WolfPalatine

The "What have I done" moments I got in Skyrim - ah, those times. One was on Solstheim. It was after reading that black book - and ending up in Apocrypha. I was like "WTF man?!" Another was during the DB questline when you have to enter the coffin - and that old corpse speaks to you and afterwards Cicero starts yelling. The expression at the time = _|O_O|_ Those were the most memorable. There are so damned many of them. :P

Okay, here's a simple set of statements, since there are so many whiners. YES, the game isn't perfect. No software is. Get that through your thick skulls first. YES, there are bugs after the patches. Also called Pesticide Paradox (look it up). There's only so much that can be "Fixed". NO, there is no "silver bullet" to fix all problems. Every problem on every system has it's own unique solution. Don't like it, well BOU-HOU. Deal with it. Patience and perseverance are virtues. YES, there are some tried and tested techniques that work. That's why they're called "Tried and tested". That DOES NOT guarantee a fix (see statement above). Deal with it. Don't like it, uninstall Skyrim and go and play Call of Duty or some other game where you don't have to use your brain. U MAD, WHINERS?

@ Lachdonin One Battlespire plus the Illiac Bay Incident (Warp in the West) shows that NO mortal species can attempt to act divine. Not the Mer, not Men, not the Beastfolk. No one is denying the Thalmor are twisted - I have stated that they're brutal and cold to an appalling degree. I merely meant to indicate that there are no "Good Guys" in Tamriel, nor are there any "Bad Guys". There are only grey sides. In-game, the finest example is that quest "In my Time of Need". Both claim to be against the Aldmeri Dominion, both claim that they represent Hammerfell's mindset (very subtly, in the case of Saadia). More likely, it is just another Crowns vs. Forebears argument disguised, with both sides accusing the other of treachery. All said and done, all sides deserve the misery they face. Which side you're on depends entirely on your personal preferences. I like the beast races more (Khajiit especially), some may prefer the Mer as PCs, quite a few go as Humans (on a side note, I've noticed an unusual preference for Bretons and Nords - hardly any Redguards or Imperials among the players). Most people however, want a choice so that in some future Elder Scrolls game, they'll be on the "Right" side. To be frank, this is about as pointless as it gets. To quote Vingalmo from the Bards college, "Jarls may come, Jarls may go, but the return of the Dragons will live forever - not the squabbles of politics". Bethesda has, very subtly, given us the canonical resolution of the War - namely, a stalemate. "Season Unending" is part of the Main Quest. It indicates that the Last Dragonborn brokered a peace in Skyrim so that the real threat could be dealt with. In all probability, there will be some kind of compromise solution, with or without Thalmor consent, so that peace returns to the Children of the Sky. Also, what many people forget is that the Civil War is also a fulfilled prophecy (see Alduin's Wall - the Skyrim panel shows the Civil War in progress below the Throat of the World, which is being rent apart, indicating Skyrim's political and social turmoil). The line from the Dragonborn Prophecy - "When the Snow Tower lies sundered, kingless and bleeding" is a direct reference to this (see "The Book of the Dragonborn"). The ending is also therefore, something along the lines of what I've suggested. Bottom Line - Which side you're on doesn't matter a damn in the long run. That there WAS a Last Dragonborn will be remembered. What he/she was wont be remembered - only their actions as regards the Main Quest will be. As simple as that. Besides, we have enough political turmoil in the Real World to worry about. Let's not bring in the politics of Tamriel into this plane - this plane's situation is bad enough. :laugh:

