By Quintin Smith on May 19th, 2011 at 10:11 am.
In a story that makes for one of the most double-take inducing headlines of 2011, Skyrim director Todd Howard last week told Norweigan outlet Gamer.no that Skyrim will have “an unlimited number of dragons”. You heard me right, people. Infinity dragons. If you were worrying about running out of dragons in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, well, don’t do that.
You can read parts one and two of the translated interview here and here. But wait! It gets better.
In PC Gamer’s own coverage of this news, they cooly added that the dragons will “be dynamically generated, and will be able to attack you almost anywhere.” Holy shit!
We’ll be facing off against infinity dragons who can attack from almost anywhere? Can they attack while we’re sleeping? While we’re talking to another NPC? In the main menu? Can they follow you onto the desktop after you’ve quit? What if they escape from the PC? I’m currently having some trouble with some of the fights in The Witcher 2, but Bethesda have put my difficulty woes in perspective.
Here’s a dragon I have a particularly fond memory of fighting. Thaxll’ssillyia from Baldur’s Gate 2. What a girl. But seriously, one of her was enough.
19/05/2011 at 10:15 Corrupt_Tiki says:
I love dragons, I wish I could own one. Would much rather have that as a giant dispenser of justice than a gun.
19/05/2011 at 10:17 Quintin Smith says:
What do you think the first mod for Skyrim is going to be. srsly
19/05/2011 at 10:17 Quintin Smith says:
(The second will be a mod that turns you into a dragon)
19/05/2011 at 10:20 papabear says:
A mod that allows you to have dragon companions of course.
Yes, you can sleep with your fluffy dragon.
19/05/2011 at 10:31 Deepo says:
Dragon armor?
19/05/2011 at 10:32 Corrupt_Tiki says:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what were the devs stance on Modding, will it be fairly easily done? (oblivion was had quite a few mods eh?) Or are they going the ID 5 route, of having an engine too advanced and powerful?
Also, I would have those mods! (I rarely mod games)
19/05/2011 at 10:34 Ergates_Antius says:
“What do you think the first mod for Skyrim is going to be.”
Nude skins, obv.
19/05/2011 at 10:35 Anthile says:
The third mod will be about making out with a dragon.
19/05/2011 at 10:35 Protagoras says:
What are you on? Ofc the first mod will add male and female sex organs to dragons.
Ever been bashed to death by 200 pound dragon boobs?
19/05/2011 at 10:55 godgoo says:
yes
19/05/2011 at 11:11 Vexing Vision says:
That would be the first mod only if the dragon is also nude.
19/05/2011 at 11:20 edgeblend says:
Unlimited horse armour?
19/05/2011 at 11:21 The Hammer says:
Oh, puh-leeese can someone make a How To Train Your Dragon mod?!
19/05/2011 at 11:22 trooperdx3117 says:
To answer your question corrupt tiki yes bethesda announced a long time ago a modding kit that’ll be released for skyrim and I remember as well that Id announced they were going to release a mod kit as well for rage
19/05/2011 at 11:28 badoli says:
Well, “turn dragon”-mod plus “own and ride Dragon”-mod plus “nude”-mod pretty much equals “Dragonsex”-mod, doesn’t it?
19/05/2011 at 11:29 Corrupt_Tiki says:
@ Trooper, Thanks, I thought it was so, but wasn’t quite sure.
Also, I can not wait for the Dragon training mods etc, also, Naked mods!
19/05/2011 at 11:31 Robert says:
First mod will be nude_skin_mod of course…..FOR DRAGONS!
19/05/2011 at 12:40 KindredPhantom says:
The first mod in Skyrim and Dragons, will be Rule 34 inspired.
19/05/2011 at 17:58 Text_Fish says:
The first Skryim mod will be called The Finite Dragon Mod.
Mod is short for Moderation, right?
19/05/2011 at 18:56 Davie says:
Nonono, the first mod will obviously be tentacle bears. Then comes the ridable/tameable/transformable dragons, then excessive quantities of Nord boobies, if Oblivion was any indication.
