yea this is pretty cool. I played the game for almost 4 months before I realized what those funny-colored patches are. And we can interact with them by causing fire to happen.


This. There have been so many vidgames in the past with what looks to be cool areas to explore. You try and to do and an "invisible" barrier immediately stops. That's why I've been saying for years now the ability to just explore almost endlessly is my top favorite feature in TES.

Yep, I had a huge internal debate over that guy. "Should I kill him? No, he's blind and defenseless. Yeah, but he's a bandit and he'll start shouting for his friends the minute he detects that I'm an outsider. But he's an old blind guy. Yeah, but he chose his occupation..."

New character, on which I decided to go straight to Windhelm and join the Stormcloaks after getting myself sorted in Riverwood. Coming back from the thing I had to do prove my worth to Galmar, I was going up the hill towards and around Snow Veil Sanctum when my spidey sense begins to tingle. Sure enough there are three ice wraiths near the ruin who have already spotted me and are swarming around, just waiting. I'd found a horse on my journey and was riding, so had to dismount, which cost me some time. Had also temporarily lost my follower, who must've decided that the long icy swim I took back to shore wasn't a good idea and gone another way around. So I was, I thought, on my own. Then I hear a distinct and well-known (from earlier playthroughs) Nord battle cry: "I'll tear your heart out!" and who do you think comes rushing in to battle the wraiths but good ol' Vilkas, wandering out in the snowy wilderness all on his own. Sadly, things went downhill from there as I ran in to help him and was promptly attacked from behind by a snowy sabre cat and died.

After the reload the ice wraiths appeared in roughly the same spot, but were being fought by three Imperial soldiers. By the time I got close all three soldiers were dead but only one wraith was left, which I killed without any surprise kitteh attacks, yay. Later when my follower had caught up and we were back outside Windhelm, coming down to the shore to swim across and approach the front gates, I see a mammoth down by the shoreline stomping around. Then I see an arrow fly into it and hear someone yelling. I think it's hunters. For some reason my follower, Faendal, immediately draws his bow and joins the fight from a distance, even though a quick HUD toggle doesn't show the mammoth on my "enemy radar." I guess he's just a born hunter at heart. I watch from a rocky ridge overlooking the scene. The mammoth manages to temporarily run off everyone else and I'm able to finish the job from relative safety with my own bow.

When I get down to the shore to inspect the kill, it turns out the "hunters" are actually Aela, Njada, and Skjor (I think).

I know running into Companions in the wild isn't that big of a deal, but for this character it was really cool as I had not been to Whiterun yet nor heard anything about them. Having Vilkas come running in to fight the wraiths was especially fun since he's a favorite of mine and I married him and had him as a longtime follower on my very first attempt at the game. That battle cry actually sent a little thrill and chill down my spine when I heard it and then realized who it was.

Yes, it's in the glaciers North of Winterhold I think. And did you notice the spears sticking out of it's side...? (No, you can't loot them, lol)

Or dragging your defeated foes together and displaying them in a manner that says " One sick mo-fo wuz here "
I went Skyrimming the other day. About 5 minutes later, I joined the mile-high club.

Niamh does that.
And she throws them off of cliffs and down stairs...
...never gets boring...

My characters who have encountered the blind guy always let him live, so far. It's possible in the future I could have somebody really sadistic show up, though.


I thought this was pretty cool, too, as Crystal Beth came across some Companions way up near Winterhold. Seeing a Companion out in the world actually doing something made me take notice.

..That was one of my criticisms of Oblivion's Fighters Guild; all these NPC's train and train all day, but never go off to do any actual adventuring.
.

The Companions are probably the 'major' NPCs that I've encountered most often in the wilds. On previous PCs I used to run into Farkas, Athis, and Torvar while making my way from Winterhold past Saarthal and Alftand towards the pass through the mountains around there somewhere. Other times I'd just find dead bandits on the path and arrows scattered around and I'd think, "I guess the boys have been through here again."

