The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Swiss]

So apparently some people are experiencing many crashing bugs, prohibiting them from getting past the opening mission...

Wouldn't be a Bethesda game without bugs, would it?

[LATER BUDDY]

So maybe this is the reason why no discussion here, but is everyone been playing this game like crazy, or just me, XD?

I kinda found out early on that you can become a werewolf, so I've hardly gotten anywhere in the main story-line to become that, *shot*. So far it's extremely awesome, and the pros are COMPLETELY out weighing the cons. Plus, COM'ON. What's more epic than fighting a dragon? FIGHTING A DRAGON AS A WEREWOLF (even though I get pwn'd). The werewolf power is like the ultimate cure to trolls too; clean those bitches out in a few seconds, >(.

So yeah, I <3 Skyrim.

[Nix]

Skyrim. How do I describe this game?... Just imagine perfection for right now.

I sat down with this game at 5 PM yesterday and I played it for awhile. I checked the time once and it was 2 in the morning. I decided that I should go to bed, but dammit it was hard, I wanted to play more.

Going with a Dark Elf thief/assassin like I did in Oblivion. Using bows and daggers with light armor and no magic. You know that feeling when you sneak around a room full of bandits and slit every last one of their necks without being detected? So much more satisfying than picking them off with a bow.

[The Real Darth Sonikku]

The fact that this thread is not a 75 paged megathread fills me with NERDREAG!!!!

[Solid SOAP]

This is brilliant, loving it. It's so atmospheric and just a joy to play, it truly seems like it's own virtual world, as opposed to just a huge sandbox with a lot of stuff to do. The attention to detail is staggering, and just about every dungeon I've entered, if not every one, has been unique in it's own way. I've found myself in ice caverns, castles, caves, fortresses overcome by spider-webs, etc. Everything seems unique and new at every turn, and I can not complain.

[Thrippa]

The fact that this thread is not a 75 paged megathread fills me with NERDREAG!!!!

[The Weeb with No Name]

This game is magic.

Edited November 18, 2011 by Jayhawker30

[No more]

Something weird related to this game

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/parents-name-baby-after-computer-game-character.html

If that's the case then I'm naming my kid Robotnik (only joking)

[Phos]

Funny thing I heard about this game: If you install the game to the hard drive on the Xbox 360, certain textures never completely load in. Supposedly you can just not install it and the catching will eventually give you load times that are almost as good.

I think it's kind of funny how similar this game's art style is to that of Dark Souls, but these two games could not be more diametrically opposed to one another.

[Nintendoga]

Rented this game, best game I played in 2011.

Having never played Oblivion, only made this more appealing and fresh and new for me. Getting lost in the mountains, only to escape Ogres, then find a secret witches cave, makes it all so exhillerating to be in one giant open spaced world.

I'll admit, the zombies in the underground tombs creeped me out more then any Resident Evil game has ever done in the past 10 years.

I gotta buy this game eventually.

Edited January 10, 2012 by Nintendoga

[Emmett L. Brown]

I was THIS close to 100% the game with the same character. But then it turned out I sold my Thieves Guild armor about sixty hours before I found out you can't become the leader of the Thieves Guild without trading in a piece of said armour because the person who's supposed to give you your Awesome Elite Thief Leader Armour refuses to talk about anything besides the aformentioned trade-in.

Once sold, the Thieves Guild Armour can never be recovered. Ever. Unless you're on PC.

Sublimely awesome game, but DO NOT SELL YOUR THIEF ARMOUR!!!!!!! if you want to complete the Thief quests.

[LATER BUDDY]

Well, to bring more spark into this well deserved topic, how about we share what our characters have/are/etc =O? Totally not suggesting this to brag 8D *shot*

Race: Khajiit

Level: 67

Money: 133,044

Magicka: 160

Health: 350

Stamina: 450

(all of this are base stats above, not counting enchantments)

Stats: 100 in Alteration, Enchanting, Smithing, One-Handed, Archery, Light Armor, Sneak, Lockpicking, and Speech. The rest of the warrior types are about 70ish, the rest of my magic is about 50ish, and the rest of my shadow type is damn near 100 as well.

