Dear Bethesda: 10 Things I Want To See In The Elder Scrolls: Online

By Reggie Fells / August 2, 2013

5. More Realistic Combat

Skyrim is a game that has gorgeous set pieces (the aurora in the night sky over a forest? Amazing!), believable politics, and typical interactions between NPCs. Thus, it isn't a stretch to say that the game attempts to be realistic despite it's fantasy-fiction setting. Now that being said, there's areas in the game that outright boggle the mind. In the game, a frequent line-turned-meme regards a Hold guard reminiscing on his or her days as an adventurer before they took an arrow to the knee. Now, if this is such a crippling (and rampant, seeing as how I hear it in every Hold) condition, how is it I can put a Glass Arrow in the face of many an opponent, only for them to get up, apparently confused, and wonder if "someone's there?", completely disregarding the long, hard rod of Malachite stuck in their skull? Perhaps how your character isn't struck with debilitating movement penalties after being filled with arrows? Or maybe, how a fighter armed with a measly sword can bring down a Woolly Mammoth?

Superficial cuts: the enemy to any giant creature.

I just believe that some enemies should do a more realistic job of dying when necessary (I believe an arrow in the skull warrants instant death, but hey, that's just me), or perhaps even being crippled - get a strike or an arrow or cast magic on an unprotected leg? That opponent should stumble, or cry out in pain/frustration. Land a hit on an arm? Maybe it should go limp, giving your opponent the use of only one remaining arm. Now granted, this isn't likely - RPG games have never been known to be completely realistic, but it's something to consider. Or perhaps at least consider using visual cues to let you know how you're doing - battered armor or cuts displayed on an opponent, or even bleeding, to let you know how well you're doing. And some enemies should be invulnerable to certain methods - the fact that you can kill a giant with measly Iron Dagger is somewhat strange, just as cutting through a Mage's robes doesn't immediately kill him or her - but I'm a sucker for realism so I'm just going on a tangent here.