Actually went to a bandit hideout once - some abandoned, half-ruined house - specifically to root out the evildoers in residence. When I got there Vilkas and Ria were already on the scene, fighting not only the bandits but also a troll and some other critter that I can't remember what it was. It was awesome.

Heh. That is awesome.

How horses in Skyrim are Half-Mountain Goat and Half-horse, those things climbs the steepest of mountains like nothing.

Horses. I like the way horses can now move at more than just 2 speeds (as in Oblivion, where we could only walk or gallop). Horses in Skyrim actually walk, trot, canter, gallop, and everything in between. If you push the jump button while not moving, the horse will also rear up on its hind legs. That's something I did recently by mistake.

Well, found something new on my mage I hadn't encountered on my first character; got my Destruction skill up to 50 and took the Adept Destruction perk, and later, when I entered Whiterun, I got challenged to a duel by another mage. I tried to turn down teh duel, but he wouldn't be denied and attacked any way. Almost killed me before I got him. It was a nice touch to show my magic was getting stronger, in a way.

Nope it doesn't... I was going to start a thread asking how many people are like me... where killing them isn't enough. I always want to find a good way to dispose of a body.

Sounds like some buetiful persistence of being which makes npcs feel completely independent from one anothers existence. One of the things i wish i could do with alot of the npcs i met in Oblivion like the adventuring Orc i ran into in a dungeon and had a brief conversation with. Love that i can join up with almost anybody in Skyrim.

Other things that make Skyrim awesome to me are-

Hunting animals and the useful loot on them after a kill.
The very diverse terrain which reminds me of Tes 2 Daggerfall with its different terrains making me feel like am actually traveling the world.
The rainbowish color of gasoline on floors dripping down from lamps which can be used as traps on approaching enemies.
How dungeons and other areas sound different from one another.
How wolves try to circle and surround me during combat.
The look of cobblestone.
How authentic the architecture looks and feels.
Ship wrecks and the ghostly gloomy atmosphere of the sea shore areas they inhabit. Very picturesque in a Lovecraft and surreal painting kind of way.
The raging furious visual quality of fire especially when at the giving or recieving end of a fire spell.

So many details. so i will just say ONE: yesterday i killed a dragon and i love how people near me start reacting going "Wow i would not believed it if i did not see it"

Yesterday I found a cave called Tolvald's Cave, as I entered it I was curious what it would be like and the size of it. Easy one of the better caves in the game, a huge cave with various places to explore and move to. I was amazed that even after 400 hours on different characters I had managed to miss that place. That is a thing I like about skyrim, the more time you take explore, the more immersive it gets. Finding journals that tells you the story about what happened there and getting a understanding about why the corpses/skeletons are where they are. Another great dungeoun is Avanchnzel,I just loved how they had incorporated the story about what had happened there.

These things and the way they use both quests and journals to tell the story of what once happened there is simply something I never gets tired of. And there is quite a good amount of places to explore in this way also. This might not be a small thing if we look at the size of some of these places, but the fact they have added these small stories makes exploring places so much more worth it. I also have good memories from my first time investigating the cave with the blind bandit, seeing and hearing how some of the bandits felt he needed to go and then read the journal from the boss about this topic and how he was thinking to solve it.

Well, found a few more things I hadn't encountered before in Skyrim. Came across of Nords standing alongside the road at one point that were sharing a drink, and one of them gave me a free bottle of Honningbrew Mead to join in. Also encountered a mercenary heading to some location, and tried to persuade her to tell me where she was going, but she declined.

Oh, I also found a location I had never found before in my previous character: The Sightless Pit, which lead me to the city of Xrib. In the last room of the dungeon, I just stopped and gawked at the room, due to the look of the room. The way the glowing stones light up the room were just jaw dropping. It's really hard to do the appearance justice in text.

I started a new (my fourth) PC a few days ago, and decided to go straight from Riverwood to Windhelm since this PC very much wants to join the rebellion and eventually make that city her home. I went off the road to shorten the journey a bit and within minutes discovered two places I'd never come across before. After all the hours I've put into this game, that's pretty awesome.

