The Problem with Skyrim Post
This post will come from the point of view of pure destruction mage (no melee combat talents, whatsoever, so keep that in mind). I'm level 48, here is a link to my current build. Yes, I have unused talents for some reason. I'm near indestructible. I've turned combat to master to try and make it interesting again, but don't really notice much change; except a few deaths from an ice spike to the face.
Is this the best game ever made? Probably. Does that mean it doesn't have some serious problems? No.
I'll avoid the topic of cute bugs, because it's an open world game. Millions of people experiencing the game in a million different ways. You simply cannot account for it all. Who expects people to try and put a bucket on someone's head?
Very long post, so most is after the cut:
An Evening In Skyrim
As I spend an evening wandering through the forests in Skyrim, I am beset upon by a bear who is readily dispatched and looted.
My goal tonight is to get up to Winterhold. So I head north in that general direction.
Ooo look. Flowers to pick. Over there, that tree trunk I see some nightshade! I think I remember only having 138 of them in my alchemist satchel in Whiterun. Can't have too many. Pluck. Pluck. Pluck.
Why am I dying? Look more flowers. Oh. Too late, I'm dead.
Oh, another bear killed me.
*reloads*
Where were those nightshade again? Where is that bear?
Pluck. Pluck. Pluck. Where's that damn bear. Ooo look, a beehive. Dammit. He killed me again.
*reloads*
3 nightshade plucked. (saves game - that'll teach that bear!). Where is that bear? Here it is. Not anymore!
Ah, the beehive. With a bee in it? Sweet! Now to catch all the bees. Finally. Moving on.
Ooo nice. A cave. Tolvald's cave. Sounds fun! Falmers? They look awesome. I love these guys. *dead*
You know, for blind guys, these guys sure hide well. Glow mushrooms? Pluck. Pluck. Pluck.
Eggs everywhere? Awesome! Pluck. Pluck. Pluck.
Killing these guys is pretty fun. But. Geesh lots of eggs and mushrooms down here. Chests look weird too. I'm glad I got that level 70 lockpicking perk, though. The loot in these chests is pretty good. Wonder if it's the perk or if it's just random chance?
This place looks awesome; too bad I'm spending all my time looking at the floor for mushrooms and eggs, while on the look out for mushrooms on the wall. Bet this place looks sweet if I spent time not looking for mushrooms.
Ooo, look. Some dead humans here. With a skill book. Looks like they were doing some experiments on falmurs? But the book says they were just trying to escape. Weird. Oh well. Ooo, a mushroom by that corpse!
This place is pretty long; wasn't really into an hour dungeon at 1 am in the morning. Ooo, look more mushrooms and eggs!
Finally, looks like the last fight, cuz this mage asshole keeps using his barrier to deflect all my shots. All that for an elven dagger? Oh, and 139 glowing mushrooms, a skillbook, a spell, and 103 eggs from those worm things.
Finally, outside the cave again. What did I want to do again this evening? Oh, it's 3 am.
Elder Scrolls Skyrim: Some Thoughts and Quick Hits
Bethesda's Elder Scrolls Skyrim was released on 11/11 and I think it is probably one of the most monumental achievements in video games that I've ever seen. I mean, look at these screenshots. And look at this hilarious head shot.
The game has enough content for like 5 normal games. Some of the dungeons are adventures in themselves. I found a dungeon the other day, where a necromancer was trying to raise her dead husband and summoned undead along my path, till I got to her and killed her. And then they were together again anyways. Which was sweet; in a weird kind of way.
It's cool how the major factions (Stormcloaks and Imperials) both have their downsides and upsides. They are complex - it seems, so that your decision to eventually join either one isn't an easy one. Some games of this nature make it easy to pick a side based upon perks you get.
It's the little things that the game does that make it excellent though. A little "cleared" notice by dungeons you've found and defeated, so you never wonder "Hey, did I do that already? Or just wander by it?" The brief encounters with people that serve no real purpose but to add flavor. It's good stuff all around.
Sure, it has its bugs - but it's part of the charm. Corpses disappear. You get stuck in environments. Some things lack "weight" and are too easy to push around, etc.
Overall, it has to be one of the most perfect games ever created. It's almost too much content. It's nearly overwhelming how much stuff there is to do. I'm working a destruction mage. Leveling alchemy and conjuration as well, primarily. And some lockpicking as well (just so I get the extra gold/items perk).
Some quick takes on the game:
Coolest dragon fight: One at Falkreath. The dragon was attacking the town. I wasn't its main target, but it was going from rooftop to rooftop breathing fire on people. Looked fantastic watching him take off one building, and land on another to breathe fire down. That was incredibly well done.
