[The Lone Ranger]

What I'm hoping is that some clever person(s) will construct a mod that allows you to have a real impact on Skyrim. That is, one of the most frustrating things about the game is that nothing you do really has much of an effect -- not on the game world, and not even on the behavior of NPCs. This has been mentioned before, of course, but still ...


So, you've killed scores of dragons, single-handedly won the Civil War, and defeated the Ebony Knight. Yet the Companions insist that they've never heard of you. Really? Shouldn't they be seeking you out at this point, not the other way around? And I swear, if somebody calls me a "Whelp" one more time ...

And after you become Harbinger, can you actually do anything with that authority? No, you can't. Does anyone outside the Companions recognize your achievement? Other than one random guard comment, no they don't. Guards still sneeringly ask if you fetch the Companions' mead, rather than treating you with the respect that the Harbinger should command. Heck, for the most part, even the Companions don't treat you with a great deal of respect after you become Harbinger. Vilkas, Farkas, and Aela still treat you like some raw recruit and send you on missions, if you let them.



What's the only real change that comes with winning the Civil War? You can now buy a house in Windhelm -- big deal. Okay, so a few Jarls are replaced, and conquered cities are now guarded by soldiers instead of Hold Guards -- soldiers who have exactly the same voices and behaviors as did the guards they replaced. Otherwise, nothing at all changes. Imperial-aligned citizens continue to complain about Ulfric as if he's still alive and waging war, even after he has been dead for months or even years of in-game time.



Become Archmage of the College of Winterhold, and what do you gain from it? Some nifty-looking robes (though by that time, your Enchanting skill is almost-certainly high-enough that you can make much better robes if you want), and a nice place to stay. (Though again, you've almost-certainly got several houses by that point.)

Can you do anything with the power and authority that should accompany the position of Archmage? No, you can't. (Granted, becoming Archmage is really easy, as is becoming Harbinger of the Companions; if you're going to have the position and the authority that comes with it, it seems like you should have to go through a bit more, so that it seems like you've truly earned the position and authority.) Does anyone really recognize your achievement? Not really, except that Nirya becomes a sycophantic toady. At least Tolfdir and Urag are nice-enough to occasionally thank you for the good that you've done. Can you work to mend the College's reputation or perhaps help rebuild Winterhold? No, you can't.



You've just saved the freaking world from Alduin, and does anyone even take notice? Except for Paarthurnax, not really. Aside from one guard comment and a couple of comments from the Graybeards, Esbern, and Delphine, no one even takes notice of the fact.



So, you're strolling through the wilderness wearing full Daedric armor, looking like you've just stepped right out of someone's worst nightmare -- or you're literally wearing the bones and scales of dragons that you've slain as armor. And some random bandit thinks it's a good idea to try to mug this individual? Or you run across a Thalmor patrol and they decide that it's a good idea to pick a fight with this individual? Really? I mean, the Thalmor are arrogant, to be sure, but there's a big difference between arrogance and stupidity.

[My favorite example of this happened once when I was wandering the wilderness north of Whiterun. I happened near a bandit encampment and half a dozen or so Bandits rushed out to try to kill me. The Dragonborn wiped them out in seconds, but while this was going on, an Ancient Dragon flew overhead and decided to join in the fight. The dragon was quickly disposed of, but while I was polishing off the dragon, a Thalmor wilderness patrol came along. The first two rushed at the Dragonborn, and as luck would have it, I scored a critical hit on each of them. The first was beheaded on the first strike, and my very next strike beheaded the next one as well.

There's one Thalmor left at this point. He has seen me wipe out an entire Bandit encampment in seconds. Then he saw me kill an Ancient Dragon in even less time than it took to kill the Bandits. And then he saw me kill both of his companions with a single hit each.

Does he run? Does he try to make peace and hope I'm in a good mood? No. Instead, he ran toward me while screaming about how pitiful I was, and how I stood no chance against "Elven superiority." I decided that I was doing the Altmer race a big favor by removing him from the gene pool.]



Anyway, as much as I love Skyrim, the game often feels as if it's only half-finished. It's like the game designers spent all of their time working out what the quests would be, but forgot to put any time into considering how the Dragonborn's actions would affect the people and politics of Skyrim.




Another thing I'd like to see re-done in Skyrim is the stealth system. By that, I mean that (like Oblivion before it), stealth is handled poorly in Skyrim. Of course, I'm talking about how you can literally shoot a Bandit with an arrow, and he'll look around for about 10 seconds, then go back to what he was doing. If he doesn't find you, he'll comment that "It must have been the wind" and stop searching for you -- even as the arrow is still sticking out of his body.

Perhaps the best game I've seen regarding how stealth is handled is Batman: Arkham Asylum. Bad Guys will investigate strange noises, but they will alert their friends when they see or hear something suspicious. Similarly, they'll sound an alert if they discover that one of their comrades has suddenly gone missing. What's more, they're usually smart-enough to stick together; half the challenge of the Arkham Asylum games is trying to figure out how to separate the bad guys so that you can take them on individually -- or figuring out how you can take down multiple bad guys at the same time.

And once the Bad Guys know that Batman is in the room with them, they will not stop searching for him. Heck, half the fun of the game comes from watching/listening to the Bad Guys gradually losing their composure as Batman picks them off one-by-one. By the time there are only 2 or 3 left, they're so terrified that they'll shoot at any random noise or movement.



Anyway, just some thoughts. I'm looking forward to seeing what mods will be available for me to explore and play with, come October.