Skyrim

[IrishLion]

Well, if you change your mind (the Legendary edition is only $30, after all),just ask for some advice here before you start your game.

Speaking of that... Once I put some solid time into Oblivion, I'm sure I'll move to Skyrim after that. Where did you find the legendary edition for $30? The prices I saw earlier when deciding between the games were higher than that.

 

[koonja]

Okay, nerds. I played Oblivion but never got too far because I HATED HATED HATED the Oblivion Gates with a passion. Like, hated them. With a passion. I know magic exists in the Elder Scrolls universe and there's no way around that but I like my games to be as realistic as possible while minimizing the zombie/demon/supernatural thing. I haven't played Skyrim because the gates and general "invaders from another realm" plot left such a bad taste in my mouth.

Convince me why I should get/play/buy Skryim. Or shouldn't I?

Readygo.

I'm definitely not the one to ask because I didn't go far in the game, but I would liken it to about the same 'believability' as Harry Potter. Yes, there's spell and magic, but 80% of the game is very realistic IMO.

 

[koonja]

Speaking of that... Once I put some solid time into Oblivion, I'm sure I'll move to Skyrim after that. Where did you find the legendary edition for $30? The prices I saw earlier when deciding between the games were higher than that.

Yeah, at my game stop in Columbus, the Legendary Edition was $50, and Skyrim was $20. From the very little reading I did, it seemed like the LE was just more game play, and when people said it took 100s of hours to simply beat Skyrim, I didn't see a need to buy LE.

Is this true?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Okay, nerds. I played Oblivion but never got too far because I HATED HATED HATED the Oblivion Gates with a passion. Like, hated them. With a passion.

I agree. They were terrible. It took forever to get through one, and if your weapon broke halfway in, you were screwed. And they were all so similar.

I know magic exists in the Elder Scrolls universe and there's no way around that but I like my games to be as realistic as possible while minimizing the zombie/demon/supernatural thing. I haven't played Skyrim because the gates and general "invaders from another realm" plot left such a bad taste in my mouth.

There's nothing like the Oblivion gates in Skyrim. The daedric princes each have their own quest (as always), but they don't play nearly as large a role as they have in previous games. You could easily avoid that stuff.

Convince me why I should get/play/buy Skryim. Or shouldn't I?

Readygo.

How do you feel about dragons, werewolves, and vampires? If those are acceptable for you, you'll be able to complete 95% of the content without any extra-dimensional beings or magic involved. Skyrim is also a lot more realistic than previous TES games in its combat mechanics and portrayal of medieval Scandinavian society. You can now get married, build a house, adopt children, chop wood or mine for extra money, etc. The potential for "realistic" gameplay is way higher in Skyrim than Oblivion.

Like greyhammer suggested above, you could RP a little to increase your enjoyment and immersion in the game. Create a Nord Warrior or Thief who refuses to use magic. Avoid the College of Winterhold (Mage's guild) and daedric quests. You'll still run into enemy mages from time to time, but as long as giants and dragons won't ruin your experience, you'll have a blast.

 

[Jackalope1977]

Yeah, at my game stop in Columbus, the Legendary Edition was $50, and Skyrim was $20. From the very little reading I did, it seemed like the LE was just more game play, and when people said it took 100s of hours to simply beat Skyrim, I didn't see a need to buy LE.

Is this true?

Yes and no. If you're just looking to beat the main storyline then the game can be rather short. But as most of us wanted to experience as much of this beautiful game as possible, we played many side quests, guild quests, side jobs, dungeons, etc. Last time I played Skyrim I had put in 187 hours but I have one friend over 600. Do you need the extra content? Probably not. But that didn't stop many of us from getting it. Just enjoy the main game for a while and decide later if you need more.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Speaking of that... Once I put some solid time into Oblivion, I'm sure I'll move to Skyrim after that. Where did you find the legendary edition for $30? The prices I saw earlier when deciding between the games were higher than that.

You're right. Must have been a pre-Christmas special on Amazon. Just focus on Oblivion for now, and check on prices when you're done with it. Skyrim's already 2+ years old. Prices should continue to drop.

