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Found a big list of known information on the internet, some of which isn't covered here. Thought I'd post:

Short plot: 200 years after the events of Oblivion, Skyrim is suffering from civil war and inner turmoil after the High King died. Dragons are returning and it is up to you to save the world from the doom they herald, the War-God Alduin.
You are Dragonborn, a dragon hunter anointed by the Gods to fight with dragons on equal terms.
Your character is caught on the border to Skyrim and thrown in jail, as the game begins you are being led to your execution.

SETTING
- The game takes place in the rugged landscape of Skyrim, the northern most province of Tamriel. The area contains several different environments ranging from frozen lakes, tundras, fall forests and more.
- There are nine holds in Skyrim, it is believed that these holds will fight amongst each other.
- There are five large cities and many smaller villages, towns and settlements.
- There are 150 dungeons in the game, all hand-crafted by a team of eight, as opposed to Oblivion's team of one.
- There are over 100 POI's, or points of interest.

ATTRIBUTES & LEVELING
- There are 18 skills
- There are 3 attributes
- There is a soft level cap of 50, but you can still level up after it. (It's just slower and you gain no perks)
- There are 280 perks
- You select a perk each time you level up. (up to level 50)
- Leveling up is quicker in Skyrim than it is in Oblivion

CREATURES & NPC'S
- Improved Radiant AI
- Animations and models significantly improved
- Bethesda has worked hard to make the various races more unique
- NPC's are more dynamic
- "Everything the NPC's can do, you can do!"
- Not all creatures are hostile
- There is an ecology system in place for animals
- 60,000 lines of dialogue has been recorded

COMBAT & MAGIC
- You can dual-wield any one-handed weapons, including staves and magic spells
- You perform different attacks depending on how you move your aim while hitting
- You can perform stylish finishing moves to finish off an opponent
- Archery has been changed to be more effective but slower
- There are 85 spells in the game
- Combat has been generally improved to feel more real and immersive
- You can no longer use cheap tactics to win, i.e backpedaling
- Torches can be used as weapons
- 20+ dragonshouts

CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION
- Ten races, same as Oblivion
- Vastly improved over Oblivion
- Addition of facial hair
- Body features can be adjusted
- Facial features such as face and warpaint can be applied
- Scars can be applied

GUILDS & FACTIONS
- College of Winterhold (Mages Guild)
- The Companions (Fighters Guild)
- Thieves Guild
- The Dark Brotherhood (Assassins Guild)
- The Blades *

*unsure to what extent, the character "Esbern" is a Nord Blades member.

GENERAL GAMEPLAY
- Nord character "Esbern" is a member of the Blades and works as a mentor for you in the game, he is voiced by Swedish actor Max von Sydow.
- New engine called "Creative Engine"
- You can sprint at the cost of fatigue
- There are more voice actors this time
- There are now more things to do in the towns, such as jobs
- When engaging in conversation, the camera doesn't zoom in on the NPC's face and the game world does not freeze
- A system called Radiant Story is in the game to allow more dynamic quests and more replayability.
- 3rd Person View has been improved thanks to new animations but 1st person is still the main way to play
- Map fast travel makes a return
- Transport fast travel makes a return in the form of carriages
- The In-game HUD comes and goes when needed
- The compass from Oblivion makes a return
- Increased draw distance
- Improved graphics in general
- You can cook food for them to give better bonuses
- You can improve your weapons at a forge
- House owning makes a return
- The in-game map is in 3D
- Items in the inventory list are all 3D and can be inspected closely
- Jeremy Soule returns for the soundtrack
- Bounties do not carry over between the holds in the game, while you may be a wanted criminal in Hold A, you can still be an ignored nobody in Hold B
- Guards are no longer psychic and slightly less powerful
- Birthsign stones for Warrior, Mage and Thief, only one can be active and it grants the player 30% faster leveling in the skills that represent the sign

CONFIRMED CREATURES
Wolves, Rabbits, Foxes, Salmon, Harker, Skeevers, Mammoths, Giants, Draugr, Frost Atronachs, Frost Spiders, Ice Wraiths, Dragon Priests, Dragons (also a Frost variation is known), Sabre-toothed cats, Horses, Dogs, Elk

LIST OF MAJOR CITIES
- Markarth (http://bit.ly/iIq0px)
- Riften
- Solitude
- Whiterun (http://bit.ly/jY0Ntk)
- Windhelm

LIST OF KNOWN DRAGONSHOUTS
Teleportation
Super speed
Summon Dragon
Summon a storm
Force Push
Breathing Fire
Slow Time

Sorry for the massive post. The list is hardly complete either...

