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Weekly Discord Discussion 3: Gaming Quirks

    • 1467 posts
    June 3, 2019 10:33 PM EDT

    Weekly Discord Discussion - Test Three

    As you may have seen, the Tamriel Vault has recently started our own Discord Server, which can be found by following that link. One of the new types of content that we've started over there were 'Weekly Discussions' which were basically just channels dedicated to a single topic that could be incredibly broad, or really specific. We've given them a week to generate discussion, then copied the comments into a sort of Log so that anyone who missed it can see what was discussed, maybe join in with their own thoughts on the topic or respond to what people said. 

    It's obviously more interactive if you join in on the next one (which has just recently started) but it's something that we hope works really well. 

    The third topic was simply "Gaming Quirks" which actually took us a bit longer to get to, but you know it's there. I think this particular discussion is one that's really easy to join in on, so if you've got any Gaming Quirks feel free to drop them in as a comment here :D

     

    Dragonborn2121

    Saved the previous discussion, and wanted to quickly thank everyone for joining in on it. Thought it was a pretty fun one personally.

    Anyway, don't really have a topic this week so if anyone has any suggestions for what we can do then leave 'em here and we can decide over the next few days. I think these are going to be something I'll aim to keep going when we go live, they're just sorta fun :smiley:

    Tene-brother

    Best/Favorite ES quotations

    Ilani

    Ooh, good one, Tene-bro. There’s also gaming quirks we do, like funny things we have to do while playing. Like always visit this one ruin with a certain NPC, or naming conventions you always use. A certain strain of music that you always think of while overlooking the sea from Solitude, e.g. Or a special order you have to do quests in. Stuff like that.

    A-POCKY-HAH

    Not Elder Scrolls specific, but more on the broader side.

    How about a show/game which made you spark an interest on a certain subject (ex: Assassin's Creed with its recreation of historical periods.)?

    Dragonborn2121

    Sorry guys, busy couple of days. What about Favorite Gaming Moments? It's sort of a combination of all three in a way.

    Ilani

    Sounds good!

    Tene-brother

    I dunno, I feel like all of them could be good discussions by themselves.

    Dragonborn2121

    That's true, and maybe we can break them down and run them on site? They all seemed like good ideas and I didn't want to just pick one if it's going to be our last Weekly Discussion during the test run.

    Paws

    I think running them onsite right now is a good call. No objection to running them here either, but in terms of priority, site needs some love :lipstick: :kiss: :banana:

    Dragonborn2121

    Well I kinda failed at running one this week didn't I. Might have to figure out poll integration  if we do this sort of thing again so people could vote for their favourite option. For now, I think maybe we go with Gaming Quirks just because it's a broad concept and honestly I think Pocky's might be better off on-site, would take me about 600 messages just to figure out how to talk about a single game sometimes :stuck_out_tongue:

    Dragonborn2121 pinned a message to this channel. See all the pins.05/10/2019

    Ilani

    Ok, I’ll start off. Mine also includes a favorite quotation, so it fits a little with Tene’s one, too. One of the first things I do in Skyrim once I’m pretty secure I can make it through the wilderness without dying is visit Yngol Barrow. It’s my favorite place in the whole game. I don’t know whether it’s the silence and emptiness, the poignance of its being the resting place for the first of the 500 to die in Skyrim, the memory of a grieving father, or just those icy, misty balls that follow you around while you’re there. Or, that book you find with the solution to the puzzle. “Eagle in sun’s sky, so should he be...” and so on. I love that. Other than Ynvar the Singer’s poem, it might be my favorite verse in the game. :)

    But I always keep a save in the front of the barrow so I can visit that one place (before the balls disappear) whenever I like. Sometimes I turn the game on just to go through Yngol Barrow and then turn it off. Not the quirkiest thing in the world, but then again, I only play two games, so I can only be so quirky.

    Dragonborn2121

    Yngol Barrow is really awesome, just visited it myself and the atmosphere of it, the design of it, everything is just so eerie, immersive and peaceful. Weird mix, but it's definitely one of the most atmospheric dungeons in the game.

