Back to Skyrim

Well I've finally done it and I'm back to playing Skyrim again despite my issues with it. Namely no spell crafting, poor enchanting options, villages that masquerade as cities. Guilds that I can become the master of within 5 minutes without the required skills. Annoying NPC's who won't shut up and greet you with their rehearsed one liners every time you stroll past. Well the list goes on.

Then again I do like the world itself and the sense of freedom like any Elder Scrolls game. So I'm finally downloading the official HD textures (got the HD texture mod fixes too ) and I've downloaded a whole bunch of mods that have been created since I started avoiding all things Skyrim.

Anyway I just wanted to know how many people still play the game and what mods you're using to fix Skyrim's most annoying aspects. For me thats mainly stealth/magic/levelling/lack of character customisation etc.

Also how many people have Dawnguard and Heartfire? Are they worth bothering with? I really like the look of Dragonborn despite some of the average reviews because its set in Solstheim and I'm a serious Morrowind Junkie.

I have Hearthfire and enjoyed it. I haven't played Skyrim for a while. Got to playing Fallout New Vegas. I may go back to it after Dragonborn comes out and any issues are hopefully patched. Seems as if the DLCs break mods. I don't have very many mods. Will have to check my mod list.

I mainly like exploring the world and doing some of the side quests.

Nakia: Thanks. I do much the same thing roaming around exploring, clearing dungeons. I doubt I ever went everywhere when I used to play since I got fed up with the mechanics and immersion issues. Still I avoid guilds like the plague and I never pursue the main quest because that leads to being spammed with dragon attacks every five minutes.

I can understand your addiction to Fallout NV. At least it has 3 different endings and a lot more choice in regard to quests. Bethesda sadly learned nothing from Obsidian though. I wish I could go back to New Vegas but the truth is I've played it to death on the Xbox and even an army of mods couldn't bring me back.

For the record FNV has four different endings, not three.

Mods do make a HUGE difference. In truth FNV doesn't need mods as badly as Fallout 3 but they add plenty of gameplay and some user made quests are simply as good as any official DLC.

Not to mention that without mods there is no way you can make a character that looks like any of these (sorry I don't mean to brag but it's true):

Spoiler:

You may have played it to the death on your console but I'm sure that you'll come around some day.

In the meantime good luck getting back to Skyrim. I've said it before but the only way to enjoy Skyrim is not to think about how good it could have been but simply to take it for what it is.

Carabas: Yeah you're right about the endings I forgot about the Legion one.

Definately nice pictures. I agree mods make a massive difference but what I should have said was I have played most of them on my friends PC. I've even done my fair of model and texture work for my friends NV mods too. Weirdly enough I have FNV for my Xbox but I have Fallout 3 and all the DLC on my PC so I've gone through my share of mods for that game. I always preferred the setting of Fallout 3 to FNV but FNV does have the better story and player choices. At present I'm just tired of scifi rpgs.

True Skyrim is far more approachable when you accept it how it is and with the HD textures now installed I'm not looking at the graphics saying "this sucks" anymore.

Well it's a matter of taste. FNV setting is much closer to the original game and lore wise it makes sense which is something that IMO can't be said about Fallout 3.

As far as Skyrim goes it's an ok game, in all fairness it never makes you feel like you're part of this world and it never makes you feel as if your actions matter which is rather ironic considering that it's clear that the whole Dragonborn thing was supposed to achieve just that.

If you're looking for great fantasy games you should consider Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning and Divinity 2. Both are much better than Skyrim. Kingdoms of Amalur is a very refreshing game with great gameplay and fighting mechanics that don't feel outdated (which is something that can be said about Skyrim). Divinity 2 is a great game for players who miss the feel of old school CRPGs in which nobody is holding your hand and you have to think on your own instead of following a dotted line.

The one thing that I really liked about Skyrim is the possibility of making a character look the way you want to. I was able to make one who looked like Lee Van Cleef and that is something that makes the game enjoyable to me:

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/914914-1325641340.jpg

That being said I'm done with Skyrim so I can understand your stance regarding FNV.

Carabas wrote:

Well it's a matter of taste. FNV setting is much closer to the original game and lore wise it makes sense which is something that IMO can't be said about Fallout 3.

