User blog:Madman97/You know what really grinds my Wabbajack's? S2E8: No Hardcore Mode.

Hello everyone, Madman97, and welcome to the third to last episode of Wabbajack grinding, with the second to last being Nine, and, well, I hope you can count. We're nearing the final stretch of our beloved rant series and I have a few announcments to make. I am innitiating the old guessing game, where is if you correctly guess the topic of the season finale you win the same prize as you would have won last time. So get cracking. Since apparently people have so much problems solving three simple riddles in my popular blog post, The Game of Madness, in celebration of the season finale, the answers might be revealed. Or who knows, perhaps as a secondary prize for the guessing contest I might clue you in.

But enough of that, on to what you came for. Adventure is ripe in Skyrim. I ain't gonna put you guys through the same speech I have been saying for many blogs now. Skyrim is full of adventure until you run out of quests. Things in the game are useless and just dead weight, weighing the game down, some, if not all, of the quests are repetative, and Skyrim in general is just a game that needs finishing and closure. And I think I may have found the perfect solution.

Looking back on Fallout New Vegas, which to be honest, I liked better than Fallout 3 (Keep your pants on Fallout 3 fans, I still love the game, it's just New Vegas is a bit more up my alley), and it had Hardcore mode. This mode had it all. You had to watch your sleep meter, hunder, thirst, stimpacks didn't heal you automatically but over time, the whole shebang. Survival was your top priority. A lot of stuff you could just wing and get away with scot free in normal mode is rendered dang near scuicidal here, if you didn't plan out your attack and strategize what your plan of attack was. Screw the Quarry full of Death Claws. Just avoid that area all together. It was the most hardcore S*** you will ever take up, apart from legendary mode in Halo or 1999 mode in Bioshock Infinite or a four day long stint of trying to beat Portal 2. (Lol, everyone said it was easier than the first one, which thy said took them like days to figure out, when I beat it in an hour, while apparently people got better with Portal 2 where it took me a couple days, and two for the multiplayer campaign with Dave.)

Anyway, this went well with a lot of hardcore gamers, and the option was very welcome if you may have adventured out the Mojave Desert and you need a fresh start, no dlcs required, though it made them a lot tougher as well. A fresh sweep.

And that's exactly what Skyrim needs. Because of the Diversity of culture and great potential for adventure, many people still play Oblivion today. But I know many people who still play Oblivion for all the years it has been out and have hung up Skyrim months ago. I havn't played it in a bit now. Much to concerned about GTA V anyway. Heard it broke the sales record of the fastest selling entertainment item in history. Cool. Anyway, imagie the oppurtunity a hardcore mode would bring to the Elder Scrolls. Look at it now in your head. All items you rendered useless suddenly become essential to survival. Healing magic doesn't just heal you automatically anymore unless you are a master, but goes slower, and potions act slower to, a realistic setting. Zap some water with some lightning to electrocute it. (Seriously, you have oil and fire, why not water and lightning?) Hunt for Elk and actually put those hides to use. Slaying a dragon is every bit a tough a feat as it was your very first time in normal game, probably one of the most glorious moments in gaming history, and defeating a Legendary Dragon will require the best gaming skill you could imagine, if only they could improve the AI to the game as well. I am quite high leveled, and since I didn't really upgrade my health much, wandering into a bandit cave is still pretty dangerous if I am not careful. Imagine what it would be like in Hardcore mode? Pretty F***ing hard that's what. And I like it.

Challenge makes for interesting gameplay Dragonborns and Kvatchies, it makes for the best gameplay. AND WHEN F***ING BETHESDA DECIDES TO SKIP OUT AND HALF-@$$ THEIR PERFORMANCE WITH SKYRIM, ASSOCIATING "BIG" WITH "GOOD", A COMPANY'S BIGGEST MISTAKE FOR A GAME, IT MAKES ME MAD!!! MORE THAN MAD!!! INSANELY MAD. MAD INSANELY. YLENASNI DAM!!! THEIR BIGGEST MISTAKE WITH SKYRIM? (sigh) They chose quanitity over quality. That's not to say Skyrim is a terrible game. But after everything we have done in the game, people need this Hardcore mode. Magic would be ten times more challenging to cast and to fight. It would truly be a battle of wits. Sword wounds actually take their toll. Armor breaking, weapons breaking, MORE ARMOR for God's sakes. You had like eighteen peices of equipment for each set of armor and weapons, and like a million different kinds in Oblivion. Where did all that go? In this case, quantity would be good. It's just there is quanitity in the wrong place here.

Unfortunatly, Bethesda sold out to the majority of the Fantasy Market, the Casual Gamer. I consider myself a pretty casual guy, but when it comes to games after a long days work, I need an escape. But Bethesda assumed us all docil gamers, and the probably thought no one in there right mind would pick Hardcore mode in Skyrim. Well, I am not in my right mind, I am usually in my left, and being insane helps out too, and it's not just me. Probably everyone on this wikia is hardcore gamer of some sort because no casual gamer would ever actually get involved with his/her game. Anyone who is on here has probably desired some kind of challenge in the Elder Scrolls. Accomplishing something as miniscule as taking out a dragon for me would now become a crowning achievment, and make you feel like even more of the bad@$$ you deserve to be in this game. So seriously Bethesda, what happened?