    The start of my games is always almost exactly the same. Leave Helgen, hit that unmarked bandit camp with Treasure Map 1,  go to the Talos Shrine that was raided by the Thalmor, pick a Guardian Stone, clear out Embershard Mine, do my things in Riverwood, get the treasure located on the First Treasure Map, go out the 'side' gate up the mountain to another unmarked bandit camp, then hit White-River Watch before doing new stuff.

    Literally just how I start every new game I play, unless of course I use Alternate Start.

    Ilani

    I almost with they’d done more with it, with the story, anyway. But it’s so beautiful.

    Dragonborn2121

    Honestly there's so much about Skyrim that I wish they'd done more with, what we have is fantastic but also constantly leaves me wanting more. The Dragon Priests especially, you get some dungeons with them that are fully fleshed out with interesting stories, but others feel a little under-developed.

    A-POCKY-HAH

    The first time I encountered a Dragon Priest, it scared the shit out of me.

    Something about them popping out of their coffins, levetating and let out a bloodcurdling scream made me realize: Oh shit!

    Dragonborn2121

    I think my first one was... Krosis at Shearpoint, so I'd just finished off a dragon battle and was completely floored by this new enemy shooting fireballs at me. Died about a hundred times to him.

    A-POCKY-HAH

    Yup, definitely Krosis was my first encounter with them

    Nahkriin, the dragon priest near the end of the main questline, didn't scare me much. Maybe it's because he just spawns there without any intro.

    Ilani

    Oh fuck Krosis, yeah. On Shearpoint!  So scary!! I couldn’t even get away; I just kept dying. I had to revert to the last auto save, because damn.

    Dragonborn2121

    He's just in the worst location, the others all have a lot of build-up time and time to properly heal but if you've just fought a Dragon (on your first playthrough) it's a tough ass fight.

    Ilani

    I remember after that, I knew Morokei was coming in Labyrinthian, I think? And I prepared so hard for him, and he was so easy compared to Krosis. I couldn’t believe how easy it was, after literally not being able to run away fast enough on Shearpoint. Crazy.

    Dragonborn2121

    I think Morokei is weirdly weak for a Dragon Priest. I could be wrong but I always remember destroying him completely and not being quite as phased by his spells or staff. Labyrinthian has always been pretty easy once you get passed the Frost Trolls though, well that and ignore the separate dungeon that spawns Deathlords really early on.

    A-POCKY-HAH

    It could be because he was wielding a weaker staff. I find the Dragon Priests wielding Staff of Fireballs to be the most annoying because Fireballs are always annoying to deal with.

    Dragonborn2121

    Them and the ones with Wall Staves, they're not as powerful as Fireballs but the damage over time and how quickly they fill up the areas makes them a pain in the ass. Double that with needing to avoid their other spells and summons and it can be rather painful at times.

    Paws

    I've been trying to thing all day if there has been an location that has left as deep an impression on me as Yngol Barrow has for @Ilani that ties in a quotation with it. Probably loads, and i totally get the Yngol thing because it's one of those places in which Skyrim can be powerfully felt.  I mean, all that weight of history and significance seems palpable there.

    The thing i keep coming back to as I think on it is the first time I read the Diary of Faire Agarwen. Once I'd read it after it had been translated, I went back to the Forgotten Vale and read it there.

    The sound of the music and ambiance in the Vale really hits home one passage in that book:

    "Seventh Marking, Tenth Kulniir

    In the night I find it difficult not to focus on times past. There are moments in my rest when I still hear the laughter of Young Ones at play in the valley. Other times I see the pale flicker of happy moments which were once so common in the land of the Snow Elves. I try not to dwell on these memories too long. Often our surroundings make it impossible to dwell on any happiness."

    It's really heavy reading it in the same location she  describes in the book.

