Tuesday
Mar012011
In Defense of Co-op in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 7:05AM
With the announcement of Elder Scrolls Skyrim, the internet is buzzing about the long awaited follow up to Oblivion. A teaser was shown, hinting at the story with an actual gameplay trailer revealed last week. The game, as you can imagine, looks incredible and many, yours truly included, cannot wait for a release.
But, because we know little about the game, the internet is abound with theories, rumors and wishes. After a recent discussion with a friend over the inclusion of co-op play, I have come here to defend my belief that co-op play, when done right, would be an incredible addition to the game.
Let me preface by saying that I do not think the game will have co-op play, unless modded in by a user after release. Bethesda has a long tradition of providing rock solid single player experiences and I do not think they will deviate from that tradition. So let's play pretend.
My ideas are all based on the premise that if co-op was included, it was done right and it worked right. My idea for co-op would work in the same vein as Borderlands: you can drop in anytime to anyone's game and play along side them. You will not gain progress in your game but be allowed to retain any experience or loot you attained while buddying up.
The single biggest complaint about a co-op experience in an Elder Scrolls game is that the experience is built around a rich, immersive world that you can interact with to your heart content. Adding in a second (or third) player would ruin the immersion the world crafts for you. However, I disagree. I think the addition of a companion would allow you to add another layer of complexity to the experience.
You could approach a certain quest differently, maybe having your companion distract a target while you steal something from their bedroom. You could dungeon crawl together, splitting up at a fork and reporting back to each other. Add in a proximity based chat that makes it so you can't talk to someone unless they are within shouting distance would add a degree of realism to it. Unless you cast your Mind Connection spell that opens up chatting for a few minutes. Or something like that.
A co-op system would also allow for the combat system to deepen immensely. Partner up with a mage and wait for them to cast a weakening spell while you hack away at their armor with your huge claymore. Take up your shield and sword and distract the target while your partner sneaks behind for a critical hit.
The game give you a gigantic world to explore and make your own. Why not make it your (plural) world?
Of course, we can take it one step further and create a single game experience for both of you. When starting a new game, the players are locked into that world. They can load up the game anytime and do quests, dungeon crawl and hunt or whatever. However, if a quest is finished, or a dungeon is cleared, the other player does not have access to that content unless they were there when it happened.
This would exclude the guild type quests because with those, you are building your own character and could take different paths from your companion. But if your partner razes a village from marauding dragons and you had decided to pay attention to your forlorn wife, you miss out on that quest and any rewards from it. But you are free to participate in the follow up quest, taking the bleeding dragon heart to the dying monk. Or whatever.
There would even be unique questing opportunities to explore. Imagine a quest that requires a second player to be at a different spot in the world, activating a magical rune at the same time that you activate it's sister rune across the world.
The questing system could scale up depending on the amount of players involved. You have three adventurers in your party? The quest scales to three runes to be activated. Need to collect a piece of a long lost key? Well, now you need to collect three pieces, in three different dungeons. You can split up to get each piece on your own or you can party up and tackle each dungeon together.
The Elder Scrolls games have proven that if given a rich world, players will immerse themselves in it. They are true role playing games. Given the chance to create a party to explore the role playing opportunities, I think players will jump at the chance to create deeper and richer experiences with their friends, far better than a single player experience could provide.
I think the inclusion of co-op in the world of Skyrim would be amazing chance to party up with your friends and enjoy the world that Bethesda has created.
Jordan Montreuil is a motion graphics designer living in LA. You can view his reel here.
But, because we know little about the game, the internet is abound with theories, rumors and wishes. After a recent discussion with a friend over the inclusion of co-op play, I have come here to defend my belief that co-op play, when done right, would be an incredible addition to the game.
Let me preface by saying that I do not think the game will have co-op play, unless modded in by a user after release. Bethesda has a long tradition of providing rock solid single player experiences and I do not think they will deviate from that tradition. So let's play pretend.
My ideas are all based on the premise that if co-op was included, it was done right and it worked right. My idea for co-op would work in the same vein as Borderlands: you can drop in anytime to anyone's game and play along side them. You will not gain progress in your game but be allowed to retain any experience or loot you attained while buddying up.
The single biggest complaint about a co-op experience in an Elder Scrolls game is that the experience is built around a rich, immersive world that you can interact with to your heart content. Adding in a second (or third) player would ruin the immersion the world crafts for you. However, I disagree. I think the addition of a companion would allow you to add another layer of complexity to the experience.
