Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Dog--]

Damn, I think I'm Skyrim'd out. I haven't touched it in a few days now. I've clocked in well over forty hours, it's time to play something else for awhile.

Yea same, I got 68 logged and it seems like I did all the stuff my character should do, did lots of quests, not really any enemies can kill me easily, so I guess I gotta start a new char, but my warrior already went in sooo many caves and ruins and explored so much I feel like I'd just be repeating myself if I made another char.

 

[ray_MAN]

How does one become a vampire?

 

[Raziaar]

How does one become a vampire?

I got infected with vampirism from fighting a vampire. He attacked me and did his drain life thing on me. I think just being in combat with him is what got me infected. You then contract the infection which will progress with time if you don't cure the disease.



Hey, does anybody else get hard crashes very frequently? I keep getting them like every 30 minutes or so. Game just crashes to desktop with no warning or error.

 

[Dog--]

^I don't get them frequently, but probably about once a play.

 

[Raziaar]

^I don't get them frequently, but probably about once a play.

I got like 8 of them since making that post.

 

[Higlac]

I get them every once in a while, but only when loading new areas, like fast traveling and going into caves.

 

[Mirage]

Y'know, I'm from that old generation of gamers that actually role play, rather than simply play. Anywhoo, since

Spoiler

I'm the Listener, I'll simply ignore the quest to kill the Emperor and Astrid. Night Mother can go... well, to hell. Or wherever they go.

I assumed you meant in a role-playing sense, but I wasn't for sure. I'll save such role-playing effort for games that actually interest me in the Player character, such as Bloodlines. I've always viewed Skyrim as a time-sink, and I still do. It's better than Oblivion but it hasn't gone to great heights to inspire my imagination.

 

[Raziaar]

I assumed you meant in a role-playing sense, but I wasn't for sure. I'll save such role-playing effort for games that actually interest me in the Player character, such as Bloodlines. I've always viewed Skyrim as a time-sink, and I still do. It's better than Oblivion but it hasn't gone to great heights to inspire my imagination.

Seriously? My imagination all but died, but this game has been really immersive.

 

[15357]

Y'know, I'm from that old generation of gamers that actually role play, rather than simply play. Anywhoo, since

Spoiler

I'm the Listener, I'll simply ignore the quest to kill the Emperor and Astrid. Night Mother can go... well, to hell. Or wherever they go.

Ah yeah, I felt bad about that part too, so after that quest I

Spoiler

killed the guy who made the contract, and then every elf I could get my hands on. SPIES ARE EVERYWHERE

Seriously, a lot of the quests are a bit... you know. Like that quest early on in Whiterun where assassins from hammerfell are chasing down that woman? Has anyone ever noticed that neither the woman nor the assassins have any proof that they're telling the truth? Truth be told, I had the feeling both were lying, but I will never know the truth.

Also the quest about the leader of the Greybeards. **** you Blades. When have you people ever helped me fight an apocalyptic giant lizard?

 

[Krynn72]

I assumed you meant in a role-playing sense, but I wasn't for sure. I'll save such role-playing effort for games that actually interest me in the Player character, such as Bloodlines. I've always viewed Skyrim as a time-sink, and I still do. It's better than Oblivion but it hasn't gone to great heights to inspire my imagination.

You do realize that games with little direction (like TES) rely more on imagination than games with forced events like Bloodlines right? The things that inspire your imagination in games like that are things that inspire everyone's imagination in the same way. Thats why I always feel more attached to my characters in TES game, or in Mount & Blade, because almost everything that happens is a result of something I decided to have my character do, rather than something happening to my character.

 

[Mirage]

Seriously? My imagination all but died, but this game has been really immersive.

It might be immersive, but that doesn't mean it stimulates my imagination. Don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable RPG-esque experience, but looking back I'm disappointed in all the plotlines, the characters are flat, etc. Again, all of those things are better than Oblivion, but that's not saying much at all. Thing is, I knew what I was getting into with Skyrim. I've enjoyed the game. I don't know...with Bethesda there's always something lacking in their game worlds. Maybe it's character and creativity, it's hard to define. I guess saying "I knew what I was getting into", and following it up with "disappointed" seems a bit odd, I had some small hopes but that was all.

