The Elder Scrolls Megathread XVI: Loremaster Extraordinaire - Games

brodual should've reviewed a bunch of bodymods for april fools day

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;47465387]Lore discussion aside, the stormcloaks are a pretty big missed opportunity of actually having a gray situation where there's no clear moral grounds and both sides can be defended equally. Instead, the more you learn about both, the clearer it becomes that the empire is the only viable option and the stormcloaks have no legitimacy.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I'm all for an independent Skyrim, but hell no I wouldn't back the Stormcloaks, especially with Adolf Ulfric at the helm. The Imperials at least aren't inherently evil, they're just under the boot of the Thalmor, they have no choice in a lot of the things they do. Me, I'd rather stick with the Forsworn, I really wish Bethesda had included them as a third option instead of just an enemy faction. Course that's what Alternate Start is good for.

Can someone tell me why Ulfric is so "evil" other than being slightly bigoted?

[QUOTE=Destroyox;47465722]Can someone tell me why Ulfric is so "evil" other than being slighntly bigoted?[/QUOTE] Ignoring his prejudices, he's far from evil; he's honourable and fights for what he feels is right (assuming it's not just a power grab). But he's also so stupid the the Thalmor consider him an asset, too proud for his own good, and vastly overestimates his own strength. [QUOTE=Tureis;47465753]Well, he did basically destroy the Forsworn and their only chances at becoming their own kingdom.[/QUOTE] Reachmen have always been chaotic and violent, it's probably for the best. There's a reason that the only people in the Forsworn are psychopaths and men with grudges against the Nords and nothing left to lose.

[QUOTE=Destroyox;47465722]Can someone tell me why Ulfric is so "evil" other than being slightly bigoted?[/QUOTE] Well, he did basically destroy the Forsworn and their only chances at becoming their own kingdom.

Really, the politics in Skyrim boils down to "The Thalmor are proper Nazis, with the exception being they won World War II and are now the dominant force in global politics." You can help the old Cyrodiilic Empire, or you can help the Stormcloaks, or you can even say "fuck em both, I'm the goddamn High King". But unless the Last Dragonborn manages to convince all the dragons [b]and[/b] a conventional army to lay siege to Summerset, the Thalmor Empire is on the rise and nobody can do a goddamn thing to stop it.

[QUOTE=_charon;47465752] Reachmen have always been chaotic and violent, it's probably for the best. There's a reason that the only people in the Forsworn are psychopaths and men with grudges against the Nords and nothing left to lose.[/QUOTE] The Bear of Markarth says the Kingdom was mostly peaceful in its two years of existence, they only become as violent as they have now due to basically losing everything.

That said, I prefer to side Imperial on the Civil War questline. They may not leave Skyrim any better off, but Ulfric is a fuckboy and I want to see him burn [editline]o[/editline] i wanted this to merge but oh well

[QUOTE=lavacano;47465771]Really, the politics in Skyrim boils down to "The Thalmor are proper Nazis, with the exception being they won World War II and are now the dominant force in global politics." You can help the old Cyrodiilic Empire, or you can help the Stormcloaks, or you can even say "fuck em both, I'm the goddamn High King". But unless the Last Dragonborn manages to convince all the dragons [b]and[/b] a conventional army to lay siege to Summerset, the Thalmor Empire is on the rise and nobody can do a goddamn thing to stop it.[/QUOTE] This is why I hope the free nations of Tamriel band together to stop the world from literally un-existing. It'll complete the thinly veiled WW2 narative too.

[QUOTE=Tureis;47465776]The Bear of Markarth says the Kingdom was mostly peaceful in its two years of existence, they only become as violent as they have now due to basically losing everything.[/QUOTE] They're outright evil in ESO if you count that (someone managed to take charge of them), and the Bear of Markarth reads like Imperial propaganda trying to defame Ulfric. It's not impossible they ruled well, but it's telling that the only Bretons fighting for the Forsworn are little better than bandits, and worship bird-witches that slowly go insane, and are lead by mindless Lorkhanic idol undead (the Briarhearts).

