Re: Off Topic Generalities

[Nayaby]

Noooo! You gave me a dose of reality! NOOOOOO!

School. Three. Weeks. Summer. Over.

And I'm going to have to live with people I've never met before! What if they're psychopaths? Or werewolves? Or... TREKKIES!

*hides*

Anyway, City of Heroes sounds kind of interesting. I stopped playing SWTOR because it was no longer gripping enough to warrant paying $14.99 a month. Of course, SWTOR is going to have a limited free-to-play option too soon. Hmm...

[Draco]

CoH is free to play, with bonuses for paying to be a VIP.

[Zip]

Awww...

I still have to do this dialectic log thing for Honors English. Should probably get on that.

[MozytheHealer]

...school......O.o........frickin' algebra.......AND PHYSICS! They(my school-thingy-ma-jig) sent me Physics WHILE I still had Algebra II AND right after I'd finished Chemistry! They're crazy!

*Calms down* Anyyywaayyysssss, I'd look up City of Hero's, but I'm afraid it would be good, and I don't need anything else in my life right now.... Maybe once my days are less busy and I actually spend time in my house.

[Nayaby]

Jackie Chan appeared to me in a dream and said I was "The Chosen One." He then gave me the Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts and told me that I would know what to do with it when the time comes.

What does this dream mean?

Should I tell Jackie Chan?

[Areada]

I STARTED PLAYING SKYRIM

FINAAAAALLLYYY

So far I'm like, a Breton. Dunno. Picked out the mage stone. Still rather in the beginning. Any advice from ya'll?

[Nayaby]

WOOHOOOOO!

Advice hmm? Well, Skyrim is a very open game. You can essentially do anything you like. If you like followers, I highly recommend installing the "Ultimate Follower Overhaul" mod from Nexusmods. It lets you have multiple followers at once, and levels them up with you (in the vanilla game, followers will always remain at the level you got them at, rendering them obsolete after a short while). The great thing about Skyrim is that's it's really modular (I'm assuming you have the PC version) which allows you to really epic-fy the game. I also love the Deadly Dragon mod. It adds about a dozen new dragon types, and makes dragons really tough since they're pushovers in the vanilla game.

If you're a Breton and you chose the mage stone, maybe you're considering going the Spellsword route? That's a balanced build of spellcasting and melee and pretty fun, though I didn't get too far with my spellsword character because I love my assassin too much. My main character, Jeran, is a wood elf assassin, with maxed out Archery talents for sniping, and dual daggers for when he really needs to be in melee, though he much prefers sniping. Being primarily an archer is really fun, in my opinion, since it's unlike any game I've ever played before. Normally I'd be a sword/shield warrior in this sort of game, but I wanted to try something new, and I loved it!

Not that I didn't make a sword/shield warrior though: a female orc named Wragutte.

Edit: As an example of why mods are awesome: using the Ultimate Follower Overhaul mod in conjunction with Followers Can Relax and The Asteria, I have put together a mercenary team that lives on a flying Dwemer airship, which we use as our home base. We're TEAM DOVAHKIN! Our mascot is Meeko, a pet dog you can acquire. Also, I've modded my game so my followers can't die, just stay yielded for the rest of the battle. Expecially poor Meeko, who's stupid and gets in the way of fireballs and dies all the time. Darn permadeath.

Before people yell at me saying "that's cheating!" Well... yes, it is. But it's a single player game, so I'm not putting anyone else at a disadvantage. If modding it maximizes the fun-factor, then why not do it? I made some parts harder too. Such as Deadly Dragons, and Warzones (spawns random warzones as your travel so it feels like there actually is a civil war going on). Also, I added hunger/thirst/tiredness, which gives you debuffs and eventually kills you if you don't treat it. Obviously with food, water, and sleeping. And I installed a camping mod so I can pitch a tent and make a campfire, and me an my companion will tell stories to each other (well, read the Skyrim books anyway xD). And I modded so my followers can use horses, and that three of my horses follow me even when I've dismounted (A horse for me and my two followers, since I always use two. There's something about heroes and trios...). Also, my horses are invincible because I got sick of dragons eating them...