20/05/2011 at 00:10 Navagon says:
Just be glad it’s not a Ubisoft game or we’d have Imagine Dragons. Well, that’s not the only reason to be glad it’s not a Ubisoft game, but it’s arguably the most significant.
19/05/2011 at 10:18 papabear says:
I am going to make a game and it will have unlimited pokemans.
19/05/2011 at 17:21 nuh uh no way says:
my god, that is a lot of pokemans
19/05/2011 at 18:07 BAReFOOt says:
OH MY GOD! IT’S… OVER 9000 POKEMANS!!!11one
P.S.: I have no idea if that over-9000 and the pokewhatever shows are the same or something different. (And I’m proud of it.)
19/05/2011 at 18:58 Berzee says:
no they’re different shows
now you know, oops
go find something else to be proud of
19/05/2011 at 10:18 Ralud says:
Dragons are fun.
19/05/2011 at 10:50 McDan says:
*Cough* …and in the game!
19/05/2011 at 10:21 Raniz says:
Any game I produce shall feature random encounters in the main menu!
19/05/2011 at 10:23 papabear says:
“You have been wildly waylaid by video settings and must defend yourself.”
Something like this?
19/05/2011 at 10:33 Baboonanza says:
‘The Video Settings attacks with High Bloom. You are blinded!’
19/05/2011 at 10:34 Corrupt_Tiki says:
“Anti – Aliasing attacks you while you were sleeping” Anti – Aliasing deals 5 damage on first strike!
19/05/2011 at 10:36 patricij says:
“The V-Sync is enabled and tears you in two…”
19/05/2011 at 10:40 tomeoftom says:
You are ambushed by Mouse Acceleration! Accuracy down 15%!
19/05/2011 at 10:45 BooleanBob says:
Enemy uses Gamma! You suffer 5 (C/kg) of radiation damage.
19/05/2011 at 10:47 Oozo says:
Somebody, please, go and make that happen.
19/05/2011 at 11:14 The Hammer says:
I’m afraid Ubisoft beat you to the punch years ago, guys!
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04/27/embarrassed-cough/
19/05/2011 at 11:18 papabear says:
HAHA. YES.
That was a fucking menu challange.
19/05/2011 at 11:29 westyfield says:
“Gamma has been set to 0.0. It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.”
19/05/2011 at 14:02 Nim says:
You used slider on mouse sensitivity…
It’s not very effective…
19/05/2011 at 17:12 iniudan says:
Ubershading enabled, your are slowed to 33% your normal speed.
19/05/2011 at 22:04 Stochastic says:
“DirectX 11 mode activated! The ability appears to have no effect…”
19/05/2011 at 10:21 Okami says:
So they’re basically like Cliff Racers?
19/05/2011 at 10:37 Jumwa says:
Now that’s an amusing thought.
Hopefully they’ll have their own obnoxious sounds and all.
19/05/2011 at 13:16 Holysheep says:
Skrreeee!
you’ve contracted Helljoint
20/05/2011 at 01:35 FRIENDLYUNIT says:
I just cancelled my preorder.
19/05/2011 at 10:22 MrMud says:
Dragon inflation is something to be careful with and makes it this sound like Skyrim is the 1930s equivalent of Germany for inflation rates.
19/05/2011 at 10:40 Baboonanza says:
Infinite princesses?
19/05/2011 at 11:06 papabear says:
Mario has infinite princesses.. Well.. Kinda.
19/05/2011 at 11:27 Corrupt_Tiki says:
Duh, obviously there is a plethora of Super Meat Boys running around to feed the ravenous beasts
19/05/2011 at 14:44 Joshua says:
@frightlever:
By creating an infinite amount of… everything else.
19/05/2011 at 20:50 Drakon says:
Infinite squidbear!
20/05/2011 at 16:00 Dances to Podcasts says:
Think of the CO2!
19/05/2011 at 10:25 Choca says:
Firkraag > Thaxll’ssillyia
19/05/2011 at 10:27 papabear says:
Nothing with flappy wings is bigger than a nice, stinking Cloudkill!
19/05/2011 at 10:43 MasterBoo says:
OH YES
19/05/2011 at 11:04 papabear says:
go for the eyes boo.
