| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 10 Nov 2011 : 13:53:41
ESV Skyrim is being released on Friday. While i am 100% excited about it's release, i hope i am still able to get some good reading time in without the game stealing too much of my attention. 
I have been waiting for this game ever since i first started playing Oblivion. Hope it lives up to the hype! |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 29 Nov 2011 : 17:03:10
Found a cool easter egg at a giant's camp: a skeleton sticking out from under a large rock from the waist out, with a large pool of blood surrounding it. LOL! |
| Yoss |
Posted - 23 Nov 2011 : 17:28:16
Aw, you mean I'm the only one whose toon always wound up as the prison b*tch? I knew I should have made my character look tougher on the creation page.
It kind of reminds me of the occasional bug that people would get in dungeons in WoW where sometimes they'd zone in and everyone would be naked. One patch it seemed like 1 in 3 instances I ran I'd get the naked bug, then fortunately it went away.
Anyway...Skyrim does look ridiculously awesome. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 23 Nov 2011 : 17:04:04
Looking forward to logging some serious hours during this long holiday weekend. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 23 Nov 2011 : 15:28:51
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
You know what amused me about Oblivion? When you got to the first town and inevitably did something to anger the city guard, they always seemed to take away my pants. None of my other gear went missing, and they missed stolen items in my inventory. But any time I got out, I never had on any pants.
I never had that happen to my character. But, then, an argonian wandering around pants-less would seem kind of strange. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 23 Nov 2011 : 15:09:30
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
You know what amused me about Oblivion? When you got to the first town and inevitably did something to anger the city guard, they always seemed to take away my pants. None of my other gear went missing, and they missed stolen items in my inventory. But any time I got out, I never had on any pants.
Lol that never happened to me. Maybe the guards were abusing you in your cell  |
| Seravin |
Posted - 23 Nov 2011 : 14:15:17
Lol Yoss...I hope you didn't play with one of "those" mods. |
| Yoss |
Posted - 23 Nov 2011 : 13:47:33
You know what amused me about Oblivion? When you got to the first town and inevitably did something to anger the city guard, they always seemed to take away my pants. None of my other gear went missing, and they missed stolen items in my inventory. But any time I got out, I never had on any pants. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 20:28:06
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
I've run across vampires and Daedra, and the Dwarven enemies seem varied. I like the mini bosses like the Giant giant spider near Riverwood...I think I should get this for the PC because the mods will inevitably include some cooler monsters. Combat is a kick when playing as a dual weild destruction mage so I don't really mind the lack of enemy vareities so far. The humanoids are varied enough. I die enough times that the difficulty seems okay, but you can adjust that down or up too.
Totally agree with you on the artificial boost from crafting so quickly...but the system is markedly improved from Oblivion and Morrowind in terms of cheats so maybe they'll learn for next game? I have learned never to buy for the PS3...
IMHO Bethesda improved MANY things from Oblivion...but there will always be more areas to improve on. One thing i would love to see is the ability to change the color of your equipment/clothes, perhaps using dyes as in Fable. |
| Seravin |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 20:24:40
I've run across vampires and Daedra, and the Dwarven enemies seem varied. I like the mini bosses like the Giant giant spider near Riverwood...I think I should get this for the PC because the mods will inevitably include some cooler monsters. Combat is a kick when playing as a dual weild destruction mage so I don't really mind the lack of enemy vareities so far. The humanoids are varied enough. I die enough times that the difficulty seems okay, but you can adjust that down or up too.
Totally agree with you on the artificial boost from crafting so quickly...but the system is markedly improved from Oblivion and Morrowind in terms of cheats so maybe they'll learn for next game? I have learned never to buy for the PS3... |
| Kilvan |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 20:17:13
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
Also - I agree with you Kilvan, I think only the combat related skills should level you up since the beasts are all scaled to your level, not sure being low level with swords/sorcery/armour but high level in lockpicking means I can take out a Deadra. Scaling should be based on your combat skills and gear perhaps rather than pure level or just make the crafting skills have little effect on your character level.
And for sure, low level crafting items like daggers should cap what they can increase...actually fixing that may solve the whole problem, since you're unlikely to get high level ingredients for crafting if you're low level and poor.
