TONS of New Info on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim!!!

Subject: TONS of New Info on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim!!! Sun 05 Jun 2011, 8:57 pm

Newest Information
You won't find random mixtures of monsters in a dungeon, or wandering the frozen steppes. They have defined predator/prey and ally/enemy relationships. So there's giants that keep herds of mammoths - if you don't disturb them, they won't bother you. There's wolves that hunt deer. Then there's Draugr that climb out of coffins to attack those that disturb their rest.
There's thousands of different weapons and pieces of armor.
While you can't see every sword cut on your opponent's body, you do see them getting progressively bloodier as you hurt them.
Everything NPCs do, you can do. (Chop wood, sharp your weapon on a grindstone, mine ore, etc.)
One perk lets you hit multiple opponents with a single strike, while another one let's you zoom in and slow down time when using your bow.

Overview:
1. - Combat
1.1. - Melee/Archery
1.2. - Magic
1.3. - Way of the Voice (Dragonshouts)
2. - AI
3. - Environment
4. - Plot
5. - Lore
6. - Graphics & Effects
7. - Sound
8. - Creatures
8.1 - Dragons
9. - Character, Leveling, Stats & Skills
10. - Interface
11. - Quests & Dialogue
12. - Misc Features
13. - Speculations

1. - Combat
* An overhauled combat-system.
* Inter-changeable dual-wielding with both weapons and spells. Dual-wield any combination, even dual-shields (Confused Turtle)!
* Staggering effects and camera shake.
* Switching between loadouts on the fly is made easier thanks to a new quick-select menu that allows you to "bookmark" all of your favorite spells, shouts, and weapons for easy access.
* 'Magnetism' in your attacks draws them more towards enemies rather than allies.

1.1 - Melee/Archery
* Special kill animations: Depending on your weapon, the enemy, and the fight conditions, you may execute a devastating finishing move that extinguishes enemies with a stylistic flourish.
* Ranged combat has been improved by significantly increasing the damage bows deal.
* The draw-time of the bow has been increased, making is slower.
* Shield bash - If you hold down the block button, you'll attempt to bash the enemy with your shield.
* Specializing in a particular weapon is often the best way to go, as you can improve your attacking skills with perks. For instance, the sword perk increases your chances of landing critical strikes, the axe perk punishes enemies with bleeding damage after blows, and the mace perk ignores enemy armour.
* Timing-based blocking system that requires players to actively raise their shields to take the brunt of the attack instead of simply holding the block button.
* When backstabbing characters from the shadows, a dagger deals significantly more damage than any other type of weapon, making it the perfect tool for an assassin.
* Blunt & Blade skills have been replaced by Two-Handed & One-Handed.
* You can use Power Attacks, which uses Stamina and staggers enemies, by holding down the attack button.
* Torches can be used as a weapon.

1.2 - Magic
* Spells needs to be equipped to be cast.
* There are over 85 spells to choose from, each with three different ways to cast.
* You can blast enemies with a flame ball from afar, hold the button down to wield the spell like a flame thrower or place a rune on the ground to create an environmental trap that spontaneously combusts when an enemy steps on it. Each spell has the same amount of flexibility.
* If you cast a frost spell, you'll see the effects on the enemy's skin. If you're wielding the flame spell like a flame thrower, the environment will catch fire for a short while and burn anything that comes into contact with it.
* Fire deals the highest amount of damage, lighting/shock deals less damage, but drains the enemy's magicka, while frost deals the least damage, but drains stamina and slows down enemies physically.
* You can dual-wield spells to double the damage at a higher magicka consumption.

1.3 - Way of the Voice (Dragon Shouts)
"A long practiced spiritual form of Nordic magic, also known as the Tongues, that is based on their worship of the Wind as a personification of Kynareth. Through the use of the Voice the power of a Nord can be formed into a thu'um, or shout - which has a large variety of applications (anything from sharpening blades to a long range weapon). Master Voices (known simply as Tongues) have legendary, and often unbelievable powers, including talking to people of hundreds of miles away or teleportation. The most powerful masters must even be careful whenever they speak, as their voice can cause great destruction and they are commonly gagged. During the Conquest of Morrowind, the Nordic war chiefs were also Tongues (Derek the Tall, Jorg Helmborg, Hoag Merkiller). They needed no typical siege weapons when attacking a city as they merely used the Voice to break down the city gate and allow their armies to storm in. The future of the Tongues was forever changed by the most powerful Tongue, Jurgen Windcaller, also better known as the Calm. Jurgen converted to a pacifist and refused to use the Voice for any martial purposes. In a confrontation with 17 other tongues he reportedly swallowed the Shouts of the 17 for three days until they lay exhausted, later to become his followers. Today, all Tongues live secluded lives on the highest peaks of Skyrim in tough conditions and contemplation, and have only spoken to announce the destiny of the great Tiber Septim (who later created an Imperial College of the Voice in Markarth, returning the Voice to the art of warfare). Those known as Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, can use a type of magic known as "Dragon Shouts." Dragon shouts are spoken in the Dragon Language, and can manipulate dragons in a variety of unknown ways, as well as performing other kinds of magic, also undocumented."
* You will be able to use Dragon Shouts.
* There are over 20 different Shouts.
* You collect words for these shouts around the world, either from ancient runes or by slaying dragons, and there are three words for each shout. The amount of time you hold down the shout button is how many words come out, and the more words you use, the more powerful the shout becomes.
* One shout lets you slow down time, another lets you move stealthily close to an enemy in a mere instant. One shout will even let you summon a dragon!
* Shouts has a cooldown time, which is universal, meaning that if you use one shout, every shout will need to cool down.
* Confirmed Dragon Shouts with names in Dragon language: "Yol Toor"- Fire breath, "Iiz Slen" - Ice crystals, "Strun Bah Qo" - Lightning Storm.

2. - AI
* New, updated Radiant AI: You won't find townspeople loitering aimlessly in town squares anymore. Each NPC performs tasks that make sense in their environment. To impart the towns and cities with a greater sense of life, Bethesda has populated them with mills, farms, and mines that give the NPCs believable tasks to occupy their day. The improved Radiant AI technology is also more aware of how a citizen should react to your actions. As you perform tasks for them or terrorize them by ransacking their home, the NPCs develop feelings about you. If you're good friends with a particular NPC and barge into his house during the middle of the night, he may offer you lodging rather than demand you leave the premises. If you swing your weapon near an NPC, knock items off their dinner table, or try to steal something of value, they'll react with an appropriate level of hostility given their prior relationship to you.
* If you drop an item on the ground near NPCs they will react to that as well, such as a child might try to give you the sword back, two men will fight over it or someone might even try to kill you with it if they dislike you.
* when NPCs think they see or hear something, they go into an alert state, instead of instantly attacking you. Players with a higher sneak skill will have more time to duck back around the corner or find sanctuary in the shadows.
* When you approach an NPC, they will engage in dialogue with you, while continuing to do their task or making gestures or pacing around, depending on what their personality is.
* If you kill a shop owner, their family member will inherit the shop and will be angry about you, but still give you missions, which could then improve your relation with them.

3. - Environment
* Skyrim hosts very unique landscapes and dungeons.
* 5 major cities: Solitude, Riften, Whiterun, Windhelm, and Markarth.
* Eight or Nine smaller towns.
* More than 130 dungeons, ranging from 15 minutes long to about 1-2 hours.
* Approximately the size of Cyrodiil in areal, but the rugged landscape makes the world bigger, as you will need to go either over a mountain or around it to get to places instead of just straight forward - this makes it feel bigger.
* In the northern parts of the county Solitude is the Bard's College, a busy port town.
* Windhelm is the largest city. It has a palace that looks spectacular. This is also the hangout for the Imperial Guards who monitor the path to Morrowind.
* Traps and puzzles are used to make dungeons more interesting.
* Fish jumps out of the water.
* Birds flies in the air above you.
* Every town has it's own Economic System. If you destroy a city's means of income, they'll need to buy from another nearby city, and prices in the city will go up or some products will not be available in that city at all.
* Every big settlement has it's own unique culture & architecture.
* Dwemer ruins are scattered across Skyrim.
* High Hrothgar WILL have 7000 steps.
* There exists a carriage system that will take you to major locations.
* Some locations will have enemies that are too strong for your level, and you will have to come back when you are more powerful, and vice versa.
* You can knock oil lamps to the ground, which will then cause fire damage and you can try to catch your enemies on spikes. These are some of the effects
* Butterflies will fly around beautiful new flowers which can be picked for alchemical purposes.
* The major cities are not open.
* Over 100 points of interest across Skyrim. (including Giant camps, Necromancer lairs & Altars to different gods (Aedra and Daedra))
* There are hidden caves, hidden ships and secrets in the water.
* The higher you climb, the more severe the weather gets.
* There are rivers inside dungeons.

