SKYRIM!!!

[El Barto]

Then he shouldn't have gotten involved when I offed that chicken. 

[Perpetual Change]

If you find those moments of obvious railroading annoying, I'd recommend Fallout: New Vegas. Whereas Skyrim is built around having a huge world where you can do almost everything with one character, New Vegas is a smaller world that takes at least 4-5 characters to cover the general gamut of quests. In New Vegas, you can off pretty much character you come by, and the minute you do, a number of quests start closing for you (while, sometimes, other opportunities arise). Of course, everyone once in awhile the game DOES throw someone behind a screen so you can't touch 'em or something like that, and blasting the leader of the opposing army doesn't do as much as you'd like to change things (you just meet a previously unknown lackey in the final fight instead), but it definitely all does *feel* much more free.

Except F:NV is an even buggier mess than Skyrim. I can't even get it to start on my PC anymore 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Pretty lol worthy article and something i thought about:

https://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/23/skyrim-dragonborn-diary-following-the-follower-2/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

[El Barto]

If you find those moments of obvious railroading annoying, I'd recommend Fallout: New Vegas. Whereas Skyrim is built around having a huge world where you can do almost everything with one character, New Vegas is a smaller world that takes at least 4-5 characters to cover the general gamut of quests. In New Vegas, you can off pretty much character you come by, and the minute you do, a number of quests start closing for you (while, sometimes, other opportunities arise). Of course, everyone once in awhile the game DOES throw someone behind a screen so you can't touch 'em or something like that, and blasting the leader of the opposing army doesn't do as much as you'd like to change things (you just meet a previously unknown lackey in the final fight instead), but it definitely all does *feel* much more free.

Except F:NV is an even buggier mess than Skyrim. I can't even get it to start on my PC anymore 

I played a bit of Fallout 3 and didn't much care for it. By and large I've been enjoying Skyrim quite a bit.

A couple more questions. Are the various careers mutually exclusive in the same game?  In other words, can the same character side up with the thieves for a while.  Then decide to got to magic school. Maybe join the Empire later on. Or do you have to start anew to follow different paths.

Also, I'm having a hard time keeping track of who's who. I gather there's a civil war brewing, and one side is the empire. I know that those asshole elves are involved in the other side, but I'm not sure what the faction is. I haven't decided who to align myself just yet, and it'd help to know who's on what side since some of them are good people and some are dicks.

[Perpetual Change]

I played a bit of Fallout 3 and didn't much care for it. By and large I've been enjoying Skyrim quite a bit.

A couple more questions. Are the various careers mutually exclusive in the same game?  In other words, can the same character side up with the thieves for a while.  Then decide to got to magic school. Maybe join the Empire later on. Or do you have to start anew to follow different paths.

Also, I'm having a hard time keeping track of who's who. I gather there's a civil war brewing, and one side is the empire. I know that those asshole elves are involved in the other side, but I'm not sure what the faction is. I haven't decided who to align myself just yet, and it'd help to know who's on what side since some of them are good people and some are dicks.

You have to chose between the imperial legion and the stormcloak rebellion. Otherwise, you can become the big boss of all the other guilds and little societies throughout the game, even all at once.

As far as who’s on what side, there are basically three factions, two of whom you can side with. There are the Thalmor elves, the Imperial Legion, and the Stormcloaks. The Imperials are basically the rulers of Skyrim, as well as a bunch of other provinces, but they just got done losing a war with the Elves that forced them to ban the Talos worship, which is Skyrim’s main religion. Because of the loss the Thalmor also now have lots of access to Skyrim, including an embassy which you’ll discover later if you haven’t already.  You’ll often see the Thalmor around outside, rounding up people suspected of worshiping Talos.

Due to pressure from the Thalmor, the Empire had to go and start cracking down on Talos worshipers in Skyrim, which pissed off Skyrim locals and led to a rebellion. The Empire doesn’t really like the Thalmor any better than the Nords do, but their hands are tied and they see outlawing Talos Worship as the price they have to pay to keep the Thalmor from finishing them off.

