LeddBate

Ah. Now I see. Well, I do see your point but, it doesn't bother me in the least. I'm going Imperial in my game and I still enjoyed the machinima Dragonborn immensely. I guess it's because I treat the two of them (the game and the movie) separately. I really have to question whether a majority, or even a significant percentage, of Skyrim players would be turned off by a movie just because it does not follow the choices they made. Now the points about the movie being too short/narrow of focus (main plot only, perhaps a few of the quests, tops) is an interesting topic. One might be tempted to point at the LotR trilogy. But that was based on novels, not games. Novels are focused to begin with. Yes, yes, I know -the Silmarillion was all over the place. But I always considered that a grab-bag of anthologies written in the tone of a college professor's notes. Aaaand, I'm getting off-topic. Sorry. I really think there is a place for a Skyrim movie. But it will most likely be quite a bit different from even the start of the main-storyline in TESV. (For one thing, it would be really nice if they stopped this whole "prisoner" thing. I mean, it's like Bethesda has got some weird fetish for dungeons and prisoners...)

Yes! A big "Thank You" to Arthmoor for a common sense mod for the NPCs. I bought Dawnguard and Dragonborn during the latest Steam sale. I thought I would have to manually start them and was unaware that Steam automatically activated the ESMs and put them in my load order. Suddenly Vampires start attacking inside the cities when I enter. Not every time, not even most of the time. But I was starting to lose NPCs before I could react. You can argue "game breaking" or not all day long. What you can't argue is that dead NPC merchants and quest pieces equals intense annoyance. Annoying because the freaking NPCs all try to attack a vampire! What. The. H311?!? I was ready to uncheck the Dawnguard esm until I found this thread and the link to Arthmoor's excellent mod. (I'll be using the dragon one as well.) I still have to roll back to the last pre-Dawnguard save due to NPC losses. *sigh*. Yeah, that was my fault that I kept playing while not understanding why I suddenly had vampires climbing up my posterior every fourth or fifth time I entered a town.

You mean the character's decision to follow Ralof instead of Hadavar? Well, yeah. But I was referring to how well the film was done using game assets and mods. Rather than get into a "Emprie vs. Stormcloaks" discussion here I'm gonna mosey on over to the thread about that from a few months before... No, better not necro that. I'll start a new one.

Most of you are probably familiar with this, but just in case: The Trailers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwmzu7Z5578&list=UUT6iAerLNE-0J1S_E97UAuQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KWO-udukZ0&list=UUT6iAerLNE-0J1S_E97UAuQ Act I (of three): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyHZn_nC3kc&list=UUT6iAerLNE-0J1S_E97UAuQ&noredirect=1 Now I realize this isn't Hollywood, but Machinima. Rather well-done in my opinion.

I believe it will be set in Hammerfell. Why? Skyrim really upped the Aldmeri Domininion factor and its (not-so) secret police/troubleshooters, the Thalmor. So, who's put the biggest poke in the Dominion's eye? That's right, Hammerfell. The Redguards are itching for a fight, even if it isn't good for them in the short run. Of course, this assumes that TESVI follows TESV chronologically like Skyrim followed Oblivion. And it further assumes that Bethesda wants to follow up on the building pressure to another "Great War". @CompanyOfGamers: Thank you for the map with the game overlays. Did you do that? Nicely done.

As usual, a big "Thank You" to the staff of Black Tree Gaming for not only staying on top of situations like this to contain damage, but also letting us know up front what happened right away. So many corporations just do not understand (even though we are well into the second decade of "social media" ) that silence is more damaging to their public reputations than admitting that something went wrong. They still live in the priorities of the previous century that mandated: " Don't say anything! Get the situation under control first!" Unfortunately, this corporate mantra doesn't fly in present day social and mass media. It simply results in customer base anger and distrust. Just look at the reaction to the way Sony handled the Playstation Network hack fiasco. So, Thank You again guys. You may have to wade through the drek and quagmire for us, but know that we really appreciate your efforts to keep us informed and safe.

