Forums » General Gaming

How Far Has Your Content Come?

    • 273 posts
    May 29, 2016 4:54 PM EDT

    On the Vault, be it builds, stories, tricks and tips, everyone has to start somewhere.

    This thread is to reflect on what you started with and what your content is like now.

    For example, my builds used to be  (awful), but I like to think I have progressed and figured out how to flesh out my characters and justify their skills, roleplay choices, etc.

    • 1441 posts
    May 29, 2016 5:02 PM EDT
    Same here Morty
    • 1483 posts
    May 29, 2016 5:15 PM EDT
    If we're looking at builds, my content seems to have gotten worse LOL :))))

    My first build:
    http://tamrielvault.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/chara...

    My second build:
    http://tamrielvault.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/chara...

    Overall, my first article was this:
    http://tamrielvault.com/group/glitches/forum/topics/useful-potions-...

    Posted on March 22, 2013 :O
    • 485 posts
    May 29, 2016 5:28 PM EDT
    My artwork was, and is, still awful...
    • 273 posts
    May 29, 2016 5:45 PM EDT

    Don't put yourself down, its great, Curse. 

    • 1467 posts
    May 29, 2016 5:51 PM EDT

    In terms of Builds, I hit my peak ages ago, though I personally think I've released much better builds since then.

    My Grey Prince is the only one of my builds to hit Event:Legendary, which is both a huge deal for me and a bit of a disappointment, personally I have builds like The Veiled Scribe, The Paralytic Mage, even The Artificer to a certain degree that I think are just so much better on so many levels. I went from 10 to 60 pretty fast, then dropped to 40 pretty fast, now I struggle hitting 20, which is all a bit upsetting.

    My other content has only improved over time. Two years ago I wouldn't even consider using my own Screenshots, or the closest thing to art that I have in a build, but now not only can I do it no problem, but I actually occasionally snap a shot that I really think is good. I've actually posted a Lore Article and a (fairly shitty) story as well so I think my work in branching out has been a lot more successful, I'm definitely aiming to write more Lore Articles (including an interesting one about the sewage systems ) but I'll need more time for that.  

    Basically, pretty far, but not for a damn long time is my answer. 

    • 273 posts
    May 29, 2016 5:55 PM EDT

    Better some progress made than none!  I'll need to go through your builds so I can see what I think, probably plus 1 a few.

    • 641 posts
    May 29, 2016 6:19 PM EDT

    Very very slowly

    • 367 posts
    May 29, 2016 7:02 PM EDT

    Ok I'll bite.

    Here's two extracts of the same chapter. The first one is unedited. I wrote it in 2013. it was around a year before I joined the blog. This was my level of writing at the time. (Consider yourselves warned)

    XXXXXXXXXX

    Farkas burst out laughing “What you two, is that what all the howling is, I thought she had a dog she kept in her room, and it was you two all this time,  who the hell said you could date our sister?”.

    Aela threw one of Soteks apples at him, it  splattered on his armour, “Yes got him”.

    Sotek picked up the other apple and just held it in his hand, keeping it away from Aela. “As I was  trying to explain, with me alone, as far as Aela is concerned,  there’s the mage, the warrior, the archer, the Dragonborn, her friend, her lover, her shield brother, all of these”.

    “Yes but they are all there, on that chair”.

    Sotek sat back a moment and thought about it, then he got up and picked up a spare chair then placed it in front of the fire pit, then he sat on it.

    “You will all have to bear with me, I  don’t usually tell tales, story’s, and the such”.

    XXXXXXXXXX

    Now I've just edited the whole chapter (27th to the 29th May 2016) and it took me three days to do it. Here's the same section fully edited and brought up to my current standard of writing.

    XXXXXXXXX

    Farkas slammed his flask of mead on the table, spilling the contents in a wave of sticky liquid which frothed over the rim of the tankard. He bellowed in outrage and thrust his fist high in the air as he jestingly ‘defended’ Aela’s honor against Sotek’s advances.

    “What? You two? Is that what all the howling is? I thought she kept a dog in her room. Are you trying to tell me it was you two all this time? Harbinger, do you know about this?”

    A loud ‘huff’ came from beside Sotek where a certain female Companion sat and playfully glared across the hall as she stared at her ‘prey’. Aela proved she was just as an effective ‘Huntress’ with apples than she was with her bow. The proof being that the apple she launched over the table was a perfect kill shot as it slammed into Farkas’s chest, spraying pieces of apple in a multitude of directions. She cried out with joy at her ‘kill’.

    “Yes! Got him”.

    Sotek quickly snatched the last apple from the bowl and defended it by holding on to it tightly, keeping it out of Aela’s reach. She tried to grab it but he was far more effective in protecting it than she was at stealing it from his grasp.

    He eyed her suspiciously as he continued with his conversation.

    “Aela, you pain in the tail. Leave it alone, the poor apples done nothing to you. Behave; I’m trying to answer the Whelp. As I was trying to explain, with me, as far as Aela is concerned, there’s the mage, the warrior, the archer, the Dragonborn. I’m her friend, her enemy, at times at any rate; Aela’s mate, her shield brother. I’m all of these am I not?”

