Originally Posted By CrisGer (21 FEB 2012 1:22pm)

It is a remarable game world, they made some excellent choices about design and what to focus on to give the ambience....and the world is beuatiful....  i am currently enjoying one of the largest and most challenging Dungeon Crypts I have had the pleasure to be beaten, stabbed, bitten, smacked, attacked and scared witless in....that place is HUGE...and i got al lthe way thru to an important part without finding an important artifact....     now i have to go back and do it again

 

 

amazing lighitng and design ..Bethesda really has found a way to show the  classic Conan style RPG world in awesome detail.

 

with the Nexus Mod manager things re working well.

  " i am currently enjoying one of the largest and most challenging Dungeon Crypts I have had the pleasure to be beaten, stabbed, bitten, smacked, attacked and scared witless in.."  Good grief, sounds like you're really having fun!   

Originally Posted By Dona (21 FEB 2012 11:18am)

Welp I dived back in.

 

Ended up doing Forsworn conspiracy quest, was surprised how that one turned out.

 

But I kind of want to restart because I definitely want to play a Thalmor and my chocies haven't been very Thalmor-like. Or I'll hope and wait for a DLC that lets me side with them somehow. idk. I'm really determined to side with them, lol.

I don't think there will be any official content that will allow you to play them, instead I suspect that they will be the bad guys in future DLC.

Player created content will probably come to the rescue though, sooner or later. 

Yeah, you're right, Fnord

Fans to the rescue indeed. One can only hope.

I am sure before very long there will be 10 mods to offer quests and new varieties of game play for just what you seek, i have seen people on other forums in the realm of the community taking about just this.

and ys Trav,

it is ....... uh    fun....... except for the spiders.....they are NOT fun...i kill them as fast as i can...

and i may try the mod that changes all of them to bears

but yes, it is remarkable i have not enjoyed a new world so much in a long time...

I found great improving mods for Water, landscape textures, character face and bodies and a new texture pack out by Insanity that really improves the towns and vilalges...

Originally Posted By Dona (21 FEB 2012 7:05pm)

Yeah, you're right, Fnord

I just wish the mentality in Skyrim wasn't so black and white. I can understand why they are making them the bad guys - they're pretty much racist who are trying to build an oppressive regime - but I'd like to see their side of the story. They're no worse than humans fighting for THEIR own goals. And somehow, Khajit and Argonians get left behind to be ghetto drug dealers and slaves. :/ I was reading Skyrim Wiki yesterday because I'll be damned if I can piece all the information together and I was sad because TES lore is so wonderful. There are amazing ideas and opportunities just waiting t happen, but they never will because these games are too casual, too vanilla to allow them.

 

Fans to the rescue indeed. One can only hope.

Or perhaps we'll have to wait for TES VI to see how their race will evolve and become the major power.

Let's hope it's set at the Summerset Isle or Valenwood, where those elves live.

Originally Posted By Dona (21 FEB 2012 7:05pm)

Yeah, you're right, Fnord

I just wish the mentality in Skyrim wasn't so black and white. I can understand why they are making them the bad guys - they're pretty much racist who are trying to build an oppressive regime - but I'd like to see their side of the story. They're no worse than humans fighting for THEIR own goals. And somehow, Khajit and Argonians get left behind to be ghetto drug dealers and slaves. :/ I was reading Skyrim Wiki yesterday because I'll be damned if I can piece all the information together and I was sad because TES lore is so wonderful. There are amazing ideas and opportunities just waiting t happen, but they never will because these games are too casual, too vanilla to allow them.

 

Fans to the rescue indeed. One can only hope.

It might be very hard to make something based around them in good taste, considering they have rather extreme opinions. They most likely think of themselves as the good guys, but it is easy to draw parallels to their opinions and those of neo-Nazis (which I think was what Bethesda was aiming for), even if they are not as extreme as many neo-Nazi groups. It would be interesting to find out more about what drives them though, why did the group suddenly grow so much in power, what are the underlying reasons for their hatred of the empire (if it was just a matter of them not wanting non-elves in Tamriel then why did an uprising not happen a long time ago? That was not the first time that the empire has shown signs of weakness). 

And considering the wide appeal of Skyrim, imagine the media uproar if some parent organization were to find out that you can side with an "elf Nazi organization".

As for playing as a Thalmor I just finished one quest that would have required a re-write I suppose. It's a pity that I failed the quest but still completed the mission. I haven't had many occasions to interact with them (yet) but even sheaved all in glass armor, they are weak and stupid. I'm not that much better since often in battle they appear as dead-ringers for Lydia. Oops, sorry.

I am a bit puzzled by the direction design is taking re the Elves..they seem to be nastier and uglier in appearance...and like they are intended to be the "bad" guys..i have always liked elves... i hope this is not the case

picture posting is still royalled messed up using iimage shack, the links show up but the pictures dont.

needs a fix.

