TESFeed - News

New Site and Skyrim Giveaway Winner! (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

[b:1kg4nzfs]First things first: congratulations go out to Mark Newton! He was the winner of our drawing for a free copy of Skyrim![/b:1kg4nzfs] We also hope you like our new site design. As you can see, we have changed our entire focus from simply bringing you news about Skyrim to giving you everything about Skyrim! The Holds of Skyrim is going to become the most innovative and complete Skyrim mod hosting site around! There is obviously still a lot to do, but all of the important stuff is going to be ready by launch day. So keep coming back, and we promise we'll make your game even more interesting than the first time you play it! In the meantime, why don't you join our forums and get to know us a bit?

The Daily Hotness: Fresh Prince jam (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

Youandapos;re welcome. Today Jim reviewed Resident Evil: Revelations, PSN doesnandapos;t want to be PSN anymore, Alphadeus released the second volume of the Destructoid Community album and so many more amazing things happened on 2/6/2012. Destructoid Original:DTOID Exclusive: Adam WarRockandapos;s Mass Effect EPLive show: SoulCalibur V on Mash TacticsNew Releases: Kingdoms of Amalur, The Darkness II, and moreThe DTOID Show: Creation Kit, MGS HD on the Vita, and SEN?!Community:Bloggers Wanted: TrainingDestructoid Community Album Volume 2Community blogs 2/6Forum thread of the day: Reasons why Zombie Platypus is awesomeReviews:Review: Resident Evil: Revelations News: PSN will become Sony Entertainment Network this TuesdayXitol Softworks reveals Zone The Battleground concept artSkyrim Creation Kit finally out tomorrowResident Evil Game Boy Colorandapos;s fundraiser is completePS Vita firmware update 1.60 releasedBioWare apologizes for sh*tty Mass Effect novelNaughty Dog considered a PS3 Jak and Daxter, passed on itVolition dev would love a console that kills used gamesFinal Fantasy X will be a andapos;remasterandapos; and not a andapos;remakeandapos;Battlefield 3 patch fixes voice chat, not much elseYou should sign up for the Hawken beta right nowApple pulls knock-off games from App StoreDriver dev working on a andapos;confidental Kinect projectandapos;Spec Ops: The Line makes lofty narrative promises Sanctum 2 is aiming for PC and consoles in 201367% of UK game companies ditching retail games, says TIGASOE wants to court you but youandapos;ll have to work for itFans get to choose Xenobladeandapos;s alternate cover artEurope gets two Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle bundles Offbeat: HAWP: Anthony is such a drama queenJimquisition: When Piracy Becomes TheftHereandapos;s an exclusive look at Archie Mega Man issue #10 Media:Mega Man Xandapos;s Vile is a bourbon manOoh! Metal Gear Solid HD on the PS VitaPrime your Ecstasy Shot, Gal Gun demo on February 14Vessel coming to PC March 1st, consoles at a later date

The DTOID Show: Creation Kit, MGS HD on the Vita, & SEN?! (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

Happy Monday, readers! If todayandapos;s set of The Destructoid Show looks different to you, thatandapos;s because itandapos;s not our set. In lieu of a full-sized studio episode today, Max and I filmed a quick news update instead while rushing to get our reviews up for The Darkness II and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Look out for those tomorrow! In the meantime, Iandapos;ve got a recap of Jimandapos;s Resident Evil: Revelations review to cover and a PSA regarding Skyrimandapos;s Creation Kit release tomorrow. Max, on the other hand, has a pretty picture of Metal Gear Solid HD on the PS Vita for us to look at, and a new name for the PlayStation Network.

A Very Skyrim Super Bowl [Note] (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

A Draugr Awakens | Surely we werenandapos;t the only ones to notice a resemblance between Madonnaandapos;s Super Bowl halftime getup and the armor worn by Skyrimandapos;s undead Nords. (Image via Reddit) More »

A Simple Skyrim Mod Rating System! (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

We are pleased to announce that we have finished implementing our new (for lack of a better name) mod rating system! Over the past year, we have done a lot of research trying to determine the ideal rating system. We conducted polls in many different communities, talked with site admins and modders and mod users, and a lot more. And while such things are highly subjective, we learned a lot about how to make a decent system. 1. People *want* some way to know what others have thought about something before they download it. 2. Simple numerical rating systems are far too easily skewed. A 1-10 vote can too easily give a very low rating with one single low vote. 3. Mod authors prefer something that is designed to be more positive. 4. Trolls suck! THoS has a simple answer to all of that: if you have downloaded a mod, you ca...

