I'm very proud to say that the game runs very well on my new PC (as expected). So far, I haven't noticed any lag or any major issues. In fact, (at less than 10 hours in the game) I think that the PC version is better than the PS3 version. Objects in the game seem to have less odd behavior. On the PS3, when I was in Alvor's house in Riverwood, objects (like food) were rolling all over the place and being weird. On the PC, everything was fine, except for one potato that rolled around a little bit on a plate. The only other significant difference I can see is that the game loads much more quickly on the PC than the PS3.
I think I see a trend in your gameplay. Warrior in Skyrim, Barbarian in Diablo 3 :)
I tend to play all Elder Scrolls games as sneaky assassin/thief types. I may set out to play a different way, but I always end up back at sneaky.
You do see the trend! =) I did finish Diablo 3 as a Crusader as well.
I lost my companion, Lydia. I think we were separated by my death. Luckily using Fast Travel got her teleported to me. We did stumble upon Labyrinth and were attacked by a Frost Troll. I defeated it since Lydia was fighting it. The second one near by killed me though. I just recently completed the quest to find Red Eagle's sword. Afterwards, we stumbled upon a Bandit's Den and cleared them out. Then I was killed by a dragon. I think I'm level 7, so I'm still going to do more quests to level up before fighting the Frost Troll on the mountain on the way to the Greybeards again.
This post is ugly! I think I should be more like Jon and others and include pictures in my posts. That makes posts look much better. I may see if I can edit this one to add it in.
Off-subject, Vinny might not go to his Mom's this summer. So, I'm going to make sure we have a fun summer and I'm going to order a Wii U. Why order it? Because my Gamestop does not that the bundle that comes with two games (a Mario and a Luigi game http://www.amazon.com/NINTENDO-Console-Black-Deluxe-WUPSKAFP-u/dp/B00GD62JIQ/ref=lp_3075116011_1_6?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1400627705&sr=1-6). I may also order Star Wars on Blu-Ray since he's never seen it before.
Star Wars in HD is something I seriously recommend. 
Ordered! Star Wars will actually get here before the Wii U in a couple of days. There are other Blu-Ray editions I want like The Matrix, Harry Potter, and Jurassic Park. Vinny's already familiar with Star Wars, but he's never seen any of the movies. I actually didn't see the original three until I was in high school. They are good movies (I even like Episodes I-III) and I'm sure he'll enjoy them. I was trying to clear his confusion today when he said that Anakin is Darth Vadar's son.
Back on topic, briefly....Finding the pic I added to the top of this post was easy. I'm so delighted that I actually found a Legendary Edition pic. Also, the fact that I only had to copy the URL (from Steam) and paste it in this post was very helpful, it makes adding a pic so easy. So, I am going to start following that practice, since I believe it makes posts look so much better!
I agree Greg, adding an image link or youtube link really do make the posts pop.
=) It only took me almost half a year to realize that. Hahahaha
It's cool. I'm a slow burn too.
The pic does make the post look better :)
As far as play types, I'm usually steer towards some sort of crusader type, attacking and healing. In WoW, I liked being a druid, and in Skyrim I was a one-handed sword plus one handed caster.
But in my recent play through (which I'm still in, but haven't played in a while), I'm working on being a thief-type, but instead of daggers, I gotten to the point where my casting is silent :)
Thanks, Adym! I agree with you on play types, I like something similar. Usually healing is all the magic I use, with occasional others as they are useful. In Morrowind, I found it hard to stick to this type as other spells were needed, such as levitation. Still, I like doing doing as much damage as possible and I also like my defense to be high as well (hence the use of heavy armor).
That's cool that you're playing a thief-type. There are many ways to play, which is cool, but I liked what I originally went with so I decided to stick with it. What do you mean about instead of daggers your casting is silent?
I haven't found out how to use magic in the PC version of Skyrim. I'm going to see if that's a different key to press. Shouts use the Z key. It may be something I may need to use with the Favorite option. I already have my bow and my warhammer as Favorites so that I can switch between them easily. This was useful when I was in a cave and saw some lanterns hanging above some oil on the ground, which I shot down with my bow from a distance to kill the enemies that were coming at me. It was very effective. I also use the bow against dragons while they're flying, although dragons are currently killing me.
