OT: Attention Fantasy RPG Fans

[Bullethead 12]

Any tips you learn, pass em along. It's a big old world out the to explore!

 

SPOILER ALERT:

If you don't want to know about lycanthropy before experiencing it yourself, skip this post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, so far along the line, I can recommend becoming a werewolf. I'm having a lot of fun that way . I suppose the non-traditionalistis would call me a cannibal but they're too busy kissing elf arse to see how they're destroying Skyrim with their acceptance of the non-divinity of Mighty Talos ! I figure that come the day when I storm Solitude, I'll have a private army of werewolves to augment the Stormcloaks

 

Anyway, as shown in the pic below, you can go totally beast-mode once you've got the wolf blood. It works as a power you can activate at will like a shout, no worries about full mooons. However, it takes about 30 seconds to make the transition and it only lasts a relatively short time, but the duration can be extended by eating your victims. I suppose that makes me a cannibal, but bandits taste pretty good and needs must

 

When you go beast-mode, you gain immense strength. In the pic below, see that dead guy draped over the rocks in the background? I just threw him there. The dead guy at my feet I threw from that pile of rocks to where he now lies. Both would have gone much farther if they hadn't hit walls in flight. I'm going to try wrestling a troll next time I go out and about .

 

However, there are some disadvantages. First off, you go to 3rd person view and are stuck there for the duration of beast-mode. If you're holding a 1-handed weapon when you transform, you can use it but it's really better to sheath them before you transform and just use your claws. Otherwise, you can't use weapons or spells or powers, nor can you interact with any object other than fighting and eating it. No looting, no opening doors, etc. Finally, while in human form, you can't get the "well-rested" buff from sleeping in a bed, but I hardly ever sleep anyway so no great loss. And naturally, you don't want to walk about the streets of a town while in beast-mode.

 

You can't turn off beast-mode once you start it. While you're in it, your stamina decreases at a constant rate so the more you have, the longer it lasts. The stamina decrease can only be reversed by eating your victims. Once you run out of stamina, you return to human form butt-naked and exhausted. Fortunately, you don't lose any items but because you're out of stamina, you're often over-encumbered to start with when you come back around. So, you have to re-equip all your armor, return to 1st person view, and perhaps drink a stamina potion or 2. The beast-to-human transition takes only a couple seconds with 1 warming a few seconds before it starts.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

*Skipped*....and thanks for the warning BH

[Hasse Wind 46]

What about vampirism? I remember it was possible to become a vampire in Morrowind and Oblivion, but it wasn't exactly like being Dracula. Can it be done in Skyrim, and is it any fun?

[Von Paulus 8]

What about vampirism? I remember it was possible to become a vampire in Morrowind and Oblivion, but it wasn't exactly like being Dracula. Can it be done in Skyrim, and is it any fun?

I think so. I don't know if it's fun. I try to avoid this kind of things.

[Hellshade 110]

What about vampirism? I remember it was possible to become a vampire in Morrowind and Oblivion, but it wasn't exactly like being Dracula. Can it be done in Skyrim, and is it any fun?

 

I know it's definately possible. I agree it wasn't any fun in Oblivion. Hopefully they took one of the many user created mods from Oblivion and modeled vampirisim after that.

 

Hellshade

[Bullethead 12]

*Skipped*....and thanks for the warning BH

 

No problem. You do have to read 1 thing about lycanthropy, though. You know how when you pass NPCs on the streets, they usually say something? Well, once you're a werewolf, you sometimes hear "Have you been tending your hounds? You smell like a wet dog."

 

NEW SUBJECT: The Politics of Skyrim

I want to see which side you all favor, if any, in the civil war. I mean, it's a least an important background element and can be a major questline if you choose to follow it. I don't want to get into the details of the questline because I haven't started it myself, I just want see where you all stand on the issues .

 

The reason I'm interested is because I was reading all the possible achievements shown on Steam, and noticed that you can capture entire cities, specifically the capitals on the imperial or Stormcloak factions. Holy Fallout New Vegas! Sounds like fun! I have GOT to do that. Which means I've got to pick a side.

 

The joinable factions are on opposite sides of issues arising from the aftermath of the Great War, which seems to have been fought by the fathers of most of the NPCs you meet in Skyrim. So to understand the factions and pick your favorite, you have to know what happened in The Great War. There are plenty of books on that subject scattered about so I'm sure most folks are already up to speed on that. And even if you're not, you realistically should be, because your character would have been raised on such recent history. Still, I won't spell it all out here in case somebody still wants to read those books themselves.

 

There are actually 3 sides in the civil war but you can only join 2 of them. The 3rd is a universally hostile group that wants local autonomy, not province-wide dominion. These factions are:

 

1. The Loyalists (aka the Legion)

GOALS: Unify Skyrim itself and retie it firmly to the what's left of the Empire.

