Hellshade

You knew it had to happen eventually... Here's a few random cool scenes of my Dark Elf Archer and his loyal tank companion, Lydia. Might I add that there is a perk in the Archery skill tree that slows time by 50% whenever you zoom in with your bow. It can make for some truly epic feeling moments even in trash monster fights. Hellshade

Well Skyrims only been out a few days and already there are hundreds of mods available for it for the PC version. Here's a link to some of the more popular ones. I haven't tried any of them yet so I can vouch for any of them, but there is one for re-mapping hard coded keymaps on the interface and another for making save game profiles so you don't get your different characters mixed up in the saves. http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/14/the-10-best-skyrim-mods-so-far/ I also read that Skyrim has outsold everything in it's opening weekend except Call of Duty MW3. 3.4 million units estimated, not including digital Steam sales. Wow. Good job Bethesda Hellshade

What beautiful planes they both are. I dare say even majestic. May God bless the souls of those men who spent the last seconds of their precious lives in them to defend the freedom of others. Hellshade

No load times or pauses at all in the outside or inside areas except of course when transitioning from one to the other. I get between a 1 and 3 second load time going from indoors to out and vice versa. Probably be even less if Steam would have given me the option to install it on my SSD drive, but I didn't see anywhere that it gave me a choice of where to install. The interface is definately designed for a controller. I bought an Xbox 360 controller specifically to play this game on my PC. Skyrim actually has built in support for it on the PC version. Once I got used to using a controller, I really love it. Aiming with my bow isn't as quick and accurate as with a mouse, but still very functional and I'm getting better with all the practice. Hellshade

I'm not sure, but I guess maybe a few other people like the game besides those of us here enjoying it. PC World (10/10) — “Skyrim represents the culmination of that balancing act, of all Bethesda’s learned and mastered about epic nonlinear play” GameSpy (5/5) — “it’s without a doubt one of the best games I’ve played this year… if not one of the best role-playing games of the last decade.” GamePro (5/5) — “Like every other game in the series, Skyrim is going to eat hundreds of hours of my gaming time over the next few years.” RipTen (10/10) — “With this game, a new era dawns, a new standard in immersion. This is Bethesda’s magnum opus.” OXM UK(10/10): “Bethesda’s new Elder Scrolls is a world apart” CVG(9.5/10) — “it’s an adventure; an escape into a compelling world of myth and magic – and it’s the biggest, deepest RPG of the generation.” Hooked Gamers (9.5/10) PlayStation Universe (9.5/10) — “Open-world RPG fans have every reason to be excited; Bethesda truly delivered an extraordinary game.” The Sixth Axis (9/10) –”Simply put, Skyrim – the game – is a wonderful experience because Skyrim – the land – is a wonderful place. I heartily recommend a few days off work or school so you can visit.” The Guardian (5/5) — “The sheer size of the adventure, both in terms of its environment and in the amount of activities available to the player, is mind-blowing.” AZCentral — “Put plainly, The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim is the best game released this year.” AVault (5/5) — “In a marketplace where console RPGs are bigger than they’ve ever been before,Skyrim’s arrival marks a fitting Return of the King.” ActionTrip (9.6/10) — “one unforgettable adventure.” ScrewAttack (9/10) Video Game Writers (5/5): “The Elder Scrolls is still the pinnacle of open-world RPG experiences and Skyrim feels like the magnum opus in a series that has spanned nearly 20 years.” CNET — “a triumphant experience” Just Push Start — “Skyrim is the pinnacle of RPG gaming offering countless hours of exploration and action.” Feed Your Console (9/10) Attack of the Fanboy: “The core changes that were made to the franchise, like the revamped graphics and combat systems, were probably enough to seal the deal in the case for this being the studio’s best work.” Gaming Union (9/10) — “It will consume you.” Xbox Addict (97%) Crave Online (9/10)– “The settings Bethesda created are absolutely stunning.” Game Revolution (9/10) — “Endlessly replayable and a phenomenal landmark in gaming, Skyrim deserves a place in every true gamer’s collection.” CNN — The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is truly a wide-open game with many possibilities and visually stunning places to explore.” Bloody-Disgusting — “The beauty of Skyrim is once you have it you won’t have the desire to play anything else for a very, very long time.” DallasNews.com — “It’s the best Elder Scrolls yet and easily one of the best games this year.” Atomic Gamer (10/10) — “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is easily my favorite game of 2011.” Al.com (A+) — “The result will be that I’ll probably log even more time in Skyrim than I did in Oblivion. Skyrim is not only bigger, it’s better in almost every way.” Charleston Gazette (10/10) — “This is the pinnacle of modern role-playing games.” NowGamer (9.4/10) — “Brilliant in every way – just remember to fix your social circle once you’re done.” Frictionless Insight (5/5) — “Skyrim is the most fun you can have this side of Oblivion.” PC Mag (4.5/5) Planet Xbox 360 (9.7) — “There are also a good amount of surprises that were kept a secret for the release which had me howling in excitement for how carefully well done they were implemented. Having only completed over 60 hours, there is still a great deal for me to explore and quests to finish.” SFX (5/5) — “Finish Batman: Arkham City quick, because once Skyrim begins you’re not playing anything else for months.” TotallyGN (9.5/10) — “Skyrim is an epic experience.” Project Coe (9.5/10) — “We most certainly have another contender for Game of the Year right here.” Spong (99%): “Skyrim is definitely a fitting sequel to Oblivion.” Strategy Informer (95%) Digital Spy (5/5) — “Skyrim is hotter than a dragon’s backside after three courses at a curry house.” Ten Ton Hammer (93%) Trendkiller Online – “Skyrim is available everywhere for the 360, PS3 and PC and is officially my game of the year.” We Got This Covered (5/5) — “If you’re on the fence for a specific reason, it’s time to take the plunge, as Skyrim is a can’t miss release.” GamersTemple (98%) gamrReview (9.7/10) — “Skyrim is a transcendent experience.” T3 (5/5)