The Thalmor are generally dicks, and you can’t side with them. As far as choosing between the Stormcloaks or Empire, there are good guys and bad guys on both sides. The Stormcloaks have good reason to feel betrayed by the Empire for selling them out to the Thalmor at the negotiations table, but their ranks are also rife with racial purists who just hate the cosmopolitan nature of the Empire and are too shortsighted to realize that the Thalmor are just gonna come in and wipe Skryim’s local leadership away once they’re on their own without any help from the Empire. Likewise, the Empire is full of “too big to fail” types, but their over-reach, imperialism, and historic racism is probably a big part of the reason why the Elves are pissed and finally uniting under their own banner.

Also, if the Talos Worship thing sounds weird to you, remember that Skryim’s a magical place where the gods (called Divines) take an active role in world affairs. At certain times throughout the game, one divine or another will call on your for aid. Ceasing to worship Talos probably has  pretty direct and unfavorable consequences for Nords in Skyrim.

[WindMaster]

Talos was a man worshipped as a god and that's the main reason the Empire outlawed worship. You'll meet people who refer to the divines as the 8 (imperial belief) and people who refer to them as the 9 (original belief in skyrim).

[Perpetual Change]

Yeah, but the Empire was founded by Talos. It's the Imperial Belief that Talos ascended into Heaven and become one of the Divines. Most of the Empire is no longer Nord, but the Thalmor forcing Talos out of the mythos pretty much disconnects the empire with its creation story.

If you play Oblivion, the Empire still refers to them as "The Nine".

[El Barto]

That helps. I picked up most of that visiting that creepy-ass city in the Rocks to the NW. So I gather that Stormcloaks are just run-of-the mill citizens that worship Talos? That would include some of the Jarls, as well. They all look the same, but they're all picking sides right now.

[Dimitrius]

That helps. I picked up most of that visiting that creepy-ass city in the Rocks to the NW. So I gather that Stormcloaks are just run-of-the mill citizens that worship Talos? That would include some of the Jarls, as well. They all look the same, but they're all picking sides right now.

More like separatists that want Skyrim to be a sovereign nation and not part of the Empire.

[Perpetual Change]

That helps. I picked up most of that visiting that creepy-ass city in the Rocks to the NW. So I gather that Stormcloaks are just run-of-the mill citizens that worship Talos? That would include some of the Jarls, as well. They all look the same, but they're all picking sides right now.

More like separatists that want Skyrim to be a sovereign nation and not part of the Empire.

Yup. That includes Nordic citizens, too, but keep in mind that even Nords in go away and fight for the legion, or their children do, so it's not so black and white even among Nords. Plus, Skyrim is home to lots of other people; not every "human" you see is a Nord. There are Imperials, Bretons, and Redguard too. All of these races can be confused with Nords, but there are slight differences, and those guys are almost always aligned with the Empire. Plus, there are tons of non-human races, mainly Dark Elves who've come because the lizard dudes are taking their country over. They basically get tred on by everyone, and don't align with Storm Cloaks.

[El Barto]

Plus, Skyrim is home to lots of other people; not every "human" you see is a Nord. There are Imperials, Bretons, and Redguard too. All of these races can be confused with Nords, but there are slight differences, and those guys are almost always aligned with the Empire.

And that's what's problematic for someone like me who never played any of the other ES games. The impending civil war is pretty straightforward, but all of the sects and factions get confusing. And then there's trying to keep track of specific people. I've got probably 10 different missions working right now and I have no idea who I'm working for. Fortunately, those have a way of solving themselves, but still, it'd be nice to understand at least a bit of the details.

[Perpetual Change]

Don't worry about that stuff, as it'll unfold as you become immersed. And remember, your dude is just that: some dude. The average commoner in Skyrim doesn't know or even care about Skyrim's history, and honestly there's no reason why your guy would be any differently, except for you wind up getting wrapped up in important issues.

