Although only an official website and some basic text and image materials had been released regarding The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,
for players, it was lively as a festival. Every major community and forum was buzzing with discussions about the game.
Most of the conversations centered on one key topic: what kind of direction would The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim take as a game?
After all, with titles like Red Dead Redemption, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and major developers like Zeus entering the open-world genre, this category had essentially been divided into three distinct types.
The first type consisted of story-driven, lore-heavy open-world games like Red Dead Redemption and The Witcher: Wild Hunt.
The second type emphasized exploration, exemplified by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The third, and currently the most common approach chosen by many game developers, was the formulaic modelâlarge maps combined with multiple outposts and side quests to create a sense of openness.
Though heavily criticized by many players, this formula undeniably had strong market appeal. As long as the grind and content weren't excessively tedious, and were paired with excellent Art and scene design, many players would still buy in.
Creating content for this third type was relatively easier, making it the preferred choice for most game developers.
However, when it came to Nebula Games, most players didn't expect their upcoming title, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, to fall into this formulaic open-world category.
After all, in their promotional material, Chen Xu had directly declared it an open-world game. If it turned out to be just another formulaic entry, it would deal a serious blow to Nebula Games' reputation.
For Nebula Games today, the short-term gains from false advertising and damaging their reputation were completely disproportionate to the long-term losses.
But this raised the question: with masterpieces like Red Dead Redemption, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and The Witcher: Wild Hunt already setting the bar, could The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim possibly reach the same heights?
Online, players were in a frenzyâsome passionately believed Skyrim wouldn't be just another ordinary open-world game, others remained calm and kept their expectations low, while a fair number were outright skeptical.
Yet, compared to the heated online debates and deep dives into Skyrim,
Chen Xu and his Team at Nebula Games paid little attention.
The entire Team was deeply immersed in accelerating the development of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
"Mr. Chen, this chicken?"
Qin Yi, who was internally conducting a review and calibration, looked puzzled at a certain Numerical Design.
"In the map design for Riverwood, this chicken triggers a bounty, but there aren't any guards in Riverwood according to the story."
Qin Yi asked Chen Xu.
"Ah, this is mainly to enhance the player's sense of immersion. In the world of Skyrim, if you commit a crime, you must pay the price. Besides, aren't the villagers acting as stand-in guards?"
Chen Xu replied with a slight smile upon seeing the point Qin Yi raised.
Of course, that was one reason. The other reason was that Chen Xu felt it would be a shame to leave out the chicken.
In his previous life, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim had a meme that was known to every player.
In fact, this meme had transcended the game itself.
It was the legend of the great Chicken God of Riverwood.
As everyone knew, the residents of Skyrim, in addition to their daily worship of the capricious Daedric Princes, secretly revered the "Chicken God"âa deity not to be blasphemed, lest severe consequences follow.
The Chicken God's avatars were said to be scattered throughout Skyrim.
But the most famous of these avatars resided in Riverwood.
The people here worshipped the Chicken God with madness. Anyone who committed an act of disrespect would be hunted down to the ends of the earth.
Well, of course, this was just a joke.
Much like what Qin Yi had said.
In reality, the origin of this meme stemmed from a map design flaw in the previous life's version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
It wasn't some imagined bug by playersâit was a genuine oversight in the map scene design.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, killing an NPC or stealing their belongings would grant the player a certain amount of crime value.
Crime values were independent across regions. For example, if you committed a crime in City A, you could walk into City B as a free man, since they were under different Jarls' jurisdictions.
To clear your crime value, you either had to serve jail time or pay a fine to the local guards.
Riverwood was a small town under the jurisdiction of Whiterun, and also the first newbie village players would most likely encounter after starting the game.
Yet, whether due to intentional design or an oversight by the development Team in its previous iteration,
there were no guards in this townâthough story-wise, it made perfect sense.
Since Riverwood was close to the Falkreath region, Jarl Balgruuf feared that sending guards might provoke Falkreath's steward, Nenya, so no guards were stationed there until news of the dragons emerged.
The story justification was solid, but the map design created a problem. During this period, if a player committed a crime, there was no way to pay a fine to atone, nor could they go to jail.
And right at the entrance of Riverwood stood a prominent rooster, pacing back and forth.
It was so eye-catching, its gait so arrogantly defiant.
So much so that many players, upon seeing the chicken, couldn't resist the urge of mischievous hands and would kill it.
And thatâs when the real trouble began.
They gained crime valueâbut with no way to atone for it. As a result, angry villagers would swarm the player in retaliation.
Many players' first deaths didnât come at the hands of giants, Daedric Princes, or dragons.
They came because of a seemingly harmless chickenâending their first life in a most humiliating way.
Thus, although Chen Xu had modified most of the content in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and fixed many of its flaws,
he still chose to preserve the legendary "Chicken God" setting in Riverwood.
Of course, he couldnât leave it as brutally unexplained as in the previous lifeâthat would just leave players bewildered.
So Chen Xu added a proper sequence: when Ralof accompanies the Dragonborn and invites them to Riverwood, he gives a verbal warning. Upon reaching the village entrance, a friendly reminder is also displayed.
If the player, still stubborn and defiant, attacks the chicken anyway, the villagers will step in as makeshift guards and demand compensation for the slain chicken.
The fine isnât excessiveâafter all, during the escape from Helgen Keep, players would have gathered some coins.
But if they donât have the money or refuse to pay, theyâll get to experience the rural villagersâ iron fists firsthand.
A Dragonbornâs life, if never ended by a chicken, is an incomplete lifeâan unremarkable one, unworthy of being called legendary.
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