POLICY: Imposing, with an iron hand, the elf-dictated religious persecution of Talos-worshippors.

 

2. The Rebels (aka the Stormcloaks)

GOALS: Unify Skyrim itself and either secede from the Empire or take it over.

POLICY: Traditional Nord values, including Talos worship, and hatred of elves.

 

3. The Terrorists (aka the Forsworn)

GOALS: Have The Reach secede from Skyrim and become an autonomous kingdom.

POLICY: Terrorism against all non-Reach (as in non-Breton) natives, imposition of pre-Divine religion in The Reach.

 

My own opinion of the 2 joinable factions has developed over time. To start with, I thought both factions were total jerks and had resolved to remain neutral. However, then I discovered you can conquer cities Besides, my character is a Nord and has become quite a traditionalist, what with being Dragonborn and now a werewolf, too. And Talos is a traditional Nord deity. Thus, I'm rapidly gravitating towards the Stormcloak faction. I now see the Legion as the running-dog lackies of evil, godless imperialists. They might work for the human Empire in name, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that the elf empire is pulling the strings.

 

However, while I favor the Stormcloak cause, I don't much care for how they're implementing their policies. They seem more a terrorist organization right now than a legit faction. Also, they're a bit hypocritical in doing to The Reach exactly what they complain the Empire is doing to them. But I figure once I take over the reins, I'll whip them into a real army. And I figure I'll convince the jarl of Whiterun to join me, too .

 

So down with the elves, up with Talos! Who's with me?

[Hellshade 110]

Despite being a Wood Elf, I'm with you BH. Yes, I should be on the imperialist side since they are basically the dogs of the Thalmor (elven) empire, but my character is more of an anarchist type. He doesn't want iron fisted rule by anyone, even his own kind. So stirring up rebellion of any kind helps keep things in a state of chaos, which means more freedom for him. I literally just joined the ranks of the Stormcloaks and haven't even gone through my initiation test yet (despite being level 31), but I've been wiping out Imperial camps wherever I find them in the wilderness and take great pleasure in killing Imperial dogs that are escorting Stormcloak prisoners about. And for whatever reason, I especially enjoy killing Thalmor. There's a particular quest where I had to try and negotiate the release of a Stormcloak NPC who was being held prisoner by the Thalmor. I negotiated his release by killing every last one of those snotty high born elves and walking out the front door, mission accomplished. In the majority of cases, I slaughtered entire rooms full of Thalmor by using surprise and supreme archery skills before a single one of them was able to close the distance to me. A few arrived nearly dead at my feet only to be thrown backwards by an arrow to the forehead (man is that ever satisfying!).

 

 

My warrior type (whenever I get around to making him) will be a Nord so he'll Stormcloak too and I figure once I make a Mage, he'll be an Imperialist working for the Thalmor. Either way, sacking entire cities sounds fun as hell. God knows how many hours I have into this game and I don't feel like I've even scratched the surface of the potential.

 

Hellshade

[Bullethead 12]

I know it's definately possible. I agree it wasn't any fun in Oblivion. Hopefully they took one of the many user created mods from Oblivion and modeled vampirisim after that.

 

I dunno, I enjoyed being a vampire in Oblivion without mods. It had its advantages although the disadvantages were heavy indeed. Never been a werewolf before, though, so this is an experiment. So far, so good. It's not something I plan to use very often, though, if for no other reason than the lose of building weapons skills while in beast-mode.

[Hellshade 110]

I think I'll be a werewolf with my mage. Perfect melee backup when the magic runs dry. Probably be a bit of suprise to the bad guys too!

 

Hellshade

[Bullethead 12]

Despite being a Wood Elf, I'm with you BH. Yes, I should be on the imperialist side since they are basically the dogs of the Thalmor (elven) empire, but my character is more of an anarchist type. He doesn't want iron fisted rule by anyone, even his own kind.

 

I guess the only real anarchists are the bandits and Forsworn, which unfortunately you can't join, I don't think. But I do have a quest I'll get to eventually to find the sword of the Forsworn's legendary folk hero. Maybe that will open up doors with them. For the nonce, however, I'm giving that part of the world a wide birth. Forsworn run with hagravens, and I HATE HAGRAVENS!! The hardest fight I've had yet, harder than dragon fights, was cleaning out a nest of hagravens. Geez, they pack a LOT of heavy artillery!