To be fair, damage is based more on the weapon itself than the skill, and the HP/MP is based on your level, regardless of the skills used to level up. My problem is that since the crafting skills can be leveled up so quickly, I felt like I had an incredible power boost for a few hours of crafting that doesn't make much sense to me. I can't say the game is difficult though, since I've been able to clear out full dungeons without being detected or harmed since level ~30.
I realised another problem with the game; monster variety. You have 3 choices for a dungeon/tower/cave;
1- Thugs/Necromancers
2- Dwarven constructs and Falmers (thugs with different skins)
3- Undeads
That's it, outside there's animals and a bunch of giants, and the dragons of course. Considering the size of the world, a couple more monster types would have been welcome; I'm sure most of the developpers are dnd players, open the Monster Manual for god's sake! It does get a bit repetitive, even though the dungeon's themselves are more different than in Oblivion (thank god!)
Don't get me wrong, I loooove the game, but as I've said before, it's not perfect. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 18:09:43
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
Also - I agree with you Kilvan, I think only the combat related skills should level you up since the beasts are all scaled to your level, not sure being low level with swords/sorcery/armour but high level in lockpicking means I can take out a Deadra. Scaling should be based on your combat skills and gear perhaps rather than pure level or just make the crafting skills have little effect on your character level.
And for sure, low level crafting items like daggers should cap what they can increase...actually fixing that may solve the whole problem, since you're unlikely to get high level ingredients for crafting if you're low level and poor.
One thing i appreciate about leveling Restoration is that the developers made it based on how much you are healing and NOT on how many times you cast a spell. Your Restoration levels quicker if you are healing more damage. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 18:05:27
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
I think there are only about 5 houses for sale, I haven't spoiled myself though. The house in Riften is nice! You can do a quick google on the TES Wiki I'm sure it will tell you?
For sure White Run, Riften, and Solitude have houses.
I have the game on the PS3 and just ran into the bug that has ruined the game for me until the patch. The game is unplayable now. I hope the patch fixes previous saves and isn't just a "going forward" remedy or I'll have wasted 25 hours. Sad!
No time is wasted when playing an Elder Scolls game |
| Seravin |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 17:48:09
Also - I agree with you Kilvan, I think only the combat related skills should level you up since the beasts are all scaled to your level, not sure being low level with swords/sorcery/armour but high level in lockpicking means I can take out a Deadra. Scaling should be based on your combat skills and gear perhaps rather than pure level or just make the crafting skills have little effect on your character level.
And for sure, low level crafting items like daggers should cap what they can increase...actually fixing that may solve the whole problem, since you're unlikely to get high level ingredients for crafting if you're low level and poor.
|
| Seravin |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 17:45:44
I think there are only about 5 houses for sale, I haven't spoiled myself though. The house in Riften is nice! You can do a quick google on the TES Wiki I'm sure it will tell you?
For sure White Run, Riften, and Solitude have houses.
I have the game on the PS3 and just ran into the bug that has ruined the game for me until the patch. The game is unplayable now. I hope the patch fixes previous saves and isn't just a "going forward" remedy or I'll have wasted 25 hours. Sad!
|
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 19:23:57
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
I'm avoiding powerleveling and trainers (although when you're just below a skill level needed for a new perk, it's tempting!); just enjoying the game and doing quests. Holy heck there are so many. This game is just..massive. And the quests are actually pretty damn good!!
Everyone always praises Bioware for their story...Dragon Age 2 quests and story all sucked compared to Skryim's quests so far and Bethesda is known for having great sandbox, not great story. Oblivion's main quest sucked but every quest line I've done in Skyrim so far has been great. I can't wait to start the civil war next...
Leaving the main quest til last as I want to be high level and make it feel epic. I just got married and am trying to buy a house in Riften, the best city aesthetically (I like the eternal autumn look of the place!).
My next character will be an evil Khajit assassin...
Can you purchase a house in each of the larger cities as you could in Oblivion? I have purchased one house so far, but haven't seen any for sale in some of the smaller cities. |
| Kilvan |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 17:05:08
I think the current leveling system is working well, but leaves rooms to crazy powerleveling by glitches and tricks (like casting soul trap on a corpse).