There seem to be some issue with the link itself. It points towards the url http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg525/scaled.phpserver=525&filename=inthevillageimprovedwat.jpg&res=medium

which is not an image. I can post images from imageshack without a problem   (This is just a small image that I have handy on my image shack account, and is in no way related to the thread)

Not all elves are evil, but there is a faction of the high elves that wants to drive out every non-elf from Tamriel, back to where they came from. 

ah ..i was using the thumbnail ...smaller versoin..it always worked before..i guess the new format here changed that. thanks Fnord.

Originally Posted By markornikov (22 FEB 2012 4:08am)

Originally Posted By Dona (21 FEB 2012 7:05pm)

Yeah, you're right, Fnord

I just wish the mentality in Skyrim wasn't so black and white. I can understand why they are making them the bad guys - they're pretty much racist who are trying to build an oppressive regime - but I'd like to see their side of the story. They're no worse than humans fighting for THEIR own goals. And somehow, Khajit and Argonians get left behind to be ghetto drug dealers and slaves. :/ I was reading Skyrim Wiki yesterday because I'll be damned if I can piece all the information together and I was sad because TES lore is so wonderful. There are amazing ideas and opportunities just waiting t happen, but they never will because these games are too casual, too vanilla to allow them.

 

Fans to the rescue indeed. One can only hope.

 

Or perhaps we'll have to wait for TES VI to see how their race will evolve and become the major power.

Let's hope it's set at the Summerset Isle or Valenwood, where those elves live.

 

That x 100000000000000000000.   I was so hoping for TES V to be set in Summerset isle, there is soo much potential in that!  Valenwood or even Elsweir or Blackmarsh would be cool, too.  You could have a very "magical almost surreal atmosphere in the first 2 locations, and a very exotic, lush  but gritty atmosphere in the 2nd 2 settings.  And all of them could be deliciously mysterious...

@ Chris:  nice pic, but i'm pretty sure mine looks like that even without mods?  I'll try to post a pic soon.

Originally Posted By Fnord (22 FEB 2012 8:27am)
 

It might be very hard to make something based around them in good taste, considering they have rather extreme opinions. They most likely think of themselves as the good guys, but it is easy to draw parallels to their opinions and those of neo-Nazis (which I think was what Bethesda was aiming for), even if they are not as extreme as many neo-Nazi groups. It would be interesting to find out more about what drives them though, why did the group suddenly grow so much in power, what are the underlying reasons for their hatred of the empire (if it was just a matter of them not wanting non-elves in Tamriel then why did an uprising not happen a long time ago? That was not the first time that the empire has shown signs of weakness). 

 

And considering the wide appeal of Skyrim, imagine the media uproar if some parent organization were to find out that you can side with an "elf Nazi organization".

I am well-aware of that :[ But I still wish we had an option to play characters as WE like and that would require them to remove racial sterotyping. All Mer are racist douchebags. All Khajit are drug addicts. It's not what I expect from a modern game. Although they would have to tone down Thalmor extremism if they want to allow the player to join them. As you said, they're too neo-Nazi-ish right now. It seems like all Thalmor are labelled as undeniably evil and I always end up being forced to fight them. Ugh.

Originally Posted By CB (22 FEB 2012 11:22am)

As for playing as a Thalmor I just finished one quest that would have required a re-write I suppose. It's a pity that I failed the quest but still completed the mission. I haven't had many occasions to interact with them (yet) but even sheaved all in glass armor, they are weak and stupid. I'm not that much better since often in battle they appear as dead-ringers for Lydia. Oops, sorry. 

I think I know what quest you're talking about, I finished it a couple of days ago. It sucks that it's broken.

YES to a game set in Summerset Isles! Let me run among my High Elf brethren! Wheee!!

That is the problem with almost all fantasy though, usually the different races are just stereotypes. All elves of type A are arrogant and annoying, all elves of type B are tree huggers, all orcs are big brutes who don't want to do anything else than smash things. And then there are sometimes the odd rebel, (like Drizzt), who is the polar opposite and who is there to show that the race is more than just its stereotype. It feels like relatively few fantasy books, and far fewer fantasy games actually do anything more with the different races. Exception being if you can play a character from a certain race in a game with multiple races, then your character will be like any other human, but with slightly different stats. 

One exception is Arcanum, where if you don't play one of the common races, who are very human (but with a slightly different outlook, elves are naturally more attuned to magic, so they view the world from that perspective, while dwarfs, who live underground and use machines, as they are naturally less attuned to magic, view the world from another perspective), you are given the option to either break the mold that your race sets, or play as a member of your race. This is in particular obvious if you play as a half-ogre. 