A lot of people seem to talk about the Imperial vs. Stormcloak argument, but few want to talk about the Aldmeri Dominion, except as those "fanatic, anti-Talos justiciars". Here's some talking points from the Dominion's viewpoint - 1) General Talos (Tiber Septim) was not exactly a saint when he conquered Summerset Isles during the formation of his Empire. He wrecked the Aldmeri fleet first, allowed pirates to ravage the Isles continuously for years, so that when he came through with his forces, he only had an exhausted and weakened Dominion Army to deal with. Following this, all traces of the old Aldmeris culture was stomped out (viciously, I might add) for the Human cultural influence to grow. 2) The Altmer were never particularly well-liked or put into positions of power (except High-Chancellor Ocato during the Oblivion Crisis) and were continuously treated as second-rate. Unequal treatment throughout Imperial Rule on Summerset Isle bred considerable resentment among the more nationalist Altmer. 3) They were ruled in theory by a King who was in reality little more than an Empire-appointed puppet ruler, and the Summerset Isles, from all accounts (especially Imperial accounts) was functioning more as a client state than a full-fledged Imperial province. For a race that prided itself on independence and superiority over man, this must have been a humiliating situation. Which also explains the sudden Nationalist upsurge of the Thalmor during the Oblivion Crisis (see the book series "Rising Threat" in-game for this very subtle hint). 4) The Eight Divinies of Cyrodiil was the dominant pantheon of Worship for thousands of years since the slave-revolt of Alessia and the merging of the Elvish and Nord deities. Now, the worship of a "Ninth Divine" (AKA Talos) formed purely out of Human Racial Chauvinism and in reverence to a figure who had subjugated (very ruthlessly) the Aldmeri peoples was imposed upon them by a Human-ruled Empire. For over 400 years. Not an exactly congenial situation. And most Elves live for over a thousand years or more (just look at that Dark Elf wizard Neloth of Telvanni). So they would remember a great deal - I can bet that the highest echelons of the Thalmor leadership were alive (as youngsters in their twenties and thirties) when General Talos had his little excursion on Summerset Isle. All things considered, while the Dominion may be called brutal, ruthless, etc. etc., the fact remains - and will remain - that the High Elves have VERY strong reasons to hate Talos and his Empire, not to mention anybody who associates themselves with a Man whom the Altmer regard as a butcher and a ruthless, unprincipled conqueror, and whom the Humans worship as a God, no less. Is there really any surprise, considering all this, that the Thalmor want revenge? The first order of things they would do, as revenge, would be to undo EVERYTHING Talos stood for, and the Empire and especially the Nords would be squarely on top of their hit-list, so to speak. To put it more simply, whether one likes it or not, the Humans had it coming. The Nords, in particular, have a very nasty reputation, even among Humans, as bloodthirsty and savage barbarians who were responsible for the near-total genocide of an ancient Elven Empire (the Falmer - though admittedly, that was retaliatory, but to slaughter unceremoniously a whole Race is inexcusable), who attempted to subjugate Resdayn (modern day Morrowind) and from amongst whom one of the most hated Human figures among the Elves, namely Tiber Septim, was born. Not to mention their brutal repression and subjugation (again under Tiber Septim, no surprise) of the native Bretons in the Reach and their local culture and customs - ironically, not unlike (and far more brutal than) the Thalmor crackdown on Talos Worshipers. All things considered, I don't feel any sympathy either for the Nords, who deserve every ounce of suffering inflicted upon them, or the Empire, which is just getting it's comeuppance for centuries of misery inflicted on the Altmer.

This one does not appreciate the insult to the chosen people of the Enkindlers. Shaddap.......ya big stupid jellyfish.

Captain RC: As for the Dragonborn quest... yeah, it's irksome to have to cooperate with that oversized Japanese porn fetish to save the world again... I laughed so hard at that. But coming to topic, there's one very important point in this fellow's post. By Nord Logic (which isn't very smart, to be damn honest), it's not how you live that gets you to Sovngarde - it's how you die. You could be a paragon of virtue, but if you died by slipping on a banana peel, you don't enter Sovngarde. On the other hand, you might be a scum-bucket of the highest order, but if you died in a mad, heroic last stand, you get to enter the Realm of Shor. Plus, if you want to believe the underlying lore of the Elder Scrolls series, every "Hero" is just a manifestation of the Elder Scrolls and their will. So nobody but the Elder Scrolls owns these Heroes, and by extension, YOU. Only if the Scrolls will it, the Hero can pledge his/her allegiance, as was the case with the Champion of Cyrodiil (who eventually became the new Sheogorath). So, yeah. While you do get shafted in nearly every damn quest, nobody owns you but the Scrolls. So if you prefer to enter Sovngarde, just go and die off in a blaze of glory, and you can enter, and all the Daedric Princes be damned. Simple, right?

