yes, i've figured out how to unlock them

thx anyway

Has anyone else who plays the 360 version notice massive lag when riding a horse? It's almost made the game unplayable for me.

^^it's not that bad - just a few seconds

i hate how it sometimes lags when you entering or exiting houses

that gets on my tits

edit:- i'm a werewolf now

Haven't noticed the horse lag, but that's probably because I rarely ever ride horses. I have encountered some other really annoying bugs though.

you walk?

one really annoying bug is that sometimes, once you've dispatched the main villain, the underlings will just stand around waiting for you to kill them, without defending or attacking

I don't really ride horses much, either. If fast travel isn't an option, I walk it. I like being able to stop and look at every last detail of the environment. Also, the character I'm currently playing is an alchemist, so it's convenient to just be able to pick plants as I go from one place to another.

According to what I've read, the PS3 version suffered from the worst bugs, the ones on 360 were annoying enough, just make sure you save all the time.

I rarely used horses either, preferred to run or just fast travel.

Yep, I pretty much always walk when I don't use fast travel. Sometimes I'll bring Shadowmere to help me in fights, but that's about it. I just don't really like how riding horses feels in this game.

^And yeah, I heard that the PS3 version was supposedly bugged really badly, so I thought it'd be safer to pick it up on the 360. Never been a fan of the controls on PC, even though Skyrim is supposed to easily be the best on it rather than the consoles.

My old roommate had to abandon his venture into Skyrim. He'd get home from work, start up his PS3, hit the button to load the game, go make dinner, do laundry, run errands, come back and hope it hadn't crashed while loading...

...for about 45 minutes.

Wow....

Thankfully the only issues I've ever had with Skyrim for PC was loading hundreds of mods where some of them would conflict. Speaking of which, I picked back up on Skyrim recently with a bunch of new mods. It sure does make the experience better. The new DLC is out now, but at this juncture, bills are the priority until I get work.
I wonder if it can be pirated.. HMMMMMMM...

^^i'm sure there is a pirated version out there somewhere

the Xbox version is playable enough, not nearly as bad as PS3

Naturally you find more side quests and little things you would not notice unless you are walking... it can actually be more fun! Haha... plus I always try to scale mountains on my horse and end up killing them...lol?

I completely abandoned my horse when I blundered into a hostile enemy camp and got cut to ribbons. Even so, I've pretty much just started to use the fast travel system.

^^whenever i'm near a hostile camp, i get off my horse and walk to it, not ride straight into one

and i have already bought a house, and a good spell-tomes, plus acquired some not very useful shouts

and i like using Uhfgred the Unbroken as a companion, she's a good fighter, haven't got her killed yet, thank God

I don't see the worth of horses at all. For me, it's just one extra thing to worry about.
I either fast travel to the location, or fast travel to the nearest discovered location and trek the rest of the way on foot. Of course, I have my two angels with me at all times. Lydia and Jordis The Sword-Maiden... I lent them some pretty great armor. And they're tough. I have a mod to let me have as many followers as I want, but I found those two to be very efficient while not getting in the way. I gave one a good bow, and the other a good sword.
I use them tactically.

Horses, though, I can't really use tactically. They get me from one place to another quicker, but it's more clunky to engage in a battle from a horse, and then you have to worry about it dying. I don't have to worry about protecting my girls so much, so I like letting them pick up the slack when I need it. Otherwise, I lead the charge. As a one-handed warrior, I definitely feel the need to.

Anyway, if I need to trek a good distance, I don't mind doing it on foot. I'm only a level 40 on my 3rd playthrough and I can take down a giant with 2 arrows. I'm still buffing up to daedra on this runthrough, as I'm a more "in your face" fighter, but I do appreciate the tactic of whittling down your enemy's health prior to charging in there. My girls help me in that regard when I fail to do so, and I always make sure they're protected and stocked.

I really don't need a horse to worry about.

