The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Grover]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I had the same problem with the first Dark Brotherhood quest. Found the person you need to kill for it on my own and decided they needed to die, then when I actually got the quest it didn't give me credit for it. Thankfully then I had a save from just before I'd killed the person the first time and I didn't lose too much starting over.

Unfortunately I probably killed this sabre days ago. Don't have a save before it's original death. I can only hope it re-spawns or something similar, though I doubt this happens.

[SackAttack]

Huh. The main theme from Oblivion started playing in iTunes just now. Wonder if I can find that for Skyrim also?

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Grover

Unfortunately I probably killed this sabre days ago. Don't have a save before it's original death. I can only hope it re-spawns or something similar, though I doubt this happens.

console commands may be able to help you. I know you can spawn items/characters with player.placeatme [reference id of character]. You'll just have to google the char for its I. There is also a command to skip ahead (marking as done) in a quest line, although I don't know the command for that. But easy to find, just google it tjere are several sites that list all the commands and useful id #s

[Grover]

I am proud of this screen.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heh

PS3 Games - E3 2012 - The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

[frnk55]

Heh, Skyrimnexus.com is overloaded. That's great news. Can't wait for some amazing mods for this game.

[CleBrownsfan]

Has anyone beat the two "main quest" and go back to do the majority of the side quests? That's where I'm at now and I'm wondering if it's even worth going back to do the side quest.

[Grover]

Skyrim Classified Ads

[Blackadar]

Geezus...another weekend lost to Skyrim.

80 hours the first go-around (level 45). Now 37 with this character (level 36) and all I've really done is run the Thieves Guild quests! Yes, there really are that many. That's really quite insane. I've got the Dark Brotherhood, College, Companion, Imperial War line, Daedric and the Main Quest series to go. My goodness.

As much as I like the game, I do have a couple of grumbles. It quits on me about once an hour - though the frequent autosaves makes this almost tolerable. No, my main gripe is pretty normal for a RPG - broken quests. The game has broken two different times (in two different ways) on the Windhelm prerequisite house, so again I won't get that house or the achievement that goes with it. Or that there's some fine treasures sitting in my backpack that I can't do anything with because I didn't turn them in at the right moment in the Thieves Guild. *grumble grumble*

Still, I'm at about 120 hours in on this game and still going strong. I've had MMOs that didn't entertain me for that long.

[thealmighty]

Maybe I'm just too old and my brain doesn't work anymore, but how do y'all keep track of the quests?

I have several dozen in the queue and no idea where to go when I get an item. The list says "Take XXX back to Buckydent" but I can never remember where Bucky is located.

How do you do it?

[Grover]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Maybe I'm just too old and my brain doesn't work anymore, but how do y'all keep track of the quests?

I have several dozen in the queue and no idea where to go when I get an item. The list says "Take XXX back to Buckydent" but I can never remember where Bucky is located.

How do you do it?

If you're on PC...
J brings up your quest long, scroll through with the up/down arrows and hit Enter on the one you wish to track. If it's miscellaneous you can arrow right to the particular quest and hit enter to track.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Geezus...another weekend lost to Skyrim.

80 hours the first go-around (level 45). Now 37 with this character (level 36) and all I've really done is run the Thieves Guild quests! Yes, there really are that many. That's really quite insane. I've got the Dark Brotherhood, College, Companion, Imperial War line, Daedric and the Main Quest series to go. My goodness.

As much as I like the game, I do have a couple of grumbles. It quits on me about once an hour - though the frequent autosaves makes this almost tolerable. No, my main gripe is pretty normal for a RPG - broken quests. The game has broken two different times (in two different ways) on the Windhelm prerequisite house, so again I won't get that house or the achievement that goes with it. Or that there's some fine treasures sitting in my backpack that I can't do anything with because I didn't turn them in at the right moment in the Thieves Guild. *grumble grumble*

Still, I'm at about 120 hours in on this game and still going strong. I've had MMOs that didn't entertain me for that long.

The main problem with the Windhelm quests is you can't already have helped the 5/5 people to get the thane title yet. If you do, the quest gets broken. With some of the quest items stacking up (like some of the bard's college items that won't drop correctly, you can use the console menu to wipe them out.)

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by Grover

If you're on PC...
J brings up your quest long, scroll through with the up/down arrows and hit Enter on the one you wish to track. If it's miscellaneous you can arrow right to the particular quest and hit enter to track.

