But is it really that broken? Their newest article on Skyrim claims the game has damaged their trust with Bethesda, also saying that the studio owes the world an explanation.

Is it really that big of a deal? A few glitches makes you want to bash one of the biggest game makers out there? Skyrim is great. Think about how massive this game is, theres honestly no way they could fix EVERYTHING before the release date. And even then The most common glitch I've noticed is that my face sometimes disappears when I put on certain gear. Big, freaking, deal. Bethesda has always sorted out the glitches pretty quickly after the release date. Its just such a massive game its hard to search EVERY corner of it until you actuall have a million people play it. Yeah sometimes the game files get corrupt but that happens in almost any game.

I just think its funny that something like this would damage someones faith in a company that makes amazing videogames, Yet they still remain 100% faithful to games who hardly change anything with a new $60 dollar release. (I won't point fingers, you know who you are!)

Has anyone REALLY had their dragon slaying gameplay ruined by a few bugs? Or do you agree that IGN has lost its mind in recent years.

Skyrim used to be broken, but then it took a mod to the knee.

Skyrim is a great game. It's one of my favorites this generation. However, the main questline broke for me in three separate spots, forcing me to reload older saves in order to continue, resulting in lost playtime. That's not acceptable.
 
And then there is the shit PS3 users have to deal with.

Sensationalism.

it kinda is. not as bad as some of bethesda's past work, but still f'd

It's not just 'a few bugs' that IGN is mentioning here. The PS3 version is basically unplayable for a LARGE number of users, myself included. I just said fuck it and bought the game on Steam because the framerate and input lag was so bad that I couldn't play the damn game. That seems like a fairly large problem to me. Just because your game is fine doesn't mean that everyone else's game is too and that they should stop whining. It's pretty obvious that Bethesda shipped the game with a major flaw in the way the game performs on one of the consoles.

This same thing pissed me off when there were articles everywhere about the xbox texture loading problems, yet apparently nobody cares that the PS3 users are fucked too. I would put up with some shitty textures if my game even performed correctly. Oh, and the Playstation version had the same texture problem, as well.

Sorry if I sound aggressive, I'm not trying to attack you here, I just wanted to say that the article on IGN is entirely valid.

IGN also gave it a 9.5/10 and it's an editors choice.

@tekmojo said:

Skyrim used to be broken, but then it took a mod to the knee.

@Hemmelight

It's not just 'a few bugs' that IGN is mentioning here. The PS3 version is basically unplayable for a LARGE number of users, myself included. I just said fuck it and bought the game on Steam because the framerate and input lag was so bad that I couldn't play the damn game. That seems like a fairly large problem to me. Just because your game is fine doesn't mean that everyone else's game is too and that they should stop whining. It's pretty obvious that Bethesda shipped the game with a major flaw in the way the game performs on one of the consoles.

This same thing pissed me off when there were articles everywhere about the xbox texture loading problems, yet apparently nobody cares that the PS3 users are fucked too. I would put up with some shitty textures if my game even performed correctly. Oh, and the Playstation version had the same texture problem, as well.

Sorry if I sound aggressive, I'm not trying to attack you here, I just wanted to say that the article on IGN is entirely valid.

Man, that really sucks. I haven't had time to play it, so I can't speak to these bugs. I'm hoping they fix them soon :(

I haven't found any bugs, save for the Radiant AI type bugs Oblivion had, and they're some of the funniest shit in the game.

IGN's editorial focuses mainly on the PS3 version. I haven't played it personally, but there seems to be a consensus among video game website dwellers that the game on PS3 is borderline unplayable at a certain point. This isn't a case of "do a specific sequence of actions to trigger an odd glitch." Just playing the game for a certain amount of time for your save file to get a certain size will cause the game to be hampered with technical problems. That's completely unacceptable.

On a more general note, Bethesda's lack of technical polish in their games should not be immune to criticism. It's one thing to understand how such a complex game can encounter various bugs. It's another thing to excuse them for it. Ambition means absolutely jack without execution.

If it's broken then WTF have I been playing?

While it's sensationalism, Bethesda constantly releases bug-filled games. It's great to see they have so much ambition for the worlds they want to create, but at some point this studio needs to stop getting a free pass when their games really do need fixing.

ign sucks

@tekmojo said:

Skyrim used to be broken, but then it took a mod to the knee.

So I've been watching videos online on the game and there were similar comments voted to the top of the page. Is this a thing?

As for IGN, haven't been following the problems the problems of all the platforms, so I can't say it isn't broken. It's been fine for me other than a few freezeups.

@Mike76x said:

IGN also gave it a 9.5/10 and it's an editors choice.

Not sure about their initial review, but in their editorial IGN is up front about saying that their review experience was based on the 360 and PC version while playing the PS3 version for a limited amount of time to ensure that there is parity. In hindsight it looks dishonest. For most other games though it would be necessary to play every single version to completion to give a review for it.

Reviewers should adopt GB's practice of saying what copy(s) of the game they actually played for review. That way readers can see what platform(s) the reviewer is assuming parity to.

