The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Monday, 24 November 2025
TV
The Mighty Nein
1x01 Mote of Possibility [2nd watch]
1x02 Who Will You Be?
1x01 Mote of Possibility [2nd watch]
1x02 Who Will You Be?
Can't believe it's well over a week since I watched the first episode on its YouTube preview — feels like it's been just a few days. Time, eh? Anyway, it's probably for the best I've wound up spreading out the other opening episodes (they released the first three all at once, excepting that preview) because from here on out it's one per week. And it's so good, I want to savour it — hence why I rewatched episode one in better quality and didn't go straight on to episode three.
[Watch it (again) on Prime Video.]Tabletop Games
Daggerheart: Dragon Heist in the City of Splendors
Week 7 begins.
The second game I mentioned last week is about to begin... but hasn't yet, so I guess I'll be properly listing it next week.
Week 7 begins.
The second game I mentioned last week is about to begin... but hasn't yet, so I guess I'll be properly listing it next week.
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Sailed past the 50-hour mark today. Still haven't been to eight out of the ten cities; still haven't started the main quest; still haven't started the... secondary main quest, I guess it is?*
Part of me feels like I should dive in to some of those sometime soon — either actually continue the plot(s), or head off to sightsee. But knowing how much stuff was unlocked when I ended up in one major city (and I need to go back and finish off a bunch of things I started there), I feel like even hitting a single new city will kick off who-knows-how-many more hours of Things To Do, never mind eight of them** (though only three others are classed as "major", plus five smaller ones... but if we're doing that, I need to start thinking about the eight towns, nineteen settlements, four orc strongholds, and dozens of farms, mills, caves, mines, ruins, forts, towers, camps... Yeah, it's a big game.)
This is not a complaint, by-the-way. If I was bored of what I was doing, I could absolutely ditch it and go to those areas. I could do it anyway and just end up with a massive list of active quests. Maybe I will.
Amazing game.
* It seems to me that the civil war is Skyrim's secondary major storyline. It kicks off in the opening/tutorial sequence, just the same as the main quest does, and from what I've read (while finding info but also trying to avoid too many spoilers), it eventually leads to significant world-changing set pieces and intersects majorly with the main storyline in several ways. But my go-to resource, the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki, list it as 2 of 6 possible Faction Quests (though it does also have a dedicated Quest page), so I dunno.
** And if we do count the civil war as one of a list of 'secondary major quests', there are three more of those I haven't started (and one other I'm in the middle of) and could/would kick off if I explored certain places.
Sailed past the 50-hour mark today. Still haven't been to eight out of the ten cities; still haven't started the main quest; still haven't started the... secondary main quest, I guess it is?*
Part of me feels like I should dive in to some of those sometime soon — either actually continue the plot(s), or head off to sightsee. But knowing how much stuff was unlocked when I ended up in one major city (and I need to go back and finish off a bunch of things I started there), I feel like even hitting a single new city will kick off who-knows-how-many more hours of Things To Do, never mind eight of them** (though only three others are classed as "major", plus five smaller ones... but if we're doing that, I need to start thinking about the eight towns, nineteen settlements, four orc strongholds, and dozens of farms, mills, caves, mines, ruins, forts, towers, camps... Yeah, it's a big game.)
This is not a complaint, by-the-way. If I was bored of what I was doing, I could absolutely ditch it and go to those areas. I could do it anyway and just end up with a massive list of active quests. Maybe I will.
Amazing game.
* It seems to me that the civil war is Skyrim's secondary major storyline. It kicks off in the opening/tutorial sequence, just the same as the main quest does, and from what I've read (while finding info but also trying to avoid too many spoilers), it eventually leads to significant world-changing set pieces and intersects majorly with the main storyline in several ways. But my go-to resource, the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki, list it as 2 of 6 possible Faction Quests (though it does also have a dedicated Quest page), so I dunno.
** And if we do count the civil war as one of a list of 'secondary major quests', there are three more of those I haven't started (and one other I'm in the middle of) and could/would kick off if I explored certain places.
Sunday, 23 November 2025
Films
Le Samouraï (1967)
[#93 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #11
[#93 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #11
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
According to HowLongToBeat, a "leisurely" playthrough of Skyrim's main story takes just over 44½ hours. Well, today I passed that mark (I'm actually at 48½ hours, with over 2 hours of the time today being "oh, I'll just pop on and quickly do that... oops") and have barely even started said main story. But that's been a deliberate choice on my part, spending my time on all kinds of other quests... and, frankly, an awful lot of travelling, crafting, and trading. It's easy to see how the "All Play Styles" average is almost 130 hours, while Completionist times average well over 200 hours. Will I hit those kinds of numbers, or will I finish / move on before then? Time will tell...