Oh and I'm starting to love... what's his name, Talsgar? The wandering bard? I ran into him mining ore along the shoreline east of Windhelm. Then several days later I was on my way from there to Whiterun and see a fight up ahead. By the time I get close enough to do anything, I see it's my old buddy Talsgar again and he's already handily dispatched both his assailants.

Since I actually had some money to spare this time around, I requested a tune. And let me tell you, Talsgar is head and shoulders above any of the bards I've heard in the inns, who mostly make me want to run for the nearest exit. He sang "The Dragonborn Comes" for me with no accompaniment and with FEELING. Finest bard in Skyrim, he ought to be living in comfort in some Jarl's court somewhere, entertaining the beautiful people and drinking mead all night on the house. But instead he's out wandering around, living off the land and the occasional impromptu paid gig by the roadside and killing bandits like a boss. For inspiration. Cuz that's how he rolls, kinsmen.

Butterflies. Until I squashed one by accident. Seeing 'butterfly wings' in my inventory was stomach-churning.

Mmm stomach churned butterflies like the good old days of home made slow churned butter. I've heard some serial killers like to collect butterfly wings....

More little things that make Skyrim awesome are-

The fallen trees and how realistic they look with a sense of heavy weight.
The shape of the rocky mountains as if carved out by some almighty creative eternal power.
The moons and their many shades of magical visuals.
The unique weapons such as the Woodcutters Friend.
The stunning audio work which at the moment is sounding treble epic on my JBL Control One bookshelf speakers at a low volume and neutral bass setting.
The different robes i wear as much as i do armor.
Alchemy and plant harvesting.
Enchanting and the ability to learn enchantments by destroying (taking apart) an enchanted item.
The much more easier and comfortable soul trapping and enchantment recharging system.

My first character I played 300 hours. I was a guild finishing quest machine.
My second character that I'm playing now, I only wanted to complete the civil war. Now I'm doing a lot less fast travel and I'm finding tons of places I havn't seen before. Also a few alchemy ingrediants I don't remember finding before, which is weird becasue I tend to pluck everything I walk by, lol. One example is clams. I was shocked to find those. I don't know how I missed seeing them before?

Honey and Bees.

I hear you brother.

My favorite thing I've found recently was a group of hunters skinny-dipping near the Eldergleam Sanctuary. When I first stumbled on them, I was worried that they were dead- but no, they were just having a relaxing soak on a beautiful afternoon.

Little details like that make Skyrim such a rich world. You never know what you're going to find!

I was making my way from Windhelm to the Reach to take care of some CW business, and had a couple stops to make in southern Eastmarch on the way to finish up some favors for residents of the city. By the time I went west and hit the tundra it was getting dark and I was loaded down with loot and so was my buddy Stenvar so we decided to make a pitstop in Whiterun to unload some stuff and get a good night's rest at the inn. (Well, I got a good night's rest... poor Stenvar just sat in a chair outside my room, but such is the life of mere hireling. )

Anyway the next morning we take off across the tundra, forgoing the roads in order to take the shortest possible route to our destination. I see a commotion on top of a nearby hill, a mammoth charging and rearing up. We sneak around to get a better vantage point and also see a giant beating at something with his club. After they're done and wander away we go up the hill and there's a dead bandit. And I think, why in the world would a bandit mess with a giant and a mammoth?

Then I turn and see that the hill overlooks Halted Stream Camp, and now the mammoth and TWO giants are down in front of the camp beating the crap out of something or someone. The two giants actually go IN the camp and there is more crazy club swinging mayhem and then they leave. So we go down there and sure enough they have killed every last bandit who was outside in the camp, one of the bodies is actually floating away in the nearby stream and I have to run after it just so I can loot it in the fine old Skyrim tradition. But still I'm wondering what prompted the giants to go after them like that.

We go in the camp and that's when I see the mammoth skeleton laying there with blood on the ground all around it, and that's when I remember that this is the camp/mine where the bandits in residence also have a sideline in mammoth slaughter.

Apparently the giants had had enough of these lowlifes targeting their herd, thank you very much, and decided to go teach them a lesson. I happened along just in time to witness all the fun.