4. - Plot
TES V takes place 2 Centuries (200 years) after Oblivion. The King of Skyrim is dead, which has sparked a civil war. You are the last Dragonborn, a group characterized by their ability to hunt dragons. You are a prisoner. The Septim line was a prominent Dragonborn line protected by the Dragonguards which eventually became the blades. After the death of the Septim line, the Blades were hunted down and killed one by one and now are almost completely gone. The return of the dragons was foretold in the Elder Scrolls and was ushered in by the destruction of the Staff of Chaos, the creation of the Numidium, the events at Red Mountain and the Oblivion Crisis. There is a blade you come across, named Esbern (Voiced by Max Von Sydow.) that will train and guide you through the game. The last event to unfold before the dragons return was the people of Skyrim turning against each other which is happening at the beginning of the game. Dragons start to appear in greater and greater numbers as the game goes on and will eventually culminate with Alduin possibly coming into the world.

5. - Lore (UESP)
Thanks to the guys over at The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages for this list!
First Century
4E 1 — End of the Oblivion Crisis
* The banishing of Mehrunes Dagon from Tamriel by the Champion of Cyrodiil, Martin Septim, and the avatar of Akatosh ends the Oblivion Crisis. The Septim bloodline ends and the Amulet of Kings is destroyed. The Third Era ends, marking the beginning of the Fourth.
* The Fourth Era begins with no Emperor on the throne of Tamriel. High Chancellor Ocato, the Elder Council, and the Blades try to maintain order. The provinces start to take opportunities on the state of Empire.
4E ?? — The Empire Collapses
* Black Marsh secedes from the Empire; it is soon followed by Elsweyr.
4E ?? — Titus Mede is crowned the new emperor by conquest.
4E ?? — Morrowind is conquered by the Argonians.
* With the absence of Vivec, the Ministry of Truth becomes unstable. Vuhon creates an Ingenium in order to keep the rock stable by using first dozens of dying souls, then a small number of living ones as fuel. Sul fights Vuhon over his wife, who was being used as a living battery causing the Ministry of Truth to crash into Vvardenfell, destroying much of the island and killing many of the people. The Argonians of Black Marsh invade and conquer the crippled Dunmer.
4E ?? — The Thalmor seize control of the old Aldmeri Dominion (Valenwood and the Summerset Isle).
* The goal of the Thalmor is the pacification and purification of all of Tamriel – to bring about a new Merithic era. The Thalmor have many sympathizers throughout Cyrodiil and are thought to be funding insurgent groups to fight against the Empire.
4E 18 — Prince Attrebus Mede is born.
4E 23 — Annaïg Hoïnart is born.
4E 40s — The Infernal City
* Umbriel, a floating city, appears on the coast of Black Marsh, heading toward Morrowind. The city of Lilmoth, Black Marsh, the home of Annaïg, is destroyed in the process.

Third Century
4E 200s — The High King of Skyrim dies.
4E 200s — The Nords of Skyrim engage in a civil war.

6. - Graphics & Effects
* Dynamic Shadows.
* Snow falls dynamically.
* Water Physics.
* Improved Faces & Models.
* Draw Distance greatly increased, allowing for little to no grid pattern or low resolution distant land.
* No more SpeedTree: they've created their own platform that allows artists to build whatever kind of trees they want and to dictate how they animate. Artists can alter the weight of the branches to adjust how much they move in the wind, which is an effective way of, for instance, actualizing the danger of traversing steep mountain passes with howling winds violently shaking branches.
* Havok Behavior - Havok Behavior is a flexible animation tool that allows the developers to rapidly prototype and preview new animations and blend them together seamlessly with a few mouse clicks and minimal code support. Bethesda is using it to create more nuance in character and creature movement, govern special effects, and even to control how characters struggle to move when trapped in environmental hazards like spider webs. Characters now transition more realistically between walking, jogging and, running, and the increased nuance between animations has allowed Bethesda to better balance the combat in both first- and third-person perspective by adjusting the timing values for swings and blocks depending on your perspective. Perhaps the most impressive use of the Behavior technology is how Bethesda is using it to create the dragon animations. Bethesda has worked meticulously to make sure the beasts look powerful and menacing when banking, flapping their wings, gaining altitude before making another strafing run, and breathing fire on their hapless victims. None of the dragons' actions are scripted, and Behavior helps make the movements look non-mechanical, even when the dragons are speaking/shouting.
* Wind will whip up the surface of bodies of water.

7. - Sound
* Jeremy Soule is back.
* Max Von Sydow will be voice-acting Esbern (The Blade).
* Lots of voice actors compared to Oblivion and Fallout 3
* There are a few more famous actors than only Max Von Sydow.

8. - Creatures
* Confirmed creatures: zombies, draughr, skeletons, trolls, giants, ice wraiths, giant spiders, dragons, wolves, horses, Elk, mammoth, saber-toothed cats, Centurion Spheres, dogs, Skeevers, boars, rabbits.
* Random spawns are scaled (stronger enemies appear at higher levels), but weak enemies aren't written out of the system, just become less common.
* A single spawn at lower levels can have enemies spawning in pairs at higher levels.
* Stronger enemies exist in the world at the start of the game, but you're usually given enough warning if you don't want to fight anything too strong.

8.1 - Dragons
* There are different kinds of Dragons.
* You can not fly dragons.
* Some Dragons are scripted, while others appear randomly.
* Dragons can pick people up from the ground.
* When dragons are critically injured, they can't fly.

9. - Character, Leveling, Stats & Skills
* 10 playable races to choose from.
* In-depth character customization that allows to change your character physique, give them a beard, and other more detailed changes to your characters body.
* No More Class Selection - Your class is now determined by which skills you choose to progress and what weapons/spells you choose to use.
* There are 18 skills, down from 21.
* 4 skills are removed: Mysticism, Hand-to-Hand, Acrobatics & Athletics.
* Armorer is replaced by Smithing.
* No Major/Minor Skills to choose from, so every skill increase will contribute to a level-up.
* No Birth Signs.
* Advancing a skill from 30-31 will contribute more to a level-up than advancing a skill from 10-11, making it better to focus on a smaller range of skills.
* You gain a perk every level.
* When leveling up, you can pick stamina-, health- or magic boosts.
* There's a soft level-cap at 50, but you can still level-up after this, but you'll gain no perks. (Highest possible level is estimated to around 75)
* Leveling is faster than in previous games.
* 5 Magic Schools: Destruction, Alteration, Conjuration, Restoration & Illusion.
* There's a total of around 280 Perks (Including Ranks).
* Perks will, among other things, decrease the sound of your footsteps, Disarm enemies, give you access to Unique Special Moves.
* You can Sprint, which drains Stamina.
* Backwards running speed has been reduced, and you can no longer outrun NPCs while running backwards.
* There are three Archetypes: The Warrior, The Mage & The Thief. (You will not choose these, they are merely there for categorizing.)
* Each Archetype have a crafting-skill. The Warrior: Smithing, The Mage: Enchanting, The Thief: Alchemy.
* There are only 3 attributes: Health, Magicka and Stamina

10. - Interface
* HUD-free first-person view. The HUD comes and goes when needed.
* Improved third-person view.
* When opening the menu, instead of returning you to the last page you visited as it did in Oblivion, you are now presented with a simple compass interface that offers four options. (Right: Inventory | Left: Magical Items | Down: Map & Quests | Up: Skills)
* Instead of relegating players to looking at an item's name and stat attributes, each possession is a tangible three dimensional item with it's own unique qualities.
* Mapping: Anything from your spell library or item inventory can be "bookmarked" to the favorites menu with the press of a button. How many items appear on that menu is up to each player.

