Poll: Enough With the Giant Spiders

[spectrenihlus]

I'm scared of heights but I sill love mirror's edge.

 

[Chaza]

If you buy Skyrim for PC you should be able to mod the spider into something else. Like an adorable puppy.

A puppy would be much much worse!!

 

[Therumancer]

im a huge rpg nerd, and fantasy nerd in general. however, more and more fantasy rpgs are going unplayed by me for one simple fact: i am cripplingly afraid of spiders. i dont just mean in real life i mean in general. even the diablo 2 spiders (which barely even look like spiders) scare me so much that i need to be with a group of people in order to keep from freaking out. i know spiders are kind of a staple of the fantasy genre and are never going away, all i ask is that fantasy games are less reliant on them. playing dragon age, it felt like the majority of the enemies were spiders. for that reason, i couldnt finish the game. i didnt buy dragon age 2 for the same reason. skyrim looks cool, wont be playing it though, because it has giant spiders (and ive heard one of these encounters is freaky even if you dont mind spiders). i never used to worry about whether a game would have spiders or not because those encounters were usually few and far between, but lately they seem much more common than they used to be

has anyone else had their fear of something specific, prevent them from playing a game, or am i just a massive wimp...or both?

Giant spiders have been a stock enemy in fiction for many years, being key in both Tolkien's work and one of the more famous Conan stories called "Tower Of The Elephant". I don't think they are any more common than they ever were, and I think they work well as a stock enemy.

I don't think you'll find the spiders in Skyrim any worse than any other game featuring them, the graphics are better, but it didn't seem all that impressive to me. But then again I probably don't really "get" it, as I am not all that scared of spiders even if I don't go out of my way to mess with them or anything.

Given the power level you typically reach in Elder Scrolls games, if it helps, try and think of yourself as an exterminator, getting payback for their ickyness!

... and uh, never go more than 20' underground in a D&D setting. There are elves that worship and breed those things down there, and they are unusually fond of "company".

I'm wary of Skyrim myself, but for differant reasons. In my case I'm sitting here thinking "WTF, after the cutting down of the game you did for Oblivion, you found a way to make it work with even LESS skills?".

My personal phobia of sorts is playing the game only to find that suddenly skills disappear in the middle of play, and nobody notices. "What do you mean there used to be weapon skills? There was never a weapon skill, all you do is push the button..." (eerie music plays).

 

[Harbinger_]

im a huge rpg nerd, and fantasy nerd in general. however, more and more fantasy rpgs are going unplayed by me for one simple fact: i am cripplingly afraid of spiders. i dont just mean in real life i mean in general. even the diablo 2 spiders (which barely even look like spiders) scare me so much that i need to be with a group of people in order to keep from freaking out. i know spiders are kind of a staple of the fantasy genre and are never going away, all i ask is that fantasy games are less reliant on them. playing dragon age, it felt like the majority of the enemies were spiders. for that reason, i couldnt finish the game. i didnt buy dragon age 2 for the same reason. skyrim looks cool, wont be playing it though, because it has giant spiders (and ive heard one of these encounters is freaky even if you dont mind spiders). i never used to worry about whether a game would have spiders or not because those encounters were usually few and far between, but lately they seem much more common than they used to be

has anyone else had their fear of something specific, prevent them from playing a game, or am i just a massive wimp...or both?

Not really, my phobias aren't easily produced in video games and not only that but I find it easy to seperate the game from reality. Not trying to come across as insulting but I know its in the game and therefore isn't going to pull a scene from The Ring and pop out of the TV. Now if it did..... yeah that'd be different altogether.

 

[00slash00]

im a huge rpg nerd, and fantasy nerd in general. however, more and more fantasy rpgs are going unplayed by me for one simple fact: i am cripplingly afraid of spiders. i dont just mean in real life i mean in general. even the diablo 2 spiders (which barely even look like spiders) scare me so much that i need to be with a group of people in order to keep from freaking out. i know spiders are kind of a staple of the fantasy genre and are never going away, all i ask is that fantasy games are less reliant on them. playing dragon age, it felt like the majority of the enemies were spiders. for that reason, i couldnt finish the game. i didnt buy dragon age 2 for the same reason. skyrim looks cool, wont be playing it though, because it has giant spiders (and ive heard one of these encounters is freaky even if you dont mind spiders). i never used to worry about whether a game would have spiders or not because those encounters were usually few and far between, but lately they seem much more common than they used to be

has anyone else had their fear of something specific, prevent them from playing a game, or am i just a massive wimp...or both?

Giant spiders have been a stock enemy in fiction for many years, being key in both Tolkien's work and one of the more famous Conan stories called "Tower Of The Elephant". I don't think they are any more common than they ever were, and I think they work well as a stock enemy.

I don't think you'll find the spiders in Skyrim any worse than any other game featuring them, the graphics are better, but it didn't seem all that impressive to me. But then again I probably don't really "get" it, as I am not all that scared of spiders even if I don't go out of my way to mess with them or anything.