Least cool dragon fight: One on a mountain top, where I kill the dragon in midair, he flies down to the ground to and and his corpse is buried somewhere underground - unlootable for eternity. Caused a huge framerate issue in the game as it was probably trying to figure out where to put the corpse. Its "landing trench" is there, but no corpse at the end. Weird.
Coolest shout: Aura. Lets you see the life forces of people around you. Fantastic in dungeons. I'm Batman! With fireballs!
Worst shout: Animal friendship. Yay? I'm not Snow White. I guess it'd make gathering up critters for a mass Fire Breath slaughter a bit easier. Sounds like fun actually, I might have to do that.
Encumbrance is my enemy. 300 weight is simply not enough when you are a pack rat like myself.
Dark Souls Gaping Dragon Strategy
This is a very basic 2 phase fight that had me worried because I reading that people say you need 3 people to kill it. No way. One person. Easy kill.
He'll appear at the far end of the room with a very cool video introduction.
2 Phases that last from 100% health to 51% health and 50% health to dead.
Phase 1: Stand a good distance from him, wait for him to vomit this yellow smoke at you. Run to the side. He'll charge that location. Once he does, get 3-4 swings in on his legs (or his tail - I hear he drops a weapon if you cut his tail off but I didn't get it 
). Move away. Rinse repeat this process for a while till he's at around 50%. Then we enter phase 2.
Phase 2: Basically phase 1, except that he won't throw his yellow smoke vomit until he's slammed his face into the ground near you. So, you want to get close to him - this is easy since he'll be chasing you around the room like you stole his crack pipe. When he rears his head back, run away or to the side to avoid the bite. Then move away. And wait for him to drop the yellow smoke then charge. Again 3-4 swings on his leg and move away. Repeat this until dead.
Occasionally, he'll puke on the ground. Not sure what it does but I've played enough video games to know that if the boss puts it on the ground, you don't want to be hit by it. So I ran away from it each time.
He might fly up into the air on occasion. Just be aware of where he lands and not be there when he does so. Otherwise, he moves very very slow so this is a very easy encounter for 25,000 souls and your Blighttown key. I took a single hit in the game from getting stuck on a rock in the environment. But other than that, easiest boss fight yet. I had a harder time with that giant rat in the Depths. I think he was the first boss 1 one-shotted.
Occupy Wall Street – Specifically The Barter System
So Reason TV puts up this video about the Occupy Wall Street crowd. I don't know if it's a fair sample or not. But if it is, it's stunning that it gets any media attention at all. There's no media bias when this group of morons gets more press than the Tea Party movement which has, you know, actually shaped this country's political landscape since its inception. But anyways..
There's some guy here saying we should return to the barter system. I wonder if this guy realizes that the monetary system -is- the barter system. Just instead of wandering around buying things with 500 pigs, you carry coins or currency. It simplifies the process and gives everything a relative value.
A true barter system is subjective. Let's say you have 500 pigs to buy stuff with. You might be able to buy 1 ipod with it, or 200 ipods with it - depending on what kind of deal the pig buyer got and how badly he needs pigs. Currency keeps this in check - things are purchased for nearly relative amounts of money and sold for a price that everyone understands and is relatively predictable.
But let's say we did have a barter system, right? You have a job. What do you get paid with? Pigs? They are a form of currency too. It's a serious question. What would you prefer to be paid in, rather than currency? Let's say your job pays you in hay or something. You need to buy food. What if your local food store doesn't accept hay as currency - and it wants pigs instead. You'd either have to convert your hay to pigs, find a store that accepts hay, or you are screwed. Is this the life you'd really want? Is hay not currency? What if hay isn't as valuable as pigs? You are working for far less than the guy who works for pigs. It's all currency.
How would you pay for your AT&T bill to complain about the monetary sytem? Mail a pig to Apple? Barter your shirt? I mean, c'mon. Let's be serious here.
Dark Souls: How To Aim Your Crossbow
Upset that you can't aim a crossbow in dark souls, in the same way as your bow? No fear. Here's your solution!
Buy a short bow (even if your dex is too low to use it). Equip it, zoom in and aim it (left bumper). Zoom back out. Equip your crossbow and have at it. As long as you didn't move your camera position at all, your crossbow will be aimed at that exact same point. For us low dex people (bandit, yay!), it's a good way to fire at ranged targets effectively.