11. - Quests & Dialogue
* Radiant Story: Many quests are still completely governed by Bethesda, but the Radiant Story system helps randomize and relate the side quests to players to make the experience as dynamic and reactive as possible. Rather than inundate you with a string of unrelated and mundane tasks, it tailors missions based on who your character is, where you're at, what you've done in the past, and what you're currently doing. Radiant Story is also smart enough to know which caves and dungeons you've already visited and thus conditionalize where, for instance, a kidnapped person is being held to direct you toward a specific place you haven't been to before, populated with a specific level of enemy. Skyrim also tracks your friendships and grudges to generate missions. Do a small favor for a farmer and it may eventually lead to a larger quest. Some NPCs will even agree to be your companion to help you out in specific situations.
* Main Questline is approximately 20 hours.
* It's possible to play after finishing the Main Quest.
* Taverns will play a large role in getting information, gossip and rumors from a town as it's naturally where most people go after working, and you can listen to peoples conversation and learn more about the town and/or Skyrim itself.
* People will be more vague or specific when talking to you or giving you quests depending on how much they like you.
* Main-Quest Givers are Essential (Not killable)

12. - Misc Features
* NPC Children.
* Beards.
* There's two types of Fast-Travel: Morrowind-style & Oblivion-style.
* Every Race have a unique set of armor.
* There is no Multiplayer.
* You can buy houses.
* You can set oil on fire.
* You can hire companions.
* Nirnroots have made a return.
* There are more weapon and armor types in Skyrim compared to Oblivion.
* Soul Gems can be used like in previous TES games to trap souls.
* You can buy properties.
* Lock picking is still a mini-game.
* There are Chainmail armor in the game.
* There's 13 different types of ore, which are used for crafting.
* There's approximately 60,000 line of recorded dialogue.
* There's a separate bounty for each of the 9 holds.
* Horses are confirmed, and they act more like real horses and are more detailed compared to Oblivion.
* Confirmed Factions: Thieves Guild, College of Winterhold (Mage) and Companions (Warrior). (Their storylines are no longer unaware of other events in the world.)

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/286552-skyrim-information/

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/286552-skyrim-information/page__st__1430

Some big pictures:

Spoiler:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432242

Some HUGE pictures! :

Spoiler:

More info from Playstation Magazine:

- Doomstones, like in Oblivion, can give you birthsign-like buffs and talents. If you decide you want a different constellation to "guide you", you can activate a different doomstone. They're scattered across Skyrim.
- The speechcraft wheel from Oblivion is out. Instead, the game offers speech checks like in the Fallout games.
- You can bash and block with bows, staffs and two-handed swords.
- The ecology interacts with each other. Foxes will, for instance, hunt rabbits.
- Storm Call is a high level shout, and calls down a lightning strike from the heavens.
- Giants are mentioned to be 12ft tall.
- "It will take 300 hours to see everything this game has to offer".
- The city of Whiterun is surrounded by brown and green tundra
- Mammoths travel in herds, and usually with giants. Attack one mammoth, and you’ll get the entire herd after you.
- An attacking dragon is decribed as “picking up a Giant’s body in its claws”
- Dragons can sometimes back eachother up in combat (though it’s not common)
- Not every dragon is a “fire” dragon. There are other types.
- One of the boss-level enemies is called a “Draugr Overlord”
- Ward spells are a magical “shield”, and are an effective alternative to using a corporeal one.
- The three crafting systems in the game are enchantment, alchemy and smithing.
- The dungeons in Skyrim are Bethesda’s way of making a more “scripted, dramatic” experience
- You can loot giant’s noses and toes.
- Armor pieces are, contrary to what the magazine says, still in.

Video of content with an interview.

Spoiler:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/04/25/skyrim-the-elder-scrolls-evolved-video?objectid=14267318

Another great video/interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMm311tdzrg

Spoiler:

A picture of a Dark Elf in the game:

Spoiler:

Argonian pictures:

Spoiler:

Redguard pictures:

Spoiler:

Orc Pictures:

Spoiler:

Info comes from here: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/52479/t1671532-argonian-khajiit-bosmer-orc-new-screens/

Nord pic:

Spoiler:

Khajiit pictures:

Spoiler:

Bosmer pictures:

Spoiler:

Dunmer pictures [*I think it is another name for Dark Elf but I could be wrong...] :

Spoiler:

So what do you think of all these new pictures?

If you plan to get the game what race do you want your character to be?

A pretty long demo broken down into 3 parts.

I've seen some of this game play but only small sections so most of it was new to me.

Very much worth a watch especially if you don't know much about the game.

Spoiler:

Another screenshot from this link: http://planetelderscrolls.ign.com/

Redguard female:

Spoiler:

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim

Most of this should be old news but just in case here it is and the yellow parts are the stuff that I didn't know that I think are important.

Setting

The fifth installment of The Elder Scrolls takes place in Skyrim, where peace is threatened by the looming threats of both civil war and the return of the dragons under the main antagonist, the great dragon Alduin (the Nordic equivalent of Akatosh).

Skyrim is the northernmost region of Tamriel, and its geography consists of mountains, snowy tundras, pine forests, rural countrysides and arctic planes. Its architecture and atmosphere is very similar to the town of Bruma in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Although it is roughly the same size as Oblivion's Cyrodiil (approximately 41 square kilometers in area), it is the least populated of all regions in Tamriel, and features more lush forests and grassy areas than Cyrodiil. Although there are only five cities within the province, they are larger than the cities of Cyrodiil, and are complemented with smaller townships dotted through the land, and huge swathes of wilderness separating them all.

There are over 150 dungeons scattered across Skyrim, and when the player enters a dungeon for the first time, the monsters within lock to the player's level permanently, even if visited later at a higher level. Fast-traveling is a returning feature, allowing the player to instantly travel to any marked location that has been previously visited.

New enemies to the series include mountain giants, frost trolls, mammoths, frost spiders, ice wraiths, draugr - a form of undead (Nord) skeletal enemy - and most importantly, dragons. The game will feature non-hostile dragons, but most seem purely bent on destruction. There will also be children present in the game for the first time since Daggerfall, where there were a couple of quests in which they were encountered.

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/08/24/the-races-and-faces-of-skyrim/

Lots of new info on faces:

Spoiler:

Long hair. Short hair. No hair. Dirty faces. Dirty beards. War Paint. Crazy eyes. Argonian eyes.

Like Bubba from Forrest Gump, we could go on for days talking about the different customization options you’ll have with Skyrim. But instead, we decided to share the preset options you’ll have when you start your adventure. Above is a sampling of choices you can make for the men and women of Skyrim… the Nords.

Bretons:
Spoiler:

I'll post more later.

More pictures of races [male and female preset renders]:

Argonian:

Spoiler:

Dark Elf:

Spoiler:

Imperial:

Spoiler:

Khajiit:

Spoiler:

Orc:

Spoiler:

Redguard:

Spoiler:

Wood Elf:

Spoiler:

High Elf:

Spoiler:

So after seeing all of these pictures does this change who you plan to play as?

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/08/24/the-races-and-faces-of-skyrim/

I still need to beat Oblivion.

http://www.ripten.com/2011/08/25/one-hour-with-skyrim-finally-made-me-a-true-believer-hands-on/4/

^ That link is to a great article written by a lucky game journalist who got to play the game for 1 hour [could do anything].

It's very much worth a read.

http://www.destructoid.com/burning-butterflies-and-kicking-wolves-skyrim-bitch--209991.phtml

Burning butterflies and kicking wolves: SKYRIM, BITCH!

Today I played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Despite it being several hours ago, I'm still finding it hard to wipe the smile from my face. After smashing skeletons, slaying vampires, stealing horses and passing forged letters around in order to break up a budding courtship, one thought is running through my head.

SKYRIM, BITCH!

It is no easy task to condense the Skyrim experience into demo form, and it's almost as difficult to write about it. Despite only having an hour's taste of what the game offers, I already find myself with amazing stories to tell. For instance, I spent a giddy few minutes burning butterflies with Destruction magic and chasing frightened deer into a river. I stumbled across a hunter, desperately shooting arrows at encroaching skeletons. At one point I was ambushed by a pack of wolves and ended my fight by valiantly kicking the last one in the face and administering the coup-de-grace with a sword in the head. This is Skyrim -- where crazy shit just happens.