A Bookseller's Video Game Lament [Skyrim] (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

I play Skyrim obsessively, like lots of people. Iandapos;m also a full-time antiquarian book dealer and during my glorious attempts to become a leather-clad death machine in The Elder Scrolls V, Iandapos;m always tempted to make some in-game coin on the side collecting and selling the hundreds of available antiquarian titles. Books such as Advances in Lock-picking or Dwemer Inquiries Vol. III offer both arcane and practical lore to thereader as well as deep context for the gameandapos;s developed history, technology and culture. More »

Neocrisis: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

Neocrisis: Is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning EAandapos;s answer to the Elder Scrolls and Fable Series? The comparisons have been made and it may be a valid point at that.

Confirmation for Skyrim Creation Kit release time (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

InEnt writes: Most of our readers that are waiting for the Skyrim Creation Kit would have seen the official tweets pointing to today for a release of the new modding tools, although one thing Bethesda didnt mention was a time or even a window the download would come. We can now confirm they have offered something more solid, which should give gamers a target time within a couple of hours.

Review: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for PS3, Xbox 360, Windows (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

Title: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Price: $59.95 System(s): *PS3, Xbox 360, Windows Release Date: February 7, 2012 Publisher (Developer): EA (38 Studios and Big Huge Games) ESRB Rating: “Mature” for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Suggestive Themes Pros: Lots of assorted quests and tasks, as well as multiple factions to join. Four races to choose from. Can pick and choose which finesse, might and sorcery skills you want to learn. Can pay fateweavers to reset all skill and ability points. Can create equipment, potions and gems. Has a unique look and good voice acting. Can fast travel to visited locations. You have to actually think while fighting and not button-mash. Multiple difficulty levels. Loading screens only come up when entering/leavingbuildings/dungeons. You can eventually own houses. Minor crafting items don’t count towards backpack inventory. Cons: There are quite a few fetch quests, some of which have middle steps that can be skipped if you inadvertently grab items early. It doesn’t seem like some non-persuasion dialogue choices have too much impact on the story. It did freeze on me three times while playing, though it hasn’t happened since the patch released on Saturday. No physical instruction book. Four times the game glitched where it wouldn’t allow me to examine items with the X button after random attacks, even though no hostile enemies were around. (I had to save and reload to fix the issue.) Backpack items are had to find. Overall Score: One thumb up and one thumb sideways, 88/100, B+, * * * 1/2 out of 5Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has an impressive pedigree. Ken Rolston designed it, R.A. Salvatore helped write it, Todd McFarlane designed characters for it and Grant Kirkhope handled its soundtrack. Still, it wasn’t until I played the demo, to unlock Mass Effect 3 extras of course, that I actually thought it’d be something I’d want to play. Fortunately a review copy showed up a short while after and I was able to experience the Faelands firsthand. Getting all of those big names on board made a difference, as 38 Studios and Big Huge Games’ endeavor is smooth, beautiful and a joy to play. Revived with unlimited potentialThe player’s hero or heroine in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning starts off dead, but gets better.That’s because this particular avatar was a test subject in a research experiment. Some gnomes were working on a Fomorous Hugues’ Well of Souls, in the hopes of creating soldiers equipped to fight the immortal Tuatha Deohn. Only one person was actually able to return to the living before the Tuatha were sent to destroy the well and its creators. Fortunately, this hero woke up “special.”As Fateweaver named Agarth explains shortly after the well is destroyed, the sole survivor is something new. While all other people in the world are bound by the tapestry (fate), the hero isn’t. Instead, the hero can rewrite fate and alter the course of destiny. Players then get to set off on both big and little adventures around the Faelands on the way to a grand confrontation with the Tuatha and their leader, Gadflow. Granted, the player’s character’s actions don’t always have a huge effect on the Faelands, but still. The avatar is making a difference just by existing.Players have ultimate control over their gameplay experience and their character’s abilities.Let me start off by saying that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning could make for a fantastic beginner action-RPG as well as being something that will keep advanced players busy and happy for months. It isn’t that the game is extraordinarily easy, though there is a Casual difficult level, but that it does a good job of introducing a lot of complicated concepts and ideas in a way that’s easy for any player to understand. The tutorial is non-invasive, but does come up to familiarize players with all new concepts when they appear. The skill and destiny leveling advancement is clearly laid out and people can reassign points if they wish and the various crafting methods are all quite intuitive. Probably the most noticeable point is that it provides an open world experience