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How did Skyrim beat Dark Souls in GAF's GotY 2011 vote?

Dark Souls.

The game for people who don't get to feel superior outside in the real world.

Muh hardcore. "PLAYING DARK SOULS MAKES YOU A MAN", they said.
 
It also adds ambient occlusion, anti aliasing, unlocks downsampling, and allows for some seriously awesome depth of field improvements for screenshooting. I know - I use it =P

I can do exactly the same thing you just did - post a deliberately ugly screenshot of Dark Souls and a modded Skyrim shot. It's representative of nothing, other than that both games can look great when modders get their hands on them. Neither are lookers in their base state though, and you're in denial if you think they are.

Personally I think the AO added by DSFix looks bad, no offense Durante! AA, whatever. It wouldn't make much of a difference in those shots. Dark Souls with DSFix (Default DoF settings and without AO/SMAA/FXAA) running at 1080p would look better than vanilla Skyrim running at 1080p due to vastly superior art direction. Vanilla Skyrim looks like a boring blue-tinted turd of a game.
 
It might be a better experience to casuals, but Dark Souls is objectively the better game.

People love using the objective word.

Yeah I enjoyed dark souls more but the last 30-40% of that game was dreadful so I can easily understand why others would prefer something else.
 
What was your point? Someone (Darkstorne) said Dark Souls had bad visuals. Someone else (JudgmentJay) posted a bunch of screenshots showing that wasn't true. You then said "lol Dark Souls would lose a screenshot war against (modded) Skyrim". Which is irrelevant to the point JudgmentJay was making.

You want to talk about making a point, you might want to explain what yours is supposed to be.


Darkstorne is the one who was sneering at "mods" (which was only DSFix) being used to apparently make DS look better than it really is to begin with... If mods aren't allowed for a comparison of visuals, that's on him.

To clarify, Jay posted the ugliest image of vanilla Skyrim he could find (from a mod page that improved the LOD, highlighting vanilla's low quality LOD by zooming in on it) then compared that to screenarchery images of DS using DSFix which adds downsampling, ambient occlusion, anti aliasing, and improved depth of field. But feel free to stick to your own spin on my posts.
 
Overall, Skyrim was and is a better game, which is reflected in both the sales and the fact that the game is still played by many people to this day (http://i.imgur.com/IxcI1i2.png)

The Souls games have a minor vocal fanbase that will never accept that though.
 
Why aren't mods, visual or otherwise, allowed in a thread about why one game won GOTY? Mods and Bethesda's welcoming attitude towards them are a big part of the user experience in Elder Scrolls.

Well, in the context of this thread, the GOTY votes came out when Skyrim was only a month old, so... there weren't very many mods for it yet. Just basic big things like snow/star/tree textures.
 
Personally I think the AO added by DSFix looks bad, no offense Durante! AA, whatever. It wouldn't make much of a difference in those shots. Dark Souls with DSFix (Default DoF settings and without AO/SMAA/FXAA) running at 1080p would look better than vanilla Skyrim running at 1080p due to vastly superior art direction. Vanilla Skyrim looks like a boring blue-tinted turd of a game.

Also Skyrim has terrible draw distance. Art direction of course obliterates it, not even fair.
 
Well, in the context of this thread, the GOTY votes came out when Skyrim was only a month old, so... there weren't very many mods for it yet. Just basic big things like snow/star/tree textures.

Well, two months for GAF GOTY, but that's a fair point. I don't know enough about Skyrim's mod timeline to say otherwise.
 
Was Skyrim your first rpg?
No, what suggests that? Saying Skyrim would have an influence? Don't take just my word, an executive producer at Bioware said the same thing. I think they've seen some RPG's before Skyrim. https://www.vg247.com/2014/11/03/skyrim-changed-rpgs-completely-says-dragon-age-producer/
Also other games have copied the invasion mechanic. That was arguably the best thing about Watch Dogs.
So, the most important video game of the last decade gave us... Invasions? That's just silly, Dark Souls didn't change that much. It's not some groundbreaking thing in video games, let alone the past 10 years. It has a healthy fanbase, but it's not some mega popular franchise. And it never will be. It's going to be milked for another few years before the fad wears out and Miyazaki and From moves on. That will be it.
Also yes, lof is a bad copy of Souls. I don't think most devs would dare copy Souls because they know they can't reach the quality FROM has.
Well, I guess we'd have to wait and see for a legitimate contender to try and take a shot. Miyazaki and From have certainly shown they're talented, it would be interesting to see a real challenger.
 