Armor Rating: 1209

Damage Rating: 736

Armor:

-Dragonscale Armor (Legendary): Increases health 70, Light Armor increased 28

-Dragonscale Boots (Legendary): One-handed increased 45%, 42 more carry capacity points

-Dragonscale Gauntlets (Legendary): One-handed increased 45%, Light Armor increased 28

-Dragonscale Helmet (Legendary): Bows increased 45%, Lockpicking 45% easier (wish there was better options for helmets, D;)

-Gold Diamond Necklace: One-handed increased 45%, Light Armor increased 28

-Gold Diamond Ring: Increases health 70, One-handed increased 45%

-(Secondary) Ring of Hircine: Extra transformations for werewolves

Weapon:

-Daedric Sword (Legendary) (Right Hand): 35 Frost damage, 35 Fire damage; 368 damage

-Daedric Sword (Legendary) (Left Hand): Absorbs 22 health, Fills soul gem if target dies in 17 seconds plus 10 Fire damage (Fiery Soul Trap); 368 damage

-(Secondary) Daedric Bow (Legendary): 35 Frost damage, 35 Fire damage; mainly Ebony arrows; 212 damage (Daedric arrows are hard to come by, D;)

Other: As for anything else, I enjoy having the sprint shout on most of the time, since I don't use it all too much for combat. However, I'll switch to stuff like Dragonrend for dragon fights of course and so forth. I like to use the Steed Stone for my stone choice because I simply like being able to hold a shit ton, though with how high my stamina is getting, I might switch out since I don't need near 700 for space LOL. The only power I have is Lycanthropy, which I used ALOT in the beginning, but the werewolf form is pretty weak compared to my normal form now. It still helps for travel, but that's about it (though when I was first starting, it was the greatest for trolls, <3).

---

Also, the way I got my stuff so high up with a combo of having Blacksmithing/Enchantment all the way up with all the perks with using Enchanter's/Blacksmith's Elixer when enchanting or smithing. Along with this, I created a set of Fortify Smithing to it's max, so I wore this while doing all said above for maximum results. As for the level, I got to 50 legitly, however soon after, I figured out that you can glitch/cheat the Oghma Infinium book to constantly level everything up LOL. The only reason I'm not fully maxed out yet is that I stopped where all the perks I wanted could be achieved. Still deciding on the left overs, XD. I thought about some magic stuff for fun, but I'll wait for the next character I do. For lols, I made a set that makes it so that Alteration didn't use any magicka, no matter the spell, so I could lols around with telekinesis, but it got old quick (mainly because I couldn't waltz around picking people up and chucking them XD).

But yeah! What is your character? I'm really interested since I'm ready for a new character, but haven't fully decided what I wanted to be yet. I was leaning toward a Heavy Armor character that does magic (prolly frost or fire destruction plus something else), or maybe just a two-handed weapon this time.

EDIT: Also, I'm on PS3 and my file is now up to 12MB, D;. I have some pretty terrible frame rate at Whiterun and a few other places, X_x. I'm looking forward to the fix for this soon, but it's also getting rid of some bugs, which I can't help but think the Oghma Infinium trick is on the top of that list LOL.

EDIT AGAIN: Well the rest of the night I beat the main story finally and leveled up the rest of my stats, so I'm maxed at 81 one now, XD. I still have like 7 perks to spend, but I honestly can't even think of what I'd honsetly put down. I did have 14, but I used 7 on alchemy so maybe I could boost my game-breaking armor more for the lols, but I think I'm done with this guy.

