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xtal said........... Kay, if you pace yourself, which it seems you do, Skyrim could probably last you a year. And I mean one play-through.
Glad to know that. Today I got excited and played for quite a while, for me. First as an Imperial. And then went back and restarted as a Dark Elf. I think I will go ahead as a Dark Elf.
I am now after the Golden Claw and deep underground. I am loving this game.
Kay
Imagine life with no hypothetical situations.
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I had a great "Skyrim moment" yesterday. I cleared out a camp of witches and found an enchanting table on this hill overlooking the Whiterun valley with the mountain beyond. It was the first time I really inspected enchanting. For some reason the whole thing really drew me in. It was a totally static moment, nothing was happneing, no AI hamming it up, no fancy combat maneuvers, just my player character, out in the game world, honestly curious, and then I looked around me and thought, "This is very cool." Later I was hiding from a dragon, trying to sneak around it, and came upon a party of hunters soaking in a hot springs. This game is an open world, single player, exploration paradise. And open world, single player, exploration is about the only thing in games that holds my interest anymore. So Skyrim is making me very happy for now.
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142 hours and counting. Addicted would be an accurate descriptor. [Image Can Not Be Found]
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I'll have to see if my PS3 has how many hours I've played. Regrettably, didn't get a chance to touch the game over the weekend, and probably won't until Wednesday, damnit!
Grats Kay for taking the plunge [Image Can Not Be Found]
xtal, I'm not very far into the Thieves Stuff, but no honour yet. There might be an over-arching level of honour etc at the higher eschelons, but I'm too lowly at the moment. I'll take over the Thieves Guild if I can, then tell all of the thieves to play nice.
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan
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I have my fireball and a big one-handed sword with heavy armor, battlemaging my way across Skyrim with Lydia, my long suffering, occasionally dying by my own hand, companion-bodyguard. Lydia is sort of a pain to manage but worth her weight in gold for all the aggro she takes. Tonight I was facing a Master Vampire, and I had about an eighth of an inch of health bar left. Just as the creature was about to finish me off, Lydia dispatched it with a single critical hit from her enchanted axe. "Hey, thanks." I have her outfitted in heavy Dwarven armor that gleams golden in the daylight and use her as a tank. I've killed her 3 times so far, all accidentally, with my new fireball as she kneeled down from low health. Oops.
I'm slowly making my way to High Hrothgar to meet the greybeards. The thing is there are so many enticing side roads to explore on the way. I opened another barrow with another claw, this one sapphire. Got a second shout though apparently I need a dragon soul to activate it, sort of like soul gems. So I guess I have to start taking on dragons. Greybears first and then a couple of dragons. I have learned that shooting at them in the air is pretty useless. Also, I have yet to see a bear, except once at the very beginning when I just ran. I am expecting to see them as I level up.
I'm at level 10 and it feels pretty balanced, combat-wise. I have me and Lydia pretty beefed up and it makes clearing caves sort more fun and less nerve-wracking. Another level or so and I'll be ready to go back and finish off some spriggans I had to run from earlier.
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I've been distracted by Arkham City but I think I'll head back to Skyrim this evening. I left Lydia in my dorm room at the Mage College (she kept crashing into things while I was trying to sneak). I've been dragon hunting and collecting shouts, but so far I'm behind in the number of dragon souls I've got. There's plenty to shout about but I can't do it yet.
You really could just pick a direction, walk in it, and find any number of engaging side-adventures. I've found that it's best not to set out with an objective, because I'm inevitably pulled aside by some cool new path. Instead, I just open up the map from time to time, determine which neighborhood I'm in, and handle any quests in that region. Keeps me from getting that "stuff left undone" feeling.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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This game laughs at completionists, mocking all who try to clear their quest log. "Oh, only 2 more to go you say? Here, have another 18! Bwah hahh ah hah ahah ahah!!"
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What Armand said. I walk from point A to point B with a single quest in mind, and I pick up three more on the way there. I love that though. I'm now at 50 hours played and I feel as though the surface has but a scratch on it. I only just visited my third hold last night, Riften. Lots of folk there.
Scout, you must have inherited the Good Lydia. Myself, I believe I was given Idiot Lydia. In my first dragon encounter with her as my follower she was nowhere to be seen for most of the battle. Speaking of, I think you'll find that the dragons just come as you travel places. And none too bunched together, either. 50 hours played, I believe I'm level 16 or 17 (yes, I'm that slow of a player) and I have six shouts activated and another one or two dragon souls saved up.