[QUOTE=EliteSuperS;47465566]What enb and other general graphic improvement mods would you guys recommend? I want to do another playthrough without everything being colorless gray.[/QUOTE] My main graphics mods are in this order. High Definition DLC Pack The Unofficial Patches (Skyrim, Hearthfires, Dragonborn, Dawnguard, High Res) Skyrim 2K PFushers 4K Parallax Skyrim Tamriel Reloaded HD JK's Skyrim (Rebuilds all the cities, I'd count it as both a graphic improvement mod and a gameplay mod) aMidianBorn Armors and Weapons Grass Field Supreme Storms RLO Bellyaches Animal Pack Ultimate HD Fire Realistic Water II Watercolor for ENB RW2 TAZ (If you download this ENB, put the ESP's at the bottom of your load order, otherwise day looks like this: [url]http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/710781191319537363/CAC197AC81C7EFCA643A746B02E4E28756CFEE16/[/url] ) I have a few more in-between, but I can't get on my main computer right now to list it, this is what it looks like: [t]http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/717537222450273594/7ADA78365C9C9D5CF364E13CBD543E35F9100CBB/[/t] [t]http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/717537222447151948/1325FFE212E85C0CF1FF38705CEAE241FB7D7F3D/[/t] [t]http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/710781191342212140/E558CE954BAD66B7124FE283C841589686979D31/[/t] [t]http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/717537222459004435/4D0716ABFDF89A757E7AAB2DC8BE4500559B3B73/[/t] [t]http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/710781191319797647/F109BD4CAED4D10D1AF231972C14D9BBCD092FF0/[/t] The only issues I have found with it is wiggly ass doors (Only on those rural wooden doors that you find in riverwood and rorikstead) and shiny bear pelts (only inside), but thats it.

Anyone got any mod managers to recommend? NMM just ate up all my .esp's and I don't know why I've been using it for this long, so I might as well restart now and get a new one.

You know, the Thalmor may be nothing more than asshole elf-nazis, but there is one positive thing I can say about them. The one person in all of Skyrim who seems to actually be capable of seeming polite is a member of the Thalmor, the one at the entrance of the embassy. They're the only person who says "thank you" out of the context of "oh thank you great and mighty dragonporn for killing those dudes and getting the thing for me mhm thanks heres your gold now get out", and I swear on my life they're the only person in the entire game who ever says "please". Why does everyone in Skyrim lack basic courtesy? Everyone is friendly enough to tell you their name, occupation, hopes and dreams et cetera et cetera when you pass them in the street, but I guess no one's discovered the concepts of "Have a nice day", "Thank you", or even just "Hello". You enter a conversation it's always stuff like "Tjor Stoneycock may say he's the best warrior in all of Skyrim, but that title clearly belongs to me." You leave the conversation and it's "Yeah, well, I had shit to do anyway", "Aye", or if you're very lucky, a very brusque and disingenuous sounding "good day"

[QUOTE=Destroyox;47465722]Can someone tell me why Ulfric is so "evil" other than being slightly bigoted?[/QUOTE] Power hungry coward who seriously considers burning villages to the ground to drive a point across. Also utilizes unfair tactics and uses old traditions to forward his agenda, which makes him a massive hypocrite (ie "challenges" High king Torygg to a duel and then just pulls a sucker punch with a fus ro dah, while pretending it's totally okay because of a thousand years old tradition that hasn't been used for centuries). Ulfric hides behind a cause to satisfy his lust for power. He knows nobody would support him if he outright asked for people to follow him as he goes to sit his ass on the throne of high king of Skyrim, so he came up with some bullshit reason and utilized recent events to have people idolize him as some form of savior. Keep in mind Ulfric decided to leave the graybeards to fight in the army, and considering his following actions, it's clear he did that because he wanted fame.

