Let me tell you, there is one other main reason that I hadn’t posted up until the other day and that reason is a little game called Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I’d heard a ton of good things about it and had wanted it for a while but didn’t want to pay the initial 60ish dollars to get it, preferring to wait until I could find it cheaper.
To my surprise, my sister had gotten it for me for Christmas and since I’ve been home I’ve been playing it anytime I can. I’ve even foregone watching some of my usual shows just so I can progress in the game. I don’t think I’ve been this excited and concentrated/focused on a single game since the last Final Fantasy.
I played Skyrim’s predecessor Oblivion, but really couldn’t get into it. There was something overly complex in the leveling process that just took me out of the story and gameplay, and soon after fizzled my interest. Skyrim has totally fixed that problem (at least for me) and I have been hooked.
One of my favorite parts about it is that unlike Oblivion, you have the opportunity to have a “follower,” which is an computer-controlled character (for the most part) who will follow you in your travels and aid you in battle and stuff.
In Oblivion, I got quite lonely in that big world doing stuff just by myself. I was used to playing Online Multiplayer Games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI with other folks, and a quiet chat got kinda isolated for me. The new follower system they have in place in Skyrim has allowed me to have a partner-in-crime and allows me to have awesome conversations with my buddy as we’re doing everything. Of course, the conversations are always one-sided but who says they aren’t good listeners.
Just for fun I want to give you a run-down of my followers that I’ve used and give you my preference thus far. ^^
Truthfully Sven was probably my first official follower but I ditched him rather quickly once I was made Thane of Whiterun and received the aid of Lydia.
I’ve always had a fondness for strong female characters in any game (guess it’s just the stereotypical gay in me lol), and although most of the characters I’ve made to play myself have been male I’ve always tended to go for the girls as my followers.
Most folks playing the game have probably used Lydia at some point and she’s a good strong character to have with you. I really liked her, but she didn’t fit my play style. I’m going the sneaky, stealthy, archer/sniper approach and her heavy armor was making way to much noise for me to play how I needed to. She lives at my house now in Whiterun, waiting for me to need her. I still look upon her fondly. ^^
After I found out that you can marry in the game, and marry a character of the same-sex, I was all for doing that. I thought the idea of having a in-game boyfriend who could also be your bandit-bashing buddy was also a great idea.
Out of all the possible matches, I picked Marcurio to be my guy. We were quickly wed and on our way to adventure!
Lo and behold he’s an awesome destruction mage and blew everyone and their mother to pieces. I was rarely able to get any fighting in and my skills were taking a hit. So I decided to leave him at home to run a shop.
He now greets me at home for being way too good at what he does.
Jenassa has by far been my favorite follower. After I left Marcurio at the house, I did some investigating to find a follower who was more of a match to my character and I eventually settled on Jenassa, and once I got her suitably geared, she has been awesome.
Archery, stealthy, tenacious, she has it all.
My only problem is sometimes during some quests-lines your follower won’t be able to go with you because either you have to pick up a temporary character for the storyline or you have to do something alone. So your follower either goes back to where you found them, or waits for you outside.
I was finishing up the Companions questline and had to leave Jenassa for a few quests. After I finished them, I went back to go get her and she is nowhere to be found. She’s not in the pub. The only thing I’ve been able to find is that she disappears until after The Battle for Whiterun and then reappears around the Whiterun Stables. Well, I’ve gotten past that point and I still have no sign of her. I miss her and will keep checking back, hoping she shows back up.
In the meantime, I decided to grab Aela of the Companions to aid me in my quests. She’s working out okay for me so far, but not the same as Jenassa.
I was familiar with Aela from a number of the Companion quests and she’d tagged along with me on a number of them. She fits my play-style pretty good too. She has some pathing issues that are kind of weird though.
I’ve got her all geared up now and we both just sit back and pelt arrows at the enemy. She does give me the chance to be more up front in battle now. Taking out my sword and shield while she attacks from afar. Jenassa always absorbed the damage for me in our duo, so with her I was the one at a distance.
Anyways, I’m itching to play the game even now, and the house is kinda quiet since the beau is in California doing shows until Saturday. I’m definitely hooked and am anxious to hear if anyone else out there reading is playing the game!
Hugs!
A Bit of Ste - Revisited 
So behind in that game.
Nice! So you play too? 🙂