Being a stealth focused character I've found companions to be absolutely useless. I mean my one-hand, block, and light armor are high enough that I can tank up some damage in a head-to-head fight, using th'um's to give me an advantage, but my strength lies in getting behind an opponent and then slitting their throat with my Superior Glass Dagger. Companions with less points in stealth than me will just get in my way, alert the enemy, and make me use up more health potions or mana healing myself than I need. Poor Lydia has been sitting Whiterun ever since I kind of helped take down a dragon at the beginning of the game. There's also a khajiit caravan bodyguard who said he'd help me, as well as Mjoll in Riften who are all waiting for me to take them adventuring.

With a horse you can climb even the tallest mountain extremely easily. Like when you have to get to cutthroat to learn the thuums. I quick travel to nearest spot then use horse to climb, its unrealistic as hell they let you do it but hey its part of the game.

i just partook in the Forsworn Revolution

it was a mad bloody battle

When it comes to games like Skyrim how many people actually role-play their character? I mean give them a backstory which explains why they act the way they act. Do you play with an idea of what your character is about, or do you just play to gain XP and become more powerful? When it comes to some of the moral choices, do you go for whatever will give you the best loot, or what your character would do based on their personality? Have you ever done something in the game that you later regretted, not because you lost out on something cool as a reward, but because it just felt wrong with your character's personality?

Last night I "acquired" the Skyrim DLC, Dawnguard.
Didn't play much of it, but it seems promising. There are a lot of great additions to the game in general.

no, i try to make him an all-rounder, as in adept in battle and magic

as for backstory, well, my character is basically a thief, my lockpicking abilities are higher than all others

I just consider my guy a mercenary. I'm willing to backstab anyone or do whatever it takes for personal gain. I like to get into the story when I play games, and I do feel like I'm doing that in this game, but playing Skyrim the way I'm playing it just basically equates to building up my XP and getting as much loot as I can in the end. I consider my guy more of a brawler and my XP reflects that as it's heavily slanted towards melee weapons.

The only thing that jumps out to me that I did as part of a moral decision as opposed to just thinking about self-gain was to not kill Erandur in that Skull of Corruption quest. It just felt wrong to murder him in cold blood like that.

personality-wise, i guess mine is a ****-stirrer

agreeing to help someone against somebody else, then doing a 180 turn and helping the enemy

it's just causing massive conflicts between all the factions

If you're gonna roleplay in this game, you're more likely than not just going to end up as a chronic backstabber since it takes so much willpower to reject quests purely on a basis of character when that "kill things with a vengeance" carrot is being dangled in front of you.

Just as a matter of principle, actively trying not to screw over people you've quested for in faction questlines means outright ignoring a lot of other groups. My Khajiit did the civil war story on the side of the Imperials, and now she's joining up with the Thieves' Guild, even though it's not exactly compatible with the somewhat over-righteous white knight tendencies that seem to be implied as coming along with being an Imperial supporter.

Although, I suppose it does make sense for a Khajiit to go against the Stormcloaks considering their race issues. I've been considering the implications of having my Khajiit partake in stealth/thief-based quests, though, purely in terms of racial stereotyping. Still debating whether that concern should be enough to keep her from doing Thieves' Guild quests.

Ancient vampires are tougher enemies than gargoyles. WHY.

Basically the way I got around there being some odd disjointed character developments with my Khajiit was by actually incorporating them into his character arc. He started out as a wide-eyed youngster, coming to Skyrim to make a name for himself. While he certainly sided with the Stormcloaks after Helgen, he still felt that he would not be looked upon as an equal if he joined their ranks, so instead he sought out The Companions. Despite becoming a leader of the Companions, he still received no respect from many of the Nords, especially in the Stormcloak controlled cities. He got tired of being called a sneak thief, despite the fact that he had never stolen or pickpocketed a single object. Finally it just started to become too much for him, he was a leader of the Companions, he had killed a dragon and become Thane of Whiterun, why was he not getting any respect?

