The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm already having enough trouble keeping Lydia from getting killed, no way I'd take on the responsibility (and incessant reloads) needed to keep a dog alive.

To that end, a dog looks a lot less like a bandit, so I am not as prone to shoot it in the head.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm already having enough trouble keeping Lydia from getting killed, no way I'd take on the responsibility (and incessant reloads) needed to keep a dog alive.

She does have a knack of getting in the way of my two-handed sword swings.

*whack*
Shit!
*reload*

[Grover]

I did notice you could buy a dog at the Markarth stable.

[thesloppy]

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned dogs.....10 minutes after finding my first one, I'm now on a quest, escorting a different, (talking) dog....so I've got 2 dogs, and Janessa with me at the moment. I just need to find one more of those quests where a pseudo-follower tags along, and we'll be rolling 5 deep.

[Lonnie]

The talking dog named Barbas is really tough. I was doing his quest and a dragon came along. Barbas tanked the dragon while I pelted it with arrows. He never even fell down. Tough little dude. To bad I lost him after the quest line.

[thesloppy]

Yeah, I just watch him go against just about anything.....he must not have infinite health points or something. I'm considering putting off ending that quest line just to keep him around.

....now I just need to figure out how to train a horker, permanent-like.

[Drake]

Barbas

Spoiler

There's a good reason he can tank a dragon, too. The stray dog...not so much.

[Buccaneer]

Thank you very much, Blackadar, for taking the time to write.

First, I really appreciate you articulating quite well the reasons to hate Oblivion. I have caught some flak here for persistently ranking the game in my bottom 5 all-time and I hope others understand better where we were coming from.

During my Christmas break, I will get this game - it certainly sounds worth trying.

I assume that this game runs and controls well on a good PC?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Thank you very much, Blackadar, for taking the time to write.

First, I really appreciate you articulating quite well the reasons to hate Oblivion. I have caught some flak here for persistently ranking the game in my bottom 5 all-time and I hope others understand better where we were coming from.

During my Christmas break, I will get this game - it certainly sounds worth trying.

I assume that this game runs and controls well on a good PC?

Controls better with the 360 controller (edit: which is usable on PC) than with mouse/keyboard, I'd imagine, with the possible exception of archery.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Controls better with the 360 controller (edit: which is usable on PC) than with mouse/keyboard, I'd imagine, with the possible exception of archery.

Eh, I have a much better time with mouse and keyboard, though you need to turn off mouse smoothing and maybe vsync.

[Buccaneer]

Yeah, I was specifically asking about mouse/keyboard and options to set buttons/keys.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Yeah, I was specifically asking about mouse/keyboard and options to set buttons/keys.

You'll probably have to change a couple settings on mouse smoothing and vsync like it said, though it's easy enough even though it's not in an in game menu. Might also need a mod like this one for rebinding keys to work correctly.

[lighthousekeeper]

re: family circus

awesome

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by mckerney

You'll probably have to change a couple settings on mouse smoothing and vsync like it said, though it's easy enough even though it's not in an in game menu. Might also need a mod like this one for rebinding keys to work correctly.

So what you're saying is, "vanilla Skyrim, mouse/keyboard controls are broken, but we can fix them; we have the technology."

Which doesn't sound like a terribly effective refutation of what I said in the first place - simply a "well, yes, but."

[terpkristin]

Want the books of Skyrim on your Kindle, Nook, or ereading device? Look no more!

/tk

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

So what you're saying is, "vanilla Skyrim, mouse/keyboard controls are broken, but we can fix them; we have the technology."

Which doesn't sound like a terribly effective refutation of what I said in the first place - simply a "well, yes, but."

A broken mouse/keyboard combo is still better than a console controller.

[Edward64]

YMMV but I ordered one. Can't be it for $12.

Skyrim Guide, Amazon, $11.90 FSSS - Slickdeals.net

Skyrim Guide, Amazon, $11.90 FSSS
Not in stock, but accepting orders.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

So what you're saying is, "vanilla Skyrim, mouse/keyboard controls are broken, but we can fix them; we have the technology."

Which doesn't sound like a terribly effective refutation of what I said in the first place - simply a "well, yes, but."

Mouse and keyboard work great, just not right out of the box. Editing a couple .ini files is less of a hassle than using a controller, and the fact that a couple tweaks need to be made doesn't mean a gamepad controls better.

[CleBrownsfan]

Love these screenshots - make for some nice wallpaper

Spoiler for size

Spoiler

[korme]

Illiya is a badass follower, found in the Darklight Towers. She is a rare mage who uses illusion, restoration, destruction and conjuration

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Edward64

YMMV but I ordered one. Can't be it for $12.

Skyrim Guide, Amazon, $11.90 FSSS - Slickdeals.net

I picked up the CE guide (which that is not).

Just looks classier on the shelf.

