A Little disappointed in gameplay

[Nevastar]

Ah, I misunderstood you then. Sorry if I came off as an ass, I don't seem to be functioning correctly.

Not at all. In reviewing my posts, I never made myself clear on that matter. I must be shocking to debate with. Sozzas, mate.

[Wolfie]

Nevastar is it okay to complain about the game being to easy then?
I mean thats what most hardcore pepole did

how about fast travle?
how about any other complant you had? you cant exspect to bbe the only one with a rirght to complain about something

[Nevastar]

Nevastar is it okay to complain about the game being to easy then?
I mean thats what most hardcore pepole did

how about fast travle?
how about any other complant you had? you cant exspect to bbe the only one with a rirght to complain about something

Probably not, in my opinion. If the hardest difficulty is too easy for you, then that's either a problem with your amazing skills, or a glitch.
Complaining about fast travel is a very different thing, I believe. Although I've never heard any complaints about it. I think most people don't need to complain about it because if they want to use it, they can use it. If they don't want to use it, they can ignore it. It's able to be ignored, which difficulty isn't.

[stormbringer]

People in here just don't read or comprehend what is posted. Let me break this down to REALLY SIMPLE TERMS.

1. NO ONE SAID THAT ALL THE SETTINGS SHOULD BE EASY, JUST THAT THE NOVICE SETTING IS DIFFICULT FOR CASUAL/RANDOM PLAYERS TO ADJUST TO.

2. IT WAS NOT MY GAME THAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT, BUT MY DAUGHTERS AND WIFE WHO FOUND OBLIVION TO BE A FUN AND IMMERSIVE GAME. NOW THEY DO NOT EVEN WANT TO PLAY SKYRIM BECAUSE THEY TRIED IT AND IT WAS MORE FRUSTRATING THAN FUN. THIS MEANS DOWN THE LINE IN A FEW YEARS IF ANOTHER GAME IS RELEASED THEY WILL BE APPREHENSIVE TOWARDS BUYING IT.

3. WHEN MASSES OF PEOPLE SPREAD WORD OF MOUTH ABOUT DIFFICULTY THEN ONLY "HARDCORE" FANS BUY THE GAME, THE SERIES WILL SUFFER. THIS LEADS TO PROPERTIES GOING OUT OF BUSINESS AND RIGHTS OF GAMES GET SOLD TO OTHER COMPANIES. THIS USUALLY MEANS DOOM FOR A FRANCHISE

4. IT DOES NOT MAKE ANYONE A ''NOOB'' FOR HAVING TO ADJUST THE DIFFICULTY TO FIT THEIR LEVEL OF GAMING. JUST BECAUSE 95% OF PEOPLE CANNOT PLAY THE GAME ON THE ADEPT LEVEL OR ABOVE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME THEN THEY ARE THE MAJORITY.

5. IF ONLY THE HARDCORE GAMERS WERE TO BUY THIS GAME THEY WOULD HAVE SOLD ABOUT 10,000 COPIES TOTAL. AGAIN, FORUM MEMBERS ONLY REPRESENT ABOUT 1% OF THE TOTAL COMMUNITY PLAYING THIS GAME. EVEN THE XBOX LIVE PSN NUMBERS ARE MISLEADING BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO PLAY WITHOUT BEING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET.

6. HOW IS SAYING THAT THE SUPPOSEDLY EASIEST DIFFICULTY IS TOO CHALLENGING FOR A CASUAL GAMER AFFECTING ANY OF YOU GUYS THAT DON'T PLAY ON NOVICE? JUST ABOUT EVERYONE BOLDY STATED THAT THEY ARE PLAYING ON ADEPT (AS I AM) OR HIGHER. ALL THAT WAS SUGGESTED WAS TONE DOWN EITHER THE DAMAGE COMMON ENEMIES INFLICT, OR BUFF THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE THE PLAYER CAN TAKE ON THE NOVICE SETTING ONLY.

[Ysmir]

I play on Adept and while I find it frustrating when I die (Especially often to Combat-Oriented characters like Bandits but that's cause I'm a pure Mage little armor no shield etc)I find the difficulty very satisfying it allows me to think about strategies on defeating enemies...like using Frost to slow down those combat oriented enemies who rely on Stamina then using Storm for raw damage when they are slowed.


It doesn't take a lot to build up a nice strategy to defeat enemies versus Oblivion where if a enemy was too strong people relied on Hit and run tactics.
No offense meant to you or your wife or daughter....but it's pretty simple once you adjust to what your fighting.

