Children?

[DorostheConqueror]

What about kids? They were conspicuously absent in Oblivion, do you think they should return for Skyrim? I for one always assumed they'd been shipped off to Summerset Isle to heard the phantom cows responsible for all the meat in Oblivion, but it'd be nice if they came back.

If they were back, how should they be handled? Should they be essential NPCs, immune to harm by you the player, as in Fallout 3? Should they be fully killable, as they were in Fallout 1? Why or why not? Would YOU treat them any differently from adults if you met them in game? And would you want to see the ability to PLAY as a pint-sized hero, if you so choose?*

Personally, I'd like to see kids back in Skyrim. I wouldn't kill them, not unless they deserved it, but I think on the whole it'd make the game world far more immersive and believable.


*edit- Yes, as suggested below, this is basically an idea for Harry Potter fans and the like. Some folks might want to play as a child wizard, who knows? Personally, I wouldn't, since I hate HP, but if kids were available for character creation I'd certainly consider making a Nordic or Orcish Hit Girl!

[Kestral]

Let the kids in, let me be able to kill them. Immersion is what it's all about really. I'm not going to kill a kid any time soon, though. If you do kill one, I'd say you'd get something akin to a death sentence and everyone will positively hate you.

Even evil has standards.

[JockoBeans]

kids appeared in both Fallouts, soooo it is likely they will appear in Skyrim

[Kestral]

kids appeared in both Fallouts, soooo it is likely they will appear in Skyrim

1-2, or 3-NV?

Edit: Might as well say "All Fallouts."

[JockoBeans]

Oh uhhhh all of them

[DorostheConqueror]

kids appeared in both Fallouts, soooo it is likely they will appear in Skyrim

1-2, or 3-NV?

Edit: Might as well say "All Fallouts."

Probably 3-NV since those were the Bethesda ones, but they appeared in all of them.

[Ethelred]

I can just see the conservatives sparking an outcry "Oh Noes! TESV is a kiddy killing simulator!"

So unfortunately, I don't think they'll have killable kids in it. Personally, I wouldn't miss them if they weren't in it at all.

[Dean]

It think if they chose to add kids to the game that where killable it would be a very controversial issue. In games like Neverwinter Nights they had to make them invincible to.

Society tends to think that all people who play games are raving lunatics or will turn into one if you give them the ability to do horrible deeds. I won't go into this as there is already a topic about this in the the general section somewhere.

I would like there to be kids...but then at the same time I would rather have the ability to kill everything for roleplaying reasons. That being said I agree with turning kids invincible as I think butchering children is a bit of an extreme choice of actions. I know there not real, I'm just over protective sometimes, you should see me when I have to protect a companion in the other two games. Even my mages end up like human meat shields.

For the love of.... I really hope they DO NOT allow you to be a child hero. Kids can not and should not be hero's, just look at how crappy Harry Potter is.

[Kestral]

For the love of.... I really hope they DO NOT allow you to be a child hero. Kids can not and should not be hero's, just look at how crappy Harry Potter is.

Offtopic: Harry Potter is friggin' awesome you degenerate profligate.

[DorostheConqueror]

I can just see the conservatives sparking an outcry "Oh Noes! TESV is a kiddy killing simulator!"

So unfortunately, I don't think they'll have killable kids in it. Personally, I wouldn't miss them if they weren't in it at all.

They haven't done so with Fallout, and we've seen not one, but TWO games built on Bethesda's engines that feature children. The pre-Bethesda ones let you murder them in cold blood and even gave you a special prize for your trouble; the post Bethesda ones have both been modded to allow such. Why would they start with Skyrim?

Besides, even if they did, so what? Special interest groups are always getting their knickers in a twizzle over something or another. To my knowledge, not ONCE has any sort of "moral outcry" had any result other than giving the game/ movie/ musical group in question a ton of free publicity and a big boost to sales.

For the love of.... I really hope they DO NOT allow you to be a child hero. Kids can not and should not be hero's, just look at how crappy Harry Potter is.

Offtopic: Harry Potter is friggin' awesome you degenerate profligate.

Sorry, but I agree with Dean. Muggles of the World, UNITE!

But anyways, yeah, Harry Potter was kind of what I had in mind there. I hate him, too, but lots of gamers (especially the young ones) have grown up with him and might want to RP as a Potter-like hero. Or maybe as a Hit Girl type character.