[El Barto]

Question about the addons: do they just add content inline, or do they act as a whole separate game? I'd like to have some of the Hearthfire functionality, but I'm not starting over. If I install it, will it alter anything I have accomplished, or will it only add the functionality?

[Dimitrius]

You won't lose anything you've done, they won't alter anything you've done, they just add more stuff to do.

[Perpetual Change]

Are you playing on PC? If so, you got railroaded into using Steam, which isn't such a bad thing actually, because it puts the Elder Scrolls modding community at your fingertips, and installing mods is now basically a point and click process, like buying a record on iTunes.

Anyway, most of the things added with Hearthfire were added in certain mods already. Not sure if steam left those up or not, after the DLC was release.

[El Barto]

Have no interest in dealing with Steam, so perhaps I'll make another plan.

All I really want is a way to store a shit-ton of weapons and armor. Is that possible in the base version? There's stuff I'd like to have access to, but I'm carrying way too much stuff around. As it is, I've just got them strewn about Breezehome. Somewhat inelegant.

[Perpetual Change]

Have no interest in dealing with Steam, so perhaps I'll make another plan.

All I really want is a way to store a shit-ton of weapons and armor. Is that possible in the base version? There's stuff I'd like to have access to, but I'm carrying way too much stuff around. As it is, I've just got them strewn about Breezehome. Somewhat inelegant.

Well, you can just throw unlimited amounts of shit into random containers in your home. The best homes in the game, in Windhelm and Solitude, have lots more space and various armor and weapon racks to put stuff on. The modding community has really created the best homes, though, which are generally heavy on the armor rack stuff.

In the base version I prefer the Solitude or Riften homes. Windhelm is nice too, but it's buggy as hell. Solitude is bigger than Riften, but Riften is way convenient because the all the shops and the blacksmith are literally next door, like with the Breezehome. You don't really get that with Winhelm or Solitude.

I got a really nice home from the mod community which was basically a flying airship on top of a lake, but I felt like it was a bit buggy inside, and I didn't like the phoney method of traveling into it ("click the bright sparkly thing underneath!")

[Dark Castle]

Finished the main quest line in dragonborn, good god riding dragons is awful.

[Perpetual Change]

Yeah.

I never, ever though it'd be good though.

[El Barto]

Have no interest in dealing with Steam, so perhaps I'll make another plan.

All I really want is a way to store a shit-ton of weapons and armor. Is that possible in the base version? There's stuff I'd like to have access to, but I'm carrying way too much stuff around. As it is, I've just got them strewn about Breezehome. Somewhat inelegant.

Well, you can just throw unlimited amounts of shit into random containers in your home. The best homes in the game, in Windhelm and Solitude, have lots more space and various armor and weapon racks to put stuff on. The modding community has really created the best homes, though, which are generally heavy on the armor rack stuff.

In the base version I prefer the Solitude or Riften homes. Windhelm is nice too, but it's buggy as hell. Solitude is bigger than Riften, but Riften is way convenient because the all the shops and the blacksmith are literally next door, like with the Breezehome. You don't really get that with Winhelm or Solitude.

I got a really nice home from the mod community which was basically a flying airship on top of a lake, but I felt like it was a bit buggy inside, and I didn't like the phoney method of traveling into it ("click the bright sparkly thing underneath!")

Just starting out, it took me forever just to save the scratch to buy Breezehome. Cheap bastards only give me like 180 for a turn undead dagger right now. I'd like to have weapons and armor racks, but I suppose I can make do with containers. Where do you score containers that'll hold armor and weapons?

[Onno]

Have no interest in dealing with Steam, so perhaps I'll make another plan.

All I really want is a way to store a shit-ton of weapons and armor. Is that possible in the base version? There's stuff I'd like to have access to, but I'm carrying way too much stuff around. As it is, I've just got them strewn about Breezehome. Somewhat inelegant.

Well, you can just throw unlimited amounts of shit into random containers in your home. The best homes in the game, in Windhelm and Solitude, have lots more space and various armor and weapon racks to put stuff on. The modding community has really created the best homes, though, which are generally heavy on the armor rack stuff.