In the Illusion skill tree, there's a perk called Quiet Casting that will make it so that your spells won't be noticed by enemies, allowing you to stay hidden whilst throwing spells at them :)
(And I play with a controller on my PC, so I can't help with spells from the keyboard)
Oh, ok, that's cool, I understand now. That does sound pretty handy for a thief. How are you playing with a controller? What kind of controller? Did you find it difficult to remap the configuration to work with it?
I have a Logitech of some sort. Basically a PlayStation type clone. It's been a while since I first tried it, but I'm pretty sure I plugged in the controller and it just worked.
I have the 360 controller for PC that's pretty great(supported in Linux too).
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xbox%20360%20pc
Seems like the USB model is like $35 and the wireless ones are more. The USB one is nice but the cord is an annoyance. Kind of waiting to see how the Steam Controller feels to see if I want to get a wireless 360 controller.
Wow, Adam, that simple, huh?! As I mentioned, I had some difficulty getting the PS3 controller working on the old PC and I decided against using it. I had to run a program (can't recall it's name at the moment) to emulate the PS3 controller as an XBox 360 controller. Then setting up the configuration was a hassle, I guess because I'm not all that familiar with all the axis configurations.
Jon, did you have the same experience as Adym in using that controller?
I found out that P opens the Magic Menu, which doesn't make much sense because it's on the other side of the keyboard from the other keys primarily used. Like I pretty much said, using a keyboard and mouse is much more complicated than using a controller. I admire the simplicity of using a controller.
My son, Vinny, decided he wanted to play Skyrim, too, so he's playing on the PS3 as I'm playing on the PC. Luckily, I created a profile for him on the PS3, so he doesn't have mess with my saved game. As I'm looking at the TV and then my monitor and comparing the visuals of Skyrim, some how it just seems to me that the PC looks better and is much smoother.
Earlier I mentioned objects and their weird behavior, in which I thought the PC had fewer issues, but I may have been wrong. One of the last times I entered Dragonsreach, a plate went flying across the room and other objects are scattered on the floor. Maybe the characters decided to have a food fight.
I almost defeated the last dragon that attacked me.....I said, "almost." Hahahaha Well, at least Breezehome is mine, although not yet fully furnished.
Vinny's only 10, so he's lucky I'm letting him play Skyrim. I don't have a problem with it, but he's been wanting to play GTA and I won't let him. It's not really the violence that I'm shielding him away from, but the language.
Plugged it in and it just worked? No, I have to tell the game to use the controller after that it works fine.
Hm, well if it worked that simply for you two, maybe it would work for me, too. Maybe I should give it another try.
"some how it just seems to me that the PC looks better and is much smoother."
It absolutely is, objectively. There's a lot more you can do with the visuals with better hardware.
As for the controller, I seriously recommend a 360 controller. It's plug and play, and with a game like Skyrim (and most modern games) you just have to tell it to use the controller and you're done. No remapping necessary.
Yeah, that makes sense, Travis. The PS3's hardware is much older, obviously and is a bit more limited, I suppose. Thanks for the recommendation. "No remapping necessary," that's awesome!
Travis and I have mentioned how we play Skyrim and I'm curious about how the rest of you play, like what kind of character.
Jon, I saw you playing Skyrim earlier and thought maybe I inspired that game play. Hahaha. Then I saw you were playing Fez. I still want to play Starbound some more, but I tend to play one game at a time.
I'm thinking about playing Oblivion on the PC, too. I've only played it through once, last Fall. I enjoyed it, although I wished I cleared more Oblivion portals than I did. Maybe on my second play through I'll clear them all before completing their final destruction. One of my friends said he thinks Oblivion was harder than Skyrim and I agree with him. One big difference is that you have to repair your equipment in Oblivion, but not so in Skyrim. Eventually, this didn't become much of an issue. Visually, Skyrim seems to be much darker, while Oblivion is bright with vibrant colors, which I thought was beautiful. One thing I didn't like about Oblivion was that if you go towards the south, there was a very small portion of the map that you could traverse (shaped like a bottle neck). I thought that was strange. The only real issue I had in the game was with a glitch in which a character I needed to (optionally) talk to ended up some how dying while he crossed a bridge. The game would tell me his location, but I couldn't even find his body. I found out that this is a known glitch. Perhaps I'll be able to provide more details in the future when I play again.
Back to Skyrim, I tried chasing a ghost, a headless horseman, but I wasn't able to catch up to it on foot. I don't recall seeing it previously. Also, I enjoyed having a dog running around with me and my companion, Lydia, but it often got in my way, either blocking my movement or jumping in front of me as I was attacking an enemy. It died once and I reloaded from the last save so I wouldn't lose it. However, it got killed during the Honningbrew Meadery quest and I decided to let it stay dead. It was the second dog I found during this game play.