To answer your question WM - look here : http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Smithing Armor, weapons, potions, cooking, enchantments on your equipment. In fact if you go all the way up the perk tree for Enchanting, you can even put two enchantments on each item. You can also improve your weapons and armor so they hit harder or protect you more, respectively, in addition to the enchantments you place on them. It's no longer a game. It's the worlds first Fantasy Role Playing Simulator. With Oblivion I remember modding it heavily to make it more to my liking. With Skyrim, I haven't seen anything yet I care to mod, plus it runs so damn smooth. No stutter at all anywhere and I've only seen texture pop ins maybe once or twice in all the time I've played. I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm just saying it's so damn immersive and good that whatever little issues occassionally show up, I just don't care. Hellshade

Here's my guy. A dark elf named Szeth and his Housecarl, Lydia. I usually let her go up front and take aggro with her sword and shield while I stand back and pick them off using my bow. I reserve the occassional Dragon Shout for any enemies that get too close.

Well I have Lydia as my follower too. But I had to give her up for a bit while I was doing another quest that required a certain companion. When the quest was over, I went back to the place that I first found Lydia and she was there. Not sure if that's how it always works or not though. She's never died on me yet. Brave girl and a great little fighter. I have her all done up in Dwarve armor now, except the gloves which are still steel. I gave her a blade that does lightning damage every time it stikes too. Looks awesome at night.

http://romain-hugault.blogspot.com/ Hellshade

Some companions must be hired if you want them. Others will go with you willingly if you help them out with a quest and so they decide they like you enough. Others still can be assigned to you temporarily because it's part of the quest that they go with you and at least one is given to you by the King to protect you. You may only have one companion at a time though. Hellshade

My companion got lost once. I used the Wait option for 1 hour (which is about 1 second of real time) and poof, she was right there again. I knew she'd find me anyways, I just didn't feel like waiting for her to catch up. Hellshade

