How others spend their time - Part I

Practical as I consider my blog to be, there are also others who are doing their part for the Elder Scrolls community. There are loads of stuff to read everywhere. I figured that I would direct you towards some of them from time to time.

A fellow Gamespot user, calling himself Assassin-Ninja, have done a little summary. I skimmed through it and it seems like a very nice read. One might not guess that he has that a creative side when looking at his username, but he writes really well. Have a look at his "summary" here: http://uk.gamespot.com/users/Assassin-Ninja/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25938836&tag=all-about%3Bblog1

I also came upon another person doing approximately the same thing as me: Do a blog on Skyrim. If you're looking for something that isn't here yet, then I suggest heading over to the http://theskyrimblog.com/
Evidently we think alike, having both made articles named "Will you marry me?" - Luckily I came first and shall be suing him for copyright soon (joke.)

Wake up in the morning, I brush my hair. Getting dressed to meet my friends, but what EQUIPMENT should I wear?

Anyone familiar with the term "combined equipment?" If not, a short example is in its place.
Back in Morrowind, each piece of equipment was equipped individually. This means that as opposed to having "a pair of boots" or "a pair of gloves" as in Oblivion, you had just "Two gloves" or "two boots." This also means that you could equip, say a leather boot and a metal boot at the same time, which means that you could look pretty damn stupid.

Still, the freedom was nice. Not that freedom is for everybody. Luckily those people aren't welcome here.

In Oblivion, we had these options:

• Helmet
• Cuirass
• Greaves
• Gloves (pair)
• Boots (pair)

Very nice, very nice. A step down for some, a step up for others. Definitely not a big step for mankind, Neil Armstrong.

What weapons did we have in the last game, then? Well, we had One- as well as two-handed Sword, Maces and Axes. Then we had daggers, to stab the naughty stable keepers when they asked for an unreasonable sum of gold for their crappy horses. Also there were staves, for the kinky magician and a bow with arrows, to be awesome with.

I'm sure a lot of ya'll want to know what will be available in Skyrim. At least there has been people asking around on forums, so I guess that that is good enough!

First, the non-weapons!

Skyrim will feature non-individual piece of equipment, just like Oblivion did. Sorry folks! I know that a lot of you have read the "The Elder Trolls: Source" (as I call it) and had come to believe that it would be like Morrowind, but sadly for you: no.

It actually takes the over-all thing a step further. The Cuirass and the Greaves have actually been combined. There are two main reasons for this: First of all, it looks more awesome and epic that way! (The devs mentioned that in the nordic styles of armor, the cuirass would often cover the Greaves, which made them unnecessary.) Second of all, it renders faster (simple language: loads faster,) meaning that there can be more NPC's on-screen on the same time.

Now, now, don't feel bad. Nor good, actually.  Indifference is awesome. Anyway! I bet a lot of you are concerned that it'll mean less variation. Fret not! The devs have promised many more variations of armor styles, so we won't all look like each other. Unless we want to.

Evidently, there won't be cloaks / capes, so to all of you people out there, still keeping your hopes up, or haven't learned anything at all from watching The Incredibles, you'll have to wait for the mod.

The weapons then!

The weapons are the exact same as in Oblivion. No more no less. Apart from the magic feeling a lot more like an actual weapon and not cheap street-peddlers entertainment, there are no real new additions.

Maces, Axes, Swords (still in both one-handed and two-handed,) daggers, staves and Bows.

But there is something else you can fight with: A torch! Many time sin Oblivion, I came upon a troll whilst carrying a torch and thought: "BURN, BITCH, BURN! IN A RESPECTIVE MANNER; WHILS'T WE BOTH RETAIN OUR SELF-RESPECT AND SENSE OF GENTLEMAN PRIDE!!"

Unfortunately, I couldn't use it back then! But I can now!!

There are also different bows. Some take longer to string than others, but needless to say, they also do more damage. Whether we will actually be able to fight with our staves remains to be seen. From footage experience, I'd say that they work like in Oblivion as well.

So that is it folks. No spears, no crossbows and no guns.

My Absence

So here is the deal: Since Friday, 1st of July, the rate of daily articles have gone down by an extreme amount. I actually haven't posted again until today.

There is two reasons for this, the first being that that I have covered a lot and making articles are now more difficult. Second of all and most importantly: I am doing other stuff. This week I've been rehearsing dance routines to show next Friday, which has taken a lot of my focus.

The blog is definitely not dead. I will continue working on it until the release. Frankly, I have no idea what to do with it afterwards, but there's a time and a place I guess.

Still, I'll get back to writing again. I've already smacked up two new articles :*

- McBraas

The Fellowship of the Dragonborn (pun intended)

I once read something, by a very smart random guy on the internet: "As I lack the necessary social skills to make real life friends, companions in RPG's mean a lot to me."
In a way, I think that that is true for me as well and probably also for many others.

Oh, don't worry. This big slap I just gave everyone including myself has a point to it. I think it compensates more than enough for social retardation plaguing my mind <--- (Seriously, I don't really mind all of that, I'm just exaggerating.)

The point is that Skyrim will feature companions and many more than in Fallout 3,  if any of you landlubsters played that. Fallout featured few, but very engaging companions with unique background stories and personalities - Fawkes, I particularly liked! You know, 1: He had a minigun with an unlimited supply of ammo and 2: He was big, green, bad-ass and pretty much immortal.

The companions in Skyrim will however be heavier in quantity (meaning that there are more) but the quality has been taken down a peck or two. The companions you can find in Skyrim will have their own unique personalities, but their will not be deep, engaging background stories to spend hours listening to in a pathetic attempt to please the fictional character. As cute as these sessions were, I am fine with being rid of them.

Since they are your companions, they follow you around. We don't quite know how the command system is yet. Maybe like Fallouts? Still, we know that we won't be managing their levelling the least. They take care of the whole attribute / perk thing themselves, but different companions will have different perks and herefore fight differently.

A thing that I would like to see is something random and awesome. Say you have a low relationship with a "Chaotic Neutral" companion and you find a great big treasure - suddenly, greed overtakes him and he forces his hand on you (not attempted rape, just murder.) Naturally, you kill him for his insolence with a blade to the heart and a pool of pee on the corpse.

That would be great - that would make sure that they all aren't drooling followers of your leadership. Make it a trust thing.

Hoola Boola! Companions can also mean pets, BTW. We know that the first companion you receive is a pet named Wilbur, who'll help you fight. What the hell Wilbur is, I don't know and remains to be seen. I've already written an entire article on Wilbur, so I'll let that topic rest now.

This is a random Naruto picture - There is no specific reason for this to be here, whatsoever.

We have confirmed Marriage BTW - Maybe we'll even be able to woo our companions? Who knows?

Will you marry me?

Well, excuse the language, but son of a bitch! I'll be damned! At looks as if it happened!

I have news people.
In one of my previous articles, I mentioned that the developers had been talking about including romance. First it was merely a silly rumor, but it seemed like they had actually considered it!

Be you in nerd rage or in joy, I shall tell you this: Romantic relationships are a feature of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There! I said it!

It would appear that you can even get married and if you own a house, your spouse will move in with you. I wonder how realistic they made it - in case the answer is very, I should probably roll woman so I can get half their stuff when we break up! Badom bom chi!!