So, I'm currently working on the Thieves Guild quests. I'm really doing it because I want that Skeleton Key. When I had it on the PS3, I some how forgot that I was supposed to give it to someone to complete a quest. I finally did give it back. This time giving it back is probably one of the very last things I'll do in the game.
Oh and I'm also thinking about getting Fallout 3 and it's DLC for the PC. Unfortunately, I ran into major issues with some of the DLC on the PS3 and my hope is that the PC won't have the same issues. I remember I was unable to finish The Pitt and Broken Steel. The PS3 version seriously lagged on these and I was unable to complete them. As for Fallout: New Vegas DLC, I ran into a bit of the same issue, but it wasn't as bad and I was able to complete them.
(This post was edited to comply with the 3,000 character limitation for comments. Haha.)
I will tell you that Fallout 3 on PC has some issues, but you can work around them. And they may not even affect you. I had no problems, but my wife had to install a couple of fixes. It all depends on your setup. But it WILL work, it just might take adding a new d3d dll to your game folder.
That's cool, Travis. So, Katie got it to work? It certainly sounds like a simple fix. As I said, I couldn't complete some of the DLC for it, which was disappointing. I was able to finish the game, though. I think I only saw two different endings. I played it once, but saved near the end so that I could select a different end-game option.
Fallout 3 (hell, every Bethesda-developed title) is very buggy on PS3. And yes, Katie got it to work. It's fairly simple. It's either editing a config file or dropping in a DLL.
Yeah, I found that out (about PS3 Bethesda titles) the hard way. That's awesome that she got it to work simply.
I defeated Alduin in Sovngarde at level 23. That's about half the level I was when I did it the first time on the PS3.
He only keeps getting harder the more you level up. I hate trying to beat him late in the game.
Actually, I think I was level 24 or 25. Being able to defeat him so easily and quickly in the game kind of defeats the necessity to level up. I still have plenty of quests to complete. I've only spent 45 hours in the game. Lydia is still my companion and I am still neither a werewolf nor a vampire (I really don't want to be either one). Leveling up is likely to get more difficult soon since I'm nearing level 100 on my Heavy Armor and Two-Handed skills. I haven't messed with any other skills. I did spent a perk or two on Smithing, but that's about it. I might have about 5 points to spend on perks and I'm waiting on my two major skills to level up.
Well, I just got the Magus Staff from Morokei. When I fought him on the PS3 it took quite a few attempts to defeat him. This time, he didn't even harm me. Maybe it's because of my level, but I'm not sure. I can't recall what level I was when I fought him on the PS3. My Heavy Armor skill level is 78 (I believe) and my Two-Handed skill is level 99. I haven't been smithing or enchanting like I did during my first play through on the PS3.
It's a balancing act. If you level smithing and enchanting you can make the best weapons and armor in the game, but you're gaining levels without gaining combat or survival skills so everything is going to be harder to kill. BUT once you get dragonscale gear enchanted out the wazoo, you're damn near unstoppable. It's just the mid-levels that are tricky.
But yeah on one character I got to level 81, which means every skill tree is full. You become quite a powerhouse if you perk it out right.
Dragonscale gear was cool, but Daedra is better. Hahaha. I'm wearing a mix of Blades and Steel gear at the moment.
Wow that's a high level! The highest leveled character I've had was 40 something, that was my first character. I didn't play very long on the second one. The one on the PC is technically my third.
I found Skyrim really hard but I didn't smith anything just looted for gear. What I doing wrong?
I've only found a few instances where I thought the game was hard. What kind of character do you play? I haven't spent much time smithing on this PC character of mine, but I did a lot of it on the PS3 character I had (the first one). I just now made some jewelry and increased my smithing skill, but I need to do more because I want the Daedra gear. Jon, have you played Oblivion? I think that game is harder than Skyrim.
Yeah, I did. I stopped playing it on the ps3 when I accidentally became a Vampire. The work to undo that would have been lame so I stopped.
I'm not sure that's happened to me, I think I made it to a shrine quick enough to remove the disease. I just started my Dawngaurd missions, so here's to hoping I'm not turned into a vampire.