Dude wasn't that freaking hard. I just used three elven arrows from an elven bow. Pop-pop-pop and he's down. Course, I was sneaking at the time. @ demidekidasu (or whatever your name is) Three Deathlords in a room when you're level 12......come off it man. That's not possible unless you're using some mods or something to make it that hard. Else of course, maybe your game is trolling you, but that's also pretty unlikely, to be honest. :confused:

Here's how I decide my character(s) were going to end up. Might sound a little whacko, but hey, it's coherent! Probably just another ordinary guy/gal who became blind drunk after a wild night in Bruma. Then, probably climbed onto a horse for kicks and giggles, which ran out of control and took him/her past the border into Skyrim. Probably fell off the horse and was knocked out cold. On waking up, he/she finds it's freaking cold, and wonders "where the heck am I?" At that precise moment, cue a bunch of Stormcloaks walking around like they're in their lawn, coming toward the PC. They look at the PC, then at his/her horse, and they think "what's wrong with this twit wearing such light clothes in a wintry zone, and looking like he/she's got a hangover?" From behind the PC, that wise-ass Lokir (who's been following the PC since he/she crossed the border, as he figured that the PC was drunk and would make an easy target) tries to steal the horse, and the Stormcloaks yell "HEY! Behind you, you moron!" At that precise moment, the Imperial ambush is sprung and Tullius says "Not behind him/her, behind you - jackasses." Ulfric and his buddies say "@#*&!" and surrender. Unfortunately for the PC, the Imperial Captain leading the ambush is either the PC's ex-girlfriend/wife (if Male) or a Rival in Romance (if female) for some dude in Bruma. She says, "Arrest all of them - particularly that loser over there." One of the Imperial Soldiers knocks the PC out. And which is why, when Hadvar says that the PC isn't on the list, she merely tells him to screw the list and that the PC's going to die anyway. Ultimate payback :verymad: . The PC wakes up with a hell of headache in a cart bound for Helgen. And that's where it all begins. That's how I saw it. :laugh: Moral - Don't let your ex (or rival) catch you in a vulnerable position (especially if YOU ditched him/her). Ever. Trust me, I know EXACTLY how it feels. :wallbash: And never, EVER, drink yourself blind near a border where there's a civil war going on. :wallbash:

:facepalm: Could you be somewhat clearer and not talk like a Hanar with a speech disorder?

I just did the quest "In My Time Of Need" and decided to kill Kematu. So, after killing all but one of his Al'ikr, I let one guy live, raised my shield, and let him keep hitting it. About 5 minutes later, the block skill was some 45 or so (from 15, which it was when I began this mad jaunt) and the Heavy Armor at 37. Then I got bored and killed him. The rest of the Block business came from Giants, dumbass Bandits and the like. I peaked both around 70. Never went beyond that, just because. And also it was freaking boring to force the level-up. Bottom line - Don't power level. It isn't an MMORPG, there is no PvP, there are no Arenas, Battlegrounds and shizz. You want all that, go and play WoW. Otherwise, just chillax in Skyrim, and let the leveling up business take it's time.

Vekel the Man, Brynjolf and one Mercenary in Markarth called Vorstag, I think. Brynjolf in particular has some pretty nice voice acting. The best voice acting is of course, that of Delvin Mallory - who doesn't like that drawling accent of this crazy ex-Dark Brotherhood Breton? Ulfric isn't half bad either. But for some reason, looking at him pisses me off - probably because I almost died because of being accused of being associated with him. I swear, I'm not going to touch another drop of alcohol again - the last time I was drunk, I walked into an ambush for this fellow! Scared the living bejebus out of me........ Which is why I ignored Sam Guevenne when he challenged me to a drinking competition. Never again!