I'm weird though, so don't mind me.

 

[PvtRyan]

Weird, I had a member of the College of Mages test a spell on me, which of course backfired making my screen go green. Also, I couldn't run out of mana. Now that the spell has worn off, my spells still don't seem to cost mana..

 

[Krynn72]

My spells used up mana even while I had that spell on me, so yeah, you're bugged I think.

 

[PvtRyan]

I've been playing for about 2 more hours now, the entire time with infinite mana... HALP ME. This is no fun actually, kind of removes most of the challenge..

 

[Raziaar]

I've been playing for about 2 more hours now, the entire time with infinite mana... HALP ME. This is no fun actually, kind of removes most of the challenge..

I dunno man, that really sucks.

Go tell that bitch to change you back.

 

[Krynn72]

Have you tried to do thing to alter how much mana you have? Like fortifying mana so it has a higher max, or drinking poisons that damage it?

 

[Dynasty]

Pretty sure the favourites menu and shortcuts system are officially retarded.

Fought a Frost Dragon last night, so slapped on my frost resistance and frost elven shield. He got some hits in, flew off, so I hit 4 to select fast healing. It defaulted to my left hand, which is the shield, so had to heal, re-equip shield. Drew my bow, fired a few rounds, hit 1 (dagger) and my knife came out with healing in my left hand. Had to manually select shield each time.

Retarded.

 

[Kadayi]

I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's a more polished version of Oblivion & Fallout really, and it's pretty immersive (the dungeon designs are great). Sure the NPC characters are still pretty flat, but I think much of that comes down to the fact that there's a hard limit on how much verbal dialogue you can stuff into an 8GB game. Albeit there's a lot of voice actor repetition (which is a tad annoying, but is kind of irrelevant to the point), there's a massive amount of NPCs you can speak/listen to throughout the game. We're either going to have to see a huge improvement in sound file compression or a jump by developers to a universal HD format (driven by a new unified console generation) and game sizes increasing accordingly.

 

[Raziaar]

I'm enjoying the game a lot. It's a more polished version of Oblivion & Fallout really, and it's pretty immersive (the dungeon designs are great). Sure the NPC characters are still pretty flat, but I think much of that comes down to the fact that there's a hard limit on how much verbal dialogue you can stuff into an 8GB game. Albeit there's a lot of voice actor repetition (which is a tad annoying, but is kind of irrelevant to the point), there's a massive amount of NPCs you can speak/listen to throughout the game. We're either going to have to see a huge improvement in sound file compression or a jump by developers to a universal HD format (driven by a new unified console generation) and game sizes increasing accordingly.

We shall enslave five hundred writers and ten thousand voice actors and the necessary legion of asset people to create a game with a seemingly endless variety of characters and dialogue options.

A man can dream though, a man can dream.

 

[Raziaar]

You do realize that games with little direction (like TES) rely more on imagination than games with forced events like Bloodlines right? The things that inspire your imagination in games like that are things that inspire everyone's imagination in the same way. Thats why I always feel more attached to my characters in TES game, or in Mount & Blade, because almost everything that happens is a result of something I decided to have my character do, rather than something happening to my character.

Yep. I've sort of been role playing my character as being a witch from the beginning. Though she's sort of evolved. She's an imperial, but feels a kindred connection to the Forsworn in a way... despite having killed numerous of them. She's had kind streaks, but also murdered out of convenience and pettiness. Things are kind of shifting a bit in my game as things progress... joining the stormcloaks and wanting to see the Empire pushed out of Skyrim which would give the chance the Forsworn need to reclaim the reach(that's all speculation roleplay on my part... doubt it'd happen). Though since joining the Dark Brotherhood she's become far more loyal to that family than any Forsworn rabble.