When Brynjolf came to him and asked for help, he decided why not? Why not conform to the pre-conceived notions these simpletons have decided for him. Let them gawke and accuse, he'll take it, and then rob them blind, or better yet continue to create a sense of wholesomeness as he helps people out and let them think he's some great hero, while after the sun goes down he skulks around at night stealing, killing, and drinking the blood of Jarl's (he's a vampire right now).

When the time comes and he decides to actually get involved in the Civil War he's totally going with the Imperial's, not out of any great love or loyalty to the empire, but because he senses that if the Stormcloaks win they will turn Skyrim into a Nord-only province, which will put a huge dent in his plans to secretly be running the show behind the scenes.

That's pretty much how I've justified my character's somewhat erratic change in personality after about the 40 hour mark.

So I've started a new character, a Redguard Ronin-like character. I'm just curious if there's any armor similar to what a Samurai would wear in the game? I've got the Blade's Sword and will get the Ebony Blade when I get to Level 20.

So I just got my PC copy of Skyrim today and am super excited to rape it with mods. Thing is, I've never done this before and am worried that I'll wind up putting too many on and freezing the damn thing. Seriously, I already have over a dozen downloaded. Does anyone have experience with modding and the limitations it has?

So is it possible to be a vampire and a werewolf at the same time? At first being a werewolf was cool, but now that I'm hovering around the level 40 mark the Beast Form is just totally useless. I always think it may come in handy when fighting an annoying boss (the Gourmands were annoying as hell), but it never helped a damn bit. Now I just want sleeping bonuses, but I went and used my witch heads to save that one leader guy and then I was a nice guy and cured one of the other Companions (and even though it still says I have 4 damn witch heads, I don't think I can cure myself).

When I played Oblivion, I enjoyed my vampirism until I absolutely could not stay in the light, cured myself, and went about my way. I kind of want to do that again.

No you can't, lycanthropy makes you 100% resistent to disease so you wouldn't be able to catch sanguine vampris. As far as playing a vampire, their only real advantage that doesn't make the game waaaay to hard is your illusion spells are 25% stronger, so if you're playing a stealth based character it's pretty useful.

I feel like you got way more bonuses than that in Oblivion...I remember being quite a badass as a vampire and then one day the sun actually fried me so I had to give it up. If it's just Illusion bonuses, though...screw it.

I still never use Beast Form, though.

Anyone still playing this? I'm hooked right now.

I was playing it just a few moments ago. I'm trying to get my mage to a good level so that Solstheim won't be too much of a nightmare. Also I'm trying out the features added by Hearthfire. House building is both surprisingly difficult and surprisingly fun.

You got the Dragonborn add on yet?

I was playing through it for the first time yesterday. I like it so far, although I heard the story and characterisation are both terrible even by Bethesda's standards. I don't know if anybody here's ever played Morrowind (the third game in the Elder scrolls series) but basically this DLC is one massive fanservice package for the people who sunk hundreds of hours into that game.

I think several people here have played/hyped Morrowind. I'm not one of them. But I've played hundreds of hours of Skyrim so, for me, if the Dragonborn story and characterization are terrible I haven't noticed. I only got it because I wanted more Skyrim. I do dislike that there is only one voice actor for every male Dunmer but that's a minor complaint that carries over from the entire game.

It's a big improvement from Oblivion where there were only two voice actors for all three Mer races.

Once, instead of making a new Skyrim character, I tried to replay Oblivion (after having played it for many many hours the first time) and I just couldn't do it because the game is so ugly and dull in comparison.

Oblivion still holds a place in my heart because it has one thing Skyrim doesn't: camp charm. And lots and lots of Wes Johnson now that I think about it.

Yeah the characters are a bit two dimensional alright, but ****it, it doesn't take away from the immersion of the game. I really enjoyed dragonborn for a number of reasons I can't pull of the top of my head.




Same here, haha! There is absolutely no comparison. I wonder what the next installment will be like.