Hah! That is funny. I love how, after you got blown (teleported?) to a new location your computer was like: "da hell?" and took nearly 30 seconds to fill in all the textures and even entire terrain objects.

Well, that nerdy puppy in Riverwood (can't remember his name) who keeps pestering you to let him do stuff for you seems to be in his late teens.

This was an excellent review. It laid out all the facts and gives you much food for thought. I've never been an MMO player, and having seen this, I won't be trying ESO. But that doesn't mean I think it's bad. Only that it doesn't interest me. Having wandered at random through Skyrim and finding amazing places, I don't think I could ever get into the MMO rail-driven grind. But, if you like the typical MMO grind and don't mind giving up the freedom to go where you want and do what you want, then maybe ESO is a good fit for you. After all, the PvP is apparently excellent. And you can level your character however you feel like.

I'm not really into MMOs, but I'd wager that they'll patch ESO to the point where it will be worthwhile. But, back on topic: I'm confident that there will be an Elder Scrolls VI. Not because I have faith, but rather because Bethesda has made very good profits on the earlier games in the series. Yes, admittedly, most of those profits (at least where Skyrim is concerned) came from the console sales. But, what got everyone hyped about the approaching TES V game? The fantastic TES IV mods done on PC. PCs push the word on TES series. Game comes out on consoles first, gets ported to PC, then gets (nearly) perfected by modders, who create the buzz that keeps the series alive and drawing in new players. Honestly, would Bethesda have bothered with two great downloadable expansions (Dawnguard and Dragonborn) if this weren't the case? (And, no, I didn't forget Hearthfire. It simply wasn't worth including in my opinion.) Look at the difficulty that Nexus has every time Steam puts Skyrim (and/or the expansions) on sale. Usage and downloads spike through the roof due to the large numbers of purchases during these sales (just ask Robin.) That means tons of new players are trying out (and importantly, buying) a game that came out over two years ago. Look at the Steam player numbers in the posts above. More people are playing Skyrim than CSGO. That says something right there. And I feel confident that Bethesda is only too well aware of these numbers. This is why I'm certain there will be a TES VI. It simply is too much sale potential for Bethesda to pass up on it.

I actually bought the game when it was new -but let it sit on my shelf until the beginning of this year when I finally installed it and loaded it up with mods (Thanks Nexus!) In hindsight, this was the perfect thing to do. The game is more stable (due to mods), more immersive (mods), better looking (mods) and with a helluva lot more content (chorus: MODS!) I believe that I will be playing this game years from now (using compatibility mods to make it work on WIN12 or whatever they call it.) Like many others, I will play TES VI when it comes out, but I will still be playing Skyrim.

But you can ask a moderator to move this post over there.

Thanks for the link Thandal. I've always enjoyed AJ's reviews.

I hope this is the right section to post this. Steam is currently (10:25pm) down. Not just steam, but the forums (steam community), workshops, pretty much all of Valve is down for the count. This doesn't seem to be scheduled maintenance. Right now there are rumors of hacking and DDoS, but I can't find enough evidence from trustworthy sources to confirm. Could also be major server failure due to one of their centers taking damage / losing all power. (How many server centers is Steam based in anyway?) I'm sure they are working on it right now. Even though it's late at night, you gotta believe that a large company like Valve would have contingency emergency maintenance plans in place. Otherwise Steam would be down for the entire weekend. And you know how that would tick off x-million of subscribers and Valve game customers. Not something any PR department would want to contemplate. Some of the comments posted on "isitdownrightnow.com" are hilarious: "Steam's down. Guess I gotta talk to the wife now" "No Steam?! What do I do now? I have no life..." "DOTA 2 *sob* Must... have... DOTA 2" "Steam down here in Brazil too. And no carnival tonight :sad: " "WTF, I was less than 10 minutes from completing COD Ghosts Demo! NNNNOOOOOO!" "Australia too. Thought it was our gov blocking again." UPDATE: Steam back up in most areas as of 11:45pm. However, Steam community website is spotty. Well, it makes sense. Get the game server back up first then worry about forums.

Don't know that, but have you seen this mod? Automatic Perk Unlocking.

