Achilles

The utter lack of reaction in Skyrim is going to be the death of me. I just kicked the crap out of the Legion. Ulfric Stormcloak declared me MVP. But The Companions still send me on "fetch my sword from the blacksmith" quests and refer to me as "whelp".

On my last playthrough, I became Harbinger of the Companions first and then was sent to "test" myself against an ice wraith when I wanted to join the Stormcloaks.

Don't even get me started on how I feel about this level of response when I try to join either of these groups after killing Alduin.

The sandbox sure is nice so long as you don't want to actually build anything in it.

I'm getting ready for the raid on Solitude. Skyrim will be liberated before I go to bed tonight.

That bit in the release notes about fixing "rare" issue where dragons aren't hostile is malarkey. This is the 2nd dragon this playthrough (<25 hours) that just flies around without attacking. I'm almost wondering if they are scripted to be "reminders" about the main quest, but still.

I don't know if that's entirely true.

My Nord is wearing a mix of light and heavy armor of different styles (hide boots, studded leather armor, iron gauntlets and helmet, with a steel shield). I'm not doing that because the respective numbers are fantastic

But I do have the helmet assigned to a hot key so that he can throw it on before battle. Same thing with the shield (really looking forward to a "shield worn on the back" mod).

Please let me know if there is a lot of clipping in the female model too. A potential future female playthrough hinges on it.

And my Nord always wears helmets. DR is calculated based on which armor slots are used.

You can craft it at the Skyforge after finishing the Companions quest line. I've not checked on the female model, but the male version clips like crazy (left leg and if your character has any kind of facial hair, it will stick out through the sides of the helmet.

All I know is that my decision to hold off on picking up shouts for as long as I can may have been a poorly thought-out. Just encountered a blood dragon (couldn't tell the color cuz it was dark). Bastard kept spamming me with fly-bys. Died about 5 times. Finally ran back to Markarth for "help". I am really missing Become Ethereal right now

Ah, the infamous "draggie-fly-backwards" bug of 1.2

There's a fort north of Windhelm that you'll pass on your way toward the College of Winterhold while doing the initial quest for the Stormcloaks. There are three skeletons and two conjurers. The skeletons instantly die at the site of a weapon, but the mages are tough. They both hit you with the ice spike that slows you down. Become Ethereal or Whirlwind Sprint followed by a power attack or two, or even Storm Call while hiding someplace safe will do the trick. A level 12 Nord with only first-tier Unrelenting Force is hosed though.

I think I may have finally come up with a spellcasting character that I'd feel comfortable with (mixed race huntress/conjurer). Dunno that she's end up doing any part of the mage quest, but she will marry Aela . She's about 3 characters down on my list of future playthroughs though, so anything can happen.

And yes, I really don't care for Dragon Priests. Another case of something that's harder to kill than a dragon.

I can kill a dragon is less than 30 seconds, but I have to sneak past a fort with two mid-level mages in it because after 3 attempts, I can't even wound one of them before I die.

Someone needs to think about rebalancing certain portions of this game.

P.S. I've killed these two before but you need the right shouts and a certain degree of luck. My level 12 character has neither.

For the record, 20lbs quest items (which cannot be removed from your inventory, even after the applicable quest has ended) are bull****.

I'm really at a loss as to how I'm supposed to feel about this.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/12/01/cover-reveal-south-park.aspx

I've improved everything, but iron/leather are gimped. I keep telling myself that I'm going to take another stab at alchemy at some point, too.

I think my deal is a function of dual-wielding. I recently took the "dual wield inflicts 50% moar damage" perk and I don't even quicksave before dragon fights anymore (Snow bears die in 2 power attacks. Dragons die part way through the third. Once the dragon lands, it's dead 15 seconds later). Sad thing is that I'm not even power gaming. Skyforge steel weapons. Studded leather armor, iron helm, iron gauntlets, hide boots. None of my armor in enchanted. I'm wearing an amulet of Talos (for shouts) and a ring of rejuvenation (stamina recovery).

I'm holding off on marriage until after the main quest (and before the civil war quest, aka "the other main quest"). Originally had my eye on Carlotta Valentia, but apparently she's not available, so I think Ysolda gets runner-up.

Just had a CTD. 4 1/2 hours, so I'm not complaining. 3 dragons - all behaving properly (except dying way too fast).

Wasn't happy about a no-choice choice with that quest line. Ended up going online for a spoiler before deciding how to proceed with that one the first time I did it

EDIT: Poison immunity is nerfed Which sucks on a very epic level considering that poison immunity is incredibly helpful in the place I'm going next.