Nice article. Skyrim has flaws, but they are absolutely nothing like this author suggests. The vast majority of his article is patently false. Not even arguable. Just plain false. The first sign things aren't as good as they could be comes before the game even begins. The main menu is as sparse as can be, but is lacking features as basic as the ability to change settings before jumping into the game. Actually when you launch Skyrim you get a window that pops up with the word "Options" right under the word "Play". If you click Options, you get all the display options for you to change before the game itself launches. Total lie on his part and too obvious, in my opinion, to be "something the reviewer accidentally missed", especially given the constant rant agenda that is laced throughout the entire article. See the picture at the bottom for proof. Other issues, like mouse acceleration being forced on and impossible to remove without an INI tweak, or the game defaulting to "Xbox 360 Controller - On" when started, even without a controller plugged in Not in my experience. The 360 controller was Off by default. I had to turn it on when I plugged in my 360 controller. But it's a great way for the author to make it sound like Bethesda can't get anything at all right. Too bad it has nothing to do with the facts. Using the console in games to manipulate quest variables, add items to the inventory, to noclip through walls, and so forth has been a standard practice of players for many years, and even more so for Bethesda games - not because Bethesda players are damn dirty cheaters, but because the number of bugs in Bethesda games almost necessitates the occasional use of the console in order to avoid running into problems, whether that's getting stuck on the terrain, a critical item being lost or disappearing, or a quest not functioning properly. Again, no hard feelings; it's an open-world game and sometimes things can go wrong. Bethesda provides toolkits for players so they can make mods. Been there since at least Morrowind, if not before. The console is there so mod makers can debug their own code. Nice spin by the author to make it sound like it's only purpose is so players can arduously work their way through Bethesdas hopelessly broken products. That's right: get stuck in a Bethesda game due to a bug, and you have to choose between getting un-stuck, or losing out on your achievement. I haven't gotten stuck yet once in 18 hours of playing. I can't verify if your forced to choose between getting unstuck or losing your achievement or not. Interesting that he uses the more grandios "Bethesda game" instead of just saying "Skyrim" as if the problem sweeps across every product they have ever made despite the fact that none of the previous Elder Scrolls series had Steam support. Apparently he knows this bug (which I can't for the life of me duplicate) is inherent in every Bethesda product that has or ever will exist. No agenda going on here. Granted, restarting the game and avoiding the tilde key will allow you to continue on to earn achievements, but this introduces an additional level of tedium, as you'll need to restart the game every twenty minutes because you explored just a little too much in an Elder Scrolls game. Every twenty minutes huh? Again, I've been playing for over 18 hours and the only bug I've witnessed was my companion attacking a quest NPC that had challenged me to a one on one duel. And that didn't even break the quest. "Every twenty minutes" is a great way to make it sound like there is no stability in the game whatsoever though. Let's see, I've read about 20 Skyrim reviews, PC and Xbox 360. How many of them said bugs happened every twenty minutes? That would be "none." Most, if they said anything about bugs at all, said they were rare, and non game breaking. but when Skyrim's new "Creation" engine has been so hyped up, one would expect it'd be possible to introduce some sort of counter-measure to prevent cheating, without forcing players to avoid the console entirely. Apparently, expecting this was too much, and so now players who want to get around bugs in the game are being inconvenienced and punished for it, either by being denied their achievements, or by repeated game restarts. First: How do you "cheat" in an off-line only, single player only game? But whatever. Oh yeah, players need cheat codes to deal with all the massive bug ridden Bethesda code that denies them Achievements. You know, the game failures that I haven't seen once but, in the authors world, occur every 20 minutes. More pure horsecrap. In order to change the FOV to a usable setting in Skyrim, I have to use console commands... which in turn means that I have to choose between basic playability, and achievements plus motion sickness and disorientation. Thanks, Bethesda. You can change the FOV with a simple FOV XX command in console or you can edit the .ini file so it's always how you want it. Motion sickness and disorientation? Amazing how a problem so overwhelming that it makes the author sick wasn't mentioned once by a single professional reviewer or even in any of the player comments to the reviews. But hey, fortunately we got this guy to set us all straight about how we all have motion sickness while playing and just never noticed it. Right from the bat, I knew that something was wrong when my high-end system was getting framerates in the low 20s from time to time, and when performance did not improve upon lowering the graphics options. Things became even more suspicious when I realized that there was no rhyme or reason for any of the framerate drops - whether I was outside in the overworld, the terrain stretching into the distance, or inside a tiny shop the size of a prison cell, the game's framerate fluctuates all over the place. There's no question about this: Skyrim is badly optimized. I run 60 FPS on High settings 99% of the time. Never dropped below 55 as I recall. Even on Ultra I'm in the 50s most of the time. I don't what his "high end" system is, but I can tell you it runs smooth as glass on my system. Either his system is jacked or he's just spouting off more outright lies. Again, do a search for Skyrim PC Review and see how many of them complained about low frame rates? None that I saw. Huh. Not suspicious at all, Mr. Author. A second issue I immediately ran into was an intense audio distortion - crackling, skipping and popping most commonly heard in dialogue, but also in many of the game's environmental sounds. No in-game audio options helped and there seemed to be no relevant settings in the game's INI files to help. On a lark, I went to my Windows Sound Properties page and dropped my sound card's bit rate from 96,000 Hz to 44,100 Hz. Instantly, the problem was gone - and instantly, I was frustrated at the fact that once again, it was clear Bethesda had foregone so much as basic compatibility testing. Verifiable horsecrap. I changed my audio settings to 96,000. Not a crackle, pop or hiss anywhere. It sounds just fine. Bethesda didn't do basic compatibility testing or the author has an agenda? I'll leave that one to you. "Mods will fix it" is a phrase commonly uttered when Bethesda games are mentioned, and it's certainly true that their often-buggy and occasionally-broken games have been substantially improved by their extremely dedicated fan community - I probably would not have got through Fallout: New Vegas or Oblivion if it wasn't for the countless hours fans spent overhauling the game's interface and fixing the bugs Bethesda refused to officially acknowledge. True their are tens of thousands of mods out there for Morrowind and Oblivion. The overwhelming majority of which either adds some form of new content to the game or changes gameplay to a style that is more satisfying to the modders tastes. I don't find many mods at all that were "bug fixes" because something just plain didn't work. Now the author does make a few valid points and I'm happy to agree with him on them: The UI is definately a direct console port. Sometimes things look like buttons to click but they aren't. It's confusing and I personally agree it shouldn't have been shipped that way. Some of the keys cannot be re-mapped and I can't for the life of me figure out why. You ought to be able to remap any key to any function you wish. Definately valid complaint. After that, well...there's less fiction in Star Wars than in the rest of his article. Below is the picture of the graphics settings changes that, according the the author, you can't make before launching the game. Really? If you're going to make crap up, you might at least want to make it something that can't be verified as false by a 6 year old. But that's what have an agenda against a particular company will do to your sense of logic.

