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The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim


7upMan

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I think its due to who you follow, there's two doors into the keep, each door takes you to a separate part in the keep, I thinks its along the lines of choose your side, imperial or nord.

 

saw something else I've not seen before, probably missed it before, its a trail of ants on the ground, dont have a pic thou couldn't work out how to get a screenshot.

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Wow, long ass day of playing and the last two hours went by in the flick of a switch...Getting tired. lol.

 

I'm loving it, I will be bored in a couple months I'm sure but it's been fun so far.

 

Got my house, don't own a horse or anything. Do have a 'guard' but i haven't taken her out yet, I like to solo thing, but it'll be nice to have back-up I'm sure.

 

Some funny stealth... I snuck into a room and closed the door, 'stole' some items while crouched. fine. stood up out of sneak (still behind door) and grabbed a coin. Busted from the guys in the other room. Lol. Obviously it's not a perfect game, but they are definitely pushing all the angles. TDM is better in stealth for sure, but TDM's focus is stealth above all else.

Elderscrolls is a lot more so I can forgive a bit of bugginess. There are so many other things that are done pretty damn good too, they gotta release the game sometime. Still, Would be really cool if they had someone on the team looking at these little stealth neuances (sic) which I don't think they do. Too many 'simple'/hard to over look bugs with stealth to convince me otherwise.

It's still better than MW and Oblviion so it's improving.

 

One funny thing that happened. Standing outside city gates. Got attacked by bandits. Killed all three. Then had too much stuff to carry, so I dropped some stuff. Right then a guard walks up and says "Better not leave weapons laying around, someone could get hurt. Next time it's not a warning" ROFL. Really dude? I can barely crawl and you're giving me shit about dropping stuff? Worst part of the game is constantly being bogged down.

But then it gets funnier, he walks over and looks at the 3 bodies and says "I wonder what happened here?" and strolls away. Weapons on ground, you're in trouble, bodies on ground, hmmm.

 

This game is really pretty freakin big though. I came around a mtn and saw a city, thought I had been there so I went back the other way. Later realize that I had never been there... Trying to get to a ine for an objective and I spent 2 hours trying to get around these gnarly peaks, running into trouble. Finally realized I need to go back where I started and hook right more... Played probably 10+ hours so far and have just scraped the surface with a few point to point paths between major destinations. I've been to parts in maybe 1/5 of the map. But that's just b lining it, not exploring really (well, I did go in some dungeons I ran into, but they were just along the way, no out of the way stuff). Just trying to get to the major way points so I can quick travel. Looks like maybe 10+ hours more just to get to all corners of the kingdom. Then there's probably many hours of exploring nooks and crannies around each of the 20-30 major locations.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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Mmm... I'll try to remember to listen out for him.

 

First impressions today is really good - it plays like Oblivion but better (almost) everything. First person works fine (I thought I read somewhere it was limited.) Lockpicking similar to TDS in that it is a sub-game with hand showing and picks going into lock and turning. Had almost no success with bow so far but I guess I have to keep levelling up. You can grab torches which both extinguishes them but also you can carry them later if needed to light dark places.

 

Running water is excellent. Static water (eg in water trough) it looks like static jelly no animation on texture at all. (this is on XBox360)

 

Map is obscure and hard to figure out I think. Looks like somebody threw some crap at a wall then photographed it in black and white. You can zoom in on the crap then it looks like zoomed crap.

 

Gameplay seems very good. Fighting seems real easy from the start compared to Oblivion where I struggled at first even with mud crabs and wolves for a few days I recall.

 

You can save almost anywhere eg, also within caves and tombs etc. I'm not certain but I think in Oblivion you couldn't save within those.

 

I found one bandit cave where there were already some bodies. I crept to one and stole its stuff and got a message for a new quest something about 'you overheard yada yada'. I got a feeling it was triggered by being near this guy. I think he was supposed to be alive but something happened before I got there to kill him.

 

Grab is hold down activate for a second or two then release then you can drag. I could see no info on that in the manual nor in the in-game help. So for a body you tap A on XBox to search the body but hold it a second or so and that submenu disappears then you can drag. Not sure if hiding body helps stealth though.

 

Guy in bar kept insulting me. I punched him. He drew dagger and started stabbing me. I kept punching but I wasn't gonna win that one so I drew sword and cut him down. I left him injured not dead. Few minutes later I was arrested somewhere else and paid the fine. No fair.