Luckily I'm carrying some Cure Disease potions. I've already used one. I also refused to become a vampire when given a choice. Honestly, I don't want to be a vampire or a werewolf. It'd be cool if I could turn into a dragon though. LOL
In Skyrim I did the stuff to become a Werewolf. It wasn't too hard and I don't think there is anything negative about doing that save people say you smell like a wet dog sometimes.
LOL Yeah. I've been asked by a few random people if I'm sick. Sure enough, I had a disease I didn't know about, so I visited the local shrine. This has happened to me at least twice.
So, you didn't answer my question... what kind of character do you play in Skyrim?
Oh. A sword carrying magic user. Not sure if it's that effective, but I had fun playing it for a bit. Hit a pretty large progression wall of difficulty and stepped away from it.
It didn't peak my interest like Fallout 3 for whatever reason. Maybe when the Steam Machine rolls around, i'll play it a bit more from the couch.
One-handed swords? Where was that wall of difficulty you hit? The first one I faced was the Frost Troll on the way to High Hrothgar, but I leveled up a little bit and was able to defeat it. That sucks that it didn't peak your interest, it is an awesome game. As I've mentioned above (when talking to Travis), I'm planning on getting Fallout 3 for the PC when I'm done with Skyrim. I had issues with the DLC on the PS3 and I'm sure that I either won't have the same issues or I'll be able to fix them. I'm also wanting to play Oblivion again, but on the PC this time. I'm really enjoying this new PC! =)
I had problems with that troll as well but kited him and hit him with magic or something and he died. I think that was more because of me being a bit creative than me being actually ready for the fight.
"Dragonscale gear was cool, but Daedra is better."
Dragon armor and daedric armor both reach the armor cap fairly easily with smithing them up to legendary (567, I think-- armor points over the cap don't matter) but the dragon armor is lighter. The dragon weapons are way better than daedric.
Also, that damn troll gets everyone. I've always seen that troll as a gear/level-check. Having trouble? Maybe you should go sidequest some before you try this.
Yeah, that Frost Troll is a pain, but be glad it's not a Frost Giant, those things are much tougher! I read online that the Frost Troll doesn't reflect your level like dragons do, so it's a bit easier at level 10 or so. It's also weak against fire.
Travis, here's what I just read on the page about Dragon Armor:
"Daedric armor has a higher armor rating than Dragonplate Armor at its base value and retains its higher rating even when both armors have been upgraded to Legendary status (but just by a small margin). However, with its lower weight, Dragon Armor is the more suitable choice when lacking proper heavy armor perks." http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Armor
Here's what the Daedric Armor page says at the bottom: "Daedric Armor has the highest heavy armor rating in the game. This makes the Dragon Armor perk somewhat inferior in terms of protection." http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Daedric_Armor_(Skyrim)
As for the Warhammers, the Dragonbone Warhammer appears to be only slightly better than the Daedric Warhammer.
http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Weapons_(Skyrim)
Yes those are true statements, however you reach an armor maximum of 567.
So your daedric armor may total up to 800 armor while your dragon armor comes up to 700 armor, but they're both *actually* 567.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Armor#Armor_Cap
You can get the absolute maximum armor the game will allow you to have with steel armor.
As for the weapons, that's only showing you the base. Smithing them up to legendary will give you more than that in increased damage.
Really what it came down to for me, by the time I could make Daedric stuff I didn't have all I needed, but by the time I could make dragon stuff I had SO MANY DRAGON PARTS and could make the whole set twice over.
I'm definitely playing the game a bit differently this time. The first time, on the PS3, I pretty much went through most of the gear sets. This time, I have a mix of things and I didn't really mess with smithing until a bit recently. I now have Exquisite gear. I've started trying to smith some things to get that skill up. I also started to pay for smithing training. Right now that skill is at or about level 50. With that first character I had I had plenty of stuff, so I made gear for me and my companion. I haven't really worried with my companion's gear this time.
Ok, I just found out about Legendary skills. Once you get a skill to level 100, you're given an option to turn it into a Legendary skill. That means that the skill reverts back to level 15 and you get your perks back that you spent. This is helpful for leveling up your character, since leveling up skills is how to level up your character. I did this to my Two-Handed skill, which I find to be very useful since I only use two-handed weapons. This will help me level up my smithing skill since you can only get 5 skills levels per character level when paying for skill training from a NPC.
I'm now living with poverty in Skyrim. I remember the first time I played the game and wanted to purchase some property and couldn't afford it. Eventually, I had so much gold that I was able to buy every property. However, since I've been paying for Smithing training, I'm poor again. My Smithing skill is level about 86. I'm waiting for it to hit level 90 so I can start making my Daedric heavy armor set.