Those familiar with former Bethesda RPGs ought to be delighted by just how intuitive and fluid Skyrim is. With a simple button press, a directional menu appears, highlighting skill trees, available magic, items and equipment. Pushing in the desired direction opens a sub-menu where you can add skills, equip weapons and magic, and drink potions. Compared to the cumbersome, busy menus of Oblivion, it's a breath of fresh air.

Speaking of fresh, particular attention must be drawn to the new graphics engine. The stunning vistas are nothing short of inspiring, with open fields and sprawling mountains providing truly breathtaking scenery that makes one stand back in awe. It is particularly beautiful to see the land of Skyrim at night, with eerie blues and contrasting greys -- making for a world that looks both peaceful and intimidating. Character models are fantastic when compared to the horrific Gamebryo humunculi that once haunted our dreams in Oblivion, and the conversation system, which subtly alters the camera rather than jarringly focuses on an NPC's face, makes for a more natural experience. Other NPCs may also interject a discussion, which gives a greater sense of dynamism and drama to the dialog.

I got to play through the game multiple times and had a different experience with each. Once, I stumbled upon a town and partook in some interesting little quests, such as passing a fake letter to a woman in order to break up a relationship. Another, I amused myself by trolling NPCs -- freeing prisoners from guards, stealing horses, and using my left hand like a flamethrower to cook anything that moved. Another run had me exploring dungeons to face off against conjurers who sent shimmering monsters after me, and vampires who weren't shy about throwing magic around.

The combat system is intensely satisfying and helped make the vampire smiting feel quite pleasing indeed. While it retains much of the hack n' slash action of previous Elder Scrolls titles, the ability to keep a magic spell bound to one hand like a BioShock Plasmid makes for incredibly flexible fighting. Fans of spellsword-type classes will absolutely adore what Skyrim can do. Magic, for its part, is far more effective than it ever was in Oblivion and when leveled up, spells can be truly devastating or immensely healing, depending on your flavor.

Those wanting to customize their hero will have a lot of work to do, with a character creator that's more flexible than ever. Each of the game's races can have every facet of their facial features tinkered with, and those with OCD problems will be able to spend hours toying with eye width, adjusting nose length, and choosing their favorite type of yellow face paint. Just be warned that using pre-sets makes it far too easy to make a frightening Captain Jack Sparrow lookalike.

To describe an hour of Skyrim is to descend into a gibbering cacophony of half-finished thoughts. So much can happen and there are so many stories to tell that it's impossible to not attempt to describe everything at once. Rest assured, this is a game that will drop jaws and craft memories, a game that I feel will be talked about for a long time. Undoubtedly this is the roleplaying experience of the year.

SKY! RIM! BITCH!

The Elder Scrolls V: SKYRIM Exclusive PAX Interview with Lead Artist Matt Carofano

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3A6-MHunso

Spoiler:

SOOO much new info in this Q & A:

Our time with Bethesda was limited so we couldn’t ask every question you all wanted, but I think we did a pretty good job. We’re sorry if we couldn’t answer your questions this time around. We could have asked them questions for hours, but did the best we could. One of the guys told us that our questions were the best string of questions by one media outlet he’s ever heard. I credited the NerdTrek readers and he said he was very impressed. Great job guys! Here you go:

The only question that Matt Carofano smiled at with a resounding “No comment!” was Gyrhjörn’s question about Lycans (Werewolves) being in the game. It was the last question I asked and he had gone above and beyond by that point.

Toney asked: Will there be Daedric Shrine quests?
This question opened a can of worms. Matt said that they have intentionally avoided confirming or denying this. He said that they have NOT really talked about it yet. Since the press demo we played had an Easter Egg of a Daedric reference in it, he sighed and said that since we were aware and asked him on the spot, he’ll go ahead and tell us: YES! There is involvement with “The Prince” and challenges along the way that should satisfy the Daedric fans.

xBUMMx wanted: Clarification on the hand-to-hand matter, lethal or not?
Murder Death Kill, people aren’t just getting knocked out by fists, you can beat them to death in this one.

Ploppy asked about armor degradation being a possibility or gone for good…
Matt said it is a POSSIBILITY, but not a probability. The focus in this area is on Smithing as a skill. You’ll be able to modify items. I’ll elaborate on Smithing soon*

Matt had 2 good questions:
When given the opportunity, will we be given the chance to turn down being the Guildmaster?
The answer is No.
Will being Guildmaster be more rewarding than in Oblivion?
Yes, previously you were done with an area of play once you become a Guildmaster, but in Skyrim you will be able to continue with specific guild gameplay after becoming the head of a guild.

Corby asked: Will dragons be able to utilize every shout that the player can?
Short answer: No. Long answer: The shouts are the language of the dragons. Many dragons for many years have used many different shouts. It is possible to assume that every shout has been used in the past by a dragon, however during the game, the dragons only use certain shouts that make sense for the situations. They are incredibly intelligent AI creatures that use what is appropriate. Some shouts don’t make sense for dragons to use in this game and won’t be used. WE get to learn and use them though. Not all of the shouts are released yet, they are keeping some secret for now…

Brett asked: Can you summon more than ONE creature (at once) with Conjuration?
Conjuration has it’s own skill tree. You start off only able to summon ONE. Eventually you WILL be able summon up to TWO Atronachs or Reanimated Zombies though.

Khalid asked: Where can we safely store our loot?
In our personal houses.

The General asked: Can we dye our armor or clothing?
The answer: No.

Luke asked: Does Skyrim boast an array of underwater content… Also, how many species of underwater critters are there?
Yes, you will be able to explore and interact with an underwater environment. There are “fish and stuff” you can find. There are ingredients to collect and although the underwater section is a small part of the game, you can knock your self out exploring if you like. Matt likes the barnacles.

Ray Johnson, you want to know about the pickpocketing skill? Prepare yourself because I took care of you and I expect your mind to be blown…

The entire pickpocketing skill tree list (Seriously):

Light Fingers (0/5)
Pickpocketing bonus of 20% – Item weight and value reduce pickpocketing odds…
Night Thief
Pickpocketing sleeping people almost always works…
Poisoned
Place poisons in other people’s pockets silently to harm or kill…
Cutpurse
Pickpocketing gold is 50% easier…
Extra Pockets
Carrying capacity is increased by 100…
Keymaster
Pickpocketing keys always works…
Misdirections
You can pickpocket equipped weapons…
Perfect Touch
You can pickpocket equipped items…

Steve asked: From what we’ve seen, dragons behave like animals, but will they use tactics and strategy with the terrain and dragon shouts?
Short: Yes.
Long: Dragons ARE an intelligent race. They provide a nice challenge to the player and it is rewarding to successfully kill them. Dragons use the shouts that suit them and interact with (and are affected by) the situations and environments they are in at the time.

Hey “ThatNeonSquirrel” (SQUIRREL!!)… Can we enchant arrows?
You can enchant bows, which affect the arrows shot from them, so even though you can’t enchant the individual arrows, you should have the enchanted range attack that most people want. I hope that’s ok. Pete and the Bethesda team are sorry they can’t respond to everything, it’s crunch time for them.

Jadis232 asked if we can use finisher moves wielding MAGIC like we can with melee weapons…
No, we don’t have special magic finisher moves, but you can combo using magic to deal damage and finishing with a weapon.

Ward… Any love for the lefties?!
Much love for the lefties! We at NerdTrek love nerds, we love weirdos, we really love nerdy weirdos!! You CAN wield a weapon in your left hand and a shield in your right, but the opposite is default as usual. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out the lefty wielding on 11-11-11, but you must be deliberate in your choice.

*Smithing elaboration: Caleb, you’re getting the entire Smithing skill tree:

Steel Smithing
Create Steel armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Arcane Blacksmith
Improve magical weapons and armor.
Dwarven Smithing
Create Dwarven armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Elven Smithing
Create Elven armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Orcish Smithing
Create Orcish armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Advanced Armors
Create scaled and plate armor at forges. Improve by double.
Glass Smithing
Create glass armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Daedric Smithing
Create Daedric armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Ebony Smithing
Create Ebony armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
Dragon Smithing
Create Dragon armor and weapons at forges. Improve by double.
You can collect dragon bone and other parts to make really powerful armor and weapons using this skill, it sounds amazing. Matt was pumped about it and I trust his judgment.