Yeah yeah I know... all nerdy stuff. Skyrim brings out my desire to roleplay which very few if any singleplayer games have accomplished in the past.

I just wish so much I had writable books and parchments. I would have loved to write journal entries all along the way as I progressed in the game world, detailing my witch's thoughts.




EDIT: Crap double post. Forgot I made the above post as I was scrolling around previous pages.

 

[15357]

Yep. I've sort of been role playing my character as being a witch from the beginning. Though she's sort of evolved. She's an imperial, but feels a kindred connection to the Forsworn in a way... despite having killed numerous of them. She's had kind streaks, but also murdered out of convenience and pettiness. Things are kind of shifting a bit in my game as things progress... joining the stormcloaks and wanting to see the Empire pushed out of Skyrim which would give the chance the Forsworn need to reclaim the reach(that's all speculation roleplay on my part... doubt it'd happen). Though since joining the Dark Brotherhood she's become far more loyal to that family than any Forsworn rabble.

Yeah yeah I know... all nerdy stuff. Skyrim brings out my desire to roleplay which very few if any singleplayer games have accomplished in the past.

I just wish so much I had writable books and parchments. I would have loved to write journal entries all along the way as I progressed in the game world, detailing my witch's thoughts.




EDIT: Crap double post. Forgot I made the above post as I was scrolling around previous pages.

Heh. Yeah, I'm actually trying to keep to the "personality" of my character without actually realizing it. Even though I would like to see deeper development in the companions you get (personal quests like New Vegas, etc.) everything else about my character I fill out as I play. That's fun.


Also finally built the full set dragonplate/dragonscale armor. I love the dragonscale helmet; it is exactly the sort of equipment that I would want to have if our world was not boring.

 

[Raziaar]

Heh. Yeah, I'm actually trying to keep to the "personality" of my character without actually realizing it. Even though I would like to see deeper development in the companions you get (personal quests like New Vegas, etc.) everything else about my character I fill out as I play. That's fun.


Also finally built the full set dragonplate/dragonscale armor. I love the dragonscale helmet; it is exactly the sort of equipment that I would want to have if our world was not boring.

Oh but you can have it! Have it made out of other animals! I'm sure the craftsmanship would be shoddy but it'd probably look pretty and cost a fortune to have made.

At the very least, nobody would mess with you while you wore it. Don't hold me to that though.


Random:

 

[Kadayi]

We shall enslave five hundred writers and ten thousand voice actors and the necessary legion of asset people to create a game with a seemingly endless variety of characters and dialogue options.

A man can dream though, a man can dream.

Well the other issue is obviously cost as well. People want greater production values, but they don't/aren't necessarily prepared to pay more. Personally if I get 20+ hours entertainment out of a game I'm down with paying £30 -£35 for it, but a lot of people do nickel and dime over games I find, even though game prices have actually dropped over the years.

 

[Raziaar]

Well the other issue is obviously cost as well. People want greater production values, but they don't/aren't necessarily prepared to pay more. Personally if I get 20+ hours entertainment out of a game I'm down with paying £30 -£35 for it, but a lot of people do nickel and dime over games I find, even though game prices have actually dropped over the years.

Hence the slave labor friend.

But yeah, I hear ya.

 

[ray_MAN]

I've been playing for about 2 more hours now, the entire time with infinite mana... HALP ME. This is no fun actually, kind of removes most of the challenge..

Have you tried looking for some console commands to change your mana levels?

 

[Dynasty]

I dont think the pricing has reflected production values though.

We get snazzier graphics, and with a world as unrivaled as Skyrim's, huge open spaces we can play around in within reason. Better sound design, epic story telling, and the developers say they have to increase their prices as a result of US, the consumer, wanting more and more of it. That's understandable and completely justified.

What I dont think we see is the price passed onto us, the consumer. Ignorance incoming; as far as I'm aware, the developers sell/give stores their games, and the store takes a percentage per sale. So the store buys the game for, I dunno 25, and sells for 35-40 (stupid pound sign not working! Damn this stupid yank keyboard.) So with increased production costs the store surely has to buy them off the developer for more, so surely their prices must go up too.