19/05/2011 at 13:22 Dave says:
Twisted Rune at lvl 12…. i call bullshit. Whats he got it on? Super easy?
19/05/2011 at 10:25 Lars Westergren says:
Uh. “This video contains content from SME, who have blocked it in your country on copyright grounds”.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s “The internet contains content from SME…”
19/05/2011 at 10:38 patricij says:
I wish I could see what you wrote, but it says your post contains content from SME…
19/05/2011 at 17:32 ArcaneSaint says:
I can’t see it either, well I guess I’l have to pirate the game [from that movie, not Skyrim, I never pirate Bethesda games] so I can get to that point to see what happens in that movie which copyright laws are preventing me to watch. It’s a harsh world.
19/05/2011 at 10:28 Keilnoth says:
Baldur’s Gate II video is blocked in my country. It probably contains spoilers the editor doesn’t want on the internet. Boo booo !
19/05/2011 at 10:28 The Dark One says:
Infinity dragons, go ‘head.
19/05/2011 at 10:30 Man Raised by Puffins says:
aah aah ah
uh uh-uh uh uh-uh uh-uh
19/05/2011 at 10:37 Lambchops says:
@ Puffins
I wanted to make that joke!
19/05/2011 at 12:46 Tom OBedlam says:
Bugger I was just about to do that too :)
19/05/2011 at 10:29 tomeoftom says:
Somebody signal Horace!
19/05/2011 at 10:37 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
dammit, you beat me to the punch.
Unlimited Dragons + Endless Bear = Infinite Fun
Srsly though, i still need to finish The Witcher 1 now. stupid fights, really really stupid fights.
19/05/2011 at 10:55 Icarus says:
Horace the Endless Bear vs Barrington the Unlimited Dragon?
19/05/2011 at 10:57 tomeoftom says:
If I ever had a pet that was unlimited, I would name it Tonnes.
19/05/2011 at 11:09 McDan says:
With the first name of “metric fuck”
19/05/2011 at 13:47 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
Hi, I am an unlimited pet dragon and my middle name is Fuck.
19/05/2011 at 10:30 Heliocentric says:
I hate when you are in subway and you go to refill your dragons and they say sorry, no refills, bastards.
19/05/2011 at 10:34 amishmonster says:
I wonder if they’re using Speed Dragon for the procedural generation.
19/05/2011 at 10:37 Gap Gen says:
So my dream of driving the accursed species from the land and making their monstrous line extinct is but a pipe dream? Zounds.
19/05/2011 at 10:40 sonofsanta says:
Clearly, then, better than Witcher 2, which has only had one dragon I’ve seen so far.
And as said above, after the inevitable first non-dragon-related mod, Skyrim will have infinitely more boobies as well.
19/05/2011 at 11:30 HermitUK says:
Hopefully not boobies on Dragons, though. That’d be weird.
Besides, the first non-Dragon related mod needs to be a choir of NPCs that follow you round singing the theme song.
They sing quietly when you go into stealth mode, obviously.
19/05/2011 at 11:39 McDan says:
That. Would. Be. AMAZING!
20/05/2011 at 15:46 Sentient Waffle says:
Oh god. Someone has to make that NPC choir mod, it would complete my life forever.
19/05/2011 at 10:40 Ergates_Antius says:
So, like Cliff Racers then, except larger and scalier and more fire-breatingy.
We all remember how much fun cliff racers were.
19/05/2011 at 10:40 DeepSleeper says:
I can imagine Todd Howard all like “People complained when every game since Daggerfall HAD no dragons? Well, we’re giving them ALL the dragons! All of them! At the same time! So as I pray, UNLIMITED DRAGON WORKS!”
And then he cackles madly and eats a muffin.
19/05/2011 at 10:41 jti says:
I always wanted a game based on cliff racers!
19/05/2011 at 10:42 rivalin says:
Ah memories of Baldur’s Gate, remember everyone, watch that video and then repeat after me
“Bioware Games have not been dumbed down”
“Bioware games have not been dumbed down”
19/05/2011 at 11:03 papabear says:
I think, after the iron hand of EA gripped Biow.. WAIT! WH-WHO ARE YOU?! LET ME GO! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?