 

Keep dumping stuff because not yet found any trader I can sell stuff to.

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there's a trader in the village you get sent to after coming out of the caves at the start, and there's more than one trader in the jarl run city where you get the quest to get a tablet related to dragons, you can trade at the inns, and you can trade at the brewery's (mead brewing places).

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there's a trader in the village you get sent to after coming out of the caves at the start, and there's more than one trader in the jarl run city where you get the quest to get a tablet related to dragons, you can trade at the inns, and you can trade at the brewery's (mead brewing places).

 

Yeah I'm probably overlooking a button or something because in the meadery the guy behind the bar only seemed to be selling food. I couldn't see any way to sell him anything. Then at the village I got the next quest so fast I felt obliged to go. Yeah I know you don't have to but I'm not too bothered about trading yet.

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With archery you aim directly at the target and the game compensates out to a set distance. I read about a way to disable the auto aim via configuration files but I can't be bothered since a shot in the foot versus the head appear to deal the same damage.

Mmm... I've shot scores of arrows but none had any effect except to alert the target. I shot a moose about twenty times. Hard to actually tell if they really hit except where I've just shot at a mark on a post to check and it seems accurate at least at close range. Doesn't seem to be any auto-aim on Xbox but I'll double check the config settings (very very few of those.)
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Mmm... I'll try to remember to listen out for him.

 

First impressions today is really good - it plays like Oblivion but better (almost) everything. First person works fine (I thought I read somewhere it was limited.) Lockpicking similar to TDS in that it is a sub-game with hand showing and picks going into lock and turning. Had almost no success with bow so far but I guess I have to keep levelling up. You can grab torches which both extinguishes them but also you can carry them later if needed to light dark places.

 

Running water is excellent. Static water (eg in water trough) it looks like static jelly no animation on texture at all. (this is on XBox360)

 

Map is obscure and hard to figure out I think. Looks like somebody threw some crap at a wall then photographed it in black and white. You can zoom in on the crap then it looks like zoomed crap.

 

Gameplay seems very good. Fighting seems real easy from the start compared to Oblivion where I struggled at first even with mud crabs and wolves for a few days I recall.

 

You can save almost anywhere eg, also within caves and tombs etc. I'm not certain but I think in Oblivion you couldn't save within those.

 

I found one bandit cave where there were already some bodies. I crept to one and stole its stuff and got a message for a new quest something about 'you overheard yada yada'. I got a feeling it was triggered by being near this guy. I think he was supposed to be alive but something happened before I got there to kill him.

 

Grab is hold down activate for a second or two then release then you can drag. I could see no info on that in the manual nor in the in-game help. So for a body you tap A on XBox to search the body but hold it a second or so and that submenu disappears then you can drag. Not sure if hiding body helps stealth though.

 

Guy in bar kept insulting me. I punched him. He drew dagger and started stabbing me. I kept punching but I wasn't gonna win that one so I drew sword and cut him down. I left him injured not dead. Few minutes later I was arrested somewhere else and paid the fine. No fair.

 

Keep dumping stuff because not yet found any trader I can sell stuff to.

 

This is one game I like switching between first and third. At first I wasn't digging 1st but got used to it. 3rd is really nice when you're not fighting, just running, talking to people, trying to get a better overall view of surroundings. I haven't had any issue with either. Fighting dragons sucks in 3rd, because you look up to see him and the camera hits the ground, but won't look up at a steeper angle, so easy to lose track of them.

 

I love the lockpicking. It's a lot easier to break a pick on a hard lock, yet still you can get master locks if you are careful. it's nicely done and realistic. The easy locks have a wider degree of pickable area, the harder ones are at tighter degrees. You can finesse them a lot by not holding the key, but light pushes just to make it rotate more and more til it opens or snags (or you break a pick), a heavy hand leads to lots of broken picks.

 

I disagree about the map. I can find my way around pretty good by zooming in and looking at the topology (might not be as good on xbox/tv, I dunno). But I think to a degree it's supposed to be a bit vague, you're supposed to go out an explore. if the map was to detailed it would take a lot of the wilderness 'wandering' out of it. Still, all locations get marked and you get quick travel. Plus the 'local' view has more detail for zooming in.

