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Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim

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3074326;2059600; said:
For me I think the stories in Oblivion were better, but I absolutely love the world of Skyrim. It feels more realistic. I enjoy roaming around a lot more in Skyrim. The random dragon encounters are awesome (even if they aren't as epic as I'd hoped). The dungeons are actually fun to go into now, since there are more than about three different dungeon designs.

The guild story lines are way too short. I liked the mage questline, but it took about two hours. I'm close to completing the thieves guild as well. I'd call the games equals because both are superior at a few things than the other. I like the character creation options in Skyrim better as well.
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I have to agree, I like the world of Skyrim a lot (despite the abundance of snow, we see that enough in Ohio :tongue2: ). The unique dungeon designs are definitely a nice improvement over Oblivion as well. On the other hand, I found a lot of the traps and puzzles to be very simple in comparison.

When comparing the two games I'm speaking more in regards to just the plot, character development, and to a lesser extent gameplay. Skyrim certainly has the benefit of better graphics and I would say better music (Theres something about that Nordic barbarian sound that adds to the game). Music counts more for me when comparing the two since visually the games will always improve one generation to the next. NPC's felt a little more memorable in Oblivion, I don't know what it is. Maybe it was better plot integration, back story, I don't know. They did a good job, to be sure, I just think Oblivion had the edge there. As far as gameplay, theres not much difference between Oblivion and Skyrim really. The biggest addition would probably be combat with dual casting maybe? Dual weilding in general is new if I recall, and I think they did it well. Everything else pretty much carried over from Oblivion, the AI was about the same. They did add a nicer user interface and the addition of Fallout Perks.
 
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As I mentioned earlier today, I think I'm going to end up going with the Imperials, even though I'm playing as a Nord. I mentioned that the condition of their respective strongholds was a factor - I'd be lying if I said that wasn't true. Solitude is magnificent and Windhelm is a shithole.

After I posed the question though, I played a little further in the main quest and and read up on the lore. I came to the conclusion that the persistence of the Empire is the best thing for Skyrim. The Thalmor are the real enemy - they piss me off, popping up out of nowhere like they do, using lightning magic to turn my character into a smoldering pile of worm food. I want the Thalmor brought to an end, and I feel a healthy Empire is the best chance to eventually do that.

I tried not to look at Empire vs. Stormcloaks as good vs. evil. I think that Bethesda did a good job of making it a morally ambiguous choice (for players who care to think about such things). It all comes down to what the player values most. For me, I saw the ban on Talos worship as a temporary concession by the Empire, an attempt to placate the Thalmor while they regroup for a chance to strike back. It's not a positive thing, but it's not in line with their history of general inclusiveness of many races and cultures throughout the lore.

From what I've gathered, Ulfric is a charismatic leader. I tried to look past the cult of personality aspect and see if the cause of the Stormcloaks is one I could support. While the restoration of Talos worship and the promotion of Nordic identity and culture are positives, it seems that the movement is couched in a bit of xenophobia. That's not something I want my character to be a part of.

It seems to me that this whole thing is a giant manipulation by the Thalmor. I recall reading in some of the documents from the main quest that their goal is to weaken Skyrim completely thru this conflict - let the humans kill each other off in a protracted war, allowing the Thalmor to come through and easily take care of whatever's left after that. In terms of the manipulation factor, I think the Empire is playing along while the Stormcloaks are allowing themselves to be played.

Regardless, I hope that what you said is true - that this story might be fleshed out further in DLC. To me, it is the most interesting questline in the game.
 
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jlb1705;2059636; said:
Regardless, I hope that what you said is true - that this story might be fleshed out further in DLC. To me, it is the most interesting questline in the game.
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I really do think theres going to be downloadable content in the future that involves removing the Thalmore. Theres just too much involvement and conflict there not to pursue it. Certain parts of the Civil War strongly point to it, although I won't spoil anything by listing what.

I can see your points with the Empire, and Bethesda definitely paints both the Imperials and Stormcloaks in a light that makes them both very morally ambiguous. The only thing thats for certain is that Thalmor is the enemy, I haven't seen anything from either side that seems to favor those elves. I have to agree with your assessment of the Thalmor manipulating the war as well, based on more facts uncovered during the Civil War line.
 
