CalibanX

I second these. Make it so! :)

After the 1.2 Patch debacle, I went into bunker mode and stayed offline. However, a friend of mine patched and was able to play the game afterwards, and so I gave it a try since eventually I'm going to have to anyway once Bethesda starts Patching bugs. I'm currently fully Patched and not having any problems. Other's have reported issues with it though. However, these patches are being used by millions of people. If 1% of those users had problems with the Patch and came here to report on it, it would look like a huge problem when your chances of a having a problem aren't statistically high. Yet, any time you download a Patch there's always going to be a chance that something in it won't work for your computer.

I think I read on a wiki that dual casting illusion spells makes them stronger against higher level threats. To be honest, my Mage character was retired before I got to level 40 so I guess I wasn't high enough level to run into this. I think I would rather have a mod change this aspect of illusion to just make it work on higher level creatures and have a much higher Magic cost.

Nexus is an open forum, so people are free to be endlessly negative and depressing if they want to. Personally, I go to the Nexus forums for info/help about specific bug/computer issues that people might have found fixes for, funny posts about the game and ideas about how to improve the game. Others will come here for their own reasons, it's the internet, it's not something that should be policed anyway. I would only argue that, for those who do enjoy Skyrim, it's more rewarding to come to the Nexus and read threads that are fun and informative rather than ones that are excessively negative. And for all of Skyrim's faults (many of which, I wager, will turn out to be temporary) I prefer to enjoy all of the things that the game did right. Which, I find too numerous to even count. We've all heard a million times about how Bethesda has streamlined the game for console use over pc. Well, they released this "streamlined" game for pc users and then gave them the ability/tools to change the game into whatever you want. What other game company does this? It's freaking awesome. Just look at what mods did for Oblivion. Bethesda put the bulk of their efforts into making Skyrim a HUGE, beautiful world, and then gave the keys to modders to change it however they wanted. Getting upset because you're "marriage" in Skyrim isn't as fulfilling as you hoped is silly to me. It's a video game. Once the modders get they're hands on the CK all kinds of things will be added to the game. I'm enjoying the game now and looking forward to the mods to come.

FYI: You actually don't have to "grind" the Smithing Skill if you don't want to. No one is forcing you to grind anything. I'm on my third character now and have barely even touched the Smithing or Enchanting stuff and I get along fine. I can accept from the numerous reports that the Smithing skill can use some tweaking, but honestly, no one is forcing anyone to go all Obsessive compulsive with iron daggers. If you enjoy that sort of thing, for for it. If not, leave it alone.

Illusion is awesome. It doesn't work for every situation, but as you add more perks, you can use it more and more and when you do it is very gratifying. Go into sneak, shoot solider with Fury. Watch solider attack friends. Watch friends kill solider. Repeat. It never gets old. Plus, nasty saber cats and cave bears don't need to be battled with anymore. Just give him a quick shot of Calm and they totally chill out. Very relaxing.

I bought the Witcher and attempted to play it. To me, the game seemed ugly, stupid and uninspired. I didn't get far on that one. I really liked Dragon Age Origins though. The fantasy swat-team concept is a good one but it didn't hold my interest the way Oblivion did. I just prefer the wide, open sandbox world to the tightly linear style of games where the replay value is not so strong. Skyrim is an awesome non-linear game. As for the UI, Oblivon had a terrible UI when it came out too. With Skyrim, I've actually gotten used to the UI and it doesn't bother me anymore although once the CK comes out I'm sure I'll try some UI overhaul mods. The CK, by the way, is also part of Skyrim. The fact that Bethesda gives modders the tools to totally reconfigure the game is what helped to prolong my interest in Oblivion for so long. I don't see Dragon Age or any other game I've played come with that much freedom for the player as Bethesda's games have. Sure, I have my complaints with Skyrim, but they all amount to minor details in the big picture as none of them are preventing me from enjoying the game.

My current character is 100% violence free and I'm enjoying it more than my Mage or Fighter builds. While there are obviously some quests you cannot finish (ones that demand you to kill a certain boss) there is so much content in this game that I'm at level 31 and still have tons of unexplored areas. I sneak, if that fails, I Calm. If that fails, I run. It's simple and lots of fun. If anyone out there is feeling bored of hack n slash I heartily recommend building a cowardly character. They have a lot of fun in Skyrim.

I agree. The most modded out dungeon from Oblivion looks like uninspired crap next to any vanilla Skyrim dungeon. It's not all about resolution people. There's something called "design". Skyrim's dungeons have WAY more visual detail and character built into them than anything from Oblivion or Fallout. Skyrim (despite it's flaws) is a work of art.