So far, I'm loving this game. The thing I'm not loving is the incessant back tracking if you die. I'm also not loving the lack of humanity. Takes 2 for each new bonfire, assuming you are undead - which you are most of the time. And given how hard humanity is to come by; that's ridiculous. 5 Estus really make for a short venture out before returning to regenerate health.
So far, all the bosses have pretty much been - wait for it to attack, roll to the side, hit it. Rinse/repeat till dead. What makes some of the fights hard is the lack of room to move in.
The first death knight you face (Undead Berg) is in a long corridor and if you drag him out and up the stairs you came down on ... you can dance around the red ladder and he won't use his charge attack. Firebomb him from a distance and its an easy kill. Second one in the undead parish (upstairs right when you come up from the bridge) killed me, but seems like he's the same - drag him downstairs, fiddle with him on the ramp which will interrupt his charge and kill him from the distance. I've seen video on the pig from the IGN reviews, he doesn't seem too bad. But lots of bad guys around him worry me - wonder if they'll be adding or not.
For free "titanite shards" and 300 souls, kill the Tauren Demon boss (firebombs make this cake) and get to the bridge. The dragon will kill the 5-6 undead guys giving you 300 souls - and about half the time they drop a titanite shard. Just use your short cut back to the bonfire and rinse/repeat this for free souls and some shards.
I still haven't gotten the "drake sword" trick to work. The event seems to reset itself after each arrow hit on the tail. Maybe that's been patched? Who knows. The dragon feels like a 2 person fight. One person hits the tail, other stands up top and whacks the dragon when it flies toward you. Maybe. Maybe not. Feels like it, though.
I'm resigned to the fact that I'll never finish this game though. While fun, the back tracking is very irritating. I -almost- quit the first night after the intro area. I went to the graveyard to kill those skeletons that spawn. Bastards were near unkillable and I was like "This game is too damn hard. Two targets at once with variable attack speeds! Impossible!" - then I gave up and went up to Undead Berg instead and was like "Oh this is a lot easier!" I went back to those skeletons later and found them to be much easier after I got some practice on, you know, killable targets.
I should have picked the master key as my starting thing. I picked the firebombs instead (stupid). Lots of doors I'd like to open, but I can't. I did get the key to the Undead residences, but still. Other doors remain locked. Sad face. Then again, I should have also picked a character that could use a bow. Being able to down guys from range would really make my life easier. At least I currently have 3600 souls that I'll use to get my dex to 11 and farm to get it to 12 so I can use it.
I wonder if there is a level cap? I'm like 16 now. Wonder how high it goes and if I should worry about allocations or not.
Bioware vs Bethesda Softworks RPGs
I have to admit, I haven't turned on my Xbox 360 in a long time, but I recently did so and started playing my favorite type of game (RPGs) again.
So I've played: Fallout: New Vegas, Fable 3, and now Mass Effect 2.
Can I say something about the Fable franchise, first? I hate you. I've never actually hated an RPG series before. Sure, some are lacking and tedious and boring; but I actually hate Fable. I hate having to marry people. I hate the idea of having children in game. And, I really don't see the need to murder my wife for a sword upgrade. I had been playing this for a while (suffering thru it more like) until I realized that I've actually grown to hate this thing. The quests are boring and there is too much backtracking. Every zone is "find the easter eggs" (books, gnomes, keys, whatever) just to lengthen a very short story line. Wander thru zones is just miserable, with preset encounters that respawn way too quickly and are just tedious exercises in wasting my time. No loot, no real reward. Just a time sink every time. Some stupid relationship quest made me drag a women from Bowerstone (or whatever its called) all the way to Mistpeak lake. Fuckin' really? That's like 8 zones away. And then I'm expected to drag her back? I guess she died or something half way there cuz after some little troll things attacked me, she vanished. I said "Thank god."
Sure, you could argue that you don't need to get married or have kids in Fable 3. But if you don't, you will not earn enough "guild seals" to upgrade your character and you'll suck. What other game requires you to kiss a girl to get more powerful attacks? Makes no sense at all. Buy a house? Maintain a house, too? Decorate it? WTF is this shit.
Yes the combat is fun and intuitive. It -is- cool to swing your sword, shoot your gun, and fire off a spell very quickly. Granted. But the sword is wholly un-necessary. Link 2 AoE spells (when you get that ability) and fire your rifle and every fight is a guaranteed win.
The part of the game that annoyed me least was the overt advertisements for paid download content in the quest hub area. It bugged me at first, but I kind of liked the easy accessibility to new stuff and if the game were better, I might have even bought some of it. Yes, the guy reminding you to buy stuff got old, but I kind of liked that feature to be honest. It's a trend I wish would continue, more along the lines of "content" addons and less with vanity addons. I'll get to that post one day.
