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Showing posts with the label Skyrim

“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads...
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2014: Skyrim, Rocksmith, and Words

Hello, all! First off, I hope the new year is going well for everyone. I sort of fell into a blog black hole toward the end of 2013. I’m back now, and I hope to keep a better schedule, but no promises. Last year, I mourned the death of my old PS3 and, thanks to my lack of home internet, the loss of my save data. I bought a new PS3 and piddled around with some games, but I just couldn’t get back in the groove. Well, I’m once again traversing Skyrim with my bow, sneaking up on bandits and shooting down dragons. The nonlinear play of Skyrim and the vast number of missions has kept it from being too repetitive. Not to mention, I now have the Legendary version, complete with all the download expansions. (I’m ridiculously excited to build my own house.) I’m also starting Rocksmith 2014. I’ve always wanted to play guitar. Once I’m done cursing the tuning section, I think it’ll be a fun way to learn. Assassin’s Creed 4 is on my to-do list…after I finish AC3. Not all my free...
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Gamer Remorse: File Backing Isn't Just for Computers

Tragedy struck recently: In the midst of a bout of Skyrim, my 60Gb, backwards compatible Playstation 3 gave up the ghost after six years of faithful service. There was no warning, and it wasn't a simple overheat. No, this was much worse. The Yellow Light of Death. Needless to say, I was distraught. My entire gaming history was saved to my PS3's hard drive, from my first PS1 save to my 166th hour of Skyrim. And to rub salt into the wound, my Skyrim disc was caught in the BluRay drive. And here's my epic fail. It never occurred to me to back up my save files. Not one time. Even after the death of my first Xbox 360, I didn't think about it. The hard drive from my old Xbox slapped right on the new one, and there wasn't anything lost. I could kick myself. Everything I've read says I can't do the old hard drive switch with a PS3 that I could do with the Xbox. Popping it in another PS3 will only format the thing. There's no way to pull ...
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Rambling of a Casual Gamer: Skyrim and Why I Love the Bows

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I’m quite a ways into Skyrim now, and of all the weapons I can choose from, my favorite is the bow. I’m far enough along now that I have a Daedra bow (well, two). My enchanting is crap, but my knock-down power is excellent. The best part is I’m not even done with the Archery perks. I will get stronger! I like the bow versus the other weapons because it’s long range. I pop enemies before they ever get a glimpse of me. And unlike some games, the Skyrim bows are nicely effective. The targeting works well. For most things, lower level arrows are fine, and since iron and steel arrows are easily obtained in battle, ammo is usually free. Nothing makes me happier than taking down a dragon with my bow. Except maybe turning their bones and scales into my armor. Dragonscale armor, oh yeah!   On a practical note, I like the bows best in Skyrim simply because they don’t mess with my line of sight like the melee weapons. I have a staff and a war-axe I carry for close-up situati...
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Rambling of a Casual Gamer: Glitches Make Me Twitch

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My Bosmer, Fayruz. Wood Elf, FTW! I am 115 hours or so into Skyrim. The awesome part about that is, I’ve barely touched the main quest, and I’m not bored. My character has a dresser full of dragon bones and scales, just waiting for the moment I hit level 100 on my smithing. (I’m at 92. Soon, precious dragon armor, soon.) I am Arch Mage and Harbinger. And I’ve only been eaten by a dragon once. While I love all the fantastic dragon-slaying, bandit-smiting, ore-mining goodness of Skyrim, I have just one problem. Glitches. Most of them aren’t a big deal. The lag when I’ve played for a while is annoying, but by then it’s usually time to quit anyway. The inability to start a mission because I already have a mission at the same destination was a bit eye-twitch inducing, but I got around it, and it was fine. After I picked up a staff that was quest-oriented and it wouldn’t let me hand it over until I placed it on a weapon display…okay. But the one that sits like a white el...
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Casual Gamer: Initial Thoughts on Skyrim

I recently started Skyrim. (Yeah, I know, I'm behind. Don't judge!) I'm not too far into it, and I'm still getting used to the controls, but so far, I like it. What's my favorite thing? The crafting. I absolutely love the fact that I can tan the hides from animals I hunt and use the leather to make new armor and weapons. I also love that I can make jewelry at the forge as well.  I like playing with the alchemy table and mixing random things to see what I get. Everything I pick up in the world has a use, from the wild flowers along my path to the simple food items out of barrels and gardens. And nerd that I am, I like the books. Not just the ones that let me learn spells or boost my skills, but the ones that give me hints about the histories of the world, too. I'm carrying too many of them right now while I eek out enough of a living to buy a house to store them in. But I can't bear to part with them. I like the variety of weapons and how I can use a o...
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