(bracing for "Who gives a shit")

[Speederino]

Oh hai old topic. Wait, only two pages? For SKYRIM!? Take it away, Harry Partridge:

Anyway, I just got this game a week ago for my birthday. Yeah yeah, I know I should have checked this out sooner. But I didn't. So...yep. I've never played an Elder Scroll's game before now, and I can clearly see why this series is loved so much. I have never played a game with so much content, with so many character building options and gameplay styles. More importantly, this world feels so real. NPC's don't feel like re-used cutouts that are just there for decoration, they all have legitimate lives and personalities. I feel like I can do absolutely anything I can think of doing, and not once have I had that illusion shattered.

As always, I'm playing a rogue/thief since I tend to favor the stealth/crowd control classes in RPG's. Imagine my surprise when I found out this game has a full-blown stealth system. Most RPG's just have you turn invisible and compare your stealth stats to aan enemies awareness or something, and that's all I was expecting. I don't know if this series has always done this, but I feel like Bethesda went above and beyond by including this.

I plan to join the Thieves Guild once I find where they're located (I refuse to use the internet, trying to locate them in-game makes it feel more authentic), then I'll find a wife and establish a nice little home for me to use as a base of operations. After that, I'll become a master thief and- HOLY SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE MAIN STORYLINE!!!

Edited March 30, 2012 by Speederino

[Scott]

Oh hai old topic. Wait, only two pages? For SKYRIM!? Take it away, Harry Partridge:

Anyway, I just got this game a week ago for my birthday. Yeah yeah, I know I should have checked this out sooner. But I didn't. So...yep. I've never played an Elder Scroll's game before now, and I can clearly see why this series is loved so much. I have never played a game with so much content, with so many character building options and gameplay styles. More importantly, this world feels so real. NPC's don't feel like re-used cutouts that are just there for decoration, they all have legitimate lives and personalities. I feel like I can do absolutely anything I can think of doing, and not once have I had that illusion shattered.

As always, I'm playing a rogue/thief since I tend to favor the stealth/crowd control classes in RPG's. Imagine my surprise when I found out this game has a full-blown stealth system. Most RPG's just have you turn invisible and compare your stealth stats to aan enemies awareness or something, and that's all I was expecting. I don't know if this series has always done this, but I feel like Bethesda went above and beyond by including this.

I plan to join the Thieves Guild once I find where they're located (I refuse to use the internet, trying to locate them in-game makes it feel more authentic), then I'll find a wife and establish a nice little home for me to use as a base of operations. After that, I'll become a master thief and- HOLY SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE MAIN STORYLINE!!!

CURSE..YOU!!!!

I thought the topic was getting updated for news on DLC...

It feels like forever D: D: D: I want to experience new adventures as my Level 50 Argonian Bethesda!!! It's great to see you enjoy the game Speederino, hopefully you give Oblivion a try in the future and if you want more of that similar gameplay and like sci-fi, I reccomend Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.

Haven't played Skyrim since I 100% it, But I have two Argonians, one at level 50 and one at Level 30. I'm just now patiently awaiting DLC

[Speederino]

Oh, I'll definitely be checking out more Elder Scroll games after I'm "done" with Skyrim, at least Morrowind and Oblivion, maybe the first two games as well. I'm not sure what to make of those after watching footage on Youtube, and a lot of people seem to frown on them. But hey, they're free. Worth a shot.

I've gone an entire day with no Skyrim, thanks to my current busy as fuck school schedule. It feels like its been weeks. I haven't been this addicted to a game since Red Dead Redemption came out, and that lasted two or three months. I really should have asked for this game at Christmas, that way I could have had all of winter break to obsess over it.

I'm still shocked at how sparse this topic is. I know this game is no longer the big, hot topic, but come on people. There HAS to be something worthwhile to talk about. What are some recommended mods for the PC version? I have Horses for Companions and Realistic Thunder Sounds. I'm tempted to try one I saw that added thirst, hunger, and exhaustion, but I figure I'll wait until another playthrough for that one.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Speederino

[Sapphire]

I must admit, my brother had to convince me to pitch in to get this game. I've never played an Elder Scrolls game, and I'm not really into the whole dragon/medieval thing much. But we ended up getting it, mostly because he pressured me into it.

