The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Trailer

Dragon Age III: Inquisition Trailer- "The Fires Above"

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen DLC Trailer

Dragon Age III: Inquisition

I feel like I should be way more excited for this game than I am. I loved Dragon Age: Origins, and though there were many flaws and changes I didn't care for, I liked Dragon Age II. I will buy DA3 when it comes out, it's inevitable, but I want to find out more information before I can geek out about it. BioWare's panel at PAX East this year helped to explain some things and assure me that they're at least trying to not screw this up. I think that they will be able to combine the good parts of both DA:O and DA2 to make an amazing game. BioWare is totally capable of that (as long as EA isn't involved). Here is a link to a couple videos of their PAX panel. One is a brief overview of their panel, and the other is a Q&A video. Pretty interesting info should be coming out soon!

BioWare PAX East panel

Skyrim: Dawnguard DLC Trailer

Assassin's Creed III Debut Trailer

Darksiders II "Death Eternal" Trailer

Mass Effect 3- Live Action Fight Trailer

Take Earth Back- Mass Effect 3 Trailer

Skyrim Game Jam

Future DLC? I sure hope so! All of these ideas are really cool!

Skyrim Mod Ideas

There are tons of Skyrim mods out there, and a lot of them are really cool, but there are some things that I think should be added. Unfortunately I have no ability to mod, but it's not going to stop me from suggesting my ideas.

Oblivion Mods to Port to Skyrim

• Alir's Armor
• Capt. Molly Armor
• Acolyte of Kynareth
• Adelina Armor
• Baron Armor
• Wisteria Armor
• Serenity Armor
• Morrowind Robes and Dresses
• Bow of the Mongolian Horsemen
• Dall's Kukri

Mods to Add

• Rapiers
• Spears
• Halberds
• Falcata
• Kopis
• Throwing knives, hatchets, stars, javelins
• LotR Elven armor (2nd and 3rd Age) + shield
• LotR Rohirrim (Eomer & Theoden's) armor + shield
• LotR Gondorian infantry armor + shield
• LotR Istari staffs (Both of Gandalf's and Saruman's)
• LotR Gil-Galad's spear
• LotR Gimli's axes
• LotR Elven prologue spear
• LotR Isildur's sword
• LotR Haldir's bow and sword
• LotR Aragorn's dagger
• LotR Eowyn's sword
• LotR Eomer's sword
• LotR Boromir's sword
• LotR Faramir's sword
• Kit Rae Archeros dagger

Mass Effect 3- Customizable Arsenal Trailer

Advice For Role-Playing Games

Here's a list of some tips, tricks, and observations I've discovered after my experience playing RPG's. Most of these are applicable to RPG video games (most of those related to Skyrim!), but there are also some general role playing tips as well for use in other styles- like Dungeons and Dragons or other d20 systems.

Do's

• Save often!

Save yourself the grief and frustration and save every time you start a quest or enter a dungeon. You don't want to die (or your console freezes) after not saving for 3 hours.

• Watch where you're going

This is especially true for when there are a lot of trees that block your vision. For some reason, being on horseback exacerbates this issue. Basically, what I'm trying to say is be careful when you're exploring. You don't want to run head-long over a cliff!

• Learn a healing spell

I don't care if you're all fired up to play a warrior- you need to be able to heal yourself when you take all of that damage! You don't even need to get more than the basic healing spell (you get one for free with any character in Oblivion and Skyrim). Yeah, you could buy a ton of potions, but I would rather save that money for better weapons, armor, etc. It only depends on your amount of magicka/mana/MP. Trust me!

• Find a good center of operations

By this I mean find a place where you can get as many of your "errands" done at once. In Skyrim for example, I like using Whiterun because my house (where I store all my stuff), the forge, alchemy table, enchantment table, and shops are all relatively close to each other. Makes things run more smoothly, and you can get back to questing sooner.

• Learn crafting skills

While you may think that it's a drag and it's taking experience you can allot elsewhere, crafting your own weapons and  armor (enchanted or otherwise) & potions saves you a lot of money. Plus, you get more of a sense of accomplishment that way. I like to craft, upgrade, and enchant as many of my pieces of gear as possible.

• Find a safe storage spot

At least in The Elder Scrolls game, no chest or barrel is safe to store things in unless it is in a house that you own. Make it a point to save money early on for a house where you can dump all of your unused items. I usually leave all of my crafting items and special weapons and armor (that I'm not currently using) at home. Why waste your precious space on items that you aren't even using?

• Role-play well

This is mainly a D&D tip. Basically,  I believe that you should role-play to the best of your abilities and to the extent of your imagination. Get into your character! The more you invest in a character, the more fun the game becomes. Avoid meta-gaming as much as humanly possible. Try figure out who your character really is before you start playing, and develop it as you play, both character traits and your backstory.

• Figure it out for yourself

Try and figure out puzzles and quests by yourself (at least the first time). Looking at walkthroughs and game guides detracts from the fun of a game. The game developers made the game for you to play, not for you to do what someone else figured out themselves. I only look for help when I cannot figure it out for myself and have tried to multiple times. This goes for cheats too as many of them are overpowered.

• Play with friends

Games with co-op and multiplayer are meant to be played that way! Granted- most RPG's are single player, but you can still play them with a buddy. One person plays while the other person acts as their "spotter" (just think of them as your personal Navi- only less annoying)- helping you with puzzes, riddles, or finding treasure chests that you may have missed. After a while, switch places.