Also, random NPCs are invincible because I got sick of dragons eating them...

Um, I'm ranting now.

[Draco]

Wow, guess I'll have to get Skyrim. And a new computer, because mine can barely handle CoH.

If I try to play both it'll just explode.

[Areada]

I was planning on working mainly magic/long range weapons. Then again, I wonder if I should just train some bashing things instead because I'm not particularly adept at handling myself cleverly in battle, and would probably fail miserably at any sort of attempts to pick enemies off before getting to them.

Actually, I have the Xbox version. We do have a PC in the house, but it probably couldn't handle any intense gaming.

[Zip]

Err, I sometimes use my friend's PS3 to play, err, Skyrim. I'm an Argonian mage fellow named Godwin(but in my head, I made a little note that his name is only Godwin because the Imperial forces who caught him messed up his name, Ellis Island style, and his actual name is Jarvis).

I...use a shield. Because I'm really into that type of thing. It's a bit much to take in, really, in 1-3 hour bursts every other week.

[Draco]

If I were to play, I'd be whatever let me do the most magical mayhem while still sneaking around and stabbing things in the face. Some sort of assassin/mage hybrid.

[Areada]

I think that's rather what I'm going for, Draco, actually.

[Nayaby]

Oooh! You'd be an illusion mage Draco! It's the quintessential mage/assassin hybrid!

One thing I forgot to mention is don't choose a side in the civil war too early. Wait until you've played the game for a while and gotten a sense of both sides. At the beginning of the game, I was certain I'd pick one side, but I had a heel face turn when I learned more about both sides.

Oh Skyrim, thou art a roleplayers paradise! My only gripe is that there isn't much choice within the quests themselves. The order you do stuff in is totally open, but comparatively few quests let you make decisions within them. Some quests have you perform an act of evil, and while you can not do the quest, it'll usually stay in your journal. Other times you can purposefully fail the quest by doing something against the objective, but you're still rewarded by someone else.

Also, don't store items in random barrels! These barrels respawn after a few in-game days, so you'll lose everything in them. The only safe place to store your things is in a player-owned house! I think you may be able to store items in your followers' houses (if they own a house), but don't quote me on that. If you're an avid collector of things like I am, you'll definitely want to save up for a house quickly!

[Areada]

I, too, am leaning towards one side in the Civil War at the present moment but I did decide to reserve judgement for later.

One thing that I worry about is the perk stuff when you level up. I don't want to make really stupid decisions and be really unbalanced, and I don't quite understand how it all works yet...

[Areada]

I AM ON A PERSONAL QUEST TO PICK EVERY LOCK IN SKYRIM

So far, I got in trouble with the law twice and made an old lady mad at me.

Oh well. It's worth it. *arms self with lockpicks and grins evilly*

[Nayaby]

You're picking locks? I see. Go to Riften in the southeast for awesomeness!

Alllow me to briefly explain perks:

You get 80 perks max, since the level cap is 81. Also, leveling gets a lot slower after level 50, so keep that in mind and plan your first 49 perks. While your perks should be spread out a bit, do not try to be a jack of all trades. If you do, your character won't be very strong. Don't waste perks on lockpicking, because lockpicking is really easy and after a short learning curve you'll be able to pick any lock without perks. However, you should put enough perks in Pickpocketing to get Extra Pockets, since that ability is extremely useful. Don't put perks in all three crafting trees, either choose two to somewhat focus on, or choose one to wholly focus on. If you're leveling one-handed weapons, you should decide between swords/axes/maces/daggers and only choose perks for that particular weapon type in the tree. Daggers don't get any specific perks, so if you're using them choose only the basic one-handed weapon perks. If it specifies a weapon (sword/axe/mace) then it'll have no effect on daggers. If you're going for stealth (which it sounds like), you'll want light armour perks, since heavy armour makes too much noise. Daggers and bows are silent when drawn too, though stealth-users can get away with other weapons if they have perks in Sneaking and/or Illusion Magic. Put at least a few perks into Archery or some kind of ranged magic because you'll need ranged attacks to bring down dragons while they're flying about.