No. I just give her whatever heavy armor and weapons I can find that are an improvement over what she has. The good news is that she never seems to run out of arrows, but she will switch to sword and shield when the enemy closes in. I love the smell of dead dragons in the morning. Smells like....victory.

Lunch break! Here's a pic of my Housecarl companion and I sneaking through the countryside at night to attack some bandits. She's a great little fighter.

She doesn't die on me. None of my companions have. In fact one of them saved my life. I was deep inside of a dungeon with a warrior type companion and I fired off my last arrow at a bandit. It struck him square in the chest and he dropped to his knees for a second to recover himself before getting up and charging directly at me (arrow still sticking firmly out of the center of his chest). Just as he was about to bring his huge axe down on my head, my warrior companion rushes in front of me and does this awesome upward stroke with his sword, lifting the bandit up off the ground and impaling him on his blade! The bandit dropped over dead and there wasn't a scratch on me. They seem to do a pretty good job of holding aggro too if you prefer to be a ranged fighter (spells or bows). Hellshade

Well, I played the PC version of Skyrim using an Xbox 360 controller (because that's what the interface is really designed for, to be honest) from around 11:00am yesterday until 1:45am this morning - almost non-stop. The only "bug" I encountered in all of that time was that I was challenged to a duel with a certain NPC who wanted to test me to make sure that I was good enough to get into his guild. My companion - a "Housecarl" - who was assigned by the king to protect me wouldn't let me duel him alone. She kept attacking him and he kept yelling at me to fight him one on one. It eventually sorted itself out when I left the area and came back. It didn't break the quest at all. I've seen several giant mammoths but none of them were ever flying. In fact no other odd behavior at all, from what I've personally experience. Obviously everyone's experience of the game is going to be different because it's such a huge sandbox and there are so many different ways to go about all of the quests, etc. However I feel it's unfair to say that Skyrim is "buggy" as that to me indicates a game that is riddled with bugs and is unstable. Crash prone or broken. A more fair assessment would seem to be that there are a few rare bugs, but they happen so rarely and the game is so huge that it's a bit hard to hold it against Bethesda that they missed a few. I'm sure they'll get sorted out soon enough but even if they aren't, it isn't enough to keep me from enjoying the game at all. As far as waiting for the price to drop, that may be awhile. Generally games that have a universal score in the high 90s take a long time to drop in price. If you are a hardcore fantasy RPG person, (especially if you prefer first person views), this is some really good stuff. If your budget is tight and your saving for P4, Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3 or some other big name title and fantasy RPGs aren't your main focus, then you probably are better off saving your money for now. Speaking of First Person View, I did find the field of view to be a bit claustrophobic for me. If you hit the ` key to bring up the console and type "FOV XX" where the "XX" is a number between around 65 and 100, you can open up your field of view in the game so the screen isn't bracketed by your hands. I personally seem to prefer a FOV of 90. I think the game default is 65. There is no = in the statement either. Just "FOV 90". Press the enter key and then the ` key again to drop the console. That's really the only graphic change I've made though. With Oblivion I remember running tons of mods to change all kinds of things. Wih Skyrim, it's like all of my favorite Oblivion mods have already been put into the game by the publisher. oh and dragon fights? Yeah. Incredibly awesome. I came out of a dungeon nearly depleted of arrows and when I was in the middle of a huge plain, a dragon scream echoed across the area and sure enough one came flying in over the mountains. It was a hell of a fight but my companion and I got him in the end. In Skyrim, you always have to remember that you aren't the only one doing the hunting. Always have a good supply of whatever you need to fight with. Hellshade

