avatarsnowy:et al:cuddlypoops

(via anangelstears)

ala-away:

littlestarlolo:

escapefrommetalgear:

so scared of the music in Forest Temple and Shadow Temple ;~;

aw really? :c

I thought the Forest Temple’s music was kinda relaxing. Eerie as hell, but relaxing lol

Someone remixed it and added lyrics and made it a lot less creepy than the original. You might like it c: I certainly like it a lot more than the actual music <3

Now the Fire Temple… D:

i’m kind of glad my copy didn’t have the chanting because AHHGGG CREEPY HJDHDSFSD

FUCKING WATER TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Opinions and stuff!! I confess I knew pretty much nothing about the lore prior to Skyrim, but here are my current feelings on it.

MAJOR DISCLAIMER: Obviously your individual character will have whatever opinions, and it’s not like your character has to be from [insert name of homeland here]. But in general, I think if you RP your character according to the storyline of [insert name of homeland here], different interesting stories emerge in relation to Skyrim’s plot.

Redguards: Although Nord is the “expected default” race, I personally think the historical background of the Great War actually makes the Redguards the most interesting one to play in this context. Here’s why in a sentence: they got screwed over the most by the Thalmor and the Imperials. If you read in-game books detailing the war (in particular The Great War; see the epilogue especially), you’ll see that the Redguards lost the most and were perhaps the most upset at the treaty. The Redguards believed that the Empire could have pressed on and won (avenging their incredible losses, for one thing). They also believed that the treaty (which also screwed them over) was wholly unnecessary. Okay so, getting back to what I was saying. The Thalmor-Imperial storyline is really the driving meta plot behind everything (at least, everything that happens on a mortal scale), and I think there are a lot of RP/story seeds for siding with either the Imperials or the Stormcloaks or neither. The Great War is just a lot more personal for the Redguards of Hammerfell than just about any of the other homelands. Is your character bitter against the Imperials and the treaty, and wants to side with the Stormcloaks? Or is your character desperate to hold the Empire together against the Thalmor? The second reason (hahahaha all of that to say my first reason) why I think they’re the most interesting race to RP is that they have an “outside perspective” to the Stormcloak storyline. I just personally think that’s more interesting than playing as a Nord.

Nords: Playing as Nord would be close second I think. It’s pretty obvious why: Skyrim is their homeland, and the storyline is about the Nords! I… don’t have as much to say about this. IT’S JUST SO OBVIOUS. And there are Nords on both sides of the Civil War, so that works well, too. In general, by the way, I’m fascinated by how well Skyrim portrays this empire from the perspective of historical realism (sorry Dragon Age, Skyrim does it better). You can see the effects of many years of colonialism (imperialism) very clearly on Nord culture, to the point where they are essentially staging a revolt against the Empire in a very Imperial-cultural language. And of course, the Imperials govern their provinces in a similar way to the early Roman Empire (mostly hands-off with a few cultural centers like Solitude). Anyway, I digress. The main point is that playing as a Nord is an interesting if obvious choice?

Imperial: Also an obvious choice, I think. Playing as a “Roman” in the “Roman Empire?” NO WAI!? Now, ancient Rome had a whole lot of issues (let’s not pretend they were the “good guys” by any stretch of the imagination), but their very origin myths portrayed them as a mosaic of multiple races & cultures. So while the Roman Empire was culturally imperialistic about a lot of things (and they had a lot of other problems too), they also were generally less racist per se. And wow, I probably shouldn’t say that without unpacking what I really mean, buuuut that’s a long topic and let’s get back to Skyrim. So here’s what I was building up to: the Empire in this game is similar to the ancient real-world empire in that it’s generally a lot less racist than the Stormcloaks are (though let’s be real, that’s not really saying much). For example, the Stormcloaks are into segregation (see: Windhelm) and kicking non-Nords out; the Imperials are into freely mixing. I hate the fact that siding with an empire is better than siding with the rebels, but I just can’t stomach the Stormcloak racism. (But see, this is where Skyrim’s nuanced politics are as complicated as the real world). One consolation is that in terms of stopping the Thalmor’s long-term genocide of humanity, the Empire seems like the better choice (the Thalmor even consider Ulfric an asset); siding with the Stormcloaks seems inevitably like exchanging one empire for a more oppressive one in the end. Anyway, while an Imperial would generally side with the empire, maybe your character is an extraordinarily devout Talos-worshipper?

