Elder Scrolls V - Part 6

[Paladin-Hoss]

Same, though my companions never got ate by dragons....you're a horrible leader, or a dragon eating fetish person.


I think it boils down to my playstyle. I like to hide in the shadows, take someone out with an arrow, then hang back Batman style while they freak out. Taking them out one by one. If they find me I switch to my swords. I was the same back in Oblivion.

The AI just isn't there yet for me to justify bringing them along, I do much better solo. If I bring AI along, and try this tactic, they charge into a group of enemies after the first arrow. Meaning I have to charge in too to protect them.

By the end, Skyrim becomes too easy anyway, and I have to up the difficulty. So, IMO, the extra help isn't really needed. The only time I'd probably think about it is as a mage in earlier levels. Even then only because it saves time on summoning a familiar or atronarch.

I think wheter or not you'll like having companions will depends on your play style. If you're the sneaky type that likes to snipe things, then having companions may not be the best idea for you.

I'm not the sneaky type and would much preffer to plow through enemies as soon as i see them, so i like the extra help sometimes.

The AI thing is a tricky stuff...most players would love to have companions that thinks their way through battle. And the AI of NPC's in Skyrim does this, they'll switch between close and range weapons during combat, and if you have a mage companions with high skills, they also calculate enemies strenght with the strongest spells in their disposal etc..

The fans wants more...smarter NPC, companions, which would be cool. There is this companion Mod that does this, but there is a HUGE downside with having a 'smarter'companions...they eats up huge resource, which will tax even a good PC. See, your companions makes 'calculations' based on their surroundings, you actions etc, you take a few steps, they make new calculations, they do this every seconds...imagine amping that up significantly, and having a few of them around...your game will be a slideshow.

 

[X Knight]

so what would be the best shield for a paladin/holy knight type character??

besides the Spellbreaker shield.........

 

[Iceman]

That's exactly what New Vegas did. Each follower not only had a personal quest, but they had a lot of cool dialogue, opinions on things, reactions to various quests and locations and their own neat back stories. They were genuinely well rounded characters, which is why I was so surprised/disappointed with Skyrim's one dimensional followers.

I can appreciate that the two games were put together by different developers -expecting the same thing from Skyrim as we got in New Vegas is kind of unreasonable, but at the *very least* I expected Skyrim's followers to top the followers from Fallout 3. Instead the card board cut outs in Skyrim seem like a huge step backwards from Fallout 3, which is really strange considering they both came from Bethesda.

Yeah, a bit disappointing then. I generally love ally type characters in games.

 

[Iceman]

I agree that out of all beth games, the companions in NV are by far the best. They are definitely my favourite, as you can probably tell from my avatar...lol!

But fear not, i think they've learned their lesson if Serana is any indications.

How do you rate Fallout 3, NV, ES IV & V next to each other? Just out of interest & not related to companions.

Yeah, Serana is great. Keeping her even after Dawnguard & Hearthfire.

yeah, with ES VI, I hope they make the story with your character ( and companions ) more personal. like, give us some personal backstory quests, based on what race we select.

I liked in Fallout 3, your character did have some kind of backstory. that made the story a bit more personal to me.

There are so many areas they can improve this game. A next gen ES VI can be the best game of all time! t:

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

How do you rate Fallout 3, NV, ES IV & V next to each other? Just out of interest & not related to companions.

Fallout 3

Skyrim

Fallout NV

Oblivion

 

[Iceman]

Fallout 3

Skyrim

Fallout NV

Oblivion

Looks like I better bump Fallout 3 up the list!

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I really enjoyed Fallout, prob my second fav Beth game but jeez did that setting become tiresome. At least with Skyrim there are different areas with different looks, but with Fallout, its ALL brown. Fallout alone turned me off of the post apocalyptic wasteland. Altho to its credit i did spend like 100 hours there.

 

[The Squirrel]

I enjoyed New Vegas a lot more than Fallout 3. And Skyrim would definitely top my list, despite its flaws on the PS3.

 

[Iceman]

I'm more into fantasy locations than post apocalyptic generally but I think I'll enjoy both Fallout games a lot anyway.

 

[Balthus Dire]

I'm a massive fan of post-apocalypse so I loved the desolate landscapes of FO3. New Vegas, on the other hand, was a bit too desolate for my tastes; there were many "dead" areas with no enemies or towns or anything, just desert.

Skyrim wins as far as locales and environments go, though. I can't count how many times I just stopped to stare at the amazing surroundings in Skyrim.

In terms of story and engaging quests, though, I give it to FO3 hands down. My list would go:

Fallout 3
Skyrim
Oblivion
New Vegas

 

[James]

Fallout 3
Skyrim
Oblivion
New Vegas

Ditto

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

I really enjoyed Fallout, prob my second fav Beth game but jeez did that setting become tiresome. At least with Skyrim there are different areas with different looks, but with Fallout, its ALL brown. Fallout alone turned me off of the post apocalyptic wasteland. Altho to its credit i did spend like 100 hours there.

The setting is what i love the most about FO3...the setting and the athmosphere. i LOVE the pseudo 1950's sci feel to it...the music...everything!

I love how you can walk up to any room in FO3, and the place will have it's own story. You'll see a couple skeletons in the living room, or in the bedroom and you wonder about these people last moments...

There's nothing like walking around in the ruined capital while listening to those old songs on the radio...

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

Looks like I better bump Fallout 3 up the list!

You know you'd better!

Just listen to me, James and Balthus!