According to HowLongToBeat, a "leisurely" playthrough of Skyrim's main story takes just over 44½ hours. Well, today I passed that mark (I'm actually at 48½ hours, with over 2 hours of the time today being "oh, I'll just pop on and quickly do that... oops") and have barely even started said main story. But that's been a deliberate choice on my part, spending my time on all kinds of other quests... and, frankly, an awful lot of travelling, crafting, and trading. It's easy to see how the "All Play Styles" average is almost 130 hours, while Completionist times average well over 200 hours. Will I hit those kinds of numbers, or will I finish / move on before then? Time will tell...
Saturday, 22 November 2025
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
When I casually accepted a drinking contest, I didn't expect it to kickstart a quest that I wouldn't complete for another 13 or 14 hours of playtime. Heck, I assumed it would be a couple of minutes of a stamina test or something! Even when it turned out to be A Quest, I assumed it would be a fairly swift and minor one. But no! It's been 'what I'm trying to complete' for almost a third of my total playtime so far.
I've got other quests that have been sat there since, well, the start (so almost 45 hours at this point), but some of those I've been actively putting off and others just ignoring. This was one I was focused on — or trying to focus on! Obviously a good amount of that time came from distractions. Also from my insistance on actually traversing the world rather than teleporting around with fast travel.* But, all in, it feels like it was an epic undertaking. What I assumed was one of the game's many, many minor optional asides (and, I guess, it is) feels, at this point, like the most major storyline I've fully participated in (so far).
* I do allow myself to use it to whoosh to & from storage locations, for the sake of collecting as much loot as possible, and sometimes for trading in that loot; but when progressing 'the story', trekking around it is!
When I casually accepted a drinking contest, I didn't expect it to kickstart a quest that I wouldn't complete for another 13 or 14 hours of playtime. Heck, I assumed it would be a couple of minutes of a stamina test or something! Even when it turned out to be A Quest, I assumed it would be a fairly swift and minor one. But no! It's been 'what I'm trying to complete' for almost a third of my total playtime so far.
I've got other quests that have been sat there since, well, the start (so almost 45 hours at this point), but some of those I've been actively putting off and others just ignoring. This was one I was focused on — or trying to focus on! Obviously a good amount of that time came from distractions. Also from my insistance on actually traversing the world rather than teleporting around with fast travel.* But, all in, it feels like it was an epic undertaking. What I assumed was one of the game's many, many minor optional asides (and, I guess, it is) feels, at this point, like the most major storyline I've fully participated in (so far).
* I do allow myself to use it to whoosh to & from storage locations, for the sake of collecting as much loot as possible, and sometimes for trading in that loot; but when progressing 'the story', trekking around it is!
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Despite Black Friday sales being in motion, everything this week is a new release, some of them turning up a week or two early. (Of course, I have ordered Black Friday stuff, and that should be here next week.) The tally includes two additions to the Masters of Cinema range, one in 4K; a new 4K from Hammer; a BD-to-4K upgrade from Arrow; and, also from Arrow, their latest Shawscope box set — hence why the discs and films count jumps up so much from just five new purchases.
Number of titles in collection: 3,638 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 980 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,658 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 483 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,746 [up 15]
Number of films: 4,661 [up 20]
Number of additional cuts: 476 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 10,188 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,278 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Despite Black Friday sales being in motion, everything this week is a new release, some of them turning up a week or two early. (Of course, I have ordered Black Friday stuff, and that should be here next week.) The tally includes two additions to the Masters of Cinema range, one in 4K; a new 4K from Hammer; a BD-to-4K upgrade from Arrow; and, also from Arrow, their latest Shawscope box set — hence why the discs and films count jumps up so much from just five new purchases.
Number of titles in collection: 3,638 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 980 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,658 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 483 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,746 [up 15]
Number of films: 4,661 [up 20]
Number of additional cuts: 476 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 10,188 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,278 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 21 November 2025
TV
Critical Role
4x06 Knives and Thorns [2nd hour]
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x06 Knives and Thorns [2nd hour]
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Thursday, 20 November 2025
TV
Critical Role
4x06 Knives and Thorns [1st hour]
Almost a whole hour longer than the last episode. I suspect I'll end up breaking this down into smaller bites than "halves", then — gotta make sure I'm setting aside loads of time for Skyrim, after all.
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x06 Knives and Thorns [1st hour]
Almost a whole hour longer than the last episode. I suspect I'll end up breaking this down into smaller bites than "halves", then — gotta make sure I'm setting aside loads of time for Skyrim, after all.
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
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