StaceyPowers

If you had to live in any city or town in Skyrim in real life, which would you choose and why? I think I would pick Solitude as the all-around nicest city in terms of quality of life, etc. But I’d be tempted to live in Riften even with its problems just to be surrounded by the scenery in the Rift.

This is sort of a follow-up to @Scottypops 's post regarding the lack of variety in enemies in large open world games. Does anyone find the lack of variety in quests equally annoying? I swear like 70-80% of the quests in most open world games come down to "fetch me a bucket" (or book, or weapon, or etc.). Fetch quests are okay, but they are quite monotonous after a while.

Welcome to VGR!

Good call. Myst is very difficult. I did play through the whole game, but I had to check the walk-through manual on multiple occasions. Probably still the most atmospheric game I ever played. I really miss it sometimes.

I do know what you mean. Perfect example being Skyrim. I love it, but there's never any concern of failure whatsoever (except via glitches).

For me, I’d probably say it was my brief attempt at Demon’s Souls. But then, I’m also tempted only half-jokingly to say it was The Oregon Trail (for those who can remember that).

Such a great quest reward too.

Dark Souls seems cool to me on a conceptual level. I like the idea of learning from your mistakes and optimizing your strategies until you succeed. But in practice, it just drives me crazy. I get so much performance anxiety knowing that if I screw up I’ll have to start over, and then of course I screw up. What’s the appeal of all that pressure? Or is it just another gaming style or personality that finds Dark Souls approachable?

So many times when I’m looking online for tips on some section of a game, I see someone else mention it took them “a few hours” when it takes me closer to “many hours.” Maybe some people are just hyper-efficient, but it seems like a lot of folks rush through games. I like to take my time and see and do all I can. I’m sad when a game is over. Where do you weigh in?

When No Man's Sky came out, lots of gamers declared it was a terrible letdown--to the point where I think a lot of gamers since have acknowledged that it wasn't a bad game--it just failed to live up to the hype. What games have you been most let down by in terms of expectations versus reality?

Is anyone here a completionist? If so, which activities in which games drive you crazy? For me, my biggest annoyance is the catacombs in some of the Skyrim dungeons. They’re just packed with stuff to loot, and my OCD drives me nuts if I don’t loot every single corpse or urn.

Which games have you done the most play-throughs on? Which ones offered the most reward/value on those repeat plays?

What do you think is the best FPS game which has ever been made? Why?

I’ve seen mixed opinions on the radiant quests in Skyrim, i.e. the Thieves’ guild jobs to rob a random target. Some people love them since there is always something to do, while others hate them because they leave them with a sense that something is permanently incomplete (plus, they are repetitious). I don’t find them fascinating, but I do enjoy them. I also think in the future, quests which are procedurally generated like this could become more complex. What are your thoughts?

What to you was the most satisfying ending in any video game you've played?

How do you feel about sex in video games? I'm not a prude by any stretch, and I have absolutely nothing against it in a moral sense. I also have zero issues with video game nudity. But video game sex tends to be mega-awkward, lol, especially when someone walks into the room right in the middle of a cheesy "love" scene. I often feel relieved when I'm playing games that decided to leave out sex altogether, just so I don't have to sit through the awkward, fumbling CG characters trying to get their digital groove on. Where do you weigh in on the issue?

Who are your preferred followers in Skyrim? I love the dogs (Meeko and Vigilance, and I tolerate Barbas). Out of the humanoid companions, my favorite is Mjoll. Even though I've heard her ramblings a thousand times now, she still feels more "real" to me than a lot of the others since she has more to say/more backstory.

What are some of your favorite quests in Skyrim going by sheer enjoyment or story reasons (not quest rewards)? Mine are: The Forsworn Conspiracy Promises to Keep In My Time of Need The Blessings of Nature Blood on the Ice Rise in the East Kyne’s Sacred Trials A Night to Remember Missing in Action Thieves Guild/College quest lines Black Books (Dragonborn)

What is the most disappointing ending ever in a video game? Note that I don't necessarily mean one which is emotionally crushing--I mean one which was totally unsatisfying.

Blanco Mac and Cheese!

I love video games which provide hundreds of hours of experiences, but sometimes the best games are those which provide just a few really solid hours of playthrough and a well-contained story with a beginning, middle and end. Which are some of the best short games you've played?

What’s the most expensive video game you ever bought? I think the most expensive thing I ever bought was a Skyrim DLC for $19.99, lol. Being totally behind on gaming has its benefits.

What real-life skills have you learned playing video games? For me, it’s been social skills. I am terminally shy and sometimes have a hard time asserting what I want or need, but after enough RPG-style games, it’s easier to have imaginary dialogue options in my head and persist until I pass the imaginary speech-check when I deal with folks. I’ve also learned a lot about just how off my guesses are about which options will get which responses =D

I just made a post about how annoying video game music is that gets stuck in my head for hours and hours after I play. I’m highly susceptible to earworms, so it probably annoys me more than it would a lot of people. Anyway, I’ve played hundreds of hours of Skyrim, and the music almost never loops obnoxiously in my head, despite how many times I’ve heard each track. I find them all beautiful but unobtrusive, so it is my favorite game soundtrack. What game soundtracks do you feel similarly about?

Last night I was playing Dragon Age: Origins, and I was in Arl Eamon's estate for just a few minutes. That "purposeful" music has been stuck in my head for well over 12 hours now. I'm not sure if it's the same song as the one in Orzammar or a different one (I haven't been back there in a while), but that one also would stick like glue. For me, these are some of the most irritating songs in video games because they are such earworms. Which songs in which games annoy you the most?