I never finished this game because, why bother? I wasn't enjoying it. Unless I'm totally bored, I cannot imagine buying Fable 4 when it comes out. I feel like I've been punished enough by this company.
Now, onto the main point of this post.
Bethesda Softworks and Bioware. Can these companies possibly make games that are any better? Everything they make is fuckin' awesome.
After my Fallout 3 review (and minor gripes), I'm sure it'll come no surprise to you what I thought of Fallout: New Vegas. Odd, that the same radscorpion problem exists. They still become landsharks all the time. Weird.
The New Vegas story did kind of suck, though. After you get to Vegas (I got to Vegas at near max level cuz I did everything I could outside the city, first) and start helping Mr House, the game takes a turn where you know you are helping the bad guy but still are forced into doing so. No choice you make at the end is acceptable. I decided to help the Yes Man. Killing Mr House and Caesar's Legion/NCR. Oh well. The ending was pretty bad. Just a bunch of lame screen shots with summaries of what I did and how it affected things in the end. If that was more interesting, I might have tried helping Mr House and seeing what happened there, but the incentive was gone. Although the dam battle was pretty fun, especially seeing the Boomers fly in with that bomber you pulled from the lake and nuke the place. That was sweet.
Up until that point, I totally loved the game. I love the looting system. With humanoids dropping the gear they are using, it really makes it seem like they are playing by the same set of rules as you are. I like that. It's fair. Except Deathclaws, of course. Bastards. I did end up killing the mother and alpha in the quarry. And I even killed the legendary one in the deathclaw cave. Riot shotgun made that a ton easier - with a mini nuke appetizer of course.
Everything I loved about Fallout 3 was here and it was easy to get into this one again.
Mass Effect 2 (which I quit Fable 3 to play) has got to be the best game ever made. It's fuckin' ridiculous how awesome it is. Just about everything in there is perfect. Combat is awesome. Quests are fun. Sidequests from scanning planets are short, sweet and varied. The cut scenes are still the best ever. Bioware rules at this. I haven't finished this yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion of where it's going. I have a feeling that the Shephard you play is genetically modified by the Reapers much like the Protheans - possibly by Cerberus while you were reconstructed cuz the Illusive Man clearly knows more than he's letting on. Just a hunch, but it feels that way or that one collector dude wouldn't have such a hard-on for you personally.
I have to admit that after you get your ship and Joker comes around the corner again, I smiled. I thought he had died in the beginning along with you - I didn't think the escape pod made it out. That was cool. I also like that what you did in Mass Effect 1 matter in the sequel (if you imported your saved game). I also like that the enemy is pretty much the same and it continues the story, rather than just a new villain. And where it's going seems to make a little sense too. I also like that your companions from Mass Effect 1 are in the game and that they still exist. Some are even team members again. That's real cool.
Complaints. Fuckin' zombies (husks). I am so tired of zombies in games, it is unreal.
Anyways, I find myself playing this for 4-5 hours at a time because I just can't put it down. Love this thing. It's crazy how much fun it is. The planet where, if you stand in the sun, your shield takes damage. Awesome. The mini quest where you escort this robot around with a power defect and need to find him power cells. Cool. (Reward made that a total waste of time, though). Jacob's companion quest. That was fucked up. Jack's was very interesting and unexpected.
Each game has its downsides though. And, oddly, the other company is strong where the other is weak. I'm going to list those differences and how interesting I think that is.
Bioware: Excellent at story telling and making you feel part of the action.
Bethesda Softworks: Kinda weak at the main story. Side stories are a lot better than the main one. Your part of a story but you don't really feel part of it. I can't explain it better than that, sorry.
Bioware: Loot system practically non-existent.
Bethesda Softworks: Excellent loot system.
Bioware: Not "open world". Way points and places to travel to. Yes, I get that there are planets and you have to fly to them. I counter with: Dragon Age. Imagine that as open world.
Bethesda Softworks: Open world. Do anything you want, when you want.
Bioware: Because of the loot system and non-open world, you feel throttled (money, gear, etc - you get stuff when the story dictates it) by the game.
Bethesda Softworks: Because of the loot system and open world, you are not throttled. You can progress (money, gear, etc) based upon drops, random finds and hoarding everything you find. You don't even have to do a single quest forever, just kill shit and loot shit to your heart's content. I imagine some gamer out there has amassed a huge pile of every tin can, wrench, empty soda bottle in the game somewhere just for the hell of it.
