Skyrim

[Emp]

Great fun!...My only problem is that is takes me forever to clear a dungeon as i'm a greedy bastard and have to keep going back to towns to sell everything.

[Professah Byah]

I like that the previously arbitrary level up system is a little more tangible with the little bars and that, but it still feels like you're just building up a brawler of some sort to go and chop at wooden posts for all the sense of impact using your weapons on NPCs gets you.  I suspect if you weren't inclined to build your character as an archer or mage or something, you could just waltz through this updating your strength stats and bashing the crap out of people until you emerge as king about fifty hours later.  Again.

Always preferred Fallout over Oblivion, but New Vegas was bugged enough to impair enjoyment and I'll be looking for a decent timesink shortly - hopefully this will feel more rewarding by then.

[mogzilla]

bloody brilliant this! enjoying pootling about and discovering things! the dragon encunters vary from few and far between to a period in the game when i encountere 5 in an hour including two at once ! a fire and ice dragon attacking me and the giants ( giants are well hard-do not fight unless very levelled up)

  the area are varied from wooded scandanavian bits to snowy stormy mountains to a nice plains and my fave the mountainous region near the far left of the map its a bit like the lake district .... up to level 15 as i type and just dippin into my guide now and again ...


    and now im off to join the companions and become a werewolf!

[brendan1]

Well, I can see myself sinking as many hours intio this as I did with Oblivion.

Bethesda still the masters of this action-RPG genre. Lovely, lovely stuff.

I'm playing spellsword/ battlemage (ie one hand weapon, one hand laying down the smack magic) but I only have four permannent spells, where are the rest? How do you learn more?

[radiator]

Never played an Elder Scrolls before, and this does look pretty great (exploring that big wide world looks very appealing in this day and age of claustrophobic, linear games), but there's no way in hell I'll be buying it, what with moving house in the next month or so, Christmas and various related parties and events to organise, work, personal projects etc etc. I've avoided even buying Arkham City for now because I wouldn't trust myself with it sitting there vying for my attention.

The older I get, the harder it is to justify spending my time playing games (especially sprawling epics like this) - it often just feels like dead time when I should be doing something more productive. The only time when I can feel totally guilt-free while gaming is if I'm either ill or hungover!

[Mudcrab]

Well, I can see myself sinking as many hours intio this as I did with Oblivion.

Bethesda still the masters of this action-RPG genre. Lovely, lovely stuff.

I'm playing spellsword/ battlemage (ie one hand weapon, one hand laying down the smack magic) but I only have four permannent spells, where are the rest? How do you learn more?

Aside from the Whiterun Jarl's magician bloke (buy books, read them) it seems you have to go to Winterhold up in the North East to the magician's place.

That's me 18 hours in and loving it. Anyone else found caught themselves chasing butterflies?   

Also amazed by the horse, it's better than the Mass Effect rover for clambering up mountains 

[brendan1]

Well, I can see myself sinking as many hours intio this as I did with Oblivion.

Bethesda still the masters of this action-RPG genre. Lovely, lovely stuff.

I'm playing spellsword/ battlemage (ie one hand weapon, one hand laying down the smack magic) but I only have four permannent spells, where are the rest? How do you learn more?

Aside from the Whiterun Jarl's magician bloke (buy books, read them) it seems you have to go to Winterhold up in the North East to the magician's place.

That's me 18 hours in and loving it. Anyone else found caught themselves chasing butterflies?   

Also amazed by the horse, it's better than the Mass Effect rover for clambering up mountains 

Ah, yes. Buying books off the mage fella. It's all coming back to me. Odd that I could have sunk 100s of hours into Oblivion and yet forget the basics.

I've got to WhiteRun, but I'm doing some non-essential sidequests, miscellanneous adventuring and general exploring/ clearing out a few mines/ dungeons before I get too far into the main event.

God, it's sooooooo ace.

[Mudcrab]

Yeah, in Oblivion you had the Mage guild halls everywhere and the various priests too to buy spells from. Still, I've not been in a major town aside from Whiterun yet so there may well be others.

Oh, I've getting assassins after me already. I think I pissed off the Redguards by killing a heap of them instead of handing over the location of some ex-Lady type from Hammerfell. Either that or the elf that tried to frame some woman's husband with a nasty note is after revenge. Somehow I think it may be the Redguards 

Or is there some deeper plot at work? By the 9 (yeah, screw you Emperor, Talos rules!) I hope this afternoon goes quickly...