while also making it easy for people to see where they could go next and allowing fast travel, so people don’t get flustered or feel overwhelmed by all of the possible tasks to complete and locations to visit. Plus, the familiar feel would help players grow accustomed to the pace and design of other western RPGs, since it feels so similar to other beloved games.Of course, this means that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning can also come across as quite a borrower. Not that it’s a bad thing. In this case, it’s more like it’s reminiscent of other games rather than stealing ideas, since in most cases it’s improving on the games to which its similar. The atmosphere and ambiance may remind you of Folklore, the battling of Fable or a faster-pace game like Devil May Cry, the skill leveling is vaguely similar to Dragon Age 2 and the open world experience is akin to that found in The Elder Scrolls or Fallout. In each case except the last, however, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is just better.Here’s how a basic quest line will go in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The player’s hero or heroine will find someone with an exclamation point over his or her head in either the field or a town. Players talk to the person and get a quest. Usually it’ll involve fighting something or getting something/some. You go to the location marked on the map, fight the monsters that spawn or maybe talk a bit with some people there, then return to the person who provided the quest. Sometimes, you’ll be able to use a little persuasion to keep an item found or earn an extra reward, but for the most part you’ll report back and get a reward. It’s your typical, RPG staple quest. Fortunately, you can do more than one at once without switching your primary quest. Objectives for your main quest appear on the map marked by yellow circles, while objectives for other available quests have white circle markers. So you can stop by hotspots for other quests while you’re in the area. It’s also important to note that not all quests are fetch quests or minor errands. Some require talking to people to determine what should or did happen, require theft or assassination or even lead to a boss fight.The fighting is also quite thoughtful and delightful. Battles feel more like something from a beat’em up than an action RPG, with the square button assigned to a primary weapon, the triangle to a secondary weapon, X to a rolling dash and R1 to a shield. Both primary and secondary weapons can initiate combos if you keep button mashing or unleash charged attacks if you hold down their respective buttons. You can also map useable items to a sub-menu you can bring up by pressing the R2 button and four skills can be mapped to an abilities menu brought up by holding down L1. Since all enemies have strengths and weaknesses and stronger ones have an assortment of attacks available, it means you’ll have to switch up tactics and actually put together a custom battle style if you want to survive. Not only that, but you earn fate points for attacking with different methods. Press L1 and R1 when the gauge is full to slow down time and deal extra damage to all enemies. Finish one off while still in this mode and you can button mash your way to extra experience.I came to relish that experience boost, as it always brought me one step closer to changing my character’s destiny. The customization options are limitless. After leveling up one skill point and three ability points are awarded. The skill point could be put towards talents like persuasion, lockpicking, sagecraft or blacksmithing, making your character more formidable and capable of completing certain actions. The ability points determine the hero’s combat abilities and are broken down into might (warrior), finesse (rogue) or sorcery (mage). Investing skill points influence how proficient a hero is with weapons, what passive abilities can be tapped into and what special attacks can be unleashed. Invest enough points into each category and you can unlock a new Destiny, which is essentially a class. Destinies can be swapped at any time, provided you’ve already unlocked it, and provide bonuses to attack or skills, boost regeneration abilities, increase skill damage or other lovely things that make your character stronger. If you get tired of your current control scheme, just find a Fateweaver and pay to reset and get all those spent skill and ability points back.Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is much better than you’d think it’d be.I didn’t expect to enjoy Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as much as I did. I figured it was just another generic, open-world, action RPG and I’d be sending off another character to do good works and save the world. After playing for over 30 hours, I realize it is much more than that. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a hauntingly beautiful game with fantastic battles and tons of content. There’s so much to do here in the Faelands that you won’t even miss out if you buy the game used and don’t get the “online pass” quests.Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is also a good test for people. If you’ve always been curious about open-world RPGs like Fable or The Elder Scrolls, this is a good starting point. It’s well organized, easy to play, allows you to experiment with different playstyles and also has an extraordinary level of content. However, it’s made more accessible with a more streamlined and easier to understand blacksmithing and alchemy system, not to mention the ability to make your character a blank slate whenever you visit your local Fateweaver.Site [Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]