Rexx, the team does not have plans to release a Skyrim soundtrack, however I told them “Rexx will buy one if you release it,” not to mention many other people that will buy it. It should be easy to put together some music and upload it to iTunes AT LEAST, so I asked them to. The guys were extremely polite and said they would consider it. Cross your fingers!

Sarah Donner, come with me if you want to… know the answer to your questions…
Applying upgrades, as in smithing weapons and armor to be improved will not change the appearance. Enchanting them will make them glow but you’re not looking at customization of appearance.
Why did they remove spell-making?
Because… The team worked really hard on creating unique spells. The magic system has been completely revamped and MUCH improved. They want us to focus on our immersion into the world of Skyrim. Matt is confident that you will have a great time using magic in this game.

Mike, your question about marriage ended up yielding some fantastic feedback!
There are hundreds of people that you CAN marry, if they want to marry you. They can become your companion. Having a companion offers awesome perks. Your wife can fight by your side, helping you attack or defend. She can carry stuff for you increasing your inventory capacity. She can cook for you once a day increasing your health. There are many “Lovers’ bonuses” available. Possibly the BEST thing: you can delegate tasks and send your followers to do things for you, such as attack, collect food, buy weapons, and more… Unfortunately for you there are no “brown-chicken brown-cow” relationship animations.

Sabre asked: Will the persuasion system be revamped?
Answer: ”Elements of it will be better.”

Michael asked. Can we play instruments for money?!
No, but you can go to a tavern and pay for a NPC to play an instrument for you. Further, you can tip them to play special requested songs for you! I seriously doubt it’s in the game, but I expect characters to be hanging out in the back of a tavern while someone yells “Free Bird!” (shoot, I’ll do it from my couch, even if my wife asks me why I’m yelling “Free Bird!” at Skyrim for what must seem like no reason to her…)

Ricardo asks: Will we be able to sail or at least board ships?
Nope.

How about being able to use portable bedrolls to sleep in the wilderness?
You can sleep in the woods but there are no portable bedrolls. Part of the game’s experience is finding a bed to get fully rested. Sleeping like a camping trip is possible, but it will yield less benefits compared to sleeping at home and/or in bed. Possibly with your in-game spouse?

Khalid Yassin asks: Will there be . . . Bananas?
No joke, the Devs gave it some serious consideration. The team debated many foods, however the age old topic of appropriate climate and environment kept coming up… It is way too cold in Skyrim to grow something tropical like a banana. Some Devs would really want to include a food item and others would fiercely debate how unrealistic it would be to include that piece of food. The attention to detail is phenomenal.

I hope we’ve been helpful! Thanks everyone for such great questions and impressing THE guys that are putting out what looks like a lock for Game of the Year…

Jerry Loveless

Source: http://nerdtrek.com/...swers-bethesda/

http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64714/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim/articles/75415/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-pax-2011-preview-how-best-to-dispose-of-dead-townspeople/

Some new info:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is so close to release that I can almost feel the snow from the game's gigantic mountains on my nose at this point. We've seen the same Skyrim demo for months now, ever since it was first shown at E3 by the legendary Todd Howard himself, but it wasn't until PAX Prime 2011 that I actually got to get my hands on the epic role playing game.

As Kevin Kelly recently took an in-depth look at the Skyrim character customization, I didn't want to spend too much time with that. Normally I'd go through every single slider and option for hours until I picked the perfect character, (which is definitely an option within Skyrim as there are hundreds of ways to customize each race) but I skipped through that so that I could jump straight in to the action.

Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim

Read more: http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/64714/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim/articles/75415/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-pax-2011-preview-how-best-to-dispose-of-dead-townspeople/#ixzz1WeV1MOkJ

Our demo started about 30 minutes in to the game, as the developers didn't want us to see any of the starting areas for our characters. That part of the story is going to be a surprise up until when the game is released. So, my character, a high elf, got dropped off in the middle a lush forest with no direction as to where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to be doing. For crazy people like me who love to explore every nook and cranny and pick flowers and kill everything, this was particularly glorious.

The developer sat behind me and didn't give me instruction unless I asked for it. I asked if I could go anywhere and he assured me I could, and encouraged me to explore the forest. After playing in the beautiful rushing stream and splashing my way to a town, I decided that it's much more fun to kill everything in games than to you know, actually be nice and do the quests like a normal RPG player.

So I went straight up to the first chicken I found in the town and slashed at it with my battle axe. That chicken stood absolutely no chance. I then saw a little boy in the town and took my axe to him as well. The dev told me that you aren't allowed to kill children in Skyrim, but that they would alert the townspeople that I'm a maniac, which is exactly what he did. I ran around the town killing dogs and cows before the townspeople finally came after me with pitchforks and axes of their own. But let's be serious, they're no match for a Dragonborn.

With my fire spells in my left hand and my trusty axe in my right I made quick work of the two townsfolk who tried to teach me a lesson. It's what happened next that basically had me in stitches. After killing the townspeople, I looted their bodies, and when you loot people in Skyrim, you actually take all of their belongings, clothes included. I took everything from these two, including all of their clothes, trinkets, and weapons, and then noticed that I had killed them by the same stream I had been wading my way through earlier. The developer told me that if I wanted to drag them in to the water I could, so you can guess what happened next.

That's right! I dragged the two townsfolk in to the stream and away they floated. The developer let me know that if I had stayed with them that they would have kept floating for a very long time, fallen over waterfalls, and more. I would have loved to see this in action, but I knew there were dragons to slay, so I went on my way. However, this left me wondering what would have happened if those townsfolk would have given me quests had I not killed them. Would there quests now be given to me by others, or did I forgo them forever? It's a question I didn't get any answers to, and for that I'm sorry.

At this point, I was still lost in the stream, so I budged and asked the developer where I should go. He pointed me in the general direction of a temple high up on a snowy peak, the same mountain temple that's shown in the Skyrim demo we've seen since E3. As I made my up through the frigid mountainside, I began to really feel how the combat system would play out in the game. Honestly, I felt that the combat was a bit clunky, and that I threw punches rather slowly, but that made also made it much more realistic. I felt like I was really putting weight in to each of my axe swings, and that's neat. I found that the bow was a pain to use, and that a quick one handed axe or sword was much more my style. More than anything though, I loved using magic. I have a feeling I'm definitely going to be using much more magic than weaponry when the game comes out. For one, it looks really cool, having your hand in front of you constantly weaving a spell, and secondly, I think that the magic was stronger than my weapons were. I'm all about getting the most out of the damage in any video game, so magic was definitely for me.

During the demo, I was still only a level one character, and the temple I was in was a bit too high level for me so I was dying constantly. There are checkpoints for when you die, but not after every turn so I found myself having to go back through the same parts of the temple a few times before finally getting to new checkpoints. The developer assured me this was because I was too low level for this area, not because there were other, more strategic ways to get through. He was probably just being nice.

I did find my way through most of the temple however, and got to fight a terrifying spider as well as run through a room filled with evil undead skeleton things. Luckily the room was equipped with a booby trap that smashed the skeletons to bits, but as soon as I realized that there were tricks here and there to kill the skeletons, my demo timer came to an end.

It was sad, as I was finally starting to get the hang of using my items and abilities on the go with the favorites system, as well as really starting to get in to the combat and other mechanics of the game. For only playing Skyrim for about thirty minutes, I really got a great feel for how the game plays, and how easy it will be for the average RPG lover to get sucked in for hours on end. The absolutely beautiful landscape and soundtrack truly immerse you in to the world of Skyrim. While I didn't have any idea what was going on, I'm sure that the story will be fantastic and will only pull players in even more.

Our social lives will come to an end on 11.11.11 when The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim lands for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

Spoiler:

This morning I nearly missed saying hello to Skyrim’s senior brand manager, Erin Losi, as she was eclipsed by the massive Skyrim Collector’s Edition box at her desk. The box is HUGE – a virtual planetoid that should have its own weather system.

It’s also extremely limited – so don’t forget to pre-order.