But as far as I'm aware, they haven't. Not in like 6 years. Always 29.99-34.99 for a PC game, and 34.99-44.99 for a console game. Less for each online by the likes of Amazon.co.uk etc.

So..I wonder when a developer says ''We made x-million in sales.'' means profits to the developer to stock the stores, profits from individual consumers; the difference between their selling price to the store and the sale price to the consumer atfer the store takes their cut...I dunno, it's never clear.

Just seems developers try to justify their higher prices, but I dont see any price rises. After all, it's the STORE that controls the prices. I've never seen a game sell for the RRP. RRP for CoD is like 59.99 or some ridiculous crap, and is usually sold day one for like 44.99 online.

But a game like this justifies the higher prices.

 

[Krynn72]

I think soon we will either see higher game prices, or a flatline on production quality. The reason why games have been able to get more and more expensive to make while staying the same price is because the market wasn't fully tapped years ago. Thus far, Publishers/Developers have been able offset the lower profit per item by increasing the number of items sold. Once the ceiling of #sold is hit (ie: everyone who would buy the game, will buy the game), then we'll start seeing increased prices, and if nobody pays that price, then we'll see a leveling out of production values on blockbuster games.

 

[kazsymonds]

I'm really loving this game. I'm a total noob at this kind of thing, I didn't play more than 5 minutes of Oblivion, and I have no idea about races / magic at all.

I've just found the magic school.

 

[Dynasty]

Found a Dragon Plate Helm in an expert chest in one of those dwarven ruins (Dwemer or what-are-they-called), part of the Dark Brotherhood quest line. Tasked to kill some guy in the ruins, so I killed him, and went deeper into the ruins. Found it in one of those chests with the visible gears on it.

Seems like you CAN find Dragon armour then.

 

[Tagaziel]

Random loot probably. What's your lockpick skill tree? Did you take Treasure Hunter.

We shall enslave five hundred writers and ten thousand voice actors and the necessary legion of asset people to create a game with a seemingly endless variety of characters and dialogue options.

A man can dream though, a man can dream.

Obsidian did well with a fraction of the number of writers and about a hundred of voice actors, picked for their professionalism and ability, rather than marketability (OMFGPATRICKSTEWARTLIAMNEESONOMFG). That said, I find Skyrim's writing and voice acting a lot better, as is the plot structure and quest design. Kind of a shame questlines are totally linear.

Seriously, a lot of the quests are a bit... you know. Like that quest early on in Whiterun where assassins from hammerfell are chasing down that woman? Has anyone ever noticed that neither the woman nor the assassins have any proof that they're telling the truth? Truth be told, I had the feeling both were lying, but I will never know the truth.

I actually liked that quest a fair bit, because it's particularly well done and making the correct decision relies on researching Hammerfell's recent history and analyzing the statements given by the Alik'r and their quarry.

Spoiler

It's essential to find and read about the Great War between the Empire and the Thalmor-led Dominion. There, you learn that Hammerfell has been hit particularly hard by the elves and is presently fighting a war against the elvenazi invaders alone, after the Empire cut off their ties to maintain the tenuous peace. What made me chose the Alik'r headhunters was her claim that they were Thalmor assassins, which obviously relied on me being a clueless sellsword, rather than a self-styled scholar.

I say, there's a lot of nice subtlety in the game and it's overall pretty damn grey. I particularly like the overarching conflict theme (Aldmeri vs. Imperials vs. Stormcloaks) along with the fact that

Spoiler

Ulfric is a dormant intelligence asset of the Thalmor, according to the dossier in their embassy. Note, if I'm wrong, shut up and don't spoil it for me. Seriously.

