Jake

Please tell me this guy got promoted. He needs to be the head anchor.

Thanks a lot, Deathirst. You made me regret leaving the Boy Scouts.

It's nice seeing an explosion of new members. Maybe we might become a significant community after all. I was planning on attending Dragon*Con this year, as it's always held in Atlanta, which I live on the outskirts of. Maybe I could write about it when I attend in a few months.

You may think it's because of the video, but I'm telling you, it's because of the sloths! They helped us!

Fixed it for you.

Brodo Swaggins does a lot for the community, especially for a 4 year old. You should promote him.

Bethesda has recently announced that they will not be making any more expansions for The Elder Schools V: Skyrim. Therefore, it's time to look back over the past year and analyze our favorite additions to one of the greatest games of this generation. And thus, we shall decide which was our favorite. The choices: Dawnguard You side with either the Vampires or the Vampire Hunters, and are in a race against the opposing faction to obtain Auriel's Bow. This DLC also adds the Vampire Lord, an upgrade to the standard Vampire that makes it more mage-friendly while not really sacrificing anything, making it a good choice for thieves and mages alike. Both the Vampire Lord and the Werewolf also get their own perk tree. And, of course, we cannot forget the introduction of crossbows, Dragonbone weapons, and the ability to change your appearance even after character creation. The followers you get aren't too shabby, either. Three of them have no level cap, but the main follower, while capping at level 50, is essential, has powerful spells, and can make you a Vampire Lord even if you sided with Dawnguard. Hearthfire Morthal, Dawnstar, and Falkreath all allow you to buy a plot of land if you are the thane and own this DLC. On the plot of land, you can construct a house of your own design. If you want to give each house its own distinct purpose, you'll probably wind up with your three houses serving the roles of Family House, Alchemy Laboratory, and Armory House. If you have a bedroom with appropriate storage, you may adopt a child or two, as well. Dragonborn After getting attacked by cultists, you find yourself in a rivalry with the first and most powerful Dragonborn, Miraak. This DLC is the only one that gives you access to a new overworld. The DLC takes place on the island of Solstheim, in Morrowind. It's a decent size, with the southern side of the island offering a nice change in climate. You also get access to the All-Maker stones, which are like Standing Stones, except after you use their power, you have to re-activate the stone. In addition, you get many new passive abilities from side quests, a powerful new enchantment, new shouts, and the new weapon and armor material Stalhrim. This was definitely the meatiest of the DLCs. Patch 1.9 While you didn't have to pay for it, I feel that Patch 1.9 offered enough content to consider it its own expansion of sorts. There are two main features offered. The first is offering a new difficulty setting higher than Master, known as Legendary. And yes, it is very difficult. The second feature is a new game mechanic known as Legendary Skills. When you train a skill to 100, you can now make it Legendary, which is a "prestige" system of sorts. You reset the skill to 15 and get your perks back that you spent on the skill. This allows you to continue training the skill, and removes the overall level cap of the game. Why is this even in the same league as the others? It's free, so you are technically getting the most bang for your buck with this expansion. Which was your favorite? I think we all know Dragonborn is going to get the most votes, but I'm still interested in seeing everyone's opinions. For me, it's close between Dawnguard and Dragonborn, but I'm going to have to go with Dragonborn, due to its extreme amount of extra powers and abilities it gives you.

I feel the exact same way, David. Fallout is decent, but I'd much rather see TES VI.

Look at your signature, Blexun. It matches your thoughts exactly.

I've heard of another method. Get 100 illusion. Buy the Harmony spell, or obtain it through the College of Winterhold quest you get for getting level 100 illusion. Reset your Illusion skill to Legendary. Cast Harmony in the middle of Whiterun. About 9 casts of this should boost you to level 100 again. Rinse and repeat.

Who wants to hear a story of my childhood? It was Kindergarden. During recess there was only 1 swing on the swing set. Therefore, if someone else was on it, you stood in front of the swing, counted 10 swings, and then they had to get off. One day, a girl named Morgan was swinging on the set. I decided I wanted to swing, so I stood in front of the set and counted 10 swings. She wouldn't get off. I asked politely, but she ignored me. So, I did the most logical thing my 5 year old mind could think of at the time. I grabbed a hula hoop, and when she swung back, I wrapped it around her neck and pulled. Left a scar on her neck.

I guess I didn't word that correctly. It's damage is lower than WEAPONS, but it's still powerful enough to get you through the game. But yeah, the more I think about it, the more I do agree that Destruction is somewhat underpowered. On all but one of my pure mage builds, Bound Sword was my main source of damage.

Allow us to analyze each school: Destruction: Yes, the damage is low, but that's not why people use it. What this school provides is the Impact perk, which can stagger even bosses. This is incredibly useful for some playstyles. Conjuration: This school is overpowered. You can summon all kinds of daedra to do all your fighting for you. Using natural methods, Conjuration also gives you the best bow in the game. Alteration: Not a damage school, but useful. This will allow the pure mage builds to achieve the protection they need with their mage armor spells. Its perk tree is useful for just about any build, thanks to its Magic Resistance and Atronach perks. Illusion: Great for assassins. This school can make you silent and invisible, but that's just scratching the surface. Frenzy spells can turn a tough boss fight in your favor, and Calm spells can easily correct any misunderstandings with NPCs. Restoration: This school is great for just about any playstyle. The healing spell you get AT THE BEGINNING remains useful throughout the game, and using that spell alone will save you a lot of money you would have otherwise spent on potions. The perk tree is very nice, with the perks Necromage, Recovery, and Respite. Enchanting: You can reduce magicka cost to 0, give yourself permanent muffle, and give your self near magic immunity. Need I say more?

I'd hardly call magic underpowered; it's meant more for utility than damage. I'm disappointed. It looks like that Redguard copyright didn't mean anything. So much for making the perfect assassin for future DLCs.

I hear Skyrim is pretty good, too. It's not free, but it will probably be on sale on Steam at some point.

I believe he meant he was infected by a vampire he was fighting. If this is the case, then Dawnguard will refuse to work with you any longer. Fear not, however, as there is a cure. Talk to some barkeepers and one will tell you that a man in Dawnstar (might be Morthal, can't remember) is very knowledgeable about vampires. Find him and tell him your problem, and he will give you a small side quest that will end in him curing you. If you get infected again, you can repeat this quest. Once you are cured, Dawnguard will allow you to join them again. In fact, their members will act like nothing even happened, and you can continue the questline as normal.

Did you, at any point, uninstall the Hearthfire DLC, play the game, and reinstall it? That resets all your progress.

Have you ever heard of Rusty Hearts? It's an anime style MMO with a sophisticated hack n' slash combat system.

Ever heard of Cave Story?

Doesn't know I exist yet.

Well, there goes my opportunity. Just kidding, I started using Chrome. EDIT: Say, I like the full width layout. Won't matter too much to me whether we change or not, but I definitely vote for full width.