2019's Bloodborne vs MGS V vs Witcher 3 salt thread will shake the heavens.

Eh. I doubt anyone would be as concerned about Witcher 3. It's a paragon of its genre in a lot of ways.

And I say this as someone who doesn't like the Witcher.

MGS V winning GOTY might cause problems, though.

And I say this as someone who didn't hate MGS V.
 
After reading this thread I've learned quite a few posters love equivocation as a fallback defense. Show me the posts where Skyrim "fanboys" repeatedly insult the tastes of people who prefer DS. Show me the same level of condescension. Show me those high horses. Where is anyone calling DS the worst RPG or a shit game here?

But just as bad? Ok.

Very first page of this thread:

Skyrim was enjoyable and attractive, Dark Souls is torture and ugly as sin. Pretty obvious.

There's a bunch of others, but you get the idea. I don't feel like going through the whole thread again.

Souls fans are more vocal though, I'll give you that.

Edit: I wasn't, but then I saw this:

Dark Souls.

The game for people who don't get to feel superior outside in the real world.

Muh hardcore. "PLAYING DARK SOULS MAKES YOU A MAN", they said.

And had to include it as well. I suppose it comes with the territory though, when you have a very vocal fanbase, some people will start hating on that fanbase and by extension the game. Same thing seem to be happening with Undertale.
 
-Snipped-
Those examples wouldn't provide an objective grading criteria. You stated that certain features are defining characteristics although a developer can intentionally forgo it for a different experience.

How would you compare a game that has no combat if hitboxes are a grading criteria? How would you compare a game that is purely audio to a game that is known for its aesthetic?
 
Personally I think the AO added by DSFix looks bad, no offense Durante! AA, whatever. It wouldn't make much of a difference in those shots. Dark Souls with DSFix (Default DoF settings and without AO/SMAA/FXAA) running at 1080p would look better than vanilla Skyrim running at 1080p due to vastly superior art direction. Vanilla Skyrim looks like a boring blue-tinted turd of a game.

A reminder that this thread is about the 2011 GotY, back when there wasn't even a PC version of Dark Souls but PC mods were already making massive improvements to Skyrim.

Vanila console Dark Souls is a blurry mess of muddy textures barely saved by some admittedly interesting art design. Skyrim had some of the most gorgeous vistas ever seen in gaming and was already being pushed beyond its intended limits by the raw power of the PC.

This is a dead end of an argument.
 
I feel like the Skyrim fans are just answering the question posed by the OP, whereas the Souls people tend to go nuts in every thread that makes them feel slighted.

Were I'm seeing the Souls fans do that, AND the Skyrim fans all but saying "better sales= better game" and suggesting anyone who disagrees is stupid nerd loser. So pox on both houses really.
 
Skyrim was topped by The Witcher 3.

Dark Souls hasn't been topped.

Overall, Skyrim was and is a better game, which is reflected in both the sales and the fact that the game is still played by many people to this day (http://i.imgur.com/IxcI1i2.png)

The Souls games have a minor vocal fanbase that will never accept that though.
Skyrim's carried by its community. Hardly anybody playing it is playing vanilla.
 
overall? why?

How do you measure how good a game is?

When one game has a higher metacritic score, far better sales numbers and lots of people playing it to this day, i'd go with that as being the ''best'' game.

Some people do prefer Dark Souls, but there are more who prefer Skyrim. That's my point.

Skyrim's carried by its community. Hardly anybody playing it is playing vanilla.

Not sure what your point is, Skyrim recieved better reception and sales compared to Souls. In what world can that be considered as anything else than a win?
 
This thread has gone to shit. Most postersdon't even remember what the OP is about.

It seems right on track. The OP was an opinion piece.

I was just puzzled back then because of how much better a game Dark Souls was in my opinion but it does look like Dark Souls just wasn't widely spread enough to amount enough votes? I conjecture Skyrim wouldn't get close to DS if a poll were to be held today.
 
