Skyrim - Two months later.
- Thread starter Sarpedon
- Start date
Im kinda burned out on it at the moment because of the massive amounts of time I've spent playing it, ill give it a few weeks then Ill be back into it, killing dragons and slaying draugr like nobodies business. Its just whenever a new game comes out that ive been excited for I usually play the absolute shit out of it until I just cant play anymore, then i pick it up again later and fall in love again.
Just accidentally overwrote my thief save, been working on a mage for a bit.
And now I've been distracted by the fact that inFamous exists, so I'm playing that.
And now I've been distracted by the fact that inFamous exists, so I'm playing that.
I'm still playing it. I've got 145 hours clocked on Steam. That said, like many others, I feel it was lacking in a few areas. But first, what I liked:
I really enjoyed collecting all of the Daedric Artifacts and Dragon Priest masks. It didn't actually mean anything, but with one of the mods I have they look really nice on display. It SHOWS that you accomplished something. I also have most of the Thieves Guild Trophies (I'm working through them now). I like it in games where doing certain things gives you a sort of 'trophy' to show.
I liked leveling up and unlocking new stuff. I'm playing Mage, and starting off only being able to summon a Flame Attrone and now being able to summon 2 Daedric Lords feels satisfying. Being able to Muffle my steps was great, but being able to turn invisible without alerting anyone is nice.
Finally, I like the mods. Sure they're not technically the actual game, but it does actually keep me playing and makes things more enjoyable.
Now, what I didn't like:
90% of the quests are to go into a cave and kill someone. That got so damn dull. What's the point in having such a large and expansive environment only to spend most of it underground? Also the fact that they're not conveniently located. I can't tell you the amount of times i got frustrated because I knew a place I had to go to was at the top of a mountain and I had no idea how to get up there because I couldn't find the path. Add to this that most of the caves felt copied and pasted and it eventually feels like you're playing through the same 5 tunnels over and over.
The Dwemer could have been way more interesting then what they were. For such an advanced race they only made 3 robots, and having to fight that spider or ball 100 times got beyond boring. There was potential for things like puzzle solving or a steam-flow puzzle or something. Instead we got the same as caves, instead they were marbled caves instead of dirt caves. You also should have been able to BUILD a Dweamer. You collect all the material only to melt it down for scrap. If there was some sort of mission where you could build a companion Dwemer I would have been happy.
I didn't like that you could become the head of every faction. How is it that every faction has someone who betrays said faction only for you to fix it and become the leader? I get it. We're the Dragonborn. But do we also have to be the chosen one for the Psijic Order to contact? Or the Night Mother to speak to? Branching off from this, if you're actually going to become the leader, can you at least get some acknowledgement of it? Going back to Whiterun and hearing Farengar suggest I try out for Winterhold College when I'm already Archmage is a little disappointing.
I'm interested to see what they do with DLC. I hope they actually expand with more stories as opposed to just content (eg. new weapons).
I really enjoyed collecting all of the Daedric Artifacts and Dragon Priest masks. It didn't actually mean anything, but with one of the mods I have they look really nice on display. It SHOWS that you accomplished something. I also have most of the Thieves Guild Trophies (I'm working through them now). I like it in games where doing certain things gives you a sort of 'trophy' to show.
I liked leveling up and unlocking new stuff. I'm playing Mage, and starting off only being able to summon a Flame Attrone and now being able to summon 2 Daedric Lords feels satisfying. Being able to Muffle my steps was great, but being able to turn invisible without alerting anyone is nice.
Finally, I like the mods. Sure they're not technically the actual game, but it does actually keep me playing and makes things more enjoyable.
Now, what I didn't like:
90% of the quests are to go into a cave and kill someone. That got so damn dull. What's the point in having such a large and expansive environment only to spend most of it underground? Also the fact that they're not conveniently located. I can't tell you the amount of times i got frustrated because I knew a place I had to go to was at the top of a mountain and I had no idea how to get up there because I couldn't find the path. Add to this that most of the caves felt copied and pasted and it eventually feels like you're playing through the same 5 tunnels over and over.
The Dwemer could have been way more interesting then what they were. For such an advanced race they only made 3 robots, and having to fight that spider or ball 100 times got beyond boring. There was potential for things like puzzle solving or a steam-flow puzzle or something. Instead we got the same as caves, instead they were marbled caves instead of dirt caves. You also should have been able to BUILD a Dweamer. You collect all the material only to melt it down for scrap. If there was some sort of mission where you could build a companion Dwemer I would have been happy.