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

Bethesda had over 5 years to fix their engine, yet they havnt fixed anything.

the creation engine is not new(thats just some marketing bullshit)its just a modifed gamebryo. Bethesda's designers are the only competent people on their team, their programmers obviously lack skill, there animation team has always been poor(taking shortcuts and shit).

unlike others i dont give bethesda a pass on this, for their experience and the amount of time they had, their shouldn't be any bugs(maybe a few physic shenanigans)but full blow game breaking. My roommate had to bypass a dungeon completely because looking down a pathway caused an instant crash every time. also the audio bug when the game launched(seriously how does the audio cause a game to fucking crash).

also the latest patch just shows their programmers incompetence, how the hell do you deactivate magic resistance on everything. also backwards dragons(HOW???)

bethesda need to kick their programming team in the ass, they story's are good the levels are designed well and the game looks good, yet the programming breaks all of that(their animation could do with some work aswell). and their combat system could do with an overhaul, dead island has better combat. skyrim could totally have the same kinda of system as dead island, where enemy's react to the hits and where you hit them. the dragon battles would be better if they could knock you around a bit, and your spells could knock dragons out of the air.

Let me guess, somebody stole Jessica Chobot's sweetroll.

Looks like Skyrim took an arrow to the knee.

Seriously though, I wouldn't say it's "Broken." (For PC and 360) Sure there's a lot of stuff wrong with it but it's still a great game. I have it for 360 by the way.

The IGN article senorfuzzeh is referring to is specifically about the ps3 version. Now, I've played the ps3 version for over a 120 hours, and it does suffer from serious bugs, freezes and framerate still drops after 2-3 hours... but I'm still able to play and enjoy it. I'd go so far as to call it one of the best games I've played in years, and this is my first real RPG. Do I wish I had it on PC? Oh god yes, but I've got a mac and I have no other need to switch back to PC and spend a lot of money in the process (which I don't have at the moment)*. My point is that Skyrim on ps3 is not broken, but it's damn well close...

*If there's way to migrate my save from ps3 to PC I'd (might) be willing to shell out.

@briangodsoe said:

Let me guess, somebody stole Jessica Chobot's sweetroll.

...you know what I'm saying?

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

I have never understood how and why Bethesda gets a free pass to broke some really broken stuff. All of their games usually have some kind of weird bug on every platform and always need a good amount of patching once the game is released. I love Elder Scrolls and Fallout, but I have always understood that they will come slightly broken. Despite some small bugs, the games are usually playable. This time however they have released a version of a game that becomes almost completely unplayable after a certain point. There are still a lot of consoles out there that are not connected to the internet so even if their was a patch, which there still is not a total fix for Skyrim on PS3, these people would be completely screwed. Publishers should not be able to release broken game and that is what Bethesda did.

When releasing a finished product, it should be finished. It is also kind of sad to see people defending Bethesda for releasing a broken game by saying that people should just have bought it for PC or PS3 or that they are having a great time playing the game on a system it works on. Skyrim is a great game, but what Bethesda did is wrong. The fact that they still have not really commented on it or even offered an apology is even more upsetting. People should not be punished for spending $60 on a game, and that is what is currently going on with the PS3 and Skyrim. They had to have known this was going to happen or they just didn't even bother playtesting the game, which would be deplorable.

Developers seem to think that releasing a game and just patching it later is ok. It is not.

It was just fine a week ago. Bethesda broke it last Wednesday. That's what they owe an explanation for.

From what I understand the PS3 version is indeed pretty f'd but I wouldn't call the other two versions "broken". I've encountered plenty of bugs during my 120 hours with the 360 version but nothing to make me really angry at Bethesda or that makes the game unplayable. I can totally understand why some people would be angry though and the size and scope of the game is really no excuse for the multitude of issues that have popped up. Despite all the drama it's still my personal GotY. I would like to be able to use my damn bookshelves again though.

@TurboMan said:

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

How many hours in are you? The serious framerate Issues don't start creeping up until you're like 40-60 hours in (when you save file gets big enough to start causing it). I started having framerate issues when my save file got to be around 8mb before the patch, and now post-patch with a save file at 12mb I'm starting to see them again.

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

I for one have played 60 hours of Skyrim and only had 2 lockups, I ran into the backwards dragon once, and found a few of the broken quests. It isn't that bad. Despite all of it's problems I have enjoyed the hell out of it. Though I am waiting until the next patch to really get back into it. But everytime I pop that game in I know I'm going to have an awesome time. Even just exploring the world is amazing to me. It really makes me feel like I am in this wonderful fantasy world.

I am playing it on PS3 and I do notice the framerate issues really only in the big towns, and even only after I've been running the game for over two hours. I kind of use that as a sign to take a break from it for a bit. Once I come back to it a half hour later or so the framerate is right back up where it should be. And trust me, everytime I load the game back up the first thing I do is sprint through the city to see how smooth the framerate is!

Have they played any of Bethesda's previous games? This isn't exactly new territory for Bethesda. One isn't "allowed" to be shocked at how "broken" Skyrim is, it's just par for the course by now.