I know I still play Fallout 1 and 2 and lore wise Fallout 3 should be set on the West Coast not the East. The think is I just love the way they made a bombed out Washington DC. It kind of gives me an "I am Legend/Omega Man" feel wandering those streets. Of course I had to use the awesome DC Interiors mod due to Bethesda making 90% of its buildings unexplorable.

Carabas wrote:

As far as Skyrim goes it's an ok game, in all fairness it never makes you feel like you're part of this world and it never makes you feel as if your actions matter which is rather ironic considering that it's clear that the whole Dragonborn thing was supposed to achieve just that.

That is entirely the problem with most of Bethesda's games they have a great open world with a lot of options but the stories typically suck big time. I just ignore it and explore and do my own thing. Staying away from guilds and the main quest helps a great deal.

Divinity 2 I might definately have a look at. I did like the look of Kingdoms but I don't want Origin on my system so I won't be getting that.

Thats funny how much your character looks like Lee van Cleef, you just need the hat to go with it.

FYI Kingdoms of Amalur is available on Steam.

I agree when it comes to Bethesda. It's a pity really, they get half the job done and never get there. That's most unfortunate.

Oh thats a bonus I thought since Kingdoms was EA they'd taken all their toys away to Origin. If its on Steam that makes a massive difference to me. Cheers.

I said I would give you some of the mods I have installed so here goes. These are on Steam.
Idemdall's Folly Created by ndcowdy This is a quest mod that is both challenging and fun. A little different from the run-of-the-mill quest mod. and not because I voice the evil nixie. You get a very special reward for completing the quest.
Idemdall's Folly

Another quest mod I had no problems with but I understand some people have reported problems is this one:
Telvanni Hall It may have been updated since I played it so I recommend it with reservations.

There are quite a few Spell mods available. I have only a few. Weather Master

Spells for Skyrim

Check out Carabas's mod list. This will be foun on NEXuss.
Mods for Skyrim

The steam version was published by the now dissolved developers and their parent company.

Lndf117 wrote:

The steam version was published by the now dissolved developers and their parent company.

Lndf117: Okay thanks that explains a lot.

Nakia: Thanks. Idemdall's Folly sounds good so I'll be giving that a go. I'll wait a bit for Telvanni Hall until he's updated it a bit more. Yes Carabas's Skyrim list is good but its quite old. I've found some really good mods that have really improved the game for me. I'll post them in a seperate thread in case anyone is interested. Remarkably I hated Skyrim when I first started playing it, now I really love it. I suspect the reason is the quality mods I've found or maybe its that one year later perspective.

It's good that you're enjoying Skyrim. Now that the bloom is gone I have to say it isn't bad but it's not really good either. It has its moments but it certainly lacks depth.

In any case feel free to post your list of mods it can be very useful for other players.

Since I understand that any updates made by the Telvanni Hall modder will require DLCs I probably won't update. Since I am in a small part working on a Wormhole Project for Skyrim I probably will return to Skyrim for for testing purposes at least. Any mods that had significantly to game play or graphics would be welcomed.

Edit: Ran across this link. Can't read the site yet so I am placing the link here. Beautiful Skyrim

Carabas wrote:

It's good that you're enjoying Skyrim. Now that the bloom is gone I have to say it isn't bad but it's not really good either. It has its moments but it certainly lacks depth.

I know what you mean about depth I feel the same since I still love the sheer depth of Morrowind (still play it with the Graphical Overhaul). I know Skyrim lacks depth but with the right graphic and gameplay mods Skyrim can be vastly improved and far more immersive, this opinion is coming from someone who totally despised the game when they first played it. If you impose limits on your gameplay Skyrim is actually better, for example my Conan type fighter character distrusts magic and never uses it. I never pick up magical books or items since my character is against it. I know thats crazy but thats the way I want to play it. I never choose perks that what be considered outside my character class and I avoid all guild quests because I don't want to stupidly become head of a guild at level 5. I never fast travel and only make use of the carridge option (like using Morrowinds stilt strider service). While I am playing through the main quest again I'm enjoying it a lot more this time due to my self imposed playing restrictions. Although it is tiring going up and down the Throat of the World so many times.

I think the main issue with Bethesda games is simply that the perceived lack of depth is due mainly to poor storytelling. In terms of substance theres a vast amount of content in all of their games but they never really provide significant consequences for being good or evil and you are not really encouraged to go to one extreme or the other. Morally Bethesda games are very grey. Of course there are exceptions like Fallout 3 which chimed in with its annoying karma meter everytime you did something bad and spawned annoying bounty hunters or Talon Mercs if your were trully bad or good. I think this lack of consequences of choice is where the real problem is. Why did they never learn anything from Obsidian I have no idea.

