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Whatever race you choose doesn’t seem to matter if you ask me, and nor whichever sex. Sure, the races have some totally overhyped skills and perks, which mightcome in handy from time to time. But for the greater good, it really doesn’t have that much of an impact. Also, the racism thingy is stupidly overrated – being a Dark Elf war hero of the Stormcloaks is actually possible. Thus no further words needed.
Onwards, yes, it’s all true what has been said regarding the game; it never forces you to involve with anything or anyone that you don’t want to. But it’s also true that the game doesn’t offer you alternate ways to go on with a quest, and neither does it recognize the possibility of simply rejecting one. All that being said already, I also agree with those saying it’s silly that there actually are some items in the game that cannot be removed unless you join a certain guild, or complete a specific quest. If I want to stop collecting those ridiculous precious stones because I basically realized the only faction that would have interest of them is the Thieves Guild, then why can’t I just throw them in the damn ocean? If I don’t want to bring that huge whitish crystal ball through that temple-thingy, then shouldn’t I be allowed to just shelve the stupid thing into some well-hidden chest in a distant cave, never to think about it ever again? I don’t give a damn that it’s takes up storage place in my inventory, or that some of the items might weight a bit. I just want the option to say forget it, I don’t care about your stupid s*** and your useless quest, now leave me alone while I go on and kill these dragons. After all, that’s what I’m really supposed to do, since I’m the freaking Dovahkiin. You better recognize.
I also find it provoking that you’re almost tricked into the Thieves Guild simply by following the main quest. If you go on with whatever Delphine tipped you to and talk to Brynjolf about where to find Esbern, you’re basically already on your way into the Guild. Sure you can choose to oversee it all and ignore it, as some other people here around have already mentioned. But it’ll still be right there in your quest journal, and the other members of the Thieves Guild will still talk to you as if you were on a job doing for them. If you ask me, that’s completely ridiculous. If I wanted to tell them to go screw themselves, then I should be allowed to do so. It should have been an option when interacting with Brynjolf if you ask me. Either you could tell him in a friendly matter that, “sorry, lad, but this just isn’t something for me”, or if you wanted to go on more abruptly, “your Guild is just a bunch of lowlifes, so you can go **** yourself.” Furthermore, there should have been a way to simply clear out their precious little Ratway. Kill off every single thief and then be done with the stupid Guild. End of story, that easy, you know it’s true.
Nevertheless, I do agree with those saying Skyrim requires a bit of imagination. No similar game will give you a fully complete illusion whatsoever, and you have to imagine a few things yourself. However, I think it’s a decent point in the opening post about disrespectful comments from the various NPCs throughout the game. Let’s take the civil war as an example, just because it’s easy and dead-right helpful. Now, let’s also imagine that you decided to side with the Stormcloaks (purely for populist measures, of course). When you have completed this quest line you will be granted the title as a war hero of Skyrim, but more importantly the rank as Stormcloack officer. Sure enough, you’ll hear your fellow Stormcloaks refer to you as Stormblade from time to time, but that’s about it. I mean, come on, as a Stormcloack officer guards better recognize you at all occasions – if not your very face and being, then at least you newly received armour. The fact that some of them are even bold and silly enough to tell me to keep my nose clean, and even calls me an outsider, is stupid and pathetic. As an officer, I would most certainly tell him to show some more respect, but I cannot do so. There is, to be quite honest, nothing suggesting that you’re a high rank member of the Stormcloaks. For whatever reason, I always seem to side with them, so I do not know whether the situation is the same if you side with the Imperials. But considering this is Skyrim, I’ll bet my ass it’s exactly the same, the only difference being that the guards will wear red instead of blue.
