Skyrim

[Doc]

So has anyone else got into this yet?

I picked it up a couple of days ago (on the basis that I won't have reliable internet in a week so I may as well get it now) and I've been getting in a couple (or 3, or 4) hours a night after 9 when my brain can't take studying for surg exams anymore.

At first I was kind of down on it because I'm just not finding the main story particularly compelling (though I've really only just started it) but damn it's easy to lose time in this world. The other night I was travelling to a kind of distant city because I wanted to ditch the main story and start the mage quests, and it took me about 3 hours just to get there because I kept getting into fights with wolves, raiding bandit forts and finding random quests to do. The world is just so incredibly well populated with stuff. Really glad I've got some holidays coming up.

[theinevitable]

I really enjoyed Oblivion, up until the point I decided it was super boring and stupid. I also kept hitting glitches that made me redo things over and over (it froze every time I completed a certain portion of the main storyline, so I had to keep reloading and doing it over and over).

Unlike with movies and books, in games I need a strong story that makes it a little bit obvious what I should do.

(also, what is the point of having stats if I have to use my own stupid slow reflexes to shoot spells and arrows?)

There is only one RPG that has the leveling-up system I think would be the best, and I forget what game it was. the Elder Scrolls games come close, in letting you level up whatever skills you want. But I don't understand why you have to pick at the beginning what skills you want. I end up picking stupid things and then being frustrated and having to start over. I want Swords to be my major skill because i use it a lot so it levels up a lot, instead of picking Swords as my major skill and then finding tons of axes.

[Doc]

Skyrim actually is like that, your race can give you some benefits but there aren't any starting skills, you level purely on what you use. There are standing stones in the game that give you bonuses to levelling particular stats that fill the role the starsigns did in oblivion but you can turn them on and off at will (though you can only have one on at a time).

[theinevitable]

AWESOME. I'll try this, then. That was my biggest annoyance in Oblivion... kept wanting to restart because I set the wrong skills as my Main skills and so I leveled up too fast/too slow/whatever.

[lprkn]

I'll probably get this game once I finally build The Forge (my long planned but never executed gaming PC). I saw a lot of the coverage in the mainstream media outlets. Glad to hear it's good, you can't always trust the media, or so I hear.

[Asherdan]

All I know is, the oldest boy is foaming at the mouth while playing and is speaking in tongues. Is that good?

[Doc]

Well, in this game you walk through the woods, cold and alone, and fight and kill wild animals and people not respecting your personal property with weapons you can smith yourself.

So it's basically an Asherdan: The Game. Is that good?

[Asherdan]

I'm home with both kids because they're sick. This information means I'll have to shove to older boy off to the old PS2 and foam at my own mouth a little.

[Arachno-capitalist]

My extremely brief experience with WoW turned me off to these kind of games because it seemed to just be a whole lot of walking around.

[CortJstr]

(also, what is the point of having stats if I have to use my own stupid slow reflexes to shoot spells and arrows?)

YES! This is why I gave up on Morrowind before even the 1st plot-point of the main quest

[Nabubrush]

I bought Morrowind long after Oblivion. Morrowind was crap. Oblivion was pretty awesome, but I have the PS3 version which is notoriously buggy (although not as bad as FO3). I'll definitely get Skyrim, but I'm not sure whether I'll get PS3 or PC. The guys who put it out aren't big on patching their PS3 products, unfortunately.

A-Cap, the dynamic of WoW (and MMORPGs in general) is very different than Oblivion and games like it. The comparison is more useful than comparing Oblivion and Need for Speed, but because they are designed for single players, they have a lot more built-in content. They don't lean on the crutch of having however many thousand users online for the player to interact with.

[theinevitable]

the RedBox at work has it. 2$ a day. Probably worth it, instead of spending 60$ on it and then getting sick of it like Oblivion.

I'll try this when I get back from thanksgiving at my parents' house.

[theinevitable]

OH MY GOD THIS GAME.

WOW.

...wow.

[Doc]

My heart's explodin'!

[theinevitable]

Got home around 8. Started playing, put some pasta on while I played, kept playing, talked to my roommate/ate while I played...
now it is 2 AM.

Tomorrow:
Pack to go home
go to a hockey game
make my sister a birthday mix cd
SKYRIM

Although I am having a lot of trouble, as I always do in these games, noticing when I am about to die. Also having trouble with making any sort of decision about what kind of character I want. Two-handed or an axe and a shield? Why would I ever not wear heavy armor? Etc.

But seriously: what is the advantage of wearing lighter armor? Sure, I would be able to carry more, but I wouldn't have anything to carry if I died any more frequently than I already do...