I feel about mostly finished with the game. I've already defeated Alduin and I joined the Imperial and defeated the Stormcloaks. I've only just begun my Dark Brotherhood missions. I still haven't visited Solstheim, so I have those missions to do as well. The only properties I own are Breezehome (in Whiterun) and Lakeview Manor (near Falkreath). Lakeview Manor is the one you have to buy land for and build. Right now, that house is very basic and hardly has a thing in it other than a work bench and a chest.
Oh and I married Lydia, my first companion. I did this only so that I can earn more gold. I've also been trying to sell stuff like a bunch of jewelry that I've made or collected. Right now, it costs a little over 4,000 gold to train my Smithing skill. I'm inching my way to getting that skill up to level 90. I don't intend to stop there as I want to be able to make a dragon warhammer.
I've also collected all of the Stones of Barenziah except for the one located in Proudspire Manor (in Solitude). I can't afford the 25,000 gold that it costs to purchase that property. Right now leveling up my Smithing skill is more important.
That's a hefty Skyrim life. Did you get it with all the DLC so you can have kids and such?
Yes, Jon, I got the Legendary Edition from Steam that includes all the DLC for only $40. I correctly assumed that Lakeview Manor is part of the Hearthfire DLC, which is the only DLC I did not get for the PS3. I didn't really see much value in it since I already owned every house in the game and didn't need another. This time around, I kind of stumbled upon it as I was completing some quests in Falkreath, which is where I was able to buy the land for Lakeview Manor. After purchasing the land, I went to the location (as it appears as a quest) and found a work bench and a chest with some building materials. After putting up some walls, I had to go get some wood, which I was able to purchase from a local saw mill. I ran out of iron ingots (which is used for nails), so I haven't been able to fully build and furnish Lakeview Manor.
Adopting children seems to become available after you kill the lady at the orphanage in Riften. Doing so also seems to be how you get started with the Dark Brotherhood. Well, after you kill her and then go to sleep, you wake up in an old shack with Astrid telling you that you pretty much stole their contract for that kill. As you speak to a Jarl's Steward about purchasing rooms for your house, one of the options is a children's room. However, since I don't plan to adopt any children, I have not purchased a room for them.
I'm not sure why or how, but I got the possibly incorrect impression that you would have to defend your home from giants, which is something I didn't want to have to deal with, so that's another reason I did not get the Hearthfire DLC on the PS3. Building a house isn't hard at all. At a work bench, you see pieces of the house that you can craft and the materials for each piece. Once you craft a piece the game places it for you. So really, by building a house, you're just crafting the pieces such as walls, doors, etc.
Looking online (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Hearthfire) at the details of the DLC, there is more to it than just simply being able to purchase land, build a house, and adopt children. Perhaps some time I may spend more time building my home at Lakeview Manor.
Thanks for reading and joining in on this discussion. I thought about creating a new post, but then decided to just continue the discussion here. That's something I enjoy about Cheerful Ghost, being able to write about what I've been doing in the game, not just simply writing a review.
Yeah, continuing the discussion on any game, whenever, it part of what I love about this site too.
Success! My Smithing skill finally reached 90 and I was able to make my Daedric armor and warhammer. I had to do some mining for ebony, but that was easy enough. Now my Smithing skill is level 94. It seems I can't purchase training for it any more. I believe the NPC I was using to do so can only train me to a certain point. So, I'm going to have to continue to make some things to increase that level so I can make my Dragon warhammer. I have plenty of Dragon bones and scales.
I also finished a major Dark Brotherhood contract and received 20,000 gold. I was finally able to purchase Proudspire Manor in Solitude and obtain the final Stone of Barenziah. Now I'm going to go complete that quest.
There is still plenty for me to do in the game, although I probably won't bother with radiant quests (quests that are randomized and constantly repeat).
One more thing, something I really enjoy about Steam is that I can use a web browser while in-game. This has been very helpful for me in finding things or information.
Before I went to Solstheim, I decided to speak to Arngeir in High Hrothgar and find words for Dragon Shouts that I was missing. Oddly, I got the last one he told me about, but the quest is still in my Journal and the pointer still points to the wall where I found it. Skyrim has quite a few of these little nuances.
