Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[MJ12]

^I was really wondering for a few seconds if it was intentional.

 

[Raziaar]

The things that bother you guys. I guess I was just too lost in the game.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Thankfully the mainquest isn't necessary at all it seems. I'm having a blast just leveling up my character doing sidequests and being evil as hell. If I continue the main story it will just be to take on some dragons and see some of the content that is otherwise off limits. I'm still so butthurt about the shit combat.

 

[morgs]

I'm level 14 and all I've done of the main quest was kill the dragon at that tower. Too much else to do!

 

[ray_MAN]

I'm level 14 and all I've done of the main quest was kill the dragon at that tower. Too much else to do!

I just hit level 21 and I literally dinged 21 as I killed the dragon at the tower. I got sidetracked by a bunch of things...

 

[Mirage]

I regret getting through a certain point of the main quest. Sure, dragons are cool, but sometimes they're annoying when you simply want to do something else.

Dragons=giant cliffracers.

 

[Gargantou]

I regret getting through a certain point of the main quest. Sure, dragons are cool, but sometimes they're annoying when you simply want to do something else.

Dragons=giant cliffracers.

This is so true it cannot be quoted enough times!

 

[Higlac]

I just kill them and steal their souls then. Makes things easier. Plus there's fun shouts to find.

 

[Tagaziel]

This comment perplexes me. Morrowind and it's expansions, while the greatest game on earth in my opinion, were FULL of bugs. Almost as bad as stalker. Bugs = "bad design and craftsmanship"

Made up for with an unique, non-cliched gameworld, an interesting story with a good hook for the player (you become the Nerevarine, you become one, a subtle, but big difference), lots of varied characters and original stories to find etc. It was bugged as shit, I'll give you that, but it more than made up for that with content. Same for STALKER.

I hate Oblivion because it ignored everything in TES lore in favour of a generic fantasy setting for LOTR fans.

 

[morgs]

Discovering that you can store books in a bookshelf and they all line up has made my day! no more hours of agonizing prop placement.

 

[Raziaar]

Discovering that you can store books in a bookshelf and they all line up has made my day! no more hours of agonizing prop placement.

Yeah I thought that was really cool. The way it's done reminds me of something I'd do in Unity3D.

 

[Bad^Hat]

The things that bother you guys. I guess I was just too lost in the game.

Oh, I'm getting plenty lost, I'm just trying to recognise that certain parts of the game are less well-rounded than others. Making my way around the mountain range to the southeast of Whiterun to see the Greybeards at the moment, taking my sweet time exploring all the nooks and crannies along the riverside, and still loving the hell out of the environments. This is the main thing that separates it from Oblivion for me - the land has character, and it's actually fun to explore. Whereas Cyrodiil felt like one big shapeless landmass that you could easily ride from one end to the other and rarely run into any obstacles, Skyrim is rugged as hell and requires some exploring to properly traverse. The road to the Greybeards was a tiny dirt path off the main road, not even signposted, just marked by a barely conspicuous pile of rocks. Almost rode clean past it, but because I was paying attention I did a double take, checked my map, and realised that it was the only way for me to pass the steep incline between me and my destination. And christ was it steep. Looking back down afterwards I couldn't even see where I'd come up through the foliage.

So yeah, I'm loving it despite my negativity. I just try to spend as little time among the rabble as possible.

I regret getting through a certain point of the main quest. Sure, dragons are cool, but sometimes they're annoying when you simply want to do something else.

Dragons=giant cliffracers.

I partially agree with this. After all the talk of dragons being easy, I'm having a bit of a tough time with them on my tanky melee guy, and I'm still sitting on regular difficulty. Can imagine it'd be much easier for a range-focused character, but my archery is taking a backseat to my one-hand/block/heavy armor skills at the moment.

Oh the plus side, they seem to be relatively easy to lose if you ride away on your horse or find something to hide under.

