styles, characters and storylines.

I think the Fallout games (yes--the new bethesda ones) are some of the best ever made for PC; yet I doubt I will ever finish them.

 

[warr666]

.....

 

[zerocool84]

These games are about exploring and going where you want to go, not where some robotic quest-giving NPC tells you to go.

I follow quests when I feel like it, I definitely don't go searching for quests but with TES games they still have a habit of piling up anyway. They're diversions, and sometimes lead somewhere awesome. More importantly, it's about enjoying the ride.

It's about exploration, wanting to see what's around the next corner. These games are handcrafted and designed to reward your curiousity. A lot of people could care less and just want to get to the next action sequence, Mass Effect is better suited to that.

I understand what you're saying but if a game uses voice acting and makes it crappy, then it hurts the game. None of the NPC's outside of the main quest have any life to them. They all sound and act the same making you not care about them or the quest they're giving you. I've said this before in other threads, the only reason why I still play Bethseda games is because the "open-ness" of them is great. Everything else about them is forgettable.

 

[nyker96]

the PC version of this game is sooo unnatural on the controls and very buggy. I think they really have to debug and test it out before releasing, feels like beta shape they just released to get holiday shoppers' money.

 

[Zeze]

I just quit my level 18 warrior (but spent 20-25 hrs on it discovering the world) because I got sick of doing the SAME shield-punting and swinging from level 1.

I started a new game now with a ranger. It totally breathed a new life with the sneak system (which I never used with warrior, you just beat everything up).

I dislike how the game's skewed towards specific roles... when I played a heavy armor warrior, I'd storm in everywhere and clear rooms really fast. But I also died super fast too if I wasn't careful. I'd feast on potions and food in the middle of blows.

As for the archer, the game moves super slowly. I have to always tread carefully so I can spot them first and land that precious sneak bonus.

 

[JoshGuru7]

I had a decent amount of fun on a mage through about level 18 but started getting bored as well with both the questing and the combat. I'll come back to it in a couple of weeks and try out a thief build, but open world single player games just aren't that fun for me unless the gameplay is good.

I liked the combat in FO:NV more due to the setting and weapons and the interface felt better without the clunky magic favorites/hotkey system.

 

[lsv]

Heck no. For Oblivion, the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quests >>> main story.

Spoiler

I killed the leader of the Dark Brotherhood and can't do their quests now

 

[Zenoth]

People bitch when 2.5 hours is all the story they get... like in multiplayer focused games that have a campaign thrown in there for laughs. You still have tons of content worth playing through in Skyrim as it's a single player only game. Bethesda is very good at letting you go at your own pace, which is why I can't fault them much for their attempts at scaling enemies to your level. Typical RPGs force you to have a certain amount of game time to get through certain places, but Bethesda tries to give you an honest shot at besting an area you run into (within reason) regardless of your level. Because of that you can get as much of the game as you have time for.

Long story short... when you have the CHOICE of 2.5 hours to 100s of hours worth of game, people don't mind as much. It's when you get through everything a game has to offer in 5 hours that really bothers some people.

Bingo.

Additionally, Bethesda cannot make interesting NPCs with a good back-story, it's not their type, they don't make games with memorable characters. BioWare do it all the time, and Valve attempted it a few times with Half-Life 2, Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead specifically, but Bethesda make sandbox games in which what you can and should care for is your character and his/her progression through any of the quests you chose to start. Trying to care beyond that in any of the Bethesda games is futile and only leads to disappointment.

On the other hand, despite even the CTDs, only Bethesda can make sandbox games that end up being good, in my opinion, credits where due. I must say though, once the Creation Kit or whatever they call it (editing tool) for Skyrim is released I'll make a mod myself for Lydia that's going to be in the same veins than the one I made for Fallout 3's Paladin Cross companion. I'm hoping that this time I can get through all the work in less than two months, but I doubt it. I was able recently to make my CTDs much less frequent (they still occur), so I'm starting to care about the game again lately.

 

[DottedInDian]

I am no expert but here my thoughts..

Bethesdas policy of letting the players do what they want to do is a double edged sword for things such as NPC characters and quest progression and story lines.(Problem with all sandbox games mostly)
For a minute compare it to Dragon age:Origins which is by far one of the best games for pacing and quest progression and back stories...But it is not a free roam world like Oblivion/Skyrim and after doing the main quest there is nothing else to do and you are done!

To enjoy bethesda games You have to actually role play by putting constraints that are not there in the game.

