The End

Quick note:This blog is in reverse since it goes by oldest post to newest. I urge you to start at post one to fully understand what this blog is about!

     All in all my experience with Skyrim was something that used my awareness and problem solving skills, while rewarding me causing me to progress further. Some examples of this would be how my awareness of my surroundings allowed me to get an early edge in the game (Post 2.1). In Riverwood I was able to find a bunch of helpful materials that allowed me to upgrade my equipment and make some early cash. Bleak Falls barrow was the first instance where I needed to use my problem solving skills to navigate through a dungeon to complete a villagers task (Post 2.2+3.2). All of this happened while I was getting rewarded with equipment, powers, and convenience (Posts 3.2, 4.1, 5.1).
     I feel like all of these things are important in an academic situation and can easily be missed if a person decides to label Skyrim or video games in general as something just for pure entertainment. Problem solving skills being the most obvious of the three. This allows me to figure out my way out of a mess and turn a bad situation into a good one. Awareness skills may appear not very useful, but in post 2.1 I gave an example that I feel is a good reason to have a good awareness level. I feel that the most important reason is being urged to continue on because of the rewards given. This is a reason to keep on going and not stop in the middle. This could easily apply to working at a job or doing your assignments. The feeling of wanting to continue doing good and improving because you managed to do a good days work. I feel like Skyrim did this very well by making the player stronger after every encounter.
    Many people may think that Skyrim is just for entertainment and they do have a point. Skyrim is a video game made with the intent of being played. That is essentially what a video game is. The problem is many people see video games as detremental to education. This may be true for some games, but many games have some sort of redeeming merit. Skyrim being one with many (as I explained in the rest of this blog)

5.2 Khajiits

            As a Khajiit I noticed my race seemed to have a poor reputation in Skyrim. Before I was known as a dragonborn I noticed most people would say something like “don’t you even dare”. So I wondered why Khajiits seem to have such a bad reputation. A girl named Ysolda helped confirm my suspicion. She told me that Khajiits are excellent traders but are disliked by most.  After continuing to search I found I was having a tough time actually getting more information. So I decided to use some other sources. I decided to check out the Khajiit page on the elder scrolls wiki. The wiki said that Khajiit are known for being gifted when it comes to being agile and stealthy. So they make great assasins and thieves. Perhaps this is a reason why Khajiits are so disliked by most other people. Continuing reading the wiki page it stated that Khajiit are treated this way because of their beast-like appearance and that they are viewed as a problematic race. Although it doesn’t really give a good explanation about why they are treated this way. The only thing it says is that this is true in some cases. So I guess I have to assume that a few cases influenced most races. 

5.1 The Voice

It was finally time to make the horrible journey to the Greybeards. I figured I should make the trip as easy as possible so I bought myself a horse. In order to get to them I had to run around a huge mountain to Ivarstead. If I didn't know about the horse this journey would have been a lot more troublesome. The horse traveled so much faster and was able to pass through much more difficult terrain. Along the way I passed a lot of landmarks and even found the entrance to some unmarked location on the map. I figured I’d take a look and inside was a cave with a lot of blue glow. I didn’t want to explore it so I decided to continue to Ivarstead.
 Upon reaching Ivarstead I saw some steps that looked like they led up the mountain, so I went up them. I found a lot of interesting things along the way.  Among them were tablets. I want to say I saw around 10 different tablets. The tablets pretty much said that dragons used to rule and they had the power of the voice. Then man came along, tried to oppose them and but they didn’t have the voice. Then someone named Paarthurnax helped man and man was able to beat the dragons. Then it talked about how amazing the voice is. The voice seems to be considered some sort of godly power. Seeing as it can defeat the dragons and everyone seems amazed when someone can use it. 
The task of obtaining the voice was expected of me because I was a dragonborn. In other words I had the right skill set and was expected to use it to my full potential. This is another important thing that can be applied in many different situations. The easy one would be in a work environment. People get hired based on how qualified they are and when they do get hired they try apply those skills as well as they can. The meeting with the Greybeards made me realize that the existence of my character had a huge impact on the world of Skyrim. But I'm the player so I guess its to be expected.