It doesn't sound terribly useful when you get it, but definitely unlock the shout Kyne's Peace. It is very helpful, particularly if you're travelling at night and don't have a great sense of from where incoming beasts are approaching. Something else I've learned through practice (and actually discovered through reading a book in game) is that while seemingly nasty, trolls can be taken down swiftly with fire. Get your Flames spell and your Fire Breath shout ready when you see one.
Oh, has anyone else met Sam yet? [Image Can Not Be Found]
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
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xtal, Kayne's Peace was the second shout I got. I need to get a dragon soul to activate it though. Also, I rarely travel at night. I like the scenery too much to stumble around in the dark. I just rent a room where ever I'm at and hit the sack.
Lydia does disappear off the map sometimes but she always seems to arrive in the nick of time, at least for me.
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I'm with you on the rest-by-night travel-by-day thing, the scenery really is too brilliant to miss in the dark. In the spirit of role-playing, however, I find myself not sleeping too much ever since pursuing the Companions quest line and all that brings...
Tonight: Lydia wasn't much help, but at least she survived a dragon/giant attack. If you can lure dragons to fight giants the battle is almost too lopsided. Giants are so strong I found myself helping the dragon kill it. Luckily, giants are mostly lazy and don't pursue too much, so a quick burst of Whirlwind Sprint usually does the trick. Otherwise if a giant is thumping full speed toward you it's lights out.
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
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I just figured out of whirlwind sprint was for tonight in the main quest. I'm off to kill a dragon with some crazy woman leading the way. I fear a dragon is in my immediate future. [Image Can Not Be Found]
I had a giant give me the stink eye yesterday but I just kept moseying on and he went back to his mammoth herd. One thing I learned in Gothic 2 was never to attack anything larger than a Volkswagen.
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Has anyone noticed the month, in their map or pause menu, called "Heartfire"? When I read the lore though the month is referred to as Hearthfire. With a second H. Funny oversight...
If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever
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"One thing I learned in Gothic 2 was never to attack anything larger than a Volkswagen."
That was too funny. I laughed out loud. [Image Can Not Be Found]
I'm on my 5th character now, a wood elf, punk rock archer. I'm gonna try to stick to the woods as much as possible, and live the life of a wilderness dwelling ranger.
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I wonder if Lydia can turn into a vampire, especially after meeting a master vampire...
I haven't come across Kyne's Peace yet - what does it do? The Shout I am using the most at the moment slows time down, which is pretty helpful. I bought my first house in the game last night, although I have mostly been using the Archmage's Quarters to store my stuff. I did a quest for Malog Bal, and received his Mace, and did a quest for another deadra woman who really doesn't like undead. She gave me a nifty sword.
At the moment I'm getting my ass handed to me by Felsworn or Foresworn or people who've rejected normal society. There's three or four of them in the room I just went into before coming to work... I tried a couple of times to take them on, but don't think I killed even one of them. I need some new tactics. I'm in the low level 40's, and would have thought I'd be past most mortal perils by now!
I haven't done much in the way of Thief quests - it's just too much fun exploring outside of the cities for the time being! I'll get back to them in a little, when my wonderlust has been sated.
Oh, I killed my first giant yesterday too - by accident. There was a dragon overhead, so I summoned a Storm Atronarch. I took some pot shots at the dragon, but it wasn't really interested in me. Then a giant walked down the road, and started yelling at my Atronarch, and jumped up and down! My Atronarch took that as a threat, and blasted him a couple of times. The giant then smooshed the Atronarch, and chased me, but he was pretty easy to put down after that. I'm sure if he'd hit me even once, I'd be toast.
And I witnessed my first thieving too. I went to Riften at night, and all of the guards were shooting at someone with their bows. They nailed the sucker, and when I went to investigate, the deceased was simply called 'Thief', and I could safely loot him. Neat to have action that is kinda unrelated to you going on - makes the game world come more alive.
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan
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I got turned into a vampire today. I did a little research and realized it wasn't for me. I fast traveled to the nearest temple but not before I got a warning that the sunrise seemed awfully bright. Also a passerby remarked that I looked really sick. I have the vampire save in case I want to try it on for size but the big weakness to fire and the inability to restore health or magicka during the day was a deal killer. I love wandering the woods in the day and would hate to have all those strikes against me while sightseeing. Now I'm back to my dark elf self again.
I finished with the greybeards after getting some horn or something. While I was at it, I took a side trip to the top of the map, walking until I triggered the "you cannot go there" text signalling that you are at the end of the world. Turned around, climbed up a little tower and got crushed by some arctic saber cat that went through me and Lydia like a hot knife through butter. Then I remembered I had my oaken flesh spell. I cast it but luckily the cat got stuck on Lydia and I was able to merrily wail away at it. Also took on my first solo dragon, using that rendering (?) shout. I am about immune to fire being a dark elf with 50% fire resistance and wearing 40% fire resistance boots I found in some cave. I pretty much stood in the dragon's maw and hacked away. Blunt and slash damage still kill me quick, as do the spriggan's health damage spells. I need to start concentrating on getting some beefier armor, I think.
