Unfortunately, it's been a long time since I read 8BT. I remember it fondly, though, and some of the jokes still come up in normal conversation with my friends.

"I like swords!"

"Welcome to Corneria!"

"I like swords!"

"Welcome to Corneria!"

"I like swords!"

"Welcome to Corneria!"

^_^

~Neshomeh

Phobos and I watched the last episodes yesterday. We definitely picked up on the possible implications of that last scene. I don't have an opinion about it one way or the other—or rather, I'm all for it if they're serious, but if they're just doing it as a tease, then meh.

Anyway, I am sad the show has come to an end. I agree that the first couple of seasons were a bit rough, but I think they really learned from their mistakes in the third and fourth, and I caught some lines that even sounded like direct acknowledgement of the problems. It's nice to see that kind of dedication to making a good show.

The short length of the episodes means that things sometimes resolve a little too quickly for my liking, but on the other hand, oftentimes they still left me on the edge of my seat and bewildered that there was no more for the week, because I was so engrossed. (Phobos will attest that my reactions to the end credits suddenly rolling were pretty funny.)

I need to watch TLA again. It's been too long, and I've forgotten a lot of the nuances that made it so great. My memory is weird... I remember the people and the broad strokes of the story, but details escape me, sometimes even important ones. On the other hand, I remember Iroh's favorite tea (jasmine), because Iroh is awesome. I miss that guy.

~Neshomeh

I've been a fan of the Avatarverse since the beginning of TLA, and I sobbed uncontrollably at the end of TLA as well. Now that LoK is over, too... *sigh* It's like... a very bittersweet feeling, you know?

I went into LoK with low expectations; I didn't think anything could ever replace TLA. How could I ever like the new generation of Team Avatar? Korra especially grated on my nerves quite a lot in season one. But even she came to grow on me.

Unfortunately, I fell out of watching mid-season 2 due to my dad changing the record settings on our DVR and all the episodes I had yet to catch up on (I had been snowed under with homework and was planning on marathoning the episodes later at some point). I heard the end was phenomenal, though, and am eagerly awaiting the release of LoK on Netflix so I can see it.

And for the record, Bolin is the best. Oh god please don't tell me if he makes it though.

I don't mind the hack-and-slash, because I like the opportunity to absolutely demolish anything that gets in my face, which I can't (and don't really want to) do in real life. *g*

That said, I do find the problem-solving options a bit limited in that respect. I like that they do provide diplomatic solutions sometimes, but I could use a lot more of that and a lot less "this person is in your way or doing something you don't like, so yeah, just kill 'em." Especially when doing so ends up getting you involved with one group or another who may or may not be any better. >.>

~Neshomeh

I'd say it's pretty original. Bethesda likes to throw in little references to other stuff—for instance, it's possible to discover an item called the Notched Pickaxe, and there's a character named Temba Wide-Arms, which might give you a chuckle if you're familiar with a certain episode of Star Trek: TNG. But, that aside, it's a very rich world with its own mythology, and each race has their own spin on it, which is fun.

The races are fairly unique, too. The three major divisions are Men (humans), Mer (elves), and the Beast-peoples. For humans, you've got the Imperials (Roman-inspired), the Nords (Viking-inspired), the Bretons (English-inspired), and the Redguards (I don't know much about these guys). The elves are fun. You've got your Bosmer (Wood Elves), Dunmer (Dark Elves), and Altmer (High Elves—these guys are real jerks), but then you've also got the Orsimer (Orcs), the Dwemer (the lost race of Dwarves), and the Falmer (deep-dwelling, blind, not nice). The Beast-peoples are the Khajiit (cat-people) and Argonians (lizard-people).

But, returning to the game itself, the basic storyline is this: you are the Dragonborn, a legendary figure the likes of which hasn't been seen in hundreds of years, much like dragons themselves. Also, the dragons are returning to Skyrim. This is not a coincidence. Whether you've appeared because of them, they've appeared because of you, or both, isn't exactly clear. What IS clear is that they're bad news, and you're the only one with a hope of dealing with the problem.

Meanwhile, there's a civil war going on with factions supporting the Imperials on one side and the Stormcloaks on the other. The Empire has recently signed a treaty with the Altmer that outlaws worship of Talos, a figure particularly revered in Skyrim because he was a Nord who ascended to godhood through his great deeds, and many people aren't particularly thrilled with being told who they can and can't worship. It's pretty clear that the Altmer are bad news, but on the other hand, with the threat of dragons looming, now is not a great time for Skyrim to be divided against itself. Nobody's really in the right. You can choose to take a side, but you don't have to.