In what order, you ask? Optimally, you should do the Main Quest upto "The Way of the Voice" (don't complete it, just get that quest and become Thane of Whiterun). After that, do all the side-quests you want (including Guild Quests) and Thane Jobs for the other Holds (except Windhelm - you can't become Thane until the end of the Civil War, nor can you buy Hjerim till the War ends). After that, do the rest of the Main Quest, which will allow you to witness the Season Unending negotiations (and which, personally, is the canonical "outcome" of the Civil War - a stalemate). Defeat Alduin - put an arrow in his jaw, a missile in his ass, talk dirty to him - whatever method takes your fancy. After that - BISCUITS! Or the DLC's, assuming you have them. That's what I normally do. Problem is, after all that, you feel kind of sad, since now all you have to do is either ogle Serana, waste your time on Solstheim, or wander around Skyrim doing random (and often insane) stuff. (Side Note 1 - You CAN join a faction, Empire or Stormcloaks, before the Main Quest, but if you've progressed beyond the "Message to Whiterun" quest on wither side, you can't see the Season Unending quest in the Main Quest chain - which is kind of a drag, since it's pretty amusing, to say the least). (Side Note 2 - If you have joined a faction, their dialogue response to you will be affected by your negotiation choices in Season Unending. If you made a treaty biased towards them, they will approve. If balanced, they'll be noncommittal and if adverse, they'll be pissed off at your supposed "treachery". It was possible to be kicked from your faction if this happened, but for some reason, it was never implemented. Hopefully ApolloDown can implement that into his Civil War Overhaul).

Who is the Greatest Hero is kind of a loaded question, but all right. Let's see who're in the competing list. We've got the Eternal Champion of Daggerfall, the Nerevarine, the Champion of Cyrodiil (or Sheogorath, if that's your fancy - I'll get to that) and of course, the ubiquitous Dragonborn. I've never played Daggerfall, only read of it, so I can't comment on it. I have played from Morrowind onwards, so I'll concern myself with the other three. In terms of general ass-kicking, the Nerevarine takes the top spot, hands down. When was the last time you found a guy/gal who kills Four Godlike beings? Dagoth-Ur, Almalexia, Sotha Sil and (optionally) Vivec. In addition to this, you've changed the course of an entire race's destiny (the Dunmer). The Nerevarine's actions brought about the events which led to the fall of the Tribunal, the second eruption of Vvardenfell, the exodus of hordes of Dunmer from Morrowind (the Argonian invasion excepted) and the Dunmer occupation of Solstheim (which, all things considered, has a more significant role to play than just the outcome of the Dragonborn DLC - Ebony is freaking expensive, worth a lot in exports, you see). In terms of megalomania, the Champion of Cyrodiil takes top spot. Since all information points to the Champion being female, I'll use the feminine gender. She spent more time walking the planes of Oblivion than any other mortal (barring the events of the book "The Doors of Oblivion" by Sief ad-Hidja). She brings about the defeat of Mehrunes Dagon by giving the last Septim the chance to become an avatar of Akatosh. She fulfills the destiny of the Knights of the Nine by defeating Umaril as the will of Pelinal Whitestrake. And - to top it all - she becomes the new Sheogorath after the defeat of the Greymarch and the vanquishing of Jyggalag. She, in effect, becomes a God, or something pretty close to it (Daedric Princes have a lot of power). When was the last time you saw someone do all that? In contrast, the Dragonborn looks like a pretty lame-ass. Other than defeating the Alduin the World-Devourer (which was his/her destiny to begin with - and which is certainly not the case with the Nerevarine and the Champion of Cyrodiil [YES, you CAN fail the Main Quest in both cases and still play the game]) and becoming the head of every guild in Skyrim, plus the murder of Emperor Titus Mede II (which is, admittedly, pretty awesome), there's nothing particularly special about this hero. Defeating an ancient Vampire Lord and killing off the first Dragonborn are the feats which truly made him/her great, but not awe-inspiring like the other Heroes. All things considered, the contest is evenly split between the Nerevarine and the Champion of Cyrodiil. The Dragonborn isn't even a serious contender, let alone their equal. That's my two Septims on it. :smile:

