PixlBit

So..

 

Here I am, returning from the ‘working’ VOID with the sad look on my face.

 

WHY?!

 

Because I am a shamless addict to the world of Skyrim.

 

In the last DLC installment called HEARTHFIRE.

 

The developers turn the tables and give us the unique customizable feature of

Creating a place of our very own.

For the XBOX 360, the DLC comes in at a whopping 77mb  of space, and I had to wonder what my $5.00 just bought.

 

When you enter the game and start playing nothing seems to stand out right at first. Finally, when I entered a town (Whiterun was my first stop.) I was approached (as I expected) by a courier. He gave me a letter indicating that I should check out the orphanage in Riften as I can now condsider the ideal of ADOPTING a child.

 

Another letter was included to alert me that I now had the ability to redecorate my lovely Breezehome with a room for children if I so wished. I just needed to talk with the Jarl’s Adviser.

I went to talk with him, but there was no talk of building a house (since I already owned one in Whiterun), but I saw the option to convert existing rooms to childrens’s rooms for my current house.

 

I thought about the idea of adoption (while remaining in Character) passed off the notion of having any young potential ‘sacrifices’ scurry around and bug me at this time.

 

(Damnit JIM!) I am an Elf, not a nanny dammit! 

 

With that thought now at the bottom of a list. I had set out to realize my dream home…

BUT there was one set back….

HOW IN THE HELL DO I START THE PROCESS?!?!?

Honestly, this is the worst DLC I have received, not because of content, but because of lack of instructions on how to do stuff.

 

I checked INTERNET and found the places where I could build my lovely home.. I think the logic is sound as you can build a home in a place that has no real room for you there. But there was really no clear cut segway into how you can go about buying and building your home.

 

I chose Dawnstar, and tried to talk to the Jarl’s assistant.. but soon found that my Brootherhood association ended his life a while back (OOPS! My bad!)

So I talked with the a$$hole of a Jarl and he gave me the option to build..

After following the instructions, I soon found that Skyrim took on a different light. I was not the:

Elven Bad Ass of the realm..

Or the the DRAGON BORNE..

Or even Bro’Nan the Destroyer!

no,  I became the Bob Vila of Skyrim!

 

DAMNIT!

As some of you who have followed my Skyrim exploits know.. I was a BEAST.. haha at least in my own mind.. My level 55 character has a house in every city.. loot up the Arse, and about a nest egg of 102K…

 

Now look at me.. I am toiling away building a damn Chicken coop, and planting Jazy Berries..

 

ME!! The guy with Auriel’s Bow and shyt load of light and dark arrows who can kill EVERYTHING in the damn game just about. I am reduced to searching towns for Glass and Straw, Horns and other knick knacks so I can have that kick ass Chandelier.

 

I am a sad man..

As of now,

I have 2 chickens, a cow, a horse, a Bastard of a steward (he tells me I shouldn't be snooping here .. and it is my damn house.. WTF!?!?), and a Bard ( she sounds pretty.)

An Armory, an Enchanter’s Tower ( might have to change that), a cellar – for the real parties, and a Trophy Room.. cause nothin’s says lovin’ like a Mud Crab on a plauque mounted on your wall…

 

Yea… I have totally fallen.

 

But I digress..

 

The build interface is easy to use and understand. If you are a fan of black smithing you will pick it up right away. Materials are a pain, as you will need to keep ample stock of various items. They provide you with a chest to keep stuff in, but it would have been nice if they allowed a streamed lined access to it that doesn’t involve me having to stop, go and get something out of the chest, and then go and make the support items so I can build the bigger ones.

 

And that is just for the house.. The interior is a whole other story. My trophy room will be decked out, but I need materials both special and local..

Special meaning glass, straw, goat horns, and local meaning the actual items you get and take for granted when you kill things. The furs, the scales, the feathers, etc…  Luckily for me, I figured I would be a hell of a potion maker (never happened) but I still kept a special trunk in my house in Riften full of almost every kind of ingredient you could scavenge.. I mean, you never knew when you would need it. Well I need it now, but I have to go and play pack mule back and forth.

 

I think that tedium is what is not makin’  me a die hard fan. But for $5.00 (400Mp) you can’t go wrong. I like the idea of coming to a REAL home of my own and not some tawdry give-a-way from some Jarl. It does give me something to farm for. Though I have about 80,000 gold now ( damn house crap) it is a lot easier when you have the funds to build and buy are your leisure.

 

I give the DLC a confused puppy look.  I like it, but it confuses me, but for $5.00, I got what I paid for.

 

~jink