I didn't like that you could become the head of every faction. How is it that every faction has someone who betrays said faction only for you to fix it and become the leader? I get it. We're the Dragonborn. But do we also have to be the chosen one for the Psijic Order to contact? Or the Night Mother to speak to? Branching off from this, if you're actually going to become the leader, can you at least get some acknowledgement of it? Going back to Whiterun and hearing Farengar suggest I try out for Winterhold College when I'm already Archmage is a little disappointing.
I'm interested to see what they do with DLC. I hope they actually expand with more stories as opposed to just content (eg. new weapons).
Same sentiments.SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
You either did the quests or you didn't, those were your options. There was absolutely no variety in how you could handle them like there was in, say, New Vegas.
It wasn't a bad game, but the sense of the player having any influance in quests or dialoge was totally lacking.
The only reason reason I'm still playing it is because I'm sick of everything else I have. I've had two warrior saves with maxed out armour, weapons, and smithing skills with full legendary deadric armour.
Then there's my mage with 0% magicka cost for destruction and restoration so I'm basically invincible.
Then there's my mage with 0% magicka cost for destruction and restoration so I'm basically invincible.
For allll the people saying they've stopped without finishing the main quest or doing the faction side quests; Go and do those.
Finished the main quest, all the faction quests, most of the "become thane of this place" ones and the civil war story line. Level 30something and most of my used skills are 75-100. That's why I've not been playing it veyr much recently.
Finished the main quest, all the faction quests, most of the "become thane of this place" ones and the civil war story line. Level 30something and most of my used skills are 75-100. That's why I've not been playing it veyr much recently.
Got it on Christmas and while I'm enjoying the hell out of it, I'm getting to the stage where it's almost unplayable. Not because I'm overleveled and nothing is a meaty challenge (I'm only level 27) but because the game is lagging to hell. If you can guess, I'm one of the stupid bastards who decided to get the game for the PS3 and now I've gotten to the point where the internet started complaining. Dragon* fights slow to a crawl and I can never be able to dodge the dragonfire in time thanks to the nice drop in framerate I've been cursed with. Fights with the numerous bandits and mages have become worse than the dragons thanks to the enemies having the tactic of turning themselves into a Serious Sam style horde the second they see me which slows down the framerate even more (This is more avoidable since I'm role-playing as an Assassin so the stealth-killing reduces the chances of getting mobbed).
Believe me, despite this huge complaint I REALLY love the game but after hearing horror-stories from Fallout 3 and New Vegas having similar problems (and never getting resolved) I shudder that my copy of Skyrim may never receive treatment. I've heard that the next patch is said to resolve the lag issues but I'm not holding out much hope on that.
*- Also the Dragons have two legs and two wings which in my books makes them Wyverns.
Believe me, despite this huge complaint I REALLY love the game but after hearing horror-stories from Fallout 3 and New Vegas having similar problems (and never getting resolved) I shudder that my copy of Skyrim may never receive treatment. I've heard that the next patch is said to resolve the lag issues but I'm not holding out much hope on that.
*- Also the Dragons have two legs and two wings which in my books makes them Wyverns.
Apart from the horrific streamlining (which I expected, but it still made me sad), the most depressing thing for me was realising after about 40 hours that it was incredibly shallow. I did the mages guild questline in a few hours. Hours, people. They had one guild location, what kind of pathetic show is that? Remember Morrowind, or even Oblivion, having larger cities, with larger questlines, and more guild halls etc.
My largest complaint really is the content. Combat is great fun, especially as a mage, but the towns are pathetically small, questlines, even the main one, are small. Of course, part of the problem is the level-scaling. Enemies are difficult to a degree, but my level 10 mage still managed to finish off the mages guild questline, even after a difficult encounter with a Draugr Deathlord. At level 10, I should not be the most powerful mage in Skyrim, but it damn sure feels that way. Now I get that some people want to have that, but not me. And, as many people have pointed out in probably every Skyrim thread, it makes dragons pretty pathetic. Once you start seeing Blood and Elder Dragons they're actually a threat, but before that it's just kinda sad.
But despite my disappointment in that (also level-scaling is still a *****, with me finishing the mage guild questline far too easily), it's a fun game. I haven't played in a while, thanks to picking up a bunch of games in the Christmas sale, standouts being Just Cause 2, Arkham Asylum, Fallout 3 and Borderlands. But I do fully intend to go back. Make no mistake, I think it's a wonderful RPG. I just think it's incredibly shallow, which unfortunately means I won't be playing it for weeks at a time like I do with Morrowind and Mount & Blade. Maybe in a few months there will be some mods that fix my issues with the game. Get rid of level-scaling and I'll probably dive back into the game for a while, but the pathetic questlines probably aren't going anywhere.
