Skyrim will have infinite quests, says Bethesda

We all know the feeling: loving a game so much you can't stop playing, while simultaneously wishing you'd slow down -- take it easy -- so you can savor the experience of playing it as long as you can. Well, Bethesda feels us. That's why they've tried their hand at making this Friday's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim the game that never ends.

We all know the feeling: loving a game so much you can't stop playing, while simultaneously wishing you'd slow down -- take it easy -- so you can savor the experience of playing it as long as you can. Well, Bethesda feels us. That's why they've tried their hand at making this Friday's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a game that never ends.

The game's Radiant quest system, which allows the Skyrim world to react to your decisions, actions and skill level, will generate an infinite amount of "procedurally generated content," according to a Wired report. This means the world will generate new tasks for the player based on his or her progress -- exploring a previously unfound area, collecting a previously undiscovered item.

“The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever,” said Todd Howard, Skyrim's director, to Wired.

Aside from those minor fetch-type quests, players will also be able to pick up randomly generated quests from guilds like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild, but only after each guild's main quest line is completed.

But Howard said Skyrim's most engaging component isn't completing quests, but, rather, exploring the game's massive world.

“The world is probably the one thing that sets [Skyrim] apart from other games,” he said. “It's just fun to explore."

We'll have to take his word for it until this Friday, Nov. 11, when the game launches for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Until then, you can always join me in singing...

This is the game that doesn't end. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Some people started playing it but kind of knew what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever just because...

This is the game that never ends...

Staff article by Jonathan Davila (November 09, 2011) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this news article, you can update your bio from the Settings page.