TES V: Skyrim

[Tifabelle]

I'm like Level 9. I've been distracted by side quests, I don't even remember which is the main quest anymore >.<

 

[DrakeClawfang]

Started a new file, thief-assassin, I'm pragmatic about it, I steal and pickpocket only when safe to do so. Hilde hired some thugs to kill me for stealing from her so she had to die, then her son Sven sent some more so he had to die too. Good thing they don't have any more relatives.

Also my equipment from last games, friends said I broke the same with this shit. They were right too, final dungeon and boss were easy, killed the boss in like, six hits.

Spoiler

 

[Hisako]

Yeah I'm starting to lose interest in Skyrim, to be honest. I've read elsewhere that it's happened to quite a number of people who love the game; something about payoff and how it really slows mid-way through the game.

The little thing that niggles at my brain is that I find very few of the characters in Skyrim memorable or interesting. I mean, sure, there's the names of your companions, the political figures you keep hearing about everywhere, the daedra names that keep springing up, but a lot of the time I only remember their names because I end up interacting with them on a frequent basis.

It's the sort of thing that Bioware excels at, but I don't think the writers working for Bethesda really have this nailed down yet. As much as I loathed Dragon Age: Origins, I remembered the characters and found them interesting, even if I disliked one or two of them. I can count the amount of NPCs I find memorable in Skyrim probably on one hand. Maybe if remembering their names wasn't part of the requirement of being *memorable*, maybe two hands. Y'know, "that priest who's really forgetful" or "the Kefka-wannabe on the side of the road next to the broken cart".

I mean, the real bigness of the place sort of factors into that, and I'm not saying that every Dragonborn needs a team like Shepard or the Grey Warden, but even the Lone Wanderer and the Courier had characters with interesting backstories and character-central quests. I don't really feel that in Skyrim, and I think they could have done better on that angle.

 

[Catherine]

I bought my first house at Whiterun yesterday also finished the Stormcloaks quests, yay!

I may go check the Dark Brotherhood now... We'll see.

 

[Cthulhu]

I mean, the real bigness of the place sort of factors into that, and I'm not saying that every Dragonborn needs a team like Shepard or the Grey Warden, but even the Lone Wanderer and the Courier had characters with interesting backstories and character-central quests. I don't really feel that in Skyrim, and I think they could have done better on that angle.

Yeah, you have a point there. I think the main difference between Skyrim (and Oblivion) and Fallout is that in Fallout, everything is much more condensed. There's way less NPCs in Fallout (and quests) which all have bigger roles, which makes that difference.

 

[Tifabelle]

Fallout was less engaging. I got bored with that so fast. I think the awkwardness of the controls played into that though.

idk, I'm not bored with Skyrim so to speak, but I would agree with satsu about characters. But idk if part of that is because I jump from quest to quest since I'm just going down the list.

Also, I tried to buy a house, but I didn't have enough money

 

[DrakeClawfang]

All I've noticed with regards to characters in that the dude like sounds like Pete from Disney lives in every town.

Also, Aela. Ms Fanservice.

 

[Geostigma]

Ever since i made daedric armor i got bored with TES. Nothing can kill you with that stuff on lol.

Im way to addicted to battlefield 3 anyway x.x

 

[Hisako]

Yeah, you have a point there. I think the main difference between Skyrim (and Oblivion) and Fallout is that in Fallout, everything is much more condensed. There's way less NPCs in Fallout (and quests) which all have bigger roles, which makes that difference.

Initially I was going to put it down to the fact that high fantasy tends to produce little character-centric entertainment, but there are plenty of exceptions to prove it wrong. But the one thing that definitely stands out for me in Skyrim is that very few of my companions have actual backstory. Even the housecarls, which are usually recruited through relatively major quests, aren't really all that fleshed-out past "I am sworn to protect you with my life, my thane".

The only two companions that I particularly remember is that dude in Riverwood fighting to score that chick, and the woman in the Whiterun tavern who you have to beat in a fistfight first. Shit, I don't even remember their names, and I just talked to them like 6 hours ago.

