Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim...

[Alf]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-elder-scrolls/708369

Thanks to Jez for bringing this to my attention.

Awesomeness. So, rather interestingly this one seems to follow on shortly after Oblivion, which is a bit fo a change for the series.

I had no idea this was even coming, so excellent stuff.

I loved Oblivion, loved the tits off it. I was a bigger fan of Morrowind though, which was pretty perfect.

For this one I hope they sort the combat out a bit and make it a bit slicker and a bit more exciting. They should be able to produce some lovely fluid combat by now.

I'd like more voice actors this time too, bigger and more populated cities, NPCs with something to say.

[Bad Collin]

O M fucking G :hyper:

I agree about the combat, we need some special sword fighting moves.

[Alf]

I'd like something similar to Arkham Asylums combat but with swords. That way it'd flow tremendously and you'd feel like an epic badass.

That wouldn't work with first person though so I can't see them doing it.

[Bad Collin]

Just the addition of killing blows, backslashes, heads flying off etc would be a massive improvement on the hack at them til they die combat of oblivion.

[Cewsh]

The bow and arrow mechanics are pretty much perfect, though.

Man, i'm fucking EXCITED for this.

[Rip]

Didn't even know this was comng :hyper:

Agree on the fight mechanics though, it would be nice if it were more than just press to whack with sword/axe/stick.

Oh and the Umbra Sword needs to be around again.

[Wiganer]

Apparently the fighting is a lot better in this version, there are specific death moves, weapons have specific benefits, the dagger for instance has been moved to stealth and is deadly in an assassins hands (currently 10x damage for sneak attack).

They're also introducing duel handed fightings, so you can have two weapons, a weapon and a shield, a weapon and a spell, two spells or one spell using both hands that is more powerful but uses more magicka.


My biggest gripe in oblivion was that the stealthy bow characters where useless on the main quest, they're changing that by making bows more powerful but arrows rarer and more expensive.

Can't wait.

[The_Mike]

Yeah, I played an assassin in Oblivion and wasn't much use at anything except slaying civilians/Black Hand targets, which you obviously aren't meant to be doing in the main quest. Once you hit someone with a bow once it was almost impossible to maintain your cover and killing things with arrows took forever. Daggers were useless too, so I'm looking forward to combat improvements. I hope they fix leveling as well - I don't want to finish the main quest, be practically a god, and have to fire thirty arrows into a glass armor wearing bandit before the bastard will die because he's leveled up as much as I have.

[Alf]

That was such a huge mis-step from them last time round. I can't believe they though having bandits in mega armour would wash with players.

I want the combat to be slick and realistic. I don't want it to be a swipe swipe fest. If I hit them I want it to look like I've hit them.

[Wiganer]

Yeah, they've got rid of the ability to run backwards at full pelt, and made some dynamic quests. all of which sounds good

[Bad Collin]

It seems like there will be more Fallout like random encounters, which can only be a good thing.

The leveling will be different too which is good, because I don't want to endlessly run in order to increase my speed.

[Cewsh]

Its weird you guys had trouble with the bow, because I was killing most thing with one hit when undetected with the bow.

[Stan Hibbert]

I never had the patience for bows. Just drove a sword through everything.

[Cewsh]

Well the sword thing just felt so clunky and repetitive. I tried to get into it, but it just didnt work for me. The bow mechanics seemed much finer tuned.

[Wiganer]

Its weird you guys had trouble with the bow, because I was killing most thing with one hit when undetected with the bow.


Bow's were fantastic in the caves and the cities and the wilderness, the main quest was a complete pain though because sneak was virtually useless in the plains of oblivion.

[The_Mike]

I was killing most humans with one hit when sneaking with the bow, but everything else seemed far too strong and took an age to die. And it got worse as I gained levels.

[Wiganer]

Didn't help that I was always a wood elf, and one swipe of a troll's paw was enough to finish me :(

[Rip]

That's your problem right there, elves are just too breakable.

(just re-bought Morrowind GOTY & Oblivion for £10 the pair from my local market couldn't resist)

[Alf]

Fisrt gameplay footage...

http://uk.ign.com/videos/2011/02/24/skyrim-gameplay-trailer?objectid=14267318

Awesome.

I'm not seeing a huge leap up from Oblivion though.

[Alf]

That's your problem right there, elves are just too breakable.

(just re-bought Morrowind GOTY & Oblivion for £10 the pair from my local market couldn't resist)

I picked up morrowind for the xbox and it looks so fucking bad now.

I downloaded the pc version and some of the texture packs and it looks brilliant. Morrowind is easily my favourite game ever.

[Bert]

Fisrt gameplay footage...

http://uk.ign.com/videos/2011/02/24/skyrim-gameplay-trailer?objectid=14267318

Awesome.

I'm not seeing a huge leap up from Oblivion though.

Here it is on youtube so people can watch it from this thread. :p

YouTube - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Trailer

I've never been one to care about graphics as long as they were decent, so I don't really have any complaints. It's not like there won't be texture/mod packs for it anyway (for PC, obviously).

[Bad Collin]

That looks immense

[The_Mike]

The graphics are good enough for me - not quite the pinnacle of today's games but still very good. The main thing is art direction and making the environments interesting and exciting to look at, and so far it seems pretty spectacular. Love the big river - Oblivion didn't have much in terms of waterways, just lakes and the odd tiny stream.

[tana1234]

the problem with this game is its produced by bethesda so its gonna be buggy as hell i had so many issues with oblivion, fallout 3 and fallout new vegas im not sure i want to bother going through that hassel again with a new title

although oblivian was fantastic (except the magic side of it really needed improvement in my opinion)

[Grimario]

Fallout 3 was buggy? I never had a problem with it... are you console or PC gaming?

I don't have an issue with those graphics at all. PC version will likely be shinier by way of uber graphics packs and whatnot. And I am cheap so probably won't buy it till 2013 when the GOTY edition is on sale with all expansions :happysad:

[Cewsh]

the AWESOME THING with this game is its produced by bethesda so its gonna be FUCKING AMAZING.

Couldn't agree more.

[Matthew]

hey wait a second

[Cewsh]

DECEPTION

[Matthew]

pretty sure magic is against the rules

[Wiganer]

This game looks immense. Just bought a 160GB PS3 with oblivion to re-live the magic, pre-ordered skyrim from Amazon. I have my cock in my hand waiting for 11.11.11

[The_Mike]

11.11.11? THEY are coming!

[tana1234]

This game looks immense. Just bought a 160GB PS3 with oblivion to re-live the magic, pre-ordered skyrim from Amazon. I have my cock in my hand waiting for 11.11.11


the date a bit ominous isnt it? i think they could have picked a better day to release a game or put some better thought into it

[Wiganer]

Its an awesome date to release

[The_Mike]

I can't think of a better day. It's instantly memorable. I'm not sure what's wrong with it.

[Pablo Diablo]

Now if this was a WWI game maybe.

[Bad Collin]

I hope they bloody test this properly.

[The_Mike]

First review, naturally with a massively high score:
http://www.gamepur.com/news/6084-first-skyrim-review-out-overall-score-95.html

Also it has been nominated for Spike's Game of the Year about a week before its release. I'm not sure how fair that is, and I would not be surprised if there are some big glitches and silly niggles to deal with at first. Apparently the 360 version has leaked so maybe we'll hear about how it's running soon. I am definitely looking forward to exploring the landscape in the PC version, I got a decent video card to beef up Oblivion and it should at least make this look decent.

[Bert]

http://i.imgur.com/YvJrA.jpg
5 more days.

Hopefully it runs well. Not worried about my graphics card, just this shitty processor.

[Bad Collin]

I'm not sure whether to get this for PC or Xbox.

My laptop easily meets the minimum specifications and is just short of the recommended specs. Getting the PC version means I can play it on the move and get the mods, I can also play it on enhanced settings if/when I get a new kickass PC.

With the Xbox version I would get reliability and achievements.

It's a hard decision, I can't wait for friday.

[Bert]

PC version obviously.

Mods > *

[The_Mike]

Agreed, Bert. Mods make things so much more fun and extend the life of the game to an enormous degree. Also, given Bethesda's track record I would not be so sure the console version would be guaranteed to be more reliable, even if it looks a little nicer until you get the PC upgrade.

Anyone have any favourite mods they used in Oblivion? I used the usual beautifying stuff like Better Faces/Better Bodies and texture packs, and a really cool mod that opened up the towns in the overworld, so almost everything except interiors was one seamless map. I added in some really cool missions, usually assassiny stuff since that was my character class, but there was a really cool, lengthy mission mod revolving around archaeology. I always wanted to do the sailing ship one that's kicking around but it never would work for me for some reason.

I got into the Elder Scrolls with Morrowind, which I bought because I saw it cheap and happened to be between RPGs. I found it really different and kind of difficult to get to grips with, especially since it looked like an action-RPG and walked like an action-RPG and quacked like a pen and paper one. I swing and clearly hit something and it decides to roll dice to see if it actually did hit? What the heck is that about?

Aside from the awkward combat, though, I really enjoyed wandering around the landscape, interacting with a plethora of people and getting hired for all sorts of missions. I never did get around to completing the game properly, though I did eventually use the quick-win cheat just to see how it goes. I still put it on now and then because I just enjoyed wandering around the alien landscape so much, looking up at the weird sky, hearing the wind and the insects all around. I have been hearing that the atmosphere and look of this game is meant to be quasi-alien as well, not as out there and different at Morrowind but leaning more towards that than the bog standard fantasy stuff from Oblivion. I liked both but I am definitely looking forward to exploring what should hopefully be a very different-feeling world.