No reason to stop here, well is it? I myself played through the game and joined every single faction I could, simply because I wanted to explore every single area the game had to offer during my first play-through. And it was good sport, really, I enjoyed it all and it felt great to have such an impact on all these different factions. But did I now? Did I really have that much of an impact in the end? Well, it’s a silly thought, really. I slayed a corrupt son of b*tch whose intentions was to destroy a lot of lives, hence I also managed to rebuild the Thieves Guild up to its former glory (and even beyond so). I revealed a massive conspiracy within the ranks of the Dark Brotherhood, and made sure that their ancient holy rules were brought back into the spotlight. In addition, I saved the College of Winterhold (and even the world by doing so), and I also went through everything the Companions had to offer. Great stuff, isn’t it? Well, no. Take the Companions for example. I am a goddamned Harbinger, why on earth I am not permitted to send my folks off on treacherous adventures or have people come asking for the Companions help from time to time? Instead, I’m offered two highly repetitive quests at a time; either I have to go and retrieve some lost "family heirloom", which usually turns out to be a garbage iron mace or something even more trivial. Or, sometimes I can go take care of a nasty predator that broke into someone’s house, and get a completely useless amount of gold and... well, that’s it. Boy, oh boy, do I feel like a grunt now that I'm the Harbinger.
I’m not unhappy with what the game had to offer, and I know that every single game has its limitations. What I am saying is that it would be so undeniably much more appealing if it ever let you feel like if all the things you’ve accomplished actually mattered in the end. Nothing I did through all those hours mattered much in the end. I saved the world about a hundred times, no big deal, who cares? I didn’t matter to anyone at all, not even myself. I still loved what the game was trying to present, though.
I find it annoying that all those side quests lead to nothing in the end that affected the main storyline. The fact that you can go through the entire game without doing one single side quest, and still achieve just the same as if you’d done every single one is preposterous. And even though you do all of them, it still won’t matter much to the greater cause. At best, you can expect a nice little thank you-speech, some "valuable" loot and perhaps a few coins. It should have had more of an impact. Also, the main quest had way too few choices that really affected the line of events. In my opinion, you should have been forced to side either with the Greybeards or the Blades at some point, and then have that change the main quest in some way or another. Also, nothing you learn during the time with any of the different factions change the game in any matter. It just feels like the same generic fights you can find anywhere out in the wild, only that the mobs look slightly different. Basically, no actions do ever change the whole quest or give you a completely different outcome. You can even choose to kill several major characters, but who in the end where cared about by nobody. The world keeps spinning just like before, and in the end nothing at all changed. Some might say that’s a good thing. I myself I'm not so sure, but right not I’m definitely in a state where it all felt ridiculously pointless.
Now back to the point I mentioned in the beginning. I think all of the essential NPCs that are meant to play a role in the main quest are lifeless and boring. Let’s take the Greybeards, first you have to go fetch a horn to prove you really are the Dragonborn, and then when you’ve done so they still treat you like a damned nobody. The Blades are even worse with their totally oblivious attitude toward you and everything that is going on with the dragons. They remain just as scornful and disrespectful toward you, even though they all have sworn oaths to help you with whatever you might please – last time I checked, the only real function of the Blades was to serve the damned Dragonborn, not trying to be some kind of lecturers teaching me the difference between right and wrong. I can do that myself, without some lazy-ass old man telling me what to do. And yes, I do know that the Alduin-issue wasn’t particularly known among the natives of Skyrim, but if the NPCs are so utterly stupid they haven’t noticed all those fire-breathing monsters roaring above, something is definitely not right. Also, you can’t tell me they haven’t noticed that there is this one guy who always seems to be close by once the dragons appear, and also he always manages to slay them somehow, and then absorb their souls and save the day. Everyone, even the jarls, seem to give zero f*cks whatsoever that an evil ancient dragon is slowly but surely taking over the world. It’s silly. No one is that blind, as simple as that.
And to everyone, stop being such assh*les toward each other just because you have different opinions. It just makes you look like an ignorant fool. But if you for whatever reason feel an urge to confront me because I’ve insulted you by criticizing Skyrim, then feel free.
Edited by SkrufSwe, 16 January 2013 - 06:31 PM.
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