Slick. Finish this. I want to see more. :)

This oversight from Bethesda is surprising to me considering that it would not have been difficult to have made some good looking male followers or other NPC's for their female customers. Dragon Age figured this out years ago. It's not as if having some attractive male characters somehow diminishes sales for other demographics.

While it's pretty easy to think of attractive females I've encountered in Skyrim, a female friend of mine recently lamented to me about the tragic absence of attractive men in Skyrim. I realize different people find different faces attractive, but my question, to all you discerning ladies and suave gay-boys out there; is have you encountered any attractive males in Skyrim or are they all hulking meat-heads and wierdos? :)

There should be a cave with all huge children in it for one to clear. :)

For my dual wielding Orc character I played on Master and didn't do much with smithing or enchanting and I got great weapons (swords) throughout the course of the game. Swords that did extra damage to dragons, swords that absorbed life, swords that did shock damage, etc. I had different sets that I would use against different opponents. You definitely do not need to abuse smithing or enchanting to play the game. I was very happy with the loot I got and thought they were more than adequate weapons for dragon & draugr slaying. I too, love only using loot I discover or buy in the game. I may do a little bit of enchanting or smithing every now and then for the hell of it, but a big part of keeping the loot interesting in this game is in abstaining from the Smithing/Enchanting skills. I await the mods to fix this.

I agree with everyone on this. Certain paths make the game too easy. But, no one is forcing you to take them. Until mods come out that address this, I encourage folks to consider certain Perk choices as part of the Difficulty settings. If you want your game to be consistently challenging, don't go after the unbalancing perks. No it's not fair and yes it sucks, but it's only a game and this problem will likely only be temporary after the CK comes out. And other games suffered from similar imbalances too, in Dragon Age if you wanted a more challenging game you forced to not play with Mages (or not use Cone of Frost etc). So, while I agree it's a problem, it's not a problem unique to Bethesda and will eventually get fixed.

That is a very creative use of bowls & buckets Jim_UK. I salute you! :)

I'm on my third character now and having the most fun with a 100% cowardly Khajiit. -Only sneaking and using Calm and running. Lots of running. It's much more entertaining to carefully sneak past many enemies, get to the boss chest, rob it, then just start running with everyone chasing and yelling at you with fireballs zinging past your head in a mad dash to the exit. So far, I've enjoyed this character concept (no fighting) more than my pure Mage or pure Warrior. Of course, there's lots of quests I can't do because of the no-fighting rule I've established, but I'm at level 20 now and there's still tons left to do. Oh, and he only eats Salmon. That was another important detail.

Great. Now I picture a very lonely Draugr doing vile things with his ancient copy of The Argonian Maid. I presume he hides it in a hidden spot away from the other Draugrs.

My current game has no Dragons in it. :) It's nice to take a break from the whole dragonslaying thing and just focus on exploring the world and stealing every thing you can without having to bother with random, flying, Napalm-spewing monsters.

For me, character is more important than size when it comes to cities and I really like the character of the five main Skyrim cities. The hamlets could use a little sprucing up, but well, I think they were designed to look like hamlets. I also wonder if city-size is also an indirect balancing issue for thieves. Perhaps if there are too many homes to rob it makes being a rich thief too easy? I suppose they could have just added in more slums & farms that wouldn't offer much in the way of theft opportunities...

For my Mage I had different strategies for different opponents: Enemy: Bandits/Necromancers/Soldiers: Use Fury from a distance while sneaking and giggle while your enemies kill each other. Enemy: Dragurs/Monsters: Summon Atronachs and place Fire Runes under opponents repeatedly. Enemy: Dragons: Atronachs again and regular, ranged Destruction spells Enemy: Wilderness annoyances like Wolves & Mudcrabs: Hit with Calm once and go back to what you were doing. :)

I am totally abusing Skyrim Love it! :)

My first character was a fighter Orc with dual wielding swords and I decimated my opponents so quickly I had to play on Master to have any challenge. And even then the bandits and lower levels would die in just one or two hits. I never really needed to block. Just chug potions & food when health/stamina are low and attack, Dual wield is all about offense. If you play it that way, you will be unstoppable.

For my Fighting Orc character, I took the Steed Stone until I had amassed so much money that I no longer needed the extra 100 carry points. Then I switched to the Lord Stone. Both were very helpful. My current Mage Character is using the Atronach Stone. I like having lots and lots of Magicka.

I can't think of anything in Oblivion that ever scared me. I was often startled by something, which is fun too. I am startled a bit more in Skyrim than Oblivion as I tend to encounter more creatures jumping out at me from behind the bushes. The Saber cats do this a lot to me. And no combat music starts to alert me beforehand. One second my High Elf is prancing down the merry glen and the next a giant prehistoric cat is using him as a chew toy. Thank Talos for high level Calm spells. My poor Mage would never have survived with it.