[Alf]

Yus! Mine has been posted. Can't wait now.

I agree with Le Mike too. Morrowind was incredible because everything was so different. You really were a stranger in a strange land. I played it a bit last christmas and the sheer depth and the sheer variety of factions etc is incredible.

[The_Mike]

Steam forums were hacked last night. The store is a bit f'd up now for a lot of people as well.

[Kure]

Pre-ordered from Amazon, but I am in the middle of National Novel Writing Month. I have to hold off playing till December 1st.

[Grimario]

PC version obviously.

Mods > *

Hey Bert, can you gift me a version on Steam? I will pay you back before the next Elder Scrolls game comes out....

[Bad Collin]

Don't trust Grim, he is the new BBF.

I have decided to get the Xbox version initially then buy a PC copy if/when I get a new computer and some awesome mods come out. I can't fucking wait for Friday...

[Grimario]

Don't trust Grim, he is the new BBF.

Just for that, all the goods I have mined for your stupid trophy will be turned into a statue of Tim Cahill elbowing Gerrard in the face, Tim Howard relieving himself in your European Cup and Baines taking a dump on Dalglish's head.


Or maybe the trophy this weekend...

[Bad Collin]

I can't wait to see it!! :hyper:

[Bishop_Supreme]

I finished paying Skyrim off in pre orders along with a few other games. But I probably won't get around to playing this game until I'm done with the term, due to how busy its been lately.

I may just make my character or something but nothing too in depth anytime soon.


...I'll probably end up giving 5 hours to this game on Friday by accident.

[Grimario]

...I'll probably end up giving 5 hours to this game on Friday by accident.

That always happens to me. "Oh nice, my pre-order has pre-loaded on Steam, will just load it up and check out the opening sequence before bed"








"Oh shit, its 4am all of a sudden. Feck"

[Bert]

"This game will unlock in approximately 1 day and 3 hours"

11pm release :hyper:

Don't click either spoiler if you don't want to be spoiled. Has to do with a creature in Skyrim.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dragon Slaying and Werewolves(Gameplay) - YouTube

Werewolves confirmed! You can fight and also become a Werewolf.

[Grimario]

Re Berts spoiler...

umm, couldn't you do that in previous games? Fairly certain you could get the curse in Daggerfall at the very least... and you could definitely be a vampire as well in recent games.

Have you gifted it to me yet? And it unlocks at midnight here... 11 and a bit hours, I think.

[Grimario]

Double post.

[Grimario]

Triple post! FFS.

[Bert]

Nice triple post.

They made a big deal about trying to say Werewolves wouldn't be in the game this time.
No, I haven't gifted it to you. I don't really have $60 to spare at the moment.

I'm saving money for Black Friday to buy an i5, new mobo, and new ram so I can play games like Skyrim better.

Isn't it like $90 there? Is that why you don't want to buy it? If you could paypal me $60 I could buy it but otherwise...

You could always get it here for $35:
http://www.intkeys.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=74&products_id=314&zenid=3d736700c542640ca3beafb159ddad4d

I bought Warhammer 40k Space Marine from them and it works fine, activated on Steam. Last I knew they weren't sure if the Skyrim key was going to be only activateable in Russia (or through a vpn) but they did say if it turned out it was they would be doing refunds if requested.

[Judas Iscariot]

Play Dark Souls instead, you bunch of poofs.

[Bert]

Dark Souls isn't on PC. No mods on console versions.

http://i.imgur.com/tudLC.jpg

Shit game.

[Judas Iscariot]

YOU'RE A SHIT GAME

[Alf]

It has arrived. I'm at work. What a load of cunt.

[Grimario]

Alf, I will be honest... you look awful. As your resident forum doctor (since ECG doesn't post here and I am not sure Dr. Isaac Yankeem is a real doctor), I think you should probably go home and rest up.

[Alf]

I do feel a bit peeky...

[The Rogerer]

Oh no I can't download mods. I won't be able to get naked people when I unequip their armour or have a Beretta 9mm made by a 14 year old.

[Alf]

Are you ok?

[The Rogerer]

I'm alright. I won a 360 in a competition and Double Penetration Deliveries have left it at another house who aren't in. I wasn't even meant to leave the house today but my boss came and dragged me out after yelling at me yesterday. Going mental, this 360 has been a carrot on a stick for weeks.

I had a few mods for Morrowind but nothing that I really liked.

[The_Mike]

The best mods tend to be things that fix or tweak stuff Bethesda didn't bother to do. After three or so official patches, Oblivion still had a few broken quests and lots of technical issues that the community put together a patch for. There were mods to fix combat in Oblivion and Morrowind as well, and there's always the fun stuff of adding new locations, items and quest-lines. If you're not hugely into the game, though, I suppose none of that stuff would be of interest. Most casual players probably wouldn't even notice the things the community patches fix.

[The Rogerer]

My 360 arrived and it needs christening. I'm giving thought to going tomorrow morning and getting this. On the no camp, I am a bit skint but in the yes camp it's getting fantastic reviews.

[Rip]

Morrowind on the Xboc was the first game that really blew me away, then in Oblivion I spent hours just wandering around looking at the world, I'm prepared to fall in love again this time and I can't wait to see my first dragon...:drool:

[Cubed-Sphere]

I'm seriously considering cancelling my classes tomorrow to jam on this all night and day.

[The_Mike]

Word from the land down under is that it is pretty gorgeous and impressive, even on a less than stellar PC. I like hearing that bows have been given a bit more attention and will no longer wind up requiring machine-gun tactics to take down a squirrel when you're level 20. They say that level-scaling is much more like Fallout 3, and leveling up is streamlined and more balanced, so I am hoping to be able to build a character that doesn't seem to get progressively less effective. I always go for the stealth types, and neither Morrowind or Oblivion were particularly great for those.

[Bert]

Word from the land down under is that it is pretty gorgeous and impressive, even on a less than stellar PC.

Don't tease me, bro. :cry:

Skyrim unlocks in 4 hours and 20mins but im going to see Harold and Kumar 3D in an hour and then I'll only have a hour or so to kill before I can start killing dragons. :D

[Bert]

I've played almost 4 hours. Got to level 3. Loving it. I joined the companions, they're good allies to have.

[Hlebsfall]

Should I get this? I've already bought Batman, Uncharted and MW3 this month. I'm 27 years old for gods sake. I should really be spending my money on things like houses and shares in blood diamond mining companies.

[Bert]

If you liked Oblivion or enjoy the Fallout games then yes.

[Hlebsfall]

Right then Bertrand, I'm buying this on your reccomendation.

[Bad Collin]

I have the game, now I just need to get through the working day.

[Tugboat]

Just got Skyrim. The packed-in map smells AMAZING

[OD50]

Is it true it's made of real dragon hide?

This game sounds pretty great though, will most likely pick it up when I'm done playing through my current games.

[Alf]

It's bloody grand. The opening was a bit stilted for me but it's picked up nicely.

Bloody lovely stuff.

I'm not much of a fan of the new menus, and how the fuck do you skip through conversations?

[Tugboat]

I've just been pressing X when I've read on - they usually just skip to the next line.

Swing my Warhammer at a chicken and leveled up. Felt great.

[The_Mike]

Don't tease me, bro. :cry:

Skyrim unlocks in 4 hours and 20mins but im going to see Harold and Kumar 3D in an hour and then I'll only have a hour or so to kill before I can start killing dragons. :D

When the launcher detected my hardware settings it decided to kick everything up to ultra high, and I do not have a gaming PC by any means. I'm very impressed at how smoothly it runs with ridiculously gorgeous settings. Even the opening sequence and all that chaos barely hit the framerate. Looks like Bethesda might have figured out how to optimize their games at last. How're you finding it runs on your machine?

EDIT: Just had a brilliant moment - got ambushed by some mad viking-looking bandit with an axe. In a panic I dove into the river and swam across, but the river was running pretty fast. He paced a little on the other side, then decided to wade in, but his armour was so heavy he was swept straight over the waterfall. I saw him disappear as he yelled "I'll kill yoooooou!"

[Bert]

When the launcher detected my hardware settings it decided to kick everything up to ultra high, and I do not have a gaming PC by any means. I'm very impressed at how smoothly it runs with ridiculously gorgeous settings. Even the opening sequence and all that chaos barely hit the framerate. Looks like Bethesda might have figured out how to optimize their games at last. How're you finding it runs on your machine?


Pretty well, on low. I can't wait to buy an i5 processor and kick this up to ultra.

One bug I've noticed is in Riverhorn (or something close to that I was tired)I killed a chicken and this guy Alvorn got super pissed at me and tried to kill me. Apparently he thinks the chicken is a NPC. I reloaded the save and didn't kill the chicken this time. Maybe they just love their chickens. :dunno:

[The_Mike]

I remember reading a preview that described a bug where chickens would report crimes, as if they were witnesses. Bethesda said they fixed it but it appears they have still left chickens as human NPCs in some manner, which is probably why people try to murder you for whacking a chicken.

[Bert]

Skyrim - Don't Kill The Sacred Chicken! "Ultra Setting Gameplay" - YouTube

[Kdestiny]

So far, this is well worth the money. Everything is a complete upgrade from Oblivion. It feels so much smoother and looks so much better. Looking forward to what happens further on in the story.