Bioware: Nothing, really, to pick up in the environments. Everything looks pretty (really pretty!) but nothing is tangible. It's just a back drop.
Bethesda Softworks: Nearly everything can be touched, moved, looked at, picked up, looted, etc. A hoarder's dream!
Bioware: Awesome cut scenes. Unbelievably awesome. Like a movie.
Bethesda Softworks: What's a cutscene? We don't even give you a movie at the end of the game for you to enjoy.
Bioware: Enemies seem to have a different rule set than you do. They can fire more quickly than you, move more quickly and make up abilities than you cannot perform. This has its pluses and minuses.
Bethesda Softworks: All monsters (well, humanoids) seem to play by the same set of rules. You can see their weapon in VATS and know it'll drop when they die. This also has its pluses and minuses.
Bioware: Varied side quests that keep the interest level up.
Bethesda Softworks: All quests pretty much amount either: go here get that for me or go there kill that.
Bioware: Companions to talk to, get quests from and help you in combat. The, sadly, inevitable sex scene with one of them that is poorly done.
Bethesda Softworks: Limited companions (1 at a time, it seems) with a quest. Fallout New Vegas started this trend, maybe it'll continue.
I sometimes imagine these 2 companies getting together and making some sort of epic game where one picks up where the other is lacking. A Bioware story with Bethesda open world and loot system. Thing would probably cover 4 DVDs but it'd be worth it, I'm sure.
Anyways, after I finish Mass Effect 2, I'll wait Bethesda's next chance to suck my life away.
Shannox – Firelands Boss – Strategy (Easy Mode)
So if you are starting Firelands in World of Warcraft, you're first boss will inevitably be Shannox. He spawns after killing a lot of trash near the entrance. He seems to do so after 20-30 mobs being killed (groups counting as a single mob).
So, he seems a little challenging at first, but this fight is basically a tank kiting exercise. Here is your very simple strategy.
DPS - don't stand in traps that are thrown in the ground (duh!). Don't stand in fire (duh!)
Main tank on Shannox. Face him away from the raid.
No tank on Rageface. Burn him down as quickly as possible. He'll just run around the group like a meth addict and do a little damage to people. Put him over immolation traps (not the crystal prism traps!) to speed this up. Boss will get a minor buff here, but that predictable damage on the main tank is easier to heal than unpredictable raid damage.
Off tank on Riplimb. Move Riplimb like 30-40 yards away from Shannox. You're job is fun and it's bugged to make it very simple. Watch your DBM timer (or not) and wait for the hurl spear ability to be like 3 seconds away. Maneuver Riplimb by a crystal trap and he'll get frozen. Immediately, run as far away from the encounter as you can. Riplimb will eventually become unfrozen. He'll chase you down (even if there is a hurled spear on the ground) to get 1 last hit on you before retrieving it. If you get the geometry, make a triangle between you and the boss and the spear. This is his longest path. It's very easy to accomplish. Done properly, the main tanks debuff stacks should never hit 4. And you're stacks will never pass 5 or 6. Hunter frost traps or any other slowing effect will, of course, make this a lot simpler.
Get Shannox to 35% or so. Burn Riplimb down - kite him over immolation traps to speed this up. Burn Shannox.
Basic. Not a lot of healing if done properly. It basically tests the ability of your two tanks to work in coordination. And of your DPS not to stand in shit- but this is the same in every fight.
The fight is conceivably done with 1 tank and a good kiter. But 2 tanks is probably optimal for most groups.
Interesting World of Warcraft Website Error Message
This was an interesting error message on Blizzard's site today:
503 Unavailable: This service unavailable for characters under level 100.
Got this just by looking at the character profile page. Usually if this page isn't available, you'll just get the "Ooops!" message.
Publix, My Secret Mistress, How Do I Love Thee?
My ode to Publix, my local supermarket.
Where else can I get 2-1 deals on stuff I buy every week and sometimes a $5 or $10 coupon every few weeks as well? Where else can I get 2 boxes of Steak-Ums (16 patties, $9.99 each), for the price of one? Where else can I get 2 bags of Ruffles for the price of 1? Where else can I get 2 Hungry Man meals for the price of 1? And even 2 bags of salad for the price of one? Where else can I get Mangos 2 for the price of 1?
And then honor coupons on those same purchases! Oh, my secret Publix mistress, I love you. If you ever put vegetables or meat on 2 for 1, I might just have to do very naughty things to you.
Where else can I buy $250 worth of food, only pay $160, and save $90 on my purchases by exploiting the 2 for 1 offers to the maximum.