Also if you can't find the marker, which is sometimes a problem, once you have a quest tracked, highlight it in your journal and press M and it will move the map to show you where you need to go.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by TroyF

The main problem with the Windhelm quests is you can't already have helped the 5/5 people to get the thane title yet. If you do, the quest gets broken. With some of the quest items stacking up (like some of the bard's college items that won't drop correctly, you can use the console menu to wipe them out.)

Actually, there are a number of different bugs with the Windhelm house quest. I hadn't read anything about the 5/5 thing, but I hadn't quested in Windhelm, so that wouldn't be the problem in this case.

The first time, I was running an errand to the castle on my 4th trip into Windhelm and therefore never ran by the graveyard. Hence the quest never triggered and I couldn't ever get it to start.

This time, I actually got the quest-line. But at the point where you have to go investigate the house, there are two options - go to the neighbor and get the key or lockpick the house. I decided to lockpick the house. I didn't know it at the time, but it seems that breaks the quest - except you don't know it then. In fact, you don't know it until the final stage (the epilogue). So when I'm supposed to apprehend the killer, he just runs directly to the murder house with an arrow over him and never tries to pick a victim. You can't talk to him and you can't kill him. Attacking him will aggro the guards.

That's a bit of a bummer, but the Riften house is much better, especially if you've done all the Thieves Guild quests. With almost half a dozen vendors available to you at the Guild (one with $5k to spend on your goodies), your own crafting and enchanting stations in the house AND the blacksmith between you and the Thieves Guild, it's the ideal home.

[Landshark44]

I just purchased this game, based on all the positive reviews. I'll be playing on a PS3, at nights when the kids go to bed. I've never been much of a "gamer". My console experience is limited to a few sports games, Madden and Fifa, and a brief foray into "Red Dead Redemption" (made it 50% through, got bored)...

When I get started tonight, Is there anything I should know regarding character creation? Or paths I should take for maximum enjoyment? I get frustrated easy, and am looking for an easy, enjoyable way to play...

Thanks in advance....

[DataKing]

You'll probably want to move the difficulty level down to its easiest setting. I've gotten a bit frustrated with the default difficulty level in spots.

[TroyF]

I would start off with default difficulty and change it based on how you are doing. The difficulty can be changed in the middle of a battle if you want. There are many parts of the game that are fairly easy. Then some that are brutally difficult. I haven't tweaked it yet, but have come close at one point.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by DataKing

You'll probably want to move the difficulty level down to its easiest setting. I've gotten a bit frustrated with the default difficulty level in spots.

Huh - I've actually bumped up the difficulty level one step over default as I thought the fighting was very easy 90% of the time. After I maxed out the fire part of destruction I was able to kill most enemies with 2 or 3 shots of a duel fireball.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Landshark44

When I get started tonight, Is there anything I should know regarding character creation? Or paths I should take for maximum enjoyment? I get frustrated easy, and am looking for an easy, enjoyable way to play...Thanks in advance....

Character creation isn't a huge deal in this game, IMO. There's a benefit associated with each race but ultimately you're going to become good at what you do a lot & you're never going to be good at what you never do. I wouldn't stress over those choices too much, any negatives associated with any race are pretty minimal as far as I could tell. So if you want to be a lizard, be a lizard. If you want to be an Orc, be an Orc. If you want to be human, be human (or variation thereof).

As for paths, I think you probably want to decide whether to play very open-world or very linear. Remember that you're going to be given a ton of side quest opportunities even if you're trying to stick to the main quest but there's no requirement that you ever do anything about any of them. Some have nice benefits associated with them but you don't have to do them to work on the main storyline. Also, I've seen no quest that has an in-game time limit on it, I've got probably 40-50 different quests/tasks to choose from but the game doesn't care when I do them (I haven't touched the main quest line in almost two weeks, it'll be in exactly the same place & play exactly the same way whenever I get around to it).

And if you're serious about the easy frustration, there's plenty of help online like a killer wiki that can help with parts that might irritate you. I'll be honest, I don't like spending a ton of time trying to figure out some of the few puzzles that pop up in Bethesda games, I'll go to the wiki & find the trick in a heartbeat if I find myself getting irritated by those. They aren't why I'm playing & since the primary objective is to enjoy myself, I don't let any sort of false pride stand in my way of getting that enjoyment. Won't help much if you hate the combat portion, but might be useful in overcoming certain obstacles to your gaming fun.

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Huh - I've actually bumped up the difficulty level one step over default as I thought the fighting was very easy 90% of the time. After I maxed out the fire part of destruction I was able to kill most enemies with 2 or 3 shots of a duel fireball.