I have to say once again that lockpicking is *really easy* once you get the hang of it, so don't waste any perks on the Lockpicking tree! You'll be able to pick Master locks pretty easily without them after a bit of practice.

[Areada]

I didn't plan to put perks in things that looked like they could "level up" easily, things I do a lot (like lockpicking!). But sort of was wondering about magic things, and how best to be protected/attack for fighting in general. Thanks very much!

[Nayaby]

If you want to be primarily magic-based, I think Destruction and Restoration would be best. Destruction has attacking spells, and Restoration has healing/defensive spells. Alteration is also something to consider for defensive spells, unless your mage will be wearing armour instead of robes. Conjuration is also a really awesome magic tree. The Conjuration tree has two paths, necromancy and atromancy. Depending on the path you choose, you can either raise the dead or summon a species of Lesser Dremora (demons) called Atronachs. Necromancy is taboo in Skyrim, and openly practising it will get you arrested, but you can resurrect extremely powerful foes you've defeated and have them serve you! However, Atromancy won't get you arrested if you're defending a village from a dragon attack or something, but if you summon your Atronachs randomly the guards will get peeved at you, the same way they get peeved if you throw fireballs harmlessly into the air. No scaring the citizens!

By the way, you do want perks to compliment the skills you're leveling. Perks are meant to compliment those skills. Definitely get perks that compliment your favoured weapons/armour/spells because they'll get more powerful. It's specifically lockpicking perks I warned you against because lockpicking is easy regardless and since there are a limited number of perks you'd be better off putting them into your fighting/crafting skills.

For example: You may have level 100 Conjuration, but you won't even be able to summon your master level Frost Thrall without the Master Conjurer perk. In contrast, all the Master Lockpicker perk would do is make the minigame for picking master locks easier, which kind of takes the fun out of it anyway.

[Draco]

Illusion? Only if I can make something run off a cliff by making it believe there is not actually a cliff there.

[Areada]

Nayaby, that information about magic stuff helps so much! THANK YOU!

I'm thinking Conjuration especially...Always loved summoning in Final Fantasy games

[Nayaby]

Speaking of Final Fantasy, I've had a recent obsession with Kingdom Hearts hehe. I'd never played the games before because I didn't have a PS2, but I decided to get PCSX2 to play them on.

Muahahaha!

When I'm done I plan on playing either Final Fantasy X or Devil May Cry. Haven't really decided yet :/

[Areada]

Final Fantasy X is just amazing. AMAZING.

Plus, it has a fighting style I like. I'm a fan of turn-based stuff, it's so much easier to wrap my brain around...sometimes these first person real time free for all games stress me out. Skyrim is pretty nice, though, I'm doing pretty well for once with its style of game.

[Draco]

I pre-ordered Darksider's 2, it just got here yesterday. And today was the first day of school.

So I've spent the last two days playing one of the best games ever. And going to school. At least I have mostly electives.

[Nayaby]

School starts in August for you Draco? I hope you get summer break early to compensate!

Alright! Final Fantasy X it is! I'll play Devil May Cry after

I love turn-based strategy games, but I also love real time fighting. What I play depends on whether I feel like having adrenalin or thinking critically.

My favourite strategy series is Fire Emblem. It's a brilliant military strategy game! If you haven't played, the reason it's awesome is that every single soldier in your army is not only named, but has a backstory and personality. Since there are so many obtainable soldiers, not every one has great characterisation, but it's enough to add a sense of urgency to the permadeath system of the game which wouldn't be there if they were just generic redshirts. One wrong decision and a character may die permanently. Characters essential to the plot get "badly wounded" and can't fight for the rest of the game but still appear in the cutscenes they're needed in. Everyone else can die. This makes for interesting scenarios, because if a character dies, you can't learn any more of their backstory, but their death may lead to recruiting somebody entirely different into your army that you couldn't have recruited otherwise. Sometimes the game forces you to sacrifice somebody as well, and you have to choose which of your soldiers will give their life so the others can get away safely...

Love Fire Emblem!

[MozytheHealer]

Is Devil May Cry good? I have a friend who really loves it, but I haven't looked that far into it yet.

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