So I was strolling through the streets of Whiterun the other day when suddenly it hit me. An arrow, that is.
That’s right, there I was, minding my own business, wandering through town looking to sell some junk when out of nowhere, an arrow came flying from behind me and hit me square in the back. I moved instantly into attack mode, instinctively reacting to what seemed like a random bandit encounter, but then I remembered I was in the middle of town. Who the heck just shot me?
This is where it gets interesting, and is one of the reasons I love this game so much. I looked around, thinking that maybe I’d committed a crime recently that I’d forgotten about, and the guards were out to get me. But there was a guard standing nearby, and he didn’t seem to care. He also didn’t seem too concerned that one of his citizens just got pelted in the back with an arrow, but I let it slide. Maybe he was drunk.
As it turns out, I was being attacked by none other than the Whiterun Banker (a character from a mod I use called “Bank of Skyrim.” The mod allows you to approach characters in each of the nine holds and invest some of your money over a period of time, just like you would in a real bank or investment firm). Maybe I owed her some money or something, because I’ve never been attacked on sight before! What’s even more bizarre is that after turning around to see who shot me, she had already put away her bow and was just cowering in a corner, ready to take me on MMA style. If you’re going to act like a thug and come after me for money, at least have the guts to finish the job!
Which brings me to my point. When this game released, Bethesda wasn’t afraid to acknowledge that there were bugs in the game. In fact, they went so far as to say that was part of the game’s charm, and that as long as the bugs weren’t game-breaking, they should be enjoyed for their comical nature. And you know what? I took them to heart on that. Fortunately, I never experienced any major game-breaking bugs (until recently when I was unable to begin a new character, this was fixed by re-installing the game), but the bugs I did experience have all been entertaining, like this stressed out banker incident. Granted, this bug came off a player-created mod, but it’s a great and recent example of what I’m talking about.
I’ve experienced other glitches where dragons were invisible, my character could sneak without being in sneak mode, my crossbow bolts were unable to harm opponents (they just bounced off them and hit the ground), deer were insanely powerful, and one of my favorites: annoying followers that got lost and never caught up to me again. None of these were ever so bad that it was something a simple game restart couldn’t fix, and I really got a good laugh out of them. And if you’re going to let something like this get you all hot and bothered and start trashing the game all over the internet, well you need to relax.
Because let’s face it, this game is huge. The very thing that makes this game amazing is also one of the things that makes it so difficult to make perfect. With all the square footage this game covers, it’s understandable that there will be glitches. It’s reasonable to think that there might be a room with an unlocked door that you just simply cannot get into. It makes sense that, occasionally, one of those dragons will be flying around in an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini (ok, that one I haven’t seen, but there’s gotta be a mod out there for it…).
So I guess my point is this: don’t let any of these bugs you encounter get you down. Embrace them. Screenshot them. Share them with friends. As long as these things aren’t breaking your game, or at least if you’re able to re-load the game and have it be fixed, I say live and let bug. This game has too many great things going for it for people to count it out just because the developers missed a few needles in a haystack the size of Idaho.
What are some of the most entertaining bugs you’ve found during your travels around Skyrim? Has anyone else been attacked by the angry banker? Or was she just mad because I turned her down for that drink after work? Either way, it was nothing a quick reload couldn’t fix, and now we’re back on professional terms again, and I think things are going well with my investment. At least, I don’t THINK she’s doing anything shady with my money…
Great article dude. I myself encountered a bug yesterday while recording my “Explore Skryim” series for the network. It was the fantastic and utterly ridiculous ‘giant launching’ bug where I witnessed a bandit get struck by a giant’s club and get launched into space. I absolutely love this bug, and it’s easily my favorite one out there.
Also, how does Banks of Skyrim work? Sounds like an amazing mod. I’ve always been a little let down by the weak economic system in this game.
Shadow hide you
I agree that some of the imperfections are just funny. I was walking today and all of a sudden a dragon skeleton fell out of the sky and hit me on the head
Also saw a skeleton of a dragon propped up on a rock like it was ready for a gyno appointment..