 

[Matt]

I'm a massive fan of post-apocalypse so I loved the desolate landscapes of FO3. New Vegas, on the other hand, was a bit too desolate for my tastes; there were many "dead" areas with no enemies or towns or anything, just desert.

Skyrim wins as far as locales and environments go, though. I can't count how many times I just stopped to stare at the amazing surroundings in Skyrim.

In terms of story and engaging quests, though, I give it to FO3 hands down. My list would go:

Fallout 3
Skyrim
Oblivion
New Vegas

I could never enjoy the landscape of Skyrim. I was always on edge that spiders would attack.

 

[James]

You have to scroll down a bit to see them, but these modded screenshots are amazing:

http://www.asot.es/2001/09/skyrim-mods.html

This one in particular stood out to me...

 

[Iceman]

You know you'd better!

Just listen to me, James and Balthus!

You, James & Balthus are the Gaming Jedi Council. I shall obey my mandate.

I could never enjoy the landscape of Skyrim. I was always on edge that spiders would attack.

t: I suppose there are more spiders than necessary in this game. There should be an anti-insect (is a spider an insect?)..or anti-arachnid mod.

 

[Matt]

You, James & Balthus are the Gaming Jedi Council. I shall obey my mandate.
t: I suppose there are more spiders than necessary in this game. There should be an anti-insect (is a spider an insect?)..or anti-arachnid mod.

There is, but I don't play on PC (I have a Mac). I'm a console gamer.

I wouldn't even so much mind the spiders if they were limited to caves and dark dungeons. I hate that they are just roaming the wilderness and you can bump into one at basically any time. It completely ruins the atmosphere for me and leaves me constantly on edge. I flew through Skyrim, fast traveling as much as possible and never really enjoying the world because of that.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

Just light them on fire.

 

[Iceman]

There is, but I don't play on PC (I have a Mac). I'm a console gamer.

I wouldn't even so much mind the spiders if they were limited to caves and dark dungeons. I hate that they are just roaming the wilderness and you can bump into one at basically any time. It completely ruins the atmosphere for me and leaves me constantly on edge. I flew through Skyrim, fast traveling as much as possible and never really enjoying the world because of that.

Damn, I thought you were part joking. You have a phobia I guess so that would ruin it as some of the spiders are huge and a lot of the fun is from random exploring outside. Seems silly that they are all over the countryside, ES VI really needs to increase its bestiary further as there are much cooler things to inhabit these areas than yet more big spiders!

Don't know how fully this covers it but its limited scope would explain why we run into the same few creatures again & again.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Bestiary

I remember getting this reference book when I was a kid: http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Out_of_the_Pit

Wish the next Elder Scrolls universe could be as comprehensive as that. I'd play it for 20 hours a day!

 

[The Squirrel]

Matt the spiders are so easy to kill though.

 

[Balthus Dire]

Lol dude I hate spiders, too, but this isn't real life...it's a video game. I'm terrified of heights in real life but I enjoy the crap out of Skyrim's amazing mountaintop scenery.

 

[James]

You, James & Balthus are the Gaming Jedi Council. I shall obey my mandate.
t: I suppose there are more spiders than necessary in this game. There should be an anti-insect (is a spider an insect?)..or anti-arachnid mod.

I've never been so flattered in all my life

The spider thing is a hard to explain if you don't have the phobia yourself. I live with my girlfriend, who shares Matt's fear, so I think I have a decent understanding of it. It's not so much that they're not real or that they're several hundreds times smaller than you. It's not even that you have a bad ass warrior who can fight dragons -it's all about the way they make you feel. Logically you know it makes little sense -why should I be afraid of something that's so small? But sight of them, the way they move, it gives people the heebies jeebies (that's a technical term). I liken it to a horror movie -you know logically there's no psycho killer stomping through your house, but now your head is full of the idea and can't shake it.

As it is, I think spiders appear less in the west of the map than the east. In the south-east in particular I don't think they even appear at all. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever recall seeing spiders in Forsworn territory, at least outside of dungeons. Maybe you could try exploring around their Matt?

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

You, James & Balthus are the Gaming Jedi Council. I shall obey my mandate.

LOL...but seriously, if you enjoyed Skyrim, chances are you'll enjoy Fallout 3 just as much...if not more.

 

[Balthus Dire]

I've never been so flattered in all my life

The spider thing is a hard to explain if you don't have the phobia yourself. I live with my girlfriend, who shares Matt's fear, so I think I have a decent understanding of it. It's not so much that they're not real or that they're several hundreds times smaller than you. It's not even that you have a bad ass warrior who can fight dragons -it's all about the way they make you feel. Logically you know it makes little sense -why should I be afraid of something that's so small? But sight of them, the way they move, it gives people the heebies jeebies (that's a technical term). I liken it to a horror movie -you know logically there's no psycho killer stomping through your house, but now your head is full of the idea and can't shake it.

As it is, I think spiders appear less in the west of the map than the east. In the south in east in particular I don't think they even appear at all. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever recall seeing spiders in Forsworn territory, at least outside of dungeons. Maybe you could try exploring around their Matt?

Hmm that's an interesting point. I get freaked out at atmospheres and stuff in games for sure (I get absolutely stressed when there's big underwater enemies in a game!) I just don't think I'd stop playing a game entirely because of a specific enemy type.

But, phobias are phobias I guess.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

I'm have this fear of heights, and there's this one particular section from the Pitt DLC that alwas makes me dizzy, no matter how many times i've visited that area...

I think you both knows which area i was talking about...