19/05/2011 at 10:43 The Hammer says:
“We’ll be facing off against infinity dragons who can attack from almost anywhere? Can they attack while we’re sleeping? While we’re talking to another NPC? In the main menu? Can they follow you onto the desktop after you’ve quit? What if they escape from the PC? I’m currently having some trouble with some of the fights in The Witcher 2, but Bethesda have put my difficulty woes in perspective.”
<3
19/05/2011 at 10:45 obvioustroll says:
Mechanic spoiler. Sad face.
I now know I can never kill all the dragons, it’s programmed that way.
19/05/2011 at 10:50 Corrupt_Tiki says:
That’s a good thing, because they are so pretty
19/05/2011 at 11:30 Koozer says:
Just because there are infinite dragons, doesn’t mean you can’t kill all of them. Infinity is fun!
19/05/2011 at 15:35 Jad says:
Well are we talking about countably infinite dragons? What is the cardinality of the set of dragons? (Aleph-dragon?)
19/05/2011 at 10:46 Greg Wild says:
Clearly they haven’t learned their lesson from Morrowind’s cliff racers.
19/05/2011 at 10:47 Dozer says:
Dear RPS Comments Thread. I love you.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/05/19/unlimiteddragons/comment-page-1/#comment-692710
19/05/2011 at 10:54 McDan says:
RPS comment threads are always (usually, half the time) excellent. I think that’s what half the charm of the site comes from, the friendly atmosphere and people who visit it.
NO NOT YOU! YOU FILTHY BEGGAR! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! …Ahem.
19/05/2011 at 10:48 Toffeli says:
I want to be a dragon!
19/05/2011 at 10:51 tomeoftom says:
Maybe when you’re older, son.
19/05/2011 at 10:50 Will Tomas says:
I was going to make a Horace joke, but others beat me to it…
19/05/2011 at 10:55 Mr Chug says:
Ugh, endless dragon fights could really drag on after a while.
19/05/2011 at 11:32 WJonathan says:
I’ll wait to see how Bethesda scales the difficulty. If I have to claw my way through the game I’ll incinerate it with a fire-breathing review.
19/05/2011 at 11:35 Gap Gen says:
Guys, don’t start a flame war here. I’m sure the RPS guys are talonted enough to spot it.
19/05/2011 at 11:41 Kefren says:
Stop flapping about nothing.
19/05/2011 at 10:56 Jorum says:
The best solution to dragons in BG2 is doom-doom-doom-chromatic orb (ideally spell-sequenced). Throw in a cloudkill as well for good luck.
Fairly good chance of 1-shotting them before they even get started.
19/05/2011 at 11:00 BooleanBob says:
There were some fairly cheesy ways to kill them, but then they were pretty cheesy themselves to begin with. All that magic resistance!
19/05/2011 at 14:31 SMiD says:
Yeah, but fuck that demi-lich.
19/05/2011 at 15:29 Makariel says:
There were a couple exploits to beat the dragons with relative ease. I used none of them, instead charged right at them with my paladin in a futile attempt to be heroic.
19/05/2011 at 11:05 Colthor says:
If it also has unlimited mammoths then, well – unlimited dragons *and* unlimited wooly mammoths. How can it fail to be the greatest game there has ever been?
A Howard quote from the PCG story:
“One of our designers actually put in a random event I encountered, where I ended up being chased by three dragons and I thought “who the hell did this? I felt like Frodo in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. So I asked him to remove it”
I hope they didn’t remove it, because that sounds brilliant. I want to play that.
Apparently you can talk to the dragons, so that’s pretty great too. I wonder if you can talk to the mammoths?
19/05/2011 at 11:12 papabear says:
So you can “talk it out” with those three dragons chasing you?
-OK, timeout. I am fucking warning you guys. I know Avalon the Silver Dragon. She Polymorphed me into a drow once.
19/05/2011 at 11:14 papabear says:
I think it was “Adalon”.
My poor old, tired gamer brain!
19/05/2011 at 11:26 McDan says:
I read that and thought the same thing Colthor, I so want to play that encounter.