[Alf]

This game is cool.

Just wandering around and I found this old Orc...

He was old and wanted to die a good death so I offered to help him out. We had a nice epic fight and i used a fire dragon shout at him that set him on fire, then I got one of those kill animations where I ran him through, lifted him up, and dumped him down... all the while he was on fire. I'd call that a good death.

A night to remember... very funny quest.

Also, Marketh is incredible.

[Bad Collin]

Just learned my first dragon word thing, now to find a scaly beast to steal the soul from.

[The_Mike]

Have had a couple of dragon fights now:

Obviously the opening segment has one but you can't really do anything but run like hell. Tense and exciting but not really a fight. Then there's the first real encounter where you kill one and are revealed to be Dragonborn, which was cool, and I was just walking around the countryside when a third swooped down on me. I am a little surprised, possibly even disappointed, that the dragons so far seem very easy to deal with. I'm sure I'll be cursing much later ones with massive healthbars and stupidly powerful attacks, but I would have thought even an early one would be a significant scrap. Instead I've found giants/trolls and the odd bandit chief to be much harder. With the dragons I just sidestep its breath, rain arrows into its face, shoot its belly a bunch of times as it flies around, and repeat. I suppose I was expecting something a bit more epic than being able to slay it with a few arrows while my companion cowers uselessly behind a rock and one solitary town guard runs a few miles to help us, finally arriving when it drops dead.

Not a massive complaint by any means, but a bit surprising. A more serious complaint though is that horses are somehow more useless than Oblivion - slow, plodding, clumsy, frequently getting stuck in cracks, easily getting lost if you don't remember precisely where you put it and of course you can't attack from it so you have to stop and get off (which takes forever) in order to deal with the constant wolf attacks. Really looking forward to a mod for that, but since Oblivion had a mod for mounted combat a long time ago, I would have thought Bethesda could put something together.

Still hugely enjoying the game, though. I really like that stealth has been focused on more this time, it suits my style of play and the character I'm trying to create. The perks seem to make a significant difference to how I play and where I focus my energies in levelling. I'm on level 12 now, after about 10 hours of play. How's everyone else doing?

EDIT: Also, how's everyone finding the graphics? I'm seeing a lot of whining on Gamefaqs (there's a shock) about how awful the game looks and that it's just a cheap console port. I think it is a console port, and to be fair it has been done rather sloppily leading to serious interface issues, but I have no idea what more people want out of the graphics. Bethesda and Steams' forums are full of fanboys so they aren't great places to discuss it either.

[Alf]

I have a dog, and a house.

[Bert]

A more serious complaint though is that horses are somehow more useless than Oblivion
Bite your tongue, horses are great.

I go mountain climbing with mine.

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/614968439064741380/A2337E1E9E11DE0C8C44B6CCBFFAB686094F823B/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/614968439064743833/304979D9256A7C13806DED1552CBF4D9F1FE3546/
But seriously, they are pretty bad. My companion Lydia not being able to ride bitch is what bugs me the most though.

[Bert]

I have a dog, and a house.

Are you a nord? I thought you could only get a dog as a Nord. Maybe that's wrong though. I do think I'm going to make the trip to Solitude and try to buy that 25k house.

[Alf]

Yep, I'm a nord. The dog is actually fucking irritating...

The horses do seem pointless. I swear I run just as fast.

Loving the enchanting and smithing. I've made myself a lovely matching set of Glass badassery.

[Bad Collin]

This game is amazing, I have sunk in 30 hours already.

The smithing is awesome and I am loving the sword finishing flourishes

[Alf]

Skyrim Is a Great Game - Giant Bomb Quick Look clip - YouTube

This happened to me. I got bashed and flew into the air about a million miles. Lovely it was.

Lads, last night at 12:30 I said to myself "I'll just have a look over this hill..." next time I looked at the clock it was half 3. Fuck I'm tired.

[Matty C]

In order to enjoy this, would I have had to play Oblivion first? This sounds interesting. Also, is it good for PS3? My computer sucks and couldn't handle this at all.

[DDT]

Yes, it's good for PS3. No, you don't have to play Oblivion first; it's set a long time after the events of Oblivion (a hundred years I believe) and the few important things (who the Blades are, etc) get explained to you, in great detail if you choose to read the literally hundreds of books they provide you with.

[Matty C]

Interesting, thanks. :beer:

[The_Mike]

Yeah, no need to worry about backstory, the Elder Scrolls series has an insane amount of lore but none of it is necessary to know beforehand - you just kind of turn up in the world, explore and learn as you go. This takes place 201 years after Oblivion, plenty of time for all that to fade into the background - it is not a continuous story by any means.

PC's only real advantage over the PS3 is the use of mods (and there are a bunch out already) but unless you're heavily into these sorts of games I wouldn't worry about that.

[Cubed-Sphere]

The PS3 version is flawless. Go for it if you're worried your rig can't give you anything over the lowest setting without blowing up... otherwise the PC is probably the best choice if you can meet the medium settings.

I think i've put about 20 hours into this in four days... which is insane for me because 1. I don't game that much anymore, and 2. I'm not a big RPG guy. I have found western RPGs can own me, though... Bethesda and Bioware are masters.

I'm currently stuck on a puzzle in one of the tombs, and I'm actually happy about that. I hate how easy puzzles have become in RPGs.

[Grimario]

The PS3 version is flawless. Go for it if you're worried your rig can't give you anything over the lowest setting without blowing up... otherwise the PC is probably the best choice if you can meet the medium settings.

Isn't one of the detractors with the console versions that the load times are fecking atrocious so you spend 5 minutes loading every building you want to enter... so in the long run, you just skip any building that isn't a shop or guild?

[Cubed-Sphere]

I don't know who is claiming all of that, but it couldn't be further from the truth. I have waited no longer than 25 seconds to load up a save file and no longer than 10 seconds to enter a building or quick-travel. At least on PS3.

I would have to say that the load-times are one of the best surprises of this game for me, because I expected them to be bad.

[Grimario]

I don't know who is claiming all of that, but it couldn't be further from the truth. I have waited no longer than 25 seconds to load up a save file and no longer than 10 seconds to enter a building or quick-travel. At least on PS3.

I would have to say that the load-times are one of the best surprises of this game for me, because I expected them to be bad.

Was a comment by Gabe or Tycho from PA... lemme find said rant... (looks like it was for xbox, not PS3)

http://penny-arcade.com/2011/11/11/skyrim

[Cubed-Sphere]

Yeah, I can't account for 360, but the PS3 version has no load issues... quick and glitch-free.

[Alf]

I've had it crash on the transitions between outdoors and indoors a few time.

A dragon tried to attack me while I was at the mage's college... it got brutally raped.

[Tugboat]

Put about 6 hours in so far, and I'm loving it. I learned how to breathe fucking fire!

[Alf]

I also just had an epic fight in the middle of a river. Fucking badass.

[Cewsh]

Was a comment by Gabe or Tycho from PA... lemme find said rant... (looks like it was for xbox, not PS3)

http://penny-arcade.com/2011/11/11/skyrim

That whole rant kind of just came off as the crying of a whiny child who hates games like this, so grain of salt.

[Grimario]

That whole rant kind of just came off as the crying of a whiny child who hates games like this, so grain of salt.

It has some good points though. They are pretty daunting for anyone who doesn't love them or know anything about them.

[Cewsh]

It has some good points though. They are pretty daunting for anyone who doesn't love them or know anything about them.

Absolutely.

Its just not necessarily right to judge the technical aspects of games on words from people prone to whining and overreaction.

[Tugboat]

Yes it is Cewsh, fuck you. It's the best!

Turned off Skyrim there, so I don't get dreams about it tonight (used to happen with Tetris) - and stuck on DCU Online, only for it to need an update which has been going for an hour now.

Today also marked the third time that I beat a large enemy in Skyrim at the exact same time it killed me; both of us falling at the same time. Surely the game should give me some props for being so fucking METAL.

[Bert]

Ugh, I need to buy a house, and soon.

I have Lydia carrying the dragon bones from the 2 I've killed but now she can't really carry anything else so I'm always over encumbered.

[Grimario]

Turned off Skyrim there, so I don't get dreams about it tonight (used to happen with Tetris) - and stuck on DCU Online, only for it to need an update which has been going for an hour now.

DCU Online is pretty good for a F2P MMO.

I'm still not happy with Bert for not gifting my Skyrim on Steam :( To make matters worse, he is also playing Saints Row: The Third and hasn't gifted me a copy of that either :(

[Tugboat]

I haven't even looked at buying a house yet, no idea what they cost. I've had to buy two horses (1000 apiece) because I trounced my first one off a cliff like a boss.

It was pretty metal.



DCU Online is pretty good for a F2P MMO.

I'm still not happy with Bert for not gifting my Skyrim on Steam :( To make matters worse, he is also playing Saints Row: The Third and hasn't gifted me a copy of that either :(

What a cunt, you'd think he'd at least gift you at least one of them

[Bad Collin]

Horses are a waste, you can buy a house in whiterun for 5000

[Tugboat]

I love my horse Caterwaul. Before we ride anywhere, I always whisper "I'm taking you off a cliff someday, you horse bastard".

I think I'm approaching that amount anyway; but I'm currently just starting at Wizard College, Harry Potter style.