For example I wouldn't use frost on Dwemer constructs I'd use ranged spells or get close up and dodge incoming attacks while I dual wield shock spells.
They fall rather quickly that way you just have to time them as they come in for a hit.

[Nevastar]

People in here just don't read or comprehend what is posted. Let me break this down to REALLY SIMPLE TERMS.

1. NO ONE SAID THAT ALL THE SETTINGS SHOULD BE EASY, JUST THAT THE NOVICE SETTING IS DIFFICULT FOR CASUAL/RANDOM PLAYERS TO ADJUST TO.

2. IT WAS NOT MY GAME THAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT, BUT MY DAUGHTERS AND WIFE WHO FOUND OBLIVION TO BE A FUN AND IMMERSIVE GAME. NOW THEY DO NOT EVEN WANT TO PLAY SKYRIM BECAUSE THEY TRIED IT AND IT WAS MORE FRUSTRATING THAN FUN. THIS MEANS DOWN THE LINE IN A FEW YEARS IF ANOTHER GAME IS RELEASED THEY WILL BE APPREHENSIVE TOWARDS BUYING IT.

3. WHEN MASSES OF PEOPLE SPREAD WORD OF MOUTH ABOUT DIFFICULTY THEN ONLY "HARDCORE" FANS BUY THE GAME, THE SERIES WILL SUFFER. THIS LEADS TO PROPERTIES GOING OUT OF BUSINESS AND RIGHTS OF GAMES GET SOLD TO OTHER COMPANIES. THIS USUALLY MEANS DOOM FOR A FRANCHISE

4. IT DOES NOT MAKE ANYONE A ''NOOB'' FOR HAVING TO ADJUST THE DIFFICULTY TO FIT THEIR LEVEL OF GAMING. JUST BECAUSE 95% OF PEOPLE CANNOT PLAY THE GAME ON THE ADEPT LEVEL OR ABOVE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME THEN THEY ARE THE MAJORITY.

5. IF ONLY THE HARDCORE GAMERS WERE TO BUY THIS GAME THEY WOULD HAVE SOLD ABOUT 10,000 COPIES TOTAL. AGAIN, FORUM MEMBERS ONLY REPRESENT ABOUT 1% OF THE TOTAL COMMUNITY PLAYING THIS GAME. EVEN THE XBOX LIVE PSN NUMBERS ARE MISLEADING BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO PLAY WITHOUT BEING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET.

6. HOW IS SAYING THAT THE SUPPOSEDLY EASIEST DIFFICULTY IS TOO CHALLENGING FOR A CASUAL GAMER AFFECTING ANY OF YOU GUYS THAT DON'T PLAY ON NOVICE? JUST ABOUT EVERYONE BOLDY STATED THAT THEY ARE PLAYING ON ADEPT (AS I AM) OR HIGHER. ALL THAT WAS SUGGESTED WAS TONE DOWN EITHER THE DAMAGE COMMON ENEMIES INFLICT, OR BUFF THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE THE PLAYER CAN TAKE ON THE NOVICE SETTING ONLY.

1. We know. Nothing we can do about it.
2. That's too bad. Again, nothing we can do about it. And how do you know that every other casual gamer has the same problem? Maybe your wife and kids just aren't suited for the game?
3. I think you're getting ahead of yourself. We've yet to see if there's any negative response to the difficulty apart from your family not playing the game because it's too difficult.
4. Saywhaat? And since when did you get the percentage statistics?
5. Um, okay. That's great. Who said all forum members represented hardcore gamers?
6. Because some people disagree with this. Not everyone finds the Novice difficulty hard, and not everyone likes easy games.

And the capital letters were really annoying and hard to read.

[Hackattack]

This is much more minor than a lot of aspects of the game, but as of two minutes ago I am really wish that when you hit back on your map, magic, items, skills, it brought you back to the the 4 arrow interface.

I don't want to have a rant (already did that in first impressions/review thread), but I'll give one of my biggest disappointments.

-Macro detailing extraordinary, micro not so much. Some items particular items, such as the foresworn sword look pretty bad compared to other items which look real nice.

-The new map is cool looking, but isn't practical. Its just one giant cloud! I had to go online to find the actual roads from city to city. I am slowly getting over this as I memorize the map more and more.

-I hate that I can't see my character in my inventory. It worked in fallout 3/NV because there was only 2 pieces of clothing/armor (helms and full body). Frustrating when I am trying to figure out what my imperial is wearing.

