Wow....I did not expect THIS to be coming, and for FREE none the less? New PAtch adds.........

MOUNTED COMBATTTTTTTT!!!!!1

Finally, the one thing I've wanted since TES had mounts.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/skyrim-adds-mounted-combat-6378620

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has added mounted combat. An update on Bethesda's blog reveals this "highly requested" feature is now available for PC players who download the game's 1.6 update through Steam. Information concerning mounted combat for console versions of Skyrim will be announced at a later date.

Horses in Skyrim are now good for more than just a ride.

Mounted combat in Skryim allows players to deal melee and ranged damage while riding a horse. This feature came about via Bethesda's latest game jam, a week-long period when staff are allowed to create whatever they want on company time. It was first teased in the game jam video Bethesda released in February.

On top of adding mounted combat support, Skyrim's 1.6 patch brings a number of bug fixes to the PC and console versions of the game. These include general stability and memory optimizations, save corruption fixes, and the elimination of issues related to kill cameras. For the full patch notes, check out blog entry.

The first downloadable for content for Skyrim--Dawnguard--is rumored to add another new feature to the game: crossbows. Reports suggest this content will introduce the ranged weapon as well as snow elves. This content will release this summer exclusively for the Xbox 360, with subsequent releases following for other platforms. More details are expected in the coming weeks.

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Thanks for the heads-up, Stiler. 

I just started playing Skyrim this past week via Steam and am having a blast. 

Horse-mounted combat will make it even more fun. 

Cheers, Terry

That is a great addition! There were some fan made mods for Oblivion that introduced mounted combat, but none of them worked really well. Hopefully this one will make mounted combat interesting. And now would also be a great time to re-introduce spear/lance class weapons to the series. 

I hope this is not the case for others but I don't really find this option to be of much practical use. Maneuvering the horse has always seemed rather clumsy and when faced with multiple opponents targeting them while avoiding damage can be irritating and downright painful. Of course being astride a horse always has that one advantage - you can flee.

When riding your horse you will always need your left hand to hold on and thus only have use of your right hand to wield your weapon. Awkward as you lean over if you are trying to strike something situated on your left. Odd though, I'm positive that use of a bow requires two hands, so as to how you hold on I don't know. I don't want to know.

The one item that really detracts any appeal I might have had for mounted combat is that spellcasting (my life and blood) appears to be disabled entirely. Ugh! 

I don't care much about mounted combat either, I only uses horses in the beginning of the game when one can't fast travel to far-away regions yet. After that horses become useless and indeed very clumsy

Originally Posted By CB (25 MAY 2012 3:28pm)

I hope this is not the case for others but I don't really find this option to be of much practical use. Maneuvering the horse has always seemed rather clumsy and when faced with multiple opponents targeting them while avoiding damage can be irritating and downright painful. Of course being astride a horse always has that one advantage - you can flee.

 

When riding your horse you will always need your left hand to hold on and thus only have use of your right hand to wield your weapon. Awkward as you lean over if you are trying to strike something situated on your left. Odd though, I'm positive that use of a bow requires two hands, so as to how you hold on I don't know. I don't want to know.

 

The one item that really detracts any appeal I might have had for mounted combat is that spellcasting (my life and blood) appears to be disabled entirely. Ugh! 

Youdon't have to use your hands on a horse, you can train them to ride with leg controls and things, so you can steer them, stop them and everything from using your leg/butt muscles (shifting your weight).

Brevity comic strip in the paper today:

http://www.gocomics.com/brevity/2012/05/28

Yes, I know the "arrow to the knee" joke has been done a million times online, but I found it interesting that it found its way into a mainstream newspaper comic, where most of the audience won't likely get it. Maybe it's just meant to be a wink and a nudge to gamer types as it's in the background and not the main joke of the comic.

The horses in Skyrim are useless, in deed worse than. Mounted Combat therefore has no interest for me whatsoever. Also that exclusive content for X Box only is another example of forced marketeering and another sign of the decline of Bethesda which i once considered one of the best game stuidos around. That they would cave into such blatant platform forcing is a sad sign and another reason i have lost interest in Skyrim and plan to mod for Oblivion only from now on at least for a while. I have no interest in a dribble of patches to try to force people to use Steam either. My set up works fine and is closed to any additional meddling from Steam.

Details are revealed about the first DLC: Dawnguard, it's not about the falmer but about a new faction called the Dawnguard, who fight vampires.

You can choose which faction you join.

It's set in a different region then Skyrim, much darker but more temperate

Crossbows, new armor,  aquatic dragons are some of the new features revealed

That is good. I am so sick of those falmer. It would be great if I could squeeze in a few other games before the release.