[Bert]

I haven't even looked at buying a house yet, no idea what they cost.

The Whiterun house is 5k but you can only buy it after you've killed the first dragon in the main storyline, I'm pretty sure. Because after that the Jarl says you can buy property.

The other one I know about is 25k and in Solitude.

The 5k one should be good enough for now I just need chests to store my stuff in. I've got weapons with special abilities like sword of the frost or iron helmet of minor magicka that I've been refusing to sell in case they'll come in handy later.

[Bad Collin]

I love Whiterun, it's nice and central and it has amazing facilities for levelling up Smithing.

[Grimario]

I've got weapons with special abilities like sword of the frost or iron helmet of minor magicka that I've been refusing to sell in case they'll come in handy later.

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/11/14

That's you, Bertus.

[Mik]

I think that I am going to be getting this sometime soon.

[Cubed-Sphere]

@ El Berto:

Just do what I did: Find a fort or cave, or whatever, clear it out, and place all your shit in a barrel/sack/chest there until you get a home to store it in. I kept all my stuff at Journeyman's Nook until I married and moved into her home.:D

[Bert]

@ El Berto:

Just do what I did: Find a fort or cave, or whatever, clear it out, and place all your shit in a barrel/sack/chest there until you get a home to store it in. I kept all my stuff at Journeyman's Nook until I married and moved into her home.:D

I heard there was a bug where stuff in a chest you don't own can disappear though.

[Alf]

You can only permenantly store stuff in your house. If you leave it in a random barrell then after a while it will vanish. This isn't a bug.

[Bad Collin]

Yeah, because dungeons reset after a certain numbers of days including your items.

[Tugboat]

Well you're leaving your stuff in a big fucking dungeon unguarded; you're not the only adventurer plundering the tombs of Skyrim you know.

[The_Mike]

As much as I am enjoying this game, some of the technical issues are pretty unforgivable. Yield is an almost entirely useless feature that enemies overuse way too much, horses are glitchy and nearly useless (I can run 99% as fast as the damn thing), and lots of people are experiencing crashes and quest bugs and weird AI, though I haven't suffered too much from that myself aside from being given a quest to kill a bandit chief who was already dead who then teleported about five miles across the map.

And then there's this:

http://kotaku.com/5859983/do-not-let-skyrim-overflow-your-ps3/gallery/1

Skyrim's basically unplayable after a significant length of time on the PS3. That this got out of quality control is a disgrace. I know, I know, it's Bethesda, buggy but mindblowing software is what they do, but I am getting pretty peeved with very sloppy testing and releases with huge flaws becoming the standard.

Anyway, whine over. Back to creeping around Riften.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Sounds like the other Bethesda games on the PS3, which is why I really struggle to finish them. How this remains a problem now is just incompetence and a lack of respect for the customer. I've ordered this game and it's on its way, but this is annoying to hear.

[Tugboat]

I'm playing on the PS3 - and while I'm enjoying Skyrim, I can't imagine it'll take much more than a save-file/tech problem to make me lose interest completely and go onto the dozens of other game vying for my attention at this time of year. I can't see me starting again, or persevering with restarting the console every so often. I'll just trade the fucker and buy it later when it's dirt cheap and they've patched the problem, if at all.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Save. Quit. Reload. Problem solved. The world is able to reset. It only gets bad when your save file is that size and you play hours on end without reloading, because the game has to manage every item you've messed and interacted with that entire play-time.

Try it. It works.

Regardless, it should be patched, but it's not game-breaking. You just have to reload a save every 2 hours or so.

[grimshaw]

This game is neat, will play when I have more time. Playing on PC of course, doesn't deal well with alt tab though :(

[The_Mike]

Save. Quit. Reload. Problem solved. The world is able to reset. It only gets bad when your save file is that size and you play hours on end without reloading, because the game has to manage every item you've messed and interacted with that entire play-time.

Try it. It works.

Regardless, it should be patched, but it's not game-breaking. You just have to reload a save every 2 hours or so.

It's not 'hours on end' you need to play for, it's about 2. Restarting your console every two hours should not be necessary in 2011. The PS3 should not be grinding to a halt because it cannot handle a 6MB save file. Like Tubboat just said, they expect people to maintain their interest in the game when they have so many other things to do and have to reboot the PS3 every couple of hours? It's unacceptable and demonstrates complete disrespect for the consumer that this made it out to release with such an issue.

I love Bethesda's games but damn, they really seem hell bent on not learning anything with every release. The exact same thing happened with Fallout 3 and New Vegas on the PS3. It's inexcusable.

[Bad Collin]

Xbox for the win.

I am up to level 20 now after finally getting my smithing to 100. I think tonight I need to have a big session of the main quest as I wanted to complete it this week.

I recommend that everyone has the drinking contest with Sam someone in the Whiterun inn, it leads to brilliance.

[Alf]

This save thing sounds bad. I haven't experienced it myself yet but it sounds game-breaking.

If it does get bad then I'll consider trading in for the 360 version but that would mean starting from scratch, which I really really don't want to do.

[Bert]

I've only had one crash on PC. No other problems. :cool:

Probably just jinxed it though. :(

[Tugboat]

Just absolutely tore through a huge chunk of the story in about two hours there. When you think about what you do in such a short space of time, it's unreal.

Climbed a mountain and spoke to a big friendly (?) dragon, adventured my way into finding an Elder Scroll, went back in time, defeated (sort of) Alduin in combat and through a massively entertaining quest found myself in travelling via a massive pillar of fire to Sovngard where he's hiding out.

Phew.

[Grimario]

I've only had one crash on PC. No other problems. :cool:

Probably just jinxed it though. :(

I haven't had a single crash on PC :cool:

Mostly because I haven't had it gifted to me yet :(

[The_Mike]

Anyone found a way to make decent money relatively quickly? I hear you can get a job in Skyrim but I'm not sure if that's a quest type thing that leads to the option of regular employment or they just mean you can fashion stuff on a forge and sell it if you feel like it. I have made a bit of a living stealing shit from bandit hideouts and doing a little hunting, tanning, smithing and selling, but it has been pretty arduous to get enough just to buy the 5k house in Whiterun.

Of course there's always the pot cheat (stick a pot on someone's head and rob them blind) but I'd like to stick to the spirit of the game if possible, otherwise I might as well use the console to magically fund myself. I enjoy earning coin in this fantasy universe, but I'm not going to grind dozens of dungeons just to earn enough to buy a decent wizard's staff.

[Cubed-Sphere]

It's not 'hours on end' you need to play for, it's about 2. Restarting your console every two hours should not be necessary in 2011. The PS3 should not be grinding to a halt because it cannot handle a 6MB save file. Like Tubboat just said, they expect people to maintain their interest in the game when they have so many other things to do and have to reboot the PS3 every couple of hours? It's unacceptable and demonstrates complete disrespect for the consumer that this made it out to release with such an issue.

I love Bethesda's games but damn, they really seem hell bent on not learning anything with every release. The exact same thing happened with Fallout 3 and New Vegas on the PS3. It's inexcusable.

1. 2 hours IS "hours on end"... plural is plural.

2. I didn't say restart your console. You just have to save, quit to main menu, reload, and play again. Not a major hassle. We're talking about forcing yourself to take a one minute break for every 120 minutes you play.

3. This is an issue already blown out of proportion and isn't affecting every PS3 gamer.

[grimshaw]

1) Congratulations on deliberately misinterpreting a common phrase.

2) I agree, but it's the principle. It's maddening that it's 2011 and this happens on the console, whose ONLY upside when compared to PC is supposed to be stability and control afforded by a walled garden approach to QA.

3) See 2.

[Cubed-Sphere]

1. Thank you. If everyone is going to quibble over semantics then let's do it.

2. I also agree that it's the principle, but let's get some perspective. Trading in PS3 copies? Damning Bethesda? Yes, it's annoying, but my God this is not a big annoyance when reloading a save every few hours will fix the issue for the few affected until a patch comes along. It is not game-breaking.



On the topic of the game, and on the issue of game-breaking, I think i've been pretty much unstoppable since level 15. I am dual-wielding two unique-item axes, rocking my one-handed bonus items like gauntlets and a ring, and upgraded my one-handed skill tree right off the bat and I can kill almost EVERYTHING with one, maybe two, dual-wielding power attacks (even dragons only take three). A complete beast set-up. Obviously a harder difficulty would change all that, but regardless, it's odd feeling so overpowered at such a low level. I'm digging it though.

[Alf]

1. 2 hours IS "hours on end"... plural is plural.

2. I didn't say restart your console. You just have to save, quit to main menu, reload, and play again. Not a major hassle. We're talking about forcing yourself to take a one minute break for every 120 minutes you play.

3. This is an issue already blown out of proportion and isn't affecting every PS3 gamer.

I started getting it last night and it is pretty fucking bad. It's like playing it on a PC that can just about keep up. It's mega juddery on any outdoor area. I did the save and load thing but it didn't help much at all.

It's absolutely piss poor that we even have to do that much.

[Alf]

On the topic of the game, and on the issue of game-breaking, I think i've been pretty much unstoppable since level 15. I am dual-wielding two unique-item axes, rocking my one-handed bonus items like gauntlets and a ring, and upgraded my one-handed skill tree right off the bat and I can kill almost EVERYTHING with one, maybe two, dual-wielding power attacks (even dragons only take three). A complete beast set-up. Obviously a harder difficulty would change all that, but regardless, it's odd feeling so overpowered at such a low level. I'm digging it though.

