[Urzu 7]

New info. If you don't like spoilers, don't read.

The French Official Playstation Magazine has some new information about Skyrim... Apparently there's some new screenshots too, but so far, I haven't been able to locate any scans. Anyways, here's the info, straight from Bethesda's own forums. Of course, lock if old.

- 'Magnetism' is used to prevent friendly fire in combat, by slightly 'pulling' your attacks towards enemies
- Some, apparently unique, enchanted weapons will have "concealed" effects. You won't know what those are until you try the weapon.
- You cannot block if you have a sword in one hand, and a spell in another. Only players wielding two-handed blades or sword and shield can use block.
- The Spell Shield effect returns.
- Taverns will play a large role in the game. You will be able to overhear people's conversations, start quests, acquire information, and much more.
- They mention breaking and entering to find out more about people, but I'm not sure as to what extent - "Because of the open world set up you can even progress by snooping around - following people, looking out for strange behaviour and even some light breaking and entering".
- Quest givers will be "less specific", this apparently means they won't be saying stuff like "There's 5 ogres at my house, and you must kill them" or "Do this, and I shall give you 300 gold." I'm not exactly sure why this is important, unless they'll also be "less specific" when giving directions. Apparently, the amount of vagueness quest givers have is tied to their disposition towards you.
- Several new spell effects, including "Ice Trap" (only triggered when an enemy walks over it), "Circle of Protection" (push the enemies in your vicinity away), "Fury" (make enemies fight each other), and so on.
- One of the finishing moves involves "plunging your sword into your enemy's chest", coupled with gurgling death noises.
- The 'free-form' activities you can perform include cooking, woodcutting, mining and metalwork.
- A Dragon Shout that slows down time (a la Bullet Time) is mentioned.
- Some Dragon Shouts are found in dungeons.
- There's a city called Riverwood. It is described as 'A smattering of timber buildings, including a sawmill'.
- Radiant Story is in part inspired by the random encounters in Fallout 3.
- The game apparently looks amazing in motion, with great environment effects such as the wind making the water swirl and making waves.
- It is possible to raise all skills to 100 but not possible to get all perks.
- Dragon encounters aren't scripted. If one comes across a town in its travels, it might decide to set it ablaze without warning.
- It talks about the improvement of NPC's and Radiant AI.
- Every big settlement is unique. The city of Markarth Side, for example, is set into "dramatic stone cliffs, with buildings teetering on the end of sheer drops."
- Haarfingar is said to be home to the largest trading port in Skyrim.
- The game apparently includes 'meteorogical effects': clouds gathering around mountaintops, etcetera.
- The glorious return of the Dwemer ruins is once again confirmed.
- One of the cities in Skyrim will apparently be heavily inspired by the Dunmer (Dark Elves)
- They're trying to go back to the "eccentricity" of Vvardenfell. Every Nord faction will have their own customs, colors, and so on.
- The economy of the game is better developed than in Oblivion. If you destroy a city's means of income (for instance, their crops) they'll need to buy crops from another nearby city, and prices in the city will go up.
- Archers can 'hold their breath' while aiming. This consumes stamina, but gives the archer a better chance of hitting the enemy.