Jarrod, I think Kyne's Peace turned wildlife submissive. I have it and think I will activate it just to deal with the very large furry killers I'm starting to see. No idea if it works on all wildlife or not but I have two dragon souls so I intend to find out just how many critters I can neutralize. I had a neutralize wolf mod in Oblivion because I got tired to killing them all the time and listening to their dying doggie yelps. That was a little much, I thought. The dev working on that must have been a cat lover.
I've run into the Foresworn once and after seeing about 8 red dots zipping back and forth behind a fortress wall, turned tail and ran. I did kill one though. I was around level 8 so maybe they level with the player.
I'm closing in on level 11. About 38 hours of play. I am going to ease off the main quest for a while and start working on some of the more interesting misc. quests.
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Yeah, I don't think I'd like being a vampire either. Had a look at my stats on the PS3, and it looks like I've been playing for around 55 hours.
Wow, it adds up quickly.
Still level 42, but very close to 43 - I saw my first backwards flying dragon this morning. Oh, and got married in the game. Now I have a wife that gives me money and cooks me food. I just wish there was an easy way to change what she's wearing.
Finally got through that tough spot with the 4 foresworn. Lots of paralysing, summoning, and destruction spells flying. And some running away to recharge, too. One on one, nothing beats the usefulness of paralyse. > 1, though and you've really got to watch your rear.
Oh, and I did my first really evil thing this morning. I murdered someone in the game, just because I wanted their ebony armour to give to my housecarl. Some mercenary chick. She was the only witness to her attack, so the bounty was removed with her head. I feel dirty now, but Lydia looks much better in ebony. I've also given Lydia a mace that paralyses people... so if anyone breaks into my house when she's about, they'd better be pretty bloody careful.
I'm going to work on Pickpockets now - with the highest tier perk, you can even remove items that NPCs have equiped! No more killing people for their neat stuff. Hopefully that will help me change the wife's clothes too.
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan
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So much for 85% fire resistance. [Image Can Not Be Found] Steam updated my pc to the 1.2 patch Wednesday, which killed off all my resistances. For a dark elf, this pretty much takes the fun out of funtastic. I doubled checked by conjuring a flame atronach. I killed it with a fireball in four hits. Reconjured and attacked it till it attacked me. I died from flames in 4 hits. No fire resistance whatsoever. Now I know why I had such a problem with my health with the last fire dragon. This is one area where Steam sucks. I guess I need to turn off the auto update from now on. I never install a patch without waiting to see if it works as it is supposed to. In this case Steam made the decision for me and now the game is broken until Beth releases a fix. I hope it's just a hot fix and not another patch though.
EDIT: Found a fix here. Someone had saved the 1.1 TESV.exe file and offered it for download. They also give you an older Interface.bsa and an Update.esm. I just tested it and it works. My resistances are back in place.
Bethedsa is saying it will come out with another patch sometime next week and Steam as apparently turned off the update for now. I think I will be playing offline for a while though. [Image Can Not Be Found]
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Fire resistance was ruined in the last update? I need to follow this stuff more closely... Playing an Imperial right now, and thankfully that won't effect me much.
Current approach for me has been to ignore all scripted quests, and just go out doing all the procedural stuff as I wonder the countryside. I'm doing minimal fast travel, and trying to role-play a character who came to Skyrim looking for work, but got wrapped up in stuff larger than themselves. It's a lot of fun! I do think I'll pursue the Imperial quest line sooner or later as it's the only major quest line I haven't tried yet, but in the meantime, I'm just having fun exploring without the game telling me what to do next.
I love this game.
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I believe the 1.2 patch broke all magical resistances, in addition to making the dragons fly backwards and screwing up a bunch of other stuff. Beth is working on a fix and even managed to issue a strange "we suck" blog post:
We’ve also realized that with the millions upon millions of people playing Skyrim, we need to treat our updates with greater care.
Um yes, yes you do. Normally I'd think a company in the business for 20 years would know that, but hey.
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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Well, if they take away from this what they took away from the horse armor DLC, we should expect that patches in the future for Beth games will be the best in the industry (yes, I'm saying they have the best DLC in the industry). Here is hoping anyway.
So if I use a resist frost potion though now, will it not work? Or is it just racial buffs?
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