That feeling of being a fucking legend comes in waves it seems. When I was around level 15 I was tearing through everything, then suddenly I was getting whooped, then I was comfortable, and now I'm getting whooped again.

I just took our my first dragon priest. Fuck me that was hard work.

[Bad Collin]

I would agree with that Alfred. I have been destroying everything until I leveled up to 22 when I actually had to run away from a dragon because I couldn't defeat it.

[The Rogerer]

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/report-save-files-behind-problems-ps3-skyrim


Hines, VP of PR and marketing, told players earlier this week to "calm down" and be patient

I read when someone reported the 360 installed texture problem to him he responded with "There is no problem, installed and uninstalled are the same."

This reminds me how how infurated I was with Black Ops on PS3 crashing several times a night, and the big Treyarch man constantly posting that it wasn't a problem and claiming it had been resolved and saying that the community was out of control.

[The_Mike]

1. 2 hours IS "hours on end"... plural is plural.

2. I didn't say restart your console. You just have to save, quit to main menu, reload, and play again. Not a major hassle. We're talking about forcing yourself to take a one minute break for every 120 minutes you play.

3. This is an issue already blown out of proportion and isn't affecting every PS3 gamer.

Yeah, there's no need to be a smarmy like that. Some people were frustrated and critical, deal with it. And from what I've been reading (and what Alf is saying), you really do have to reset the console completely to get the game running smoothly again for any length of time. Regardless, of course, such a large technical issue just shouldn't be happening. I suppose we won't ever agree on that.


1. Thank you. If everyone is going to quibble over semantics then let's do it.

2. I also agree that it's the principle, but let's get some perspective. Trading in PS3 copies? Damning Bethesda? Yes, it's annoying, but my God this is not a big annoyance when reloading a save every few hours will fix the issue for the few affected until a patch comes along. It is not game-breaking.

What is it with certain people and their inability to allow anyone else to have a moan and complain about something that is just shitty? If people want to damn Bethesda for completely failing in quality control, what's it to you?


On the topic of the game, and on the issue of game-breaking, I think i've been pretty much unstoppable since level 15. I am dual-wielding two unique-item axes, rocking my one-handed bonus items like gauntlets and a ring, and upgraded my one-handed skill tree right off the bat and I can kill almost EVERYTHING with one, maybe two, dual-wielding power attacks (even dragons only take three). A complete beast set-up. Obviously a harder difficulty would change all that, but regardless, it's odd feeling so overpowered at such a low level. I'm digging it though.

I have noticed something similar. I'm around level 14 and using my bow with a couple of perks, I can pick off just about anything in one or two stealth hits. A dragon might take five or six. Unfortunately I am now underpowered in melee and if anything gets close to me it takes a while to put them down, but I think that's part of the character build. Either way, it certainly is surprising that I seem to be able to handle just about anything already, as long as I strategise effectively. I have it on medium difficulty, and was surprised that I have so far been able to deal with things very well. It's much easier than Morrowind and even Oblivion if you have an idea of what you're doing. Although I am hearing that some people are running into issues with the level-scaling, and what was easy at level 2 is a nightmare at level 20. I really hope that does not turn out to be the case. Oblivion's simplistic level-scaling was stupid, to be honest, and I don't know why Bethesda keep using the idea, though they swear this time it is much more balanced and should just be enough to always keep you on your toes. So far at least I've found that the difficulty curve has been pretty smooth.

I have also been surprised that even with pretty low scores for things like speech and pickpocket, if I have to use the skills I often get away with it. It's not like Fallout where you need speech of 50 or 60 to convince anyone of anything. I'm certainly not going to complain the game is too easy since I don't really play games for serious difficulty, but it seems a lot easier to just get through things without having to go grind and level so you can do things in the way you want. My only real issue is I never have enough gold.

[The_Mike]

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/report-save-files-behind-problems-ps3-skyrim


Hines, VP of PR and marketing, told players earlier this week to "calm down" and be patient

I read when someone reported the 360 installed texture problem to him he responded with "There is no problem, installed and uninstalled are the same."

This reminds me how how infurated I was with Black Ops on PS3 crashing several times a night, and the big Treyarch man constantly posting that it wasn't a problem and claiming it had been resolved and saying that the community was out of control.

See, that sort of attitude is a much greater problem than fanboys freaking out or customers daring to complain. You don't tell your customers to calm down when you blatantly did not do your job. This isn't exactly a new issue for Bethesda's games on the PS3. It should have been caught in testing for FO3 or New Vegas. It should never have come close to making release for any of them.

Of course it doesn't matter, since whoever is complaining about not being able to play Skyrim for more than 2 hours straight is not going to just stop buying their games, and voting with our wallets isn't going to make a dent in the $450 million Skyrim took in this week. It's a change that has to come from within, and much of the industry seems to be less and less interested in not treating their customers like a nuisance for daring to expect standards of any kind be met.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

I started playing it last night. It give me a bit of a sore head squinting at it but it looks great of course and I love all the actual Nordic accents. The combat is so deeply unsatisfying (probably contrasted for me to Dark Souls), sometimes I'm not sure if I am even hitting the other person. Combat is always a big letdown in Bethesda games (like in Fallout 3 and NV, shooting someone 56 times in the head before it finally explodes - why not just make it much harder to shoot someone in the head?).

But apart from that the atmosphere and scope of the game is spot on. The towns are almost too active, it's tiring looking around everywhere.

[The_Mike]

I ended up joining the Dark Brotherhood today and spent the afternoon doing a few missions for them. I agree with ECG that combat is generally unsatisfying (somehow fighting a dragon quickly becomes tedious) but the stealth aspect of the game is quite enjoyable. It would help if companions understood what stealth was, though. I always have to leave them outside on missions like this, and found a weird bug where I tried to talk to one inside someone's house at night and she started screaming at me that I shouldn't be there. I think Lydia somehow got assigned as a resident of the property or something. Weird.

[Cubed-Sphere]

@ The_Mike:

I'm not saying you can't complain, but the examples of some people saying the game is completely broken and they'll trade it in seems to be overreacting. However, to each his own... I just didn't think it would be that big of an issue to get to hyped about.

That said, Hines' response is frustrating. Fix your game, asshole.

I'm just now starting to see the issue crop up at 9mb, but reloading my save still fixes the issue for a while... though now it seems to be about an hour of playtime before it gets bad, rather than 2 hours. That's a bad sign, and if it gets worse, then yes, this will be an issue worth ranting and raving about.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

This game's musical score is pretty great. Some of it sounds a lot like Jonsi's (from Sigur Ros) solo/with his boyfriend stuff.

[Bert]

Does the chest in your house have a cap? If so I guess it's very high. I've been putting loads of stuff in it. Mostly stolen stuff that I can't sell right now.

I bought all the furnishings for my house but had never really seen what all of it was so today I went and messed with the alchemy lab and made some potions and then got my second crash to desktop. :(

[Cubed-Sphere]

I hate Bethesda's escort missions/quests. Whether you're following or being followed the NPC's AI is funked in the A.

Overall, regardless of the glitches and crashes I'm loving almost every second with this game. There are A LOT of inside jokes and references to Morrowind and Oblivion, which I love. I didn't even play those games that much and I still catch them constantly, so I can only imagine how many references hardcore fans are seeing and loving.

Almost 40 hours and I still haven't even found half the locations. Unbelievable.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Does the chest in your house have a cap? If so I guess it's very high. I've been putting loads of stuff in it. Mostly stolen stuff that I can't sell right now.

I bought all the furnishings for my house but had never really seen what all of it was so today I went and messed with the alchemy lab and made some potions and then got my second crash to desktop. :(


Is it the 5k house in Whiterun or the 25k house in Solitude? Just curious.

On this topic, how the hell do I buy the house in Solitude? I can't find the bastard that will sell it to me. I know where to get the home in Whiterun, but I don't want that house... too small for me and my bitch.

[The_Mike]

I'm in the same boat, about 30 hours in and there's about 5 major cities I haven't been to, plus all the little locations in between. It's insane. The country of Skyrim is just huge. My only gripe about the scale is that the landscape makes it tricky to move around at times. You need to basically go mountain climbing on your horse if you don't want to take 40 minutes to get from A to B, and I have on several occasions slipped and fallen to my doom. Realistic, but I do miss Oblivion's open spaces where I could rush around on the horse.

Loving the Dark Brotherhood missions at the moment. I can't help but feel this is what the game was really built for. Combat set-pieces don't work out so well because melee is a bit clumsy, but tracking someone down, getting them in the right position, and using the right equipment to dispatch them is pretty satisfying. For example (minor mission spoilers):

There was a mission where I had to get rid of a woman in some mining town, but when I turned up, I found out that the whole town had stopped sleeping because of these terrible nightmares they were having. Normally I would wait until the middle of the night then sneak into a mark's home and deal with them there, but this woman would not go to bed. She kept wandering around the streets, and of course there were guards around, so I had to hide in a pile of rocks and time my arrow shot just right to make sure I was not caught. I think I added a little poison too, to make sure she went down quickly. It required a fair amount of prep-work: finding her, watching her movements, waiting for her to be in position, using a poison I had prepared earlier... It's quite different from just rushing in and slashing someone to bits with clumsy sword swings.

