Skyrim: Elder Scrolls 5

[Darth333]

 

Yeah, the Hagraven's fireball/incinerate spam volley or the Wisp Mother's triple icy spear (gawdz that hurts, even using a shield) I always dread

And it's even worse when a fugitive suddenly appears out of nowhere and decides to have a little chat with you just when you encounter a wisp mother

 

I was shooting a wisp mother with arrows and suddenly one of those guys started talking to me...I got killed, reloaded my last save, the same thing happened, reloaded again and again and then decided to use the 'kill' cheat on this idiot.

[Achilles]

Though remind me to never run in to the bandits that are in your game... don't think I've ran in to any that tough in mine (or I have had the luck of landing the first, usually critical/sneak, first).

I want to say you'll find them wherever bandit mobs are sold, however now that I think about it, they may be more prevalent during The Companions quest line.

 

And it's even worse when a fugitive suddenly appears out of nowhere and decides to have a little chat with you just when you encounter a wisp mother

Luckily, I've only had this happen to me once. Unluckily, it was during a dragon fight.

[Sabretooth]

Happened to me just yesterday versus a couple of Ice Wraiths AND a wolf chasing me. I was like "Dude I'm being attacked my Ice Wraiths stop talking to me already!"

[stoffe]

Happened to me just yesterday versus a couple of Ice Wraiths AND a wolf chasing me. I was like "Dude I'm being attacked my Ice Wraiths stop talking to me already!"

 

At least you can get out of pretty much any unwanted conversation instantly by hitting the tab key, unlike in Bioware games or Deus Ex where you're locked into dialog mode until you find the Goodbye option. Still annoying when NPCs pick the worst times to talk though.

 

(Like when I'm in a hurry and decide to use Whirlwind Sprint to speed things up a bit and one of the town guards catch me mid-flight with their pointless Stop Shouting dialog...)

[Sabretooth]

Markarth is one beautiful city to look at, and suitably large too. Had a wonderful two days traipsing in and about it. It's the only city that makes me think that Bethesda still has some of that Morrowind magic with them.

 

Though of course, now it's hard to think how we ever did without dual-weilding.

 

The standard Bethesda unrealism of the game world continues to bug me. I had a man give me a Warhammer and told me to hide it. A hunter came along and asked me if I'd seen a man. While there was an option in the dialogue to give him in the warhammer, I decided to hold onto it until I was sure whose it was. THEN the man tells me the fugitive stole something from me. So while he is busy shooting his bow, I stand in front of him and drop the warhammer at his feet (hopefully not ON his feet), and the man has absolutely no interest in it. Apparently his lust for blood has consumed what desire he had for his warhammer...

 

Then again in the prison in Markarth, I was trying to kill one of the prisoners I had to kill, he ran straight into the quarters of the man who wanted him dead, and that man ended up killing him personally. And then I had to report his death to this man? How does that make any sense?

 

Again in Markarth, there's a Thalmor agent in the Understone Keep, who is trying to find and punish Talos worshippers. Hasn't he found out yet that there is an actively-maintained Shrine of Talos in the city where there's candles burning all the time? Maybe if he kept watch over who's lighting them, he'd find out, assuming he intends to leave the shrine standing.

 

And then there's the ultimate realism problems. How come these cities don't have sewers or gutters? The houses don't have toilets. What do these Nords do for sanitation, collectively leave the city and defecate in the fields every morning? I've never seen anyone eating, and drinking is of course, the art of touching an empty tankard to your lips. What is it that Nords do all day? I've some some who go chopping wood or working the blacksmith's, but the vast majority seem to have 'walking around' as their primary occupation.

 

The giants are a perfect example. They're big and all, so you can view their actions with ease. What do they do all day? They walk around. Then they walk around some more. They don't hunt, eat, defecate, urinate, sleep, sit, communicate, fell trees or anything. A person his size would have an epic food quota to manage everyday (which is presumably why they tame mammoths), but do they every actually eat? Newp.

 

Conversations get triggered exactly when you're walking around, which makes the whole act seem like a stageplay organised by the local Jarl for your amusement. Nobody seems to mind you jumping and throwing things around while these conversations are going on, and the best part is, if you leave one and return to the spot later, they resume their conversation from the START, presumably after whispering "Oh look, it's that guy, let's start over from the top so he doesn't miss anything in his/her eavesdropping."

 

You could say I'm nitpicking a game that's too vast in size to be so intricately managed, but that's the point. This game is pretending to be a vast simulation of an RPG, and it fails at creating the most semblance of a living, breathing world. It's a cardboard world where you're expected to supply 90% of the make-believe.