Crafting skills are currently the problem IMO, they should be straight out removed for the main leveling system and be independant skills. Also, low level items (like iron daggers) shouldn't give the same amount to exp than a dragonscale fullplate, its just stupid; of course I'll be doing just iron daggers to level up! Heck, the lady besides the forge sells iron ingots and leather, the only components for crafting it! Buy all, craft all, wait 48 hours, repeat. These same daggers should give no exp at all past a certain level, like the WoW crafting system. Love them or hate them, their mechanics work.
I hope next week's update will be efficient, cause I currently have 3 quests I can't complete due to glitches, including one from the Companion questline, and that pisses me off!
EDIT: I should mention that powerleveling is not nearly as bad as previous games, where almost every skills could be leveled in a cheap way. All spells gave exp outside of combat, open lock spells gave exp even on unlocked doors, cures gave exp even when HP was full, stuff like that. The soul trap glitch is currently the only one I've found (and didn't use) and it could be solved in the next patch |
| Seravin |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 16:47:42
quote:
I almost wish they would switch to an experience based level system though.
Would be awesome to go the traditional route, but TES series has always thought to try to be realistic, so that if you pick locks you become better at picking locks, not swinging swords or casting spells. Now that they don't have classes anymore it is even more unlikely to go. Maybe a user mod can get rid of the whole system but it's very pervasive. I'd like to see a kill monsters get exp spend points on the skills you'd like, too, because it's how RPGs have always been with me. But I see Bethesda's point of view, and the new perk system is awesome. So much potential.
It makes me excited for what games will be coming out in 10 years or so when they perfect radiant AI... |
| Seravin |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 16:37:21
Double post because the first time I got an error... |
| Seravin |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 16:36:55
I'm avoiding powerleveling and trainers (although when you're just below a skill level needed for a new perk, it's tempting!); just enjoying the game and doing quests. Holy heck there are so many. This game is just..massive. And the quests are actually pretty damn good!!
Everyone always praises Bioware for their story...Dragon Age 2 quests and story all sucked compared to Skryim's quests so far and Bethesda is known for having great sandbox, not great story. Oblivion's main quest sucked but every quest line I've done in Skyrim so far has been great. I can't wait to start the civil war next...
Leaving the main quest til last as I want to be high level and make it feel epic. I just got married and am trying to buy a house in Riften, the best city aesthetically (I like the eternal autumn look of the place!).
My next character will be an evil Khajit assassin... |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 16:35:06
quote:
Originally posted by Kilvan
There's a 'soft level cap' at 50, after which it takes much longer to level up. The real level cap is 81, which is with all skills at 100.
I played a lot since last week, probably around 50 hours (I don't have access to Sage-time manipulation myself), and I'm level 53. I achieved that level so quickly by frequently using sneak, archery, restoration, alteration, conjuration, light armor, one-handed weapons, lockpicking and pickpocketing. I used trainers at every levels since levels 10; I didn't level up in a dungeon if I forgot to visit a trainer in the previous level. I did that until level 30-35, after which I took an evening to level up the 3 crafting skills, which gave me about 20 levels in a couple of hours; including trainer skills at every level, that was expensive!
I could continue to level up at this pace by switching completely to heavy armor with a shield and destruction magic, I'm sure I could level up 10 times in an evening, easy. The key is variety, a simple heavy armor/2-handed weapon build is going to take ages to level up, by since you can finish the game at level 20 easily, it's not a problem.
I'm glad to see they raised it from the weak 30 Level cap from Fallout 3. The ability to have a HIGH level character always means more playtime for myself. I almost wish they would switch to an experience based level system though. |
| Kilvan |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 15:25:28
There's a 'soft level cap' at 50, after which it takes much longer to level up. The real level cap is 81, which is with all skills at 100.
I played a lot since last week, probably around 50 hours (I don't have access to Sage-time manipulation myself), and I'm level 53. I achieved that level so quickly by frequently using sneak, archery, restoration, alteration, conjuration, light armor, one-handed weapons, lockpicking and pickpocketing. I used trainers at every levels since levels 10; I didn't level up in a dungeon if I forgot to visit a trainer in the previous level. I did that until level 30-35, after which I took an evening to level up the 3 crafting skills, which gave me about 20 levels in a couple of hours; including trainer skills at every level, that was expensive!