After doing some missions in Solstheim, I had plenty of gold. I decided to get the new Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary fully furnished. I also decided to fully furnish Poudspire Manor. In doing so, a Children's Bedroom was available for me to purchase along with all other rooms. I decided to get it and since I did, I decided to adopt a child. There are apparently plenty of things you can do with your child like playing games and giving them an allowance. This will give you some "blessings." I haven't done any of that though, nor do I plan to. Although, I didn't plan to adopt any children and I did it anyway. Haha. When you tell the person in charge of the orphanage that you want to adopt, you get to talk to the available children and choose which one to adopt. I chose the only girl there because she was the only girl. She tells you that the boys pick on her all the time. So, I adopted her, but I have not yet visited her in our new home. I should mention that adoption does not seem to cost anything other than the purchase of a Children's Bedroom. I believe you can only adopt a maximum of two children. I also believe that you can only put one child in a bedroom. I don't know if I'll adopt another child.
I've completed some side quests in Solstheim. I now have my own property, which was given to me after I killed the criminal inhabitants. Unfortunately, the dead bodies are still there. I guess it doesn't really matter because I pretty much just use my properties to store all the stuff I find.
When I'm done with Solstheim, I'm planning to go to all of the places that I have not yet visited. I know there is an achievement for visiting so many places, which I've already achieved. I guess I just want to fully explore the world within the game. I believe I did this when I played the game on the PS3.
Oh! Remember when I said I didn't want to become a vampire or a werewolf and I thought it'd be cooler to be a dragon? Well, there's a Shout that allows you to do just that. I haven't tried it out yet, though. The Dragonborn DLC also allows you to train a dragon after obtaining the proper Shout. I haven't done this on the PC yet and I can't recall if I tried it out on the PS3.
I finally reached Smithing level 100! I then created a Dragonbone Warhammer and upgrade it to Legendary (my Daedric Armor is also Legendary). This warhammer is definitely better than the Daedric one, but it's a bit uglier. One thing that I found very helpful in getting my Smithing skill leveled up was to create jewlery and Stalhrim gear. Crafting more expensive items seems to help level up Smithing more than other items.
I have also just finished the main quest in the Dragonborn DLC. I still have a quest I'm working on. I don't believe I will gather all of the East Empire Company Pendants. I think when I'm done with the quest that I'm working on, I'm going to go explore more of Skyrim and visit those areas that I have not yet visited. I have already gotten achievements for exploring areas in Skyrim and Solstheim.
Also, during the final Dragonborn quest, you have to tame and ride a dragon. It's not very difficult to do so, though.
Oh! I last mentioned the property I received in Solstheim after completing the quest in which I killed the inhabitants. I mentioned that the bodies weren't removed. I ended up storing some items in them that I wanted to sell. After completing a quest, I came back to my house to find the bodies were removed, which means I lost all those items I had stored in them to be sold. So, I reverted to an earlier save and chose a different place to store items I wanted to sell.
I kickstarted Banner Saga. I played the hell out of Factions (the free-to-play multiplayer combat "probe" that they put out before releasing the game). I was impressed with the art, and I love the combat mechanics. That said, I have yet to step into the actual game. I have no idea why. I think because I played so much of factions, I was a little spent with it when the game finally released, which was much later than originally intended. Jack and Rich, I feel, are being a bit cynical, but that seems to be their MO. After watching their PreRec of Risk of Rain, I actually bought it and started playing. I found that I liked it much more than they did, based on their review. In fact, in retrospect, I was slightly disappointed with the review because I feel like they, at points, "didn't get it". This is why I love/hate reviews. It's hard to find someone that likes what you like, but also for the same reasons. When you do, you can establish a buffer of trust, but until then you take it with a grain of salt.
You should give Banner Saga: Factions a try, since it's free. You'll at least be exposed to the combat mechanics, and can make a more clear decision.
Yeah, that seems to be what I hearing from people. Seems like it's a good game that wasn't perfect. I think i'll pick it up in a sale or bundle, I mean, why not?
I am much more interested in this game after watching this. I was thinking of it as more of a Halo clone, but with better graphics.
I wish I could make it!
I just posted something in the CG events where we are boothing again that might be right up your alley. I'll post more about it this weekend!
That's awesome man. I downloaded the game and it's definitely in the "One more game, I know I can get a high score this time!" mold. Keep up the good work!
Wayward Souls looks pretty cool, but I think I'll wait for the PC version. :)
Good idea. It really does have some of the best of breed phone controls, but this game seems made for the PC.