[mckerney]

Getting the Assassin's Blade perk along with Dark Brotherhood armor and a Flawless Elven Dagger has really helped me in combat. Still struggle if they're fighting back, but when they don't see me coming doing 30x damage for a 720 burst works very nicely.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Thank you very much, Blackadar, for taking the time to write.

First, I really appreciate you articulating quite well the reasons to hate Oblivion. I have caught some flak here for persistently ranking the game in my bottom 5 all-time and I hope others understand better where we were coming from.

During my Christmas break, I will get this game - it certainly sounds worth trying.

I assume that this game runs and controls well on a good PC?

No problem man!

Just don't come hunt me down and shoot me if you hate it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Started over with a evilish dark elf. Already ripped off one house full of stuff...hehe

[Peregrine]

I'm loving how different the game experience is with the three different characters I have - not only general "class" and style of combat, but even travel. My fighter rides his horse and explores everywhere, my mage walks around mostly and tries to stay in one Hold area for a good while before moving on, and my thief moves from city to city quickly and doesn't do much wilderness stuff unless he has to.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Had a really incredible run of 4-5 hours last night where I did virtually nothing except fetch-and-deliver missions ... and wasn't really bored in the least by that. Not a single dungeon crawl or major combat (well, other than a random dragon) in the whole session and that was totally fine by me.

[Groundhog]

OK I'm late to the party, picked this up yesterday because I've been on holidays. Decided to try something a little different as I'm always either a sneaky thief type or a warrior, so I'm going with something like a battle mage type.

I must say that this is one of the most impressive games I've ever played after 4 hours or so. I like the Fallout look and feel of the game, love the improved writing - a minor annoyance with Oblivion for me - although it does give more than a few nods to the A Song of Ice and Fire series IMO.

My only complaint so far would be the obviousness of the console port in the controls and on-screen menus, but meh, no biggie.

And that first dragon fight? OMFG.

[thealmighty]

Walking down a trail when my cursor runs over a rock and tells me it's an iron node. As I prepare to mine, some dude walks towards me. I turn and step to talk to him but he passes right by me and starts mining the ore. I mouse over and he's just some random prospector.

Nice touch, that (wanted to kill him for the iron, but was too impressed it happened so I let him be.

[TroyF]

I hit level 30 last night.

I'm now 89 in one handed, 72 in speech (I invested heavily so I could do the investment perk), 60 with the shield.

I own three houses and have another from finishing a quest (houses are in Whiterun, Solitude and Riften)

I finally have my quest list down to a reasonable number. I think tonight I'm going to start smithing for a few hours. I think I have about 500 leather strips and a ridiculous number of ingots, so it's time to ramp it up so I can improve my weapons. Ditto with enchanting. Then I'm going to start grabbing more dragon words before I head back to the main story or the civil war.

Fun stuff.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I finally have my quest list down to a reasonable number. I think tonight I'm going to start smithing for a few hours. I think I have about 500 leather strips and a ridiculous number of ingots, so it's time to ramp it up so I can improve my weapons.

[RainMaker]

I feel like I'll never get my quest list down to a reasonable number. I try to finish one and add two more in the process.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I feel like I'll never get my quest list down to a reasonable number. I try to finish one and add two more in the process.

LOL, I know the feeling. I haven't touched the main storyline in days.

Then again, I'm okay with that.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

LOL, I know the feeling. I haven't touched the main storyline in days.

Then again, I'm okay with that.

I'm with you here. My level 24 Redguard hasn't picked a side or trekked to High Hrothgar yet.

[DaddyTorgo]

How do I go about getting a house? And a woman who will earn for me?

I'm still way early in the game...only like Level 5 or something.

But just for my future planning.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

How do I go about getting a house? And a woman who will earn for me?

Without getting too spoilery, there are several houses for purchase which typically become available after you complete one or more quests for the local Jarl.

Details on each house, including spoilers, are at
Skyrim:Houses - UESPWiki

To become a two-income family, you first have to get married & there's an item associated with that.
Full details, including spoilers, at
Skyrim:Marriage - UESPWiki

[DaddyTorgo]

Thanks Jon. I figured it was probably tied to quests.

What's the typical cost of a house? Need to figure how much gold I should be saving up.

[JPhillips]

The Whiterun house is 5k.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

What's the typical cost of a house? Need to figure how much gold I should be saving up.

8,000 is a common price for a basic house, as JP pointed out the lowest is 5,000. The highest is 25,000 (but it looks like a heck of a house). Cost of furnishing the house after purchase varies, at least several thousand to get everything even with the lowest end house.

If you know the various Oblivion properties, I'd say the bottom end starts one level better than what we saw there (the shack outside the city), maybe a little less variety than what we saw in Oblivion though.