In the base version I prefer the Solitude or Riften homes. Windhelm is nice too, but it's buggy as hell. Solitude is bigger than Riften, but Riften is way convenient because the all the shops and the blacksmith are literally next door, like with the Breezehome. You don't really get that with Winhelm or Solitude.

I got a really nice home from the mod community which was basically a flying airship on top of a lake, but I felt like it was a bit buggy inside, and I didn't like the phoney method of traveling into it ("click the bright sparkly thing underneath!")

Just starting out, it took me forever just to save the scratch to buy Breezehome. Cheap bastards only give me like 180 for a turn undead dagger right now. I'd like to have weapons and armor racks, but I suppose I can make do with containers. Where do you score containers that'll hold armor and weapons?

You can buy your house from the steward of the city, and you can also upgrade your house with all of those containers and more by talking to the steward.

[Perpetual Change]

What ONNO said. If you don't have any drawers or chests in your house, you gotta talk to the steward. But I wouldn't waste anymore coin on the Breezehome, cause even fully updated it leaves a lot to be desired. Go over to Riften, join the Thieves Guild, and start doing some of their moneymaking missions for them. Get in good with the Jarl, and buy the house at Riften. Also, if you really want to be a rich guy, you gotta spend some perks on speech, just to increase how much gold merchants have, and how much you'll be able to get from them for your items.

Also look toward the Dark Brotherhood. Completing their final mission alone gets you 10,000 gold.

[Onno]

What ONNO said. If you don't have any drawers or chests in your house, you gotta talk to the steward. But I wouldn't waste anymore coin on the Breezehome, cause even fully updated it leaves a lot to be desired. Go over to Riften, join the Thieves Guild, and start doing some of their moneymaking missions for them. Get in good with the Jarl, and buy the house at Riften. Also, if you really want to be a rich guy, you gotta spend some perks on speech, just to increase how much gold merchants have, and how much you'll be able to get from them for your items.

Also look toward the Dark Brotherhood. Completing their final mission alone gets you 10,000 gold.

Don't write my name in full caps  The thieves guild is indeed very good for gaining lots of money. What helps too is just doing lots of quests and selling all loot you don't need and all weapons/armor you don't use anymore.

[WindMaster]

The thieves guild radiant quests are easy and net you 400 gold per completion.

[Nick]

Playing Bthardamz for the first time I have to say, if I open one more fucking door to find that I have to go through yet another door I'm going to summon something just so I can fucking slap a bitch.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

This bit of information:
https://sv.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/19d99t/sothe_new_dlcs_have_been_expanding_the_corners_of/

along with this:
https://www.ibtimes.com/skyrim-dlc-release-after-dragonborn-could-be-redguard-zenimax-files-patent-downloadable-computer

made me all moist. We may be taking a trip to Hammerfell in the next DLC!

[SomeoneLikeHim]

Are you sure the patent isn't about this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Adventures:_Redguard

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Are you sure the patent isn't about this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Adventures:_Redguard

Have no idea and of course Redguard could also be their working title so who knows but my fingers are crossed though.

[WindMaster]

I want hammerfell so bad.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

You like modding? Then you better damn watch this:
Skyrim - RealVision ENB - Climates of Tamriel Edition

Next gen.....pffhh you know were the door is! 

[snapple]

[soundgarden]

^ 

[alirocker08]

Just finished building my first house in Hearthfire. Holy shit I hate the fact that I'm such a completionist, I'm going to have to go through that ridiculous rigmarole of going around, mining stone, buying logs, finding iron and steel ingots, two more times!

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Just finished building my first house in Hearthfire. Holy shit I hate the fact that I'm such a completionist, I'm going to have to go through that ridiculous rigmarole of going around, mining stone, buying logs, finding iron and steel ingots, two more times!

That's the exact thing i felt and have done for the last couple of days and i'm still not finished. 

[alirocker08]

I just have to build my shrines and then I can get rid of all the work tables- I haven't even started moving my stuff in