Achilles

Hit level 46 last night and after doing more research into how the leveling system works, I'm really not sure whether or not I'll be able to get 50. Apparently the "soft cap" of 50 is more than slightly misleading. Each level is progressively harder to get to than the one before (which gets very noticeable around level 40), therefore by the time you get to 50 it feels as though the world stopped spinning.

I'll give Bethesda credit for building an economy that doesn't feel broken, however now that I've reached a level where loot is ebony and/or glass everything, I'm reminded of why I had no looting arms or armor rule. The money is nice though as training is expensive. I need the loot to pay for the training so that I can level more effectively so that I can get to 50. I'll be happy when I get to 50 and get the achievement so that I can go back to playing how I want to play again.

Here we go again...

Show spoiler

(hidden content - requires Javascript to show)

This is the part of my evening where I find out whether or not the LAA patch will fix mah crashing issue.

Sounds like you already hit that wall. I will grow tired of the game at some point and it's already clear that it won't be the "13 months later" mark set by FO:NV.

Good news is that CTDs seem to have become something of a rarity. Bad news is that it seems like I have to save, exit, and restart the game every few hours because I'll exit a build and the framerate will drop to the point where the game becomes unplayable until I do.

I don't know how to feel about this. Is this the first time we've seen an article about the economic impact of an video game release?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2011/12/14/modeling_a_skrym_shock_to_the_us_economy.html?wpisrc=obnetwork

And thus ends playthrough number 6 (or is it 7?).

Almost made it to 37. Would've capped at 39 without changing play style. Maxed two handed, smithing, and made it into the 90s on blocking and heavy armor.

Much happier with Companions>Stormcloaks>Main, though it's far from perfect. Next round is an earnest attempt to make it to 50 and clear as much of the map as I can.

Just about to hit level 36. Killing Restless Draugr and below using blocking perks. Walked into the main chamber with the Dragon Wall and found two Draugr Deathlords (one of which had an ebony weapon), a Draugr Scourge, and a Restless Draugr. Actually needed potions to get outta that one.

EDIT: I think this is the playthrough that I re-examine my no looting of armor and/or weapons policy.

Got a dragon fly-by and felt a little dejected. Went about 50 feet further and found another one beating up a poor, defenseless frost troll. Engaged the dragon, killed the troll. Followed the dragon to find out what was more important that I was. Looted a dead deer. Chased down the dragon again to find out what was more important than I was this time. Tried to distract the dragon from the poor, defenseless Khajiit caravan. Wondered where the hell the giant came from. Teamed up with the giant to kill the dragon. Felt twinge of betrayal as giant attacked me. Sold loot from dragon and giant to grateful Khajiit and continued on to Windhelm.

On a side-note, I have to admit that this "no lockpicking" run has been difficult at times (temptation sucks), but I still find that I end up with more loot than I can sell. And that with the incredibly restrictive loot list that I limit myself to.

Puttin' this guy on your radar for when after the ban is lifted.

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1754

I only had one crash tonight and I'm thinking that I might be able to chalk that up to the large address issue. I guess we'll see once Bethsoft releases the new version.

I was *this* close to thinking that my CTD issues were behind me.

FYI: if you ask the greybeards about words of power, they will tell you were to go to find dragon walls.

Left Riverwood with Delphine and Esbern. Took the south road, which she recommends. Dragon 1 just south to town. Dragon 2 just outside half-moon mill. Dragon 3 at Karthspire. Stopped by Markarth to make a couple deliveries. Started out for Skyborn Alter (thanks greybeards!). Dragon 4 outside Rorikstead. Dragon 5 just north of Greenspring Hollow. Turned around took 3 steps. Dragon 6. Finally made it to Skyborn Alter for dragon 7.

Thank goodness I had the perk that makes my heavy armor weigh 0 and a charmed necklace to boost my carry weight. Made it back to Jorrvaskr with 2 lbs to spare.

Hope you enjoyed dinner. I've been killing dragons all night.

I didn't even have to wait an hour for my first CTD tonight

EDIT: I'm at level 32 and half now. Just killed my third dragon "today". First one was just a vanilla dragon, but the last two were ancient dragons. Those ****ers are tough!!! I was able to get the first one after dying 9 times by downing a lot of potions. I kited the second one over to the Forsworn camp and Karthspire and let those guys take care of him.

I love Rick Perry. He is the reason we will never, ever have another President from the state of Texas.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/rick-perry-comes-out-against-aid-to-solynda-the-country.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

Better now. Nicely done!

I seem to be doing a little bit better with Companions first, then Stormcloaks. I'm on my way now to meet the Greybeards (level 29 and a half). I've visited a few forts that now belong to the Stormcloaks and I think it's a nice touch that some of the furniture has been rearranged, letters have changed, and some of the chests have new loot in them. Camps that I visited previously have been struck (though there seems to be a bug with the quartermasters hanging out in a camp that isn't there anymore). I was given free reign to attack any remaining enemy camps, though it seems that officers are flagged as essential I guess I'll have to wait for the mods.

EDIT: Getting really tired of all the CTDs (I think this is number 10 for the day). On a brighter note, I can kill Draugr and bandits with Deadly Bash now. Nice knowing that I'm lethal without even needing the sharp end of the battle axe.

Picture's broken

FWIW, the lack of a CK means that there are only a handful of decent mods to restrict one's self from.

That counts as a mod? I call it a fix

Very nice! And thanks for the update on the armor.

If I may make a recommendation:

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=30

Side-note: I'm never doing Missing in Action without Wuuthrad again. Definite night and day now that I've tried it.

EDIT for lolz: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/User:G0LD3NF1RE

When you enter the tomb, the statue is dead center. You enter the tomb proper dead ahead, but there's an alcove on the right where you get spit out after meeting with Kodlak. When you open that door (from the other side) a similar door in the alcove on the left also opens. It leads outside.

So I wrapped up The Companions quest line last night. 3rd time doing so, but 1st time noticing that there is a 2nd hidden door that opens to the entry room when you pull the chain that opens the 1st hidden door. It leads outside and up the hill to a dragon wall (so now I've identified a 2nd dragon wall that's Companions-only). This one is Animal Allegiance.

I was unable to find a use for this in the past, but something occurred to me as I passed a giant encampment on my way back to Whiterun. I saved, strode into camp, shouted, then attacked the giant and ran away. The two mammoths in camp immediately charged the giant. He took out one, but the other killed him. I don't know if you know this or not, but giants tend to have awesome loot. I loaded my earlier save and continued to Jorrvaskr (you get Kodlak's old room after you finish the quest. Free house!) with my gears spinning for other ways to abuse this power

"Fixed Radiant Story incorrectly filling certain roles"

I wonder if I wasn't the only that had contracts taken out on them by children.

EDIT: Ok, really?! Radiant Story is going to make me fist-fight the barkeep for my Companion initiation? I thought it wasn't nice to hit a lady. "Fixed" my ass.

1.3 is out.

http://www.bethblog.com/2011/12/07/skyrim-update-1-3-now-on-steam/

If you enter an area, that area is "set" to the level that you were when you entered it. So if you go into a cave at level 5 and can't clear it, you can come back at level 20 (or any other level) and the creatures in that cave will be level 5.

I couldn't take it. I started over. The Stormcloaks treating me like a newb when I'm level 20+ is slightly more tolerable than the Companions treating me like a newb at 20+, so Companions>Stormcloaks>Main Quest is now canon. There are parts of this game that I absolutely love, but I think it fails as a roleplaying game.