Skyrim: First Impressions

News on The Creation Kit it is due out January.
Creation Kit

Sorry you will have to scroll up. I have no idea way it jumps down.

The levelling slows down once you've maxed out the skills you use -unless you start using skills that you never used simply to get levels (I don't really see the point).

My thief is catching up with my first character. He got a little behind with fighting skills but it's getting better.

Thanks for the link.

It means that until then some modders are going to use inappropriate tools to make esps for Skyrim and if that is fine for work arounds I don't see that as being a good idea in the long run.

Basically no real mods until January then. Never mind, Skyrim is good enough as it is and the things I'd like to modify will have to wait.

One of the reasons I waited to dl any mods was to get the official patch. Some people who used the mods that are out are now having problems they didn't have before. I am not surprised.

I met up with a scripted dragon where I didn't get a soul but turned into a humoniod dragon,sorry forgot the name, short term memory loss,. I ended up cheating and used the console to kill it. I may have goofed up there but I got a mask that increases pickpocking, lockpicking and alchemy skills and the quest is completed. Miscellaneous objective.

My thief's fighting skills are also coming along nicely. Other than the above fight.

The game is huge so it may be better to use spoiler tags if you're going to be more specific.

There is nothing wrong with mods that are purely visual. Textures, interface mods are fine. Anything that comes with an esp may be kosher or may have unforeseen consequences (predictably hard to check without a toolset). I'm not judging but I'm with you on that. As long as we don't have a supported toolset messing with the Skyrim esm is probably a hazardous occupation.

My restarter syndrome is assaulting me. I've grown bored with my guy since he's managed to max out pickpocketing. Time for a new character. Possibly a Redguard spellsword or an Argonian barbarian. The creepy Dunmer is boring me.

Sorry, Cara. I'll try to remember.

Don't think this is a spoiler. Got attacked by another DB assassin. Am now on my way to Winterhold.

This time I have no urge to restart although I do have in the back of my mind a warrior and a mage. I guess I really am a rogue at heart. Oh, I did pick up a treasure map but don't know what to do with it.

I got a treasure map with my first guy but never bothered going treasure hunting.

I love playing rogues but I think I've botched my Dunmer as he levelled way too fast...

I need to make a new character that I like and focus on things that will be fun. No Argonians or Khajits. I tried making a Khajit and it looked a bit odd (to say the least) my Argonian was better but I don't really like the way it looks either.

Maybe I'll try making a female character for a change. I'm also thinking of a Redguard who would dress as a Redguard (since the desert garb is available in some shops). That could be fun.

I like Redguards. My first Oblivion characters were all Redguards, custom made spellswords. Techniclly Redguards don't like magic but I didn't know that then. Besides a Redguard in Skyrim would be a bit of a Rogue and attracked to magic.

I'm a bit disappointed that your character's race isn't acknowledged more in the game. Aside from the occasional, "Stay out of trouble, Khajiit," I hear from guards, my character's race is never mentioned or noted. Even my fellow Khajiit in the caravans treat me with complete indifference.

After playing Dragon Age: Origins, were PC race played such a major role in the game, this choice feels a bit hollow in Skyrim. Maybe they expected everyone to play Nords.

After playing a Dunmer I have to say that I got enough "elf" remarks to be reminded that my character wasn't a Nord. Of course being a Khajit should involve more depth than that if only when dealing with fellow Khajits.

As a Nord I had a WTF moment when my character was referred to as a "stranger" then this may be an oversight since Nords would usually use the term "kinsmen" so all in all it may not be perfect but it's probably not that bad. Especially given the sheer size of the game. DAO is definitely not in the same category (and I love DAO).

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Techniclly Redguards don't like magic but I didn't know that then.

I'm not that good with the lore in these games but why do they get a bonus in Destruction if they're not into magic?

I've found the way to fight off my restarter syndrome. I've recreated Carabas -which was the name of my main characters in Morrowind and Oblivion. Both were Imperials. I don't care much for Imperials in Skyrim but that should give me a reason to join the Legion.

Also I think I may be getting good at playing with the face generation sliders: screenshot.

Nice job with the face on your Imperial, Carabas.

My complaint about the race thing was a very minor one. Elder Scrolls games have never paid much attention to race before, so I didn't really expect it to be different this time around. There are plenty of other things going on.

I still have yet to touch the civil war questline. I'm thinking of making a Nord just to help me get into it. I can't see how either of the characters I've made so far would really care about the politics of Skyrim. A Nord or Imperial character will probably get the most out of it.

Sneaking is powerful, but the enemy AI can still be pretty dumb. I just happened upon three Forsworn standing in a field. I snuck up behind the first and got a stealth throat-slitting kill. One of the others walked over, looked at the body, said, "I'm going to find whoever did this," then turned his back on me and just stood there. Another throat slit. The third walked over and just stood there staring at his two dead friends. Third throat slit. Natural selection in action.

Thanks Kana.

It may depend on the level. Once you've maxed a skill out I think that it's better to consider that your character has reached some sort of epic level.

The companion AI is appalling. But then it was never any good in other Bethesda titles.

I completely share your feeling about the civil war. I've started the questline with my Nord but didn't see it through. My Nord was a "good" character and it was hard for him to justify these actions. It's a very interesting questline and the moral ambiguity makes it better. I need to finish it and see if it lives up to expectations.

Very hansome Imperial, Cara. Reminds me a little of a young Sean Connery.
My Khajiit has been refered to as a kitty and a cat but I agree with Kana that fact that other Khajiits don't seem to recognize your character is a bit annoying.