    But i think what is cleverest of all is that the book changed something. I remember in TES Oblivion when I read and was entranced by Fall of the Snow Prince. I thought it was an epic tale, vividly depicting brave, young twelve-year-old Finna picking up her parent's sword and felling the Snow Prince with it, an enemy who was given a burial denoting the highest respect. I loved the Nord victory over the snow elves and she who delivered that to them.

    In Diary of Faire Agarwen we see the other side of that. The fall of the snow prince spells the beginning of the final chapter of their race. She references his death and the lingering influence he still has, and it can't help but make me wonder what would have happened to Faire Agarwen had Finna to have missed her mark.

    Ilani

    I’ve never read that one. Did the battle with the Snow Prince happen in Solstheim? What happened in between to get her to the Forgotten Vale? Or am I not remembering right?

    Dragonborn2121

    For some reason the Vale has never worked for me...or at least I've never let it work for me because by the time I'm that far into the questline I'm more into it and just want to kill some Vampires. Might have to give it a serious read because (as normal) you've made it sound utterly fascinating.

    I will say that some of the 'climb' up to the Vale is fascinating, the cave where the unique creatures start appearing (the Vale Deer and whatnot) is a really awesome section. For me the shining point of Dawnguard is probably just the first time you see Fort Dawnguard and explore it. Its just a really stunning location and the Fort is absolutely awesome.

    Ilani

    My favorite part is the twin dragons that look like firebirds. And looking for paragons.

    Dragonborn2121

    They are really cool, I also kind of love the frozen statues towards the end of the quest. Just a really interesting idea that worked well.

    Paws05/12/2019

    I agree, that section normally comes really late in any playthrough so it's hard to slow down a bit. But the dragons and statues are very cool. I really enjoyed the paragon stuff, too, and I remember finding a sword of lightning in a chest inside one of the chantry's paragon rooms and wondering what elven hero wielded that blade.

    Yeah so, the Battle of Moesring was on Solstheim and was like the final stand of the Snow Elves. We can imagine their military on a retreat getting harried out of Skyrim by Nord forces until they had nowhere left to retreat to.

    I don't think we know for sure whether Faire Agarwen came from the Forgotten Vale, the journal hints at it but I suppose it's more likely she came from somewhere else. And that's quite poignant - at the end of her diary she talks about freedom and escape so I wonder if her diary ended up in the Forgotten Vale because she took it there herself. Not as tall, proud snow elf but as one of the invading degenerate Falmer, keeping her diary with her long, long after her ability to read it or understand it had be taken. An important but vague memory of something utterly lost.

    Ilani

    That is a horrific and crushing idea. But yes, so very poignant. I love it, Phil. Reminds me somehow of the movie Cargo that came out last year. What happened at the end, of anyone’s seen it. Unbearably sad.

    Paws

    I can't remember the last time I just sat and watched a flick. Definitely not this year... maybe this time last year...? But I may have to see that now. I think we see similar, understated stories in FO with the feral ghouls. Sometimes you loot them and find a toy or other mundane item, and you wonder if they acquired it after becoming ghoulified - whether they saw it and some vestigial spark of humanity and memory prompted them to pick it up. But yeah, very sad. The fate of the falmer is heart-breaking, and the story of Faire Agarwyn is one of those great pieces of content that's just there, almost unsung. I can't help but imagine what would have happened had the Snow Prince not fallen at Moesring. How different would Skyrim be? Maybe Solstheim would be the last kingdom of the snow elves. It's a fun thing to ponder for a fleeting moment or two.

    Dragonborn2121

    Just pushed through the end of the Main Quest and I forgot how dissapointing Sovengarde can kind of be. It's mostly just the fact that you have the chance to literally meet some of the greatest Nordic heroes, and they get at most a single line and most of them are just 'Heroes of Sovengarde' rather than anyone interesting.

    Anyway, the link here is that it reminded me that I always go up the hill to the half buried Word Wall for no real reason. I've always been intrigued at why there would be one in Sovengarde and what shout you could've learnt from it (and why it was destroyed...)