Yeah, at my game stop in Columbus, the Legendary Edition was $50, and Skyrim was $20. From the very little reading I did, it seemed like the LE was just more game play, and when people said it took 100s of hours to simply beat Skyrim, I didn't see a need to buy LE.

Is this true?

(1) If a game is good enough to merit hundreds of hours of time played, what's an extra $20-30 to significantly expand an already incredible fantasy world?
(2) The extra content is really fucking cool.

 

[wizards8507]

I agree. They were terrible. It took forever to get through one, and if your weapon broke halfway in, you were screwed. And they were all so similar.

There's nothing like the Oblivion gates in Skyrim. The daedric princes each have their own quest (as always), but they don't play nearly as large a role as they have in previous games. You could easily avoid that stuff.

How do you feel about dragons, werewolves, and vampires? If those are acceptable for you, you'll be able to complete 95% of the content without any extra-dimensional beings or magic involved. Skyrim is also a lot more realistic than previous TES games in its combat mechanics and portrayal of medieval Scandinavian society. You can now get married, build a house, adopt children, chop wood or mine for extra money, etc. The potential for "realistic" gameplay is way higher in Skyrim than Oblivion.

Like greyhammer suggested above, you could RP a little to increase your enjoyment and immersion in the game. Create a Nord Warrior or Thief who refuses to use magic. Avoid the College of Winterhold (Mage's guild) and daedric quests. You'll still run into enemy mages from time to time, but as long as giants and dragons won't ruin your experience, you'll have a blast.

How close are we to a Game of Thrones-ish feel?

 

[greyhammer90]

How close are we to a Game of Thrones-ish feel?

Much closer than Oblivion. More overt magic, but it's treated as being a fairly common tool.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

How close are we to a Game of Thrones-ish feel?

Very. The cities feel very authentic. The vast majority of enemies you meet in the world will be human or realistic beasts (bears, wolves, sabrecats), with a smattering of dragons, giants, werewolves and vampires tossed in.

If GoT is what you're looking for, I think you'll be very pleased.

 

[ulukinatme]

But I returned the game and purchased the Metal Gear HD collection instead (MG2, MG3 and MG Peace Walker for only $10 more dollars than Skyrim).

Okay, nerds. I played Oblivion but never got too far because I HATED HATED HATED the Oblivion Gates with a passion. Like, hated them. With a passion. I know magic exists in the Elder Scrolls universe and there's no way around that but I like my games to be as realistic as possible while minimizing the zombie/demon/supernatural thing. I haven't played Skyrim because the gates and general "invaders from another realm" plot left such a bad taste in my mouth.

Convince me why I should get/play/buy Skryim. Or shouldn't I?

Readygo.

Easy - The modding community. Of course I'm referring to the PC version (Which is, imo, the only way to play TES games and Fallout). You say that you hated Oblivion Gates? Check this out:
Oblivion Gate Closer Spell at Oblivion Nexus - mods and community

You say you want a more realistic Skyrim with no spells? How about this?
Remove all spells at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community

There are thousands of community made mods for the game, new ones come out every day! Not just for Skyrim, the community is still creating mods for Oblivion, the Fallout games, and I think Morrowind. If there ISN'T a mod created that does what you want, sometimes you can even propose one and someone may create it. Hell, even I created a mod for someone after I saw a request to create a Resurrection spell.

Theres utilities, better textures, new weapons/armor, quests, NPCs, spells, houses, you name it, it's out there. The modding community only adds to Bethesda's games, imo. I usually suggest playing through the game at least once on "Vanilla" (no mods), but there are some you can install that won't break your experience like enhanced textures, music, or simple fixes like the Unofficial Skyrim Patch created by modders.

 

[ACamp1900]

Skyrim= No gates.

 

[wizards8507]

Easy - The modding community. Of course I'm referring to the PC version (Which is, imo, the only way to play TES games and Fallout).

Well, I have a shitty computer so it would be xbox or nothing for me. Interesting tips though.

Off topic: How the hell does glass armor/weaponry work? It's glass. Seems stupid.

Even further off topic: Do y'all remember Knights of the Old Republic (1 and 2)? Most fun I've ever had with video games.