Well from the short few hours I've played it, I'll say this about it. The graphics definately seem similar to Oblivion, however in my personal opinion they are much improved. The character models faces show considerable improvement. Gone are the plastic-looking faces. Water, weather effects and environments all look very nice. Not the best ever, but they create an incredible mood! It's not cutting edge graphics that makes the game look so amazing. It's the incredible art direction and epic scenery wherever you go. It all blends together so well that it is the most immersive fantasy RPG I have ever played. Talking to the NPCs is far and away better than ever dreamed of in Oblivion. The UI was designed for the consoles. However I myself got a 360 controller for my PC and am using that on Skyrim and it actually works great. Even for archery. In just a few short hours the controller is feeling more and more natural to me in this game, and I have never used console controllers before. The UI is very streamlined, with a Favorites menu that you can put spells, weapons, potions, etc on so simply pushing a button gives you a list of all your favorite stuff to select from. I believe the PC controls have hotkeys if you wish to use them. Personally, I love the UI. It does what it needs to without getting in my way. Smart choices like having health, stamina and mana bars NOT appear on screen until you begin to drain them below 100% means the screen isn't cluttered up with info you don't need. When I lose health, mana or stamina THEN the appropriate bar appears. A nice touch. The game is multicore enhanced, unlike Oblivion, so it runs smooth as glass on my system. 60 FPS on High settings. Usually60 FPS on Ultra, sometimes dropping to the mid 40s. Load times between indoor / outdoor areas are a mere 2 to 3 seconds. Much longer than that on the Xbox 360, I hear. The Perk system you get every time you level is freakin awesome. You definately can build any type of character you'd like. I'm a stealthy bow assassin that uses fire bolts in one hand and a sword in the other when it comes time for melee. But I'm just getting started. $60 is a lot of cash to drop on a game, but for me personally it was well worth it (ok, I had been saving up my gift cards to Best Buy) because I can see myself playing this game for a very, very long time. The average review score for Skyrim is around 95% and I have to agree. I haven't encrountered any bugs yet, but I'm sure there's some in there. However the ability to autosave your game every 5 minutes will take the sting out of anything that might result in a character death. To me, the biggest thing about Skyrim is it's a game that rewards players who love to explore. If you want a purely linear experience, I would suggest something else. If you want a huge world to explore, Skyrim isn't perfect but it is immersive. Pizzas almost done which means I'm back in Skyrim for the rest of the night after this! Hope some of that helps. Hellshade

Just got home with my copy. Starting the install now. Hope everyone who bought it has a blast. Hellshade

For those looking for a solid, in-depth review of Skyrim without Spoilers, I found the IGN video review to be very well done. It clocks in around 7 minutes and most of the footage is just breathtaking. http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/11/10/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-video-review?objectid=93395 A bunch of reviews are out and so far the results are all 90% or better, with an average score being around 95%. Here's a site with a bunch of the review overviews and scores in one place so you can see what they are saying in general. http://www.computera...eview-round-up/ I'm definately looking forward to picking up my PC copy tomorrow morning at 10am at Best Buy. Hellshade

If the 300 hours of hand crafted questing content isn't enough...Todd Howard says that Skyrim will create infinite content based on your progress in the game and what you have done even after you've finished every hand crafted quest. So even after you finished the Dark Brotherhood quest line, the Radiant AI will create new assassination missions for you on the fly to keep the experience going. How frickin awesome is that? http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/11/skyrim-infinite-quests/ Hellshade

Because in the game, you can put her in her place the old fashioned way and there won't be any police involved. Now there's a fantasy world we could all spend some time in. Hellshade

I think so. I know for a fact you can get married, so the house thing would seem like a done deal. Hellshade

Official word has it that Skyrim will have a patch to 1.1 on launch day for all platforms. Patch notes were not released at this time and will be included on launch day. So that means that Skyrim v 1.1 will launch on 11.11.11. Geeze guys. Do you think can we get just a few more 1's in there? I'm afraid next they might raise the price to $111.11. Hellshade

Long ago, before Call of Duty, there was a tactical shooter called Rainbox 6 about a counter terrorist team. My favorite way Rainbow 6: Rogue Spear. At any rate, it's apparently back in production and slated for 2013. Enjoy the shocking footage of team Rainbow in a brutal new world. http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/11/04/rainbow-6-patriots-gameplay-target-trailer?objectid=121861 Hellshade

GSY Gaming Review gives Skyrim another 95%. This was an Xbox 360 Review. Two 95% in a row though. Hopefully the start of a good trend. http://gsygaming.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=221:skyrim-review&catid=41:reviews&Itemid=81 Hellshade