A Day in Skyrim: Part 2

Readers might be wondering whether or not I’m still playing Skyrim right now, seeing as my last post dates back to somewhere in August. The answer to that is yes: I’ve decided to simply make one of these posts about every ten levels I gain. As such, this post indicates that I’m at level 20 in Skyrim, having played 33 hours in total since I bought the game. By this point in time, I’m getting closer to the mystery behind the Staff of Magnus, and learned several dragon shouts. I’m actually working towards getting the Clear Skies shout, since that could allow me to summon auroras at will. Believe it or not, a major aurora passed over my town a few weeks ago, and I missed it because I was sleeping off an alcohol-induced daze.

At level twenty, I’ve completed the Thalmor Embassy quest, and have decided that I will stick to my destruction/conjuration mage with enchanting and archery specialisation. This is one of the most unusual combinations, but I’ve found it to be quite useful for improving survivability in prolonged combat. Thus, between now and the third post (unsurprisingly, to be made once I reach level 30), I aim to finish the Eye of Magnus quest, and learn a few more Dragon Shouts. I’m also going to see about getting some of the adept level destruction spells.

A Day in Skyrim: Part 1

Today, I’d like to introduce a new class of posts that deal with my adventures in Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim. Having purchased the game nearly a month ago during the Steam Summer Sale, I’ve since played through about 11 hours of it, running around and exploring. These posts are driven by galleries, since I don’t have any inclination to post a unique image caption under everything I post, and because most of the tips I have for the game are inspired by the Skyrim Wiki. Following the opening cinematic and had begun my journey, which began with my being utterly lost in Skyrim, having rolled a Bretton. After activating the Guardian Stone for mages, I went to Riverwood and settled around there to do some quests. About two hours into the game, shortly after I reached level 2, one of the guards said to me the now-infamous “took an arrow to the knee” line. Strangely enough, I haven’t heard it since.

Eventually, I was sent to Whiterun, and after entering the town, I was met with questions and stares from guards and citizens. I would play a few quests, taking me to my first dungeon and earning me my first bit of serious coin in Skyrim. I’ve now completed enough of the quest chain to kill my first dragon, earning Whiterun’s respect, and at the time, I am working towards buying a house in Whiterun before going forward with the main quest. As well, I will be working towards a conjuration/destruction mage at the present. Skyrim represents the ideal high-fantasy RPG: like World of Warcraft, it is an open world, allowing players to do whatever they wish. However, the bonus about Skyrim is that one can enjoy the game on their own without the need to gather large parties for large dungeons (instead, CPU-controlled followers can assist players in the tougher regions). For the present, it means that I am given a peaceful experience that represents the ultimate in a Lord of the Rings-like experience. I’ll continue posting images of my adventures from time to time, speaking of my experiences as I go. Well, that’s all for now!

Steam Summer Sale 2013

There’s only a half-day left in the Steam Summer Sale 2013 at the time of writing. This event has become somewhat of a tradition, but this year was my first participation; I’ve long expressed a desire to get Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and a game that would be similar to Deadly Premonotion. This game would be fulfilled by Alan Wake. During the summer sale, Skyrim was offered at half-price, while the entire Alan Wake franchise enjoyed a 90 percent discount, I also purchased Audiosurf and, on the spur of the moment, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. No, I adamantly refuse to call it a Summer “Seal” for any reason. That joke is not amusing and was never funny to begin with. However, what is amusing is how excellent the deals are.

• I originally intended to buy Magicka and Trials: Evolution alongside these games, but I came to the horrifying realisation that between just the four games here, I would probably never finish all of them. I’ll pick up these games during the Holiday Sale that comes in winter only if I somehow manage to make good progress in Alan Wake (Skyrim is an open-world game and will probably be something I do wherever I feel the want to explore to my heart’s content).

• Badges for the Summer Sale 2013 must now be earned, and with the sale rapidly drawing to a close, I’ll need to hunt down people with the right cards so I can craft my Summer Sale badge. At the time of writing, I am at level 8 in Steam, and strange as it sounds, wish to get to level 10 solely for the purpose of getting a red ring around my level number.

In previous years, the lack of a powerful PC precluded the possibility of capitalising on such excellent deals. Specifically, I did not have the GPU power to make the most of all these sales, and lacked the RAM to keep the game running alongside my OS. There is one final note I have: the day before the Steam Summer Sale 2013 kicked off, all of the Half-Life games were on discount, allowing me to buy Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 at 2.49 USD each. As noted on one of my earlier posts, a bus ticket costs more than that. During the Summer sale proper, the episodes somehow cost more than they did previously. With this in mind, it’s not difficult to understand why Valve has such a number of repeat customers.