Is there a demo for iOS? I'd like to give the mobile controls a try but don't want to have to buy the full game just to try it out.
No demo that I know of.
Much more appealing now. I recently had the chance to play Titanfall at a friends house, and I was seriously impressed. I love the more stylized FPSs (Halo, TF2, Planetside 2...), and this felt really good, settling any concerns I had over the new controller. Maybe looking into acquiring a One sooner than expected...
I think I used the Kinect on my 360 all of 10 hours since it was launched, so I'm glad they are separating it from the core system.
I'm not more likely to get it, no. Everything that I've seen still makes me prefer the PS4, but this is still great news.
The price drop is nice for sure. The fact they are not making the connect an integral part of the experience surprises me.
Isn't the Kinect the next gen hot thing that will make everything better for console owners? I mean to imply no snark here, that's a real question. Thing is, I thought Microsoft said it was and it was the future and everyone wants it, they just might not know it yet. Fair point, often times companies are ahead of the curve a bit. Apple did it with flash on the iPhone and even though there were some haters, they were right. Well, since Microsoft is doing this are they wrong?
Maybe I am looking at it strangely. All I know is that it seems like a great feature and the people that have a XBone seem to love the enhanced Kinect stuff so I don't quite understand this. I mean if people don't want the Kinect but want a cutting edge console go PS4 right?
I mean, yay choice I suppose, but this is more confusing for me than anything. With or without a Kinect I don't want to own a XBone, but I really do want to understand the why for this change more than anything.
Even though the Kinect experience was supposed to be amazing, like you said, there was no way I was going to use it. I had a Kinect with my 360 and almost never used it. My daughter did a little, and sometimes talked me into playing a Kinect game with her, but other than that, I never used it.
The "always on" feature just gave me the creeps. If I could say "Xbox on" and it turned on, then it was always listening to me. I don't think I need a tinfoil hat to protect my thoughts yet, but I do have some paranoia about privacy (Note to Donald Sterling. It's now safe to buy an Xbox One).
Just the fact that it's $100 less is great. I have always preferred the Xbox style to the PlayStation, from controller to games, but I wasn't about to spend $499 on a system when I could spend $399 and have something comparable.
My guess is that I'm not the only one with these issues of privacy and cost, and that's why Microsoft is unbundling.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/05/13/microsoft-vs-sony-console-wars-winner-predicted.aspx
Those features were also very prominently touted during the Xbox One introduction press conference, and in theory they are very cool. In reality they don't work that well and a big question remains as to whether consumers want them.
Microsoft can theoretically improve these things with software updates, but as Apple has shown with its Siri voice assistant, people might like the idea of voice commands more than the reality.
"Microsoft can theoretically improve these things with software updates, but as Apple has shown with its Siri voice assistant, people might like the idea of voice commands more than the reality."
I think that's pretty true from my use. Siri is nice when I am driving and want to text, I just tap a button and speak into my phone. Yay, saving lives. That said, I never use it beyond that. It's just simpler or whatever to just tap to do what I want, plus I don't have to wait for Siri to think about it and get back to me.
I agree that I prefer the XBox controller better, but I have a ps3 and it's fine, it's just not better. That said, the always on thing is creepy but I have a surge protector on my TV/PS3/Wii and flip it off when it's not on, which is most of the time so the whole "xbox on" thing would never really work for me.
PS if we had "joke of the week" awards on the site, your Sterling joke would win.
My take on why voice operated technology isn't really taking yet, in the consumer space at least, is because of the specific communication that has to happen between the user and the device. While the likes of the new Kinect and Siri are getting better at this, the experience is still...well, like talking to a machine. After the novelty wears off, you realize that you have to speak at a certain volume, sometimes at a certain pitch (try using Kinect with a deep voice) and giving specific commands before the interface recognizes what you are trying to accomplish. It's not personal. The catch with this type of technology is that it is a learning technology. The more you use it, the better it understands. This, in and of itself, isn't the problem. The problem comes when you tie that into a device that has to be connected to a global network where someone else could be listening. Microsoft may have had good intentions with their cloud-based gaming environment and an Xbox that came standard with a high definition camera/microphone that observed its environment 24hrs a day, but when it comes down to it, they scared the shit out of people. We just aren't ready for that. The bigger question might be whether or not we should ever be.