Also, don't get me started on how marriage works in this game. And I thought Fable was superficial about it.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Gotta say BF3 has kinda taken over my gaming time these days also :/

That said im getting pretty F&*%ed off at Skyrim, for some reason both my saves have glitched in a way that regardless of how ridiculously powerful they were before I saved the game it only takes one hit for ANYTHING to kill me.
This includes mudcrabs, wolves, the fucking wind it seems sometimes.

 

[Geostigma]

Gotta say BF3 has kinda taken over my gaming time these days also :/

Playing it on PS3 by any chance?

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

sexbox, haven't turned on my ps3 since infamous 2 came out lol

 

[ForceStealer]

Anyone on PC tried using this?

As evidenced by my rant on the other page, I've really come to despise the menu system in this game and this looks really well done. With text searching and being able to sort by what's equipped or what's enchanted. It's baffling to think Todd Howard described the game's default as being inspired by itunes considering how counterintuitive it is.

I still wish I could see my character like in...every other RPG inventory, but this still looks like a huge improvement, the only reason I haven't yet because they haven't finished the magic menu yet. Just curious if anyone had tried it.
Here's the link: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3863

 

[Cthulhu]

I have, works like a charm . Even with this mod, the UI still is a bit rough and unresponsive, but it's a definite improvement. Here's to hoping Bethesda will release the mod tools soon and the other UI elements get a fix like this.

I don't actually blame Bethesda for making the UI as it is, seeing that it's possible to just replace it by the modding community. In fact, I can forgive 90% of the game's less-than-perfect bits and pieces because of that.

 

[ForceStealer]

I dunno, I certainly wouldn't hold stuff against them that they might hold back what the engines capable of so that more machines can run it and such, but the menu's pretty bad. It's attractive, but the sorting is awful, and you can't just click on an item you have to scroll to it, completely invalidating the biggest advantage of a mouse. Why would they make it worse than Oblivion's or Fallout's? Fallout even had a sub menu for keys which is great because who cares about the keys anyway and they take up a billion slots, why doesn't Skyrim have it?

But thanks, I'll probably install this.

 

[DrakeClawfang]

So, question time to rejuvenate the thread - who did you side with, Empire or Stormcloaks?

I sided with the Empire most prominently due to the racism of the Stormcloaks, and the attitude that "Skyrim is OUR land, filthy elves ruined it". However, the deeper I went into the game the more I got the sense Ulfric was more interested in personal power and glory than the good of Skyrim and the Nords. The Empire let the Nords worship Talos secretly while holding off the Dominion, then Ulfric began his rebellion, weakening the region for when the Dominion invades again and giving them pretense to investigate the region and pressure Talos worshipers.

If Ulfric really cared about the Nords, starting a civil war with the Empire that is protecting the region from invasion was not a smart move. Not to mention the incident with the Forsworn shows how self-righteous they truly are. And even if Ulfric truly does fight in the name of true Nord beliefs, he's still doing more harm than good and goes from power-hungry tyrant to hot-headed moron who doesn't realize the long-term consequences of his actions.

In the end, a band of Nords believing that other races have tainted their home and religion and start a war to take over the land, and are lead by a charismatic war hero who champions the beliefs but is only interested in personal power and is a self-righteous hypocrite? Struck too close to real life for me to side with them. By contrast, the Empire may have not been a particularly admirable bunch, but they agreed to the treaty for the safety of their citizens including the Nords.

 

[Hisako]

tbh, I didn't even realise there was a binary choice at the beginning, I was too busy going "WHERE DO I FUCKING GO TO GET AWAY FROM THIS FUCKING DRAGON"



To address the question seriously, I don't think the writers handled the rebellion thing the way they thought they would. Ulfric and the Stormcloaks really came across as a bunch of idealist jerks. The motives? Okay, but at the same time when Ulfric's right-hand man handwaves away the common people who just support the Empire because it supplies them with their decent way of life (saying something about how they can die with their false gods), the whole thing smacks of fanaticism.

So yeah. Their whole Stormcloak rebellion thing doesn't come off to me as noble as I think it was supposed to be. Their ideals and goals are fine and all, but at the same time I haven't come across any hint of compromise or structured plan beyond "Get Ulfric into position of High King, kill Thalmor everywhere and make Skyrim the Nordiest Nord Place for Nords".
Also, in my playthrough I recently met Jarl Elisif and did her obligatory fetch quest. How do you sympathise with a guy who barges into Solitude and gibs a husband to death just to make a symbolic point? (Add to the fact that Elisif lets on that Torygg actually respected Ulfric for his opinion, and the whole rebellion just looks like a dickfest)

An idealistic crusade is great and all up until they start ignoring the people they're trying to 'liberate'.

