Former Skyrim designer explains why removing attributes went almost unnoticed by players

Bruce Nesmith, former design lead on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, revealed how he "led the charge" on streamlining the game's systemic elements, including the attribute system from Oblivion. The developer aimed to create an RPG where players wouldn't be buried in numbers and spreadsheets.

Speaking with Press Box PR, Nesmith discussed the challenges of lowering barriers to entry in long-running RPGs. Compounding complexities in both worldbuilding and character-building can excite longtime fans but overwhelm newcomers.

Having 52 different races, 112 different magic systems, it's exciting for the people who've been there on the ride from the beginning but it's too challenging for people who are trying to get into it for the first time.

The decision to minimize attributes and other RPG elements in Skyrim came from similar considerations.

I led the charge on that, to be frank. Obviously I had to persuade Todd [Howard] as he is the ultimate arbiter on these things, but I managed to do so.

Nesmith worked on many character systems and embraced Howard's philosophy from the Oblivion era.

One of Todd's philosophies early on in Oblivion, which I took to heart and [is] why I pushed so hard for these things, is that he wanted an interface-less game so ideally you just play the game. You just play it.

It was about getting the character system out of the player's way. You don't have your head buried in menus, stats and rules. Just enjoy the moment. It is a way to do that. In every version of the Elder Scrolls where I had any say in character systems, that is what I would push for.

Oblivion featured Fallout-style attributes including Strength, Intelligence, Agility, and others. Skyrim boiled it down to basic resource meters – Health, Magicka, and Stamina. Skills remained numerous in Skyrim but worked differently than stats on a character sheet.

Nesmith isn't against RPGs with more detailed stats – in this interview and elsewhere, he praises Baldur's Gate 3 with its numerous menus, stats, and rules. But his vision for The Elder Scrolls was a more straightforward, hands-on, and immersive adventure.

We got rid of attributes in Skyrim and you know who complained? Almost nobody. They hardly even noticed it. I love the whole idea that you do something, you get better at it. That's now a hallmark of the Elder Scrolls series because you play the character you want to play and you just get better at playing that character.

This approach can be traced in games across different genres, like Valheim, which follows a similar "do something to get better at it" system. Nesmith highlighted the connecting thread:

You don't have to worry about where you are going to spend your points or how you are going to do this and do that. Just play the game. Let's get the game out of your way.

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