Anthraxus said:
I thought Skyrim didn't have meaningful consequences for your choices/actions ?
I'm not talking about some bs comment some nondescript npc makes either.
Skyrim had results equivalent to the actions taken.
-Kill or join the forsworn in Markarth people in Markarth and Markarth only talk about which side you picked.
-Kill the emperor, people say that too bad but continue going on with their lives
-Kill the wolf queen for solitude, your rewarded, thanked, and people make mention of it once or twice and move on.
Comparatively in Fallout 3, or New Vegas, you would have the radio announcer treating almost every time you take a piss like it was some big news story and people talking about shit that happened in X town on the far side of the map like it mattered to them in town Y.
My problem with Fallout 3 and New Vegas is that in Bethesda/Obsidian's, respectively, attempts to create "consequence" they ruined all believability their worlds had by treating every little things like it was some major news story turning the entire world into one giant circle jerk.
What makes me hate it the most is the radio news announcers, the radio stations in Fo3 and NV, only have loosely justified existences within the world itself, people make mention of listening to them but no one ever acts on or says anything about what they actually say. The radio stations could play heavy metal and you wouldn't know because they are so poorly integrated into the world outside of your pipboy, people only acknowledge there is something there, not that it does anything.
The radio station news announcers ONLY purpose in the game is to basically be a invisible man who floats next to you and whispers ego-stroking BS into your ear at all times of the day.
It creates what I like to call "false consequence" the illusion that your actions have more impact then they actually do. Most people hear three Dog and Mr New Vegas constantly talking about the stuff you did and think "well if he says it other people must know it also", when others don't.
If you remove the radio, and remove the battle of hoover dam where your allies show up for all of 5 seconds, do you know what New Vegas's consequences would be? It would be exactly like Skyrim
random generic, non-named NPCs taking the places of other random, generic non-named NPCs, with other generic NPC guards like the NCR rangers talking about shit you did, exactly like the guards from Skyrim.
Ever since I played Fallout 3 I despised the radio for being such a poorly constructed an obvious attempt to create imitation consequence and impact from actions where there was none, I replaced both three dog's and Mr New Vega's voice files with silent blanks just to get some sense of believability back into the world.
That is why I like Skyrim, you do something for people THEY and THEY alone thank you, shit that isn't big news isn't treated like big news. News stay were it belongs, and you dont have a yes man stroking your ego every 5 seconds.
Could Skyrim do a better job in some cases? yes, absolutely, but when compared to Fallout 3 and New Vegas it is a fucking godsend in terms of realistic and believable consequences to your actions. the world doesn't become one giant circle jerk with you at the middle of it, people dont talk about shit they shouldn't talk about, news stays in the areas it is supposed to.
And I hate it when people try to say that Fallout 3 and New Vegas had soo much bigger impacts on the world when the only difference in impact was the radio station creating some were there was none, and the trivial and almost nonexistent battle of hoover damn bs.