My character isn't specialized, which is probably at least part of my issue. My perks are scattered around in Heavy Armor, Blocking, One-Handed, and 3 different schools of magic.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by DataKing

My character isn't specialized, which is probably at least part of my issue. My perks are scattered around in Heavy Armor, Blocking, One-Handed, and 3 different schools of magic.

I've been tempted to make a battle mage, heavy armor, a shield and magic in one hand. This may have swayed me.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Landshark44

When I get started tonight, Is there anything I should know regarding character creation? Or paths I should take for maximum enjoyment? .

I'd say this.

1 is a VERY minor spoiler, but could make a huge difference.
1) When the game starts (before you even create your character) you're going on a pretty long horse-cart ride. As soon as the ride is over, someone is gonna make a run for it. He'll get shot. As soon as he does, Save your game ! Not a "Quick Save" either, a real Pause, New Save. And don't overwrite that one, ever.
-- The reason is this : You may not like the Orc you choose, and want to be a human, or a lizard, or a cat, or whatever. Or maybe you want to be a different style. If you didn't save it, you're stuck doing that long ride. And if it takes you a couple characters to be happy, that long ride seems longer.

2) There is a small little intro that you have to follow along, but once you're out of the cave - you are completely FREE to do whatever you want. Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to. I've got an Archer that is almost 40, and hasn't even begun either of the "main stories". There really is a ton of things to do. Quests, different "clubs", your "professions", exploration, it really feels endless. - So, just do whatever you feel like doing, and do not feel like there is a certain path you have to take. You can go to any city, at any level.

3) The perk/skills system was kind of confusing to me. So, I suggest spending your perks, on what you've been leveling up. Seems obvious, but just don't think like I did at first "I'll use a perk on this, because I want to get into it." I say, get into it first - You don't get alot of perks, so spend them where they help you the most. If you have a skill that is leveling alot faster than the others, that's because you use it the most. So, slap perks in whatever your highest skills are.

[Landshark44]

Good stuff, Guys... Thanks, please keep it coming.....

[CraigSca]

Question for everyone...

My wife is on the PC version, and she thinks she may have screwed up a quest line in the City of Markath. Apparently the guards there attack her on sight, and she's wondering if there's a console command to reset her infamy. Anyone know if you can? She's trying not to have go back approximately 100 saves to fix this.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Question for everyone...

My wife is on the PC version, and she thinks she may have screwed up a quest line in the City of Markath. Apparently the guards there attack her on sight, and she's wondering if there's a console command to reset her infamy. Anyone know if you can? She's trying not to have go back approximately 100 saves to fix this.

Have her unsheath and sheath her weapon, they should try and take her to jail or she can pay off the bounty. Not sure of a console code, but that one is worth a shot.

[RainMaker]

The difficulty level is sort of tough to gauge in the game. I feel like I should be playing under some house rules where I raise it when I reach a certain level. Once I was able to make some kickass armor and grab some nice weapons, along with build up my one-handed attacks and archery, I can slice through almost all enemies I come across. Dragons, giants, etc go down with ease. These were near impossibilities when I first started.

Basically what I'm saying is it seemed really hard at first and then went to really easy after awhile. Wish there was a wider range of difficulty between enemies.

[CraigSca]

Thanks, I think this has worked for her.

[Crapshoot]

Ok,
this is driving me nuts. I'm outside (not really a spoiler) a building called Alftand Ruined XXX.... but everytime I walk out, my follower seems stuck at the goddamn door - ie, I run, and he goes right back in accidently. When I go in, he's not there, but when I go out, he's stuck in the same spot again. This is frustating as hell,as I think the game (when I saved it) got him in a mid place, so instead of following me, he goes in. I'm on the 360, so I may just be SOL / have to go back to an old save. thoughts.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Ok,
this is driving me nuts. I'm outside (not really a spoiler) a building called Alftand Ruined XXX.... but everytime I walk out, my follower seems stuck at the goddamn door - ie, I run, and he goes right back in accidently. When I go in, he's not there, but when I go out, he's stuck in the same spot again. This is frustating as hell,as I think the game (when I saved it) got him in a mid place, so instead of following me, he goes in. I'm on the 360, so I may just be SOL / have to go back to an old save. thoughts.

Try fast traveling to a city? They should show up with you there.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Ok,
this is driving me nuts. I'm outside (not really a spoiler) a building called Alftand Ruined XXX.... but everytime I walk out, my follower seems stuck at the goddamn door - ie, I run, and he goes right back in accidently. When I go in, he's not there, but when I go out, he's stuck in the same spot again. This is frustating as hell,as I think the game (when I saved it) got him in a mid place, so instead of following me, he goes in. I'm on the 360, so I may just be SOL / have to go back to an old save. thoughts.