• Play through earlier games in a series

This is especially pertinent now that all of these Elder Scrolls n00bs are getting into Skyrim, but don't want to play Morrowind or Oblivion. They then ask a ton of questions that would have been answered if they had played the earlier games! It helps to fill out your understanding of the story, and gives you hours of enjoyment, and for those of you who actually care- that means more achievements/trophies.

• Use mods!

Sorry console gamers! Unfortunately, you can only mod PC games. For those of you who do play games on your computer, check out mods for your games! It can add lots of gear, sharpen graphics, add companions, etc. I recommend these sites: Skyrim Nexus, Morrowind & Oblivion Nexus, & Dragon Age Nexus.

Don'ts

• Don't be a jack-of-all-trades

I feel like this is a no brainer, but then I see people playing characters like this: "A warrior who uses warhammers and bows, who is kind of sneaky, but can also cast fire spells" (read this in your best SoCal surfer/Bro voice). If you try to be good at everything, you will end up being good at nothing- only mediocre. There are character archetypes for a reason, so stick as closely to one as possible. Now there are cross-classes, so if you want to use those make sure you're not spreading yourself too thin skills-wise.

• Don't forget to keep potions & poisons on hand

They're useful! Use them to as an alternative to healing spells if you must, or if your magic stat (whatever that may be) is depleted. It's a pretty simple concept.

• Don't start killing or stealing from people at low levels!

You will get pwn'd. If you try to be an assassin/thief starting off at level one, the people you're trying to kill will see you and kill you as soon as they get the chance. Hold off on those urges for a while until you level up a bit and can confidently use your skills. The same concept goes for other classes (I have just noticed this more with rogue/thief players)- don't go trying to kill a dragon at level one!

• Don't do every single quest with one character

This is more from a role-playing standpoint. Why on earth would a warrior do Mage Guild quests? Other than the fact that you're just trying to make more money, there doesn't seem to be a point to it. Pick your character archetype and stick with it! If you wanted to do Mage Guild quests, then make a new character that uses magic!

• Don't try and do someone else's job for them

This is also a D&D tip. There are different classes with different specialties/abilities for a reason. If you're a Ranger, you're good at search/spot/survival. If you're a thief, you're good with traps/sneaking/backstabbing. If you're a fighter, you're good at...well, fighting. Don't do someone else's job for them, especially when they're better at it than you are! Half the party doesn't need to search the room for traps, etc. when the right character can do it faster and better (unless they're rolling luck has run out). Stick with what your class is good at, it helps to develop your character anyway.

• Don't take it too seriously!

This is true for any game, but especially games you're playing with other people. Yes it can get stressful at times, and you may fail a lot, or you may not always get what you want but always remember this: IT'S JUST A GAME! You're supposed to have fun! Yes, what just happened might have really sucked, but in the end, it's not that big a deal. Getting too angry only makes you look like a selfish, whiny jerk, and detracts from the fun of the whole party. Learn to go with the flow.

I hope that these were helpful to you. If you have your own tips or opinions on mine, let me know and leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

I want to play as a Turian Soldier or an Asari Vanguard! What about you?

Skyrim Tour

If you're not excited for this game, then something's definitely wrong with you!

Exclusive Skyrim Preview

This Kid Is Freaking Brilliant!

Khajiit Armorer

Skyrim Live-Action Trailer

Elder Scrolls Q&A #4

The final countd- ...I mean, questionnaire! :)

76. Have you found the two hidden Lord of the Rings references yet?

Yup

77. Do you blog about The Elder Scrolls?

Uhhh...duh

78. Have you ever had contact with someone from the Elder Scrolls team?

No, but I wish

79. Complete the sentence: Todd Howard is …?

A friggin' genius

80. Why you actually started playing The Elder Scrolls.

It looked cool

81. Complete the sentence: TES would be nothing without …?

Complete customization

82. What did you do with that map of Cyrodiil that was included in the package?

Put it up on my wall

83. Do you use UESPWiki?

Every once & a while

84. Would it be cool if you could connect Skyrim with Oblivion so you could just go from Cyrodiil to Skyrim and take all your items with you?

Heck yeah!

85. Scariest moment.

Umm, none. TES wasn't that scary to me. If you want to be scared, go play Bioshock

86. Your “opinion” on TES newbies? Would you help them?

Help them, and make sure they make less stupid decisions

87. Should there be something like TESOnline?

Eh, I don't know. MMO's tend to ruin things for me

88. Frostcrag Spire, Battlehorn Castle, the Thieves Den or Deepscorn Hollow?

Depends on the character...Mage= Frostcrag, Fighter= Battlehorn, Thief= Thieves Den, & Assassin= Deepscorn

89. Am I the only one who always wondered why it’s totally okay for your character to run around in the Jerall mountains without any clothes?

Probably

90. How did you feel when you heard TES V will take place in Skyrim?

I was really really excited! I was hoping for either Skyrim or Valenwood.

93. Does the Grey Fox exist? Or the Thieves Guild? ;)

Yes

94. Character(s) in TES you’d marry?

I have no idea, I usually don't think about that kind of thing when I play

95. Are you the only one of your friends who plays The Elder Scrolls?

I know only of two other people who play it. Others might, but they don't talk about it.