People try to develop all skills irrespective of class which is not a natural progression for their class/charachter end up getting owerpowered and complain they are bored.
IN My opinion this is where the problem is mostly.
If you play a mage wielding an weapon/armor that is custom forged or be a thief that oneshots dragons with a super enchanted bow or poison damage and a melee character that conjures also it takes away from the role playing(especially since now you have a companion with you)
.People do smithing,enchanting and alchemy all for getting uber weapons and potions and then complain they are bored of the game as they begin to one shot everything!
This is where the problem is mostly!

I am a Level 25 pure mage..no weaapons..no armor..only enchanting and using only potions that are sold at stores.(Don,t use potions in combat)
Have uldred the broken heart as my tank in hard battles.
I finished the college of winterhold quests I will be not doing companions or thieves guild quests this playthrough..will do the mainquest and maybe 50% of other quests.

I will be joining other guilds on my next play through as a thief...

 

[thespyder]

As I am sure has been said several times in this thread, it is all about what you expect from this game. If you want full deep interactive characters, maybe a "Sandbox" game isn't what you are looking for. You probably want something that is heavily story driven.

Bethesda games are not like that at all. You can go totally off the rails and just wander around for ever doing whatever. The adventure is what you make of it. Unfortunately the down side of that is that there is so much ground to cover that the writers couldn't make every single person you encounter with 10 thousand pages of back story or character development. So you sacrifice a little bit of character development for full free range exploration.

I see it like the difference between Baldur's gate series and Icewind dale. Both are excellent games and on the same engine. But BG is heavily story driven with interactions and back stories. IWD on the other hand is a straight forward dungeon crawl. Each has their strengths but if you are playing IWD for fully developed companions and an enthralling story, you have the wrong game.

 

[CVSiN]

I've never actually finished a single Bethesda game. Morrowind, the Fallouts, Oblivion, and now possibly this. The reason is simple.

The sheer amount of stuff and landmass is amazing, but now I've got like over 20 unfinished quests and it feels like a complete grind to go through them. I also can't identify with the characters.... they still feel way too much like robots. They're missing that "filled with life" thing that I was able to get from characters like Alyx in HL or even Bioware games like Mass Effect. I feel no emotion when I help them. Even my companion (housecarl, Lydia or something like that) has no personality.

So basically I have yet again a Bethesda game where I am overloaded with quests, quests that I don't feel a desire to complete because I'm just doing it for a bunch of robots. I usually also like to do 2 playthroughs of RPG games, one evil and one good. Did it with games like KOTOR for example. Can't bring myself to do it with this game. Anyone else feel this? I almost want to just focus on the main quest then shelve the game afterwards.

I thought I was alone in my feelings for Skyrim.. everyone seems to love it so...

I think it was a colossal letdown myself.

played 8 hours.. and even tried going back and using some game imporving mods and stuff from the nexus..
but it really feels like a second rate console game on the PC..

The Witcher2 blows this game out of the water for single player RPGs..
and even SWTOR even though it is an MMO feels like more of an RPG and far more polished than this..
at least in SWTOR my Companion doesnt get lost in the wilderness and take hours to find me.. and even then she is worthless..

 

[Red Storm]

Skyrim has yet to even scratch the surface of its potential. Once the tool set is released we'll start getting real mods.

Also there's no point comparing an open world sandbox game to a linear story/script driven game. They are two different things. I love them both, but it's a bit much to be expecting both in one game. We are a long ways off from ever seeing that.

 

[Attic]

Get back on the main quest line if you feel overwhelmed (easy to be in this game). I have been very pleased with the main quest line and the epic feel of each new area and story development.


I've done quite a few quests, but was getting overwhelmed with the finish 1 quest while picking up 3-4 new ones model in this game. I ditched all the side quests, focused on the main quest and was drawn back into a meaningful game world.

 

[Attic]

I thought I was alone in my feelings for Skyrim.. everyone seems to love it so...

I think it was a colossal letdown myself.

played 8 hours.. and even tried going back and using some game imporving mods and stuff from the nexus..
but it really feels like a second rate console game on the PC..

The Witcher2 blows this game out of the water for single player RPGs..
and even SWTOR even though it is an MMO feels like more of an RPG and far more polished than this..
at least in SWTOR my Companion doesnt get lost in the wilderness and take hours to find me.. and even then she is worthless..

If your companion is ever lost do a 1 hour rest and he/she will be running to your side.