Crap. Apparently I have Steam running in the system tray, because it patched the game before I had a chance to use Stoffe's instructions for turning automatic updates off.

Here's hoping for the best.

EDIT: Ok, about an hour in. Just fought a dragon. It flew forwards instead of backwards, as a proper dragon should. CTD seem to have abated (knock on wood). My Nord's resistance to frost appears to be intact. Still too soon to tell, but I think I may have dodged a bullet.

"OMG, what happened to you?!"

"Santa shot me."

AZ fail

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/this_christmas_pose_with_santa_and_his_machine_gun.php?ref=fpblg

I live in Scottsdale and work with people who are members of said Scottsdale Gun Club. Please help me feel better about my neighbors and tell me that Texas has something similar/worse.

Lost about an hour last night after I learned that using showracemenu strips your PC of his or her racial ability. Loaded earlier save (that I'm very thankful that I had) and got it back.

Tried something a little different this time around and now I'm concerned that I'll never be able to NOT do it again. I'm doing mix and match armor, so I'm not getting any of the "extra" armor perks (bonuses for wearing all one type or matching sets) and I'm mostly dual wielding. Earlier playthroughs were sword-and-board, so I got very used to "shield bash, power attack". Can't block with dual wield which made me real nervous.

Surprisingly, stuff dies way too quickly for me to worry about it. Re: dragons, I just use Become Ethereal until they land and then spam power attacks using skyforge axe/skyforge sword until it dies (<30 seconds later). I still break out the shield on occasion for bosses in heavy armor, but for the most part my Nord is the Elder Scrolls equivalent of a blender.

Couple of things:

1) Do NOT turn off v-sync.

2) While the Ambient Occlusion settings do make the game very pretty, it also makes the game very dark. Sadly, not recommended.

3) Dual wield Skyforge Axe + Skyforge Sword is so much > dual wield Skyforge Sword and Skyforge Dagger

It's Oblivion-meets-FO:NV (and possibly FO3, but I didn't play, so I don't know). Get 10 skill advancements, earn a level (Oblivion, except any skill counts towards a levelup). Each level you put 10 points into magic, health, or stamina and get one perk (NV, except you get a perk every level). There are a lot more perks than levels so plan accordingly.

Every skill starts at 15 + your racial bonuses. Every race gets at a starting power and a couple of spells.

I'm dl'ing the new nVidia beta drivers and turning v-sync back on. Based on the research I did today, that should resolve two of the big issues I've encounters (flying objects and spastic water).

I'll be going back at some point. Dunno when, but I will.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to get nearly as much longevity out of Skyrim as I thought. Then again, some of that might be dependent upon timing and quality of DLC. I'm really hoping that they bundle horse armor with something else as a joke (M'aiq made a comment about mudcrabs the other night and I just about died).

Glad to hear you're having fun with it.

FO:NV spoiled me. While there is some good writing in Skyrim, the lack of choice is very apparent (usually only one way, maybe two, to resolve things). I hate being forced to sneak or kill if my character isn't sneaky or bloodthirsty. Fallout gave you 50 ways to do anything and I think I didn't truly appreciate that until now.

Did one playthrough were I did nothing but the main quest. Did another where all I did was the Stormcloaks vs Imperial Legion. Now that I have a better idea of how those two story lines fit together, I'm hoping that this will be the first pass at a definitive Skyrim experience.

Giants are ok so long as you keep your distance and don't mess with their pets.

I'm finding navigation easier now that I've 1) left Lydia at home and bought a horse and 2) have a better feel for the map. There are some pretty cool scenes later in the story that I only found because I didn't use fast travel. Not to say that I haven't used it at all, but I use it extremely sparingly. Side note on the map: NSEW, the area is probably smaller than Morrowind. What gets you is the elevation...and one completely ****ed up area I'm not even going to talk about (thank goodness for elevators).

I've been ambushed by the DB a few times. It could be that it's a random encounter, however I suspect it's Imperials who've gotten tired of me attacking their prisoner convoys.

Was really looking forward to building this guy out with Ancient Nord Armor, the Shield of Ysgramor, and a Nord Hero War Axe.

Finished the quest necessary to make all this happen last night and was faced with an epic let down. The armor clips horribly with the left leg and my Nord's beard clips through the helmet. The shield is awesome but due to its larger side, it also clips the leg. And the Nord Hero Axe, which kinda goes with Ancient Nord Armor, looks like utter crap.

Maybe this is the run where I find out whether or not you can do the entire game in iron.