 

[greyhammer90]

Even further off topic: Do y'all remember Knights of the Old Republic (1 and 2)? Most fun I've ever had with video games.

and you don't like "not lifelike" video games?

 

[ACamp1900]

Weren't knights of the old repub. games World of Warcraft, just with Star Wars??

 

[wizards8507]

and you don't like "not lifelike" video games?

Haha fair point, but I think it has to do with "feel" more than anything. I don't mind zombies in a zombie game, and I don't might lightsabers in a Star Wars game, for example. The thing I didn't like about Oblivion was that it felt like it was trying to be "high fantasy" but went overboard in the "sword and scorcery" direction.

Take Game of Thrones as an example. There are dragons and direwolves and kinda-sorta-zombies, but the magic is generally subdued. If Tyrion Lannister suddenly developed the ability to hurl fireballs from his bare hands, that would be a bit too much IMO.

 

[wizards8507]

Weren't knights of the old repub. games World of Warcraft, just with Star Wars??

That's the new(er) one, "The Old Republic." "Knights of the Old Republic" were single player RPGs in the Star Wars universe. KOTOR 3 was rumored for awhile but morphed into "The Old Republic," which, like you said, was basically World of Warcraft just with Star Wars.

 

[ulukinatme]

Weren't knights of the old repub. games World of Warcraft, just with Star Wars??

You're thinking of the Old Republic MMO that came out a few years ago. The original Knights of the Old Republic games were an RPG style action/adventure with similar good/bad karma choices as you progressed through the games. The stories were fantastic, with decent character's and development. The MMO has yet to make a big splash however. It started over very strong, then quickly killed a large number of those initial players.

 

[ACamp1900]

If Tyrion Lannister suddenly developed the ability to hurl fireballs from his bare hands, that would be a bit too much IMO.

You're gonna hate season four....

 

[wizards8507]

You're gonna hate season four....

Haha nice try but I'm a reader as well as a watcher.

 

[ACamp1900]

All a boy can do is try...

 

[ulukinatme]

Well, looks like I'm fully entrenched in Skyrim again thanks to kuehnja, although that's not necessarily a good thing.

I'm checking out 3 mods that I haven't used before. Playing through a melee only build (wizards8507 style?) on Master difficulty with these:

Immersive Armors at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community
The Dance of Death - A Killmove Mod at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community
Immersive Weapons at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community

The armor one is crazy. Tons of new, lore friendly craft-able armor, something like 600+ new shields, cloaks, bandannas, you name it. None of them appear to be game breaking either, they scale much like the vanilla armor and they're appropriately placed throughout the game in leveled chests, some NPC's, or craft-able as mentioned.


And this one for good measure:
Enhanced Blood Textures at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community

 

[IrishLion]

For you guys who play these games via computer rather than console, what kind of computer do you work with?

I am completely clueless on computer gaming/software/devices, and especially how people can play a full combat game with keys/mouse rather than joysticks. It perplexes me to even think about.

 

[ClausentoTate]

For you guys who play these games via computer rather than console, what kind of computer do you work with?

I am completely clueless on computer gaming/software/devices, and especially how people can play a full combat game with keys/mouse rather than joysticks. It perplexes me to even think about.

It's a hell of a lot easier, actually. Games and gamers have been using WASD for decades at this point. Computers have better graphics and better response times, which creates a better experience imo. I actually get kind of nauseous when I can't focus the camera in console games... just not used to it I guess. Don't get me started on loading screens... I pretty much use consoles exclusively for sports games.

 

[ulukinatme]

It's a hell of a lot easier, actually. Games and gamers have been using WASD for decades at this point. Computers have better graphics and better response times, which creates a better experience imo. I actually get kind of nauseous when I can't focus the camera in console games... just not used to it I guess. Don't get me started on loading screens... I pretty much use consoles exclusively for sports games.

This. Consoles are kind of limited. I still use them, but usually just for console only exclusive titles and sports games. If you do it right, you can upgrade your PC typically for the same cost as a new console, sometimes cheaper if you do it right and only need to replace a few parts. Sometimes I do prefer to use a controller, like for old school games on an NES emulator, in which case I just plug one into the USB port.

