Elders Troll: RPS Watches The Skyrim Trailer
The first full trailer for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim proved something of a talking point today. Thus, the usually scattered nodes of the RPS Hivemind elected to watch these two and a half minutes of in-game dragon-bothering footage together, and see what thoughts fell from our raddled brains as it happened. Opinions proved a little divided, it transpired... Some were excited! Some were merely intrigued! Some were convinced there was little to be excited about! Here's how it happened, chronologically. More or less.
You should have the trailer running as you read this, for maximum synchronization. Here it is again:
Alec: I might not be 18. Am I 18?
Jim: 18! That means it will have rude bits.
Alec: Snow! And bones!
Jim: Oh is that the rating for the trailer itself?
Quinns: These drums make me think the Morrowind theme is about to kick in
Alec: Wait, what went before was just a delaying tactic for this dragon invasion, claims Max? So everything we did in Oblivion was a waste? Well, thanks.
John: Are there any younger scrolls?
Jim: Running!
Alec: Hmm, so dragons are made out of rock?
John: Oh, I played this in 2009. Dragon Age, right?
Alec: Max von Sydow sure knows how to say 'fire'
Quinns: If that headbob isn't in the game I'm going to be upset. That is some powerful headbob.
Alec: Hang on, horn-head there is the hero, and has a name? So we're playing as a specific guy this time around? It really is like Dragon Age. Well, Dragon Age 2.
Jim: One day there will be a fantasy epic that uses jazz as its soundtrack.
Alec: BIG MUSIC. BIG. This is very exciting.
Jim: He's a handsome fella.
Quinns: It is a man against a dragon! He has no chance
BUT
He's not on fire!
Alec: Some sort of wood-based giant there, I think
Quinns: I saw Kieron shout like that once. But that was after he'd just missed last orders.
Alec: That spider has testicles on its face
Jim: It's all about the architecture for me, I have to say. Big rock outcroppings make me hot.
Quinns: So much stabbing
John: I hate people who kill dragons. So I hate this game.
Jim: Yeah, Dragons are okay by me.
Alec: What if I don't want that hat with the horns on? Is that okay?
Quinns: That is a very stupid dragon, right there.
[Trailer ends]
John: Well, it sort of didn't look like anything.
Jim: Ooh, the panning over terrain is almost as good as it is in Guild Wars 2 trailer.
Alec: It has been a good day for panning
Jim: It looks like Oblivion 3 to me
Quinns: The second dragon just over the hill does sort of imply that they'll be as prevalent as cliff racers.
Alec: I hope we get to see a dragon terrorising a village. I'm guessing they'll be like the demon lord guys in Oblivion, and become uber-prevalent in the late game
Jim: I wonder how the dragons will work in an open landscape. Will you spot one up and mountain and chase after it?
Alec: Wait for me!
Jim: *dragon flies off.* Oh.
Alec: *uselessly fires arrows after it*
Jim: My hope is that the world at large in Skyrim will be a bit more alive that Oblivion. There was some nice random stuff in Oblivion, but it never really felt like it worked.
John: Someone explain to me why that should have made me excited?
Alec: It is ludicrously epic, essentially. I don't mind a bit of ludicrous epicness. And I do like the idea of shouting at dragons. This is a videogame I must play.
Jim: The music, John.
John: Great.
Jim: That was the soundtrack for excitement.
John: It sounded like Game With Dragons In It music to me. Some fairly bog-standard German-esque choral music. Weeeeeeee.
Alec: I admit, I wonder if I'd be quite as excited if the music was different.
Quinns: Let me arrange an experiment to see precisely how excited you'd be if the music was different. Watch this.
Alec: Oh my God, it actually becomes more exciting.
He's right! More to come on Skyrim over the following months, we don't doubt.