Last, I'd like some help. I'm currently torn between ebony and glass armor: both offer similiar protection at this stage and with the Steed none impact my sneaky-sneak ways of backstabbing the shit out of everyone. Comparison:

Spoiler

Side note: I love the "scoff" expression that Ri'saad makes:

 

[jimbo118]

Just got the game on Friday. Was gona put off playing it until I defeated the last boss in Dark Souls but couldn't resist.

Ugh, already overencumbered. ****ing carrying capacity bullshit again. Why cant there be cheats on 360 to get by it?

 

[CR0M]

Next time you play chess... Immediately after your first move, scream 'CHECKMATE' at the top of your lungs, sweep all the pieces off the board, make an 'L' on your forehead with your fingers and shout LOOOOOOZERRRRRR to your opponent. That's how Garry Kasparov does it. He uses an aimbot too.

 

[Dandan]

I love this game! I got some more time to play a little and currently at lvl 6 and about 10 hrs in. I love just exploring and I have OCD because I need to open every chest, every barrel and every jar.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

I've always played chess that way. Are you implying that there's any other way to play chess?

 

[Raziaar]

Just got the game on Friday. Was gona put off playing it until I defeated the last boss in Dark Souls but couldn't resist.

Ugh, already overencumbered. ****ing carrying capacity bullshit again. Why cant there be cheats on 360 to get by it?

Stop picking up everything you pack rat!

 

[Gargantou]

I'm still quite bummed out about having had several quests break for me, including the main quest for the Companions.

I'm thinking of just wrapping up my 70+ hour playthrough by doing the main quest and trying to complete the Dark Brotherhood questline and then calling quits and waiting until more extensive official (and unofficial) patches have become available.

 

[Mirage]

You do realize that games with little direction (like TES) rely more on imagination than games with forced events like Bloodlines right? The things that inspire your imagination in games like that are things that inspire everyone's imagination in the same way. Thats why I always feel more attached to my characters in TES game, or in Mount & Blade, because almost everything that happens is a result of something I decided to have my character do, rather than something happening to my character.

There's a difference between relying on imagination and inspiring imagination, obviously. Also, someone's imagination can be intensified moreso by a linear game than a geographically open one. However, I can see someone becoming more attached to their character in a game with as much content as Skyrim, as over time an attachment will usually develop. But, I've played three TES games so far, and not once have I become attached to my character. This means little, Skyrim's a fun game, well worth the money. This is the most entertainment I've had out of a TES game.

As I said in an earlier post, I'm weird and and equally so are my preferences and perceptions. I'm not expecting others to share my (somewhat negative) views on the game, and they mean little in the grand scheme of things, because I enjoy the game.

Now that I just finished Uncharted 3 on crushing, I may go back to Skyrim and polish off the College of Winterhold questline. Does anyone know if the Bard's College has an actual questline?, because after the initiation I've only been able to get some misc quests that don't seem tied to any over-arching plot. Eh, I might take a few days break before jumping back in. I did the same thing with New Vegas, I played it like crazy for the first week, then had to set it down for a bit.

 

[Kadayi]

Stop picking up everything you pack rat!

Yeah. I think there's a tendency when you first play the game to pick up every dropped piece of armour, weapon, fruit bowl, etc, etc because you figure that it's worth something, but the reality is given your low speech at the beginning you're better off just picking up gold, gems & jewelry and the occasional decent weapon. Also get a side kick loot mule. I've found the red haired warrior woman in the inn in Whiterun is pretty handy in a fight (you need to beat her in a brawl before you can recruit her).

 

[Krynn72]

Lydia just died This bastard of a Blood Dragon is what finally did her in. ****er was hard. Now I'm wandering around with all her expensive stuff, weighing twice my carrying capacity. Anyone know if theres a way to "call" for your horse? I'm at Morthol and there's no carriage or stables, and its going to take ages to walk to the nearest city. I also don't want to just sell the stuff (not that there is someone to buy it in Morthol) because I'll get a new companion who can use it.

**** you dragon.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Lydia is a flimsy, boring character and companions are buggy enough to make you wish you were traveling alone anyways. No loss there!