Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim not getting demo

It's no surprise, but we now have solid confirmation that Bethesda won't release a demo for Skyrim, due to its size and complexity.

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It's no surprise to hear, but we now have now solid confirmation that Bethesda won't release a demo for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, due to the fantasy RPG's "size and complexity."

"No, we won't be doing a demo. With a game this size and complexity, it's really hard to do a demo that represents the game truly," Skyrim lead producer Craig Lafferty has told Gameplanet (via Eurogamer). "It'd be a gigantic demo as well. So we won't be doing a demo."

It was to be expected, really. The last Elder Scrolls game to receive a demo was 1996's Daggerfall; Bethesda's similarly open-world-y Fallout 3 also went demo-less. As half the joy of the series lies in roaming freely and doing as you please, it'd be difficult and time-consuming to cut a slice of Skyrim that properly captured that freedom and variety.

Still, any sort of demo at all would be handy for players to test how well the game runs on their PC and get a feel for some of Skyrim's updated mechanics. Shame. Even some sort of benchmark test, as Capcom has taken to making for PC ports, would be welcome.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is headed to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 11. As you evidently won't be playing it yourself before launch, you might fancy reading our April preview.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 14, 2011 5:31 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim not getting demo.

    It's no surprise, but we now have solid confirmation that Bethesda won't release a demo for Skyrim, due to its size and complexity.

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      July 14, 2011 6:01 AM

      Good. Spend the time ironing out the bugs instead.

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      July 14, 2011 6:09 AM

      Nope, not a surprise. Doing a coherent demo of a Bethesda RPG would basically amount to "you have to download the entire game, but it's time-limited".

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        July 14, 2011 6:14 AM

        [deleted]

      • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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        July 14, 2011 7:22 AM

        What? NO.

        They could just include one dungeon.

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          July 14, 2011 7:49 AM

          That's a terrible demo of a Bethesda RPG. It would be like demoing a FPS with a single square room, one weapon, and one enemy.

          • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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            July 14, 2011 8:24 AM

            That's not what it would be like at all.

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              July 14, 2011 8:55 AM

              [deleted]

              • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                July 14, 2011 9:16 AM

                It would not be pointless.

                It would let you sample the combat, see how the game runs and looks on your system, see some treasure, how the game interface feels, they could have a couple of quest NPCs in there so you get a feel for the dialogue and questing.

                It doesn't have to be one of the 17 billion generic crypts that Oblivion had.

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                  July 14, 2011 10:33 AM

                  Either you'll buy it or you won't, that said a benchmark would be appreciated.

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                  July 14, 2011 12:35 PM

                  [deleted]

                  • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                    July 14, 2011 1:00 PM

                    Ok, so now the Shackpile(TM) is trending towards hating demos.

                    I'm trying to keep up but you mess are fickle.

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                      July 14, 2011 1:47 PM

                      [deleted]

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                        July 14, 2011 1:55 PM

                        You could limit it to only the exterior, that would be weird though.

                      • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                        July 14, 2011 1:58 PM

                        If you limit any game, you limit it.

                        TES does not get any special considerations here.

                        If you show only 2 levels out of a 50 level game, you miss out on a lot of weapons, environments, and engine features. You don't get the complete experience.

                        THAT'S WHY IT'S A DEMO.

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                          July 14, 2011 3:37 PM

                          The difference is that exploring a massive open world and doing whatever you want in it is the most compelling aspect of Bethesda RPGs. Cutting that out is like cutting out the shooting in a shooter demo.

                          • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                            July 14, 2011 3:45 PM

                            I disagree.
                            Exploring the open world is fun (less so each iteration, but certainly a primary draw of the game), but nowhere near as integral as "shooting [is to] a shooter"

                            Exploring dungeons is the main reason I play them. I live for the next dungeon. All they have to do is call it "Skyrim - Dungeon Demo" and it would do just fine.

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                          July 14, 2011 3:45 PM

                          [deleted]

                          • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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                            July 14, 2011 3:47 PM

                            Why are you all assuming that the demo has to show all features, all locations, all aspects of the game? It's a demo. You just give a taste, preferably from fairly early in the game so as not to spoil anything.

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                      July 14, 2011 2:58 PM

                      Ebu you are genuinely just incorrect on this.

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                      July 14, 2011 3:04 PM

                      [deleted]

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              July 14, 2011 10:32 AM

              You're right -- Oblivion usually had 2-3 enemies in that one room, one-weapon dungeon.