I've never played an Elder Scrolls game, so I'll muck around with the different weapons and see how my character's stats evolve.

Leveling up is quicker in Skyrim than it is in Oblivion

This is possible?

I'm levelling stupidly quickly in Oblivion already.

Yea, oblivion's system was really broken if you know how to break it. For example if alchemy was one of your skills. Take 1000 pieces of bread and 1000 pieces of cheese and make 1000 useless potions. Magic, sans destruction, all you have to do is cast the lowest costing spell over and over. Armor and athletics took forever though

Kinda sad only 3 attributes but glad there is seemingly more effort in the dungeons. Good to see all the guilds back in. Also good to see that bounties are different from oblivion's "STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM" psychic ability. Overall I am a little optimistic about this game even with the comment about making games more accessible. If they can take the creativity of Morrowind/Shivering Isles and combine it with the finesse of Fallout I think we could have a winning game

Or just have oblivion 2.0

Atheletics takes forever? I gain those skill-ups just as easily as Acrobatics; by jumping everywhere I go.

Sneak was also exploitable, hit sneak and auto-move into a corner.

I forgot just how OP Alchemy was until I recently started a new char.

It seems the combat skills were the difficult ones; those, speechcraft and mercantile.

Ah yes mercantile, a truly useless skill since you can easily raid dungeons/do quests for the good stuff (that one cave where you have 2 factions full of goons is a great place for loot)

But yea combat takes a while since you need to find things to hit

Sad that some of the things are going to be back from Oblivion, but happy that there's gonna be some of the mechanics back from Morrowind (like Teleportation and speed and cairrages and such; means the engine can handle them, and Mods will be made if the in-game stuff isn't up to parr)

I'm hoping they're talking about 85 spell effects, not that they're going to some sort of Final Fantasy-esque Ice1, Flame10 thing.


I'm probably gonna play my character like I always do- A Paragon of Virtue, wielder of Spell and Mace/Axe/spearwhatever, a lumbering behemoth of heavy armour and heavier enchantment. Spells for long range, weapon for short range. I think I might like the new Ward spell setup they apparently have.

Avatar 720 wrote:I plan on running a sneaky assassin to start with.

Same here my man, same here


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Ooooh man that list of game stuff looks awesome. Dammit Im seriously wanting this game. I know for sure what Im asking for, for xmas!

Damn i gotta unsubscribe, i dont wanna ruin skyrim before playing it hahaha.

I plan on running a swordmage berserker type character myself, I am loving the plasmid style spells.

That could be pretty awesome. Sorcerer type Mage, using heavy armour and dual wielding Offensive spells, just charging into battle!

Torches can be used as weapons?!

YES! Give me some Red Robes and the Fire Bug will actually be able to do something in Melee!

I once made a fluffy character who ran around with only fire spells and a torch, Mythic Dawn robes. Didn't get very far, but if I can smack someone with a torch, that means he has a melee alternative

I hope they A) Make them enchantable, B) Make it light someone on fire!

I don't think there was anything in that huge list I didn't like.

November can't come soon enough.

Torch and Shield is the way to go

I wish I could dual wield shields though

Finally, we have a weapon to fend off all those dang Wringwraiths with!

And I highly doubt that the torches won't be able to at least to fire damage. Bethesda's cool like that.

Slarg232 wrote:Torches can be used as weapons?!

YES! Give me some Red Robes and the Fire Bug will actually be able to do something in Melee!