First things I'd try would be :
1. Entering a couple different zones (other houses, etc.) he may catch up.
2. Fast Travel somewhere
3. Relieve him of his duties, travel to where he can be found again to rehire, and rehire him.

One of those should work, and save you from reverting to an old save.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Ok,
this is driving me nuts. I'm outside (not really a spoiler) a building called Alftand Ruined XXX.... but everytime I walk out, my follower seems stuck at the goddamn door - ie, I run, and he goes right back in accidently. When I go in, he's not there, but when I go out, he's stuck in the same spot again. This is frustating as hell,as I think the game (when I saved it) got him in a mid place, so instead of following me, he goes in. I'm on the 360, so I may just be SOL / have to go back to an old save. thoughts.

I think I had that same problem. IIRC, that place has a sort of unique layout. I think all you may need to do is give him/her some time to get where you are. He/she may be taking a different route.

Of course, the other suggestions work well too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Speaking of followers, travel, and quirky stuff ... when in Whiterun with Lydia (or perhaps any follower, I don't know) and you visit the "general store" guy (the one on the corner just before the alchemy shop), does your follower always enter the store through the back door & come dashing in from behind the shopkeeper? Or am I just lucky?

It's actually kind of comical, probably the biggest hurry I ever see Lydia in.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Speaking of followers, travel, and quirky stuff ... when in Whiterun with Lydia (or perhaps any follower, I don't know) and you visit the "general store" guy (the one on the corner just before the alchemy shop), does your follower always enter the store through the back door & come dashing in from behind the shopkeeper? Or am I just lucky?

It's actually kind of comical, probably the biggest hurry I ever see Lydia in.

I get something similar when I'm using the forge in Whiterun. As I'm stoking the forge, my follower sprints into view and stands there as if it's the most amazing thing he's ever seen.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Speaking of followers, travel, and quirky stuff ... when in Whiterun with Lydia (or perhaps any follower, I don't know) and you visit the "general store" guy (the one on the corner just before the alchemy shop), does your follower always enter the store through the back door & come dashing in from behind the shopkeeper? Or am I just lucky?

It's actually kind of comical, probably the biggest hurry I ever see Lydia in.

Yeah, all my followers do that. It still makes me laugh, even though I've seen it 100 times.

And, as often as we've come in there - I bet it still startles him when we both come dashing in both doors at the same time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I get something similar when I'm using the forge in Whiterun. As I'm stoking the forge, my follower sprints into view and stands there as if it's the most amazing thing he's ever seen.

Yep, just past the forge to the right.

[Landshark44]

how do you "fast travel".... ?

i started playing last night, and it was fun. i missed the town of riverrun, somehow, and went all the way to whiterun. (didn't find the guardian stone) i found a guy, that wants me to retrieve a tablet for him.....and then spent 45 minutes trying to get out of whiterun. i just couldn't find the way out.....kept going in circles....

thinking i can "fast travel" back to helgin, and look for riverrun again...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Landshark44

how do you "fast travel".... ?

i started playing last night, and it was fun. i missed the town of riverrun, somehow, and went all the way to whiterun. i found a guy, that wants me to retrieve a tablet for him.....

and then spent 45 minutes trying to get out of whiterun. i just couldn't find the way out.....kept going in circles....

thinking i can "fast travel" back to helgin, and look for riverun again...

Open the Map, point cursor at desired location (not the quest marker, target has to be the city/location), click (I think) A ... at that point you should get one of two messages (paraphrasing here)

Do you wish to fast travel to X
or
You have not discovered this location yet, do you wish to set your marker

Basically you can only fast travel to places you've already discovered & they have to be a specific location (i.e. you can't fast travel to the middle of a forest somewhere).

[Landshark44]

cool, thanks......

[Glengoyne]

OK so from the outside looking in, this appears to be an RPG that I might enjoy. I long ago walked away from the genre because I disliked puzzles and tightly scripted story arcs.

My question is regarding the character development system. It appears you increase your skills through use. What throttles your progress to prevent everyone from becoming tank mages extraordinaire with maxed melee and magical abilities? It doesn't seem like that happens, I'm just wondering how this works.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

My question is regarding the character development system. It appears you increase your skills through use. What throttles your progress to prevent everyone from becoming tank mages extraordinaire with maxed melee and magical abilities? It doesn't seem like that happens, I'm just wondering how this works.

Basically, every time you shoot an arrow you progress a tiny bit in archery (say 100 shots = 1 skill level or whatever). And, every time you swing an axe or heal, you a little progression in 1 handed weapons or restoration (or 2h weapons, sneaking, stealing, destruction magic, illusion magic - whatever you actually DO).

