How should respec work in The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

[Satguru]

Should there ever be an option to respec in Skyrim? I know that multiple play through will allow for multiple character types but sometimes a respec is a necessary or worthwhile gameplay mechanic. I, for one, wouldn't mind a limited/single use respec that is not tied to any quests but is an artifact/scroll hinted at in books or through conversations. If that sounds too easy then how about one trainer in each skill who is able to give you a quest line and at the end of the line you can get back all your points from that skill tree. So if you wanted to redo all of your skills then you would have to go to 18 different people, complete a lot of quests, and do it all with a diminishing amount of perks until you only had a few on your last quest line.

[RyanInt]

The beauty of the "level up what you use" style of the elder scrolls series makes it kind of removes the need to respec because you goofed up on your character build. Respecs are necessary for MMOs because when playing alongside others you are expected to fill your role to the best of you and your class's abilities, and most classes will have multiple potential roles. Skyrim is a single-player game, so you shouldn't need to worry about which skills or perks best improve your character, and just pick the skills and perks you think you will enjoy.

[AZUL]

The only real speccing you do is picking your perks, and being able to pick a certain perk will be based on having a high level in that skill. The way I see it, the new system will basically give the first few levels of your game act as the intro prison break part of Oblivion - they show you the skills and let you pick ones that seem cool. You will be able to switch what skills you use more at the start of the game at will and figure out what you want to do. If you can't pick your character by then and figure it out, you should just restart.

[RockOn]

Definitely not, if there were Respecs: The sense of consequence you have right at the start of the game, the feeling that "the way I play will be reflected exactly in my characters skills/perks/whatever" would be ruined right from the start. Again on the consequence, if you play through the game and you play many different styles therefore going down many different perk trees you should then be mediocre at all of those but not fantastic at any of them, while on the other hand if you work the most at one hand sword you should be amazing at it.

[Squibbit]

I support whatever makes sense within the context of the game world. To me, some limited form of "respec" makes sense within the context of the game world. That is - no player should ever be prohibited from investing the necessary time and effort to gain a new skill. However, once the player has mastered a group of skills, if she then shifts to something else and invests the time and effort necessary to gain that skill, the earlier skills, if not also regularly practiced, will tend to slip. That's not a game gimmick - that's the way that real life really works. I think a role-playing game should include some representation of that.

[Wyvern]

The only way I could see being able to change perks working in this game would be by only allowing it something like [] Before level 4 and after level 50. I say this because leveling after 50 should take much longer and id say you should be able to drop a perk and gain a perk maybe once every 2 levels after 50 or something like that. Only if it takes quite a while. Personally i think allowing respeccing destroys many core aspects of the game but if it HAD to be implemented I would like to see it similar to like I said above. Very difficult and it should come at some kind of cost, maybe if you choose to respec you only get 30 perks or something.

[ApplePowerPC]

I used to play a lot of disc golf. And I mean a lot of disc golf. Along the way, developing my skills, I learned how to do particular things - turn around drives, jump putts, sky rollers and so on. Those are the equivalent of perks - they're additional abilities that are accessible once one's skill level is high enough. I haven't played in a couple of years now. I absolutely guarantee that my skill at the game is less than it once was, and that that loss would be most noticeable in any attempts I might make to engage in those "perks." Since they're more complex things, they're certainly the first to go.