I am SO glad we bought this game. It's so fun, and, like many people, I can waste hours at a time playing this game. I never thought I would ever get into a game like Skyrim, but I love it. I'll be honest, though, I'm not that far in it yet, but school is to blame for that. But nevertheless, Skyrim is just a really really awesome game.

[LATER BUDDY]

Man, I love Skyrim to bits, but I once again got to that point in RPGs that I'm so strong and know how to get so strong that it kinda breaks the game. After all the buffing of armor, weapons, enchanting, potions, etc; I can usually go out and watch a dragon wail on me for 10 minutes and then take him out with a few blunt punches of my hand when I feel like it. It was so exciting looking up and trying to get to this point, but it just drained the rest of the excitement for me. That feeling of fear of tougher badguys has been lost, which almost rids of the whole point.

I just hope there is some brutally tough DLC or something. Something that bumps up...I forgot. You can totally switch the difficulty in teh game in the options menu huh? WHY DID I ONLY REMEMBER THIS NOW MID-POST, AAAAA.

*goes plays Skyrim*

[PeanutButterDimond]

Well, I've been kind of obsessed with D&D at the moment so I really haven't been taking to to speak about Skyrim. Due to my console crapping out on me and having to get a new one, I am currently only level six and was on my way, with my every trusty companions, Sven, to go and get what the Greybeards wanted me to do. Keyword:was.

I kept getting distracted. First, I went to investigate a supposedly haunted barrow. After finishing that little adventure, I fast traveled to Whiterun and went on my way to complete the main quest. But guess what appears? a weird structure with bandits. And as I'm slashing at these bandits with my sword and frying them with my fire magic while Sven is shooting arrows from afar, guess what appears? The earths starts to tremble and I look up and would ya' know it, it's a dragon. Having just acquired a shout that I am eager to unlock, I run in pursuit. the dragon seemed determined to get away as it went flying in a single direction. Sven ready his bow but didn't get any time to shoot. That mother fucker was hauling it.

So for a few minutes, me and Sven are chasing after this dragon who's flying away. Using my speed shout and my endurance, I am determined to catch it. Yet, sadly, it gets away and I give up. I turn and see that I'm close to practically right next to Whiterun where I was travelling from and I decided to continue on with my quest. Sven and I get farther this time. We pass by a stream, get over some hills and don't meet any monsters. But them I see a camp. Compulsion and curiosity take over and before you know it, I am jumping over the camp's walls while simultaneously firing my fire magic at a bandit. It's an easy fight and we win so we go inside and that's where I am now.

My getting sidetracked is where I know this game has succeeded. It has drawn me in. With it's vibrant, realistic graphics, good voice acting, great atmosphere and fantastic A.I., the world feels alive. It feels easily changeable yet very dangerous. None of the NPC's ever felt one note. they have schedules, homes, jobs and realistic behaviors. And that's where the game gets you. It's attention to detail and effort get you believing in this world feels alive. the caverns and dungeons are rocky and natural, every book is packed full of words and the weather changes very believably.

Now, I want to say that my biggest adversity in this game is my inventory. Not the monsters, civil war, trolls, giants or freaking dragons. My inventory has cause most of my suffering. In a good way. With my curiosity, I grab every book because I want to read it yet because I want to continue adventuring and exploring, I save it until later. I grab every pretty or glowing plant. I catch every adorable looking insect. I hold on to every piece of clothing if it looks interesting enough and every big weapon if I don't have it yet. This dragon-like hoarding makes it very easy for me to end up carry a lot more than 310 pounds. Many minutes are spent looking through my inventory. Looking for what to keep or throw out.