[QUOTE=lavacano;47465771]Really, the politics in Skyrim boils down to "The Thalmor are proper Nazis, with the exception being they won World War II and are now the dominant force in global politics." You can help the old Cyrodiilic Empire, or you can help the Stormcloaks, or you can even say "fuck em both, I'm the goddamn High King". But unless the Last Dragonborn manages to convince all the dragons [b]and[/b] a conventional army to lay siege to Summerset, the Thalmor Empire is on the rise and nobody can do a goddamn thing to stop it.[/QUOTE] Actually, the Thalmor aren't necessarily that strong: after the Dominion's initial shock campaign was over, the Imperial Legion was able to drag the war out for over a year and eventually destroy basically the entire Aldmeri standing army. (Something called the Battle of the Red Ring, which we conveniently don't actually have much information about.) It's just that Cyrodil was gutted, while the Isles are presumably unharmed if rather depopulated. (Also, my speculation would be that an extremist government like the Thalmor would place a lot less value on the average citizen's life than a semi-benevolent bureaucracy like the Empire. You'd have to do more than just defeat their army to get them to give up.) [QUOTE=Ganerumo;47465998] Lots of things. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I don't get the impression that Ulfric really believes a lot of his own rhetoric-- I might be down with supporting him if he seemed to actually believe the whole ancient-nord-tradition schtick, but if anything that seems to be something Galmar tells him to repeat while he (Ulfric) occupies himself with ineffectually pouting about the Palace. And fuck Galmar, he's the xenophobe everyone should be talking badly about.

[QUOTE=Mr. Jelly;47465982]You know, the Thalmor may be nothing more than asshole elf-nazis, but there is one positive thing I can say about them. The one person in all of Skyrim who seems to actually be capable of seeming polite is a member of the Thalmor, the one at the entrance of the embassy. They're the only person who says "thank you" out of the context of "oh thank you great and mighty dragonporn for killing those dudes and getting the thing for me mhm thanks heres your gold now get out", and I swear on my life they're the only person in the entire game who ever says "please". Why does everyone in Skyrim lack basic courtesy? Everyone is friendly enough to tell you their name, occupation, hopes and dreams et cetera et cetera when you pass them in the street, but I guess no one's discovered the concepts of "Have a nice day", "Thank you", or even just "Hello". You enter a conversation it's always stuff like "Tjor Stoneycock may say he's the best warrior in all of Skyrim, but that title clearly belongs to me." You leave the conversation and it's "Yeah, well, I had shit to do anyway", "Aye", or if you're very lucky, a very brusque and disingenuous sounding "good day"[/QUOTE] Nords judge you by your deeds, not your mouth; if you go by in fancy Imperial or Thalmor gear, they'll openly show disdain, if you go by in a bunch of mismatched dragons skins, you'll get a free beer and a handshake/punch on the arm, the reason they're subjugated to begin with is they tend to take people at their literal word, because [I]they[/I] come from, you don't boast about shit you can't actually do (Red Horseman).

[QUOTE=Mr. Jelly;47465982] Why does everyone in Skyrim lack basic courtesy? Everyone is friendly enough to tell you their name, occupation, hopes and dreams et cetera et cetera when you pass them in the street, but I guess no one's discovered the concepts of "Have a nice day", "Thank you", or even just "Hello". [/QUOTE] Because you're in a land of Vikings. Vikings who chug honey beer, burp, fart, swing metal at each other, hates magic, and lives on the glory of battle. And when you live in a ice blasted tundra for all your life, I'm sure you'd have no time at all to say "thank you."

Pretty sure the Valerius siblings both say thank you regularly once you bring the golden claw. Any high elf will politely thank you for your custom when you visit their shop. Seems like it's mostly nords who can't say Thank You, which I guess is pretty fitting.

[QUOTE=Toro;47465840]My main graphics mods are in this order. [/QUOTE] Thanks! I will look into this. Also, will the static mesh improvement mod work with these? Or do one the above mods already do what SMIM does?

I have this pretty serious issue with skyrim where i can play but if i crash next time i try and load it gets halfway through the load screen and then crashes with this appearing [img]http://cur.cursors-4u.net/cursors/images8/cur781.gif[/img]But it isn't mod based because i deactivated all mods and pressed new game or coc riverwood and it still crashes and i can't work out why. [editline]6th April 2015[/editline] And it wont fix itself until i restart everything else on my pc works fine.