 

You're right about the water, all the water falls, creeks, rivers, springs.. Running through the aspen groves (which I have hiked and mtn biked in for years) is amazing. So much detail, fallen leaves/twigs on ground. Aspen bark, splintered knocked down trees, old hollow fungus covered pines... I think this is the most amazing outdoor environment game ever. People at SPUF (Steam forums) are crying they want their money back because moss decals resolution is bad. And yeah, it could be better. But who crawls up and stares at moss anyway. If you stand back and take it all in it's quite amazing.

 

The fighting is a huge improvement of MW/Obl. Fighting Mudcrabs for 4 hours to level up to fight rats always sucked. I'm glad they figured that out this time around. There are plenty of bad ass monsters everywhere anyway, let me get on with it :)

 

Unfortunately I think archery is one of those things they kept.. Not that it's bad. But having a low level has more to do with your bad accuracy then you actual aim does. Just have to train it up. I like to get the drop on people by sneaking, using a poison on the bow and getting a first solid sneak attack hit. The poison only works for one arrow though.

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You can stash stuff in barrels. Not garunteed it'll all be there later, but better than throwing it away. You can sell stuff in every town and even outside (hunters). Stolen stuff I guess you need to find a shady dealer or fence to buy it. Riften is the place to go, though I have not found the thieves guild yet. (damnit!) (lower right of map)

 

Pubs only deal in food. But look for the alchemist shops to sell magic stuff, look for the forges, they are always next to the weapon shops, etc... But the dialog always says 'what are you selling', then you just scroll down to your inventory to sell it to them. (there is no sell/buy like morrowind/oblivion had) Some towns have small markets in the streets too.

As you wander through town the buildings get check on the local view so it's easy to refind them.

 

You can buy a horse for 1000 in Riften. Makes for nice fast travel to get around the map and 'find' all the quick travel spots. You can also steal on easily from a stable at night. But if you get off he'll go back home. I had one teleport home from the middle of nowhere when I went to grab some moths (bummer).

 

 

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Make sure to upgrade armor early on before you add magic too it. improving magic armor/weapons takes a really high skill, but improving non-magic items is low skill.

 

eat everything you find to learn alchemy and lvl up quick (at least the first time you find it).

 

if you see a cave bear sneak and stay away!!! they are fast and kick your ass in seconds.

 

Grab crappy magic items (and destruct them at the enchant table to learn enchantments, even if it's just a crappy robe, you can make a lot more selling enchanted clothing then selling on robe). Same with jewelry/weapons. Do it early to get good magic for good items right when you get them.

 

Don't put armor in your favorites list. Sucks when you take stuff off in battle and don't realize it for an hour, lol.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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You're definitely missing with those arrow shots. Try aiming lower - I've found that the game shoots too high much of the time. And you might try leading more - I've found the shots almost seem to "lag" behind if the target is moving. I'm getting pretty good at shooting now - I can nail a running rabbit sometimes, and can get off two shots at baddies in dungeons before they start running. One room was a blast - tons of skeletons and zombies popping out of caskets and I kept sweeping the room with arrows, knocking them off the stairs, into the water, etc, very satisfying fight that one.

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It appears you can ride a carriage for pretty cheap between cities. Great way to get the major quick travel spots out of the way.

 

Also, you can hot key inventory items (PC) by adding something to your favs, then mouse over it and hit number.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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I can more or less change everything I said before.

 

Map is better as you get used to it (though I wish it left names up permanently and not need mouse.)

 

Some static water is not too bad (not all jelly but with animated surface texture)

 

I've started to succeed with bow at last.

 

I found the sell thing - by scrolling further down (not obvious first time with a big list.)

 

Hopeless with first dragon west tower Dragon Run so decided to leave that for now and go back when I'm more adept. One thing I might try later is do a few attacks then hide to recover and let the others fight for a while then repeat. See if that wears it down.

 

One sub quest seems impossible without invisibility potion and I've not got enough money (as I kept dumping stuff because I was overloaded. - Another one to go back and do later.) (another approach would be run in and grab quest object then run out and then pay fine.)

 

Some good puzzles in some quests - not too hard but just enough make you think and to satisfy when you work it out.

 

Seen my first mammoth but at a distance. There were some giants or trolls or orcs or something bashing something on the ground nearby (and I don't think they were digging potatoes!) and I was on another quest.

 

Dreadful stiff cattle. No bend at all. When it turns sideways its like its made of wood. Yuk.

 

I'm missing mantle and lean. Stealth not great but not too bad actually.

 

Not completely clear why some things can be selected as perks on level up. I mean as I recall in Oblivion it showed you what choices you had. In Skyrim it seems to show everything but when you select some they don't work. Confusing. Unless I'm missing a message somewhere.