Now for pretty much any other game, that would be a bit negative. With Skyrim however, it feels immersive. Everytime I see an item or overload on weight, I have to try and think ahead about what could be useful later on and what might not be. It's very adventurer-like to be so concerned and thoughtful about what to take with you and what not to. It only makes me feel more in touch with the world and my adventures.

Also, I would like to praise this game's A.I. While I don't care too much about graphics, I am very much an A.I. whore. Ever since playing Sly 2 Band of Thieves and feeling like a team while working with the really good A.I., I am really judgmental on A.I. and it very much factors in to my enjoyment. A.I. can make or break companions or teams. I never like working with (an) A.I. partner(s) and feel like I'm pulling all the weight while they just run around or attack but deal no damage to the enemies.

Thankfully, in this game, I always feel like an equal with my companion. Never once did he do anything that made me feel along. In every fight, we were a team and making a team effort equally. I don't know how many time Sven had saved my life. We were attacking a frost troll and he was down and I was hitting it. I was on my last sliver of health and I jump back and Sven comes out of nowhere and starts attacking this thing like crazy and practically finishes it off for me. There was another time in a camp where an enemy came from a door we were near and I try to attack but Sven already is in front of me impaling the enemy with his sword.

When I was doing my first run through(Which, due to my PS3 dying, ended at me going off to do the Greybeard's quest which is where I am with my current one) I didn't have any followers. I just went on my own. The game was a lot harder without a follower. Granted, I'm not saying the game is easy with a partner( it fucking isn't) but partners really pull their own weight and that really impresses me. I really enjoy having a follower because I feel like we're equally pulling weight in fights and are both doing damage. Like for example, Sven has killed many enemies on his own without any help whatsoever. He just continues to impress me.

I really must give a round of applause to Bethesda for this game it is amazing. Whether you're buying stuff, fighting dragons, crawling through dungeons, searching haunted barrows, climbing mountains, walking a very long journey from one place to the next, discovering interesting places and characters in your travels, thieving or even picking flowers, this game pulls me in completely and makes me completely buy this world and it's lore and it's inhabitants. There's so much detail put in to everything. you can just tell they put all their souls and love in to every aspect of this game. It's just breathtaking.

[Speederino]

You know, I actually haven't really messed with any of the crafting skills much. I originally intended to build up some blacksmithing perks, but I've actually barely touched it. And I don't see much to enchanting and alchemy since my current character isn't a mage (Though I could really use some nice fire weapons for those Frost Dragons. Seriously, fuck those guys)

Now that I think about it, I've never cared for crafting systems in RPG's. They rely on you to have about a half-dozen random ingredients and never tell you where to find them. Even once you go through the process of looking up where to find them and then acquire your grocery list, you can make a whopping two or three different things. And I don't know about Skyrim, but I've even gone through this in other RPG's only to acquire better items and equipment just by playing through the story.

I feel like crafting systems in general just need an overhaul. They need to be more rewarding and less tedious.

Also, I would like to praise this game's A.I. While I don't care too much about graphics, I am very much an A.I. whore. Ever since playing Sly 2 Band of Thieves and feeling like a team while working with the really good A.I., I am really judgmental on A.I. and it very much factors in to my enjoyment. A.I. can make or break companions or teams. I never like working with (an) A.I. partner(s) and feel like I'm pulling all the weight while they just run around or attack but deal no damage to the enemies.

Thankfully, in this game, I always feel like an equal with my companion. Never once did he do anything that made me feel along. In every fight, we were a team and making a team effort equally. I don't know how many time Sven had saved my life. We were attacking a frost troll and he was down and I was hitting it. I was on my last sliver of health and I jump back and Sven comes out of nowhere and starts attacking this thing like crazy and practically finishes it off for me. There was another time in a camp where an enemy came from a door we were near and I try to attack but Sven already is in front of me impaling the enemy with his sword.