Another good thing about the Dark Brotherhood is they actually pay me a decent amount for doing my job. Oblivion was ridiculous, even as the Listener I only got 200 gold a week, which was barely enough to buy a quiver of decentish arrows.

[Bert]

That escort thing reminds me of yesterday.

So, I was doing the In My Time of Need mission where you have to decide if you want to turn Saadia in to the Alik’r who claim that she betrayed her people and then fled before she could meet justice and want your help to capture her and return her to her homeland. They sounded more believable than Saadia herself who claimed they were assassins out to kill her because she's a noble so I did what their leader Kematu asked and lied to Saadia saying we needed to escape and they were coming for her and lead her into the trap, but this is where things got interesting. I lead her to the stables and Kematu immoblizes her with a spell and then he thanks me and pays me but then he just stands there and I'm wondering if I can pickpocket Saddia since she's frozen in place on the ground and why would Kematu care? Well, he sees me do it and yells at me and then attacks so then I of course have no choice but to kill him. He had some good loot, by the way. What also happens though is the spell that was immobilizing Saadia wears off and Saadia herself gets up and starts attacking me so I kill her too.

So, now I have these 2 dead bodies laying out in the open by the stables and I'm not sure if anyone will or is even able to suspect anything if they see 2 dead bodies lying by me, so maybe it was a little over the top, but I decided to take care of them by opening the stables and dragging their dead bodies in there and then closing the gate.
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/614968789407416780/879194923AE77F88E6B57976F7A780328A26D363/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/614968789407417541/FBF912011CFDDDE780C922616A8FE51409B7BE79/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/614968789407419983/2D670DB86E7103BE8F5F5C8201127786AD636E18/
I love this game.


Is it the 5k house in Whiterun or the 25k house in Solitude? Just curious.

On this topic, how the hell do I buy the house in Solitude? I can't find the bastard that will sell it to me. I know where to get the home in Whiterun, but I don't want that house... too small for me and my bitch.
5k in Whiterun. The 25k one probably has to be bought after the Jarl of Solitude gives you permission to buy property, I would imagine.

The Whiterun house is actually pretty big on the inside, by the way.

[Bert]

It's amazing how many mods for Skyrim are already out. A week after release.

http://i.imgur.com/GccfJ.jpg

:rofl:

[Cewsh]

:hyper:

[grimshaw]

NICE.

I have resumed playing this and I am officially IN after being on the fence. This game is good. :)

[Cubed-Sphere]

I just spent 2 hours strictly pursuing the main storyline and it's one of the best videogame stories I've ever witnessed.

There are a lot of moral choices to make once you get to the mission called "The Fallen." It's gut-wrenching... in a good way, of course.

[The_Mike]

Patch due 'the week after thanksgiving', for PC and consoles.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Beat the main questline tonight, and I'm almost done the second largest story-thread, the Civil War. Good stuff. I'm looking forward to getting those out of the way, though, and just focusing all the sidequests and exploring, as they tend to be my favorite parts of these games.

What level is everyone at? I'm just about to cross over to 30.

[The_Mike]

I'm at level 20, almost 40 hours in and I think I have done about two of the main quest missions. It's unreal how much shit I have managed to find to do and I still have nearly all the main quest and civil war stuff to deal with, plus there's still a couple of major cities I haven't even seen. I think I beat FFXIII by about 40 hours and most of that was running in a straight line. This is definitely my kind of RPG, and though it has some quality issues its scale and the effort put in are still immense. Most RPGs are just not going to be able to compete.

Speaking of RPGs, what I really like about this is that I seem to be able to find a role to play in the Skyrim society. I have started contributing to the economy of Whiterun by selling lots of potions made from stuff I collect on my treks across the countryside. I've made a decent amount of money and acquired a good deal of skill by hunting animals, tanning their hides and turning them into armour. Pretty amazing what an investment in couple of arrows pays back as a dividend.

Also (Dark Brotherhood Spoiler):

I now have Shadowmere. A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a decent bloody horse! He's now as swift as in Oblivion but still seems a darn sight better than the regular horses of Skyrim.

[Cubed-Sphere]

I'm at level 30 now and just finished the civil war story arc. I had one frustrating glitch that lost about 40 minutes of progress, but I recovered. I couldn't turn in a quest to some jack-ass for one of the civil war missions.

I just took to smithing today. I'm digging it. Looking forward to trying out the alchemy and cooking... I haven't even touched that stuff yet.

P.S. Smithing will level you up very quickly as long as you keep doing small items in bundles, like iron daggers. I leveled up from about 24 to 28 in an hour just doing smithing. If you have the time and coin to spare, it's an easy way to boost a bit. I'm not going to intentionally boost, but I figured I'd let everyone know an easy way to do so.

[Bert]

http://i.imgur.com/1DSlN.jpg

[grimshaw]

why is this guy not playing on pc what a neub

[Tugboat]

I completed the main quest about 17 hours in - just blasted through it. I'm what, level 15 or something. I was a little hesitant, as I assumed I'd not want to go back after it was done; but I feel without that big plot hanging over me I can get into the smaller-scale stuff.

[Atty]

Wait! It's possible to finish an Elder Scrolls game?

[Bert]

Wait! It's possible to finish an Elder Scrolls game?


Nope. Infinite quests.

[The_Mike]

Dark Brotherhood Spoiler:

Fuck you Astrid!

[Cubed-Sphere]

@The_Mike:

Is that the leader bitch? I simply killed her ass when I first met her and took all her stuff. Then I killed everyone in The Dark Brotherhood.

That reminds me, I left those three assclowns sitting in the abandoned shack... off I go.

[The_Mike]

@ Cubed-Sphere:

I'd say you made a mistake, though I was tempted to do that myself when I met her. Her attitude remains pretty pissy for a while but you get to do some cool missions for the Brotherhood, then suddenly she changes her tune when you get a job to kill... The Emperor (dun dun dun). I smelled a rat and I was right, the bitch screwed me over. Some good quests and interesting set pieces follow on from that. I'll not go into any further details in case you want to go back and revisit it.

[Cubed-Sphere]

See, I play my first run on these kind of game's like I would act in real life, and I would NOT support the Brotherhood if given the choice. However, to experience the whole game I usually play the polar opposite on a second run... if for nothing else just to see what the game had to offer and to get all the trophies.

It's what I did with Fallout 3.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

The Dark Brotherhood stuff from Oblivion was my favourite bit. The guy in charge was so friendly, although I stopped the missions when I was asked to wipe them all out.

[The_Mike]

You guys are all traitors to the Night Mother.

[Bad Collin]

I'm not, I killed every one of those losers in Cheydenhall.

Praise be to Sithis!!

I haven't found the DB in Skyrim yet, I am looking forward to a big session tonight after only managing five minutes of Skyrim time this weekend.

[Cewsh]

I've sunk about 7 hours into this game since I got it Saturday night, and I haven't made it past Whiterun yet. I just walk around dumbfounded by how detailed everything is and how much everyone has to say and do, even compared to Oblivion. I doubt seriously that i've ever bought a game that I was this happy to play.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Agreed, Cewsh. Best value in gaming for 2011.

I've finally made it to Markarth... I've now seen all the big cities in the game.:( Sure, I still haven't done half of what is offered to me in all of those cities, but still, a large piece of the exploration is now complete and it saddens me.

[Mik]

The Dark Brotherhood stuff from Oblivion was my favourite bit. The guy in charge was so friendly, although I stopped the missions when I was asked to wipe them all out.

You need to watch Game of Thrones.

[Alf]

Anyone else had performance issues with the PS3 version yet?

[Cewsh]

For all of the talk of the 360 loading times being awful, i'm finding them to be shorter than Oblivion's.

[Atty]

Anyone else had performance issues with the PS3 version yet?


Only thing I noticed is the loading time is a bit long after you die. Was playing around with it at a friend's the other day and it played really smoothly on the ps3.

[The_Mike]

The first patch for the PC is out. Steam went ahead and updated my thing automatically without giving me any choice. Thanks, Steam!

So, what bugs did the patch fix? What tweaks were added to improve compatibility? What stability issues were resolved?

Oh, it was only a patch to fix a bug that allowed you to run the game (after installing and registering it) without Steam having to launch it. Obviously that's the top priority. Fuck off, Bethesda.

[Bert]

The first patch for the PC is out. Steam went ahead and updated my thing automatically without giving me any choice. Thanks, Steam!

So, what bugs did the patch fix? What tweaks were added to improve compatibility? What stability issues were resolved?

Oh, it was only a patch to fix a bug that allowed you to run the game (after installing and registering it) without Steam having to launch it. Obviously that's the top priority. Fuck off, Bethesda.

Have you looked into mods yet?

http://www.skyrimnexus.com/

[The_Mike]

Yep, and the new patch breaks some. Good job, guys :yes:.

Seriously, it's not a huge deal, but it's pretty shitty of Bethesda to put their first and foremost effort into enforcing DRM over fixing what for a lot of customers are issues that put a big wet blanket over the game they already paid for.

[Cewsh]

You've kind of been railing against Bethesda a lot in this thread, Mikey. I know what you're trying to say, but at the end of the day its not like they handed out a piece of shit and loled their way to the bank.

[Atty]

Is that a shot at The 3DS?