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          July 14, 2011 12:23 PM

          [deleted]

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        July 14, 2011 8:36 AM

        Why don't they? Blizzard did this with Starcraft 2 (although with limited guest passes).

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        July 14, 2011 11:08 AM

        They way you do it is to not do a straight demo of the game at all. Rather, you build a side story related to the main quest arc. Something small that lasts like 2 hrs. A set character, but with mixed combat styles. One small town or dungeon and a few monsters. You get a feel if your system can run the game, feel for combat, dialog, etc. But, it's basically a mini-game. Does the time-value of money allow that? Maybe not.

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      July 14, 2011 6:20 AM

      I don't know how you do a demo of that game without making it basically the full version timed and then cracking it is super simple.

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        July 14, 2011 8:09 AM

        Just do what they did with JC2?

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        July 14, 2011 8:37 AM

        Wouldn't be harder than applying a crack for the full game, though.

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        July 14, 2011 8:40 AM

        [deleted]

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          July 14, 2011 9:03 AM

          It sounds like they're doing things a bit differently with the start of Skyrim this time around though, I'm not sure that option would work.

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      July 14, 2011 6:33 AM

      T - FOUR MONTHS. SCHEDULE YOUR VACATIONS BOYS AND GIRLS

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      July 14, 2011 6:49 AM

      You should have acted. They're already here. The Elder Scrolls told of their return. Their defeat was merely a delay. To the time after Oblivion opened. When the sons of Skyrim would spill their own blood. No one wanted to believe.. believe they even existed, and when the truth finally dawned, it dawned in fire.

      But there's one they fear. In their tongue, he is Do'va Kliin: DRAGONBORN!

      (Queue psychotically warlike male chorus, singing in something that wants to be German and Russian, only ten times more awesome).

      Yeah, I don't think I need much more than the trailer. It's the Elder Scrolls. We get the picture.

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      July 14, 2011 9:07 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 14, 2011 9:28 AM

      This was expected. No big deal.

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      July 14, 2011 10:27 AM

      Already pre-ordered it, so no biggy.

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      July 14, 2011 10:32 AM

      They should release a video demo disc like Relic did for Homeworld then. That shit was awesome.

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      July 14, 2011 10:36 AM

      hmmm. demos at large are an interesting topic. I wonder what goes into considering a demo for any type of game. MW3 is undergoing some pseudo-demo testing, right? There was a DA2 demo on PC and there was a conviction demo I played on the 360. But what percentage of releases have demos? Less than 10% I'd guess?

      Skyrim doesn't seem to have that sense that it needs a demo to me, for some reason. But other games, I'm really hoping for one. Strange.

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      July 14, 2011 11:05 AM

      ZOMG! I am so not getting this game now! What a deal breaker!

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      July 14, 2011 11:24 AM

      I can't remember the last time I downloaded a demo.

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      July 14, 2011 11:54 AM

      a benchmark would be nice actually

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        July 14, 2011 12:32 PM

        ^^^ I'm completely surprised how few pc games have a benchmark.

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          July 14, 2011 1:21 PM

          because they are console ports! heyoooooo

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            July 14, 2011 3:15 PM

            Gotta call bullshit on that since it seems Capcom games all tend to have a benchmark option, yet they are all straight up console ports.

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        July 14, 2011 3:48 PM

        Computers are cheap - just build the best possible machine - it's nothing nowadays.

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        July 14, 2011 6:02 PM

        Is it really necessary? It still runs on PS3 and 360...I'd wager if Oblivion and Fallout 3 run okay, this will run just slightly less okay.

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      July 14, 2011 1:19 PM

      Always that word-complexity.Battlefield 3 no mod tools release because of complexity,no demo for Skyrim because of complexity.The developers are bored to death...

      • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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        July 14, 2011 3:45 PM

        I love that they hide behind that.

        Not that they aren't complex, but that's what we pay for. If it weren't complex, it would be laughable to charge $60 for it.

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          July 14, 2011 6:02 PM

          It's better yet when they say they're removing content to shift focus to other things and don't even deliver on that.

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        July 14, 2011 5:26 PM

        Right, they're just kicking back this whole time.

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      July 14, 2011 6:01 PM

      Ah yes, setting a max level and removing areas up to a certain point is hard work indeed.

      This reads "We don't want to destroy our hype machine before you pay your money."

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      July 14, 2011 8:03 PM

      Normally I don't buy games without a demo or beta; but this is Elder Scrolls we're talking about. You seriously need a demo to know it will be awesome?

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