[DarthParametric]

To be fair to Bethesda (which is not a thing I ever envisioned myself saying...), has any RPG ever achieved a level of realism/simulation on that scale?

[Sabretooth]

Indeed no RPG has, but I'd rather take the liberal make-believe of a game like Dragon Age or The Witcher than Bethesda's we-almost-made-it-super-real-you-fill-in-the-blanks.

[Dak Drexl]

Played for the first time last night (xbox) and it was ok. For some reason while playing, and I don't know if I'm alone here, I can't see anything. By that I mean that everything is monotonous as hell and the enemies and even my character gets blended in. I think part of the problem is my 6 or so year old TV (sucks how that's considered "old" nowadays), but it really just takes away from the game. I guess I should at least get the HD cables, but I just spent $60 on the game so...

 

Other than that it's fine - i just think I ruined my own first few quests with too many "let's play" videos

[Ser'eck]

I just picked up my copy today from gamestop. It is my first time playing a game from this series so I feel a little lost. I just made it to Whiterun and spoke with the Jarl. So far I am enjoying the game, game play is good as well as the environment.

 

I really like the idea of being able to switch between 1st and 3rd person views. I personally prefer to play in 3rd person, but with this game I can switch to 1st person at any time to get a closer look at things.

 

Don't have a whole lot else to say about it since I haven't played it for very long.

[stoffe]

The standard Bethesda unrealism of the game world continues to bug me. I had a man give me a Warhammer and told me to hide it. A hunter came along and asked me if I'd seen a man. While there was an option in the dialogue to give him in the warhammer, I decided to hold onto it until I was sure whose it was. THEN the man tells me the fugitive stole something from me.

 

The rigidity of the quests is indeed one thing they could learn to improve from games like Deus Ex. Many of the quests are a bit too strictly checklist-scripted requiring you to do things in exact order or they'll break (picked up that quest item already the NPC wants? Tough luck, the quest stage won't update to reflect it, and you can't drop the item to pick it up again).

 

I guess fragility and bugs in side quests is just something that's to be expected in games with a huge scope though, unless they do public beta tests of the games before release. Baldurs Gate II certainly had hundreds of them that weren't fixed until several years and community patches later.

 

Again in Markarth, there's a Thalmor agent in the Understone Keep, who is trying to find and punish Talos worshippers. Hasn't he found out yet that there is an actively-maintained Shrine of Talos in the city where there's candles burning all the time?

 

I found the presence of a Shrine of Talos in a town with a heavy Imperial/Thalmor presence a bit peculiar as well. Especially since it's not really needed for anything from a plot perspective (unless it serves some purpose in the Imp/Cloak civil war) and could easily had been made into a temple for one of the other Eight Divines and still serve its current purpose.

 

And then there's the ultimate realism problems. How come these cities don't have sewers or gutters?

 

Solitude does have sewers, you can see the manholes in the street and hear the sound of flowing water beneath them. You just can't enter them. Markarth probably uses those big canals in the streets for waste disposal. It's probably just something they didn't think it was worth putting a lot of development time into.

 

The houses don't have toilets. What do these Nords do for sanitation, collectively leave the city and defecate in the fields every morning? I've never seen anyone eating, and drinking is of course, the art of touching an empty tankard to your lips.

 

Abstraction? Remove/exclude things that have no impact on gameplay whatsoever, or the game would never be released.

 

I much prefer that they don't force you to attend to the mundane needs of your character (eating, sleeping, waste) and let you focus on the interesting stuff instead.

 

I've seen plenty of NPCs eat, usually a loaf of bread. People do it in taverns and their homes. Your housecarl and wife/husband cooks, eats and drinks when left alone at home.

 

What is it that Nords do all day?

 

90% of the population of Skyrim are bandits and guards. The rest will just have to make do somehow.

 

Overall NPCs in this game seems to be keeping busy with something a lot better than any other RPG I've played so far. Sure, not everyone does something meaningful all the time, but I guess that can be said for people in real life as well

 

The giants are a perfect example. They're big and all, so you can view their actions with ease. What do they do all day? They walk around. Then they walk around some more.

 

The giants are monsters. I guess they've limited meaningful daily activities to friendly/neutral NPCs, presumably for complexity and performance reasons. You won't see the bandits, forsworn or outcasts doing much either, presumably for the same reason. You're supposed to kill them, not make a documentary of their daily lives.

