Caramel Frappe said:
The problem people may have with Skyrim is that they skip out on certain experiences without realizing that it's hurting their immersion, the real fun with the game. See, let me explain a few pointers.
- - Fast traveling: When people fast travel, they avoid feeling like the world is just really that big and can't grasp the RP element. Imagine if it didn't exist and you encountered new things along the way or it was more challenging... then it might feel more 'real'.
Oh, hey. A list. Now, I don't often do this, but I think I'm going to pick it apart one-by-one simply because everything here is the exact opposite of what I do, and yet I enjoyed Skyrim immeasurably. Won't that be fascinating?
Now, unless you're the kinda guy who
craves distractions 24/7, fast-travelling systems are a god-send. Did you know that the very first thing I wanted to do once I finished up with the Helgen/Riverwood/Whiterun stretch was run off and join the Imperial Legion? I took a look at the map, and Solitude was perhaps the longest walk I've ever seen in a game away. While my mind was fiddling with this slightly fabricated hyperbole, I decided walking there from Whiterun was going to be my number one priority.
After 5 minutes of encountering jack-all except two wizards who wanted to kill me for no discernible reason, I hit the mountains halfway there, and encountered a Frost Dragon.
My being level 4 without a bow didn't help when the Frost Dragon beat the everloving snot out of me and I ended up back in Whiterun due to autosaves. After the nicely-paced introduction of the intro quests, that wastelandic RNG experience threw me for a bit. I think I quit playing for a couple of days, but then decided to get into it again when I discovered you could just hire a carriage instead.
Yeah. My first
real fast travel convenience saved my interest in the game.
Later on, the best way to fill out my map was to fast-travel 70% of the distance to a far-off dungeon (for there must always be a dungeon far away that you've never been to), and hike the remaining 30%. Sure, Skyrim is huge and epic and intricately designed. But I play a horseless swordsman, so cliffs and arrows and dragon strafing runs tend to get on my nerves and detract from the scenario when my main goal is to just enter a cave somewhere.
I can go through it on occasion, but adventuring through caves is my bread and butter here. You may enjoy all the bandits and forsworn, but different things do it for different people.
- - Being OP: People who get their characters to be so strong, are really just killing the experience. What's the point of fighting an Elder Dragon if you can 2-hit KO it? Limit yourself so that you can still be a hardcore fellow but also have challenges. Without challenges, the fighting will seem far more dull and some even say it's dull to begin with!
This one I kind of have to agree with. Not enough to stop me from doing it, but hey.
There are 18 skills. You only need six to break the game and send it crying home to mommy: One Handed, Restoration, Speech, Smithing, Enchanting, and your armor skill of choice. The level cap is 81, but you can easily be your strongest by 40.
Oh, what's up Draugr MurderBoss DeathKing? I've been craving a one-on-one. Let me take out this sword fashioned from dragon bone and filled with the soul of a mammoth.
Okay, I must admit. That can get old after you've flawlessly butchered your way through your fourth dungeon in a row. But having OP skills makes it so you can feasibly use whatever gear takes your fancy. I love walking around with Ulfric's clothes, but I also enjoy not murdered every 5 seconds due to poor armor selection. And I love self-imposed challenges, because they're much funner than any vanilla challenge the game can throw at you (not to mention a thousand times less infuriating).
> Remember that time I killed an Elder Dragon with shield bashing as my only means of attack? Yeah, that was sweet.
> How 'bout that time Serana killed a Revered dragon with magic, and the only skill I relied on was Restoration to keep her in the fight? Took forever, but it was so satisfying that I jacked the Dragon's gems and made her a necklace.
> Or the time I ran into a forsworn region by myself and used all three words of Storm Call, then proceeded to do absolutely nothing except sprint around dodging the Ravagers until the lightning killed them all? In the words of Gordon Freeman [citation needed [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lrdRKCCYtk&t=3m20s]]: "Yeah, I think we're done here. You brought this on yourself."
It's entirely possible for you to find ways to amuse and challenge yourself on either low or high end of the spectrum. You just have to <color=#005682>8e a tad Cre8ive.
- - Cliche Character: Making a Nord who's melee is cliche' and makes the story/game feel simple. Mix your guy up with things that their race/talent isn't used to and you'll find it more entertaining. For example, make a khajiit female who's very good with magic. I was highly amused far more then using a Breton who's good with magic, ect.
Yeah. Gotta avoid being cliché. That's why I'm an Imperial with the Imperial Legion who's good with swordplay, heavy armor, persuasive speaking, smithing, and I dabble in a bit of magic.
Oh, wait.
Not to say your idea isn't good, either. It's Skyrim. At this point in TES, race and gender might as well be cosmetic.
...Female Khajiit who's into magic. [http://www.prequeladventure.com/2011/03/prequel-begin/] Where have I heard that before?
- - Soloing: We're social beings, creatures that like interaction. Sure Skyrim is single player, but don't play THE ENTIRE GAME by yourself. Have an NPC follow you, and no... not Lydia. I mean a character who's very good but also doesn't get in your way like a mage or someone likable such as Aela.
I do solo the game for the most part. When it's just me and the environment, it feels a lot more like
my adventure.
Sometimes you need a buddy though. And I love how Skyrim's got a decent selection. J'zargo's a cool guy, and he helped me carry 800 pounds of Dwemer metal out of Mzulft at one point.
Archaeology: Go big or go home.
Doing these will certainly get your hype more up. I've tried these and lasted 122 hours longer then say ignoring these facts. But also do note that Skyrim isn't for everyone plus if you play like... Dark Souls, you'll migrate to that combat over Skyrim's.
160 hours.
On my current playthrough. But who's counting?
...Oh! I've been quoting you the entire time, Caramel? Fancy that!
I need to get into the habit of looking at the usernames more often.