In fact, you can avoid the main storyline forever if you want to, too. One of the great things about the game is that you're not really forced into anything once you escape the first scenario.

I can't think of any other fantasy it draws on in particular. Skyrim kinda reminds me of Middle-earth, but I think that's only because there's a sense of grandeur and rugged beauty about them both. (And Skyrim really is gorgeous. At night, when the Northern Lights are out... stunning. [It might be useful to know that I'm very picky about games: they have to be nice to look at and listen to for long periods of time, or I just can't be bothered.]) The Nords and the Rohirrim are drawn from the same stock, certainly, but they're definitely distinct. The game also shares certain aspects with other RPGs—get into encounters, fight, loot treasure wherever you can get away with it, gain XP, gain levels and special abilities—but again, it has its own distinct flavor that makes it more than a D&D knockoff. And anyway, I like D&D.

I really enjoy the amount of detail put into it, though. Throughout the world, there are books you can pick up and read that give you information about the history of Tamriel; and some are just amusing little yarns. I spend a lot of time reading in this game. ^_^; And then, the people each have their own little stories. I talk to just about everybody, just to see who they are. You can't engage in dialogue with everyone, but apart from the guards, they almost all have something unique to say. It's the little details like this that drew me in. The main story is interesting, but I like a world I can really sink my teeth into, and this fits the bill. It's absolutely huge. I've explored a fair bit of it by now, and there's still a lot more I haven't seen.

... That's a lot of words, and I'm not sure how many of them actually address your question. Let me know!

~Neshomeh

I'll let Nesh or others explain more of they want but while they do some of the typical high fantasy ish stuff the lore goes in a lot of original directions. Sure there's elves everywhere, but even the Altmer are pretty distinct from the archetypical brooding high elf, and some are cannibals. The moon, stars and sun? Gaping holes in reality we see as spheres because we can't process what we're seeing. There's a godlike ability known as CHIM which is basically being able to use console commands in real life (the setting seems to implicitly acknowledge that the universe really is a game and things like player characters exist), the planes of Oblivion are basically other planets connected to the main setting by portals and stuff, in one province of the Empire they use gigantic insects as a means of travel and lots of structures are built out of said gigantic insects or mushrooms, one of the races is connected to a psychic hivemind of sapient trees that can mindjack them all at once if need be (such as to trounce an invasion from Oblivion so badly the baddies closed all the portals to that area because they were being counter invaded), there's magic spaceships, moon bases and swords sharp enough to cut atoms and cause nuclear explosions in some of the books, etc. While the games are often so so the setting itself is pretty neat and not as generic as, say, Oblivion (the game) makes it look.

Accidentally spoiled the Companions storyline for myself on the Elder Scrolls wiki, that is. I played it anyway, knowing what I was getting into, and enjoyed myself immensely.

Having watched Phobos complete the main storyline, I agree about that sect of dragon-killers. I'm not a fan—another reason I'm not in a hurry to follow the main quest line. I just don't wanna deal with their BS. And I like the fellow on the mountaintop.

~Neshomeh

I'm pretty sure all the Dragonborn are the worst at it. {X D There are just too many distractions!

I've only got the one character so far, who started out basically being me. I just sorta felt my way around at first, figuring out what I liked. What I ended up with is a Breton who sucks at magic, but goes around in ebony armor and destroys things with an axe and shield. She's also an alchemist, which is sorta tied to magic, so my backstory for her is that she's actually half Nord, half Breton, and she picked up her warrior skills from her Nord mom while learning alchemy from her Breton grandmother. What her dad's like, I dunno. I also haven't yet figured out how she ended up in position to be captured in an Imperial raid. I kinda feel like she was trying to get out of Skyrim rather than into it, though, and just ended up stuck there because of everything that happened in Helgen.

I haven't finished the game, either. I'm to the point where I'm supposed to infiltrate a certain upper-crust party, which I know is going to be a disaster, and it kinda scares me. I'm level 40, though, so I kinda feel like it's high time I sucked it up and got it over with. I've been working on my sneaking ability and collecting invisibility potions, so I'm hoping I can make it through without bringing a bunch of guards down on my head. We'll see!

Heh, the University quest line also scares me. I got as far as the first leg of it, and then when the guy said "Hey, someone better go tell the Arch-mage about this!" I was like, "Uh, sure! >.> " and took off. I shall never speak to the Arch-mage again. I'm having fun collecting books for Urag gro-Shub, though. ^_^

~Neshomeh