4.2 Windhelm and Solitude

      First thing I did was travel to Solitude. Instead of taking the long way and walking all the way there, I found a carriage and paid someone to take me there. Upon arrival the guards greeted me and said that I was just in time for the execution. Such a great welcome to the city of the Imperials, who I didn’t choose at the start of the game. Looking inside the local inn I found a bard who sang “Age of Aggression” for me. It turned out to be a song about how Ulfric and the Stormcloaks were evil. Traveling further into Solitude I found what appeared to be captains of the army arguing about what to do. Saying that Ulfric was going to attack and such. It seems that the city is trying to appeal to me through a sense of urgency and that Imperials are right and that’s how it should be.

      Afterwards I decided to head to Windhelm to see what the deal with the Stormcloaks was. As soon as I entered Windhelm I heard some people arguing with a dark elf. This hinted that there was some sort of problem between the nords and dark elves in Windhelm. No execution yet though. So Windhelm is a little better than Solitude so far. After finding the inn I asked the bard to play “Age of Oppression”. It was pretty much about how they want to rebel against the imperials. Afterwards I went to the main building and listened to the conversation between Ulfric and his advisor. What I got from Windhelm is that they don’t want to be brought down and want to fight for Skyrim

      I feel like both cities appealed many elements of a complex claim. Windhelm with the rebellion and Solitude with opposition. A roadmap can be seen as each side thinking that a battle is going to take place. Stakes are whether they will stay oppressed or not. A counterclaim is a little tricky though. If you were to take both sides into account you could say that the counterclaim is the opposing sides reasoning. 
       This was an interesting part of the game. It was trying to get me to make a choice between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. Although for me both sides didn't seem that appealing. I didn't want to have sort of restriction with the a side if I chose the other one. So I decided to just leave.For something that doesn't relate to the main story it may just be better to leave it neutral. This may apply to everyday life between social interactions. It may be more beneficial if you aren't pressured into taking a side and remain neutral. Of course this doesn't always work because some things you have to make a decision on.

4.1 Dragon Rising

                So apparently a big bad dragon appeared and everyone is panicking. Thinking quickly the Jarl assigns his mercenaries to go investigate the area where the dragon was reported. Since I was around he asked me to join them. So at the request of the Jarl I followed the mercenaries. I ended up following them to the entrance of Whiterun where I saw them have some sort of meeting before leaving the town. After a quick little meeting we went straight to the western watchtower. Upon arrival you could see that the watchtower had been badly damaged.  With the grass on fire and many soldiers already injured you could tell something bad attacked. Leading you to believe it was indeed a dragon.

                A few moments later one of the soldiers shouted, “Its back”. It might’ve been helpful if the solider pointed in the direction he saw it in, but I guess I’m just slow compared to the rest. A little bit later a dragon swooped in out of nowhere. Before I knew it I was being roasted alive by the dragon’s fire breath. Good thing Suk can take the heat. Afterwards the dragon landed and our time to attack was here. The legendary dragon was no match for Suk and the Jarls army. A few good shots and swings and the dragon was done. Of course that wasn’t enough. Suk had to absorb the dragon’s powers too. Let it be known that Suk is Dovahkiin.

                This fight demonstrated that my character is becoming more powerful. Things like hacking and slashing are no problem for Suk. After killing the dragon your character becomes something like a superhero in the world of Skyrim. Being able to do these mystical shouts. Of course the growth can’t end there. There has to be more shouts to discover. 

3.2 Bleak Falls Barrow

     So it seems like I already did a huge part of the quest “Bleak Falls Barrow”. I might as well elaborate on some of the things I noticed while exploring that cave. Something that I thought was a nice touch is how the deeper you went into the cave, the less bandits you saw. Just a little thing I thought was nice.  The cave itself had a couple of puzzles. One puzzle was in a room where if you put in the wrong answer and pulled the lever you would have a fun time being impaled by arrows. As my friend Bandit E showed me. Another thing I noticed was how spider webs were everywhere, hinting that maybe just maybe the next room will have something to do with spiders. I’m sure that was a lot of fun for many people. After the spider room there was another puzzle. This involved a door with three revolving pieces and three indents. The three indents where in a claw shape so I guess that was there way of hinting that you should check out the golden claw before going on. Inspecting the claw you can see that the code was actually on it. After getting past that the only notable thing would be the end where you have this huge wall filled with text and a super strong draugr pop out and attack you. Killing the draugr lets you loot the dragonstone which is what I needed for the quest. So I was able to give the dragonstone to the wizard looking guy. What came next was just a bunch of text and a sighting of a dragon.