 

[ACamp1900]

If you are starting from scratch with a CPU it would be much more expensive than a console, by alot. My best man is a major computer freak and I can't believe the amount of money he puts into his already super-CPU just to keep it 'state of the art' for games... I like cpu games, but it seems like a far more expensive hobby.

 

[ulukinatme]

For you guys who play these games via computer rather than console, what kind of computer do you work with?

I am completely clueless on computer gaming/software/devices, and especially how people can play a full combat game with keys/mouse rather than joysticks. It perplexes me to even think about.

I just upgraded my PC in preparation for the Star Citizen game coming out, but I'm running an 8 core AMD processor and motherboard, 8 GB of RAM (Kinda low by today's standards, but I'm going to be adding more as finances allow), an nVidia 650 GTX video card, and a 250 GB SSD drive for my programs and OS /w a 500 GB SATA drive for storage only (It was an old drive I already had). All told I think I spent almost $500 in parts, but I went overboard in a few places. I could have done far worse too, it just depends on how much you're willing to put into it and what you want to get out. I'm pretty happy with the results, I'm able to run just about anything on High settings so far, and running on Ultra settings for Skyrim /w enhanced textures.

As far as playing full combat games with the mouse and keys, ClausenToTate already said a bit there, but most games use WASD keys for movement and you pick it up pretty quick. Can't imaging using actual arrow keys these days. The nice thing is combat games typically have you use the number keys to switch weapons, which are right there above your movement keys, and then certain actions usually use the E, R, T, and F keys similarly to what your R1, R2, L1, L2 buttons would be on a PS controller. Then of course you're got your mouse too. Sounds complicated, but it's easy to get used to, and the nice part is that you can really configure what key's/buttons do what in PC games while a lot of console games just give you a couple options for different key configurations.

 

[ulukinatme]

If you are starting from scratch with a CPU it would be much more expensive than a console, by alot. My best man is a major computer freak and I can't believe the amount of money he puts into his already super-CPU just to keep it 'state of the art' for games... I like cpu games, but it seems like a far more expensive hobby.

It is a bit more expensive at first, but you're also able to do a lot more with a PC than a console of course. After you've bought a case, power supply, decent monitor, speakers, etc you typically don't need to buy these items again (Or at least for awhile). You can reuse them and just replace internal components which makes it cheaper later on. Sometimes all you need is a video card upgrade to get you back up to speed which can run you only about $100 for "yesterday's" model. That's pretty cheap for a big pick me up. I typically do a major overhaul ($400-$400) on my PC just once every 5 years, which is roughly the life of a console today. In between I may replace a video card, or upgrade storage or something cheap if the need arises.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

For you guys who play these games via computer rather than console, what kind of computer do you work with?

I am completely clueless on computer gaming/software/devices, and especially how people can play a full combat game with keys/mouse rather than joysticks. It perplexes me to even think about.

You can get a USB gaming controller and play PC games just like you do on a console. Aside from a few console-exclusive titles, PC gaming is superior in virtually every way.

If your budget is really tight, I'd suggest getting a PS3 for $200 and playing through the best titles of the last decade, which can conveniently be purchased for $10-30 a piece since they were released so long ago. For a number of reasons, PC gaming isn't an option for me at the moment, so this is what I'm currently doing.

A PS4 or XBox One will set you back at least $500. You could build a gaming PC on a similar budget that would run circles around either of those consoles. If you're interested in building your own machine, check out the sidebar on /r/buildapc and the System Builder Marathon on Tom's Hardware.

OR, if you can afford to wait a bit, you can get the best of both worlds with a Steam Box. That's the wave of the future as far as gaming goes.

 

[wizards8507]

Okay, I'm officially caving. If I can get a "like-new" Skyrim Legendary Edition on eBay for under $40, I'll go that route. If not, I think I'll do $25 on Amazon for the regular game.

 

[ulukinatme]

Okay, I'm officially caving. If I can get a "like-new" Skyrim Legendary Edition on eBay for under $40, I'll go that route. If not, I think I'll do $25 on Amazon for the regular game.

You can't go wrong just getting the regular game if you don't feel like spending the extra cash. I think theres only 3 DLC's in the legendary version, one is a house mod, and one of them I still need to play.