Actually, that's a GREAT idea. I'd totally play as a Nord or, maybe an Orc, Hit Girl!!!

[JockoBeans]

Harry Potter will always be no bueno, no matter how much Centurion Kestral whines!!!

Ave Caesar!!!

[Dean]

Ahaha!

Brilliant, but let's stay on-topic.

[HatofMadness]

Harry Potter will always be no bueno, no matter how much Centurion Kestral whines!!!

Ave Caesar!!!

Slytheryn!

[Dan-Ru]

RP as He-Man. lol

everytime he draws his sword to fight...well, you know what he'll say.


At any rate, children should be in it, a entire provice absent of children is really quite bizzar. but i agree, i could live without them, they don't elevate my gaming experiance much (truth be told, every time they've existed they've [&@%!] me off.)

[Vinja]

i think kids should be in but immortal, does anyone remember the original fallout's when one of your companions would miss horribly and hit a kid with the automatic weapons and you'd be branded a kid killer for the rest of the game for things totally out of your control? thanks Marcus, lets not have this here.

[mptrj]

Immortal kids.
No need to cause the inevitable yet completely unwarranted media bashing for killable kids in a modern game.
Besides, if I'm feeling sadistic, I'll download a killable kids mod!

[T PoPTartZz T]

Nyeh. No kids. They're irritating in all the games they've been in.
Fallout 3, Fable... I do find it weird that they don't exist in Cyrodiil,
but they're pesky buggers when they're immortal, but Bethesda
will get a black mark from all the PETA-but-with-children orgs.

[Incarnal]

I'd say default to immortal children, let the modders (Thank you all!) make it an option later. That way the game can wash it's hands of it in the eyes of the media while still having all of the depth that brings by really needing to protect the weak the defenseless.

That said, I really don't want to be swarmed with kids. Just the smattering like they had in Fallout 3.

[Caractacus]

I can just see the conservatives sparking an outcry "Oh Noes! TESV is a kiddy killing simulator!"

So unfortunately, I don't think they'll have killable kids in it. Personally, I wouldn't miss them if they weren't in it at all.

Actually, I'm quite conservative and I wouldn't say that at all. It's a video game. I've never donned armor and an axe and saved the world IRL, but I have in a video game. So saying that, if someone kills a kid in a video game, it doesn't make them some child murderer IRL.

For Bethesda's sake, I hope kids aren't in it. Anyone remember GTA San Andreas and the "unlockable" sex mini-game? Remember the feigned uproar? Perfectly acceptable to snipe old grannies in the head and burn cops with flamethrowers, but sex? That's crossing a line!

[JockoBeans]

I agree with immortal kids, but they are so darn annoying. Well maybe they can be useful. If Bethesda sticks to a level up system like they used in Oblivion we can run around swinging axes at them without killing them and we can level up at same the time.

Bueno? No bueno?

[Leilah]

No kids. I hate the ones in Fallout, they're annoying (oh man I'm going to be such a great mom). Seriously, I don't like children in the games I play. They don't really add anything, they're just sort of there. It's a fantasy universe. There aren't baths or toilets, no pots and pans to cook your beef and carrot stew, but nobody really complains about that, so why is the lack or inclusion of children such a big deal?

[Veck]

Bethesda had to make children invincible in Fallout for legal reasons. Even if they were allowed to include killable children in Skyrim, the media uproar would be ridiculous. If people got some gorramn common sense and accepted it though, I would protect them at all costs.

[Spiney]

I agree with Leilah, plus the voice acting drove me nuts. There's better ways to gain immersion. Though, instead of children, teenagers would be welcome, instead of everyone looking 20+.

Bethesda had to make children invincible in Fallout for legal reasons. Even if they were allowed to include killable children in Skyrim, the media uproar would be ridiculous. If people got some gorramn common sense and accepted it though, I would protect them at all costs.

You sure they're invincible? Because, I, uh accidentally killed a few once...

[Shadow]

Yes but we should have an option to kill them or not and change it in the settings menu.

[adamflint]

I would like kids in Skyrim too, though I would not protect them and probably not care about them.
I never really liked kids, most of the kids I know are little egocentric bus-tarts that bully anyone who doesn't dress like a hipster. (No offense to the kids on this forum)
Which means that I am one of the three people who chose the top option.
Wow, since I'm a kid myself, that speaks encyclopedias of me.