I could continue to level up at this pace by switching completely to heavy armor with a shield and destruction magic, I'm sure I could level up 10 times in an evening, easy. The key is variety, a simple heavy armor/2-handed weapon build is going to take ages to level up, by since you can finish the game at level 20 easily, it's not a problem.
|
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 14:27:18
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I usually qualify the difference between a "good" game and a "great" game by the feeling I have after the first one-hundred hours of gameplay.
With Skyrim, I've now reached one-hundred hours and I feel that I have yet to even scratch the surface of what this world has to offer. That, to me at least, constitutes a "great" game.
*replace fiends with friends, i don't want anyone to think i associate with denizens of the Nine Hells
The scale and level of detail in Skyrim is truly amazing. One of my fiends is level 58! Does anyone know what the level cap is?
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| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 14:25:11
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I usually qualify the difference between a "good" game and a "great" game by the feeling I have after the first one-hundred hours of gameplay.
With Skyrim, I've now reached one-hundred hours and I feel that I have yet to even scratch the surface of what this world has to offer. That, to me at least, constitutes a "great" game.
The scale and level of detail in Skyrim is truly amazing. One of my fiends is level 58! Does anyone know what the level cap is? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 19 Nov 2011 : 01:35:14
quote:
Originally posted by Kilvan
One hundred hours? The game has been out for a week! Is Sage-time slowing while playing RPGs? 
I've been playing in-between bouts of work, writing, reading, family-commitments, and other miscellaneous stuff.
As for SageTime... the players at my gaming table have come to expect a significant slowing in that strange phenomenon whenever a new Elder Scrolls game has been released in the past. Skyrim is no different.  |
| Kilvan |
Posted - 19 Nov 2011 : 00:14:38
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I usually qualify the difference between a "good" game and a "great" game by the feeling I have after the first one-hundred hours of gameplay.
With Skyrim, I've now reached one-hundred hours and I feel that I have yet to even scratch the surface of what this world has to offer. That, to me at least, constitutes a "great" game.
One hundred hours? The game has been out for a week! Is Sage-time slowing while playing RPGs? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 23:34:44
I usually qualify the difference between a "good" game and a "great" game by the feeling I have after the first one-hundred hours of gameplay.
With Skyrim, I've now reached one-hundred hours and I feel that I have yet to even scratch the surface of what this world has to offer. That, to me at least, constitutes a "great" game.
|
| Kilvan |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 20:39:25
It's too bad that there is still some skills that can be leveled up in an very fast manner. Smithing took the less than 2 hours from 20 to 100 just by buying iron lingots, crafting iron daggers, then wait 24 hours to refresh the seller's stock. I felt like cheating, even though I found that by myself. It gave me like 8 levels and cost me almost nothing but a little time. I took down a dragon with 10 arrows with my new legendary ebony bow, with no enchantements.
I've seen that you can max conjuration in 20 minutes by casting soul trap on a corpse, but I won't do that. Of course, you can avoid such methods, but once you know them, it is hard to ignore and level it in a sub-optimal way. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 17:12:46
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
It's amazing, monsters like ice wraiths and clockwork spheres are so cool I don't want to destroy them. Just found a great helm similar to Doom's.
I even appreciate the stuff they have done with the smaller monsters. The mudcrabs come in the regular version from Oblivion, and a new camo version as well. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 17:09:20
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
This game is miles better than Oblivion so far. I did like Oblivion but the main quest was pretty awful and the Oblivion gates were uninspired.
The world in Skyrim is incredibly immersive and the Lore is fantastic. The amount of world building is staggering. I would have to quit my day job and go on disability or welfare permanently if someone did a sandbox version of the Realms like Bethesda has done for Tamriel. Sorta kidding.
Anyway, I'm about level 7, 12 hours or so into the game and absolutely floored. Best RPG since BG2, if not of all time. The only one that has been close to this since BG2 is DAO to me. But that game is forever tainted by DA2.
I agree with you on all counts. There is so much to do in Skyrim that it is difficult to stay focused on a quest. I will begin a quest and end up exploring 5 dungeons/locations on the way to the initial location for the first quest. I enjoy the variety of the landscape and there are tons of easter eggs to be found by exploring the wilds. The perks system is a huge bonus as well. |
| Quale |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 17:01:04
It's amazing, monsters like ice wraiths and clockwork spheres are so cool I don't want to destroy them. Just found a great helm similar to Doom's. |
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