 

[Vendel]

To address the question seriously, I don't think the writers handled the rebellion thing the way they thought they would. Ulfric and the Stormcloaks really came across as a bunch of idealist jerks. The motives? Okay, but at the same time when Ulfric's right-hand man handwaves away the common people who just support the Empire because it supplies them with their decent way of life (saying something about how they can die with their false gods), the whole thing smacks of fanaticism.

So yeah. Their whole Stormcloak rebellion thing doesn't come off to me as noble as I think it was supposed to be. Their ideals and goals are fine and all, but at the same time I haven't come across any hint of compromise or structured plan beyond "Get Ulfric into position of High King, kill Thalmor everywhere and make Skyrim the Nordiest Nord Place for Nords".
Also, in my playthrough I recently met Jarl Elisif and did her obligatory fetch quest. How do you sympathise with a guy who barges into Solitude and gibs a husband to death just to make a symbolic point? (Add to the fact that Elisif lets on that Torygg actually respected Ulfric for his opinion, and the whole rebellion just looks like a dickfest)

An idealistic crusade is great and all up until they start ignoring the people they're trying to 'liberate'.

I don't think you are supposed to be rah rah for either side in the civil war. So if the Stormcloaks come off as dicks? Well mission accomplished.

 

[Hisako]

Well I think they were going for "complex on both sides" but to be honest the Stormcloak's actions don't seem to be as justified. I don't particularly feel torn choosing between the two factions, which is the sort of experience I would have preferred rather than, "oh, well the rebels aren't really worth rooting for."

The problem is that the Empire don't seem particularly oppressive compared to other rebellion-type... thingies in other media. Bloated, sure, maybe a little bit ineffectual and bogged down in beaurocracy, but they're the dudes being walked over, not the dudes walking over everyone else.

 

[Roger]

So, question time to rejuvenate the thread - who did you side with, Empire or Stormcloaks?

I sided with the Empire most prominently due to the racism of the Stormcloaks, and the attitude that "Skyrim is OUR land, filthy elves ruined it". However, the deeper I went into the game the more I got the sense Ulfric was more interested in personal power and glory than the good of Skyrim and the Nords. The Empire let the Nords worship Talos secretly while holding off the Dominion, then Ulfric began his rebellion, weakening the region for when the Dominion invades again and giving them pretense to investigate the region and pressure Talos worshipers.

If Ulfric really cared about the Nords, starting a civil war with the Empire that is protecting the region from invasion was not a smart move. Not to mention the incident with the Forsworn shows how self-righteous they truly are. And even if Ulfric truly does fight in the name of true Nord beliefs, he's still doing more harm than good and goes from power-hungry tyrant to hot-headed moron who doesn't realize the long-term consequences of his actions.

In the end, a band of Nords believing that other races have tainted their home and religion and start a war to take over the land, and are lead by a charismatic war hero who champions the beliefs but is only interested in personal power and is a self-righteous hypocrite? Struck too close to real life for me to side with them. By contrast, the Empire may have not been a particularly admirable bunch, but they agreed to the treaty for the safety of their citizens including the Nords.

Stormcloaks do seem pretty racist. But they're treating Dark Elves and Argonians as secondclass citizens, Thalmor and the Empire are full on executing people that are caught worshipping Talos. Yeah, Ulfric initially caused this mess, and may have been initially brainwashed into doing so by the Thalmor.

You don't help mitigate that by joining the Empire/Thalmor.

 

[ForceStealer]

Both sides treat my people like shit, I have yet to be inclined to help either one of them.

 

[DrakeClawfang]

That note about Torygg struck hard with me too. They tell us the dude was a young and innocent High King who looked up to Ulfric and probably would have sided with him if Ulfric gave him the chance. Then Ulfric goes and uses the Thu'um to make his head explode. He says he challenged Torygg and he accepted, fine, but that was a cowardly way to kill him, it was just a show of personal power to make a statement.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

X

 

[Cthulhu]

...I'm scared

 

[Catherine]

Kind of want, ngl.