On Skyrim: B&E
You know what? I used to be a normal, law-abiding citizen… but thanks to Skyrim, I gained an unusual fondness for breaking and entering. And right now, goddamn do I love me some B&E.
All in-game, of course. Still, it is a tad disconcerting, just because it’s so strangely satisfying. You’re in this virtual playground with very few restrictions, and one of the things you can do is break into people’s houses. That may not sound like a big deal, but… well, there’s really nothing quite like it. But I will try to describe it.
It is a curious thing, seeing people’s houses untended. You get to peruse their books and items and trinkets, scouring the nooks and crannies for buried gold (literally) as you go. Peeking into drawers and end tables and chests will inevitably unearth a certain sum of gold, and in a way, you stop and think about what you’re doing at that point. This 50 gold may not seem like a lot to you, certainly, but it has been locked in some sort of strongbox, so this is likely this poor farmer’s life savings, representative of all of his past struggles and future aspirations. And you can take that all away in one fell swoop, and if you do things right, nobody will ever know you were responsible.
Why is this so satisfying?!
Even just getting into the house itself can be exciting. Sure you can pick the lock any time, but that’d be the boring way to go about it. I find it’s better to nab the key right off of people, so that you can come into and go out of their houses at your leisure. Think about that for a second–that means you can check on their houses over and over, casually slipping any new valuables they may have added into your satchel. These people would be living in fear of some silent phantom, one who presents a constantly looming threat of snatching away everything they hold dear at any given moment. That must absolutely paralyze Skyrim’s homeowners… and that pleases me.
Clearly, all this is indicative of some deep-rooted psychological and/or anti-social disorder, but I’m much too busy to fix it right now. I mean, those dragons don’t kill themselves, you know.
December 15, 2011 at 10:38 am
Voyeuristic joy.
Can’t comment about Skyrim, but having played Morrowind and Oblivion, B&E is a blast, and scratches that dungeon-crawly “scrounge for every resource” itch. But you do make an interesting observation about the kind of “fluff” that designers give to NPC domiciles. Scouring their bookshelves and cabinets, while profitable, is also an amusingly voyeuristic experience, and sometimes gives some interesting observations on NPCs.
It’s sort of easy for me to do in the Elder Scrolls games, as the world is so large that I find it hard to view the swarms of NPCs as people, so I rarely have second thoughts about rifling through their valuables and reading their mail. With tighter and more restricted settings, like Dragon Age or Mass Effect, I find myself thinking through whether I can really stomach robbing these people (especially with Bioware’s predilection for turning everything into a moral quandry or pivotal story point).
December 15, 2011 at 10:54 am
You need to get your Skyrim on, brother
By and large I don’t feel too remorseful of my actions, but it’s there to some extent. I mean, it’s all well and good to be robbing Lord Pompous McArrogant of his golden horseshoes or whatever, but I can’t help but feel just a twinge of guilt as I sort through farmer John’s belongings to find a mere 20 gold, picking it up anyway because goddammit, my mortgage ain’t paying for itself. Similarly, I feel bad having to rough up some lady barkeep because her envelopes were starting to feel a bit too light, but if I don’t do it then the thieves’ guild will never respect me.
I guess one reason I prefer Skyrim over Dragon Age is how well the variables of the game really enhances the experience. In Dragon Age you could badmouth people you don’t like so as to (hopefully) invoke a fight, but you couldn’t randomly swing into the local taverns claiming to be an avatar of justice, or anything. In Skyrim, though, you can complete your mission and then come back later on to slaughter the guild and loot their remains, then have enough scratch remaining to pay back the lady you just beat up by manner of some ill-conceived trades. It won’t really accomplish anything in-game, but you will know that you did the right thing, and as such your guilt is assuaged, if only briefly. I realize this is also present in some other TES games, but Skyrim just refines it to a point where you literally will have nothing to complain about… unlike Oblivion, which had me living in a constant state of fear of its waxwork revenant-looking NPCs. Buying the usual supplies was a harrowing process for me then, if only because it inspired random bouts of OH GOD STOP STARING AT MEEE
That has me wondering now if you truly could slaughter every living being in Skyrim. I’m somewhat confident that you can’t, but there’s really only one way to find out…