[Cewsh]

No, but it may as well be.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

I haven't had any issues on PS3 yet, my save game size is creeping up towards 5Mb bit by bit. However, I wouldn't be surprised because both Fallout games and Oblivion on the PS3 creaked like mad when you played them in depth. For it to happen in 4 games in a row is fairly unforgivable. They shouldn't have released the game with the knowledge they hadn't found a fix for it. I find it hard to believe it's an insurmountable issue for them. It's easier to believe that they simply haven't bothered to eat the cost of whatever the fix would be because they know the initial experience of their games, added to all the features they had promised, will see customers buy it.

Although my biggest letdown is still the combat, not even the bugs. It's a real fundamental gameplay flaw that, again, has existed for all of those games.

[Cewsh]

Plus, if people are still finding new bugs I think everyone would be happier with an all encompassing fix rather than a bunch of small piecemeal ones everytime someone's game fucks up.

[Kure]

For all of the talk of the 360 loading times being awful, i'm finding them to be shorter than Oblivion's.

I honestly haven't been more bothered by them than any game. I haven't encountered many bugs yet, either.

[Grimario]

Although my biggest letdown is still the combat, not even the bugs. It's a real fundamental gameplay flaw that, again, has existed for all of those games.

So, it's not really a flaw, it's actually the "ELDER SCROLLS" combat? It's not like they introduced something new and got it wrong, it is the way it has ALWAYS been.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Maybe, it's still a flaw. They could do better, make it a bit more weighty and cagey, bring in at least a modicum of timing. As it is, it's just a matter of smacking someone while they smack you and hoping your smacks do more damage or you have more healing potions.

Plus the combat in Fallout has been fairly shite too, until you get levelled up high enough that you can pop a guy's head in one shot with a sniper rifle. Shooting someone 6-7 times in their non-armoured head with a shotgun before they die is the pits.

[Alf]

Actually cappy, there is a timing aspect. I think maybe you are expecting it to be a certain way and it's becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.

If you block at the right time it'll stagger them and open them up. You can use your shield to bash them to open them up. If you see them start their swing up and you get in early their hit won't land. Similarly you can move out of the way of their blows quite easily if you get the timining down.

You can back off and wait for them to make a move, probe them, provoke them. Or you can just wade in.

It's not massively sophisticated but it's a heck of a lot more sophisticated than you are saying.

[Grimario]

This thread makes me want to play, so very badly. However... my lack of funds means I am contemplating diving into Oblivion again, fully modded.

Cappy, I agree with you that combat is pretty much the "weak" point of the entire franchise but if that is the worst we can stick on them then Bethesda are pretty freaking awesome.

[The_Mike]

You've kind of been railing against Bethesda a lot in this thread, Mikey. I know what you're trying to say, but at the end of the day its not like they handed out a piece of shit and loled their way to the bank.

I never said they did. I have heaped praise on the game at the same time as pointing out what has pissed me or other people off. Show me where I have been unreasonable in my complaints.

I understand the game is complex and hard work to create. I don't understand why they means I can't complain about shitty choices about support or bug fixing. And like I said about the patch, it's not a huge deal, but it is rather symptomatic and symbolic for Bethesda to have such a lengthy history of bug problems and then release the first patch solely to shore up DRM. Simply put - they refuse to learn. They are the anti-Christy Hemme.

Another complaint, if I am to be allowed - I do agree with Cappy that the combat is rather weak. It's not a huge problem for me since my playstyle tends to avoid it, I don't run headlong into rampaging hordes unless a quest forces me to. It just feels so fluffy when you try to whack things with your sword or block with your shield. Archery is by and large well done, with just the occasional bug in collision detection. I might try to fire over a wall and the arrow smacks an invisible barrier a few inches above it, or I might fire at someone a bit of a distance away and the arrow passes right through their skull. Fortunately that is fairly rare. So again, not a huge deal for me, but I can see it being a frustration for people who play the game as a warrior, and I just don't get why combat is that difficult to make a little more tight and satisfying when so, so many other games do it well. I'm sure a mod will fix it, and will fix just about all the other problems or annoyances, but I can't help but feel that for $60, the game shouldn't come with some assembly required.

At least it's a million times better than Morrowind's faffing around with a dagger, taking ten minutes to even hit a mudcrab two inches in front of you.

[Grimario]

I understand the game is complex and hard work to create. I don't understand why they means I can't complain about shitty choices about support or bug fixing. And like I said about the patch, it's not a huge deal, but it is rather symptomatic and symbolic for Bethesda to have such a lengthy history of bug problems and then release the first patch solely to shore up DRM. Simply put - they refuse to learn. They are the anti-Christy Hemme.

It's also entirely possible that the DRM issue is a piss easy fix that has no impact on anything else whereas every other current bug requires some QA to make sure it doesn't break other things.

[The_Mike]

It's also entirely possible that the DRM issue is a piss easy fix that has no impact on anything else whereas every other current bug requires some QA to make sure it doesn't break other things.

Except, as I pointed out, it did break some things. And QA wouldn't have let the PS3 problem onto the street if breaking things was an issue.

[Grimario]

Except, as I pointed out, it did break some things. And QA wouldn't have let the PS3 problem onto the street if breaking things was an issue.

It broke mods. It's not Bethesda's responsibility to ensure they work...

And yeah, the PS3 thing is a joke, true. I know it's not a huge thing when put in perspective but if I had to quit the game and reboot my PC everytime I got a few hours into it, I would be livid.

[grimshaw]

It broke mods which is a bit poor form, but you're right, not the end of the world. Still, for a company with so much goodwill it's surprising to see them breaking mods for the sake of DRM.

[Grimario]

It broke mods which is a bit poor form, but you're right, not the end of the world. Still, for a company with so much goodwill it's surprising to see them breaking mods for the sake of DRM.

If it is just DRM that was in the patch, the mods are only broke so far as the opening bit of code not referring to "game version 1.0" or something (hopefully). That used to always be the case when WoW mods (:ashamed:) broke with mini-patches.


Hope to god it is discounted heavily in the Steam Thanksgiving sale.

[Bert]

If it is just DRM that was in the patch, the mods are only broke so far as the opening bit of code not referring to "game version 1.0" or something (hopefully). That used to always be the case when WoW mods (:ashamed:) broke with mini-patches.

Hope to god it is discounted heavily in the Steam Thanksgiving sale.

It's only $10 off for retail stores in their Black Friday ads so I wouldn't bet on it.

[Cewsh]

I never said they did. I have heaped praise on the game at the same time as pointing out what has pissed me or other people off. Show me where I have been unreasonable in my complaints.


Your complaints aren't unreasonable. Merely prolific.

[Grimario]

It's only $10 off for retail stores in their Black Friday ads so I wouldn't bet on it.

$10 in Bertland = $50 vs $90 in Grimland.

I might just paypal you for a Steam gift... though with the game being Steamworks, I might be best off just getting an import physical copy for $40 and wait a few weeks.

[Alf]

http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/11/22/hidden-skyrim-areas-of-the-day/#more-40413

So you can see the Red Moutain in Morrowind and the White Gold Tower in Cyrodill. That's a nice little nod.

[Alf]

It's also entirely possible that the DRM issue is a piss easy fix that has no impact on anything else whereas every other current bug requires some QA to make sure it doesn't break other things.

It sounds like a contractual thing to me... I can't imagine Steam were too happy that their lovely bit of kit wasn't needed to launch the game. There would have been contractual agreements in place and such.

[The_Mike]

Your complaints aren't unreasonable. Merely prolific.

So why act as if that's my fault? And if you think I'm complaining a lot, you should check out GameFAQs. Those guys are totally freaking out over ever little thing about the game. And, for some reason, complaining bitterly about the graphics.


It sounds like a contractual thing to me... I can't imagine Steam were too happy that their lovely bit of kit wasn't needed to launch the game. There would have been contractual agreements in place and such.

It's not a requirement from Valve that Steam games be unlaunchable without Steam. Though like I said, I understand them wanting to fix that, but it demonstrates something about their attitude that it's their first priority and they rush it out silently. It is far from an unusual attitude in the gaming industry, though, which is what really bothers me. Could be worse, though, imagine how pissed we'd be if they had delayed launch for DRM.


http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/11/22/hidden-skyrim-areas-of-the-day/#more-40413

So you can see the Red Moutain in Morrowind and the White Gold Tower in Cyrodill. That's a nice little nod.

Yeah, I really like that. It's great to be able to see so much of Tamriel, even if you can't really make it there. Wouldn't be surprised if a mod eventually expanded the landscape out there.

[Cewsh]

So why act as if that's my fault? And if you think I'm complaining a lot, you should check out GameFAQs. Those guys are totally freaking out over ever little thing about the game. And, for some reason, complaining bitterly about the graphics.

Well then I honestly think they're a bunch of know nothing assholes.

[The_Mike]

On that we can agree.

[Alf]

Any news on what the patch will actually fix?

Just reading up on some of the background. Turns out the little asteroid hanging above Vivec fell and smashed the place up. Then the slavey argonians invaded and raped Morrowind. I had no idea.

I need to start reading more of the in-game books.

[The_Mike]

Yeah, a lot of shit went down since the Oblivion crisis, and a lot of the well known institutions (the guilds, the Dark Brotherhood, even the Empire) have fallen on pretty hard times. It is interesting seeing how much the world has evolved in a couple of centuries. I really like that the place feels very lived-in.

[Alf]

Are there any websites that can fill me in a bit?

[Rip]

Just reading up on some of the background. Turns out the little asteroid hanging above Vivec fell and smashed the place up. Then the slavey argonians invaded and raped Morrowind.