Given the power level you typically reach in Elder Scrolls games, if it helps, try and think of yourself as an exterminator, getting payback for their ickyness!

... and uh, never go more than 20' underground in a D&D setting. There are elves that worship and breed those things down there, and they are unusually fond of "company".

I'm wary of Skyrim myself, but for differant reasons. In my case I'm sitting here thinking "WTF, after the cutting down of the game you did for Oblivion, you found a way to make it work with even LESS skills?".

My personal phobia of sorts is playing the game only to find that suddenly skills disappear in the middle of play, and nobody notices. "What do you mean there used to be weapon skills? There was never a weapon skill, all you do is push the button..." (eerie music plays).

personally, i dont think skyrim looks that impressive. dont get me wrong, it looks pretty but nothing i have seen has made me go wow (of course that may change by the time the game is finished). thing is though, that even when you zoom out completely, youre still pretty damn close to the action. when i played baldurs gate, the graphics were pretty good for the time and the spiders in that game didnt scare me one bit. i think thats because the camera is zoomed out so far. the fact that skyrim puts you so close to the action and the fcact that the spiders appear to be so big that your face is about level with their mouth (at least for the ice spider that i saw a screen shot of) is what freaks me out. and honestly, it doesnt even need to be a realistic spider. i can play resident evil 2 and even with the graphics as dated as they are, i will still be freaking out as i walk through the sewer.

as far as d&d is concerned, the only games in which i have visited the underdark, have been baldurs gate. plus if i remember correctly, while the certainly do have plenty of giant spiders, llolth was a drider, not a spider. for some reason driders dont seem to bother me. another thing thats weird is that i freak out from a black and white picture of a spider, i pretty much have a panic attack if i encounter a spider in a video game, but if i see a CG spider in a movie or watch my friend fight spiders in a game, im totally fine.

im just weird, i guess is the moral of the story

 

[EmzOLV]

Just thought that I should point out that people swallowing spiders in their sleep is only possible under an incredibly specific set of circumsances, and chances are that you've never, or will ever swallowed one.

Thank you for filling me with the hope that I haven't
I've checked the room already after reading this thread earlier. Such a loser.

 

[00slash00]

If you buy Skyrim for PC you should be able to mod the spider into something else. Like an adorable puppy.

A puppy would be much much worse!!

is that because you dont want to kill a puppy, or because a puppy with 8 legs is even more freaky a concept?

 

[zehydra]

hmm, there're spiders in Majesty and Runescape, and those are both decently old...

no.

 

[zehydra]

Wow, is it really all that hard to distinguish between fantasy and reality? Is there some sort of break that prevents one from saying "Ok, there is no such thing as a spider the size of me" or "this is not a spider, it is nothing more than a series of wire mesh triangles wrapped in a texture image"

Arachnophobia. It's not rational, dude.

And it can be treated.

If spiders really terrify you that much, that you avoid this kind of thing, maybe go see help?

 

[Easton Dark]

Well, you are what you eat, so go eat a spider.

Eat a spider, then it's like you have family in all of your games from now on.

Problem solved.

 

[Wolfram23]

More boss fights should be like this:

 

[Giantpanda602]

Oh God, I was playing Dragon Age 2 and I was going back through a cave because I wanted my Gloves of the Falllen or whatever but apparently I sold them, but anyway, I walked into an area and a couple normal size spiders came down and so did this HUGE one (cleverly called "Giant Spider" or something) and it scared the HELL out of me. God I hate arachnophobia.

 

[Cheesus333]

I won't be getting Skyrim cause I'm arachnophobic and there's fucking massive spiders in it. That's seriously my reason, and it really pisses me off.

But the Diablo ones never bothered me, so I guess I'm lucky in that regard.

Really? You're a really big pussy. I'm sorry, but you are. They are just polygons in a game.

You don't know me. Ergo, you don't get to make judgements about me as a person.

But thanks for the advice anyway. I find my problem suddenly and mysteriously solved!

EDIT: I'm sorry, that came across as unnecessarily hostile in retrospect. But I still don't see the need for a personal attack.

 

[Cheesus333]

I won't be getting Skyrim cause I'm arachnophobic and there's fucking massive spiders in it. That's seriously my reason, and it really pisses me off.

But the Diablo ones never bothered me, so I guess I'm lucky in that regard.

Really? You're a really big pussy. I'm sorry, but you are. They are just polygons in a game.

You don't know me. Ergo, you don't get to make judgements about me as a person.

But thanks for the advice anyway. I find my problem suddenly and mysteriously solved!

EDIT: I'm sorry, that came across as unnecessarily hostile in retrospect. But I still don't see the need for a personal attack.

Well, I know you better than you know yourself. I just happen to be a first year college student, so therefore, I know everything ever.

Interesting. I shall presume you're being ironic, and move on.

 

[EHKOS]

I believe someone will make a mod to rid Skyrim of spiders. I hate them but I think I can pull through for Bethesda. If I can face down the ant queen from New Vegas (granted I saved and paused it every few seconds) then I can face a spider...or skip the quest...or..have someone play that part for me.