So, Skyrim's out 11/11/11

[Roland]

I just love hearing all the stories about what people's characters have encountered. It makes the game feel more like a different, real world. We all started out the same, but man, experiences certainly do differ. MOAR STORIES! Although, since quite a few of us on overnights have the game now, work has been done a little slower this week. If I have something that ended up in my area by mistake, I take it to the proper area and frequently there's someone there who has the game so we swap a quick story, and then back to work. Since the folks who do the initial sorting of freight don't stock, there are plenty of opportunities to get the freight to the proper place.

I love being a Thief-type Archer. I love mowing down baddies from afar with a sneak attack arrow through the throat (and it's oftentimes hilarious watching where the arrows land, and the subsequent thrashing about of combat with said arrows flailing about). I also love it when I line up that perfect, long-distance shot that nails the fox running away 100 feet down a mountain road right in the back, and promptly fells him. That tense anticipation watching the arrow soar across the land, hoping you guessed right on the path he was going to take, and that final meaty "thunk" as it lands home almost out of sight. Ah, what a rush. I could spend half my night just hunting animals (and often do). That and flower picking - gotta have those ingredients!

Speaking of which, while I've spent plenty of time raising my Smithing skill to 85, I've barely dug into Alchemy (around 31 or so). I really need to get Alchemy up, but it takes so much longer to raise that, and ingredients aren't exactly falling in my lap - save for a handful of different ones. Buying them at the merchants is very cost prohibitive, too (31 Speechcraft sucks), to say nothing of the limited availability. I'm sure I'm missing out by not actually playing more of the game (i.e. checking out the mage's college or whatever, and likewise for the Thieves Guild), but it's definitely become a point where I want to use poisons on a regular basis. Deathbell and Nightshade and Nirnroot aren't the most common of ingredients, though, and even some of the cheap ones like Imp Stool always elude me. I'm left with crafting Health Potions, but even then they only heal me around 23 Health (which is less than 10% per potion). I think I have to make around 20+ potions just to go up one level, whereas Smithing might take 5 daggers or braces. Not that I'm complaining - I'll get more use out of Alchemy, and the rewards are greater (in terms of utility and coin), but man is it slow going. I should be less stingy with my ingredients, too, but it's tough.

I am enjoying the stories behind the quests. They just seem much more fleshed out than most you find in other games. The scripted events that occur when you meet a certain NPC are a nice touch, too. Last night I was clearing out a bandit cave as part of a quest, sneaking along and picking each one of them off one at a time from the shadows. Much fun! I get all the way to my mark, and am just about to maneuver to get him into view when the game stops me and we start up a dialogue - in which I decided to take him at his word that I was being misled, and promptly turned the quest I was doing 100% around. That quest had two possible pathways, and the one I chose was to kill a mark instead of informing him, yet in the end I was presented the choice of killing him or hearing him out. I heard him out, and decided to not only spare his life, but also aid him in capturing the person who sent me. Netted me a nice little profit, and a good deed done. It was refreshing to have a quest that originally appeared to be fairly linear (if open to two separate paths) turn out slightly more varied.

Oh, and beware the Thalmor! I've met them in the wild a couple times, and each time when I approached they drew their weapons and told me to back off! I wouldn't have cared except I'm pretty sure they were dressed in Elven armor and sporting matching level weapons, so I didn't really feel like taking 3 of them on in the open. Nasty little bastards, though. Almost enough to make me join the Stormcloaks, just to spite the Empire for aligning with them (at knifepoint or not). Speaking of which, I haven't chosen a side yet. I'm sure whichever side I do choose will have consequences, but I'm looking forward to the inevitable story to unfold. I remember in Morrowind I was very happy to joint he Imperial Legion. Here and now in Skyrim, though... not so much. Eventually I'll have to decide, but for now I'm content to remain neutral. I should start working my way through my quest log, though. Plenty of places slung far away from where I've explored - enough to keep me busy for many hours just getting to my destinations, let alone completing the quests.