Back again!

Hey All,

I've returned from the near-dead.  Time to talk about gaming!  Having played through the main quest of Skyrim i can say with absolute certainty that i would like to continue playing Skyrim.

I have to admit, i'm bad at games like Skyrim.  "Western RPGs" a lot of folks call them.  I love the breadth of player choices in those games.  The problem is usually a form of quest stagnation.  I'm compelled to help (or kill, depending mostly on the voice acting) every NPC that walks up and talks to my character.  This usually leads to 120+ hours spent in a game where i didn't actually get anything relating to the 'real' story done.

In Fallout 3, i got literally to the doors of the final area and stopped playing.  I suppose i got burnt out.  I enjoyed my time in the DC Wasteland, but probably should have gotten the big chunk of plot out of the way so i could explore without the disembodied hand of my better intentions on my shoulder.  "You should go handle this plot.  You like it, don't you?  Do you really want to kill more radroaches?" my intentions whisper to me.  "But i've got a laser chaingun!"

Enough internal dialogue, you get the idea.  This is the main reason i chased the primary quest of Skyrim so heavily.  And i enjoyed it.  Thoroughly, i might add.  Despite fighting that feels boring and stiff (an Elder Scrolls trademark, by this point), i had fun.  Queue blog title.

The meat of what i enjoy about that game is the fact that i can make my character be whoever and whatever i would like.  My "main" is a towering, metal-clad monster with a katana in each hand.  Followed by a skilled archer and a potent flame elemental, he bucks some tradition (my own, anyway) with his summoning skill and penchant for letting commoners handle their own problems.  Combine his physical prowess with the fact that his very words can knock your teeth in, and you've got a character i'd like to duplicate on a DnD board some day.

In short, i think Skyrim is both a fun game and a standing tribute to the power of player choice.  That's not new ground here, but i thought it worth mentioning.

Next time i post a thing, it'll be more thought out and interesting.  Soon, i promise!

-lostinthesauce

P.S. Celebrations happened.  I hope yours were fun.