Skyrim – Syndication Server

Looks like players are leaving Starfield on Steam and going back to Skyrim

Starfield released just two months ago, but Skyrim is already outranking it on Steam’s player charts after the space game’s stellar launch

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Bethesda released Starfield just two months ago, but Skyrim is already outranking it on Steam’s player charts after the space game’s stellar launch. While Starfield still has several thousand players at a given point each day, Skyrim is gaining a few thousand more across both of the Bethesda game’s editions (thanks, Eurogamer).

At the time of publication, SteamDB shows that Starfield has approximately 17,000 players in the game, while roughly 19,000 people are playing Skyrim Special Edition, and 2,000 are holding out in the base version of Skyrim. Starfield’s latest 24-hour peak is 23,920, and Skyrim’s is 22,368, but the general trend seems to show more interest in Skyrim as November progresses.

Starfield’s 24-hour peak went from 30,000 or more after Nov. 11, 2023, to 26,000 and lower from Nov. 13, 2023, to now. Skyrim, meanwhile, saw a small increase on Nov. 13, 2023, and has averaged between 22,000 and 25,000 each day for a week. The standard version of Skyrim, without the special edition or Skyrim anniversary upgrades, still gets about 3,000 people playing each day.

Starfield’s all-time peak is 330,720, though the most Skyrim managed is 287,411 – and that was the original version.

While it might seem like an odd situation, seeing a 12-year-old game start overtaking a new, hotly anticipated one, there’s probably a few good reasons behind it. The first burst of Starfield post-launch enthusiasm is likely waning a little, as players complete the existing questlines and explore most of what’s there to explore. Skyrim’s less drastic fluctuations and consistently high numbers suggest it’s probably a core of enthusiastic fans sticking to a game they love.

Plus there’s just more to do in Skyrim. Starfield companion quests are fewer, and there aren’t as many faction storylines to pursue. Still, that’s likely to change as Bethesda releases Starfield’s planned expansions in the coming months and years.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

The best Bethesda games ranked from questionable to exceptional

Ranking the best Bethesda games is tough when many of them shaped the modern RPG genre, but we think these are the studio’s top efforts

Ranking the best Bethesda games is kind of a tough ask, as the studio earned its reputation as makers of some of the best RPGs around. After a checkered decade of making and publishing poorly received games such as Home Alone and Terminator 2029, Bethesda settled into a groove with its Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises. Staying in a groove usually means creative decay for most studios, but Bethesda found a way to innovate and even push the RPG genre forward in some cases – despite stripping it back in others. Most modern Bethesda games hold up surprisingly well, and even the ones that launched in a terrible state are better now.

This Elder Scrolls fan used a Skyrim glitch to make a very cursed ring

One Elder Scrolls fan took the quest for immortality a bit far when they used a Skyrim glitch to create a ring with some deadly consequences

One Elder Scrolls fan took the quest for immortality a bit far when they used a Skyrim glitch to create a wonderous ring with some serious problems. Reddit user AnkokunoMasaki posted a video showing what looks like one of the RPG‘s normal Amethyst Ring on the surface, but it gives infinite HP when you equip it – and kills you when you remove it (thanks, GamesRadar).

“Removing infinite health removes health infinitely,” one commenter said.

AnkokunoMasaki asked for help fixing the issue and got a range of answers in response, including some that recommended becoming ethereal – it didn’t work – a few that suggested reloading, and one that advised Ankokuno to drop it in lava, Lord of the Rings-style.

I literally created a cursed ring, it gives me infinite health but whenever I remove it I die. Anyway to fix this?
by u/AnkokunoMasaki in skyrim

Nothing worked in the end, not even hurling it into the fires of the Aetherium Forge, so Ankokuno ended up having to reload an earlier save and lost significant progress.

The issue comes from an old Skyrim glitch, the Fortify Restoration Loop glitch. Players will boost their alchemy stat with a potion, craft a new potion that, thanks to the buff, boosts the stat further, and keep doing this until they get the stat numbers they want for whatever item they’re enchanting.

Ankokuno committed the cardinal sin of getting into negative numbers, which can completely shatter the game or have wildly unintended consequences, such as making a ring that kills you.

So, if you’re tempted by the dark arts of glitched alchemy in Skyrim, let this be a warning to ye: stay positive.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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17 Epic Games Store summer sale deals you don’t want to miss

The Epic Games Store summer sale is underway, with discounts on hundreds of the best PC games in nearly every genre

The Epic Games Store summer sale is underway, with discounts on hundreds of the best PC games in nearly every genre. Whether you’re after big-name hits such as Death Stranding, open-world games like Far Cry 6, or indie gems including Disco Elysium, there’s almost certainly something for you in the Epic Games summer sale. You’ll even earn and extra 10 percent back in rewards when you buy something during the sale.