 

And for whatever reason, I especially enjoy killing Thalmor. There's a particular quest where I had to try and negotiate the release of a Stormcloak NPC who was being held prisoner by the Thalmor. I negotiated his release by killing every last one of those snotty high born elves and walking out the front door, mission accomplished. In the majority of cases, I slaughtered entire rooms full of Thalmor by using surprise and supreme archery skills before a single one of them was able to close the distance to me. A few arrived nearly dead at my feet only to be thrown backwards by an arrow to the forehead (man is that ever satisfying!).

 

Don't feel bad--I EAT my own kind, or anybody else who gets in my way . I particularly like how the blood flies all over when you pick them up and shake them in your jaws. Sometimes you can even bite their heads off . BTW, I think just using claws counts for 1-handed weapons skill building.

 

Speaking of archery, here's a pic of my most satisfying shot so far (which isn't saying a lot because my bow is mostly for anti-dragon flak, not ground fighting). I actually nailed this guy to the post of a skinning rack. I shot him several more times because he didn't fall down, before I realized his health bar was gone.

[MikeDixonUK 5]

NEW SUBJECT: The Politics of Skyrim

I want to see which side you all favor, if any, in the civil war.

 

Here's my two septims to stick up for the Imperial side :

 

(Includes some minor spoilers about the overall political situation)

 

 

 

 

 

At first when I started the game I just wanted to join the Imperial Legion, mainly for two reasons - first of all, I just like the whole Roman thing (my main Morrowind character was in the Legion too, and I was very disapointed that there was no Legion in Oblivion - plus they didn't seem as Roman in Oblivion.) Secondly, I knew I was going to make at least two characters, the first would be a Breton Archer (thats my standard TES class), and the other would be a generic Axe wielding bearded Nord fellow (as is required in Skyrim) - so it seemed logical to make the Breton Archer an Imperial and the Nord a Stormcloak.

 

But getting into the game proper and learning more about the events since Oblivion, I find myself leaning more and more toward the Imperial way of thinking, for a few reasons (some of them may be due to Imperial biased 'propaganda' information, as all the people I've talked to have been Imperial alligned.):

 

Firstly I don't like the idea of the Nords rebelling against the Empire, when the Empire is the only thing keeping the Dominion from taking over the world - maybe if the Nords were as keen to fight in the great war as they seem to be now fighting for their own personal power then we wouldn't have had to make a bad peace with the Dominion and ban Talos!

 

The way it's been going, the Empire has been getting weaker and weaker, with different regions leaving etc - so at the moment it seems like the Empire consists of Cyrodiil (where Imperials come from), High Rock (where Bretons come from) and Skyrim (where Nords come from), left to face the Dominion - so in the event that the Stormcloak rebellion is successful and they secede from the Empire, that leaves High Rock and Cyrodiil standing against the Dominion - and me being a Breton (from High Rock) that doesn't sound like a brilliant situation - so my character is fighting to defend his homeland of High Rock, by making sure the Empire is as strong as it can be.

 

Secondly the whole Talos thing just seems to be an issue that Stormcloak has hyped up to get normal Nords to join his banner so he can gain power for himself.

 

Thirdly it seems Stormcloak is something of a racist, especially when it comes to the Elves, but somewhat in regards to every race apart from the Nords (allegedly his plan is to create a Skyrim only for Nords.)

 

And lastly the way he killed his King, this one is a questionable one as the Imperials, and the Queen - say he murdered the King in cold blood, where as one NPC has said that he killed the King in honourable Nord combat (but who is telling the truth?!)

 

With those in mind I might not make my Nord character join the Stormcloaks as I originally planned (mainly because of the 'Nord only' issue he seems to have, and I was expecting it to be more of a 'Freedooooom!' style faction, rather than 'grumpy racist' faciton) - so my Nord will probably go for his own glory, so that his name will be remembered forever in song - not overshadowed by petty men such as Stormcloak!

 

(Although I am now planning on making a High Elf Mage/Assassin/Thief and pretending to be some sort of Thalmor inquisitor who goes around setting fire and otherwise killing off Talos worshipers, just to have an evil character! )

Edited November 26, 2011 by MikeDixonUK

[Hellshade 110]

(Although I am now planning on making a High Elf Mage/Assassin/Thief and pretending to be some sort of Thalmor inquisitor who goes around setting fire and otherwise killing off Talos worshipers, just to have an evil character! )

 

That is soooo what I am going to do with my High Elf mage too. Great plan Mike!

 

So, I'm walking along with Jenassa, my Dark Elf Thief companion and some NPC thief stops me on the road and threatens to kill me if I don't hand over my gold. I tell them to get lost and she attacks. Jenassa leaps to my defense and I figure I'll let the two thieves fight it out. What an awesome fight between two dual wielders! Blood spray everywhere. Short but brutal. Just how it should be. Jenassa rocked her world hard.