Nakia: Yes the Beautiful Skyrim link is nice. My only issue is that its not compatible with Climates of Tamriel which I love. I still may try it at some point though.

Bethesda has gone down hill. Morrowind had a good story well integrated into the game. That game is a jewel. Oblivion's Main Quest was not well integrated into the game but I still enjoyed it. Closing Oblivion gates did get boring but there is a cheat I used to get around the the random gates.

Skyrim? I don't give a damn about being Dragonborn and play it as a joke. I can quite happily play the game without even doing the Dragonborn quests. The game is a fun adventure game with a big and interesting world to explore. I more than got my money's worth from the game.

Dragon Captions has released a new Skyrim so I will be returning to the game to check it out. This is the first version so hopefully Scythe will be expanding it. More information to follow once I have checked it out.

To be honest Nakia I'm going to get the Dragonborn DLC tomorrow because I want those Morrowind style houses back and it has some really awesome Cthulhu style Lovecraftian beasties in it. It won't be Morrowind though in fact nothing ever is. I have to say that despite my love of the original game I hate the combat and always will. Hitting something 30 times in the chance that you'll eventually do some damage at low levels was to put it bluntly boring as hell. Of course the game world and depth is what its all about but the combat was seriously dull. At least Skyrim's limited action combat at least has some pace to it. Which is more than what can be said for Oblivion.

Oblivion's main quest is fun once. The character of Martin was great. Although having it forced in your face every new game it began to grate. Thank heavens for that mod when you can deliver the amulet of kings and tell Jauffre to sod off.

I'm planning on giving Skyrim Redone a go at some point though I am typcially wary of large overhauls since theres a higher chance something will be broken with their tinkering.

Oh and I just tried that Beautiful Skyrim. Imho dreadful performance, overkill DOF, overly saturated colours. Not keen at all. I'll stick to the one I'm currently using it works far better with my videocard and for me looks nicer too.

Please let us know how Dragonborn and Skyrim Redone are. I will probably get Dragonborn once it is vetted by those braver than I am.

One of my first mods was one that gave a chance to bypass the Quest all together unless you chose to start it.

Nakia the Rogue wrote:

Please let us know how Dragonborn and Skyrim Redone are. I will probably get Dragonborn once it is vetted by those braver than I am.

Will do. I'm probably one of the few people to like Dawnguard so you should take my advice with a pinch of salt.

Nakia the Rogue wrote:

One of my first mods was one that gave a chance to bypass the Quest all together unless you chose to start it.

Yes I remember that one but the other one I used was funnier. When you tell Jauffre to find another idiot to do his fetch and carry work he replies with a very indignant "Fine then". Then there was that other mod where you found the Amulet in the belly of a rat. That was a good one too.

I never knew about the one with Jauffre but I used the belly of a rat one.

I think it was from Choices or Consquences or something. I had a few different mods at the time that changed your limited options in quests. What we really need is a few of those for Skyrim and every guild needs about 30 more quests and some form of skill requirements. For example you cannot become Arch Mage at anything less than level 30. If someone fixes that I may actually join a guild again.

Not requiring skills for advancement I find ridiculous. a thief who can't sneak, pickpocket, unlock things? A Mage or Arch Mage who isn't skilled in at least one type of magic?

Skyrim needs some serious modding.

I am probably going to get dragonborn, i got both of the others. I agree that it doesn't make sense to be able to level through the guilds without actually having the skills they use.

for oblivion i did use an alternate start mod after a few playthroughs.

ok i pre-purchased dragonborn.

Lndf117 wrote:

I agree that it doesn't make sense to be able to level through the guilds without actually having the skills they use.

It wouldn't have been so bad if they had restricted the player to one guild per character as long as each of the guilds had some more quests and a skill requirement for advancing. I wish I knew how to alter that. There was a guild level requirement mod for Oblivion, I wonder if it could be ported to Skyrim.

Lndf117 wrote:

for oblivion i did use an alternate start mod after a few playthroughs.

I think everyone used an alternate start mod eventually.

Lndf117 wrote:

ok i pre-purchased dragonborn.

Me too. Now I just have to wait till 7.00pm tonight for it to unlock.