So, the answer is - you won't use everything enough to max out in everything. For example, on one character, I'm level 32 (they say like 50 is the soft cap) & am a straight up combat archer. If something comes close, I back up - never switch my bow out. My Archery is only like 67/100. Had I spent 1/2 the time hitting stuff with other weapons, or magic - my archery would be even less. So, I'd have like a 35 archery, 35 magic.

In short, if you WANTED to, you could make the grind - and max everything. It would take a long time. But, in reality - it'd be pointless. You're aren't going to be using all of it in a battle anyway - so why not just hone whatever skill that character is and enjoy his style. Personally, if I want to get into some melee or magic, I just jump on another guy.

I think it works well, because you don't actually choose anything. You just get caught up in having fun, and your skills go up based on what you do when your do. So, there really is no "grind" to me.

[DougW]

So, I've recently been having some fun with the console commands, and am in the middle of re-doing my Solitude house. It's pretty cool the amount of things you can do. At first I wanted to find out how to add some Blacksmith equipment to my basement, and after researching found a whole mess of things. Am having some fun with it haha.

I'm about done with the basement and I've : Taken down some walls to open things up, added a full BS operation (put the smelter outside), added some hanging mounted heads, cleaned up some barrels and boxes, got rid of the housecarls room, added some storage chests, and some other decorative things.

In the middle floor so far, I've added a couple walls to give the housecarl a proper room, got rid of everything in the entryway and am in the process of making that area a bit different. I started with a giant dragon statue, and placed a nice throne in it.

The screenshot is of the entryway to the middle floor of the house. I included the fireplace in the shot for perspective. The pic is me, my follower (in the throne), and the carl. The dragon statue was tricky (moving, sizing, angling, etc), but once I got the hang of it, things are moving along alot easier.

Spoiler for size

Spoiler

[Grover]

That is awesome.

[Landshark44]

was that done on a PC? or is it possible to do on ps3.....?

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Landshark44

was that done on a PC? or is it possible to do on ps3.....?

Done on a PC. I'm not sure if that is possible on a ps3 - with all the modding that the gaming communities do, and all the possibilities to do things yourself on PC games, I don't even really think about ps3 or xbox stuff.

[CrimsonFox]

Still waiting for this to go on sale. Will probably look for a ps3 version as my PC would probably explode if I tried playing it there.

But I forsee this to be a next year purchase. Hopefully people still like it by then.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

My question is regarding the character development system. It appears you increase your skills through use. What throttles your progress to prevent everyone from becoming tank mages extraordinaire with maxed melee and magical abilities? It doesn't seem like that happens, I'm just wondering how this works.

DougW already gave a good description of how I believe it works for the vast majority of players. You could, I'm pretty sure, metagame to the extent that you maxxed out a whole lot of things but I'm not sure what the point of that would be. I mean, it's not as though anyone is handing out cash prizes for Skyrim competitions or anything.

If you just play the game naturally, I do believe there's a certain amount of over-leveling (my smithing "feels" too high, my alchemy is getting there) but with combat skills it seems reasonable enough. My usual combat routine, distance permitting, is to take a couple of shots with a bow to get sneak damage bonuses & then finish them off with a combination of fire magic and one-hand swordplay. That's brought me to a character that's mid-levels in all of the above but far from a master of any of them.

Your perk choices (one per each overall level you gain) also play a role in elevating the benefit to a particular skill. I've likewise split those up a bit, but I'm actually pretty pleased with how I've chosen those (something I see people occasionally second-guessing themselves about).

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Still waiting for this to go on sale. Will probably look for a ps3 version as my PC would probably explode if I tried playing it there.

But I forsee this to be a next year purchase. Hopefully people still like it by then.

I was going to pick this up next year when the price came down, but one of the big UK retailers cut the price in half today and I could not resist. I probably will not have any time to play the game until the holidays.

[Peregrine]

One thing I have been wondering lately - so the game has the capability to see fairly large scale, group on group combat, as you see in the imperials vs stormcloaks questline. My question is, why aren't we seeing this in other parts of the game? Where are the bandit gangs attacking a village and the villagers defending themselves with axes and such until you come along? Why not have to defend an injured soldier against a wave of trolls? The Forsworn seem to have fairly infinite numbers of men (and women.) Why don't they occasionally attack Markarth? That kind of stuff would be fun.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

The Forsworn seem to have fairly infinite numbers of men (and women.) Why don't they occasionally attack Markarth? That kind of stuff would be fun.

Heh.

[Atocep]

I can't stop laughing.