-Xbox texture bug. I had no idea and installed the game onto my Xbox not knowing that my graphics were going to downsized. But will be fixed in patch.

-Finishers are cool, but I am royally mad that you cant disable the ones that take you out of first person. New Vegas had this option, why not Skyrim?

-Generalization of character development/creation made me sad first day, but after 20sih levels It actually works quite well.

Loving the game.

[chibimyuutsu]

Just to put in my two septims;

1. Skyrim is first and foremost a role-playing game, and the point is to face challenges and grow in power. Assured victory isn't very challenging.

2. Just because the game allows you to go anywhere, it doesn't have to guarantee that it's a good idea to do so at any given time.

This isn't The Sims: Skyrim for crying out loud, it's supposed to have an epic feel to it. Imagine how boring the Lord of the Rings would have been if one really could just walk into Mordor.

I'm sorry, but this made me think of Clerks 2. *Walks to Volcano, drops ring, shrugs*



In response to the OP, I'm strange when it comes to the TES series. On Morrowind, I had it on easy, then raised the slider when it got boring. Oblivion, hard. Skyrim, I go back and forth between easiest, easier, and normal.

Daggerfall, I rage uninstalled after dying 20 times in the first dungeon, then being dumped into a game that didn't tell me what the hell I was doing.

It really depends on how I feel the difficulty affects immersion. I like immersive ROLEPLAYING games. If I'm supposed to be the savior of Nirn, a troll two-shotting me kind of breaks myself of that immersion.


And to the girl who made the comment about side scrollers... Nice try. But we don't get the hots for people who have no idea what they're talking about, or who slam others for having a different opinion.

I'd also like to add:

Has anyone here played Divinity II: Ego Draconis?

Because if you think Skyrim is hard, try that witch of a game.

I made it all the way to 90%, and traded it in. Way too much hair pulling.

[stormbringer]

People in here just don't read or comprehend what is posted. Let me break this down to REALLY SIMPLE TERMS.

1. NO ONE SAID THAT ALL THE SETTINGS SHOULD BE EASY, JUST THAT THE NOVICE SETTING IS DIFFICULT FOR CASUAL/RANDOM PLAYERS TO ADJUST TO.

2. IT WAS NOT MY GAME THAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT, BUT MY DAUGHTERS AND WIFE WHO FOUND OBLIVION TO BE A FUN AND IMMERSIVE GAME. NOW THEY DO NOT EVEN WANT TO PLAY SKYRIM BECAUSE THEY TRIED IT AND IT WAS MORE FRUSTRATING THAN FUN. THIS MEANS DOWN THE LINE IN A FEW YEARS IF ANOTHER GAME IS RELEASED THEY WILL BE APPREHENSIVE TOWARDS BUYING IT.

3. WHEN MASSES OF PEOPLE SPREAD WORD OF MOUTH ABOUT DIFFICULTY THEN ONLY "HARDCORE" FANS BUY THE GAME, THE SERIES WILL SUFFER. THIS LEADS TO PROPERTIES GOING OUT OF BUSINESS AND RIGHTS OF GAMES GET SOLD TO OTHER COMPANIES. THIS USUALLY MEANS DOOM FOR A FRANCHISE

4. IT DOES NOT MAKE ANYONE A ''NOOB'' FOR HAVING TO ADJUST THE DIFFICULTY TO FIT THEIR LEVEL OF GAMING. JUST BECAUSE 95% OF PEOPLE CANNOT PLAY THE GAME ON THE ADEPT LEVEL OR ABOVE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME THEN THEY ARE THE MAJORITY.

5. IF ONLY THE HARDCORE GAMERS WERE TO BUY THIS GAME THEY WOULD HAVE SOLD ABOUT 10,000 COPIES TOTAL. AGAIN, FORUM MEMBERS ONLY REPRESENT ABOUT 1% OF THE TOTAL COMMUNITY PLAYING THIS GAME. EVEN THE XBOX LIVE PSN NUMBERS ARE MISLEADING BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO PLAY WITHOUT BEING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET.

6. HOW IS SAYING THAT THE SUPPOSEDLY EASIEST DIFFICULTY IS TOO CHALLENGING FOR A CASUAL GAMER AFFECTING ANY OF YOU GUYS THAT DON'T PLAY ON NOVICE? JUST ABOUT EVERYONE BOLDY STATED THAT THEY ARE PLAYING ON ADEPT (AS I AM) OR HIGHER. ALL THAT WAS SUGGESTED WAS TONE DOWN EITHER THE DAMAGE COMMON ENEMIES INFLICT, OR BUFF THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE THE PLAYER CAN TAKE ON THE NOVICE SETTING ONLY.