Another review but this time it raises some concerns with glitches in the game.

http://www.dignews.com/platforms/xbox-360/xbox-360-previews/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/

It’s hard for me to say something original about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There’s so much information available about the game already, from the game’s official website to the 400 previews and articles already written. I don’t want to simply regurgitate the same information, that’s not fun for me as a writer, you as a reader, and doesn’t really help the game.

I did get my hands on the game, and while I was eager to play the game, I don’t feel that it offered up a revolutionary game play experience (and yes, I hate myself for those last four words). What it did have, however, was a solid game that looks like it might improve on the already phenomenal reputation the series has enjoyed. Using a new game engine, the developers have taken some of what they have used before, as well as incorporating new techniques, and perhaps a bit from the recently acquired developer id, which has produced some of the greatest and widely used game engines in the industry. Under the hood, Skyrim is sure to be fantastic. That, however, means nothing to the player, and shouldn’t. people don’t play game engines, they play games.

Starting out with player creation, I quickly skipped over it to jump into the gameplay. I explored an area that was populated by some creatures, a few people, and plenty of rocky mountainous terrain. That’s one of the first things I noticed playing Skyrim, the draw-in distance was ridiculous, but in a good way. The horizon, such as it was, was so far obviously far away that it seemed it might take a week to get there. It also wasn’t just some fuzzy line either, but clearly defined mountains, and the stretch of land between here and there was as well.

Skills and abilities are an important part of all role-playing games, and Skyrim will certainly have its fair share. Instead of the previous attribute points with sill increases as they are used, this time a branching tree style is being implemented. Players will earn experience, use that to unlock various skills, which will be beefed up over time and use, and this might be perhaps the most controversial portion of the game, as it is a change from the previous games. As for myself, I don’t have a problem with it. Then again, I only got to play the game for about 20 minutes, and only build up my one-handed weapon skill by a point or so. There was text that appeared on the screen when the “leveling up” of the skill occurred.

From the starting point I headed to the right, and encountered a hunter and his dog, apparently in battle with a wolf. I decided to help them out. The hunter wouldn’t talk to me, so I figured he was busy with the hunt, helped kill the wolf, then attempted to talk to him again. he ignored me. I was tempted to kill his dog to see what would happen, but decided against it. A minute or so later I came across a couple of bandits hiding out in the mountains. They weren’t very talkative either, but it wasn’t like I was trying to engage them in conversation anyway. They just outright attacked me on sight. I was able to dispatch them, strip them of their valuables, and search the various trunks and barrels for other loot. I did find a book, one of many throughout the land that will provide information on the lore of the land in the game. Unfortunately the book wouldn’t open and I couldn’t stash it in my inventory.

I found several bugs like this in my time with the game, even getting stuck in a place where the game needed to be rebooted in order to allow me to start over and progress. I know this isn’t the final build, there’s still a lot of fixing of things to take place. Still, for a game that is launching in under 3 months, I found a lot more than I expected. I have faith Bethesda will have everything running smoothly when the game ships out, but it simply makes me aware of how calling a release date out so far in advance is usually a mistake.

As for the dragons, I didn’t get to see any. These creatures are part of the central theme in the game, so I expect we’ll see plenty of them in the game, though not initially. From what I am led to believe, they will be difficult to kill, but not impossible. There will also be no riding them or keeping them as a pet.

Forging weapons, quests, magic, there’s a lot in the game, and 20 minutes of rushed gameplay isn’t going to give an accurate representation of what the finished game will be like, so I won’t. The game will suck a lot of hours from your life, there will be downloadable content that will suck even more hours. Eventually a couple of years down the line a “game of the year” edition will come out that will include all the released content, and perhaps even a few bug fixes Bethesda couldn’t finish before shipping the game.

elder scroll skyrim 08Maybe it seems I’m being a little too harsh on the game, and unfairly criticizing an unfinished product. I’m absolutely sure it’s going to be a blast to play and highly satisfactory. I just think for the extra price of the collector’s edition (priced at $149, with the standard game at $59) having a “free pass” for all the future downloadable content would be a better value than a statue.

http://www.gamesradar.com/spelunking-giant-hunting-swimming-and-looting-skyrim/

^ New 3 page article about the game.

Some nice new info.

New info:

Elder Scrolls Skyrim Demo Part 1 ~

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xwboyafbwc

Spoiler:

I'll update this but I have to watch it now too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7WohnlLEQo

Part 2 of the demo:

Spoiler:

What do you think so far?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt7IeycKJKQ

Part 3 of the just released demo:

Spoiler:

Some of this is old news but some was new to me:

-You can turn off your compass, cross-hair, or health, stamina, and magicka bars by adjusting the HUD opacity settings

-After picking flowers, they are removed visually from the plant

-No more speechcraft mini-game like OB. Speechcraft will now be more like Fallout 3

-Alchemy must be done at an alchemy lab or 'station' and can no longer be done on the fly while out in the game world like in Oblivion (Much more realistic if you ask me.)

-There is a decapitation perk that is part of the one-handed perk tree

-While playing, Pete's character was given a 'Choose Your Adventure' type book BY A CHILD in the game - so in addition to regular books, there are 'interactive' books in Skyrim

-He was asked if the player actually goes out into the woods to cut down trees, which we don't. It will be a station we go to like in the demo where you see the man moving the large log onto the cutting area. It's a designated station we use to cut wood, just like the stations for alchemy and forging. His exact words: 'No, it's almost like a "station", like you have for alchemy or the forge. You go use a woodpile.'

-You can have a weapon in your left hand and nothing in your right

-Right bumper is SHOUT, left bumper is SPRINT

-(Previously confirmed) You can only view your character in the game world, not in the menu

-(Previously confirmed) The random third person finishing moves can not be turned off

-(Previously confirmed) Midnight releases are definitely happening

Pete also cleared up that CVG article that stated 'Skyrim is considerably smaller than both Cyrodiil and Morrowind' by stating 'They're mistaken. If anything, it's bigger, certainly in terms of content.'

He also explained the need for the clairvoyance spell: Stating that it is a 'quest target,' and further explained that 'in the demo, the next step in the quest was to return to the quest giver, which would lead you from the dungeon.' There’s also a proper explanation by Todd Howard explaining that 'the spell creates a path to the current objective,' and that 'the reason for this spell is that the dungeons can sometimes get confusing.'

New screencaps from a youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP5HDXQhpCw

http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/09/22/a-new-look-at-the-skyrim-collectors-edition/

This week we received a final version of The Art of Skyrim Official Art Book – the massive, 200 page companion to the Skyrim Collector’s Edition. To celebrate the affair, marketing artist Lindsay Westcott took a new photo of all the CE contents — including a first peek at the pages of the artbook.

In the coming days, we’ll be sharing more from the artbook… keep your eyes peeled!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXpfMllFrY0

Like the really rather great sammuthegreat, I spent my time at Eurogamer finding out all the juicy details about Skyrim I could, forsaking actually playing around with the game. Unlike sammuthegreat I completely ignored the gameplay elements and tried to see how much lore I could soak up in one day's worth of queuing and playing. Actually most of this information is from queuing, as the best source of info by far turns out to be the game's gorgeous loading screens, which each allow to you look at a 3D item, often a statue, with a tidbit of info to read.
My technique for trying to get a different Skyrim perspective was to get as far away from bloody Riverwood as possible, by sprinting to the horse carriage at nearby Windhelm, and fast traveling from city to city from there (a technique I heartily recommend if anyone gets the chance). Being a player mainly interested in the story and gameworld, I spent my time trying to investigate these two things. All info is as best I can remember it, much was only glimpsed from another's screen

Information regarding quests and events that happen in game are in the spoiler'd Quest section, the Lore/Politics section contains more general info, mostly from loading screens. New information not in the last thread is in bold.