In related news Microsoft also announced that they are not going to require you to have to pay for Xbox Live in order to use apps like Netflix or Hulu. As far as I understand it, the current system essentially makes you pay twice if you want to use something like Netflix: once for Xbox Live and again for your Netflix subscription. Starting in June, that will no longer be the case.
Combined with the Kinect news, this is good news for anyone who was wanting an Xbox. While I will admit both changes make the console much, much more appealing I am still not ready to buy a next gen console. (Although Titanfall does look freaking awesome.)
Off-topic from the console discussion, I use Siri all the time. Having Siri set alarms is WAY faster than doing it manually, for example. Actually like 30% of my Siri use is probably setting alarms.
But I have Siri read texts, call people, compose messages, tons of other stuff. She's useful as hell.
@Travis: Yeah I use Siri to text while I am driving and create certain reminders. Like for when I get home, to do something. That said, I don't. BUT I know many people do and it's great that is works as well as it does.
@WhiteboySlim: The Netflix news is really great actually. Does this apply to the 360 too? If so, it's really about time as it's pretty nuts to make people pay to use a for pay video service when no one else does that.
I have the XBone. I like the voice commands, it makes navigating around easier. I don't find it useful for gaming at all. I like the integrated Twitch commands though
Awesome. From the people I've talked to that have it, they love the XBone Kinect.
Which, again, is partly why I don't understand this. I mean, pricing, sure.
I don't think they like that Sony has been outselling them for the past 4 months. It's another compromise that they didn't want to make (in fact, told us they wouldn't make), but they need the sales.
Either that, or developer support for Kinect has dropped substantially.
Scrypt, yeah, that's what I'm imagining. Beyond the $100, there's a group of people (maybe significant, maybe a vocal few) who don't like the potential privacy issues that having video/audio constantly being captured could cause.
I think sales is probably the biggest reason. The PS4 has been consistently out selling the Xbone. Closing the price gap between the two systems should help Microsoft level the playing field. It's funny just how much the Xbone has changed from it's original unveiling. There isn't much of Microsoft's original plan for the console left.
I'm not sure how developer support for the kinect is since I'm not well versed in Xbox games, but from what I've read online and from the few Xbox games I've seen I've gotten the impression that the kinect was never utilized that much. But again, I don't really know for sure.
The privacy concerns were probably the last thing Microsoft was thinking of when making this decision. Still, privacy advocates win regardless of Microsoft's motivations, so yay!
There isn't much of Microsoft's original plan for the console left.
This is probably the most interesting part of all of this. The gaming industry is usually on the forefront of eschewing in new technology, and, be it from a place of ignorance or enlightened objection, this time the customers said "No, thanks!" One would think that Microsoft could have avoided such a disruption with a bit of social awareness, instead of a "Well, go play your XBox 360 then" attitude. I'm not saying anyone else is so much better, but they really stuck their foot in it. This is a great example of why competition is good for the marketplace. Imagine if there was no Playstation 4, and the Xbox One was the default option. We would pretty much just get what we get (e.g. Windows 8).
Oh yeah! Made my team earlier today - http://fantasy.eslgaming.com/teams/34126 . Too bad Meteos and Bjergsen are so expensive. I had to sacrifice jungle and top picks to make it under cap.
This is really cool! I'm still relatively new to the competitive names in esports, but I love this idea and hope it's wildly successful. Is it possible to make a private league? Would be cool to compete with other CGers!
Are the seasons and players in LOL stable enough for this to work? When I follow SC2 the tournaments and players were really volatile
There's a Dota 2 Fantasy League as well! http://blog.dota2.com/2014/05/introducing-fantasy-league-season-one/
Good question, @Sungorth. The rosters seem to be fairly consistent, without much interruption to the seasons. I'm not that deep into it, though, so that could just be my perception.
Oh man, I totally forgot about this post! I was going to write up a post about how Draft Kings offers LoL fantasy betting. The reason I feel this is significant is that Draft Kings is a MAJOR football and baseball daily fantasy site (paying out one billion dollars this season for NFL fantasy). I think having LoL in such a public spot (listed along with NFL, MLB, MMA, Soccer, etc) really could help legitimize esports even more (more than the millions of viewers and prize dollars already involved in it, this could open it up to people who have no clue what esports are).
What is League of Legends? - DraftKings Playbook
playbook.draftkings.com/news/what-is-league-of-legends
Here's a cool introduction someone on the site would see if they're interested in what LoL is. It's a pretty good summary of what a MOBA is and done without mocking gamers like one might expect from a site catering to more tradional sports fans.