1. We know. Nothing we can do about it.
2. That's too bad. Again, nothing we can do about it. And how do you know that every other casual gamer has the same problem? Maybe your wife and kids just aren't suited for the game?
3. I think you're getting ahead of yourself. We've yet to see if there's any negative response to the difficulty apart from your family not playing the game because it's too difficult.
4. Saywhaat? And since when did you get the percentage statistics?
5. Um, okay. That's great. Who said all forum members represented hardcore gamers?
6. Because some people disagree with this. Not everyone finds the Novice difficulty hard, and not everyone likes easy games.

And the capital letters were really annoying and hard to read.

You just never are going to understand. I have played RPG's since the FIRST Final Fantasy on the original NES. My wife plays ALL KINDS of RPG's and most of them without a difficulty adjustment. She probably has around 15-20 just on the XBOX that she has completed 90% or higher with achievements, not to mention pretty much all the other RPG's since Final Fantasy 7. YES, she's been playing that long! It's not the issue of anyone being good enough to play the game, it's the frustration that comes with dying every time they turn around. Sure you are going to get killed/die in a RPG, its inherent with the type of game. It's just that COMMON ENEMIES such as trolls should not be able to kill a player the instant they meet them.

If you scoured the forums there are a few other threads stating that the creatures are too powerful as well. The reason I brought up the hardcore gamers is because that seems to be the popular response and has been mentioned a few times in this thread alone with people defend the higher skill gap. There are (at the time of this writing) 8,423 members on this forum. There were over 3.4 MILLION copies sold in the first 3 days.

A little excerpt from the article
By way of comparison, by this point Oblivion had sold just 600,000 copies, meaning that Skyrim has outstripped it to the tune of some 600% in early sales.

Skyrim is now the second biggest selling game of 2011, only being beaten by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It is outselling major titles such as FIFA 12, Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3.

Now do you know WHY Skyrim is selling better than Oblivion? Because of the way a casual gamer could step into Oblivion and get the feeling of accomplishment at a lower difficulty level as most of us do on a higher level. Oblivion sold slow due to the horrible after effects of the learning curve most people had with Morrowind. After word of mouth spread through various outlets as to how "player friendly" Oblivion was people went out, bought it, and kept it in their consoles for a long while.

And again to your #6 point. I know that not everyone likes a easy game, the same as not every casual player wants to step into a game and have their arse handed to them repeatedly over fighting some random common creature. This is why the difficulty levels need adjustment. If the slider was implemented or the percentage of damage given/damage taken were adjusted then the game (in my opinion) would be 98% perfect.

Now let me give you a scenario. You are a relatively new gamer and like to play all kinds of games. Well you catch wind of a GREAT series of games but the older ones were released before you started gaming. You do your research and find out that the previous game had advanced so far from the one before it and casual gamers could jump right in and play for hours and hours immersed in a beautiful world doing as they pleased and doing well. You learn the new game from the series is about to get released. You get REALLY excited and can't wait to get your hands on it. Well you buy the game that you have heard SO MUCH hype about and are unfamiliar with the series control scheme and menus, get it home unpackage it and pop it in. You think, well since this is my first one of the series I will put it on "normal" You proceed out of the first little area and see a random sabre cat wondering around. You pull your sword, engage and hit it 9-10 times and notice that its health bar is down to 1/2. Well it gets in a swipe then another and BAM you die. You think, OK maybe I need to adjust the difficulty. You proceed to set it to novice. You go wondering around and see a interesting marker on the compass and go to discover it and when you get there you see a weird looking white creature. UH-OH a frost troll. Well you go to engage and swipe and back up as it readys an attack. WTF, it's health is regenerating fast. Then out of nowhere 2 more frost trolls pop up. You go to run away but you get hit once and get staggered and then hit again. GAME OVER.

This is what DISCOURAGES gamers to keep playing a game. No matter how beautiful a game is or how hyped it is, certain things can KILL a franchise. If too many players get discouraged the word will spread like wildfire and will turn into a huge fireball that will engulf any hope of us getting another great game from this series.