I once made a fluffy character who ran around with only fire spells and a torch, Mythic Dawn robes. Didn't get very far, but if I can smack someone with a torch, that means he has a melee alternative

I hope they A) Make them enchantable, B) Make it light someone on fire!

Try running around dressed as a beggar with a knife...
At least you get spells...

Not here. The thief starter thing, I mean. Nope, I'll do like oblivion and morrowind. Heavy armor, blade, destruction, armorer, you know. The dungeon crawling works.

Here is an AWESOME! Idea: being able to determine what Gender your spells affect.

Your this big huge Gladiator Champion, and you have a spell called Rabid Fangirls. 120 Feet, Paralyze for one second, Frenzy for sixty seconds, Females only. Walk into a town, and BOOM! mass hysteria!

Or maybe, for the more subtle approach, your female Dark Elf assassin has Black Widow's Kiss; Health Drain 5 for twenty seconds on Males, Touch Spell.

Slarg232 wrote:Here is an AWESOME! Idea: being able to determine what Gender your spells affect.

Your this big huge Gladiator Champion, and you have a spell called Rabid Fangirls. 120 Feet, Paralyze for one second, Frenzy for sixty seconds, Females only. Walk into a town, and BOOM! mass hysteria!

Or maybe, for the more subtle approach, your female Dark Elf assassin has Black Widow's Kiss; Health Drain 5 for twenty seconds on Males, Touch Spell.

I think gender based spells would be annoying.

I wouldn't be surprised if the black widow and lady killer perks from fallout will show up in skyrim.

They would be useful. I wonder if there will be kids in Skyrim.

Manchu wrote:They would be useful. I wonder if there will be kids in Skyrim.

If not, we'll have to find the cave with the Kid Sized Overalls to make sure!

Oblivion was creepy when you realised there were no kids...

purplefood wrote:Oblivion was creepy when you realised there were no kids...

Good point.

I heard that there will be kids, and they will work like Fallout 3's.

So I cant kill them? In the first Fallout I became a child killer as soon as I figured out shotgun + kids face = great time!


So attacking with a torch, means you can block with said torch? Man that would be fantastic. I started a new sorcerer type yesterday and I use a torch all the damn time, itd be nice being able to block with it while blasting spells

Kasrkai wrote:I heard that there will be kids, and they will work like Fallout 3's.

Oh good so I can mod in child killing

Look its not my fault those kids were the biggest douches of the game! Beth basically taunted you in FO3 that these idiots werent killable

- Nord character "Esbern" is a member of the Blades and works as a mentor for you in the game, he is voiced by Swedish actor Max von Sydow.

This really reinforces my suspicion that the Dovahkiin is a potential heir to the throne of Tamriel. And of course what was Tiber Septim's title? . . . Dragonborn. TES wiki has old Talos as "of Nordic descent," too. The pieces are really falling together here.

I'm pre-ordering this game now.

This was such a bad year to start a new 40k army as well, all the good games are already draining my wallet. So far, I've got Brink and Red Faction. I'm planning on getting Skyrim, Battlefield 3, LOTR: War in the North, GOW3.

Then if I get my new PC this summer (as a present I could never afford it myself), I'll want ME1 and ME2 so I can get a perfect ending for ME3, I'll also want Shogun 2. That 'nid armies not gonna do too well for this year to be honest.

kenshin620 wrote:

Kasrkai wrote:I heard that there will be kids, and they will work like Fallout 3's.

Oh good so I can mod in child killing

Look its not my fault those kids were the biggest douches of the game! Beth basically taunted you in FO3 that these idiots werent killable

Oh yes. Screw Little Lamplight. It would be nice if we could kill them and just get a big penalty.


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Manchu wrote:

- Nord character "Esbern" is a member of the Blades and works as a mentor for you in the game, he is voiced by Swedish actor Max von Sydow.

This really reinforces my suspicion that the Dovahkiin is a potential heir to the throne of Tamriel. And of course what was Tiber Septim's title? . . . Dragonborn. TES wiki has old Talos as "of Nordic descent," too. The pieces are really falling together here.

Then the empire is going to be ruled by an Argonian? Or an Orc?