Chapter 799: May Players Have a Good Liver

Undoubtedly, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, with its exceptionally outstanding quality, won over all players.

During this period, new titles like Atari's and FOW's Crime and Law and The Vanishing Ten Billion were successively launched. However, these new releases, specifically timed to avoid The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's schedule, still had their thunder stolen.

These two games were not open-world titles but rather sandbox-style thread-based games. The former told the story of a lawyer entangled with a gang, while the latter depicted a scapegoat in a gang getting involved in a story concerning land worth ten billion Yuan.

Similar gameplay and world-building settings allowed many players to discern Zeus's ambition in this area.

FOW had already been acquired by Zeus as a subsidiary, and Atari maintained a good cooperative relationship. With two consecutive games featuring somewhat similar gameplay and world-building, it was clear they aimed to build a massive IP.

Moreover, the games' inherent quality, in terms of both gameplay and story, was commendable.

But the crucial point was that the impact The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim had on players was simply too powerful.

Dragonborn, vampires, and the Dawnguard, as well as werewolves and the Dark Brotherhood – countless factions and events.

While the primary area of activity in the game was Skyrim Province, players knew that Skyrim was merely the tip of the iceberg of the Tamriel continent, which only further deepened their appreciation for the vastness of the world-building.

Whether it was the related Daedric quests, or the main quest involving the Dragonborn and Dawnguard, all these quests intertwined with the history of Tamriel within The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

This gave players the feeling that they were creating history and writing their own legends.

These elements combined ensured that the popularity of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim never waned in the slightest.

A game always has its popularity lifespan, especially a single-player game.

After all, with the revelation of various storylines and gameplay, most players would complete the game or have played it sufficiently.

The peak of its popularity would then gradually pass.

However, the popularity of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim remained exceptionally strong.

This reminded many people of Nebula Games' title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, back in the day.

The difference, though, was that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim didn't have as many unconventional gameplay approaches as Zelda.

In such a situation, to maintain such high popularity purely through content was truly remarkable.

And as industry designers marveled, the overall rating for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim also steadily climbed.

Compared to other games, ratings typically tend to drop gradually after release as more players and media submit their scores and they are tallied.

But The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's ratings left many stunned.

Not only did the rating not fall, but it actually rose.

Although, on third-party aggregate review websites, it only increased by 0.1, from the original 9.6 to 9.7.

This meant that after the recalculation, a large number of media outlets had given near-perfect scores.

And these reviews praised The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the heavens.

Notably, GameSpot, the most authoritative review media in the industry, did not release its review immediately.

Instead, it waited nearly two weeks after the game's release, after experiencing most of the game's content, before giving its evaluation.

An unsurprising perfect score.

Especially at the very beginning of the review, GameSpot included this statement:

'Following Red Dead Redemption and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, another benchmark for open-world games has been born.'

'Our review of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is quite late, as we were incredibly conflicted. We wanted to fully experience the game's content to make our review more authoritative.'

'But the reality is that for a solid week, our review editor spent over 10 hours daily experiencing this game, yet even after a week, he could still continually discover new content within the game.'

'It is so captivating, brimming with vitality, as if possessing immortal magic!'

'When you step into Skyrim Province and behold its beautiful world, you will know where this immortal magic originates. In terms of visual presentation, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may not have been as stunning as Uncharted and Detroit initially, but this does not mean it is not excellent. The beautiful mist of High Hrothgar, the circling dragons, the prosperity of Solitude – when all of this is laid out before you, it is simply breathtaking.'

'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim delivers an epic story to us, a story that doesn't explicitly tell you the protagonist's every action, but rather makes you feel like you are writing your own story.'

'Every NPC in the game isn't just a background prop; they have their own lives, experiences, personalities, and hobbies. They include thieves, bandits, and strange creatures, making the entire world incredibly real.'

'Even after completing the main quest in the game, you will have only experienced a small portion of the game's content.'

'When you set foot in the vast world of Skyrim, that's when you'll understand the true essence of this game: it doesn't aim for you to flow like a river, with the ultimate goal of reaching the sea; instead, it wants you to be like the wind, free to go wherever you desire.'

'You can do many things within it: be a disciplined hero warrior, a thief, a mage. You can also pick locks and sneak in to steal things you can't afford in the dead of night… This is a magical world, and also a real one.'

'After Red Dead Redemption and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, no game had managed to reach the pinnacle of the open-world genre again. But clearly, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has achieved it. It may not possess groundbreaking innovation, yet it is like a vintage wine, aged for many years in a cellar – mellow and enchanting.'

Such incredibly high reviews thrilled players who loved The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Even some players and designers who had a grudge against Nebula Games couldn't say much, because anyone who had experienced the game, looking back at this review, could only utter one word: well-deserved.

Undoubtedly, this game possessed such charm; even ignoring the main quest, the vast and complex side quests were enough to immerse players, not to mention the game's remarkably high degree of freedom.

………………

However, while players and the industry alike were singing praises for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Chen Xu was in Nebula Games' office, discussing the game's post-release arrangements with his team, specifically regarding MOD-related tools.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim didn't become famous because of MODs, but MODs certainly added a lot of color to the game.

Regarding MOD tools, just like with the Warcraft RPG maps back then, Chen Xu planned to first release some official tools, allowing players to experience the changes MODs brought to the game.

Of course, these wouldn't be like the lab's creations, and official communities like the community forums and Workshop wouldn't allow such things to exist.

After all, Nebula Games wasn't a small workshop; these things would have a very significant impact.

As for players creating them privately?

Nebula Games couldn't control that. After all, they weren't hooligans; they couldn't possibly install detection tools inside people's VR gaming pods to scan their files, could they?

At most, they could issue a verbal appeal.

“Mr. Chen, are you trying to kill the players?”

Inside Nebula Games, Yang Xin's mouth twitched as she looked at the first functional MOD Chen Xu had created using the MOD development tool.

One surprising aspect of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for players was the absence of overwhelming malice.

Whether it was the gameplay or the story, the emotional blows or high-difficulty traps – none of these were found in the game.

After all, it was well-known that Mr. Chen's games loved to throw in some curveballs.

But now…

“How can you say that? Completionists and achievement hunters will be ecstatic!” Chen Xu chuckled. On the display screen before him was a magnificent building located in Solitude.

A sign at the entrance read: 'Dragonborn Museum' in large characters.

This was a relatively well-known MOD from his previous life.

Its main purpose was collection; various in-game items, from special quest items to common rewards, would be displayed in this exhibition hall.

“But obsessive-compulsive players are saying, ‘Damn it, Chihuahua!’” Yang Xin sighed.

She could already imagine how desperate some obsessive-compulsive players aiming for 100% completion would be.

Achieving the Platinum Trophy in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was already challenging enough.

But after adding this MOD, especially according to Chen Xu's statement, and to give players more enjoyment, this official MOD would also be integrated into the Nebula Gameverse, allowing other players and friends to showcase their collections.

Could those 100% completionist players really tolerate that?

Considering the massive amount of content in the game, Yang Xin could only say, may players have a good liver.

(End of Chapter) <>