I'd give them game another chance. There is a hurdle to get over in Elder Scrolls games during the beginning, but once hurdled, the game is incredible IMO.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I'm having the opposite effect. I agree that the NPCs seem hollow and mindless, but then again, what did you expect with literally hundreds of them throughout the games? The ones that "matter" have personalities and noticeably better voice acting. The ones that don't are generic voice actor #5 with varying dispositions and agendas. If every single one was professionally voice-acted with a brand new personality, the game would be hundreds of GB's big and probably cost $1000 for a copy. I do agree that it would be nice to have some additional variety, but overall I can't complain.

Overall, the game is extremely well put together. If you're bored, you should try going out and adventuring. I'm not talking about a few small dungeons here and there, but some of the major side quest lines. Look up Discerning the Transmundane for a really good example, and be sure to READ the journals that you find as you progress. Frostflow Lighthouse and the expedition quest and investigation quest in Markarth are all very well done.

Discerning the Transmundane in particular really impressed me. It was like planning an entire smaller game inside of a game - a whole new area to explore, lots of facts to find out, some puzzles to solve, etc. Also, stay away from guides like UESP and Skyrim Wiki unless you REALLY need them. The more you look up, the more you spoil the surprise. Who cares if you miss a chest here and there - if you don't know about it, it won't bother you anyway.

The Bard's Guild initiation quest was pretty fun, too.

 

[Arg Clin]

I agree fully with Bethesda NPC's being completely uninteresting. I cannot be bothered with another Bethesda game for this very reason. I'll pass on Skyrim, since it's supposed to be more of the same, as I got bored with quickly in Fallout3NV and oblivion. The worlds feels huge and lifeless. I can't care for more than 2 seconds about the NPC's or their stories.

To each their own I guees, but I just don't see Bethesda as being in the same league as Bioware, CDprojekt or Rockstar when it comes to making interesting RPG games. Storytelling is and should be the main engine of any PRG. Everyone who's ever been GM in a PnP RPG knows this is lesson no.1 The world is never interesting by itself - what players remeber is a great story and maybe even more so great and interesting NPC's - not an impressive world full of sidequests.

Too bad, because Bethesda does have some impressive tech skills in building a game - I seriously don't understand why they don't hire some skilled writers. Would add an abundance of quality to their games.

 

[homercles337]

I think the crux of the problem *IS* that the characters and NPCs are so forgettable. Why do you even do the quests? For the character in question that is requesting it. And the main quest you do because you're trying to save Skyrim itself (meaning its inhabitants).

I dont think you are paying attention. Quests give you notoriety (not just in the town, but in all of skyrim), gold/rewards, and you often have to help 3 inhabitants of a city for each Jarl.

 

[Pacman4]

I liked the combat in FO:NV more due to the setting and weapons

Vegas is actually an outstanding shooter, it has scores of weapons, weapon mods, alternate ammo and good sound....a huge improvement over the crappy weapons in FO3

 

[cmdrdredd]

Bingo.

Additionally, Bethesda cannot make interesting NPCs with a good back-story, it's not their type, they don't make games with memorable characters. BioWare do it all the time, and Valve attempted it a few times with Half-Life 2, Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead specifically, but Bethesda make sandbox games in which what you can and should care for is your character and his/her progression through any of the quests you chose to start. Trying to care beyond that in any of the Bethesda games is futile and only leads to disappointment.

On the other hand, despite even the CTDs, only Bethesda can make sandbox games that end up being good, in my opinion, credits where due. I must say though, once the Creation Kit or whatever they call it (editing tool) for Skyrim is released I'll make a mod myself for Lydia that's going to be in the same veins than the one I made for Fallout 3's Paladin Cross companion. I'm hoping that this time I can get through all the work in less than two months, but I doubt it. I was able recently to make my CTDs much less frequent (they still occur), so I'm starting to care about the game again lately.

I think GTA IV was a better sandbox game than Skyrim. In Skyrim it's mostly Dungeon crawling for loot to build a new potion or for new weapons or other items. It's not bad, but I prefer the way GTA does it.

 

[Zenoth]

I think GTA IV was a better sandbox game than Skyrim. In Skyrim it's mostly Dungeon crawling for loot to build a new potion or for new weapons or other items. It's not bad, but I prefer the way GTA does it.

To each their own. In GTAIII/IV you also do missions (if you want) to get more cash and get better items, no difference in that aspect. If you don't do missions you can try finding secret jumps or punch pedestrians if you feel like it. If you don't do quests in Skyrim you can try finding hand-placed items in non-quest-related dungeons or punch townsfolk if you feel like it. I prefer the way Skyrim does it, I just hate CTDs.