My god, I know the thread said simply "talk about Skyrim" but I did ramble on didn't I?
My largest complaint really is the content. Combat is great fun, especially as a mage, but the towns are pathetically small, questlines, even the main one, are small. Of course, part of the problem is the level-scaling. Enemies are difficult to a degree, but my level 10 mage still managed to finish off the mages guild questline, even after a difficult encounter with a Draugr Deathlord. At level 10, I should not be the most powerful mage in Skyrim, but it damn sure feels that way. Now I get that some people want to have that, but not me. And, as many people have pointed out in probably every Skyrim thread, it makes dragons pretty pathetic. Once you start seeing Blood and Elder Dragons they're actually a threat, but before that it's just kinda sad.
But despite my disappointment in that (also level-scaling is still a *****, with me finishing the mage guild questline far too easily), it's a fun game. I haven't played in a while, thanks to picking up a bunch of games in the Christmas sale, standouts being Just Cause 2, Arkham Asylum, Fallout 3 and Borderlands. But I do fully intend to go back. Make no mistake, I think it's a wonderful RPG. I just think it's incredibly shallow, which unfortunately means I won't be playing it for weeks at a time like I do with Morrowind and Mount & Blade. Maybe in a few months there will be some mods that fix my issues with the game. Get rid of level-scaling and I'll probably dive back into the game for a while, but the pathetic questlines probably aren't going anywhere.
My god, I know the thread said simply "talk about Skyrim" but I did ramble on didn't I?
It still holds up. I honestly felt a little cautious with it more towards the beginning when I realized the cities weren't going to be quite as grand as Oblivion's.
Quests are a little more lacking this time around, and the charm of joining things like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves guild a little lacking this time around. I just didn't particularly care for any of the guild questlines like I did in the last game. I don't know, but Oblivion sort of contained a little bit of charm when you learned about the different guilds and how to join them.
But besides that, well worth the wait. Combat isn't boring, magic is fun to use, and the character creation was awesome to the point of where I actually did put a little life and backstory in my character. The towns seem more alive, and my character is slowly becoming more and more of a bad ass. The dungeons are much more interesting to explore, and some of the secrets and non-quest related random things you find are incredible. I kind of wish that I played it more slow and didn't go to some of the bigger cities for a while, but I'm still enjoying it.
I pick it up and play it for days at a time, which isn't something I can say about most games nowadays.
Quests are a little more lacking this time around, and the charm of joining things like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves guild a little lacking this time around. I just didn't particularly care for any of the guild questlines like I did in the last game. I don't know, but Oblivion sort of contained a little bit of charm when you learned about the different guilds and how to join them.
But besides that, well worth the wait. Combat isn't boring, magic is fun to use, and the character creation was awesome to the point of where I actually did put a little life and backstory in my character. The towns seem more alive, and my character is slowly becoming more and more of a bad ass. The dungeons are much more interesting to explore, and some of the secrets and non-quest related random things you find are incredible. I kind of wish that I played it more slow and didn't go to some of the bigger cities for a while, but I'm still enjoying it.
I pick it up and play it for days at a time, which isn't something I can say about most games nowadays.
Raj still enjoys his time in Skyrim. Walking across lands, going in strange places, putting bucket on Wife Mjolls head and then taking her sweet roll. Last one most enjoyable of all.
But at times, there is nothing more to do then just.... do nothing. Read books of skyrim, fill spare room with bukkets, see how many sweet rolls Raj can find in one afternoon. Seems like days growing alittle stale.
Raj looks forward to adventures in future. Perhaps they will breath new life into world. But until then, theres always small hobbies. Collecting bugs in jars, placing bodies in strange places, amassing pile of mmoonsugar so big, can lay in it.
But at times, there is nothing more to do then just.... do nothing. Read books of skyrim, fill spare room with bukkets, see how many sweet rolls Raj can find in one afternoon. Seems like days growing alittle stale.
Raj looks forward to adventures in future. Perhaps they will breath new life into world. But until then, theres always small hobbies. Collecting bugs in jars, placing bodies in strange places, amassing pile of mmoonsugar so big, can lay in it.