This has to be the most positive thing I have ever heard in regards to the game's A.I. Most people seem to get annoyed on how they always get hung up on walls and can't avoid traps within dungeons, and I can see their point. But I haven't been able to fiddle with this much. I've only had two non-essential companions so far (Lydia and Erandur), and both of them are dead. I think I accidently hit Lydia with my mace when she stepped between me and a bandit in the middle of a fight, and Erandur...I may never know what the hell happened with him. All I know is that he said he'd be at Nightcaller Temple. Yet I searched every inch of that place and never found him. Beginning to fear the worst, I looked up how to summon him with the command console. And when I did...yep, he's a corpse. I had told him it was time to part ways somewhere around Morthal, and apparently he walked off a cliff or something on his way back to the temple.

Weird.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Speederino

[Scott]

Now that I think about it, I've never cared for crafting systems in RPG's. They rely on you to have about a half-dozen random ingredients and never tell you where to find them.

You only need an enchanted item to take the enchantment from (like a sword, helmet, boots etc.), An item to put the enchantment on (a specific item you want it on) and a Soul Gem filled with a soul (which can be done with the Soul Trap spell)

so three items, if you need Soul Trap, then four items. It boosted my level like a motherfucker.

[Speederino]

You only need an enchanted item to take the enchantment from (like a sword, helmet, boots etc.), An item to put the enchantment on (a specific item you want it on) and a Soul Gem filled with a soul (which can be done with the Soul Trap spell)

so three items, if you need Soul Trap, then four items. It boosted my level like a motherfucker.

I'll give it a shot, though I'm a bit confused on how you get enchantments. The manual says I have an enchanter DESTROY an enchanted item? And then I can apply it to whatever I want with a soul gem? I guess that sounds simple enough, I've got a few filled petty soul gems I've acquired through looting.

[Cola]

I'm sad because my friend bought me this game but my computer isn't powerful enough to play it.

Skyrim just sits in my Steam Library, laughing.

[Speederino]

So uh...nevermind what I said about Erandur earlier. I completely forgot about where we REALLY were when I told him to leave. We were at Labryinthian.

Being chased by 3 frost trolls.

Yeah...I think I can piece together what happened to him. I would have just ran, but the fool insisted on trying to fight them. At that point in the game I found just one frost troll to be a nightmare, taking on three of them was impossible, even with a companion.

[Thrippa]

Actually, your companion can become trapped at Labryinthian; it's a known glitch and I'm not sure if any of the patches have dealt with it. I nearly lost Lydia there, but was able to get her to fast-travel away WITH me after returning twice. They won't exit the area directly, won't fast-travel out alone when you fast-travel between two other places, and sometimes they won't even fast-travel out of Labryinthian if you're standing right next to them and fast-travel. If you have trouble picking up another companion because 'you already have one', you might want to go back and look for him. Enemies don't usually kill companions unless magic or poison are involved.

On the other hand, I once traversed a long, long narrow tunnel, noticing halfway along that Lydia had disappeared somewhere even though there were no side tunnels, and then spotted the body of yet another dead adventurer (there'd been 3 or 4 at the beginning of the cave) ahead. Got up to it and it was a dead Lydia. I opted to back up and redo the cave, since I'd killed a whole one Falmer since she'd vanished; she was carrying way too much stuff for me to haul it out. Never did figure out that one.

[Speederino]

From what I understand, enemies CAN kill your companions, but it takes quite a bit. First, they have to be in their kneeling pose after being defeated, and enemies have to keep wailing on them. Mind you, there's about 10,000,000,000 conflicting reports on this, so who can really say for sure? In my case, I figure three frost trolls continuously hitting a companion can do the trick.

Say, how long does the game keep track of bodies? It seems to be longer then most games, though not indefinite. I'll search for Erandur next time I brave Labryinthian, even though I know he's dead. I'd just like to know what really happened

BTW, speaking of possible glitches, I can NOT see while underwater. Ever. The screen always turns this turquoise color and completely blinds me. I know some pools are supposed to be murkier then others, but it's been like this every single time. Is it just my computer, or are other PC players having this problem too?