Skyrim Predicts The Super Bowl: Nugget From The Net (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

The Super Bowl is over, and Eli Manning and his Giants somehow managed to pull out a win. Iandapos;m a Redskins fan so Iandapos;m not too pleased with the result, but the game ...Continue reading Skyrim Predicts The Super Bowl: Nugget From The Net

I Don't Remember Skyrim Being This Sexy [Cosplay] (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

Cold, yes. Leafy, yes. But even the most daring female companion in the game had the sense to wear more armour than this. More »

TheReviewcast Episode 9 Side B (The Holds of Skyrim -- TESVSkyrim.com)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:10:34 -0700

Welcome to the third Side B of the Reviewcast. This is a very freeform show that has some topics but really is just talking about whatever in gaming. Basic Topics: Cannon Politics Snow White UK secret comics Skyrim Grasshopper Manufacture roommates 3D WII Colours and more Us

2008-06-27 ~ Fan Fiction @ Chorrol Revamped (Chorrol.com news)

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:43:28 -0600

Well, I guess it had to happen someday.

With our last update we had too much content to put on a single page. So we've had to expand the section into multiple pages.

To make the section more accessible, and to make sure we won't run into the same problem soon, we've decided to split the old Fiction page into 4 different pages.

Parodies and short stories now each have their own page.

And the long stories have been listed alphabetically and are divided between two pages.

We hope you'll be happy with the changes.

Alexander

2008-06-25 ~ Story update (Chorrol.com news)

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:54:33 -0600

Today we've added a few new stories to the website.

First off, we've added the winners of the last two competitions, those are;
Reunion by Olen
Forward unto darkness by Adventurous Putty
Sugar, or Fear and Loathing in South Cyrodiil by Yorneim Heir

And we've added Morrowind, the fan fic written by Alexander (me ;-) )

hope you enjoy!

2008-05-25 ~ Competition results! (Chorrol.com news)

Sun, 25 May 2008 03:10:14 -0600

Ok, this is it, we've just had the final judgements in. And we now know the winners for each category.

Considering the amount of entries in most categories, I'll be posting the top five for each category;

In the short story category;
First place and winner; Forward unto darkness by Adventurous Putty
Second place; Tedrils Journal by Andraz Drcar
Third place; My heart by Shades
Fourth place; Escape, by MafuLeTrekkie
Fifth place;; The true hero, by Matteo Nobis Sandén

In the medium sized category;
First place and winner; Sugar, or Fear and Loathing in South Cyrodiil, by Yorneim Hier
Second place; The Fall of the West, by Hemitheon
Third place; [CUaRRr]-akhh-trrals - or: A Horror of Misperception, by Squelchy Xerotripsis Underfoot
Fourth place; The last dance, by Agent Griff
Fifth place;; Eyes of the heavens, by Kyle Cadena

And finally, in the long story category;
First place and winner; The story of Trey, Treydog
Second place; We are merely shadows, Erika Webb
Third place; The Tale of Matthias Etanne, Hadrian
Fourth place; Bloodlust, The Metal Mallet
Fifth place; Dance of the ja-Kha'jay, Lakyan

Now, prior to getting in the final results, we've had to think of a way to choose between the categories to see which category would win the Signed copies of Oblivion and which would win the signed copy of the Shivering Isles map.
In the end we decided on a random drawing, and the winner of that draw was the long story category. So Treydog wins a signed copy of the Shivering Isles map, and Yorneim Heir & Adventurous Putty each win a signed copy of Oblivion.

I'll be contacting each winner today for the details.

Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks again to all the participants.

And finally, many thanks to all the judges who sacrificed their spare time to read through all of this.

2008-05-14 ~ Story added to Chorrol.com (Chorrol.com news)

Wed, 14 May 2008 07:25:11 -0600

Today we've added The Tale of Sethyas Velas to our fiction page on Chorrol.com.

Long overdue if I do say so myself!

2008-05-01 ~ Competition closed (Chorrol.com news)

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:12:44 -0600

It's now a few minutes past midnight here, meaning the submission period is over.

If you haven't yet sent in your submission, then unfortunately you won't be able to any more.

Later today, after some quality sleep, I'm going to make all the entries available for you all to read. You'll be able to see your competition.

And now the judges will start their work. We're going to do our best to get you all the decisions as soon as possible, but at the latest before the last day of this month.

Until then, thank you all who participated and may the best man/woman win!

For those who're interested in it, and who can't wait to see all the stories, some stats;
62 stories were submitted.
8 Long
25 Medium
29 Short

As mentioned above, check back later today and you can check out the stories here;
http://competition.chorrol.com/short.html
http://competition.chorrol.com/medium.html
http://competition.chorrol.com/long.html

2008-04-30 ~ Last day of the competition (Chorrol.com news)

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:20:26 -0600

In a little over 13 and a half hours, the competition will close. Any stories submitted after midnight tonight (GMT+1) will not be allowed to enter.

Last chance folks!

2008-04-23 ~ Competition enters final week (Chorrol.com news)

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:08:41 -0600

Just a heads up for everyone who's been meaning to enter but hasn't so far. We've entered the final week for submissions now.

A week from today, on April 30th at midnight (GMT+1) the competition will close. So any entries that arrive after that time won't be allowed to enter. Be sure to send your stories in before that time!

Good luck!

2008-04-08 ~ Competition update (Chorrol.com news)

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:05:01 -0600

Well, as is always the case, some things have come up that we hadn't considered up front. I'd just like that for a moment.

Once an entry has been submitted, it's final. That means that if after a week or so, you suddenly think of an even better story to enter into the category you already entered in, you'll be too late since you can not change it.

So, if you decide to send in your entry soon, please think carefully if it's all ready to enter and if you're absolutely positive that's the story you want to enter with as you can;t change your mind lateron.

And a small reminder, please make sure to read through the rules -> http://competition.chorrol.com/rules.html especially the submission guidelines before sending in a story to save yourself some extra work.

Thanks for reading this,

Alexander