Health Regeneration Confirmed, This is rather saddening... Options

[Thomas Kaira]

Source.

Q: Is there any form of regenerating health without any perks etc?
A: Health, magicka, and stamina all regen slowly over time.

So there you have it, Skyrim has fallen to the rebounding health cliche. Not too many details yet, but if it allows for full and complete health regen, this is SERIOUSLY not good.

I cannot stress this further, there is no better way to describe dumbing a game down than auto-regenerating health. If they want to avoid being called out on this, and if Bethesda wants to avoid absolutely destroying Restoration magic's prime use they need to place some SERIOUS limitations on the system. Some examples:

- Health does not regenerate while in combat.
- It must be a VERY slow effect, on the magnitude of about one HP every 15 to 30 seconds, real time.
- If your health falls below a critical level (due to the presence of supplemental healing spells in this game, I'll say 25% to 50%), NO REGEN AT ALL. PERIOD.

Fine and dandy for regen to be able to simulate minor wounds going away over time, because that's what the living body is designed to do, but major wounds? Uh uh. You need supplemental healing for those, you cannot "wait out" a broken bone (unset bones heal wrong and can completely disable the use of the limb), or a sword slash wound that is now copiously bleeding (try and wait this one out, you WILL die).

Also, it's the thought that counts here, as well. I am getting sick and tired of rebounding health bars being in EVERY SINGLE [censored] GAME.

I really do hope Bethesda thought this one through. If they didn't, there is going to be serious backlash.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Aug 17 2011, 01:06 AM

[Destri Melarg]

To tell the truth, this just sounds like a good excuse to create a Nord from the Half-Troll clan.

Here’s what I saw further down in the QA:

Q: Do you mean they regen noticeably even without sleeping or using the wait function? Are Hp potions just a boost?
A: Health potions keep me from dying in battle.

Now I may be wrong but that seems to indicate that at least two of your conditions on the regen system have been met. You still need health potions, and you still have to worry about dying in battle because health regenerates slowly enough (or maybe not at all) that it is of no help to you during combat.

I have been playing Oblivion now for the better part of four years. I played Morrowind for three years before that. In seven years of Elder Scrolls gaming I have been killed by regular in-game combat maybe ten times (and I say maybe because ten sounds a bit high to me). At least eight of those times came in Morrowind. The Elder Scrolls games have never been about the challenge of combat. To tell the truth, the battle systems in the games tend to suck.

I can understand where you are coming from with the over-saturation of rebounding health bars in games these days. I just don’t think that the majority of us pick up an Elder Scrolls game because we want a challenging battle experience. We have Demon’s Souls and the first Ninja Gaiden if we are looking to get emasculated by the AI. Speaking for myself, I go to Tamriel because of the rich history and lore. I like the diverse races, each with a complete history and culture with which I can identify. I stay for the memorable characters that I have befriended along the way. I soak up the atmosphere present in forgotten caves, shipwrecks, and the ruins of long dead races like the Dwemer or the Ayleids. Can you honestly say yourself that you enjoy the Elder Scrolls because of the challenge presented through combat? To me all the other things you get from an Elder Scrolls game are worth suffering through the combat.

And I should also point out that you can literally SHOUT lightning down from the heavens in this game. You can fight giants and dragons, and you can throw spontaneously generated fireballs at your enemies. But you’re worried that the regenerating health bar lacks realism?


EDIT:
A thought just occurred to me that explains our differing points of view. You play the games on the PC. You have seen what is possible through the extraordinary efforts of the modding community. My only experience of the games comes via the console. You are privy to the knowledge of what the games should be. I am relegated to finding enjoyment of the games as they are.

Keep pushing for the improvements you want in the games, TK. And, out of jealousy, I’ll occasionally swing by and bust your b@ll$ for it.

This post has been edited by Destri Melarg: Aug 17 2011, 08:27 AM