Made up for with an unique, non-cliched gameworld, an interesting story with a good hook for the player (you become the Nerevarine, you become one, a subtle, but big difference), lots of varied characters and original stories to find etc. It was bugged as shit, I'll give you that, but it more than made up for that with content. Same for STALKER.

I hate Oblivion because it ignored everything in TES lore in favour of a generic fantasy setting for LOTR fans.

I know I said this wasn't really a big deal before, and I'm still not really sure if the distinction is a meaningful one (I really should give Morrowind a look after this), but I can sort of see where you're coming from with the heavy-handed GREAT DESTINY HERO MAN stuff. I mean, it's not JRPG levels of reverence and responsibility, but the ease with which everyone just kind of accepts your hero status is a little unsettling. Maybe I have to get a bit deeper into the main quest before things heat up, but I wouldn't mind a bit more intrigue and a little less FOR IT WAS WRITTEN IN PROPHECY THAT ONE SHALL RISE AND etc. Then again, I did hear there were some genuine twists in there, so maybe I should abstain from commenting for now. Oh well too late now poast

 

[15357]

I don't know where I have been the past 3 days, but I installed Skyrim on Sunday and woke up today.

Good things:

This game is HUGE.

The weapons always overpower the armor, creating interesting gameplay since you can be killed by a single unlucky blow or two and do the same unto your enemies. I cannot stress this enough, save for the trolls and Giants and whatnot, the normal brigands you encounter are easily killed and yet at the same time you need to watch yourself. I like that. Of course, as you get better armor, melee combat becomes less harder, but when you insist on wearing leather armor with dual swords like I do, it makes it more fun to fight enemies who clearly are tougher than you.

Lots of stuff to do. I don't mean quests, though they're near infinite in number. I mean that you can make your own armor, enchant your own items, and make potions, etc. etc. I've played Fallout NV, but I never thought it fun to build stuff in NV, but I found it somehow fulfilling in Skyrim.

Random events. I like this.

Environment and dungeons are actually fun to investigate and explore.

Surrender AI. I have been telling people that games need a surrender AI since HL2 came out. It kinda bugs me, the way they shout "MERCY" or "I YIELD PLEASE" right before they die.

Evil elves that need killing. They're like aliens -- you can't trust them and humanity will destroy them with thermonuclear weapons.

DRAGONS. MOST IMPORTANT. DRAGONS ARE AWESOME AND SKYRIM HAS LOTS OF THEM. Too bad you can't talk to most of them.


Bad things:

I regret the fact that the faces are all so grimdark and out of North Korea.

Awkward movements.

AI is interesting, but unfortunately not that deep. It's mind boggling when shopkeepers tell you to stop messing around when you dragon shout their wares apart, but apparently they're too intimidated to do anything about that.

Companions somewhat lack depth. I suppose it's because they number in the dozens or something.

Surrender AI doesn't work too well; your companions couldn't care less that the half-naked girl with a bone sword is pleading not to kill her. Also, they don't run off, as far as I've seen; they crawl around until they're health comes back up a little bit and attack you again. That makes me sad that I have to kill them all the same.

The grind: It's not that bad -- you don't really have to level up. But if you want the interesting perks you better get a few hundred pieces of leather and make leather armor until you get a few dozen points or et cetera ad nauseum.



Other stuff, but must get back to Skyrim now. Apparently I sold a goat to a giant and promised marriage to a freak of nature, and that needs to be solved with murder.

I never could get into Oblivion and never actually finished it, but Skyrim I can't wait to replay the thing after I'm done with this character. Want to build a mage then.

 

[Dandan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fIYOlEJ6lRo

lol, hope it wasn't posted

 

[Stigmata]

Made up for with an unique, non-cliched gameworld, an interesting story with a good hook for the player (you become the Nerevarine, you become one, a subtle, but big difference), lots of varied characters and original stories to find etc. It was bugged as shit, I'll give you that, but it more than made up for that with content. Same for STALKER.

I hate Oblivion because it ignored everything in TES lore in favour of a generic fantasy setting for LOTR fans.