[Nevastar]

You just never are going to understand. I have played RPG's since the FIRST Final Fantasy on the original NES. My wife plays ALL KINDS of RPG's and most of them without a difficulty adjustment. She probably has around 15-20 just on the XBOX that she has completed 90% or higher with achievements, not to mention pretty much all the other RPG's since Final Fantasy 7. YES, she's been playing that long! It's not the issue of anyone being good enough to play the game, it's the frustration that comes with dying every time they turn around. Sure you are going to get killed/die in a RPG, its inherent with the type of game. It's just that COMMON ENEMIES such as trolls should not be able to kill a player the instant they meet them.

That's very lovely, and I'm very happy for you and your wife, but if it all comes down to getting frustrated when you get killed by common enemies, that is not my problem. I think your wife just needs to level up more in Skyrim. If common enemies are killing her too much on Novice, then maybe it's just that her character sucks, or she's not that good at the game. It may not be that Novice is still too hard. Experience in other RPGs isn't going to prevent that at all.

If you scoured the forums there are a few other threads stating that the creatures are too powerful as well. The reason I brought up the hardcore gamers is because that seems to be the popular response and has been mentioned a few times in this thread alone with people defend the higher skill gap. There are (at the time of this writing) 8,423 members on this forum. There were over 3.4 MILLION copies sold in the first 3 days.

So the game is doing great, casual gamers are buying it, and you have nothing to worry about. Complaints about difficulty happen with every game. It's expected.

A little excerpt from the article
By way of comparison, by this point Oblivion had sold just 600,000 copies, meaning that Skyrim has outstripped it to the tune of some 600% in early sales.

Skyrim is now the second biggest selling game of 2011, only being beaten by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It is outselling major titles such as FIFA 12, Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3.

Now do you know WHY Skyrim is selling better than Oblivion? Because of the way a casual gamer could step into Oblivion and get the feeling of accomplishment at a lower difficulty level as most of us do on a higher level. Oblivion sold slow due to the horrible after effects of the learning curve most people had with Morrowind. After word of mouth spread through various outlets as to how "player friendly" Oblivion was people went out, bought it, and kept it in their consoles for a long while.

Good research, but again, you're assuming that the game is too hard for everyone. I don't think it is.

And again to your #6 point. I know that not everyone likes a easy game, the same as not every casual player wants to step into a game and have their arse handed to them repeatedly over fighting some random common creature. This is why the difficulty levels need adjustment. If the slider was implemented or the percentage of damage given/damage taken were adjusted then the game (in my opinion) would be 98% perfect.

Okay, cool. I'm not saying the difficulty levels don't need adjustment. They probably do if it's annoying you this much. So maybe it's time to stop whining and tell Bethesda.

Now let me give you a scenario. You are a relatively new gamer and like to play all kinds of games. Well you catch wind of a GREAT series of games but the older ones were released before you started gaming. You do your research and find out that the previous game had advanced so far from the one before it and casual gamers could jump right in and play for hours and hours immersed in a beautiful world doing as they pleased and doing well. You learn the new game from the series is about to get released. You get REALLY excited and can't wait to get your hands on it. Well you buy the game that you have heard SO MUCH hype about and are unfamiliar with the series control scheme and menus, get it home unpackage it and pop it in. You think, well since this is my first one of the series I will put it on "normal" You proceed out of the first little area and see a random sabre cat wondering around. You pull your sword, engage and hit it 9-10 times and notice that its health bar is down to 1/2. Well it gets in a swipe then another and BAM you die. You think, OK maybe I need to adjust the difficulty. You proceed to set it to novice. You go wondering around and see a interesting marker on the compass and go to discover it and when you get there you see a weird looking white creature. UH-OH a frost troll. Well you go to engage and swipe and back up as it readys an attack. WTF, it's health is regenerating fast. Then out of nowhere 2 more frost trolls pop up. You go to run away but you get hit once and get staggered and then hit again. GAME OVER.

This is what DISCOURAGES gamers to keep playing a game. No matter how beautiful a game is or how hyped it is, certain things can KILL a franchise. If too many players get discouraged the word will spread like wildfire and will turn into a huge fireball that will engulf any hope of us getting another great game from this series.

That may be your scenario, or your wife's, or your kids', but it's not everyone's scenario. Most people are happy with the game's difficulty.

[SpikeSpeigel]

I completely agree with Stormbringer on one thing: lessening the damage your character takes on NOVICE should've been EASY for Bethesda to do.
Who can argue with that? Really? Especially when you don't have a family you want to share the game with? I think he makes a valid point.