9.5/10

GUYS THIS GAME IS BROKEN

To be honest I think this whole deal comes down to the fact that game of the year is coming up for everybody plus the amount of praise Skyrim has gotten (from myself included). Everybody has a horse in this race and when the chips are down, people get antsy. Sure, IGN gave Skyrim a 9.5 but they also wrote an article about how Dark Souls was going to "eat its face." Maybe I should stop paying attention to IGN all together.

Honestly, I feel bad that PS3 owners got the shaft on this one because Skyrim really is the best game I've played in years. The kind of issues that's in the PS3 version shouldn't exist, period. That doesn't subtract from the experience I'VE and anyone else whose played the game on 360 or PC has had.

It's not been a perfect experience but I'll take Skyrim's imperfections with the freedom and openness of the games progression over a handheld, linear game any day of the week. Skyrim's issues aren't completely forgivable but NOBODY else is doing what Bethesda is. Other developers are too chicken shit to step up to the plate. In a way, I don't blame them. I have to imagine the amount of resources and time that went into Skyrim is unbelievably substantial. In a business sense, Bethesda is kind of insane. Look at how many games are resorting to extremely guided experience campaign design doc. People thought Rockstar was crazy for making 30-40 hour games WITH multiplayer. A lot of people don't finish those games and people in the industry are constantly pressuring Rockstar into making shorter games. Then Bethesda makes Skyrim, a game that boasts hundreds of hours of QUALITY gameplay... Yea I can overlook some bugs here and there.

Bethesda has been releasing kinda broken games since Daggerfall, and if they were anything less than absolutely amazing games, the studio would have some bad reputation by now (just like Obsidian has with their tech team). They do get better with each new game, but they released a kinda broken Fallout 3 on the PS3, and now a really broken Skyrim, so it's totally understandable when someone says that he can't trust Bethesda anymore.

Also, some people are saying that the PS3 problem seems to be in the "core" of the engine and how it addresses the save files, and it basically is the same issue that Obsidian had to address in New Vegas. If this is true, there is not an easy solution and it's a flaw that comes over from the vanilla Gamebryo and they just didn't fix it, which is messed up.

I noticed too that when Greg was doing the marathon that the 360 version's saves were in the Skyrim UI, yet the PS3 version opens up an XMB page to store it's saves in. Any idea why it is like that? Something with the hardware of the PS3?

@BUCK3TM4N said:

ign sucks

Your face sucks.

Also, you are poop from a butt.

@FoxMulder said:

I noticed too that when Greg was doing the marathon that the 360 version's saves were in the Skyrim UI, yet the PS3 version opens up an XMB page to store it's saves in. Any idea why it is like that? Something with the hardware of the PS3?

It's just the way virtually all PS3 handles saves. The only game I've seen handle saves within the game's UI is the ICO collection.

I understand that PS3 users have it the worst, but with my experience with the game it's far from broken. There are more linear games out there that are more broken than Skyrim. I really think that a lot of this is sensationalist.

You can't spell "Who freaking cares?" without IGN.

I've had very few bugs at all in my 71 hours with the game.

Fuck IGN.

@TurboMan said:

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

So, let me get this straight:

The issues people are having on the PS3 are not true because you are not having any issues? Just making sure we're getting this on record.

Why are people playing the 360 and PC versions of Skyrim criticizing the IGN editorial that is making claims about the PS3 version?

after 85 hours on 360 i've had to restart twice and nothing has broken enough that I remember it, game has been more than playable from day one for me.

@Geo7877 said:

@TurboMan said:

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

How many hours in are you? The serious framerate Issues don't start creeping up until you're like 40-60 hours in (when you save file gets big enough to start causing it). I started having framerate issues when my save file got to be around 8mb before the patch, and now post-patch with a save file at 12mb I'm starting to see them again.

@N7 said:

@TurboMan said:

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

Get 40 hours in and give me a call. That sweet ass 60FPS turns into a whopping 1.

I'm probably a good 30-40 hours into it. Haven't had any problems at all except for a dragon glitching at the opening of the game.

@FoxMulder said:

I noticed too that when Greg was doing the marathon that the 360 version's saves were in the Skyrim UI, yet the PS3 version opens up an XMB page to store it's saves in. Any idea why it is like that? Something with the hardware of the PS3?

That's just how the PS3 operates its saves on every game.

They should have called it "BORING".

That was one of the worst written articles I've read in a long time.

"This is why Bethesda owes the world a full explanation, the sooner, the better."

It honestly shocks me that something like that would be published. It's like something out of a fucking high school newspaper. And I don't even hate IGN like the rest of you.

@Cube said:

@TurboMan said:

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

So, let me get this straight:

The issues people are having on the PS3 are not true because you are not having any issues? Just making sure we're getting this on record.

Sure. Whatever suits your fancy.

@TurboMan said:

@Cube said:

@TurboMan said:

@Tuggah said:

From what people have said, the PS3 version seems quite broken.

I'm a PS3 owner... not true... Nothing has hindered my experience at all.

So, let me get this straight:

The issues people are having on the PS3 are not true because you are not having any issues? Just making sure we're getting this on record.

Sure. Whatever suits your fancy.

Glad we've established that you have no idea what you are talking about.

@Cube: Do you want me to PM you a daily gameplay log so you can satisfy yourself or something?