Skyrim was topped by The Witcher 3.

Dark Souls hasn't been topped.

Skyrim was topped by Morrowind before it even came out, but, putting that aside.


While Dark Souls is my favorite souls game, you'll find plenty of people who prefer a different souls game.
 
If I were to redo it all, I would still vote for Skyrim over DS any day of the week. I just felt it was such a better game that DS.
 
Both were pretty good games. Both have strengths and both have weaknesses depending on what you wanted from the game. I know people who played both games for what seemed like years. It will be funny to see if there are any parallels this year with TW3 and Bloodborne. The faults I have with Skyrim are present in TW3 mainly the weak combat. Bloodborne while great in the combat department left a lot to be desired in the build department compared to Dark Souls, I don't know if this has changed with the xpac, plus that frame pacing was never fixed and it bothers some people even if it doesn't bother you personally.
 
This just simply is not true Skyrim is far bigger than The Witcher 3 will ever be. Skyrim would beat out every game that came out this year for GOTY. It is that big compared to what we got this year.

I can understand people liking Skyrim more than Dark Souls. I think it's absurd, but I can still see it. Not everyone likes Dark Souls' style of gameplay. But to say Skyrim is better than The Witcher III... I just don't even know what to say. TW3 is basically Skyrim version 12.0. It's the same type of game and it's better in every conceivable way.
 
Skyrim was topped by Morrowind before it even came out, but, putting that aside.


While Dark Souls is my favorite souls game, you'll find plenty of people who prefer a different souls game.
Ahh... You have me there with Morrowind and another Souls game. But I was referring to a better game attempting a similar feat, but by a different developer.

This just simply is not true Skyrim is far bigger than The Witcher 3 will ever be. Skyrim would beat out every game that came out this year for GOTY. It is that big compared to what we got this year.
Okay, I understand that people liked Skyrim more than Dark Souls. But this?

lmao

What does Skyrim do better than The Witcher 3?
 
How do you measure how good a game is?

When one game has a higher metacritic score, far better sales numbers and lots of people playing it to this day, i'd go with that as being the ''best'' game.

Some people do prefer Dark Souls, but there are more who prefer Skyrim. That's my point.



Not sure what your point is, Skyrim recieved better reception and sales compared to Souls. In what world can that be considered as anything else than a win?

well, when someone says "overall" and is talking about a videogame, i usually think about gameplay/story/graphics/ art direction/framerate-performance/replay value.
 
This just simply is not true Skyrim is far bigger than The Witcher 3 will ever be. Skyrim would beat out every game that came out this year for GOTY. It is that big compared to what we got this year.

Not a chance.(especially not on GAF) Look at how Fallout 4 is doing as a barometer.
 
How did a gigantic mass market friendly AAA game do better than this niche title centered around challenge with a weird story that turned a lot of people off?

Do you think GAF has some majority population of abnormal videogame players?

Also seriously in what way does it actually matter?
 
overall? why?

Skyrim hasn't held up that well and Dark Souls is still really polished, but back in 2011 Skyrim was actually the GOAT. It was everywhere. It was all people talked about. Its modding scene is absolutely insane, to this day. People have turned it into a tropical game with tigers, people are mapping out all of Tamriel, people are remaking Morrowind... You can't ignore Skyrim's impact on the industry.

Naming Skyrim GOTY 2011 was the right choice. I'll even name it Game of the Decade in 2020 based on its impact unless something VR related blows up.
 
2019's Bloodborne vs MGS V vs Witcher 3 salt thread will shake the heavens.

I don't see it being that big a thing, Witcher fans who played all three games are not that many, and MGS fans seem to be the ones who have the most issues with the story of V; however keep that thought if both Uncharted 4 and Dark Souls 3 are actually really REALLY good.
 
Yeah. It's incredible how annoying a certain section of that fanbase are.

I found there was some mild complaining and then it became some insufferable meme in every single _______ Top 10 games of 2015 thread. To the point where the people who were preemptive trolling drowned out anyone who was actually mad. Go read every single one of those threads, the first page was all a bunch of the same response. ParrotGAF was in full effect in those threads.
 
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