Also, Stormbringer's suggestion here does not interfere with the new ES leveling system. Oblivion leveling scales in a linear manner, as does the difficulty slider.
In Skyrim, those two things are a different bag of chips. Yet, Stormbringer's point stands.

I cant concern myself with Bethy's sales figures... I LOVE the game and it would be a nice BONUS if casual family members could jump in for a few.

[Cessair]

I personally LOVE how difficult it is playing on Normal. Combat is so real, and there's always a chance you'll get killed. Same thing that made Resident Evil 4 awesome. You're forced to fight intelligently, it's so similar to fighting in real life. It's always in the back of your mind that you could die, it gets your pulse up, your heart pounding.

I personally believe Novice should be easier OR they make a beginner setting even easier than novice. I've played videogames most of my life, but I still play Halo on easy because it is the funnest for me. I've also played on Legendary. I've only played on Adept, I've never died to any of the 4 dragons I've fought, but have died to everything else except normal wolves or skeevers.

Just as fast travel isn't an issue because you are not forced to use it, an easier "easiest setting" isn't an issue because you are not forced to use it. There SHOULD be more freedom. I remember playing Morrowind using the health cheat all the time.

This isn't even an argument. It's not like they're scaling down the entire game. More freedom is better.

But I find it ridiculous that anyone is worried about Bethesda making money. Are you like plastered right now? Let's see there was Morrowind, Morrowind expansion set, Oblivion, Oblivion DLC, Fallout 3, Fallout 3 DLC. They're coming out with Dishonored, there is pretty much guaranteed Skyrim DLC. Worrying about Bethesda making enough money is like worrying Blizzard is gonna go bankrupt if Diablo 3 has a minor flaw.

[Frogmander]

Before you judge, hear me out. There are a few things that I feel really took a step back in gameplay from Oblivion and wonder if anyone else noticed. (this is for XBOX 360)

1. Speed, yes they implemented a run button, but it lasts only as long as your stamina bar. I wish there was a way to increase speed permanently.

2. 3rd person. The camera doesn't pull back far enough to get a better view of your surroundings. In Oblivion in 3rd person the camera was roughly 25% further back than in Skyrim. I found 3rd person VERY useful when just traveling the countryside looking for things, and in dungeons for finding stuff.

3. The menus. UGH. Not a fan of the system. Supposed to be more streamlined, yet I find it a bit more tedious to do what I need it to do.

4. Finally, the most game-breaking for my family, the DIFFICULTY. In Oblivion you could adjust the slider all the way down and it was a VERY easy game to play. In Skyrim, even on Novice the enemies can kill you in 1-2 swipes. This is just unacceptable. My wife and daughters LOVED Oblivion due to them being able to just pick up the game and play, but in Skyrim this is IMPOSSIBLE. They were very disappointed in seeing me walk around and discovering places and having to flee from enemies because they were almost impossible to kill. At level 3-4 a frost troll can take 40 swipes of a sword, but can kill you in 2-3 swiping blows. And keep in mind this is on NOVICE. Forget even trying to take on a giant or mammoth. Even some basic enemies feel like long drawn out boss battles.

I can understand some of the ideas, but I feel they implemented them poorly. Don't get me wrong I LOVE THE GAME, but I feel they made too far of a jump in some things (difficulty curve), and 10 steps back on some (movement, menu control, camera). Feel free to leave feedback, as this is just MY OPINION, but I am just confused as to why they would take this approach. Bethesda has always made great games, and I have enjoyed them all but I feel like some of the elements in Skyrim were harvested from Morrowind and just don't "complete" this game.

The graphics are probably the best I have seen on any current generation console, and hope that Bethesda continues making more elder scrolls games. Again this is my opinion, so please don't take it as I am trying to bash the game.

1. Speed, you want to be fast use light armor, or get the perks that reduce armor weight
2. Its an RPG, todd howard said himself "This is first and foremost a first person game"
3. Best menus I can think of in any game, oblivions were god-awful.
4. If you playing on novice yet dying in 1-2 hits? I was playing on novice and going around punching guards to death in my underwear and never went below 80% HP at level one, you must of been not playing on novice but thought you were, giants are soppoused to be hard, infact they are harder than dragons by far, mammoths are the "pets" of giants, they are hard as well but I found it easy to kill them once you got the hang of it. And also, RPG games are soppoused to be hard and challenging. You are basically complaining that you cant kill the games big bosses in 2 hits on very easy difficulty

All in all, in my honest opinion you just don't sound fit for RPG games, you dont like menus, you are complaining that easy difficulty doesnt allow you to one shot anything, you dont want any sort of RP or immersion, and you failed to realize you can and do change your speed.