19/05/2011 at 11:27 Jimbo says:
Who would win in a fight between unlimited dragons and unlimited woolly mammoths?
19/05/2011 at 13:40 Colthor says:
@Jimbo
We’d all win.
19/05/2011 at 20:28 ArcaneSaint says:
If those mammoths are anything like Elephants… Those poor dragons… They’ll never stand a chance. We must defend ourselves against the mammoths! Pump the magma! Open the valves! Flood the world! Get me new socks!
19/05/2011 at 11:06 PickyBugger says:
I’m starting to get the distinct feeling that the game is going to revolve around repeatedly and repetitively killing Dragons much like in Oblivion with the Oblivion Gates and those funny orbs. Here’s hoping I’m wrong…
19/05/2011 at 11:20 Wilson says:
Haha, yeah, that would be bad. And then if you can’t be bothered, you end up giving an epic speech to like four guys. Good times…
19/05/2011 at 11:22 The Hammer says:
At least you wouldn’t have to forsake the pretty wilderness for, uh, uninspired reds and blacks!
19/05/2011 at 14:44 Bluebreaker says:
dragons = oblivion gates?
19/05/2011 at 16:27 PickyBugger says:
No of course not but the Oblivion gates were a repetitive part of the game and the Dragons appear to be so as well. You have to kill the Dragons to absorb their power much like the Oblivion gates and collecting the orbs.
Considering the amount of press that the Dragons are getting I find it hard to believe that they won’t be a major part of the main quest.
19/05/2011 at 11:43 Worldbeing says:
From the translated interview:
“- How are sword fighting? Can you choose to swing your sword to the left or right?
- Yes, you choose the direction with the control stick. It is also possible to perform different combo attacks, jump back and stuff.”
I don’t have a control stick, you stupid dev. I’m a PC gamer, dammit.
19/05/2011 at 14:46 Joshua says:
You get sword gestures.
19/05/2011 at 15:26 Makariel says:
Wii-like waggle with the mouse?
20/05/2011 at 01:34 FRIENDLYUNIT says:
I just preordered my cancel.
19/05/2011 at 11:53 RandomGunnerGirl says:
Unlimited overgrown cliff racers.
Joy.
19/05/2011 at 18:25 Wooly says:
D:
19/05/2011 at 11:54 Towercap says:
I can see the groundbreaking interactions between the various NPCs.
“I saw a dragon the other day! Disgusting creatures. I steer clear of them. Nasty things, but I hear the meat’s not too bad.”
Wait, never mind.
19/05/2011 at 12:13 Ondrej says:
I don’t know about that. I think that if there were finite number of dragons, it would force player to cherish one instead of just going/waiting for another one to show up after the old one dies of old age or mutilation.
19/05/2011 at 13:13 Holysheep says:
Dragons are the new cliffracers !!! 1
Seriously, unlimited dragons, unlimited boots!
19/05/2011 at 13:27 DeanLearner says:
That’s great and all but will they have infinite CRIMINAL SCUM!
19/05/2011 at 13:32 Althilor says:
As long as they don’t torch my house. Coming home after a long days adventuring to find my home burnt to ash…well, that just ain’t kosha.
19/05/2011 at 13:35 _Jackalope_ says:
Is this a sign that it will be open ended? Once the main quest is complete we’re free to hunt dragons until the end of time? I’m hoping dragons have the same emotional impact as fighting a Big Daddy does. I felt awful after killing those big lovely fellas.
19/05/2011 at 13:48 Jahkaivah says:
Or killing a colossus in Shadow of the Colossus.
…actually that is a game I would love to have infinite dragons on, or infinite colossi for that matter.
19/05/2011 at 14:26 JimK. says:
As long as they do not turn out to be like Deathclaws in fallout 3 i’m okay with infinite dragons.
Those Stupid deathclaws were always spawning when i fast travel to settlements and then they went all beserk on my Questgivers >.<.
Please Bethasda it's okay to have random spawning dragons, but either not let them spawn near my precious NPCs or make sure NPCs are strong enough to actually protect themself against spawning critters like deathclaws and dragons.