    The Whelp sat back in her chair dejectedly due to the fact that she was still confused. She sprung forwards and pointed straight at Sotek dismissing his efforts and attempts in giving her a satisfactory explanation and pushed for a better response.

    “Yes, I see all of them and I get that but it doesn’t alter the fact that they are all there, on that step”.

    Sotek’s shoulders dropped and he sluggishly tilted his head back and gazed upwards at the roof and rafters while his tail slithered about until it accidently touched Aela in the lower back. As if it had a mind of its own the tip sought her out and began sliding around her.

    Sotek suddenly rose up to his feet while his tail resisted his attempts at getting up. Almost begrudgingly the tip of his tail let Aela go and followed Sotek as he stood up. He offered Aela his hand as he pointed at the table.

    “Could you join the others? I need the floor”.

    Aela willingly complied despite the fact that she was overcome with bewilderment. She took his hand accepting his assistance and pulled herself up on her feet. She was on the edge of asking him what he was up to but when she turned to the Harbinger she knew to simply obey as Kodlak nodded at the table, enforcing Sotek’s request.

    The Argonian followed Aela to the table where he promptly picked up a chair and sat it down where the Harbinger had previously placed one when he told the story of 'Tekos' some months before. Kodlak was intrigued with Sotek’s actions and an old thick grey haired eyebrow rose up as he watched the young Companion sit himself down near the fire pit while everyone including Aela looked on. An air of curiosity filled the hall while Sotek began to speak.

    “You will all have to bear with me; I don’t usually tell tales, stories and such things”.

    XXXXXXXXXX

    The fact of the matter is there is a massive increase in my writing skill on a whole and when I look back to my old work I can really see the difference. It's like two different people now. There's no doubt Tamriel Vault has played a major part in my development as a writer and my one regret is that I didn't join until 2014.

    • 485 posts
    May 29, 2016 7:27 PM EDT

    Oh I'm just kidding. 

    • 273 posts
    May 29, 2016 7:30 PM EDT

    • 485 posts
    May 29, 2016 7:55 PM EDT

    You just need to take your time to really develop something interesting. As long as its something you genuinely enjoyed playing, I'm sure it will be as well received as your previous best builds. 

    • 485 posts
    May 29, 2016 10:10 PM EDT

    My artwork has improved dramatically over time. What I can do now is infinitely better than what I was capable of 2 years ago. 

    http://tamrielvault.com/forum/topics/my-skyrim-character-art-exclusives?groupUrl=skyrim-art&groupId=6452022%3AGroup%3A185395&id=6452022%3ATopic%3A795696&page=1#comments

    • 321 posts
    May 29, 2016 10:20 PM EDT

    I think I've improved a bit in writing and art.

    My Skyrim screenshots still looks meh but Photoshop art looks good.

    • 367 posts
    May 30, 2016 2:09 AM EDT

    Lets see an early piece and one of your latest ones.

    • 321 posts
    May 30, 2016 2:47 AM EDT

    Ning's acting all wonky again....

    Oh, and sadly, I don't keep an old draft of my writings. Sometimes I forget.

    • 649 posts
    May 30, 2016 3:37 AM EDT

    Now, that´s an interesting topic. I´m game.

    Where did I start? Hehe, funny. I started with Oblivion Build, The Antimage. That was my first piece of Content here. Not really my best work, hehe.

    After that, I think I posted my Telvanni Enchanter, which was real mess, but it managed to get out Bloodworks quite fast, which prompted me to re-work the build a little, giving it much nicer look. But before I updated it, I posted my Fist of Thalmor, which was surprisingly quite good in my opinion. Then I posted Jiub the Eradicator and lol...it seemed like if I got worse, much worse. It´s that kind of build I´m always thinking about deleting it.

    And from there, things got better. Hermit, then Greenskin hitting Legendary, then Goldpact Knight hitting Mythic. And that was about that time where I stopped being really active in CB, being more active in Classics. As of now, I have 8 Skyrim Builds and 7 Oblivion builds. That´s my content just in building.

    So, I moved from building to writing. Cursed Tribe, City of Gold, Lore articles. I started to be more active all around the site then just in CB. And I think I actually improved in all things I´ve been doing, but more importantly, I think my English improved by doing all these things.

    • 96 posts
    May 30, 2016 7:37 AM EDT
    My work became a lot more present over the time, although it isn't that 'visible'.
    The discussions look like crap (and so they will in the future) because I'm not a man of aesthetics. However, I'm always trying to come up with something new.
    • 558 posts
    May 31, 2016 2:30 AM EDT
    I think my Skyrim Building "skills" have much improved. My RPG group builds have gotten progressively worse, though. I would make more content here I have no computer at the moment.
    • 312 posts
    September 6, 2016 4:21 PM EDT
    My builds used to not exist. They still... mainly don't exist.