Great article!! Keep them coming.
Katjac (Katjac1997 on twitter)
Those are some great bugs guys, I’d forgotten about the slamming people into space one, that one’s fantastic!
I once encountered a bug where my companions walked (never ran) backwards everywhere they went, if you told them to leave they just walked off, staring at you, their gaze following you no matter what direction you moved in…it was rather strange…
Hahaha, that’s a great one, and rather creepy as well….
I managed to completely lose Cicero as a follower in one of the new dungeons in dragonborn(he never returned to the dark brotherhood base). It was a dwarf one that had a room full of spinning gears that you have to cross. So if you come across this room in your travels, dismiss your follower first!
I seem to have lost Lydia, and worse: I have no idea WHERE I lost her! just suddenly realised she wasn’t there anymore, dunno when last she was.
Being big is not an excuse for having such bugs. In any regard. And if you think it is, care to explain why without using that argument? Maybe prove to us that, code-wise, you cannot make games like this without game-breaking bugs? And, if you can prove that, why is Bethesda making games like that at all?
There’s a reason Skyrim has so many screenshots of problems, glitches, and other such things. It’s because Bethesda lets their players be the beta testers versus their own staff, and then goes back and fixes their messes after their paying customers find those flaws for them.
So, if you enjoy being someone else’s bug tester, on a $60 game you bought, you’d better hope the next game comes with the same problems, if not more. Maybe a game breaker bug that locks you on the options screen.
Unless you really don’t want that to happen, in which case you’d better start demanding Bethesda up their game and stop being so lazy. Because, in the end, it’s not their reputation on the line. Their reputation is releasing buggy as hell games. It’s your time and money that’s on the line, because you bought a buggy game and had to ride on Bethesda’s truck bed and wait for them to deliver the fixes you needed to make it playable.
Three times now, when I’ve shot game, it has sort of kneeled on its front legs, the back legs still upright, and not toppled over. I crack up every time I walk past one of them. Also: are stolen horses supposed to run back to where you stole them from, every time you dismount, causing you to have to re-steal them every time?
Fus Ro Dah!
Rauko Dagnir (Demon [Q] Slayer [S] and not Demonslayer), aka Captain Ryaffio
Great question! The favorite bug I have encountered is one where there was a man was planted at the waist in the dirt/trail the Whiterun stables. He was planted there for several game sessions. Then, rather suddenly, he was planted there, and there were three others just like him standing walking around and talking. Triplets and the deformed fourth. Hysterical!
This game is pretty incredible. I hate to admit it…, I’m a middle-aged woman with a professional career… But I love my Skyrim time.
Hahaha, don’t be ashamed Jools, most of us are not teenagers pounding Mountain Dew anymore (not that there’s anything wrong with that if that’s your thing). I myself have a family, career, and mortgage, but still squeeze in Skyrim (and many other games) as often as I can!
i didnt had bugs or glitches or any other stuffs like that but just one, no no i didnt got an arrow in my knee, though that would be hilarious. So i had a quest in a dungeon and there was this old man that i had to talk to to let me inside but every time i talked to him he was always repeating nonses thing i realy didnt care, so i found on the internet an update that fixed the bug and managed to finish the quest in the end. (happy ending-how lovely)
The best bug is the companion AI, or the lack of AI, is funny and annoying.
But going to real bugs, I have a bug with Lidia. She died in a cave (she fell and died), so I left and never saw she again (because she still and the cave, dead).
But, after a long time (like more 3 weeks playing) I fight the “Whiterun Battle”. And after the end of the battle I enter and Whiterun, and the first thing I saw is the Lidia’s corpse in the middle of the streets.
Now every time I go to Whiterun I see Lidia’s corpse in a strange pose, and every time one folk go histerical about this… I already try retrieve the corpse, but now she is a part of the cenario… Creepy
Ah, I forget, but I miss the bug with the flying animals. The first time I met a Sabre Cat, he jumps on my and miss, so he continue his jump, just like a super-Sabre Cat. And when he finally landed, he died (falling damage).