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Holy crap, someone just posted this on another board, I had to share it:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOxVjbGvUpI&feature=related"]FUS RO DAH!!! - YouTube[/ame]

It seems there are others as well

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS5PjIjOHAY&feature=related"]scrubs Skyrim shout Fus Ro Dah - YouTube[/ame]

The build up to this one is amusing
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F2AYb2zjt4&feature=related"]Morgan Freeman's Fus Ro Dah - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=togphLLgcuE&feature=related"]FUS ROH DAH - YouTube[/ame]
 
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jlb1705;2059263; said:
Cross-posted from the iOS app thread:

MAppZ - Skyrim Edition is a good alternative for people like me who didn't buy a strategy guide. The in-game map does an OK job of showing terrain and locations, but a horrible job of showing roads and trails. This fills the gap. It matches the look and feel of the game's UI almost perfectly. You can search for locations by name and add your own notes. It also says that if if you want them to add a location, you can submit the information to the developer. It's a universal app, priced at $2.99. More expensive than the (still incomplete) Wiki, but much cheaper than a strategy guide, even on sale.

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Correction: the MAppZ Sykrim app does not allow annotation or filtered searches yet. I got mixed up when I read the description, which said that version 1.3, which has been submitted for App Store approval, will include those features.

That said...

There's another map app on the scene now. Dragon Shout is a universal app, and it's free. It's a little more of a free-form experience - it doesn't come with locations pre-loaded. Rather, it allows you to customize the map with your own markers and a journal. It requires you to sign up for an account, so it can backup your data to the cloud and sync it across your other iOS devices.

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I think I prefer the MAppZ app, but they both look sharp and it's nice to have options. Hopefully that 1.3 update comes soon, because I would like to make notes on my map.
 
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I really like the Thieves Guild quest line. I wish the others were as long/in-depth. I still think I prefer the quests from Oblivion's TG line, but this one is pretty awesome itself.

Oblivion's felt more like I was a thief. This feels like something else, but something else pretty cool.
 
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I didn't feel like such a bad guy being in the Thieves Guild in Oblivion. Yeah, you got rich, but you were more like Robin Hood by redistributing wealth to poorer people and watching out for the beggars in the streets. In Skyrim the first quest Thieves Guild quest you have involves shaking down the poor, upstanding shopkeepers of Riften. Nothing wrong with that really, I was just not prepared as I was trying to keep my main character down the mostly good path.
 
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ulukinatme;2060646; said:
I didn't feel like such a bad guy being in the Thieves Guild in Oblivion. Yeah, you got rich, but you were more like Robin Hood by redistributing wealth to poorer people and watching out for the beggars in the streets. In Skyrim the first quest Thieves Guild quest you have involves shaking down the poor, upstanding shopkeepers of Riften. Nothing wrong with that really, I was just not prepared as I was trying to keep my main character down the mostly good path.
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That speaks to one of my main disappointments with this game. There aren't many options for virtuous characters besides the main quest. I wish they had made the Silver Hand and/or the Vigilants of Stendarr joinable.

Maybe that's something else that will be expanded in DLC.
 
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jlb1705;2060698; said:
That speaks to one of my main disappointments with this game. There aren't many options for virtuous characters besides the main quest. I wish they had made the Silver Hand and/or the Vigilants of Stendarr joinable.

Maybe that's something else that will be expanded in DLC.
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I think that would be something good they could touch on. The Vigilants of Stendarr do not have a very large presence in the game at this point, but they fight Daedra and evil. I hadn't considered it, but now that you mentioned it...there is a Stendarr outpost in the south-eastern corner of Skyrim. Thats the perfect place to start a new DLC involving an adjacent province of Tamriel.

I'm not overly concerned with the lack of choices for morally just characters, I'm more annoyed at the lack of choices for evil characters. Since creating a new character and trying to follow a more selfish/evil path, my options in dialog/quests have been limited. Besides joining the Dark Brotherhood and pickpocketing everyone I find, there are very few options in the main storyline and side quests for evil characters. Karma isn't something that just is found in Fallout, Oblivion had it too. I distinctly remember my Infamy getting too high in Oblivion and it prevented me from using the Shrines to cure the early form of Vampirism.
 
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Dryden;2045518; said:
Hey it's Black Friday. So I logged into NewEgg and bought a 6850, 650W PSU, and an Antec 300 case all on sale plus another $55 in rebates. For myself.

For Skyrim! :lol:
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My impulse purchase of a 6850 has turned into a new Z68 mobo with 2500k i5 CPU and a watercooler.

Stupid holiday sales ... :shake:

I really hope my Christmas bonus from work comes through. :tongue2:
 
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Blackeach was a bitch. Not because of the hotels - they were easy. The place was so disorienting, I nearly threw up from motion sickness running in circles mining or and searching for crimson nirnroot. Picked up so much loot in two trips though that I spent the next five hours crafting and selling - made a ton of gold.
 
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