Also, since I didn't mention it, there are at least de facto "houses" (safe containers & a free bed to sleep in) connected to some of the guilds & side quests as well.

[Izulde]

Did High Hrothgar at lvl 24 finally.

I haven't played in a couple days - been busy with end semester stuff, but I was very pissed off when the people accompanying me killed a dragon in a questline for me. I kept hunting for the bastard and couldn't see him in the blizzard so I never got a shot in.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

8,000 is a common price for a basic house, as JP pointed out the lowest is 5,000. The highest is 25,000 (but it looks like a heck of a house). Cost of furnishing the house after purchase varies, at least several thousand to get everything even with the lowest end house.

If you know the various Oblivion properties, I'd say the bottom end starts one level better than what we saw there (the shack outside the city), maybe a little less variety than what we saw in Oblivion though.

Also, since I didn't mention it, there are at least de facto "houses" (safe containers & a free bed to sleep in) connected to some of the guilds & side quests as well.

Yeah - I've run into some of them. My concern I guess is what would be "safe" and what wouldn't. For instance...I stole the Jarl of Whitehold's pretty staff...I don't necessarily want to carry it around, but I don't want it to be lost.

I guess if a Guild assigns you a bed then the chest associated with that bed is "yours" ?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Yeah - I've run into some of them. My concern I guess is what would be "safe" and what wouldn't. For instance...I stole the Jarl of Whitehold's pretty staff...I don't necessarily want to carry it around, but I don't want it to be lost.

I guess if a Guild assigns you a bed then the chest associated with that bed is "yours" ?

Honestly, I don't think I've ever risked anything I cared about losing in a container that I didn't buy with the exception of the Arch-Mage quarters in Oblivion.

But theoretically (and according to the Wiki I linked), yeah, at least most of them should be safe (Companions, Mage College, Thieves Guild, DB after some questline stuff).

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm at the Mage College working on my whupass magic right now, so maybe I'll give that a try and just make a backup-backup save.

[mckerney]

Creation Kit — Beginning in January, PC players will be able to download the same development tools we used at Bethesda Game Studios to create Skyrim. In tandem with the Creation Kit’s release, we will roll out a new Wiki and videos to help you get started. It also features something we think you’re going to love…

Steam Workshop – We’re excited to share news that we’ve been working closely with Valve to integrate Steam Workshop into the Creation Kit. Using the Workshop, you’ll have free user content with the push of a button. The Creation Kit will bundle your mod and upload it to the Workshop, where everyone can browse, rate, and flag mods for download. You’ll be able to do this from any web device, including your smartphone. Like a live Netflix queue, when you fire up Skyrim, mods you flagged will be automatically downloaded and installed. Everyone here is really excited about the opportunities and possibilities this opens up for our entire community.

Prefer to use existing modding sites? Not a problem. You’ll still be able to upload/share/access Skyrim mods on fan-created mod sites.

Awesome.

[CleBrownsfan]

That is f'n awesome!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Honestly, I don't think I've ever risked anything I cared about losing in a container that I didn't buy with the exception of the Arch-Mage quarters in Oblivion.

But theoretically (and according to the Wiki I linked), yeah, at least most of them should be safe (Companions, Mage College, Thieves Guild, DB after some questline stuff).

No issues thus far storing my stuff at the Thieves guild

[cthomer5000]

This game is shooting towards my #1 all-time. I love how repeatedly the game has done things which were so out of nowhere that they extended the boundary of what i thought the game could be. Tough to explain further without significant spoilers.

It's a game world I just want to spend time in, even if i'm not necessarily getting anywhere in that play session.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Grover

Yep, that will be me tonight, but with over 500 carrying capacity, I'll be ok.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Honestly, I don't think I've ever risked anything I cared about losing in a container that I didn't buy with the exception of the Arch-Mage quarters in Oblivion.

But theoretically (and according to the Wiki I linked), yeah, at least most of them should be safe (Companions, Mage College, Thieves Guild, DB after some questline stuff).

I don't 'store' stuff in non-owned containers as much as I leave it there so I can fast-travel to town to sell/store some shit and pray it's still there when I get back.

Like, I got waylaid by a Blood Dragon a couple nights ago while I was solo (Lydia was at Breezehome), and I couldn't carry ALL of the offal after I killed him. So I took the bones, left the scales, and hope I can find the body again before it cleans up later.

[Grover]

Ugh. Got a quest from Aela to take out a sabre cat that was terrorizing the villagers. I get out to the quest point, I had killed the sabre who knows how many days ago.

Can't get credit for the quest or drop it. Ridiculous. I only have one more totem to find too.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Grover

Ugh. Got a quest from Aela to take out a sabre cat that was terrorizing the villagers. I get out to the quest point, I had killed the sabre who knows how many days ago.

Can't get credit for the quest or drop it. Ridiculous. I only have one more totem to find too.

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.