 

Conversations get triggered exactly when you're walking around, which makes the whole act seem like a stageplay organised by the local Jarl for your amusement.

 

There are a few NPCs/events that will follow you around the world, they usually just have trouble catching you due to the size of the place and presence of map travel. But most of it seems to be trigger oriented, though that's pretty much standard of how any NPCs handles content the player can get involved in, so I don't see what the problem is there?

 

There are NPCs who go about their business that doesn't involve the player, too. Like hunters hunting game (and getting killed by level scaled animals later on), the Companions being out on missions, College mages doing errands in Winterhold, etc. They seem to do that even when the player isn't around since I've stumbled upon their handiwork (and occasionally corpses) when exploring.

 

Nobody seems to mind you jumping and throwing things around while these conversations are going on

 

Hey, don't make them change that. It's bad enough that the guards keep whining about me Shouting in town. Wouldn't want them to get on my case about a well placed FUS RO DAH right at the well laid dining table in the grand hall. Excellent way to relieve pressure.

 

and the best part is, if you leave one and return to the spot later, they resume their conversation from the START, presumably after whispering "Oh look, it's that guy, let's start over from the top so he doesn't miss anything in his/her eavesdropping."

 

Probably a player convenience thing since it is easy to miss parts of conversation, especially if there are several other NPCs who talk about something in the immediate area or something else distracts you.

 

You could say I'm nitpicking a game that's too vast in size to be so intricately managed

 

You're nitpicking a game that's too vast in size to be so intricately managed.

 

This game is pretending to be a vast simulation of an RPG, and it fails at creating the most semblance of a living, breathing world. It's a cardboard world where you're expected to supply 90% of the make-believe.

 

Sure, there's a lot to be desired still if ultra-realism is what you are looking for. But with every TES game they seem to be getting a bit further in that direction (and then the modders boost the level of realism exponentially over the following years once the Construction Kits are released). So maybe at The Elder Scrolls 100 we'll get there.

[Dak Drexl]

Got lost in a few more hours in this game and I'm loving it now. I tricked myself into thinking that not being able to see my enemies is more fun which helps. I also changed my playstyle a bit and I'm really enjoying it. I guess what I could say is that I was really unimpressed with the intro, but I'll live.

 

Edit: Anyone wanna talk about the civil war questline? I (a Nord) chose Stormcloaks this time around. The quests are great fun but they really really don't allow any flexibility. The siege of Whiterun quest was really fun (like I said) but I didn't really agree with how that went. I really liked the Jarl, he was wicked chill, but I have no idea why he would have Whiterun fight against the Stormcloaks.

[Laar_Dha]

I've apparently logged 227 hours in this game so far. Almost all with one character. (I've started a few characters, but they are mainly waiting in Riverrun until I want them) Unbelievable - I'm still finding new places - caves, towers, etc.

 

I'm playing a sneaky, dark elf archer with one-handed and magic backup. Also loving the smithing and enchanting. Alchemy gets a little dull, though.

 

Would love to chat about the civil war quest line, but in depth discussion will have to await another day when my head is clearer. I also went with the Stormcloaks for the first game. Pretty sure the Jarl only fought against the stormcloaks because he couldn't stand Ulfric. Gerdur mentioned that there was bad blood between the two of them. The old Gray-Mane who became Jarl after was great though.

[Alkonium]

I've apparently logged 227 hours in this game so far. Almost all with one character. (I've started a few characters, but they are mainly waiting in Riverrun until I want them) Unbelievable - I'm still finding new places - caves, towers, etc.

 

I can't tell if you mean Riverwood or Whiterun, but I think you've been reading too much A Song of Ice and Fire.

[Laar_Dha]

I can't tell if you mean Riverwood or Whiterun, but I think you've been reading too much A Song of Ice and Fire.

 

Whoops! You're right - I meant Riverwood. Knew my head was foggy today.

[Sabretooth]

What sort of characters are you guys playing?

 

I'm playing a female high elf most skilled in one-handed weapons. She used destruction magic extensively in the beginning but is now more interested in Restoration. Wears heavy armour and does sneaky archery whenever possible. Also, uses the Fury spell whenever possible, because she is a High Elf and should be ashamed not to use Illusion spells.

[Achilles]

All my characters have been male Nords.

 

Proficient with two-handed (wildlife control/mobs), one-handed/shield (bosses/archers), and dual-wield (dragons). Mixes it up with both light and heavy armor (Studded leather upon arriving in Riverwood, Wolf after joining the Companions, Stormcloak/Officer during the Civil War, then switches over to steel plate for the main quest). I drop a couple of points in Speech to make trading more effective, but mostly I'm just a tank that relies on good Skyforge steel and handful of shouts to save the world.