Seems like there's a mod for everything and anything. But thanks for the heads up, I'll go and check it out! @ Bhanqwa Yeah, I remember the Blades saying that. Paarthurnax committed crimes before the Dragon War. No denying that. However, in the Dragon War, he helped bring down Alduin. He spent thousands of years on a freezing mountaintop (If you're using Frostfall, DON'T go up there unless you're wearing nearly every form of protective clothing recommended - you'll freeze to death while talking to him. True Story.) trying to teach others to use the Voice for peaceful purposes. And now he's helping you bring him down again. And mind you, Alduin is his brother - so that's pretty magnanimous of him to do that. Seems to me he's given a great deal for redemption. Which makes the Blades seem even more stupid than ever. Plus, that slow, didactic way of talking is very soothing. Need some Dovah-style soul therapy? Go talk to Paarthurnax.

So I was this Nord chap who's Dragonborn. I go talk to Paarthurnax. Nicest NPC in the whole game - just about EVERY other NPC, barring a few, are bloody douchebags. And he gives nice sound advice, talks philosophy some real world jokers could learn from, and (don't laugh) he's cute. Don't ask me WHY, I just think he is. So I join the Empire. Since in Head Cannon, my NPC is the descendant of the Champion of Cyrodiil. Plus, the Empire is nice - reasonable, cold-headed, practical, efficient. Better than those racist Stormcloak pigs and that idiot Ulfric (Talos worship for everyone? Thanks but no thanks - I worship Akatosh, the patron of the Empire. So F U Ulfric - it's because of YOU that I almost got my head blown off!!). Besides, Balgruuf supports the Empire. And he was the first to make me Thane and give me a house when I had to sleep in that damned skeeverhole of an inn called the Bannered Mare. You don't betray your host - that's an unforgivable sin. Point of that side note was that I didn't do Season Unending. Did it on another character. And that's when I really began to hate that Blades bullshit. Rude, arrogant, old f@&amp;#&#33;ts insulting the most powerful (and also some of the wisest) people in Tamriel because "We gotta kill everything that has scales and/or is a High Elf". So I go and do the Main Quest. Kick Alduin's scaly ass. Yay! And at the end of it, the Blades (who, those losers who couldn't prevent the assassination of Uriel Septim VII during the Oblivion Crisis?) who are now nothing but a bunch of old racist, bigoted, hate-frenzied, high-elf-hating, stick-up-their-ass hypocritical jerks - and who have done ZERO in helping me kill Alduin except to read a bunch of stupid hieroglyphs on a rotten Akaviri wall (the same Akaviri, who invaded Tamriel and who, by all accounts were the queen bitches of Nirn - and from whom the Blades PROUDLY claim descent) - come and tell me "Kill Paarthurnax, since he's a dragon." Now I'm no saint, but I need a better reason than "OMG It Has Scales" to go kill something. So when they said that, I was like - "Riiiiiiiight. Good luck with that." Immediately afterwards, I used setessential <insert_delphines_code_here> 0 and setessential <insert_esberns_code_here> 0 and Fus-Ro-Dah-ed them off Sky Haven Temple. End of Story. And those killing Paarthurnax - man, you must be a bunch of cold fishes to kill off a nice old dude who's done nothing but help you, just because of the sentiment of "OMG It Has Scales". No offence to anyone, just my two septims on it. :D