Basically this. Craftsmanship doesn't mean it's bug-free, it means it's been built with care and consideration (consider "perfectly crappy" vs "imperfectly crafty"). Oblivion was not built with care and consideration; it was a soulless repetitive world of nice graphics, two interesting questlines, one interesting set of loot, and zero good uses of or additions to canon.

 

[MJ12]

I definitely don't mind the main story tbh, ~* I am the Dragon Princess *~

But yesterday I totally level grinded my shield+restoration for an hour like a loser. Went into a dungeon, found a weak enemy. Equiped Shield+Healing magic. Block, heal, block, heal. I want them Block perks bad.

 

[Dynasty]

I tell you what, the stealth perks are lol op'd toward the end. ''Shadow Warrior'' is insane. You can be fighting somebody, crouch and you disappear. Mid-fight. Ahah, that takes the piss. Dont think I'll unlock that one as it's 'eazy' mode.

 

[MJ12]

Think I am going to avoid most stealth shit altogether in this one. 40 hours in, crouching 80% of the time gets old.

Still can't decide if light armor or heavy armor is the way to go. On one hand, enemies hear you a mile away in heavy armor, on another hand both armor types can be upgraded to be weightless... which is odd.

 

[Higlac]

Is there any easier way to come across ore and bars for smithing besides scouring every blacksmith in existence and buying all their shit?

 

[Doomination]

there are mines that contain various ores, I'd suggest doing a google search. You'll need a pickaxe.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Discovering that you can store books in a bookshelf and they all line up has made my day! no more hours of agonizing prop placement.

Just make sure there is enough books otherwise they just fall over on the bookshelf, exactly like real life.

I was amazed to find that Dwemer scrap can be smelted down to ingots (however someone at Bethesda hasn't included all scrap types to be included). Was ultimately disappointed to find out that there wasn't anything else other than ore than can be smelted, like silver. Anyway I am currently investing in my smithing, creating Elven armour for myself and Selling Dremmer armour. Still too early in the career though as I can improve weapons and armour to 'Superior' status. Is there a reason why we cannot make basic wooden bow? The only bow I can make are Elven and Dremmer.

However, the dragons pose a real problem though, one landed in the Winterhold College Courtyard, took one bite, then a death animation triggered, despite having 3/4 full health. When I defeated my first dragon, I sold the scales and claws to by myself a horse. Rode into the middle of nowhere, then another dragon killed it. I'm impressed that anyone would be able to finish this game in Expert. Also wheres the Hardcore mode from New Vegas?

Is there any easier way to come across ore and bars for smithing besides scouring every blacksmith in existence and buying all their shit?

Dawnstar has two mines right in the center of town

 

[Neutrino]

I definitely don't mind the main story tbh, ~* I am the Dragon Princess *~

But yesterday I totally level grinded my shield+restoration for an hour like a loser. Went into a dungeon, found a weak enemy. Equiped Shield+Healing magic. Block, heal, block, heal. I want them Block perks bad.

The block perks are awesome. I actually find the combat to be very dynamic and challenging with a shield/sword. Plus shield bashing enemies just never gets old, especially with slow time. I might have to try that grind technique...

Speaking of armor types, I've been trying to decide the same thing. Ultimately, I'm going with heavy for two reasons. One, I'm trying to make a warrior/tank character and I don't feel like light armor suits him. Second, the heavy crafted armor only requires one tree in the smithing perks rather than having to get everything.


So am I the only one who absolutely pick up every single gold coin no matter how annoying it is? /ocd

Tip for placing items in a house. You can punch them to rotate them. It's crappy, but kind of works. Does anyone know if cleared dungeons stay cleared forever? Cause my assassin is way to proud to buy a house, so I just took over one instead. I even have a secret door behind a bookcase in my basement. But I'm somewhat concerned that it may become occupied again. Though it's been over a week in game time and my stuff is still there.