 

It drives Mimi nuts, but character doesn't pick locks or loot weapons/armor. With the exception of Wuuthrad, Wolf armor, and the gifted Skyforge weapon, I don't use anything that I didn't craft myself after digging the materials out the ground or skin off something I killed.

[Ser'eck]

A male Breton. Arch-Mage and werewolf. Uses destruction spells like flames and firebolt. He lives at The College of Winterhold and does most of his business in Whiterun. He also loves to fight dragons. Always standing his ground and never running.

 

When not on a quest he is exploring Skyrim looking for valuables.

[Red Hessian]

A male Redguard hunter. Archery + light armor + sneak. Leather armor & hunting bow. Staying away from the civil war quests (or any faction for that matter). Occupation: stalking wildlife, Falmer and Forsworn

[ChAiNz.2da]

male Bosmer - Rogue/Assassin. (Still on the same character )

 

Archery for main, Alchemy & Magic Summons supported since I'm squishy.

Potioning up compensates for all the skills/perks that I bypassed to max out alchemy/sneak/archery trees.

 

When things get up and personal, switch to waraxe/shield or dual wield daggers when I need things to end quickly (and quietly).

 

Logged, ahem... several hours so I'm decked out in Nightingale gear with Brotherhood gauntlets (double sneak attack damage)

[mimartin]

Nord female with fur in her ears (according to some of the guards). Main weapon two handed great sword enchanted with fire and wears Ancient Nord Armor crafted at the Skyforge.

 

Skilled in two-handed and speechcraft, she will try to talk her way out of a fight, but is more than capable of beating someone upside the head should that fail. She has a house in Whiterun where her wife Camilla Valerius has set up shop.

 

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Unlike Achilles, she isn’t above picking a lock or stripping an enemy of all their goods for profit. She does not steal (at least from the living) and she doesn’t murder the innocent. Although she isn't above assault if you get in her way. She is head of the The College of Winterhold, but isn’t really into magic, but is smart enough to know that a well placed fireball can keep the frost trolls away. She is the leader of The Companions, but likes exploring Skyrim alone.

 

Vampire and Dragons beware, Angel is lurking somewhere in Skyrim (Although she is hibernating right now as I’m busy with TOR).

[Achilles]

She does not steal (at least form the living) and she doesn’t murder the innocent. Although she isn't above assault if you get in her way.

Nope, sorry. Being a true son of Skyrim, Thalmor and Legion scum are kill on sight.

[mimartin]

Haven't had a problem with the Legion, but the Thalmor have attacked me on sight since the beginning. The Thalmor patrols and the Dark Brotherhood assassins make sure Angel stays on her toes. Got her a Tavern Dress to wear in town, but the Dark Brotherhood even attacked Angel in the darker part of Riften. So she pretty much has to stick with the armor. Still haven't figure out whom I ticked off enough to sic the Dark Brotherhood on me.

 

Darn, you all are going to make me put TOR into Carbonite Freeze to play Skyrim. To many games, not enough time.

[Salzella]

I am a Nord female thief, dark-haired and blue-eyed with a smile on her lips at all times I'm only level 13 or somesuch but i'm cultivating a Robin Hood style thieve from the rich, give to the poor sort of attitude. Try not to kill too many people and be overall 'good' in a free-spirited sort of way. Also intend to join the Nightingales, if i can figure out how to actually go about doing this and intend to join up with the stormcloaks when i finally get round to heading to Windhelm, but there are just too many distractions in Riften/Solitude/Whiterun - the only cities i've visited so far haha.

 

Also started a male imperial. Intended to make him look like Kit Harrington/Jon Snow, but ended up with a sort of grizzled Orlando Bloom. ho-hum. Not really sure where to take this guy, wavering between profit-minded mercenary ******* or duty-driven, sad-eyed wandering warrior.

[Dak Drexl]

Male Nord Battlemage/Spellsword, whatever you want to call it. One-handed swords or battle axes with destruction/restoration magic. Heavy armor too. Sometimes I use a bow if I want to initiate combat from further away.

 

I'm really liking this playstyle. It's just so much fun with all the options. Thinking of making a Dark Elf assassin type next

[Achilles]

Haven't had a problem with the Legion

You mean except the part where they try to give your head a free vacation from your neck in the opening minutes of the game?