So I really appreciate that my GF is into gaming in the first place, so that is dulely noted. She does, however have an extremely difficult time with the camera, and she insists on 3rd person view. She's constantly looking at the ceiling, the floor, the corner, and all the while the enemies are directly IN FRONT OF HER! What's worse is she gets frustrated (she's the only one who throws the controller when she dies, and she makes a habit of dying). She had the same problem with Alice:The Madness Returns. I've tried to show her how to use the 2 sticks in conjunction with one another but she just doesn't seem to get it. We're on XBOX. Oh, and she's level 26. Any suggestions?

She's just going to have to get used to it... Try turning down the sensitivity on the stick in the options menu, as this might help a bit but she'll still have to get used to working the sticks together to look where she wants to...

Don't tell me she made it to Level 26 while struggling that bad with controls

Just don't force it and just let her walk around nature, examine stuff like picking flowers, just throwing a newbie into full chaoes with people clubbing each other to death is probably not the best situation to learn. Apart from that, I'm a long time PC player, I never got used to Gamepad control, I'd probably have even greater problems.

That's good advice, I'll try that!

She's just gonna' have to get used to them. I had a hell of a time when I got an N64 (1st 3D gaming system). Like shadowphoenix said: down sensitivity.

I think 3rd person is probably better also, because it gives you a better point of reference for at what she's looking. Also, inverting Y axis may help...especially if she's ever played a flying-type game.

My boyfriend has the same issue with joysticks since he's a pc player. Thankfully skyrim is on PC but watching him play GTA IV on ps3 was painful lol. For that game I gave him cheat codes and he just went about his business and learned from his mistakes, except the death part was taken out of it so the frustration for him went down.

As one poster above mentioned, see if she can stay out of the heat of battle especially in close quarters and learn the controls without the frustration. So that way she keeps at it and doesnt break your controller. She just has to adapt and she will, just its a bit harder when in the heat of battle....oh and stay patient.

Teaching her NOT to throw the controllers around is a more vital lesson. That's what kids do when they get mad with a game. Then reduce the difficulty settings. Also, is she using a bow or melee weapon? Swords and maces and such are easier to get used to than having the added difficulties of having to use the sticks to aim a weapon aswell.

She says I'm patient but I swear I want to rip the controller out of hands sometimes to show her how to do it....And she runs into the middle of 4 Falmer Skulkers like Lydia does and gets slaughtered.....Ad then she tries to do far range with firebolt but she hits anything BUT the Falmer.

She hasn't really invested in Archery....she LOVES her steel sword, yes, I said steel and her bloody firebolt and her flame atronach (she thinks she's hot).

If she's a Mage-type then she should never run to anything.

Sounds like X and Y sensitivity could be an issue (especially Y).

This sounds like a case of ''Practice makes perfect''.

Maybe set her character up to be very sturdy so she doesn't get killed really fast and let her work from there.
After she gets better gradually switch to a squishier type of armor until she can murder a camp of bandits on master difficulty naked.

That sounds like I with controllers. I have two of them for the pc. I only use them for car racing and space sims. With these type of games like The Elders Scrolls, Mass Effects and The Witchers I only use mouse and keyboard.

Is she blonde? If yes, I'd understand why she's having problems when her brain's required. -__-

If only that were true.

My girlfriend won't touch the game because she saw me fighting the frostbite spider in bleak falls barrow. She's terrified of spiders and can't even look at them when they're on tv.

I've been wanting to inverse the Y, not because I'm used to flying, but because I tend to think of the two sticks as controlling body and head. Body forward = move forward. Head forward = look down. I'm not a console player though - I'm using a Razer Onza with my (Win 7) PC. How would I go about reversing Y action? ANd while I'm at it, how to turn down sensitivity, because I to have the "hyperactive head" syndrome.

At least on the PC, ypu can get some relief by cranking the FOV up to 100. But I still svck at aiming my attacks with that right stick, especially while moving: when combat starts, I yank the controller cord and go back to M&K.

I'm on PS3 so IDK exactly. However, I've had a Nostromo since the day they came out (and many other PC gaming controllers have similar functionality) so maybe you can adjust it through the Razer SW?

Edit: I can overcome the weirdness of inverting Y because I think of it this way: you push down on a tripod head to make the camera look up.
OK, I'm just making excuses: I'm old and all controls used to have the Y inverted by default and you couldn't change it.

The coincidences between this and when I tried to get my ex to play Skyrim are astounding. Leave her alone before I beat you up plz

I've played PC games for like 14 years, and never used a gamepad or played on a console. When I got a gamepad for a PC recently, and got it working with Skyrim, I could not do anything. It's SO unintuitive.

We all know your 'girlfriend' is probably non-existent.

My girlfriend has the same problem with console games; she gets totally lost when trying to play first-person view, and still has some trouble directing the camera in third person. Playing Fable II was really good practice, as you don't have to redo a whole ton of stuff when you "die." (You just fall down and get a scar if you're out of resurrection phials.) If she's dedicated to sticking it out with Skyrim, she could try lowering controller sensitivity and adjusting play style a bit (e.g., try to avoid fast-paced, up-close fights with multiple enemies and tricky camera work by playing a sneaky archer or a conjurer).

Nice