 

[Mirage]

I partially agree with this. After all the talk of dragons being easy, I'm having a bit of a tough time with them on my tanky melee guy, and I'm still sitting on regular difficulty. Can imagine it'd be much easier for a range-focused character, but my archery is taking a backseat to my one-hand/block/heavy armor skills at the moment.

Oh the plus side, they seem to be relatively easy to lose if you ride away on your horse or find something to hide under.

Yeah, they're easy enough to bypass, but that still makes them a nuisance at times. Dragons are made out to be visually impressive, though.

Someone above mentioned Morrowind having a unique culture. Nord culture in Skyrim seems to be represented well, and racial conflict isn't slighted, there's also conflict based off of the ban of the worship of Talos. Of course, there's also the civil war looming and following that questline you can see both the consequences and benefits of your actions. For instance, eliminating the stormcloak rebellion will make the nords seem more oppressed, but the elven community might thank you as Imperial culture has a more cosmopolitan view and doesn't sanction such discrimination. Khajiits(sp?) are seen as thieves and smugglers, and argonians aren't let into windhelm for their own safety.

There's also burial mounds leading to tombs, and dwemer ruins instead of generic caves and dungeons. Even the five major cities have their broad strokes that make them stand out, and not just visually. Riften has a bad reputation because of the presence of the thieves guild. Markarth is built on the ruins of a Dwemer city, and there is the presence of the Forsworn.

I'm curious though, has anyone been to the "volcanic tundra" yet?

 

[Ennui]

Oh, I'm getting plenty lost, I'm just trying to recognise that certain parts of the game are less well-rounded than others. Making my way around the mountain range to the southeast of Whiterun to see the Greybeards at the moment, taking my sweet time exploring all the nooks and crannies along the riverside, and still loving the hell out of the environments. This is the main thing that separates it from Oblivion for me - the land has character, and it's actually fun to explore. Whereas Cyrodiil felt like one big shapeless landmass that you could easily ride from one end to the other and rarely run into any obstacles, Skyrim is rugged as hell and requires some exploring to properly traverse. The road to the Greybeards was a tiny dirt path off the main road, not even signposted, just marked by a barely conspicuous pile of rocks. Almost rode clean past it, but because I was paying attention I did a double take, checked my map, and realised that it was the only way for me to pass the steep incline between me and my destination. And christ was it steep. Looking back down afterwards I couldn't even see where I'd come up through the foliage.

I think you went an odd way... if I remember correctly the path to High Hrothgar where the Greybeards are is quite visible, its on a road out of that town at the foot of the mountain, there are stone steps on the path leading all the way up to High Hrothgar as well as stone cairns the entire way, and an NPC or two. You might have done what I did and just accidentally went an absurdly steep back way.

 

[Mirage]

Isn't that the road going out of Ivarstead?

 

[Higlac]

Volcanic tundra neatness

Yeah, it's pretty neat looking. It reminds me of the land before time. If you want to find it right now it's

Spoiler

on the east side of the map, looks like lowlands.

Otherwise, go to whiterun, and talk to the people in the temple of Kynareth.

Vbullettin, y u no quote?

 

[Mirage]

Land before time! Oh my god, I just lost it in my pants!

 

[Shakermaker]

This game ... I started the Dark Brotherhood quest line properly today. On my way to a job in Markarth a dragon appears, just as I am passing a fort occupied by bandits. I hop off my horse and go into stealth mode immediately while the dragon lands in front of the entrance to the fort and gets attacked by the bandits. I climb up a little hill from where I have a good vantage point of the fight but the bandits can't see me. With some help from my bow the dragon finally succumbs and I proceed to stealthily loot it without the bandits ever taking notice. Awesome moment.

Isn't that the road going out of Ivarstead?

Yup. It's the one I took.

 

[Higlac]

Land before time! Oh my god, I just lost it in my pants!

It's been years since I've seen that movie, but it reminds me of the sad/terrifying scenes.