 

Gameplay balance seems really good though. It flows along and if you get stuck with one thing there's always other things to do. OK, so perhaps some would see it as too much hand holding but no serious frustrations so far.

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That first dragon isn't too hard. I hit that almost right away, and only used maybe 5 weak arrows. I was scared so kept my distance, the guards basically did all the work.

 

Mammoths are tough. Problem is so are the giants. And they are always together. I killed a pair by hiding on top of a cliff and killing the giant with arrows (cheated, he was stuck walking back and forth behind a tree). They are fast too. I killed another mammoth just by circling a rock and spraying him with magic. Takes awhile.

But the giant always has a chest, so sneaking to it is a good score.

 

I must confess, I ate my first giants toe :P they taste bad, but it was for science.

 

3rd person can make up for lack of lean. mantle, well...

 

The whole perks menu got me for awhile. But it's pretty easy once you figure it out.

 

Say you want to level lockpicking. You level up to 20 by picking locks. Then when you get the first perk (locks easier or something) it says on the right which level you need, and it says on the left which level you are at. I think the first ones are lvl 1, but the next one up the tree will be 20, or 35 lvl required. They are greyed out a bit, but hard to tell.

Then you have to hit reload key to select just like the shouts.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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Boy, hitting a dragon with an arrow when it's circling is almost impossible. I generally arrow them when they hover or hit the ground, take their fire attacks head on, sneak attack when possible, hit them with a couple of shouts.

 

I also find myself missing Thief/TDM's lean, since I'm sneaking almost 100% of the time and like to check out around corners. I don't miss mantle though, Oblivion trained me well in the art of spam jumping up mountains, and this engine is a little more forgiving with them.

 

Giants are just ridiculous, one hit KOs right up into the stratosphere. Dragons are a piece of cake comparatively. In fact I find that dragons do a lot less damage to me than a lot of bosses and even the meatier bandits. Whatever the case giants got me freaked out big time. I thought that some of them would let me into their camps peacefully but I never had that experience so I will just avoid them like the plague and slaughter them big time later on.

 

@Baddcog - clarification, you need to spend a perk to be able to smith up magic items. 2 in the smithing tree and lvl 60 smithing. Not only is the max theoretical level about 70 but I'm told that leveling slows down a lot for 20+ (I just reached lvl 20). Smithing is fun but I'd rather just buy stuff or find artifacts to save on the perks. The gold/silver jewelry is an easy and accessible way to use up all those gems though for some quick cash.

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Well, on the laptop and its not installed so can't check my stats. But i was crafting pretty early on, and i might've spent on perk on smithing but pretty sure not more than that. I think I just hit lvl 20 too late last night.

 

But that is simple stuff. Upgrading and leather/steel armor and weapons. You can't craft stuff like deadric armor until you are really high in the tree.

 

just making leather from hides and strips from the leather, then using that stuff to upgrade weaps will ramp up those skills pretty quick.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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I guess when you put it that way the only way to upgrade equipment is through the player. All the loot I've seen was in base form, and the only NPC service I've seen is training. So to get the theoretical max weapons and armor you need to perk up the Smithing tree (the perks reduce the required level for uptiering, and unlocks two otherwise inaccessible tiers, Epic and Legendary). I'm guessing my strategy of ignoring it will be well made up for by maxing out other skills, like +100% bow damage and the other kinds of stuff I'm aiming for. As infuriating as it is to not be able to max out everything, it does let you customize your play style in a way not seen in Morrowind/Oblivion, where you could be jack of all trades, master of all trades. Radical gameplay changes have proven to be good for TES V.

Edited by jaxa
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Man, I haven't been this absorbed in a game in at least a couple years! It's robbing my life away but I'm going to keep letting it rob my life away because it's so darn awesome and fun and engrossing and cool.

 

plus:

 

Best Flowing Water In A Game Ever

 

This world is so well-crafted it almost brings a tear to the eye!

 

(but the menu interface needs major work!)

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Looks like it makes people addicted. Thank god I'm not fan of this type. :)

not really

yes,design of the world is amazing,but gameplay is just basic "following the marker".

When I started Gothic 3,I was addicted to it for a 2 weeks.Now,I'm playing Skyrim for 2 days and I already little tired and bored from the linear and same quests

Edited by Shadowhide

Proceed with caution!

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