It lasts until Aug.3, 2023, so if you see something you like, now’s the time to get it if you can.

If you’re after console deals, check out our PlayStation summer sale roundup as well.

New Skyrim mod adds the Grimace shake for a touch of horror

A new Skyrim mod adds a touch of “unbalanced horror” to the classic RPG with the Grimace milkshake, a mysterious purple, maybe deadly, mead

A new Skyrim mod adds a touch of “unbalanced horror” to the classic RPG with the Grimace milkshake, a mysterious purple concoction whose function remains unknown outside the small group of fans who’ve tried it. The mod comes from NexusMods user MissileMann, who dubbed it “Grimace Mead” and gave it the “unbalanced” and “horror” tags (thanks, GamesRadar).

Belethor, a merchant in Whiterun, created a special purple brew called Grimace Mead to celebrate his friend’s birthday, and you can grab some for the low value of 170. The description simply reads “Happy Birthday Grimace!”

They also added the “not lore friendly” tag, so this is meant purely in the spirit of fun. Belethor isn’t really friends with Grimace in case you were wondering (and sorry to disappoint).

While the Grimace Shake doesn’t actually turn you into purple goo in real life, the birthday celebration quickly became a TikTok meme trend, where people posted videos of drinking it and having terrible things happen to them afterward. MissileMan declined to say what drinking the brew actually does to you in Skyrim and only responded, rather distressingly, with “Drink it :)”

The few people who drank Grimace Mead and survived to post about it on YouTube preserved the joke by not showing what actually happened. I play the Switch version, which is, sadly, modless, so you’ll just have to download Grimace Mead yourself and see what happens. If you’re brave enough.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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The worst video game characters of all time

Grand stories and clever heroes may linger in our minds after the credits roll, but the worst video game characters leave their own mark too

Grand stories and clever, sympathetic heroes may linger in our minds long after the credits roll, but the worst video game characters leave a mark just as indelible. They may be poorly written, with thin personalities, unbelievable motivations, or dialogue that grates on your soul. Some are just terrible people in general, characters who, though not the villain or even a threat, certainly do their best to make life more difficult than it needs to be for the heroes of the piece. These are the worst characters we won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

You need to read this fan’s hilarious critique of Skyrim’s economy

One fan finds some hilarious Skyrim plot holes after examining the economy in the classic Bethesda RPG

Playing any fantasy RPG requires a measure of suspended belief, a willingness to accept a certain amount of the absurd and the illogical, and one Skyrim fan recently decided to take the rose-colored glasses off and take a look at how the Skyrim economy functions – or doesn’t, as it turns out. Dragons and wars are the least of that nation’s worries.

“I have no idea how the economy/society of Skyrim functions,” Twitter user Bailey Trappe begins, before making a fundamental observation. To the average Skyrim tourist and dragon fighter, it seems like at least 75 percent of the country’s population consists of guards and bandits.

The number is (probably) exaggerated, but there’s no denying bandits and guards vastly outnumber the number of farmers, workers, and tradesfolk who you’d expect to keep Bethesda‘s fantasy land running.

“Adding in the stress put on the supply lines from the civil war and I just don’t understand how Skyrim’s population has enough food to eat,” they continue. “There aren’t that many farms in the game and the ones we do see are barely subsistence-level operations.”

where the hell is all the ale and mead being made?? we see two meaderies in the entire game. are we to believe that the taverns themselves are making their own? even then there isn’t nearly enough supply. plus to my knowledge there’s only one honey farm in the entire country!

— bailey trappe (@dirtbagqueer) October 24, 2022

That also raises the question of where Skyrim’s mineral resources and weaponry come from. As Bailey Trappe pointed out, the government owns precious few resources. Bandits control most of the mines and are apparently plentiful enough that they can just sweep back in after you clear out the resident ne’er-do-wells.

“Idk if the bandit groups in Skyrim are organized in any way but if they are, they probably have a more legitimate claim to government than anyone else,” they said. “They control all the forts, most of the mines, and have approximately one million outposts just in Whiterun Hold alone.”

They concluded the thread with a humorous proposal for a Skyrim roleplaying experience, that of a harassed bureaucrat desperately trying to take an accurate census and appraise the country’s material wealth. Maybe in The Elder Scrolls 6, eh?

