Why care about Skyrim's menus?

[AWAR]

Interface is a very important aspect of game, especially if said game happens to be an RPG. The main problem with Skyrim's inventory is the use of wasd keys instead of the far better mouse only menu.
You are right in a way, we shouldn't focus so much on it; but that's exactly the problem. It takes forever to get used to and find your things on a menu designed by consoles which is also aesthetically unappealing. Oblivion's menu was both aesthetically pleasing and very practical because it had your character sheet, items, magic, map, and journal sections all in one menu, not numerous clattered submenus, quickmenus and favorite menus. What I'm really pissed of about is that Bethesda made the best menus in their games, both Oblivion and Morrowind where the level of menu customisation has never been seen before.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

I like how the menu looks, but im playing it on PC, and it doesnt always register the mouse is hovering over something. Works quite well using arrow keys though.

 

[Joe Deadman]

Really, it's objectively bad.

Having to open up this big, clunky menu every time I want to change weapons or spells is ridiculous. Why can't I set my weapons and abilities to 1-9 (or on console set a shoulder button to quick-switching). Why does the picture of an apple take up 2/3rds of the screen? Why don't I have a character portrait to see what I actually have equipped?

I know you can get used to it but that doesn't stop it from being bad.

For hotkeying you have to put the item into your favourites then open the favourites menu, hover over the item and press the desired number key to set it. Overall I think that convoluted process describes the menu system pretty well.

Overall though just to echo pretty much what everyone else has said, the menu system is pretty but sucks for functionality and is way too glitchy when it comes to mouse control.

 

[Darth_Dude]

There's nothing wrong with the menu's. At least on the Ps3 version. It seems to be just the PC version that is having problems.

 

[Creator002]

Menu's fine for me, except the skills menu, but it's nothing to complain about. People + Change will always = Rage.

 

[Arina Love]

i love UI in Skyrim very easy to use on console, it's fast and intuitive.

 

[efAston]

Because Oblivion's was already bad. I installed "the five mods that shouldn't have been" - as in, that shouldn't have been mod's, so named because the game should have fixed the interface problems in the first place (eg the nigh unusable map).

It shouldn't be hard to make a menu, in fact, if you have problems with the concept, you can hardly be called computer literate. For games like Assassin's Creed to have no quit option in PC is slack, for Final Fantasy XIV and Oblivion/Skyrim to have such weak interfaces is laughable.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

The interface sucks but you get used to it. It just isn't nearly as convenient as it could be. It is as if the developers never used a PC in their life.

 

[LiquidGrape]

I...actually kinda like it. Easily preferable to the unwieldy behemoth that was Oblivion's UI.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

I'm betting this is a PC-centric issue, as I've had no problems on 360. I find it intuitive and gorgeous.

Especially love how books, ingredients, food get their own areas now.

 

[kouriichi]

Raj enjoys his menues. Very fluid. Easy access. Pleasing to Khajiit eyes.

Though i wish chests had categories too! Raj stuff so much crap into one box, Wife Mjoll complains about human flesh in there, and can't even find it!

Ingredients starting to stink too. Think something in there gaining sentience. Fear chest more then dark cave full of necromancers now. Wear plate gloves before i look for anything in it, just to be safe..... You understand right?

 

[King of the Sandbox]

Why don't I have a character portrait to see what I actually have equipped?

You don't have to have one. Move the camera to see your character, then go into your menu screen. Boom. You're welcome.

 

[snagli]

It's not really made for the pc, sure, but I find it pretty useful that I never HAVE to use my mouse to do anything in the menu. I scroll through categories and items a lot quicker with my keyboard.

 

[teebeeohh]

i may be suffering from Stockholm syndrome here but once you accept the fact that you are not supposed to use the mouse (except to agree that i really really want to craft that random piece of armor) it's not that bad. Then again my roommate is working on a mod to fix all that stuff right now so there is hope.

 

[DaJoW]

I imagine it's nice on a console, but on a PC it basically makes the mouse useless, instead just going around with WASD. I think it's horrible, but I don't think it's a gamebreaker (and I very much doubt any significant number of people do). I very much preferred Oblivions, not just slightly, but a lot. Sure, the magic interface couldn't be sorted by school, but then it wasn't a whole seperate menu from everything else either, which is really really annoying. Same thing for the map, stats and journal, having it all accessible from one larger menu is excellent, this scrolling around is not.

The equipping issue is a larger problem for me though. Sometimes equipping an item for the favourites list dual-wields like it should, sometimes I have to go into my inventory, and sometimes the items are actually removed from my favourites list.

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

I've been seeing numerous threads and articles complaining about Skyrim's interface and menu and what I just can't understand is...why? Why does it matter if the menu is slightly worse than it was in Oblivion? Does it still work for you? Can you still get to your items? Is at least partially organized? Yes, yes, and yes. So why make a big fuss over it? Judging from the tone of many of the comments regarding it, they almost make it out to be a total gamebreaker, when it's not.

Basic point, if you're going to complain about a game, make it so with decent points. Not because the menu doesn't look purrty.

That's what I think of the Skyrim UI. Seriously, it's very inconvenient for PC users.

 

[Zaik]

I'm pretty annoyed at having to use enter so much, but other than that it doesn't really seem like that big a deal.

 

[Piorn]

I think Skyrim's menu is great, I always felt the mouse controls in Oblivion felt weird and now I can navigate without the mouse and I like it.