More info and a trailer HERE

Originally Posted By CB (1 JUN 2012 2:06pm)

That is good. I am so sick of those falmer. It would be great if I could squeeze in a few other games before the release.

 

More info and a trailer HERE

Have you tested that link, CB?  Doesn't seem to work for me...

Hi Trav.

Let me check on that.

http://whatculture.com/gaming/skyrims-first-dlc-dawnguard-gets-official-trailer.php

Seems to display OK for me.

Sorry about that.

Thanks, CB!  Now I just need to get Skyrim finished...

The first reviews for Dawnguard are starting to pop up, and while not bad, they are not exactly stellar either. More but worse of the same seem to be the common opinion, with the vampires in particular being disappointing. 

I've tried to avoid them since the product hasn't been released on my platform.

Please use spoiler tags, or better yet start a new thread.

I won't be picking up dawnguard anytime soon, the current price is too high for DLC, besides there's still so much left to do in the original game

Spoiler AlertI also read that compared to the shivering isles, there won't be a new big area to explore and there aren't as many new quests. I was rather dissappointed with all the reviews i've seen so far

I agree about current price, I assume it will be the same unless the Xboxers paid a premium for the head start. I can't complain too much, heck my last hour of Skyrim cost around $0.17. There is nothing left to accomplish in the original game so all I can do is wait.

Judging by the reviews, it looks like something that is best bought on a sale, as the amount of content per € seem to be pretty low.. I have not read any of them in detail, just skimmed through the summaries (I don't want anything spoiled either), but that is at least the impression that I get. 

Darn, I guess we PC users can go on and take our vacations after all. Link

what a PR disaster, when will they learn to release games on the same day for each platform

Not that i really care about it though, I never buy DLC unless they're on sale.

Using the - 1$ / 1 hour spent playing -  rule, DLC are mostly overpriced

The same is true for most games though, at least if you compare their price on launch with time spent playing. A normal game will last you between 5-10h, and cost ~50€. Only massive CRPGs & grand strategy games with a high amount of replay value (Paradox's games, Civ and so on) can come close to 1€/h. Slightly older games on sale can be amazing value for your money though. 

Originally Posted By markornikov (27 JUL 2012 3:02am)

Not that i really care about it though, I never buy DLC unless they're on sale.

Using the - 1$ / 1 hour spent playing -  rule, DLC are mostly overpriced

At around $0.17/hour (guess I already mentioned previously) Skyrim is by far the cheapest game I've ever played and had fun with. Since the opportunity has now presented itself and if I get an additional 20 hrs for $20 (hopefully) I'm not in a position to quibble on the price. Downloading DG now.

Oi, and i thought this game was so open-ended, consequences, etc. Blah blah blah...  

On impulse, when entering Solitude, i decided to try and save Spoiler AlertRoggvir - but apparently i can't, he is scripted to die...  so, i'll just have to restore an earlier save. Luckily i save often...  

Yes, although I've seen that it is possible to stave off the execution itself, (not by me of course, I thought it was much more interesting to observe) apparently Roggvir is so traumatized by the severity of the incident Spoiler Alerthe suffers a fatal heart attack.

I seemed to feel some connection with Serana so I'm now playing as a vampire lord. At least it's a little different, with a new skill tree and such. I considered changing my avatar, but then it wouldn't be quite as attractive.

Originally Posted By CB (11 AUG 2012 12:47pm)

Yes, although I've seen that it is possible to stave off the execution itself, (not by me of course, I thought it was much more interesting to observe) apparently Roggvir is so traumatized by the severity of the incident Spoiler Alerthe suffers a fatal heart attack.

 

I seemed to feel some connection with Serana so I'm now playing as a vampire lord. At least it's a little different, with a new skill tree and such. I considered changing my avatar, but then it wouldn't be quite as attractive.

The problem is that the whole town kinda turned on me when i tried to save him, and like you say, at the end he lies there dead anyway.
With quite a few quests in Skyrim, it seems, Spoiler Alert(the house of horrors for instance) you are forced to kill people, which to me is not quite in the spirit of TES, since in the previous 2 games, there was always some alternate way in which you could trick your way out of killing someone if coldblooded assasinations arent' your thing.  (Except when sepcifically doing assasin's quests, of course)

I didn't enjoy the asssin's quests though, even in the previous 2 games -it's not my style.  I prefer an open honest fight, or persuasion or whatever.

I haven't chosen sides in the civil war yet, btw.  I thought i'd leave that as long as possible.  I am now head of the mages, and just joined the companions, and done quite a few sidequests, and explored a lot of the land, but not all; - so i still have a lot of Skyrim ahead of me.