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Skyrim’s Backwards Dragons Should Disappear Next Week

Patch will roll out on PC first, and mod tools are coming in January.

Soon, Skyrim will no longer face the lingering threat of dangerous, backwards dragons.
Soon, Skyrim will no longer face the lingering threat of dangerous, backwards dragons.

Oh, Bethesda.

No one expected The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to come out of the gate perfect, as the kinds of games Bethesda crafts are prone to having what might call...jank. Fortunately, the games themselves are so terrific that it’s (mostly) excusable. It’s when the company goes to address the remaining issues and makes things worse that causes the real headaches.

Version 1.2 arrived this week, addressing texture issues on Xbox 360, save problems on PlayStation 3 and other miscellaneous problems on those platforms, plus PC. It also broke a bunch of things, including making dragons fly backward and eliminating magic resistances.

You’ll be waiting another week or so until those things are addressed, as revealed on the official Bethsda blog. The fix will come to PC first, then arrive on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as the manufacturers approve it.

“We want to thank everyone reading this for playing our game and supporting all it tries to do,” said the company.

Bethesda is promising “regular” updates to the game in the coming months, both to address glitches and reported balance problems and exploits. There will apparently be “a lot” of these.

“We’ve also realized that with the millions upon millions of people playing Skyrim, we need to treat our updates with greater care,” added the company. “If we get too aggressive trying to fix a minor issue, we run a risk of breaking something larger in a game like this.”

One of the rubs there is how Bethesda is sorting what issues are being addressed immediately. “Quest and balance” issues are data, not code, and those will be “rolling out in a huge way” in...er, January. Patience?

Also coming in January, however, are the official modification tools.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

165 Comments

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Scratch

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Edited By Scratch

Haven't played the game myself since the patch. I hope it's not broken, as I'm planning to spend the weekend playing it.

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daiphyer

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Edited By daiphyer

No one expected the Backwards Flying Dragons Should Disappear Next Week to come out of the gate perfect, as the kinds of writings Patrick crafts are prone to having what might call...jank. Fortunately, the articles themselves are so terrific that it’s (mostly) excusable.

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originalgman

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Edited By originalgman

Kill all the dragons you can, because next week they're ALL disappearing! Not that anyone cares about the main story anyway.

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Edited By chaihazuki

I don't understand how you can hate a company that pushes hardware limitations as well as Bethesda does. Theyve created a brilliant experience on aged consoles, so they have earned as many breaks like these as they need.

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StingingVelvet

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Edited By StingingVelvet

Patrick, you might want to report more on the mod tools. The "Steam Workshop" aspect is very unique and exciting, and could offer up a whole new world of easy modding.

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morningthief

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Edited By morningthief

Am I the only one who's seen 100% forward-facing dragons since the patch, or is the issue sporadic?

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NachoBizNas

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Edited By NachoBizNas

So when will there ever be a "right time" to buy this for PC?

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Edited By prestonhedges

@PlasmaBeam44 said:

@gladspooky: They'll fly correctly now. After that patch they all flew backwards.

At first it said "Skyrim's Flying Dragons Should Disappear Next Week." Guess they patched this article, too.

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Edited By spiceninja

@gladspooky: They'll fly correctly now. After that patch they all flew backwards.

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is343

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Edited By is343

Dragons will no longer be able to back that thing up? Since when is that considered a bug?

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whylessness

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Edited By whylessness

thank you based todd

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Edited By DaneGod

Yay

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cyraxible

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Edited By cyraxible

Fuckin A. At least they acknowledge this last patch was rushed.

They may not produce immaculate code but Bethesda is a pretty cool company.

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prestonhedges

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Edited By prestonhedges

So the dragons won't fly anymore? What?

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Edited By patrickklepek
Soon, Skyrim will no longer face the lingering threat of dangerous, backwards dragons.
Soon, Skyrim will no longer face the lingering threat of dangerous, backwards dragons.

Oh, Bethesda.

No one expected The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to come out of the gate perfect, as the kinds of games Bethesda crafts are prone to having what might call...jank. Fortunately, the games themselves are so terrific that it’s (mostly) excusable. It’s when the company goes to address the remaining issues and makes things worse that causes the real headaches.

Version 1.2 arrived this week, addressing texture issues on Xbox 360, save problems on PlayStation 3 and other miscellaneous problems on those platforms, plus PC. It also broke a bunch of things, including making dragons fly backward and eliminating magic resistances.

You’ll be waiting another week or so until those things are addressed, as revealed on the official Bethsda blog. The fix will come to PC first, then arrive on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as the manufacturers approve it.

“We want to thank everyone reading this for playing our game and supporting all it tries to do,” said the company.

Bethesda is promising “regular” updates to the game in the coming months, both to address glitches and reported balance problems and exploits. There will apparently be “a lot” of these.

“We’ve also realized that with the millions upon millions of people playing Skyrim, we need to treat our updates with greater care,” added the company. “If we get too aggressive trying to fix a minor issue, we run a risk of breaking something larger in a game like this.”

One of the rubs there is how Bethesda is sorting what issues are being addressed immediately. “Quest and balance” issues are data, not code, and those will be “rolling out in a huge way” in...er, January. Patience?

Also coming in January, however, are the official modification tools.