The dragon is usually among the toughest and most fearsome of fantasy creatures. They can represent age, wisdom, brutality, power, envy, fear, greed or whatever else the writer wishes.
Skyrim's dragons will be dangerous opponents. Their randomness is a factor as they can appear at any time...for example in the middle or on the back of a frenetic melee the player only just survived. They also serve a gameplay function, providing the souls required to power some of the player's magic.
I have no trouble with dragons when done well. As in those of Baldur's Gate II for example (the Red, the Silver, the Black, the Green), each of them we meet have a personality. We don't have to fight them all but if we choose to, they are very difficult fights with very powerful rewards. I fear that Dovahkiin will be slaying them with some ease, as their gameplay function (that of a special mana effectively) means that players will need (or at least want) to fight them often, reducing their fearsomeness, the thought required to kill them and so on. The player will seek out dragons, mostly confident of victory rather than have them be few, far between and fearsome.
The fantasy trope I'm tired of is the archetypal Dark Lord. I love fantasy, can forgive it almost anything but if other genres can grow out of such things, why can't it? Two Worlds 2's opening scene was precisely the sort of bollocks I can't stand. He literally was called Dark Lord, wore black and committed evil. Seriously??
Anyway, I don't mind the dragon. We as the audience can make the connections the designers/writers want because we already have feelings and thoughts about dwarves, elves, orcs and dragons. Giant Spiders, Wolves, Zombies...we inherently understand their "threat level", strengths, weaknesses and so on, whatever the media.
And lastly, don't compare Skyrim's dragons with being samey, repetitive like WoW, Dragon Age, whatever. It should be compared with Oblivion and Morrowind.
Skyrim's dragons will be dangerous opponents. Their randomness is a factor as they can appear at any time...for example in the middle or on the back of a frenetic melee the player only just survived. They also serve a gameplay function, providing the souls required to power some of the player's magic.
I have no trouble with dragons when done well. As in those of Baldur's Gate II for example (the Red, the Silver, the Black, the Green), each of them we meet have a personality. We don't have to fight them all but if we choose to, they are very difficult fights with very powerful rewards. I fear that Dovahkiin will be slaying them with some ease, as their gameplay function (that of a special mana effectively) means that players will need (or at least want) to fight them often, reducing their fearsomeness, the thought required to kill them and so on. The player will seek out dragons, mostly confident of victory rather than have them be few, far between and fearsome.
The fantasy trope I'm tired of is the archetypal Dark Lord. I love fantasy, can forgive it almost anything but if other genres can grow out of such things, why can't it? Two Worlds 2's opening scene was precisely the sort of bollocks I can't stand. He literally was called Dark Lord, wore black and committed evil. Seriously??
Anyway, I don't mind the dragon. We as the audience can make the connections the designers/writers want because we already have feelings and thoughts about dwarves, elves, orcs and dragons. Giant Spiders, Wolves, Zombies...we inherently understand their "threat level", strengths, weaknesses and so on, whatever the media.
And lastly, don't compare Skyrim's dragons with being samey, repetitive like WoW, Dragon Age, whatever. It should be compared with Oblivion and Morrowind.