   The way that the request appeared earlier seemed to be Skyrim's way of telling the player that doing more is good, as it saved me the trouble of having to make a roundtrip to Riverwood. This was the moment I felt really happy that I decided to do this. It felt rewarding when I was able to flaunt that I already did his task for him. Of course naturally this wanted me to continue to play well. This sort of thing could be applied to a wide variety of situations. An easy one would be when I do well on a test. I feel like I really know what I'm doing and am encouraged to do even better the next time.

      

3.1 Whiterun

                The first thing I noticed while I was walking around Whiterun is the priest who is hanging around in the town square. Shouting all this nonsense about Talos. I figured I might as well see what Talos was. He told me that Talos was a nord who became a godly figure. With his limitless wisdom and power. He also had this nifty ability called the “voice”. I guess he had the power to use shouts too. It seemed like worshipping Talos brought out the extreme in the priest as he said he wasn’t afraid of being arrested.               

                Talking with various residents gave me the feeling the Whiterun is a city full of mainly nords. Many residents would casually drop in the fact that they are a nord. For example one resident said something about being a strong nord. While another person was complaining how female nords should be able to do anything a male nord can. Be it slaying a giant or cooking a meal.

                Something I noticed was the lack of non-human races. I didn’t see one argonian or khajit while exploring Whiterun. Maybe I just didn’t search the right places. One resident actually told me that khajits are supposed to be skilled in trade. The conversation with her also gave me the feeling that khajits don’t have the best reputation out of the races in skyrim. That explains why so many people say “don’t even try” when I just happen to crouch behind them.
                 Whiterun was the first major city I was exposed to. Immediately I could tell that I couldn't get away with as many things as I did in Riverwood. I felt like the reinforced the idea that Riverwood was made to be a place where players who noticed, could take advantage of all the items laying around.

2.2 Before the Storm

     The quest "Before the Storm" had me go talk to the Jarl of Whiterun. But before doing so I figured I should finish up the requests of the residents of Riverwood. The trader of Riverwood asked that I retrieve his precious claw from a group of bandits who stole it from him. Being the hero that Suk is, how could I refuse. So I went into the mountains in search of a group of bandits. What I found was a group of bandits scattered throughout a dungeon. Progressing through the dungeon I couldn't help but notice fewer and fewer bandits kept showing up. One bandit was even kind pull a lever for me. Unfortunately he didn't have the solution to the wall puzzle and was impaled by a bunch of arrows.  
      Going deeper into the dungeon I found some guy trapped in a web and then suddenly a giant spider. After the spider this guy wanted me to cut him down in exchange for the claw he stole. The lesson here is to never trust a bandit. As soon as he was freed he ran for his life. Unfortunately for him spiders aren't the only aggressive things in this dungeon. With the claw I just had to find my way out. So I continued onwards and found the exit. This dungeon was the first instance where Skyrim tested my problem solving skills.
    With the last request taken care of it was time to head to Whiterun. Outside the massive city I figured I would explore for a bit. But most of the doors were locked. So naturally I decided to lock pick them. Everything was going well until I passed a guard. Let's just say one thing lead to another and I magically ended up infront of the building where the Jarl is supposed to be. So with this I was able to easily accomplish my task and warned the Jarl about the dragon. Surprisingly the Jarl wasn't very worried when I told him I had escaped an execution. Overall I feel like the conversation with the Jarl wouldn't have ended up too differently. I mean I told the guy the imperials captured me and were about the execute me. The guy just brushed it off saying it doesn't matter to him.
      So far I feel like my character is becoming the scum of Skyrim. I literally try to steal from everyone and pick up any gold I see. For the most part playing as a thief hasn't had any negative consequences. The only really notable one would be when the blacksmith from Riverwood wouldn't leave me alone. Even then it wasn't that bad. With this in mind I feel like I would still be welcomed by anyone regardless of whether I tried to play the good guy or the bad guy.