[MorroWeiner]

As someone comparing this game to Oblivion, and complaining that you "can die" in Skyrim makes me question your morals. If you want to play a game that the whole family can just pick up, where no one loses, you should try twister. Oh so fun.

I for one feel that the difficulty of this game is perfect. There are some places in a game, where you just shouldn't go at level one. Because you'll get [&@%!] up! That's how Morrowind worked, and Morrowind was pretty darned sweet.

As for the menu system, so awesome in my opinion! I guess we're just very different gamers!

[Frogmander]

People in here just don't read or comprehend what is posted. Let me break this down to REALLY SIMPLE TERMS.

1. NO ONE SAID THAT ALL THE SETTINGS SHOULD BE EASY, JUST THAT THE NOVICE SETTING IS DIFFICULT FOR CASUAL/RANDOM PLAYERS TO ADJUST TO.

2. IT WAS NOT MY GAME THAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT, BUT MY DAUGHTERS AND WIFE WHO FOUND OBLIVION TO BE A FUN AND IMMERSIVE GAME. NOW THEY DO NOT EVEN WANT TO PLAY SKYRIM BECAUSE THEY TRIED IT AND IT WAS MORE FRUSTRATING THAN FUN. THIS MEANS DOWN THE LINE IN A FEW YEARS IF ANOTHER GAME IS RELEASED THEY WILL BE APPREHENSIVE TOWARDS BUYING IT.

3. WHEN MASSES OF PEOPLE SPREAD WORD OF MOUTH ABOUT DIFFICULTY THEN ONLY "HARDCORE" FANS BUY THE GAME, THE SERIES WILL SUFFER. THIS LEADS TO PROPERTIES GOING OUT OF BUSINESS AND RIGHTS OF GAMES GET SOLD TO OTHER COMPANIES. THIS USUALLY MEANS DOOM FOR A FRANCHISE

4. IT DOES NOT MAKE ANYONE A ''NOOB'' FOR HAVING TO ADJUST THE DIFFICULTY TO FIT THEIR LEVEL OF GAMING. JUST BECAUSE 95% OF PEOPLE CANNOT PLAY THE GAME ON THE ADEPT LEVEL OR ABOVE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME THEN THEY ARE THE MAJORITY.

5. IF ONLY THE HARDCORE GAMERS WERE TO BUY THIS GAME THEY WOULD HAVE SOLD ABOUT 10,000 COPIES TOTAL. AGAIN, FORUM MEMBERS ONLY REPRESENT ABOUT 1% OF THE TOTAL COMMUNITY PLAYING THIS GAME. EVEN THE XBOX LIVE PSN NUMBERS ARE MISLEADING BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO PLAY WITHOUT BEING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET.

6. HOW IS SAYING THAT THE SUPPOSEDLY EASIEST DIFFICULTY IS TOO CHALLENGING FOR A CASUAL GAMER AFFECTING ANY OF YOU GUYS THAT DON'T PLAY ON NOVICE? JUST ABOUT EVERYONE BOLDY STATED THAT THEY ARE PLAYING ON ADEPT (AS I AM) OR HIGHER. ALL THAT WAS SUGGESTED WAS TONE DOWN EITHER THE DAMAGE COMMON ENEMIES INFLICT, OR BUFF THE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE THE PLAYER CAN TAKE ON THE NOVICE SETTING ONLY.

I can easily take you seriously when you are talking in caps lock.

[Frogmander]

OK HERES THE SOLUTION IF YOU FIND THE GAME TO HARD:
~ TGM

Ok you are now in EXTREMELY EASY mode. Good luck.

[scribbane]

Can we knock it off with all the sarcasm and insults back and forth? Seriously, this thread is ridiculous. There is no need to get so worked up about everything. Discuss the topic in a civil manner, or stay out of the conversation, seriously.

[Elegost]

I personally don't have the game yet but I like the sound of enimies being able to kill you like that, in real life a few swipes from something could bring you down, I love a bit of realisum for a change!

As for the fact your wife and daughter struggle with it, no offence but its a hardcore game, you need to teach them to play it ike real life, spend more time in cities, get a job, take companions, don't go to far from cities (apparantly the harder enimies are in futher places like the mountains) Skyrim is very diffirent to Oblivion I think form what other people say its a hardcore game, and its about time we have got one, I do understand the problem your family have, and I feel sorry that you can't make it easier for them, all I can suggest is that you try the above.