[brendan1]

Yeah, in Oblivion you had the Mage guild halls everywhere and the various priests too to buy spells from. Still, I've not been in a major town aside from Whiterun yet so there may well be others.

Oh, I've getting assassins after me already. I think I pissed off the Redguards by killing a heap of them instead of handing over the location of some ex-Lady type from Hammerfell. Either that or the elf that tried to frame some woman's husband with a nasty note is after revenge. Somehow I think it may be the Redguards 

Or is there some deeper plot at work? By the 9 (yeah, screw you Emperor, Talos rules!) I hope this afternoon goes quickly...

Oh, are they the lads with vaguely Arabic names? I think I may be just about to attract their ire too. I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress....

[Mudcrab]

Yeah, that's them 

Also, a tip, don't sell your dragon bones and scales, once you get to 100 Smithing you can craft Dragon Armour. Looks pretty sweet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v00U6qbFco

As for where the hell to put it, if you don't have a house yet I imagine you can store stuff in any chest in a "guild" hall once you've joined e.g. Companions. Probably even in the house you stayed at with the guy from the start in the first village. My mate's joined the Dark Brotherhood already so he's got a blood-splattered shack with 3 dead bodies in it. Sounds lovely 

[brendan1]

Yeah, that's them 

Also, a tip, don't sell your dragon bones and scales, once you get to 100 Smithing you can craft Dragon Armour. Looks pretty sweet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v00U6qbFco

As for where the hell to put it, if you don't have a house yet I imagine you can store stuff in any chest in a "guild" hall once you've joined e.g. Companions. Probably even in the house you stayed at with the guy from the start in the first village. My mate's joined the Dark Brotherhood already so he's got a blood-splattered shack with 3 dead bodies in it. Sounds lovely 

Sounds a bit like a flat I used to rent in the East End when I first moved to London.

I've been offered a house in WhiteRun cos I'm a Thane now after helping to kill that easy-peasy Dragon.
The price? 5,000 fucking gold pieces! I ask you! They must think I came in on the first horse-drawn cart.

Oh, wait. I did.

[mogzilla]

on the plate armour now but have done the companion quest so i can buy the cool wolf armour set and sky forged swords i will be working on being a wolfy soon then its off giant hunting! 

   only easter egg ive found is west of whiterun in a puddle a skeletal arm is sticking up holding a steel sword..

   the dragons are amazing so much so eagle shadows in solitude are making me jump!

[Minkyboy]

It FINALLY arrived from amazon, will download from Steam next time. Has been an annoying few days wait. No point in preordering if I can buy it in Tescos before you deliver it Mr Amazon.

Only done about an hour, intro and a mine, the world and environment are beautiful and I will enjoy bimbling about and totally avoiding the main story.
Very annoying inventory and skills tree for an RPG though, all very consoley, I want it all on one page.

I am playing an Orc and so far am killing everything in about two blows. Is that because the default difficulty is too low or because I am a combat-centric character and only dealing with low level enemies?

I like using the bow, very satisfying draw-and-loose mechanic.

Magic seems a bit overpowered as well, I can fry most people before they get in melee range and I have zero magic skills. Also my health is regenerating before I register I have been slightly damaged.

Looking forward to cooking and crafting which I usually can't stand in games. Sod your magic axe of Cumberlargo I want to make a nice stew!

[brendan1]

I am playing an Orc and so far am killing everything in about two blows. Is that because the default difficulty is too low or because I am a combat-centric character and only dealing with low level enemies?

I'm playing on Adept and I'm also finding most bandits two-hit kills. At most.

Giants still kill me effortlessly, though. I might boot up Oblivion and see what level I played that on.

[Mudcrab]

Yeah, most early things seem to be pretty easy. That changes fairly quickly though once you get going and start getting Restless Draugrs, Trolls, Ice Wolves etc. Bandits do seem particularly easy compared to Oblivion though. Skeletons seem easier too, was taking them down with one arrow surprisingly.

Oblivion had a slider thing that set the level. I remember having to take that down when I first found a Will-o-the-Wisp. Nightmare that was, just drained you of everything dead quickly. Trolls were bastards too. The dodgy levelling could hamper you there though, if you went up too quickly in the wrong things. Easy to do when you don't know what's going on.

Right, off to decorate the house