2.1 Riverwood

   After escaping Helgen I ended up outside of a cave with my pal Ralof. Ralof was pretty helpful when it came to clearing some things up. I was able to ask things like who is Ulfric and why was he captured.  Speaking with Ralof helped me understand the kind of setting the world of Skyrim takes place. Skyrim being a fantasy land in the midst of some kind of dispute.
    Following Ulfric led me to a nice little town called "Riverwood". In Riverwood I met his sister and husband. His sister was pretty friendly offering me supplies and a key to her house. The husband on the other hand gave off the impression that he didn't like me staying. Walking around I noticed I was able to talk to almost everyone and was allowed to do many things from simply trading or taking up requests.
     The most amazing thing was the option to pickpocket or just steal something off of someones desk. Since I found a couple traders earlier I came up with a quick get rich quick scheme. Just take some loot I found laying around and then sell it to the nearest merchant. Unfortunately this plan was foiled. Apparently you can't sell stolen loot. What made this even worse was a villager called Alvor. I had a feeling he was catching onto me because he followed me around town for most of the night. Of course this villagers actions ruined my plan of just stealing gold from around town. So naturally I decided to take the smithing supplies he had laying around his work area. Sure this decision might not have been the best, seeing as some of the villagers were kind enough to let me stay with them. But I feel it was justified.
     Something I noticed while exploring Riverwood is that it seemed like the three claims had changed. Before arriving the three claims revolved around us (the prisoners) escaping execution and hiding in the town of Riverwood. After talking to the villagers it seemed like the three claims were moving from that to the sudden appearance of a dragon. It feels like the fact that I escaped didn't matter anymore. That the main problem was that dragons are here and were troublesome. Even though one happened to save us. Just saying.
    What I noticed was Riverwood had an abundance of treasure if you were willing to dig for it. This is where I feel like Skyrim was allowing me to use my awareness skills to look around and give myself an edge when starting out. For example the smithing supplies. They were useful for upgrading my equipment allowing my character to have better gear. This could also be applied to something like doing a lab. Usually when people are doing a lab they just follow the procedure and go step by step until the end, which is extremely inefficient. But something I have been doing lately was looking ahead and seeing where I can optimize my time. Doing this allowed me and my lab partner to avoid a few close calls when it came to doing labs. In this case reading ahead was like finding the smithing supplies. It better prepared me for the future.

1.2 Unbound

     So I decided to play as a Khajit in Skyrim. I decided to play as the cat race mainly because I liked the way they looked compared to the other races. Since Skyrim is a fantasy game I might as well pick a race doesn't resemble a human. Plus the bonuses seemed pretty nice.
      In my play through I decided to follow the Stormcloaks. It didn't really make much sense to decide to follow the Imperials, considering they were about to have me beheaded. Sure he may have lead me to the exit where I met my old pal. But why choose him when I can just choose to go with Ralof.
     After following Ralof we ended up fighting many imperials inside the keep and found a lot of decent loot. I can only imagine where my character manages to keep all of those pieces of armor, weapons, and food he picked up. It's disappointing when you become overburdened from taking too many things though. All of that free money you have to leave behind.
     After exploring deeper into the keep we ended up "saving" some fellow Stormcloaks from the torturer and his helper. Sadly Stormcloak A was already dead when I arrived and Stormcloak B got into an unfortunate accident later on in the cave. Who knew it would be so easy to accidentally kill someone. It's unfortunate our Stormcloack allies couldn't make it out of the cave, but Ralof lead me out with little trouble.
   

1.1:Suk + Introduction

This is my Skyrim play blog or "plog" for short. This is where I made posts about my experiences with Skyrim. Skyrim has the potential to be used as more than a simple game. A huge opportunity could be lost if people decide that games are solely for entertainment purposes. Throughout my Skyrim experience I realized I was being tested on my problem solving skills and awareness skills, all while rewarding me causing me to want to progress further. These skills are some of the skills important to everyday life.
To begin my Skyrim experience I had to create a character. A short and simple name I like to use is "Suk". To be honest I am horrible at creating amazing names for my characters, so I thought, "Why not Suk".So Suk was born. Plus I think its entertaining to call my character Suk.