Also if ever fight is like a boos fight ain't that a good thing? If I gave your wife/you/your dauguhter a sword put her in a forest with a wild grizzly bear to attack I don't image the outcome would be very good, the whole point of Skyrim is to give you a fear of the wilderness, its a violent harsh landscape its not going to be easy.

Also I don't think this franchise will go out of bussiness, It has enought hard core fans to keep it going, and I think, please don't take this the wrong way if your wife and daughter can't take the difficulty go play mario of something, most people perserve, and its very rewarding to defeat strong and deadly enimies, least ways I think so.

[Frost Mage]

If you're playing on easy, you're not getting the full experience. End of story. I'm not going to say you suck at RPGs, just that you most likely won't have anywhere near the experience that people who play on normal or higher difficulty have.

[Ryuhza]

-I hate that I can't see my character in my inventory. It worked in fallout 3/NV because there was only 2 pieces of clothing/armor (helms and full body). Frustrating when I am trying to figure out what my imperial is wearing.

You can go into 3rd Person, get a good camera angle on your character and then open your inventory. Granted it's not as easy to work with as Oblivion's, but it's something.

[scribbane]

If you're playing on easy, you're not getting the full experience. End of story. I'm not going to say you suck at RPGs, just that you most likely won't have anywhere near the experience that people who play on normal or higher difficulty have.

The full experience is not going to be the same for everyone. Just like you and I will never play the game the same way. Dropping the game down to novice setting doesn't mean missing the experience. The experience is Skyrim, not Skyrim-on-any-difficulty-expcept-novice.

[Frogmander]

Can we knock it off with all the sarcasm and insults back and forth? Seriously, this thread is ridiculous. There is no need to get so worked up about everything. Discuss the topic in a civil manner, or stay out of the conversation, seriously.

I would rather be hurt by truth, than made happy by lies

Im not going to butter it up, they suck at RPGs, RPGs are not meant to be games you waltz through punching everything and one shotting the final boss by looking at him. Its not how RPGs work. Roleplaying Games, you are meant to be immersed and pretend it is real life, saying you don't miss out by playing it on a easier difficulty is a complete and total lie.

[Frost Mage]

If you're playing on easy, you're not getting the full experience. End of story. I'm not going to say you suck at RPGs, just that you most likely won't have anywhere near the experience that people who play on normal or higher difficulty have.

The full experience is not going to be the same for everyone. Just like you and I will never play the game the same way. Dropping the game down to novice setting doesn't mean missing the experience. The experience is Skyrim, not Skyrim-on-any-difficulty-expcept-novice.

That's very true. I guess I should have said that it was just IMO.

[scribbane]

Can we knock it off with all the sarcasm and insults back and forth? Seriously, this thread is ridiculous. There is no need to get so worked up about everything. Discuss the topic in a civil manner, or stay out of the conversation, seriously.

I would rather be hurt by truth, than made happy by lies

Im not going to butter it up, they suck at RPGs, RPGs are not meant to be games you waltz through punching everything and one shotting the final boss by looking at him. Its not how RPGs work. Roleplaying Games, you are meant to be immersed and pretend it is real life, saying you don't miss out by playing it on a easier difficulty is a complete and total lie.

I point you to the post that you so kindly quoted for me. Be civil, or get out of the thread. You don't have to sugarcoat what you say to people, but don't be outright rude and sarcastic about it. You have no qualifications to judge whether or not a person sucks at a game because they want to play on an easier difficulty. Your definition of an RPG is your own. An RPG literally just means Roleplaying Game, a game in which you take on the role of a character. And if you want that character to live an easy life, its your choice.

[Elegost]

Can we knock it off with all the sarcasm and insults back and forth? Seriously, this thread is ridiculous. There is no need to get so worked up about everything. Discuss the topic in a civil manner, or stay out of the conversation, seriously.

I would rather be hurt by truth, than made happy by lies

Im not going to butter it up, they suck at RPGs, RPGs are not meant to be games you waltz through punching everything and one shotting the final boss by looking at him. Its not how RPGs work. Roleplaying Games, you are meant to be immersed and pretend it is real life, saying you don't miss out by playing it on a easier difficulty is a complete and total lie.

I hate to say it but Frogmanders very right. althrough sucks is a bit much, I think this is geting abit out of control, the op obviously does not want a realistic game - thats fine, but he shouldn't go saying its the end of the world for the Elder scrolls, the ops getting as good as he gives.