Who Am I?

Back in the game again, and the game is so very, very pretty now.


3:27 PM 1/29/11
The sun is so bright it hurts my eyes. I feel like I've made some kind of momentous, world-shaking decision just now ... if only I could remember what it was. Ah, well.

3:35 - I'm awful tired - since the closest civilization is the Imperial City, I guess I have to hope the guards won't recognize me. What did I even do to get arrested?

3:50 - Eugh, it's raining.

4:18 - Joking around with the guards is probably a good way to get locked up again, but it really seems like nobody else knows who I am, either.

4:23 - I meant to take a nap, but apparently instead I fell into a coma that lasted until morning. Ah, well.

4:32 - It's like I didn't even exist before I woke up in that cell. By Azura ... am I even real? "Perhaps the Gods have placed you here so that we may meet." Chilling, old man.

4:42 - I have memories of being a spellcaster - I remember how to use several spells, and I know what many more of them do. Maybe someone at the Arcane University will remember me? It's all I have to go on.

5:13 - Spoke to a woman named Bothiel. Have problems telling Bosmer from Altmer half the time. Bah. She handed me a list and said it was most urgent that the items on it be collected. Apparently some kind of bandits attacked the Orrery. Maybe I'll help out. I'm pretty sure Bothiel doesn't like me. Well, I don't like her either.

5:23 - Have decided to look up my own status in the Mage's Guild. I have to have learned it all somewhere, right? Starting with Bruma. Somebody has to know who I am.

$15 Social Life

So, let's play some Elder Scrolls. I haven't done that in a while, and TES5 has been announced. Glee and joy, Skyrim!

I'm playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It's kind of my favorite, partially since I got introduced to Morrowind after Oblivion's release and the graphics did not age well. My $15/month goes to playing WoW as a glorified chat room, while in the foreground the character creation screen boots up. Ah, Oblivion, how I've missed you.

12:03 PM 1/29/11
Behold: in darkness, a doom sweeps the land ...

12:04 - You know, this game's facial graphics haven't really aged well, but the rest of it is still beautiful.

12:05 - Dunmer for min-maxing, or Bosmer for looks. HM.

12:09 - This persistent "staring at the sky" thing is seriously starting to bug me. Given my plans for a Dunmer to be the new Madgod, sure. She can be a space cadet.

12:16 - She looks dull, and a bit sad.

12:19 - Aha! Almost fixed the sky-staring thing. De-de-de. Looks more severe now. Blah. Sliders.

12:24 - I wake up in a corner of a cold, dark, cell. My head hurts like it's been kicked in by an entire herd of horses. I don't even remember who I am. Where am I? Why am I here? By Azura ... everything hurts. I can hear something in the distance ...?

12:34 - 'scuse me, playing with the skin color now. I made a goth! And she has a name. Amelie.


12:42 - Now what? There's a Dunmer in the other cell ... gah, I'm so confused. All this talk of destiny ... can that man have really been the Emperor? They left the secret passage open behind them. Since my options are "follow" and "Rot down here forever," I guess I'll choose "follow."

12:47 - There's no way this can end badly.


12:53 - I must have been some kind of badass before getting locked down here. I've got skills I'm pretty sure a simple commoner shouldn't. Lockpicking, swordplay, spellcasting ... I found some heavy iron armor, and it just felt right to put it on.

12:59 - My stomach is growling ... looks like grilled rat is what's for dinner.

1:03 - Regretting using fireball as a torch: vicious, murderous rats everywhere.

1:14 - Why would the goblins be standing at the bottom of a log trap? They're all greenish ... and crushed. Wonder if any of the loot is usable. (Answer: No.)


1:23 - I feel like an invisible hand is guiding me sometimes, sure. But the Nine Divines? I don't know if I believe in your human religion, buddy. Meh. Trying to remember if my birthsign was Thief or Warrior. I'm not feeling especially lucky, but maybe we'll turn that around, yeah?

1:40 - I've got a real torch now. Hooray.


1:41 - IT'S A TRAP.

1:45 - But I liked Captain Renault's sword. I guess I get to run an errand for the Empire. I do feel a bit guilty, letting the Emperor die, if I'm such a badass.

1:58 - Trying to improve graphics. Oblivion has stopped working. Dammit. Fucking crashes.

2:29 - Research online suggests SaveINI from the console. Hooray! Of course, there's no way to open the console with Vista or later as your OS ... Spell of Open The Damn Console, 'kgo.

A God's Log: Here Kitty, Kitty!

9:12 PM Friday, Jan 7th 2011

A land of innocence has no need for gods ....

I had a random urge to do Something Not Warcraft, so I fished through my stack of old games until I hit upon Lionhead's Black and White. Some research on the Internet later, and I have a fully functioning game, since Windows 7 doesn't always play nicely with the older games. I still don't know how to get Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri to work (I hit upon the much easier solution of: when I want to play SMAC, I boot up Mom's old XP machine), for instance - even the newer games sometimes throw a fit.

I forgot how bad the graphics were.

And how long the unskippable tutorial is. Gah.

I think I wanna try and be either a good deity or at least train a good creature. Given my own Chaotic tendencies, I have problems focusing ... I suspect I'll end up failing at least one of these goals.

Here goes nothing ....

9:32 - After some exploring, I have picked out a rather silly-looking kitty cat. Probably not the best choice for a pacifist pet, but I'm not much for cattle or monkeys, and they looked even worse.

9:41 - Maybe I should build this boat so I don't have to listen to the singing. Or kill the would-be sailors ....

10:09 - I actually don't know how much mutton I need for this sheep herder - oh, five. Can't deities keep a quest log? Can I get a bloody hint? GAH!

10:22 - Oo. Huge kitty. I've actually seen him on idle exploration; he's hard to miss. Doing his quest because I suspect he's how I get to teach my Creature miracles. Blah, miracles. Blah, teaching.
Evil (Blackie?) is a coward.
Nemesis is such a ... descriptive ... name.
Yeah.

10:40 - I am going to teach this Creature to make water if it's the last thing I do.

10:46 - Where the hell is my Creature?!

10:59 - Creature kind of knows how to water trees. Teaching him to heal and buff himself. Looking for last singing stone.

11:27 - Found the last stone. Can't find stone circle anymore. GAH.

11:28 - The hippie's stones made me a damned food miracle dispenser. Thank you, GameFAQs.

11:30 - Where the hell is my Creature?!

11:32 - Death ....

11:34 - Apparently my Creature collapsed ....

11:40 - Who wants tummy rubs?!

11:50 - I'm not convinced my creature can learn to buff himself. He seems kind of stupid.

11:52 - Death ....

11:53 - Ha! He knows how to make food! Not completely hopeless. Who'ssa good kitty?

11:54 - Death ....

11:58 - Still not convinced he can learn to buff. Death ....

12:00 - Death ....

12:06 - I met the one guy who doesn't believe in me on this rock. I don't care about him at all.

12:11 - Death ... DEATH!

12:13 - Evil smells combat! ... death ....

12:19 - Where the hell is my Creature?!?