Not that I have tried crack but I imagine it is every bit as addictive as this. I kept thinking "bed soon" last night and kept saying it til 2am. it's not a good game for decent sleeping patterns.
Up to level 7 at the mo. I'd probably say I'm a mate but I use my shield/Kellogg's Frosties sword (yes, I called it that) when I run out of Magicka. I should probably try other spells but find my dual casting fire hands can defeat most things I've come across so far.
Are soul gems just for recharging enchanted items? I don't think I ever got arouns to using them in Oblivion but seem to remember picking some up.
Made my first enchanted weapon last night which was fun. Found an enchanting table in some dungeon. I'd cleared most of the place, coming to the last rooms and could hear someone banging away at a forge. Couldn't see where it was coming from but could hear it down the corridors. Love the atmosphere in this game.
Did two almost identical quests last night involving claws. Completed the first and randomly decided to start another which happened to involve the same things so was bored by the end.of that one. Might not get much of a chance to play over the weekend :(
Just wanted to thank everyone in this thread for all of the information you've provided. I was a little tempted to give this game a go and thanks to everything I've read here I've decided not to touch it with a bargepole. As it were.
How on earth can you play this and do things like go to work, play with the kids, go shopping etc etc?
I'm pretty sure the trigger is just the first quest dragon fight, just after you hand in the dragonstone.
I'm deliberately holding off activating the dragons on two of my characters. They are amazing and quite a lot of fun to fight, but it's also quite annoying if you're trying to do something and get jumped by one. The first time I encountered a random one I had no ranged attacks ready (only short-range spells and melee weapons) so I was pretty much completely unable to fight it. I took shelter in a nearby cabin but there was some mage guy in there who attacked me, and then followed me outside where the dragon was still waiting. :-((
All I've done on the main quest so far is talk to the first guy in Riverwood, the rest of the time has been spent wandering around so no dragons yet.
The baddest dude I've seen so far was someone called Krosis who I stumbled upon at the top of a mountain. I thought he was just another mate I could easily defeat but I had to run away as I couldn't touch him.
Kids so far...that you know of!
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be able to have a fiddle but I honestly can't see where to get the time.