 

Jenassa vs NPC Thief (0:40) 1080HD

 

Hellshade

Edited November 26, 2011 by Hellshade

[Bullethead 12]

But getting into the game proper and learning more about the events since Oblivion, I find myself leaning more and more toward the Imperial way of thinking, for a few reasons (some of them may be due to Imperial biased 'propaganda' information, as all the people I've talked to have been Imperial alligned.):

 

The propaganda IS pretty thick, on both sides. It's hard to tell what's really going on, at least where I'm at now. This is because the individual soldiers on each side vary a lot in their presonalities and reasons for fighting. For instance, the whole intro thing shows you both sides of the Legion. OT1H, there's that bitch (possibly elvish) captain who wants to just execute everybody out of hand, Stormcloak or not. But OTOH, that Nord in the Legion helps you escape when the dragon attacks. Likewise, individual Stormcloak grunts vary a lot on the reason for hating elves. Some really are Nazi-type racists, others just view the elves as a foreign enemy that the Empire isn't doing a good enough job with so needs new management. I suppose as we progress up the questline and talk to the folks near the top, we'll get a clearer picture.

 

As for Stormcloak himself, he definitely is out for personal gain, but that's what all nobles have always done, at least according to all the history books I've read. Hell, the legitimacy of the current Emperor is rather dubious, too. So I consider that a wash and don't hold it against either side.

 

At the bottom line, I don't much like either faction, but I want to conquer a city so I have to pick a side. Unlike FONV, there doesn't seem to be the option of raising your own army and beating all the pre-existing factions. So, for my current character, the Stormcloaks are a better fit. Maybe my next guy will fit better with the Legion.

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Here's the generic Nord Warrior chap I said I was going to make, I'll keep him as a neutral 'glory hunter' for now, probably be a Bounty Hunter and member of the Companions and the like:

 

 

I reckon he looks a bit like Sean Bean - which is ironic, seeing as Sean Bean was in Oblivion and looked nothing like him!

 

As such I have called him 'Rikard Sharpe-Blade'

[Hellshade 110]

Wow Mike, he looks fantastic. I'm not going to say the character face models are perfect, but they are one hell of an improvement over Oblivions. Keep us informed of how his travels go!

 

Hellshade

[Von Paulus 8]

All Skyrim books in off line mode.

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

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I appear to have become a Vampire...though, I'm not enjoying it very much!...seems to be little advantage at the moment..and I'm being attacked by Guards and villagers all the time!

[MikeDixonUK 5]

I appear to have become a Vampire...though, I'm not enjoying it very much!...seems to be little advantage at the moment..and I'm being attacked by Guards and villagers all the time!

 

Bad form, you should write to your MP - you're just not allowed to discriminate against people like that!

[Slartibartfast 153]

Well just received mine along with a care package of 2 excellent books about motorbiking so this afternoon whilst awaiting a delivery at home I think me and Skyrim will go for a trial run...

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

All Skyrim books in off line mode.

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

 

You need a Kindle to read these?

[Von Paulus 8]

You need a Kindle to read these?

Or download the Kindle reader.

http://www.amazon.co...ocId=1000493771

 

EDIT: Or download Calibre to convert to other formats:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

Edited November 28, 2011 by Von Paulus

[Parky 8]

Well, after reading the very positive feedback from some of our most well respected forum members, I went out and picked this title up. I must say I'm entirely impressed. After having played for only a few hours, I did learn one extremely valuable lesson and thought I'd share it for the benefit of anyone else who's entirely new to the game. If you're looking to increase your archery skills, the woolly mammoth is certainly not your best choice for target practice....

 

 

 

 

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Well, after reading the very positive feedback from some of our most well respected forum members, I went out and picked this title up. I must say I'm entirely impressed. After having played for only a few hours, I did learn one extremely valuable lesson and thought I'd share it for the benefit of anyone else who's entirely new to the game. If you're looking to increase your archery skills, the woolly mammoth is certainly not your best choice for target practice....

 

 

hahaha....And their Giant Shepherds are best avoided too!

 

Or download the Kindle reader.

http://www.amazon.co...ocId=1000493771

 

EDIT: Or download Calibre to convert to other formats:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

 

 

Thanks Paulo

[Von Paulus 8]

Meanwhile and off topic, but already mentioned.

Here's a new trailer of Legend of Grimrock.

For those who like dungeon crawlers, this title promises to be a great game.

 

Edited November 28, 2011 by Von Paulus

[Slartibartfast 153]

Okay just spent the last 4 hours playing Skyrim and yes it looks pretty real pretty oh come on next Fallout... just I am not blown away by it yet... maybe it will grow on me as this weekend I may just battle along with it and see if it grabs me any more than now...