19/05/2011 at 14:33 SMiD says:
AHAHAHAHA Bethesda laughs at your request!
More Deathclaws to JimK’s house!!!!
19/05/2011 at 14:56 tomeoftom says:
This thread has made me really wish for a “like” button, or something worded in a less sterile manner.
19/05/2011 at 15:34 Teddy Leach says:
I really don’t want to be that guy, but I’ll fill in for him until he gets here. In the lore, aren’t dragons meant to be rare?
Great, now I’m waiting for someone to make a joke about how you cook them…
19/05/2011 at 16:36 preded says:
In soviet russia, you cook dragons!
19/05/2011 at 16:30 mollemannen says:
woooaw unlimited? really? i mean 100 would have been great but unlimited is just to much.
seriously though what else is there except dragons?
19/05/2011 at 17:05 Iskariot says:
I hope it won’t be dragon’s who ignore everything else and attack only the player from everywhere. That would make for some horrible immersion breaking gameplay.
19/05/2011 at 17:20 Noc says:
Marketing is a funny thing: they say “unlimited,” and I just hear “respawning.”
Like, you’re never going to end up in the Dragon Dimension, which is nothing but dragons as far as the eye can see. You’re not going to find the world perched upon the back of a dragon, which in turn stands on the back of another, larger dragon, and then when you jump off the edge it turns out it’s dragons all the way down.
Nope. What’ll happens is that you’ll go somewhere and kill a dragon, and the next time you pass through the dragon’ll be back! Sort of like how ever Mega Man game has “unlimited enemies” for you if you backtrack.
19/05/2011 at 17:25 spongthe1st says:
Sounds very much like Oblivion gates in being tied to the main quest – infinite random spawn until you complete the main quest, then probably no more dragons.
Not sure what I think of this, other gameplay elements are of greater importance to me though.
19/05/2011 at 18:53 jack4cc says:
Witcher 2 had one dragon. One. It was enough.
19/05/2011 at 19:14 sinister agent says:
I shall name this phenomenon “Dawn of the Infinigons”.
19/05/2011 at 20:02 Arglebargle says:
For guys who are supposed to be Ubar Game Designers, they sure know how to lay some eggs.
‘Hey, the most important foe in our game. We’ll make them unscripted and continuous, that will really make them special, just like those demon castles in the Big O!’
There’s a reason that I have not bought a Bethesda game since Oblivion. And even if I fall to the dark side, I will not do it opening day, only at the very low discount price, much later on.
19/05/2011 at 20:57 Wixard says:
Unlimited Drakkens? As in the mid 90′s smash (not so) RPG hit Drakken order of the flame?
They should just have added unlimited horse armor.
19/05/2011 at 21:21 JerreyRough says:
I ride dragons now. Dragons are cool.
20/05/2011 at 01:22 Archer says:
I am the bone of my wings
Scales are my body and fire is my breath
I have created over a thousand dragons
Unknown to Soultrap, Nor known to Blight
Have withstood fatigue to create many dragons
Yet, those claws will never hold anything
So as I fly, UNLIMITED DRAGON WORKS
20/05/2011 at 13:28 Ravenholme says:
Goes very well with your username ;)
20/05/2011 at 01:53 FRIENDLYUNIT says:
From the interview: “Can you finally sleep in someone’s bed when they are dead?”
I would like to know this. And in the game.
20/05/2011 at 02:51 Salvian says:
I believe they have said that dragon encounters will be like the ‘random encounters’ with NPCs in Fallout 3 (scripted events that can occur anywhere), not dragons that spawn at a particular place. Also, that the game will track how long it’s been since you last had ran into one to make sure there’s a nice even flow of them. I’m a TES fanboi, what can I say?
I’m off to reinstall BG2.
20/05/2011 at 03:05 vastad says:
Why the hell is Baldur’s Gate 2 gameplay footage “restricted from my market”?
20/05/2011 at 12:52 Corrupt_Tiki says:
@ Stochastic
I believe you need to play more pokemons, as it’s “Direct X 11 Is ineffective!”
Although, must admit, still got a lol out of me :>