Lore/Politics

There are Eight Divines again. Worship of Talos, the God of Man is now banned throughout the empire
Akatosh is confirmed as being worshipped and usually depicted as a dragon The loading screen points out his dragon avatar is one he choose to use to at the end of the Oblivion Crisis
The Empire only managed to end "The Great War" against the Aldmeri Dominion with the Concordat of White Gold
Windhelm now has a Dunmer population, who are looked down upon by some of its citizens
All of the Daedric Princes seem to have returned, including Sheogorath. Some, such as Azura and Meridia are described as being not inherently evil.
Bosmer are described as heralding from the eastern forests of Valenwood, suggesting they may have been pushed out of the Aldmeri Dominion, or at the very least there is some political divide in Valenwood.
Each city in Skyrim has a cult of Arkay devoted to the respect of the dead
Draugr are suggested to possibly have been Nords who betrayed mankind for the Dragons in a past war

Places

Windhelm, the old capital of Skyrim mainly consists of ancient ruins, with newer buildings also present.
The College of Winterhold is a huge castle that overlooks the town, resembling something between Sadrith Mora's Wolverine Hall and the Mage's tower from Dragon Age Origins. It has a strong university feel to it. As I found it in a blizzard, I can't vouch for the size of the town itself, it seemed the settlement was small in comparison to the College itself.
Solitude, Skyrim's current capital is a large, regal castle town, something like a grander Ebonheart as seen in Morrowind, mixed with Skingrad's castle. Below this level there is a port, and more buildings.
Falkreath is made of similar buildings as found in Riverwood, and has no loading screens for entry. It is a rugged town surrounded by deep forest, with wooden barricades patrolled by guards
Dawnstar is, well, blizzardy. The weather was too much for me to be able to make out much, but it seemed to vaguely resemble a seaside Bruma.
Whiterun I choose not to enter (as I knew enough others would), but from what I glimpsed over someone's shoulder it is somewhere between Bruma and a much prettier Chorol. It has a garden with channels of running water in it.
The outskirts of Whiterun contains farms, a mill and a brewery, at least. It seems to flow more seamlessly into it's surroundings than any Oblivion city, actually looking like a fortified town.

Quests:
There is a spree of murders in Windhelm
A guard is being publically executed for helping the Stormcloaks in Solitude
The residents of Dawnstar are being plagued by bad dreams
There is a rivarly between two female mages in the College of Winterhold
A fellow called Ulfric Stormcloak has killed the high-king of Skyrim right at the start of the game. This happens in Solitude, Skyrim's capital, and it appears he himself has a claim to the throne due to the ancient rights of the Nords. The Stormcloaks claim this was not an assassination but a duel.
Some holds have already pledged their alliegence to the Stormcloaks. It is likely Windhelm will be their base of operations, Solitude that of the Imperials
The librarian at The College of Winterhold is an aggressive Orc in his underpants, who provides quests involving rare books
Windhelm's dunmer are resented for not taking sides in the Stormcloak rebellion
Thalmor, High Elf agents of the Aldermi Dominion are found throughout Skyrim. Some have been found with prisoners, one claims that they are merely there in peace, to help Skyrim through this period of transition (Possible foreshadowing of the main quest?)

Other Stuff

Windmills now rotate the right way(!)
Some cities, such as Solitude and Windhelm are walled, others such as Falkreath are not. Those that do seem to have more buildings outside their walls than in Oblivion.
I received the impression that the stock accent for the Nords appears to be Scandinavian, though not all Nords have this accent. Wonder Woman is back.
It seems the Thieves Guild is joined in the same way as in Oblivion.
Some NPCs, such as Thalmor, are too powerful for a Level 1 player to take on.
Mudcrabs are baaaaack, and offer Mudcrab Chitin when killed. Craftable Chitin Armour? Let's hope so.
There is a Nord in Riverwood called Sven who I swear 50% of the players who saw him tried to kill. One guy spent his entire 15 minutes on this. Is he the new Fargoth or something?
You can harvest bees(!) by literally plucking them out of the air. Bees are an ingredient for Alchemy
One person was not allowed into Whiterun for some reason, but while talking to the guard there was an option to use a special dialogue option with a persuassion check, Fallout 3 style. The player picked this option and it succeeded, and was let in.
An in-game redguard is portrayed in a loading screen in Arab dress, wielding a scimitar
Spriggans guard strange dome shapped structures found in forests. However there seemed to be a bug with the Spriggan, meaning it would cast one spell and then be unable to do anything else.
There are hunters you can find on the road with whom you can barter with
There are several different shapes and sizes of dragon, one loading screen showed a tall, lanky dragon with a fin on it's head, and another lower on it's back, resembling a dinosaur

My impressions of the game generally where overwhelmingly positive. If graphically it isn't a million miles better than Oblivion in every respect, it seems a lot more attention to detail has been given, from the design of the cities (far more logically set out, and different from one another not in a superficial way as in Oblivion but in a way that makes sense). The voice acting, in particular the use of Nordic accents makes a big difference here too. I very much felt like I was traveling through a place with a strong sense of identity (or more many places with several different identities), ala Morrowind. Really the game feels like a sequel to Morrowind set in Oblivion's engine (only with far better realised NPCs!). If anyone has any questions, or has played the game themselves and can help/correct me on anything please feel free.
-------------------------------
So much new info!

Skill Tree Perks [not all but a lot of new info!]

Speech
- Buying and selling price 10% better (5 ranks)
- 10% price buying from opposite sex
- Invest in shops and increase available gold permanently in invested stores
- Master Trader - every merchant in world gains 1000 gold for bartering
- Buy and sell from any merchant regardless of what they normally buy and sell
- Intimidation attempts twice as successful
- Persuasion attempts more likely successful

Alchemy
- Potions 20% stronger (5 ranks)
- Potions for restore health, magicka or stamina are 25% more powerful (maybe ranked)
- Poisons 25% more effective (maybe ranked)
- Poisons last for twice as many hits
- Two ingredients are gathered from plants
- 50% resistance to all poisons
- All negative effects removed from potions and all positive removed from poisons
- Two effects of an ingredient are revealed when testing it for the first time (instead of just one)

Illusion
- Dual casting overcharges effect for more powerful spell
- Cast Novice spells for 50% less magicka
- Cast Apprentice spells for 50% less magicka
- Cast Adept, Expert, Master etc spells for 50% less magicka (more levels this time around)
- Spells work on higher level animals
- Spells work on higher level people
- All spell casting (from any school) is done silently
- Spells work on undead, Daedra and automatons
- Fear spells work on higher level enemies

Conjuration
- Novice for 50% magicka etc (up to Master)
- Dual casting overcharges --> greater spell effect
- Bound weapons do more damage
- Bound weapons cast Soul Trap on target
- Bound weapons banish certain creatures
- Reanimate undead with 100 more health
- Summon 2 Atronachs or reanimated zombies
- Summon Atronachs at twice the distance
- Summoned Atronachs twice are as strong

Destruction
- More damage for each school (fire, frost and shock) - ranked
- Shock damage chance to disintegrate targets if their health is under 10%
- Frost damage chance to paralyze targets if health low
- Fire damage chance to make low health enemies flee
- Place runes 5x farther away

Restoration
- Healing spells also restore stamina
- Novice for 50% less magicka, etc.
- Healing spells do 50% more healing
- Spells more effective against undead
- Once a day chance to auto-cast 250 HP restoration when health drops low
- Magicka regenerates 25% faster

Alteration
- Novice for 50% less etc
- Alteration spells have greater duration (probably ranked)
- Absorb 30% magicka that hits you

Enchanting
- Enchantments are 20% stronger (ranked)
- Enchanted armor 25% stronger
- Death blows to creatures (but not people) trap souls for weapon recharge
- Health, magicka and stamina enchants stronger
- Extra effect can be applied to enchanted weapons
- Shock, Frost and Fire enchants 25% stronger (individual perks for each element) (probably ranked)

Heavy Armor
- Increase armor rating 20% (5 ranks)
- Unarmed damage increased by gauntlets' armor rating
- Half fall damage if all in heavy armor
- Heavy armor weighs nothing and doesn't slow you down
- 25% armor bonus if in matching set
- 25% armor bonus if all in heavy armor (not necessarily matching)
- 50% less stagger if all in heavy armor
- 10% damage reflected back to enemy if all in heavy armor

Two-Handed Weapons
- Two-handed weapons do 20% more damage (5 ranks)
- Attacks with war hammers ignore 25% armor (ranked)
- Attacks with battleaxes do extra bleeding damage (ranked)
- Attacks with great swords do extra critical damage (ranked)
- Power attacks cost 25% less stamina
- Standing power attacks do 25% bonus damage, chance to decapitate
- Sprinting power attacks do double (critical) damage
- Sideways power attacks hit all targets
- Backwards power attacks have 25% chance of paralysis

Archery
- Bows do 25% more damage
- Zoom in
- Zooming slows time
- 10% critical chance
- Move faster with drawn bow
- Recover twice as many arrows from dead bodies
- Chance of paralyzing for few seconds
- Draw bow 30% faster

Sneak
- 20% harder to detect (ranked)
- Sneak attacks do 6x damage with one-handed weapons
- Sneak attacks with bows do 3x damage
- Sneak attacks with daggers do 15x damage (last perk on the skill tree)
- Noise from armor reduced by 50%
- No longer activate pressure plates
- Sprinting while sneaking performs silent forward roll
- Running does not affect detection chance
- Crouching can make hostile enemies lose sight of you and search for a target

Source: http://www.escapistm...d-Racial-Traits

Very detailed fan made map of Skyrim!
Spoiler:

Click the link to see the same picture which you can click to blow up to a VERY big size to more easily see stuff.