You could approach a certain quest differently, maybe having your companion distract a target while you steal something from their bedroom. You could dungeon crawl together, splitting up at a fork and reporting back to each other. Add in a proximity based chat that makes it so you can't talk to someone unless they are within shouting distance would add a degree of realism to it. Unless you cast your Mind Connection spell that opens up chatting for a few minutes. Or something like that.
A co-op system would also allow for the combat system to deepen immensely. Partner up with a mage and wait for them to cast a weakening spell while you hack away at their armor with your huge claymore. Take up your shield and sword and distract the target while your partner sneaks behind for a critical hit.
The game give you a gigantic world to explore and make your own. Why not make it your (plural) world?
Of course, we can take it one step further and create a single game experience for both of you. When starting a new game, the players are locked into that world. They can load up the game anytime and do quests, dungeon crawl and hunt or whatever. However, if a quest is finished, or a dungeon is cleared, the other player does not have access to that content unless they were there when it happened.
This would exclude the guild type quests because with those, you are building your own character and could take different paths from your companion. But if your partner razes a village from marauding dragons and you had decided to pay attention to your forlorn wife, you miss out on that quest and any rewards from it. But you are free to participate in the follow up quest, taking the bleeding dragon heart to the dying monk. Or whatever.
There would even be unique questing opportunities to explore. Imagine a quest that requires a second player to be at a different spot in the world, activating a magical rune at the same time that you activate it's sister rune across the world.
The questing system could scale up depending on the amount of players involved. You have three adventurers in your party? The quest scales to three runes to be activated. Need to collect a piece of a long lost key? Well, now you need to collect three pieces, in three different dungeons. You can split up to get each piece on your own or you can party up and tackle each dungeon together.
The Elder Scrolls games have proven that if given a rich world, players will immerse themselves in it. They are true role playing games. Given the chance to create a party to explore the role playing opportunities, I think players will jump at the chance to create deeper and richer experiences with their friends, far better than a single player experience could provide.
I think the inclusion of co-op in the world of Skyrim would be amazing chance to party up with your friends and enjoy the world that Bethesda has created.
Jordan Montreuil is a motion graphics designer living in LA. You can view his reel here.
Reader Comments (6)
with bethesda's inability to release a polished product, you would be plagued with even more bugs, shitty netcode and p2p. Do no want (unless done right)
The game would definitely be best approached as a single player experience (that is how it is designed after all), but after beating it once it would be GREAT to play it co-op. Not interested in online co-op at all (I assume this is what you're talking about), but nothing is more fun than playing split-screen couch co-op with a buddy. That's how I played Borderlands, most fun I've had gaming with a friend EVER.
Online Co-op for elder scrolls is not my cup of tea either, but LAN capability would be awesome. I would be satisfied even if i couldnt do quests with my buddy in skyrim, just roaming the world and doing fun stuff would be awesome, and who wouldnt want to challenge a friend to a duel to the death?
Very well said, I would love if Skyrim had the addition of co-op. I know my brother and I would absolutely love to play co-op together. He, using a bow, picking enemies off from far away, while I, the big guy with the big sword, fights up-front, keeping them off him. It no doubt would be a challenge for Bethesda to make a co-op system, but I trust them to make something up for it that will be fun and nearly bug-free, all games have there own little F-up.
I had to post something here. This guy's idea is great. I've always disliked the idea of an Elder Scrolls MMO, but this would be a good thing to implement, done right, as he said. I also do not believe Skyrim will include anything of the sort, nor do I believe Bethesda will go this route, but perhaps a Modder can do this? Anyway, I am not sure what your guys' problem with online co-op is. Basically just restrict us PC gamers so you console gamers can play with your buddies? I could be taking it the wrong way, but that's how it came across. I love gaming online with my friends, and playing practically the biggest RPG around with those same friends would be awesome. I do, however, believe that there should only be 2 people in a given world. Any more and I think it would ruin the immersion, to be honest. 3 At max. 4 or more would just make it seem like there's too many people stealing my houses and loot. xD Anyway, good post.
Co-op in Elder Scrolls is a feature I would actually pay for. Each Elder Scrolls brings a massive, explorable world that attempts to live and breathe. Being able to bring real company with you would be the icing on the cake.