High Elves: I’m torn on this. I… actually made my first character a high elf for non-RP reasons because (1) I knew I wanted to play as a mage, and (2) I thought I basically HAD to be a high elf to be a super powerful mage. As in, I thought I’d be gimped in my gameplay by picking another race. Little did I realize that your race mostly doesn’t matter! Hahaha, my lightning spells cost no mana… why would I need high elf mana bonuses? Oh well. I make it work, sort of. Maybe I’m missing some headcanon story possibilities for my character, but I just don’t think playing as an Aldmeri is actually that interesting. I feel sort of out of place (you’d expect more high elf-specific reactions from people, I’d think, given the current political climate). (There are a few minor exceptions — try playing the Diplomatic Immunity quest as a High Elf wearing Hooded Thalmor Robes). At any rate, your Dragonborn Aldmeri isn’t one of the Thalmor, and that’s kind of interesting. And no matter which side you pick, history will remember you very differently because of your race. In summary: picking Aldmeri has a lot of potential (due to the heavy background influence of the Aldmeri on the storyline) but I find it jarring to see how little you are recognized as such by NPCs.

Dark Elves: Chances are that you’re a refugee from Morrowind (from the volcano and the Argonians) trying to eke out a living in Skyrim. That has huge potential, and the story of Windhelm (the segregation of Dark Elves into the Gray Quarter) should give you some RP ideas. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the Dark Elves you find throughout Skyrim have some of the most interesting background stories.

I was going to go through the rest of the races, but I’m going over to a friend’s house to watch a movie and I don’t really feel like finishing it tonight. Maybe I’ll do a part 2 later if there’s enough interest?

Got this fire hawk off heroic Ragnaros tonight. It’s mount #151 for me. I love it. It’s not as nice as the Ashes of Al’ar (which still refuse to drop for me), but it’s still a good looking phoenix.

By the way, heroic Ragnaros awards the title “Firelord,” which makes me want to level a fire mage named Azula. :)

edlom:

Legend of Zelda: 25th Anniversary 

(via pseudo-tsuga)

Huge world/exploration like Skyrim
Creature interaction & behavior like Skyrim
NPC depth with world puzzles like Majora’s Mask
NPC conversational depth like Dragon Age
Romances like Dragon Age (with notable improvements!)
Music like Skyrim & Zelda
Tone/mood like Majora’s Mask 
Political depth like Skyrim
Dungeon puzzles like Zelda, but harder generally
Non-combat related activities like that Harvest Moon dungeon RPG thing
Combat like Zelda
Boss difficulty like Dark Souls 
Boss complexity/inventiveness like Warcraft raid bosses
Leveling like Skyrim

AFSDLJKSFALKJDFSLJKLSDFALJKSAFD

skyrim you guys skyrim

so amazing. so, so amazing.

(I might not even watch Thursday/Friday night’s TV tonight because of it. Let that sink in.)

glamaphonic:

chirart:

weregarurumon:

clurrclurrclurr:

exactly.

As a game store employee, this is how I see all FPS games.

Sob, WHAT ARE REASONS I DON’T PLAY MILITARY FPS GAMES FOR 500, ALEX? I played Goldeneye when I was thirteen and felt it was just silly to keep spending money on the same repackaged game, but less addictive.

Accurate.

Ding ding ding! Also, SPACE MARINES? :-/

luffyfoxtrot:

kupo-nuts:

zeldaproblems:

Just thought you guys should see this.

This is real right? I want this ;__;

Yep, it’s real. Limited Edition. I already have it pre-ordered…and I hope I get the Wii Remote, at the very least.

(via anangelstears)

IMPORTANT: This chart is social criticism and NOT a criticism of the female characters themselves.

I’ve had this chart sitting on my computer for a few weeks, but I had forgotten about it until now.

I based it on an askbox conversation Rawles and I had here.

Because it’s a game, all of the core components of gameplay are developed to appeal to the intended audience (traditionally hetero men only, though Bioware is definitely moving in a better direction). For example, anything to do with the combat system is there to make it fun for the intended audience. So they have to sit down and ask questions like, “Okay, what combat system will they most enjoy?” And then they go and develop the combat system mostly on that principle.

It’s the same deal for the romance part of the game. A huge part of the appeal of these games is supposed to be that you get to role play a fantasy in which “you” are the big bad hero. So the creatives at Bioware have to figure out what romance options would be the most appealing to their “main” audience. And then they design the lady characters accordingly. Obviously it’s more complex than that, but that’s it in a nutshell.

So think about it: why does Bioware think these two choices (of women) are the most desirable romance options (for a presumably male Shepherd/Warden/Hawke)? What does that say about Bioware, their intended audience, and/or the broader culture? Think about it!

lol :)

Finally!! I tried for 14 weeks to get that seahorse. It’s now mount #142.

(I guess I should have been wearing my “Camel-Hoarder” title in this screenshot.)

The post I made back in May with the map is here.

She really likes talking about the weather, for some reason. Hmmm.

(Oh, and that’s Kitty in the background, and through the clever use of cheats she can walk through walls.)