I was pleased that one NPC knew that Chirhan was small. Said something about the small size.

I am having trouble with the carriages, can't seem to get them to work. I get the order to get on the cart but then nothing happens. Seems stuck on "use cart".

I never had any problem with carriages but I did run into a weird bug when I tried to mine some ore. It never happened before updating the game so that may be it. I'm completely paranoid when it comes to these games so I had a save to go back to but this is annoying.

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Very hansome Imperial, Cara. Reminds me a little of a young Sean Connery.

Thank you! I didn't want to say anything before but I actually had my James Bond DVD collection at hand when I was making this character. I wanted him to look like Sean Connery when he was in his 30s. It seems I've managed to get some sort of likeness.

You succeeded.

I am beginning to think this patch caused more problems than it fixed. A new one is due out in a few days. We will see if that helps.

I've backed up the exe and everything so I can go back to the previous patch but I didn't expect so many problems... I've read that the beta version of the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) fixes the bug with magic resistance that the 1.2 patch introduced.

My advice from now on would be to keep Steam offline just to be sure and back up your files before going online and patching in case you want to revert to a previous version.

To be fair Skyrim isn't as bad as other games at least in my experience. I just hope that the good people at Bethesda are going to be more careful with their patches in the future.

Regarding my new character, I don't know if that's the face or the name but I'm having fun playing this character. I've been humming the James Bond theme from time to time especially when getting critical hits and sniping at bandits. It is fun!

By the way, I've come across a nice little mod that changes the intro music to The Dragonborn Comes by a young artist who definitely has some talent and a lovely voice:

Spoiler:

I'll post a link to the mod in the other thread.

I wish I could sing, not being able to keep a tune really put a damper on my ambitions of ever becoming a bard.

I've also found a version on the guitar for a "metal cover" version of the theme.

Spoiler:

I shouldn't have given up on music back in 1992.

SKSE does fix the magic resistance bug for me. I really noticed it with my Battlemage, because my usual tactic was to summon a fire atronach followed by throwing a few fireballs to thin the herd, then rush in with a mace and start bashing. With the 1.2 patch, my fireballs would kill my fire atronach. With SKSE, I get the message in the upper left corner that it resisted the damage.

Apparently, damage resistance from armor is bugged somehow, too, at least according to people on Bethesda's forums. I haven't noticed too much with my thief, because he generally doesn't get hit.

I had a funny thing happen. I have Brelyna Maryon, a mage from the College of Winterhold, as a companion (along with the dog, Vigilance). We came upon a a little group of goats in our travels, and Brelyna and Vigilance, for some reason, decided they were a great threat to the people of Skyrim and attacked. I had also given Brelyna a staff of zombie, and she used it to raise a deadly zombie goat to fight for us.

The dragons don't stand a chance, now! Beware the goat!

Spoiler:

That is simply awesome Kana!

The AI is full of surprises. I have fun when I can lure some foes so they get hit by their own traps... This takes some willing suspension of disbelief but that works.

That is great, Kana. The AI is quite interesting.

Cara, Steam had a link for that singer to a different place. She is marvelous. I would like more songs from her.

I have Uthgerd the Unbroken traveling with me now. She is quite a fighter and versitile, uses both sword and bow.

I've noticed that my loading time seems to be much longer when I have a companion. It doesn't bother me that much since I prefer a "one man army" playing style anyway.

Judging from what I've seen of companions I can't say I'm that impressed. I've tried Lydia, the dog and some mercs but they all seem rather bland and formulaic. I felt sorry when my Dunmer accidentally killed Sven with an arrow (but my Dunmer didn't really care).

I expect someone will come up with companion mods that are worth playing once the Creation Kit is released (I just hope we don't get too many Mary Sues or babes in chainmail bikinis).

The TES games were written to be solo games. Those of us who played Baldurs Gate are spoiled. I am hoping Emma will bring Vilja to Skyrim and other modders will create more interesting companions.

Lydia got killed off early in this game and so did my dog. Actually I didn't like the dog, the constant barking annoyed me and he was always in the way. Even the horses are a bother since they get killed off easily. They are much improved in Skyrim but also get killed very easily and I have not been able to set them as essential. Once the CK comes out and I can do that from there I may use them more.

Right now Chirhan is exploring. We will continue to work on miscelaneous objectives but it seems whenever I get one completed I end up with several more.

The followers are all very bland. Honestly, I think characterization is just something Bethesda couldn't do to save their lives. They create two types of characters, one-note characters with no personality, and very broad characters who play to a stereotype. Their only memorable characters usually fall into the latter category.

I don't mind, as I don't play Bethesda games for the writing. But I'm looking forward to modders adding some followers with actual personality into the game. I may even try my hand at doing so myself.

I'm still using companions, because I like to have a party, but believing that they are anything more than automatons requires a great deal of imagination.

I don't mind the bland companions because when the get killed I don't care. I, too, look forward to companions created by some of our excellent modders such as Emma. I don't think Bethesda ever intended this to be a party game and only tossed in some to placate players.

I get more upset when my horse gets killed. I wish I knew how to set it on essential.

Definitely, Emma's mods are a staple of my Morrowind adventures, and I've heard lots of good things about Vilja. I'm going to replay Oblivion sometime just to try that mod.

So far, the only companions I've had die were the dog companions. Oh, aside from Sven, but his death was, um... not entirely unexpected.

Kana wrote:

Oh, aside from Sven, but his death was, um... not entirely unexpected.

Last time I had him as a companion his untimely demise may have been unexpected but not unwelcome.