 

[Mirage]

This game ... I started the Dark Brotherhood quest line properly today. On my way to a job in Markarth a dragon appears, just as I am passing a fort occupied by bandits. I hop off my horse and go into stealth mode immediately while the dragon lands in front of the entrance to the fort and gets attacked by the bandits. I climb up a little hill from where I have a good vantage point of the fight but the bandits can't see me. With some help from my bow the dragon finally succumbs and I proceed to stealthily loot it without the bandits ever taking notice. Awesome moment.



Yup. It's the one I took.

Just wait until you find out your final assassination target for the DB.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Couple of things I've just noticed:

Training skills doesn't "reset" how far you are into a skill-up, as the UI would have you believe. If you exit the training interface the bar will be at the same position as before you trained but another level along, if you get my drift. Based on how it appears in the UI, I assumed it just took you to the start of the next skill level when you trained, so I always waited until I had a skill freshly leveled before training. Also, the training cost it shows in the UI seems to be flat-out wrong sometimes, for some reason. Said it would cost me ~1500 to train a skill before and was only charging me a few hundred.

Also, quest items don't seem to weigh anything despite usually having a weight listed. Don't know if this is a bug or intentional, but it's super handy considering it won't let you store them.

I think you went an odd way... if I remember correctly the path to High Hrothgar where the Greybeards are is quite visible, its on a road out of that town at the foot of the mountain, there are stone steps on the path leading all the way up to High Hrothgar as well as stone cairns the entire way, and an NPC or two. You might have done what I did and just accidentally went an absurdly steep back way.

Isn't that the road going out of Ivarstead?

Yeah, turns out I was mistaken, I was just heading towards where the quest marker was at the time which turned out to be Ivarstead. Going back to tackle the 7,000 steps today.

 

[Higlac]

Couple of things I've just noticed:

Training skills doesn't "reset" how far you are into a skill-up, as the UI would have you believe. If you exit the training interface the bar will be at the same position as before you trained but another level along, if you get my drift.

Sounds like that could be abused a bit, get it close to leveling, but keep training, so that way when you're done training, you won't have to grind as long at the slower experience rate.


Or you could just tell me if I'm talking out of my ass here.

 

[Neutrino]

Purty lights.

Edit: So I've been working on adding a few things graphically.Still needs some work but meh. I just got tired of the drab greyness. Here's before and after shots;

http://imgur.com/a/SiFe0/

 

[Mogi67]

So I was on my way to a barrow yesterday with Lydia following me from whiterun, then all of the sudden I hear combat music and I turn around and there's an assassin all in black with two daggers coming out from underneath a ledge. So I killed him and there was a note on his body about how I was supposed to be taken out. It was signed by Astrid. Anyone know who this is? I don't know who wants me dead, possibly the black briars?

 

[Shakermaker]

So I was on my way to a barrow yesterday with Lydia following me from whiterun, then all of the sudden I hear combat music and I turn around and there's an assassin all in black with two daggers coming out from underneath a ledge. So I killed him and there was a note on his body about how I was supposed to be taken out. It was signed by Astrid. Anyone know who this is? I don't know who wants me dead, possibly the black briars?

Spoiler

Astrid is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. If you want to join them, go to Windhelm and listen to the rumors about the Brotherhood. That will set you on your way.

 

[Higlac]

 

[Mogi67]

Spoiler

Astrid is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. If you want to join them, go to Windhelm and listen to the rumors about the Brotherhood. That will set you on your way.

Good to know, I'm going to kill them all

 

[Raziaar]

Anyone know how to manage spells well when you have a lot of them?

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Anyone know how to manage spells well when you have a lot of them?

Hover your mouse over the ones you are interested in using in the and favourite them. All favourited items can further be Hotkeyed

 

[Raziaar]

Hover your mouse over the ones you are interested in using in the and favourite them. All favourited items can further be Hotkeyed

Yeah but only with 8 numbers. Right now I simply have for my hotkeys 1-8... my staff, ranged fire, ranged lightning, ranged frost, rune fire, rune lightning, rune frost, healing