Now that was funny... :laugh: Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories. Would love to see more. BTW, forgot to mention my other funny adventure. I actually posted it in another thread somewhere.... Hmm, AH, there it is. (Copy/paste) Okay, there's this fort just Northwest of Wolfskull Cave (I forget the name.) I was walking up the road and ran into a party of four Thalmor Justicars traveling Eastward. Naturally, they told me to fob off or else. So I walked up to the fort to investigate, -and was promptly set upon by eight (yes, eight) bandits that came pouring out of the main gate. Now I could have taken them out, but then I remembered the Thalmor just down the road. So instead of fighting, I zig-zagged slowly back and forth, leading the bandits down the trail to the main road. Sure enough, there were the Justicars still sauntering down the road. I ran right through them to a chorus of "Hey!", "Watch it" heavily pursued by a storm of bandit arrows and magic bolts. As one, the Thalmor turned on their heels and started firing lightning and arrows into the bandits. The bandits screeched to a stop and started a fighting withdrawal as the Justicars were truly pissed. I followed along behind, stopping to loot the occasional bandit corpse. When the battle reached the fort entrance, more bandits took up position on the walls firing arrows down at the Thalmor. This caused a temporary halt to the Justicars advance. But then a patrol of Imperial soldiers showed up (attracted by the sounds of battle) and promptly joined the fight breaking the deadlock. Whistling happily, I followed the elves and soldiers into the fort, stopping to strip each corpse I encountered. By the time the battle ended, only two Imperial soldiers limped out of the fort. All of the Thalmor and bandits were dead. I stripped the remaining corpses of weapons, armor and items, then proceeded to loot the fort. Since I've installed a mod that lets you make carrying bags, pouches and bandoliers on a tanning rack, I had plenty of carrying capacity and didn't have to leave anything behind. Sure, I didn't get much combat XP, but I left the fort with over 2,000 gold worth of sell-able loot from the bodies alone (not counting what I looted from the fort.) Best of all, I got to off those stuck-up Justicars by simply leading them into overwhelming odds. Treasure and appropriate revenge. Ahhhh! Edit: This has become one of my favorite tactics when I run into rude Justicars on the road. I simply gallop my horse to the nearest external lair (fort, giant camp, etc.), piss off the inhabitants with a few arrows, then lead them back to the Elves and sit back and have a nice snack while nature runs its course.

I never tried the build your own home mod.. or hearthfire for that matter, but I'll give them all a shot sometime. I think another build your own home mod was released somewhere around here. Found it - I think this is it: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49892/? No idea how it compares to the original one you linked or Hearthfire. Hey, thanks man! A Dovahkin can never have too many houses...

Poor Dwalin is likely reading all this and maybe thinking something along the lines of: "Oi, government and social studies flashbacks!" Hee, sorry, couldn't resist. The Thalmor in Skyrim are basically playing "both ends against the middle". If you choose a side (and force the war to an quick conclusion) then it puts a monkey wrench in their long-range plans. If you ignore the civil war and simply broker the peace, then you still louse up their plans ('cause no one is dying during the truce.) So, basically you ARE hurting the Thalmor just by playing the main-quest. Whether you wish to side with the Empire or the Stormcloaks in the civil war is strictly up to you. Either way, you're giving the Thalmor the finger and reserving yourself a high position on their future $#!% list. So take comfort (and pride) in that. Hmmm. I haven't finished the main-quest yet. I wonder if I can go back to the Thalmor Embassy with Odahviing and... introduce the Thalmor to my new buddy.... :devil:

Well, not quite "final" since I have it on good authority that they've been adopted by some scruffy fellow they call Dovahkin... Admittedly, that doesn't really raise their status much since any of the high-and-mighty of Skyrim (and all of Tamriel for that matter) will tell you down the length of their snooty noses that "Dragonborn" ain't nothing compared to "NOBLEborn". (Which is really quite weird since the whole Septim line started with Dragonborn.)