Bloody hell, you turn your back for a minute...

[The_Mike]

Are there any websites that can fill me in a bit?

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

That should give you all the info you need, and have links to articles with more detail about individual incidents.

[Alf]

Bloody love you Mike.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Yeah, a lot of shit went down since the Oblivion crisis, and a lot of the well known institutions (the guilds, the Dark Brotherhood, even the Empire) have fallen on pretty hard times. It is interesting seeing how much the world has evolved in a couple of centuries. I really like that the place feels very lived-in.

I'm loving absolutely everything about the setting and atmosphere in this game. It's definitely my favorite of the three ES games i've played (Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim).

60 hours in.

[Alf]

Apparently you can name weapons when you enchant them.

Excellent. I look forward to battering someone with "Harold Bishop".

[El Capitano Gatisto]

That was possible in Oblivion as well. The Sword of Pork.

[The_Mike]

Something funny happened this morning: I was walking past a stable and heard a roar. A dragon swoops down, freaking out the horses. I fire a few arrows at it and eventually it lands... right in amongst the horses, who all kick the thing to death in three seconds. Dragons < Horses.

Except Shadowmere, who ran and hid like a damn coward.

[The_Mike]

More glorious scenes - I was out walking in the mountains when I came across a guy I had helped steal a horse. He was running away from a hired thug who killed him before I could intervene. The thug then decided to turn on me, only to be mauled by a fucking bear that jumped out of a cave. I ran like hell. All the little incidents that can happen are great, and the game really does seem to provide opportunities for little adventures to play out naturally.

[Alf]

I just met a talking dog.

Also, Thieves Guild:

Nightingale armour is beautiful.

[Cubed-Sphere]

I just started the Thieves Guild questline and I'm stoked that I'll be getting that for my trouble.

[Bad Collin]

Today is going to be a massive main quest day with my heroic Khajit Barry. I am then going to probably start again with an evil mage to do the other quests including the thieves and DB quests.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Thieves Guild is as "bad" as I can get with my first run. My next run will be full of murdering innocents, pickpocketing, stealing, and ruling the DB with an iron cock.

I too think I'll play up the Mage abilities next time, after using swords/axes and archery this run.

P.S. I friggin' love the variety in the Dragon Shouts. The storm call is my favorite so far... I think i've learned about 18.

[The_Mike]

How do you learn dragon shouts? I think I am missing something silly because I have come across several words of power and absorbed a bunch of dragon souls but can still only do two or three shouts.

EDIT: Some bastard pickpocketed my rep!

[Bad Collin]

You have to unlock the shouts using the souls in the skills section of the menu.

[The_Mike]

That's what I've been doing, but it keeps telling me 'Dragon souls are required to unlock shouts' despite saying I have 8 of them.

[Cubed-Sphere]

Sounds... odd. I'm not really sure what the problem is, Mike.

I don't feel like using spoiler tags so I'll just say that a certain armor mentioned yesterday in this thread makes you look like a medieval Batman (or Batgirl). Loving it.

[Alf]

You need to press square to unlock shouts rather than x, or whatever the equivilent is on whatever system you're playing on.

[Alf]

Sounds... odd. I'm not really sure what the problem is, Mike.

I don't feel like using spoiler tags so I'll just say that a certain armor mentioned yesterday in this thread makes you look like a medieval Batman (or Batgirl). Loving it.

Yep, pair it with a lovely ebony shield and you look FIT.

Also, with the right smithing perk you can upgrade it to legendary.

I'm getting a lot more finishing moves now. Some of them are brilliant.

I did one where I jumped on a dragons head and just went to town at it with an axe.

I'm at another crest of the 'badass' wave I talked about. I'm carving through people like paper at the moment.

[Alf]

PS3 patch is out. Woopyeah.

[The Rogerer]

My mate visited and gave me Skyrim as an early christmas present, his sister works in a game shop so he get super discounts. I love him and I love this game. I've maybe only got about 3 hours in over the last 3 days, but it's been absolutely brilliant so far. I'm done the first real story quest and now I'm about to leave things behind and just go on a journey, getting some leather, discovering places and getting to grips with my abilities. Brilliant game so far.

[Cewsh]

I've probably played for about 20 hours now, and the sheer number of quests and places is almost dizzying. I can't take 5 steps without some shit going down, I love it. My brother in law came over and watched me play and promptly went out and bought it for himself.

[Alf]

I've sacked off football tonight so I can play [/addicted]

[Cubed-Sphere]

75 hours in and I still can't see myself getting bored of it any time soon.

[The_Mike]

You need to press square to unlock shouts rather than x, or whatever the equivilent is on whatever system you're playing on.

I'm on the PC. I'm not sure what I'd hit other than Enter or one of the mouse buttons. Not sure why they decided on consoles you should be pressing a random button for this one skill in the first place, or why there appear to be no instructions. :confused:

[Alf]

It should tell you at the bottom of the screen.

[Bad Collin]

I finished the main quest last night and started my second playthrough with a Breton mage. Time to get up to some nefarious dealings and win a civil war.

[Alf]

http://capane.us/2011/11/24/dovahkiin-gutenberg/

This is geeky but ace.

All the books in skyrim available as an ebook./

[The Rogerer]

PS3 patch is out today, 360 and PC should be tomorrow.

I'm daydreaming about being able to get an hour or two on it tonight. I've dealt with the first main quest, got a horse and I'm now going walkabout. I was a little curious about all these people looking for a redguard woman since I am a redguard woman, but I'm off to follow some of the misc quests.

Mike, I got the shout some time before I was able to activate it, but look for the tooltip down at the bottom.

[The_Mike]

I was using the right button (it's R on the PC, because... well why the hell not?), and kept getting the error. I asked what the button should be because you guys said you press a different button than usual on the PS3 and X-Box so I assumed this meant they had goofed with the controls. Turns out it was just some sort of weird glitch, I restarted and it worked.

Looking forward to the patch. Looks like it should fix quite a few of the major issues. I've been lucky to not run into many problems (other than the UI being awfully unresponsive) but it would be nice for those with issues if they were fixed.

Or they could always just lower the textures (allegedly) and still have the game lag on the PS3...

http://kotaku.com/5862930/skyrims-ps3-version-patched-apparently

[Kure]

http://capane.us/2011/11/24/dovahkiin-gutenberg/

This is geeky but ace.

All the books in skyrim available as an ebook./

Best...find...ever.

[Stringer Bell]

Got a 6 page paper on The Wire to finish today. After that, I have no work and only 2 classes until Friday, so I'm gonna spend a good chunk of time on this. Thoroughly excited.

Giants are a fucking pain to kill.

[The_Mike]

Giants are bastards, but I like that they require a total change in tactics to deal with rather than just spamming them to get rid of a crazy long health bar or something. As an assassin/thief type, I brought one down with a hunting bow by moving between rocky crags and outcroppings and constantly trying to send in shots from a distance. They move quick, though.

[Bad Collin]

They do, and their blunt weapons have a massive range. I find that the sprint button gives you a few chances to hit with a bow.

[Cubed-Sphere]

I haven't noticed this supposed downgrade to texture quality for the PS3 with the new patch... but then again I swear the game looks different every time I boot it up. Ever since I bought it on day one it'll look great one day and kind of blurry and muddy the next, and I just chalked that up to how unstable Bethesda games are... I just assumed it was a random luck of the texture-loading draw.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

I haven't noticed any graphics changes with the patch. However, it does seem to me that loading times are increased a bit. Maybe my imagination but I don't think so.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Good stuff, it appears I've suffered my first crash since buying this game about 20 minutes after downloading the patch. Loading screens are definitely longer and now it's just hung on one. Looks like I have to switch the whole PS3 off to re-start the game too. Pain in the fucking arse if this is going to be the way of it, I had absolutely no problems with the game until now.

[thetony]

Just going through Oblivion now for the first time before purchasing Skyrim.

I am disappointed that you cannot attack from atop a horse.

Name: Tony Stark.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Just had another fucking crash, this time when I opened up the pause menu to save the game. Bethesda are stupid fucking dickheads.

[The Rogerer]

I worry that the game may well patch itself for when you start from scratch, but if you're in the middle of a game then some of the variables get lost in the shuffle and you end up with bugs that other people can't replicate. I'm sure Pete Hines will come out soon and tell us that it isn't crashing.

[The Rogerer]

No patch yet. Does anyone else put the subtitles on? I used to always have them off in games, they drove me mental in Fallout 3, but now I tend to always have them on. A lot of dialogue happens as you run past and you can miss it, and trying to understand when people are talking about Yorgen Smorgborgen of Ulnthpas isn't too easy either

[Hobbit]

Right twats I need some help. Got shit loads of stuff on me that I need to offload for when I go pillaging through caves and stealing all sorts of rubbish from chests and the like. Lydia is clogged full of stuff I've thrown inside her (lolz but we all would) and I think I need a house? I've been quoted the best part of 5 grand for a place in Whiterun, that seems mental. My weight limit is 310 and I want to half that ideally.

I've dropped a few things off into a footlocker type thing near the Jarl in Whiterun but I don't trust them at all especially as it's their place and moreso that in Fallout if you did that you were best off forgetting about it as you wouldn't see any of it again. Thieving Rivet City SCUM.

So yeah, help would be good as I need to go get some more stuff I don't need :cool: