The(G)Forum

zwirrlibatz hat geschrieben:gstresst bin ich nöd. aber nach vielne stunde vo de spielwält immer no fasch gliich dischtanziert wie i de erschte. und das find ich nöd soooo läss. aber ok, ich han au weni hauptgschicht und konsequänt gildequests gmacht. das mag mit en grund sii. nur bis zum archmage han ichs durezoge bis jetz. ah det nomal pfrag, wachse die pflanze im eigete garte wieder nah?

The greatest voice acting ever

Warning: Super-minor Skyrim spoiler included. It’s one isolated event unrelated to anything else in the game, and will spoil only this one location/encounter for you, but it’s still technically a spoiler.

I was on a quest for the mages guild, when on my compass I saw a lighthouse icon and wanted to discover it for later exploration. I wandered up the mountain to said lighthouse, and when I finally arrived I saw a dead horse near the front door. This got me curious, and so I entered the lighthouse to check things out.

As soon as I entered, I saw a skeleton in the middle of the main room, an axe in its back, and a trail of blood leading from said main room to a door. A quest notification popped up, something about investigating the murder. The mages guild quest was put on hold, and it was time to play detective.

Searching around the main floor, I found a few journals, describing how a family of four had purchased and moved to this lighthouse, the parents looking to retire and the (guessing) late-teen kids coming to help before they leave to live their own lives. As the days went by, the different members of the family each recounted hearing noises in the basement. The different takes on this one event were very interesting, and in only a few pages really defined each character for me.

Little notes also made things interesting. The son had noted in his journal that he made a copy of the basement key, and hid it in the urn on the mantle. I went looking for the urn, and sure enough, the key was inside. I could have picked the lock and still progressed, but this detail did a good job of not just letting me pass a tough lock, but also drawing me into the story and rewarding me for actually reading.

Down in the basement, a hole had been made in a wall, and two alien-ish critters were crawling around. The hole lead to an underground lair of sorts, with the remaining family members dead inside. The daughter was in a holding cell, with a note near her that her father tried to save her, failed, and snuck a dagger to her at the last minute before being dragged away. While not expressly stated, the implication was clear, and the location of the dagger near the corpse was a nice visual cue as well.

The son’s corpse was a bit further inside, with a battle scene around him. No text this time, but again the visual cues made it pretty clear what he had attempted, and ultimately failed to do.

Finally, at the end, the father’s remains were inside the critter breeder (a bigger bug), who was at the center of a massive room with dozens and dozens of eggs, along with the family chest key. That chest, found at the very top of the lighthouse, contained some nice loot. This wrapped up the quest, and this little bit of Skyrim content.

I bring this up for a few reasons. The first being just to point out the excellent storytelling contained within Skyrim. This was not a major location, or even a spot you get directed to. It was just one random location out of the hundreds in Skyrim, and the whole thing took maybe 30 minutes to complete. Yet in that 30 minutes I got a complete story, and one that I was honestly interested in. Each journal was well written, not too long, and those along with the visual cues really pulled me into the encounter. At one point I was actually hoping to find someone alive, and actually felt bad for this family, who just wanted to retire and ended up picking the wrong spot.

The other reason I bring this up is because I believe it highlights a key difference between written quest text (the journals) and voiced content. Voiced content, while also great, leaves little room for imagination or your own take on things. Voiced content is paced how it’s paced, sounds like it sounds, and you either “believe it” or you don’t. Text is ‘voiced’ in your head, and so sounds as believable as you make it. The ‘voice acting’ in those journals was Emmy-award winning stuff, IMO, because I’m just that great at it in my own head

Finally, this bit of content, loot aside, was most definitely a one-off thing. If I roll another character in Skyrim, I won’t experience this content the same way. At most, I’ll speed-run through it to get that final chest, but the journals, the mystery, and slow searching of the lair will be skipped.

zwirrlibatz hat geschrieben:ich han au weni (...) konsequänt gildequests gmacht.

gandalf hat geschrieben:unendlich

Buccaneer hat geschrieben:

gandalf hat geschrieben:unendlich

unwahrschindlich.

Buccaneer hat geschrieben:

gandalf hat geschrieben:unendlich

unwahrschindlich.

In addition to scripted quests certain ones will be dynamically generated, providing a limitless number to the player.

Buccaneer hat geschrieben:Tatsächlich. heftig! Schad, denn chani niemals alli mache

gandalf hat geschrieben:bin jetzt bi da meuchelquests imana loop dinna wo i eifach vo dr neitmösr hits beuftreigt kriaga. das sind vermuatlich dia "generierta" quests.

h4xX0r hat geschrieben:viellicht bring ich no jede einzelni mongo um wo's gitt. das wär no was. alone in Skyrim. bi de bartlis uf em berg fangi aa, die hassed mich.

thaeye hat geschrieben:he das sind mini fründe. ich bin nah nirgends i dem spiel, es isch en gwaltige ziitfresser. lauf amigs eifach chli ume ohni ziel und lueg chli züügs aa, so chundsch eifach nirgends ane.

ich bin magier, dual destruction und ab und zue en zauberstab vomene magiergeist wo elektro schüsst. mini begleiter sterbet immer und ich bruch es huuus.