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Skyrim Anniversary Edition on Nintendo Switch is finally here

Bethesda released Skyrim one more time, adding the Skyrim Anniversary Edition to Nintendo’s hybrid platform nearly a year after the expansion first launched

You can buy yet another version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, as Bethesda released Skyrim Anniversary Edition on Nintendo Switch, roughly a year after it launched on other platforms. First-time Skyrim players on the Switch can buy the base game, all previous DLC, and the anniversary upgrade for $69.99, while existing owners of the original release can purchase the standalone upgrade for $19.99.

Jokes about how often Bethesda re-released the 11-year-old RPG during its lifetime aside (this makes the eighth release), the anniversary edition upgrade is a substantial one. It features new expansions and fan content from the Bethesda Creation Club, including the Saints and Seducers pack, which is essentially a hefty expansion with new quests, weapons, enemies, and more.

The Rare Curious Creation adds Khajit caravans that sell hard-to-find items used for crafting, while Survival Mode turns Skyrim into, well, a survival game, where the Dragonborn must contend with hunger and the elements alongside the usual challenges.

There’s also fishing, that system no RPG can go without, along with fishing quests and even aquariums that let you take your catches home and keep them as pets.

Other fan creations, such as the Skyrim Ohio mod that turns every dragon into the state of Ohio, didn’t make the cut. While The Elder Scrolls VI is still far off in the future, Bethesda is gearing up to release its long-awaited space RPG Starfield sometime in early 2023.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Skyrim mod turns dragons into the literal state of Ohio

Ohio becomes a fire-breathing menace in this ridiculous Skyrim mod.

Part of why Skyrim is still so relevant more than a decade after release is thanks to the modding community. Passionate fans love adding useful tweaks, expansive all-new questlines, and random midwestern regions of America. No, really!

On Monday, the “All Dragons All Ohio” mod for Skyrim came out. For whatever reason, modder Trainwiz replaced every dragon in Bethesda’s high-fantasy epic RPG with the state of Ohio. Literally. An actual map cutout flies around, roasting everything and everyone that doesn’t respect the Buckeyes. All that’s missing is Drew Carey laughing maniacally at the chaos unfolding.

Check out the mod in action for yourself below. It’s quite a sight.

I have replaced all the dragons in Skyrim with the state of Ohio. pic.twitter.com/zd1rXTLMOG

— Trainwiz (@trainwiz) August 1, 2022

The mod’s official page on Nexusmods includes an incredible Q&A that clarifies some things. First and foremost: “Why do the dragons turn into another Ohio when they die instead of Florida?” to which Trainwiz answers, “Florida is a kind of Ohio.”

We couldn’t have said it any better. Now, where’s the mod that replaces every Khajiit with California? Or how about something that transforms mudcrabs into Alaska? Please get to it, folks.

There have been several excellent Skyrim mods in 2022 already. That online co-op mod, in particular, is already pretty popular.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Skyrim online co-op mod releases this week

Soon up to eight players can venture across Tamriel’s frostbitten lands.

Skyrim Together Reborn, an all-new PC co-operative multiplayer mod for Skyrim, is coming out on Friday, July 8, 2022, at 9:00 A.M. PDT // 12:00 P.M. EDT // 4:00 P.M. GMT.

First spotted by PC Gamer, Skyrim Together Reborn allows up to eight-player co-op in Bethesda’s seminal RPG. Storyline progression syncs between players while the host handles all NPC interactions and handing in quests. Looting, specifically opening chests, can be done by anyone, though. There’s also PVP you can enable, should any disagreements require a brawl to settle.

Anyone deep in the modding scene will probably recognize this project from when it was known as simply Skyrim Together. Tilted Online is behind both versions of the mod, though development rebooted back in 2019. With Reborn, the Together development team rebuilt the project’s code from scratch.

“Making a single-player game into a multiplayer game without source code is near impossible, especially with a development team that consists of a handful of students doing this for free in their free time. Please keep that in mind when playing Reborn,” the Together Team said on Reddit. “The mod won’t be perfect. It will occasionally crash, some quests will break, [and] there will be bugs. This is not fixable. This is just the reality of making a multiplayer mod instead of having a massive studio like Bethesda make a multiplayer game. Still, it’s playable, it’s fun, and it’s a lot better than the old Skyrim Together mod, which was the goal of Reborn.”

Check out the video below to see Skyrim Together Reborn in action.

Naturally, this mod only works for the PC version of Skyrim. You can keep other mods installed, but it’s not encouraged.

“For the best, most stable experience, you should not install other mods,” the official FAQ reads. “You still absolutely can, and our mod also automatically loads SKSE if you have it installed, but we cannot make any guarantees that these mods won’t cause stability issues, play nice with our systems, or that their features will sync.”

It seems like an excellent way to revisit one of the best western RPGs ever. Good prep ahead of Starfield‘s launch next year too.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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