StaceyPowers

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?

I am not huge into streaming, but for those who are, why do you like to watch? Is it to learn and improve your own skills? To listen to the gamer’s commentary and jokes? To just enjoy watching the game play unfold?

Do you read in-game texts which contribute to world-building in a game? What I mean is like the books in Skyrim, the codex entries in Dragon Age, etc. I have to admit I find the Skyrim texts dry and confusing for the most part, and the font is hard on my eyes, so I only read the ones which are on specific topics of interest. I find the codex entries in Dragon Age a bit more readable, and have read a lot more of them as a result. I do love the ways that these types of texts enhance context in a game. Occasionally a book in Skyrim has put an entirely new perspective on an in-game situation for me. What about you?

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Are there any games you’ve played which you weren’t really into in the beginning, but later along you found yourself hooked on? Or maybe series which started out weak, but ended up improving with subsequent titles?

Lol. That reminds me of the time a tiny speck appeared in the sky and then crashed to earth as a mammoth, dead on impact.

I did this thread for Fallout, now let’s do it for Skyrim. What are some silly things you do when you’re bored? For me: Climb up buildings or mountainsides and try to jump down on rooftops. Drop objects in town squares and watch fights ensue. Murder everyone in Markarth. Repeatedly. Murder everyone at the Thalmor Embassy. Repeatedly.

I shall look forward to those then! I've been putting off Point Lookout till I level up a little more. That was why I ended up loving it. And I enjoyed the stealth thing. It's not my strong suit, but I liked the challenge.

So far I've only played Fallout 3 and NV. They're both great, but NV is definitely my favorite. I like the skill/perk distribution, and the well-developed followers. They also seem to be more effective in combat, though it could just be that Boone and I are perfect complements with our dual sniping. Which Fallout games do you like best, and why?

@DylanC and I were talking about how Bethesda games are so glitchy that it's almost a nostalgic part of the Bethesda experience. What are some of the worst (or funniest, or strangest) glitches you've experienced in Bethesda games? For me: -Strange geometric shadows from Dogmeat that take up the WHOLE SCREEN in Fallout 3. -I killed some character in Skyrim, and MONTHS later, the corpse of said character floated in an upright position up the road to me in a completely different part of the map, cut off at the waist. Creepy. -Awful stuttering/freezing in New Vegas. Not at all amusing. Some locations I can’t even enter. Please share some of your Bethesda glitch moments!

Lol, and don't forget about the atrocious physics =D All part of the charm.

Console manufacturers use exclusives as a means to try and sway users into buying their consoles, but obviously they are just one of many factors which influence purchase decisions. Who here ended up choosing a certain console largely for the exclusives? I ended up with a PS3 by coincidence, but The Last Of Us would have been enough to make me buy it if I'd had options.

The only Fallout games I have are Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Between them, I’ve played only a few of the DLCs—the Anchorage one in Fallout 3, Mothership Zeta in Fallout 3, and I’m just wrapping up Dead Money in NV (assuming I ever escape this blasted vault). So far, Dead Money is by far my favorite. I actually got attached to some of the characters, and I liked the break from standard run-and-gun play to stealth/survival. I liked Anchorage too, but Mothership Zeta felt extremely repetitious to me. Which Fallout DLCs are your favourites and least favourites?

If my game didn't crash every half hour or so, I'd almost feel cheated of the authentic Bethesda experience.

This is kind of a broad question, and a really subjective one. Which games have you played which to you felt the most atmospheric?

What is the worst experience you've ever had an MMO? I could type a novel on this topic, but I won't. I'll just say, for me it was an old MUD with horrible microtransactions which essentially allowed one very wealthy player to "buy" domination over the whole game.

Now and again in Fallout 3 and NV, I get this awful error where I enter or leave a zone, and suddenly there are these large geometric obstructions which appear and block everything from view--like weird blocky "shadows" attached to Dogmeat, or (most recently), a weird blocky orange "shadow" from the sky in Dead Money. Unless I have a save prior to the glitch, there seems to be no way to fix it, and it makes the games unplayable. Anyone know any way to stop this?