I guess I'm one of the few still enjoying it. I've been enjoying the role playing, I've enjoyed exploring, I've enjoyed the dragon fights and overall it's just been - and still is - great fun for me. I can see where you're all coming from in disliking it, I guess I'm just not as bothered by its flaws.
I have found that I played skyrim less and less as time has passed, maybe because when I finally got my smithing up to 100 and finally made the deadric armour that I had nothing to do. Draugur are no long a huge threat and killing dragons is easy when I got spellbreaker. That doesn't mean I won't keep playing it just I find that the difficulty is gone. its become like a routine: walk across field dragon attacks use stormcall, spam attack, absorb soul, etc. Hopefully there might be some interesting DLC soon.
Luckily Bethesda has said they're taking the Morrowind/Shivering Isles approach of making large expansions rather than short questlines.No-one Special said:
It really hasn't even been a month for me, since I didn't get the game until my brother got it for me as a Christmas present(for my 360).Sarpedon said:
It is actually the first ever game made by Bethesda that I had played. At this point, I only have one character, and I'm just over 100 hours in play time in(though have really only completed 7 main story quests). I really like it, though I have been taking a break and it has been kind of nice, getting some achievements in other games on my 360:
Finally getting 100% achievement completion on Halo Reach(screw you extra achievements that come along with DLC map packs). Played some Forza 3, also on my way through the first Saints Row as I just recently got the first two SR games for twenty bucks. Just got Full House Poker off of the XBLA and have playing a bit of that. Got myself one achievement away from 100% on Plants vs. Zombies. Played a bit of Rock of Ages as well, and finally, I have been working on my first try of Insanity difficulty on Mass Effect 2, to get the last two difficulty achievements I haven't got yet, and four others I missed on my Casual play through. I'm also doing it to keep my mind fresh on the story for when I get my collectors edition copy of Mass Effect 3 this March.
Now back to Skyrim:
My mind is nowhere near thinking of DLC, since after my 100 hours, I don't see myself being ready for DLC until I have completed most of the quests in the game, and that will probably take another 150 to 200 or so hours.
Now, even though Skyrim was my first Bethesda game, I still have some perspective to criticize how Bethesda is doing,since not long after I started Skyrim, I went ahead and bought the GOTY Edition of Fallout 3 and the 5th anniversary edition of Oblivion.
I just started playing those two, and I already see the glaring differences between them and Skyrim. Though for me the glaring differences make Skyrim look and feel even more amazing.
Bethesda gets a gold star for adding a sprint function in Skyrim.
It also gets an A++++++++++ for removing item wear. I think I'll be able to tolerate the wear system when I try and play more of Oblivion and Fallout 3, but it was a very big and important step for Bethesda in making gameplay better, because item wear in games should be something put in only as an add-on, and not even a part of the hardest mode, just an add-on to be flicked on and off. The reason for that is that item wear, while it does somewhat added to the realism of a game, for me, it ruins gameplay and immersion, because I'm constantly worrying if my weapon will survive its way through all of the latest dungeon, and since carry weight is an issue, with such a system I have to fill up valuable carry weight with at least two back up weapons and possibly a back up set of armor.
For the most part realism only has it's place in games if it deals with looks, other than that, usually, realism really hoses up gameplay and just makes it a chore.
In that department as well, I like that Bethesda removed the need to carry a torch. People might think that walking into a once sealed dungeon and finding it is filled with lit candles and torches is dumb and detracts from realism, but I find it nice that it is like Oblivion where at times I have to sacrifice carrying a shield because I have to carry a torch in dark places.
That also reminds me that I love that they added a duel wield system in Skyrim. That instead of having magic and my sword both on one hand and having to take a break from using one to use the other, I can now have my healing in one hand and my sword in the other and can heal and attack at the same time. It also is awesome that I can have my awesome glass flame sword in my main hand and have my Lunar Steel War Axe in the other, that way I can practically deal double damage and drain life at night as well.
I have much more to say, but I'll just end this with how I think it is the best idea ever, that they made arrows weightless in Skyrim. I don't have to keep track of how many arrows I am carrying, like I do in Oblivion. In Skyrim, I probably have over 600 arrows of different flavors. It got to that number when I got to Solitude and found the place where I can get the infinite supply of any type of arrow I want. (Here guard, use these 10 Ebony arrows for your target practicing, you keep shooting and don't try to think too hard on how you just shot over 200 for me to pick off of the target circle. Okay, whats that, you have to go to bed because it is night time, okay, you do that, I'll be back tomorrow to see if I can pick up over 200 more arrows again.)