    Golden Fool

    Sovengarde becomes more interesting with each questline that you complete before getting to it

    being able to meet the characters that have died one final time makes it better then the mostly empty realm that you'd find otherwise

    Dragonborn2121

    That is true, sadly I'd only done Dragonborn and the College and neither of them have anyone involved who could go to Sovengarde. Was interesting to try and get into the Hall of Valor with the argument "I'm a real good mage so let me in to heaven" sorta deal.

    Ilani

    Agree re Sovngarde. I wish there’d been more. Sounds like the familiar complaint, right? More interaction. A little bit more to the story. More time to explore. I get that it wasn’t the point of the questline, but damn. It’s Sovngarde. I was hoping to be able to hang out a little more. Discover a few things, sort of like Camoran’s Paradise, you know?

    Tene-brother

    I love how, after an entire game of Nords saying "magic is bad and not Nordly", Tsun himself compliments you on the use of the Clever Craft if you've done the Winterhold questline

    A-POCKY-HAH

    To be fair, many Nords were affected by their experiences in the Great War. I wish you could just throw a few of the anti-magic Nords of the 4th Era back into the 2nd Era and see them react to all the Nords that use magic there.

    That would be hilarious, and we'll just be standing there, acting all smug like "Nords don't use magic, eh?"

    Dragonborn2121

    I think the logic behind Nords distrusting magic is fairly sound, to some degree at least. They're in a time period where for Nords, magic is responsible for far more bad than it is good, and the closest thing they have to a well known Nordic Mage is Ulfric using the Voice. Other then that, just about anyone who's a mage and well known is distrusted to some degree, or Thalmor.

    But yeah, it's pretty awesome to just walk around Sovengarde and see how many of the Heroes are mages...or at least wearing the 'Mage-Gear'

    Tene-brother

    Sort of a gaming quirk of mine: whenever I'm playing ESO in a "casual sense" (which means playing Avista and not obsessing over every single story detail), I do tend to use emotes without actual chatting sometimes

    Like, random people goofing around? Avista will probably thumbs up. Cleared a Dolmen with strangers? Quick cheer. Etc

    Dragonborn2121

    I almost never use emotes for some reason, well to be fair I almost never talk to other people either but emotes are just a bit weird for me and I've got no real idea why.

    Tene-brother

    It's kind of a holdover from my days of public RP

    A-POCKY-HAH

    Same here, even though Asians love to use their emotes.

    Tene-brother

    It helps that Avista is more of a direct avatar of me than a proper character, so she'd cheer/laugh/do silly dances like I would in her shoes

    A-POCKY-HAH

    I simply just use "gg" and "thx" when communicating

    Tene-brother

    Mind, I do chat locally, usually with tips or thanks, but that's less common

    Tene-brother 

    Also, another gaming quirk of mine. Not related to ES or Fallout

    But whenever I catch the Pokemon Wingull in any game, I call it Mayonaisse. Because that's kinda what his SFX sounds like.

    It's one of the few recurring nicknames I use in my Pokemon games

    Dragonborn2121 

    I'm lame as hell with my nicknames. The first Fire type I catch is always called Blaze because I struggle for a few minutes to come up with something and then leave it there. Cinder, Ash, Flare and other boring, generic ass names often follow :stuck_out_tongue:

    Tene-brother 

    When I use nicknames, I generally go for simple ones, or funny ones

    A-POCKY-HAH 

    That gave me a good chuckle.

    Tene-brother 

    I also had a Vespiquen called Royal I really liked. It helped that she was a shockingly strong bee.

    I don't do competitive, but still

    Dragonborn2121 

    Heh, fair. If I am playing competitively (which I haven't done for a few months now...) I tend to ignore nicknames because, it's lame, but I've fought people who have given their strategy away due to nicknames...so, I'm always weary of doing the same. Very lame, but true.

    Tene-brother 

    Fools. If you don't send out stuff like a Snorlax called "ur mom xdxd", why use nicknames in competitive at all :P