Skyrim’s five deadly sins

Bethesda, it's time to confess. We're not here to judge, only help you find the freedom and immersion we desire. What follows are your five deadly sins against immersion.

    5. The Voice

    No, not the mystical hoots of power that require dragon batteries, I'm talking about those words you say to mundane effect.

    "Hello," or "Oh my, you're a talking cheetah!"

    Instead your character telepathically pantomimes their response, a grievous sin against the player's immersion. Why Bethesda? Why do you provide a superfluous amount of tweaking in regards to the minutia of chin breadth, hue and shape, yet keep us mute? I have an inconceivable amount of control over the shape of my forehead yet you steal my voice. Yes it's an inordinate amount of work, but couldn't you have skimped on eye colour variations and provided a plethora of voice actors for me to assign to my avatar? Say, a pretentious, yet foul-mouthed voice to my breton mage? Or a concise, yet whiny drawl to my Kahjit warrior? Yes they may not always pronounce dialogue the way I meant it, putting emphasize on the wrong words at times, but oh my, the immersion!

Speak to me!

    4. Fast Travel

    Never again. No more. The carriage system was a feeble attempt at having both immersion and convenience but Bethesda it's time to cut the apron strings. I managed to avoid the temptation to fast travel for the first two hours and I feel more connected to the world in the first two than the next 98. Why? Because I know exactly where I am in relation to landmarks, I understand my place in the game space. But soon the trek becomes too long and too pointless. Why spend 20 minutes trekking the misty marshes only to cash in a fetch quest? I fast travel and sacrifice immersion for convenience, the fourth deadly sin. Instead, couldn't a more "radiant" or evolving quest system do away with fetching and instead keep moving the player forward, never falling to "bring me ten bear pelts"? Make the journey part of the experience, part of the quest, not a check list. So give us carriages, lose the warping, it's hurting our souls. Better yet, give us dragon mounts like the golden SNES RPG days. Like Chrono Trigger let us ride the skies, keeping us in the world at all times, but with the convenience of quickly travelling to different locations. That creates immersion.

Just let me ride you

    3. Friends with benefits

    No more "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" friendships. It's getting old. Instead why can't we make AI friends based on relationships rather than by fetching that book Rolfgard lent to another NPC? Real companionship comes from spending time together, getting to know another person's personality, both the heartwarming and the annoying. I refused to save the lives of thousands of Albion residents because I loved my dog. Sure he was annoying, always telling me to dig up treasure, but I loved having him around. Why can't NPCs be more like that? Lydia followed me to her death, why? Because I did her Jarl a favour. No more love based on doing favours. From now on, an NPC should like you based on how much time you spend with them, how often you talk to them, and not how many bear pelts you give them.

    2. Shopping

    Ok, waiting in lines is boring. Point taken. But why not discard shops altogether if they only seem to exist for one customer? It's unnerving when you think about it, all these inn keepers and shop owners sitting around, thinking, "Man, I wonder when Dragonborn will upgrade his glass armour and sell it to me?" Although I suppose if Dragonborn doesn't want it, no one will ever buy it. So how about this, why not have a shop filled with people during certain times of the day? Why not create a moral choice: Wait patiently in line, or be a jerk and threaten you way to the front? Besides if a speech or barter perk allowed you to skip lines without being mean it would give their skills some more oomph, my anti-social argonian thief might even spend a perk point.

    1. Number Crunching

    Arrow to the head? Dead. Slice through the flesh? Howling in pain, unable to use both arms. And not just enemies, us the players.

    I'm not arguing for hyper-realism. I crave immersion. They sometimes walk nicely hand-in-hand, but make no mistake, they're two different beasts. Give me a system of slow-motion dodges, that require skill and stamina. So instead of an attack stealing your HP or "health points" (a relic from games of old that needs to die) you diminish your dodge points. When they become depleted and your dodges get sloppy, an arrow to the head means you're dead. We should never, ever, allow an arrow through the sternum to steal portions of your health. It's all or nothing friends. But there is hope yet, Bethesda. Gamers are full of grace and forgiveness, repent from your wicked ways and sin no more. Immersion is calling.