Real Water really does make for nice waterfalls...i ran into overload problems around Wintersun tho with my mid range computer had to go for low settings...so i may be limited on what i can enjoy with Skyrim, no way i am upgrading for just one game. but i can enjoy what i can see, and it is very nice what they have done.   just got to the dragon by the Western Watch tower, that looks to be exciting.

that's what I like about the Witcher, the Elves/dwarves weren't your stereotypical cut outs for the most part.

you would think in the world of Tameriel that they would have evolved somewhat, I guess the world is stuck in some time rut with both technology not evollving nor society. 

Originally Posted By Stiler (23 FEB 2012 3:05pm)

that's what I like about the Witcher, the Elves/dwarves weren't your stereotypical cut outs for the most part.

 

you would think in the world of Tameriel that they would have evolved somewhat, I guess the world is stuck in some time rut with both technology not evollving nor society. 

 

 

This, exactly. I believe The Witcher is to blame on how I view video games now, I haven't played anything except Vampire/Bloodlines and Skyrim since TW2 was released last May. I just can't, it set the bar too high and now all I do is rage when other games cannot reach it. TBH I feel 'meh' about Skyrim, but I love the aspect of freeroaming and making up my own story as I go (then rage some more when the game doesn't let me do what I want). It is too perfect for mindless waste of time.

Both Tamriel and Bethsda need to evolve. It's been the same old thing since Morrowind. :|

Originally Posted By CrisGer (23 FEB 2012 1:29pm)

 

 

Real Water really does make for nice waterfalls...i ran into overload problems around Wintersun tho with my mid range computer had to go for low settings...so i may be limited on what i can enjoy with Skyrim, no way i am upgrading for just one game. but i can enjoy what i can see, and it is very nice what they have done.   just got to the dragon by the Western Watch tower, that looks to be exciting.

Ok, whew! My water doesn't look that nice!  

Originally Posted By Stiler (23 FEB 2012 3:05pm)

that's what I like about the Witcher, the Elves/dwarves weren't your stereotypical cut outs for the most part.

 

you would think in the world of Tameriel that they would have evolved somewhat, I guess the world is stuck in some time rut with both technology not evollving nor society. 

 

 

I absolutely agree with you. The Witcher is a shining example of different fantasy races done right.

As for Tamriel, the prevelence of magic is probably holding back a lot of the development. After all, why spend thousands of septims on something that a mage can do better? And the mages themselves are probably trying to hold back technological development, knowing that their place in society might be threatened if people don't need them anymore. 

The introduciton of the Thalmor is hopefully Bethesda's way of saying that they intend to make some changes to the setting. There should be serious changes to the way that the empire is ruled. Hopefully the next game will show us more of how society as a whole has changed. 

I am sure with the success already of Skyrim, sales have been wonderful...there will be a "next game"....

There are amazing texture packs that really help.  I'm on my third full playthrough and it is has been different each time, especially if you resist fast-travel.  Take the buckboard if you must.

Been married to two boring women...just like real life!!

This playthrough, I'm a Nord and I'm getting a lot fewer insults and demeaning comments.  

I was simulaneously attacked by three dragons who together slammed down in front of me.  I ran. 

There is supposed to be a friendly giant in the game, and  it is now my obsession to find him.

I love the foxes.

Originally Posted By Halcyon (24 FEB 2012 5:04pm)

There are amazing texture packs that really help.  I'm on my third full playthrough and it is has been different each time, especially if you resist fast-travel.  

Ohmy, you're absolutely right, I seem to have missed out on a lot of random events by fast travelling 

From now on i'll only fast travel to cities, when my inventory is full and i want to sell all the loot

Originally Posted By Halcyon (24 FEB 2012 5:04pm)

 

 

There is supposed to be a friendly giant in the game, and  it is now my obsession to find him.

 

Spoiler AlertThe giant is where those steam springs or geysers are, sort of inbetween Whiterun and Winterhold, on the road towards Windhelm if you took the Northern road as if going toward Winterhold (but you can't get to Winterhold like that, I don't think). You hit a small mining village just before you get to those hot springs, sadly I forgot it's name and don't have the game handy right now.

Spoiler tags added on request, not because I personally understand why the text underneath hides a spoiler.

Spoiler AlertThere are some giants who don't attack you on sight, though their default behavior tends to be that they do. Their apparent "pacifism" seems tied up with what their mammoths are doing.

 Spoiler tags! 

Does he not roam? Because in my game I first met him literally right after the live the first town, on the road between it and the town where you talk to the king (I'm terrible with remembering town names btw).

Just on my way back to that first town and ran into him, at first I assumed he would be hostile likle other giants if you got too close, but when I got near him he didn't raise his club like other giants or anything. In my game he had a cow that he followed around lol.