I'm sure everyone here is aware of this mod, but just in case: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/18480/? Best homebuilding mod imo. For folks playing for the first time, there is a nice little pre-made house mod here: Beginner Shack / Starter Home It's tiny, but is in a handy location (up the cliff trail directly south of Riverwood), has all the crafting stations (enchanting and potion making inside, -smelting, tanning rack, anvil forge, grindstone and workbench on the porch outside) and has plenty of storage space inside including food storage. The only gripes I have with it are that there is only two bookshelves, so you will run out of space rather quickly if you like to collect books to read them later. However, you can always stuff additional books in the cupboard. Also, there are no mannequins. You have to stuff your armor in a generic chest. Still, it's a great first "home base" until you can buy a home in one of the major towns or build your own using the above mod.

The ENB looks like Sharpshooters, but I couldn't swear to that. I think he's using Lush Trees and Grass as well as W.A.T.E.R. -But again, I'm guessing. Now the rockwork definitely looks like Vivid Landscapes. I'd give that about a 75% probability.

Well perhaps I'm banned from there for some reasons but I cannot get there. It's says 'Connecting...' and stays there. I've already emptied the Firefox Cache to no effects. I'll try it from work tomorrow and see if I can get any closer. I don't believe they actually "ban" anyone. Unless your I.P. is being blocked. The only reason I can think of for that to happen is if your ISP is being blocked because someone is spamming/attacking from there. Try going there directly from this link: skse.silverlock.org

Flawless update! Thanks guys. Ooooh, search field cool....

I've had the Touring Carriages mod ( http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38529/? ) since I started playing Skyrim, but was always too busy to bother taking a ride. But just recently I was passing through Rorikstead heading to a quest start far to the South when the carriage driver says to me as I walk by: "Safest way to travel!" What the heck, I think, might as well. The trip starts out uneventfully. After a little while, the driver suddenly says: "Uh, oh." (Or something to that effect.) "AH, HA!" yells an assassin (yeah, the Dark Brotherhood has been a real pain to me lately) as he jumps out onto the road in our path, "Now you will diEEEAAIIEEEE!" (SPLAT) Hmm, well, that's serendipity for you. A few minutes later, as we near a major crossroad, the driver says: "Better hang on." I look up to see a large group of Stormcloaks and Imperials heading towards each other. (No, not Warzones. I'm using Populated Skyrim Civil War.) Anyway, the two groups are charging each other and just happen to start melee fighting right on the road in front of us. SPLAT AAIIEEE! CRUNCH ARRGH! WHAM AUGGH! SCRUNCH GAAHHH! I lose count after the 12th collision. The handful of survivors don't even continue fighting. They just stare at us as we recede into the distance. As we near Whiterun, a young woman tries to run up to the carriage saying: "Please sir! Help me! I just esca...AAIIIEE! (SPLAT) A Whiterun militia man was close enough to see the (most unfortunate) incident. "Stop, criminal sc..." (CRUNCH) A small child darts out into the road (TRAMPLE) Uhm, sorry? The carriage finally stops. "Here we are at Whiterun. Watch your step." Whew! I disembark, wondering if any bounty incurred during the trip is on me or the driver. "Thanks for the ri..." [OnCellDetach error. > Driver Missing < THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN] "What the..." AAAAAIIIEEEEEEE! (Houston, we have launch) "Holy $#!%, I can see Solitude from up here!" I look down to see the ground rushing up at me. "Oh man, this is going to hurt..." WHAM!! (Fade to black) World swims back into focus. I'm back in Rorikstead. Carriage driver looks down at me and says smugly: "Safest way to travel." AAIIIEEEEE! I run down the road as fast as I can. Funniest time I've ever had in the game.

Point. Definitely a good point. Two of them actually. Much as I liked Hadvar, and much as I understand the Empire's position, Tullius, restrained and dignified though he may be at the conference, is still one the primary instigators of the whole mess because of his heavy-handed approach to the rebellion and Nords in general. "You bloody Nords and your 'Honour'" -pretty well sums it up. Guess that's why I favored the Stormcloaks even though I didn't join the civil war. It was partly an emotional choice based on what I wanted to RPG into the situation. Still a jerk though, IMO