[QUOTE=Mr. Jelly;47465982]You know, the Thalmor may be nothing more than asshole elf-nazis, but there is one positive thing I can say about them. The one person in all of Skyrim who seems to actually be capable of seeming polite is a member of the Thalmor, the one at the entrance of the embassy. They're the only person who says "thank you" out of the context of "oh thank you great and mighty dragonporn for killing those dudes and getting the thing for me mhm thanks heres your gold now get out", and I swear on my life they're the only person in the entire game who ever says "please". Why does everyone in Skyrim lack basic courtesy? Everyone is friendly enough to tell you their name, occupation, hopes and dreams et cetera et cetera when you pass them in the street, but I guess no one's discovered the concepts of "Have a nice day", "Thank you", or even just "Hello". You enter a conversation it's always stuff like "Tjor Stoneycock may say he's the best warrior in all of Skyrim, but that title clearly belongs to me." You leave the conversation and it's "Yeah, well, I had shit to do anyway", "Aye", or if you're very lucky, a very brusque and disingenuous sounding "good day"[/QUOTE] Guess you don't get to the cloud district very often

Every time i read in this thread Imperial vs Stormcloak arguments i get lore cancer.

Is the Crash based on having your default audio 44100 Hz still applicable

Holy shit I went with Ralof when I started my playthrough but seeing this thread and Ulfric and his mate being racist dickheads is making me want to go with the empire. I'm just going to remain neutral for now, helping the people of skyrim. Can't we just murder the fucking talmor.

no you must wipe them out. all of them.

Boo I say to the Empire, the Stormcloaks, and the Thalmor. Yay I say to the Skaal. They're like what the media think Native Americans were like post-genocidal guilt.

I'm thinking of buying one of the default vanilla houses, since I got bored of the archmage quarters. Which house would you guys recommend?

[quote]massive discussion on Imperials vs. Stormcloaks[/quote] I always pick Stormcloaks because the general of the Imperial army who is present in Helgen at the time does nothing to reprimand his retarded bitch captain for sentencing an innocent person (the player) to die. Also it doesn't really matter anyway. According to Kirkbride, the Thalmor are destined to succeed in the very end. There's no hope for Nirn.

[QUOTE=DiscoInferno;47467524]Boo I say to the Empire, the Stormcloaks, and the Thalmor. Yay I say to the Skaal. They're like what the media think Native Americans were like post-genocidal guilt.[/QUOTE] I love how the closest equivalent to Christians in TES lore are also the closest equivalent to the Inuit, New Age spiritualists, and hippies. I've been reading loads of TES lore stuff for the past couple months and there's so much great stuff that's too cool to ever actually be directly mentioned ingame why Also, lore isn't that bad in ESO apparently. They've been patching all the holes, the "transcription error" stuff was mostly a miscommunication with the PR team apparently, and some things people were complaining with make more sense in context (i.e. Alinor has distinctly boring and unmerish buildings, but it's also the one Summerset Isle that's near enough to Tamriel that it's not solely inhabited by Altmer; The Ebonheart Pact seems weird since why would Argonians and Dunmer follow a Nord leader, but the Nord king man is an idiot being controlled by the Tribunal, the Argonians are just there for protection, and most Nords and Dunmer apparently do not support the Pact). The only thing most lore people don't like is Ayrenn, because she's kinda boring and seems off for the person who founded the first Aldmeri Dominion (though complaints about "why would the Altmer follow someone who is ok with non-Elves" are mute since the Aldmeri Dominion questline involves a lot of people trying to kill her for just that).

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47467748]I always pick Stormcloaks because the general of the Imperial army who is present in Helgen at the time does nothing to reprimand his retarded bitch captain for sentencing an innocent person (the player) to die. Also it doesn't really matter anyway. According to Kirkbride, the Thalmor are destined to succeed in the very end. There's no hope for Nirn.[/QUOTE] Destiny is dumb. Kirkbride is shit these days anyway.