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/elder-scrolls-v/achievements/

Seems to be the legit achievement list.

This link will take you scans of the official instruction manual for Skyrim:

http://kotaku.com/5848496/now-skyrims-manual-has-leaked/gallery/11

Lots of big pictures:

http://www.gamesradar.com/skyrim-preview-secret-of-pinewatch-sanctuary/?page=1

Spoiler:

Skyrim preview: We stumble upon the secret of Pinewatch Sanctuary
An amazing incidental tale in a beautiful yet deadly land

Click link to read the article because I copied the story wrong..

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55976/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-exclusive-preview/

Short but cool new video of new game play!

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55960/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-video-preview/?quality=hd

^ That link has an even better video which has lots of footage [11 minutes] and commentary.

Spoiler:

http://www.gamezone.com/news/skyrim-strategy-guide-is-over-650-pages

Everything about the Elder Scrolls games is massive. Skyrim might be taking it to a whole new level of massiveness, however. Though the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim speed run by Bethesda took roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes, it's safe to say that if you play through the game completing all the quests you should get several hundred hours of gameplay. According to Prima Games, the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim strategy guide, which just arrived, is over 650 pages in length.

Below you can see a Prima Games official holding the meaty strategy guide. I've never been one to rely on guides, but with the in-depthness of Skyrim, this could definitely come in handy.

According to Prima Games, the Skyrim strategy guide contians a large map poster inside labeled with important locations, major roads, and hold capitals. It also has multiple character builds based on hundreds of hours of playtesting revealing exactly what skills, perks, equipment,a nd other items to pick, and how to advance through the game, no matter the type of character you want to be.

In addition it shows where every rare item is ranging from Skill Books, Uniques, Weapons, every single Shout, Dragon Priest Masks, and much more!

Wait, there's more! The guide gives you a comprehensive tour of every single location, with every major exploration point receiving a walkthrough flagging important items, with detailed maps.

If you're a Skyrim junky, this is definitely the book for you. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Prima Official Game Guide retails on Amazon for only $16.19, which is a pretty decent price considering the value of the contents. This guide has everything you could possibly want to know about Skryim.

***Update*** Bethesda's Production Director thinks that Fallout 3 is the 2nd best game he's worked on, the first hasn't been released...yet. Is he referring to Skyrim?***

Argonian

10 Lockpicking, 5 Restoration, Alteration, Light Armor, Sneak, Pickpocket.

Histskin : Invoke the power of the Hist to recover health ten times faster for 60 seconds.

Resist Disease : Your Argonian blood is 50% resistant to disease. Water Breathing : Your Argonian Lungs can breath underwater.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breton

10 Conjuration, 5 Alchemy, Illusion, Restoration, Alteration, Speech

Dragonskin : Absorb 50% of magicka from hostile spells for 60 seconds.

Magic Resistance : Breton blood grants a 25% resistance to magic.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dunmer

10 Destruction, 5 Alchemy, Illusion, Alteration, Light Armor, Sneak

Ancestor’s Wrath : For 60 seconds, opponents that get too close take 8 points per second of fire damage.

Resist Fire – Your Dunmer blood gives you 50% resistance to fire.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Altmer

10 Illusion, 5 Conjuration, Destruction, Restoration, Alteration, Enchanting

Highborn : Regenerate magicka faster for 60 seconds.

Highborn : High Elves are born with 50 extra magicka.

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Imperial

10 Restoration, 5 Destruction, Enchanting, Heavy Armor, Block, One-Handed

Voice of the Emperor : Calms nearby people for 60 seconds.

Imperial Luck : Anywhere gold coins might be found, Imperials always seem to find a few more.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Khajiit

10 Sneak, 5 Alchemy, One-Handed, Archery, Lockpicking, Pickpocket

Night Eye : Improved night vision for 60 seconds.

Claws : Khajiit claws do 15 points of damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nord

10 Two-Handed, 5 Smithing, Block, One-Handed, Light Armor, Speech

Battle Cry : Target flees for 30 seconds.

Resist Frost: Your Nord blood gives you 50% resistance to frost.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orsimer

10 Heavy Armor, 5 Enchanting, Smithing, Block, Two-Handed, One-Handed

Berserker Rage : You take half damage and do double damage for 60 seconds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Redguard

10 One-Handed, 5 Destruction, Alteration, Smithing, Block, Archery

Adrenaline Rush : Stamina regenerates 10x faster for 60 seconds.

Resist Poison : Your Redguard blood gives you 50% resistance to poison.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bosmer

10 Archery, 5 Alchemy, Light Armor, Sneak, Lockpicking, Pickpocket

Command Animal : Make an animal an ally for 60 seconds.

Resist Disease and Poison : Your Bosmer blood gives you 50% resistance to poison and disease.

Note that this is not my list, full credit to puzzleme from the reddit forums.

4 new screenshots in spoiler:

Spoiler:

This comes out on the 11th, right?

Not a Perfect Patriot wrote:: This comes out on the 11th, right?

\
You are correct!

Are you going to get it?

Probably not. For the most part I play sports games.

Oh; this is my shit so I'm totally buying it at midnight and playing it for a long time.

Legend Number of posts : 4296 Age : 33 Registration date : 2008-11-09

I'm so caught up in NHL, Madden & COD games that I'm not interested in these types of games at all. I seen it on something and it looks good.

I hope you play the shit out of this while I enjoy playing the shit out of MW3 tomorrow when that bitch comes in the mail. My town is so fucked that my wal mart won't be releasing it at midnight like they are everywhere's else.

so I had to pre order and I'll get it tomorrow when I go check my p.o box... it better be there or someone's getting cut. LOL

^ Sucks about your non midnight release but enjoy your game tomorrow!

I am going to play the fuck out of this game come Friday morning!

I've found so much leaked gameplay I've been very busy the past 2 days!

Legend Number of posts : 4296 Age : 33 Registration date : 2008-11-09

My game didn't come in the mail today like Wal Mart said it would so I'm hoping it will be there tomorrow morning cause i'm tired of BOPS. Will this game come out on PS3? And what do you jam on 360 or PS3

MkGt4Lyfe wrote:: My game didn't come in the mail today like Wal Mart said it would so I'm hoping it will be there tomorrow morning cause i'm tired of BOPS. Will this game come out on PS3? And what do you jam on 360 or PS3

Damn that really sucks it didn't come when it said it would; you should call them and tell them off because you should get a discount on something..

Skyrim is available on X-Box 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

I am getting the X-Box 360 version.

Legend Number of posts : 4296 Age : 33 Registration date : 2008-11-09

If it doesn't come in tomorrow I'll call them and bitch them out. Why does everyone have Xbox these days and not ps3... FUCK! lol

I just like X-Box 360 more but I don't think PS3 is horrible or anything.

Legend Number of posts : 4296 Age : 33 Registration date : 2008-11-09

I don't hate Xbox, I just hate the controller design... I could never get use to it.

I like the controllers; they are great imo.

PS3 controllers are nice as well.

» Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Trailer AND NEW INFO!
» The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Dawnguard - Official Trailer
» 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' Wins Game of the Year at VGAs!
» Elders Scrolls MMO Announced
» The Elder Scrolls Online Delayed For Xbox One, PS4