MidbossVyers Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 (For the purpose of this discussion, I'm avoiding Civil War and Dawnguard/Volkihar factions because those conversations often get rather heated. The Bards College, to me, is not a full faction and thus is also not mentioned.) Remember back in Daggerfall when doing quests for one faction also increased (and decreased) faction reputation for other guilds, as well? Such a system does not exist in Skyrim, but through dialogue, one can estimate how many individual members of certain guild feel about other guilds. For example, Arnbjorn has a bit more respect for you if you are a werewolf (and by extension, a Companion). On the other hand, despite being a former member himself, Festus has no special dialogue if you are with the College of Winterhold. Astrid makes slight nudges for you to join the Thieves Guild, in order to lighten your criminal sentences, if you are with the Dark Brotherhood. Similarly, if you are a member of the Thieves Guild and you go to Delvin for Dark Brotherhood business, he will have extra, positive-sounding dialogue. Also, if you are a member of the Thieves Guild, Enthir will make slight nudges for you to join the College of Winterhold in order to use his services. In terms of negative reputation, if you are a Companion, and the Trouble in Skyrim quest takes you to fight a rogue mage, Farkas will start off by saying "Rogue wizards. I never trusted magic types. The College is bad enough. Destroy them". Needless to say, my spell-sword (well, more like spell-mace, but whatever) felt pretty awkward when she heard that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdcooley Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I don't think you're finding relationships between guilds as much as you are seeing individuals with specific biases. Almost every Nord you talk to in the game will have bad things to day about mages and the College. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmera Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 There is a clear link between the thieves' guild and the dark brotherhood. Devlin is a TG officer, specializes in illicit building/supply contracts (which is a concept which fits well within a thieves' guild), and has a business relationship with the DB related to that specialty. It would have been interesting if they explored that a little more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdcooley Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 There is a clear link between the thieves' guild and the dark brotherhood. Devlin is a TG officer, specializes in illicit building/supply contracts (which is a concept which fits well within a thieves' guild), and has a business relationship with the DB related to that specialty. It would have been interesting if they explored that a little more.Again, are you sure that's a relationship between the guilds? Or is it just one person who has ties to two guilds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmera Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 There is a clear link between the thieves' guild and the dark brotherhood. Devlin is a TG officer, specializes in illicit building/supply contracts (which is a concept which fits well within a thieves' guild), and has a business relationship with the DB related to that specialty. It would have been interesting if they explored that a little more.Again, are you sure that's a relationship between the guilds? Or is it just one person who has ties to two guilds? But it is a one person using his thieves' guild abilities and position to engage in shady thieves' guild appropriate operations. It is possible he is doing so in a rogue (no pun intended) manner, but since he discusses such transactions openly within the guild tavern, it seems much more likely it is known, condoned, and that the guild gets its cut. From the DB side it is mentioned that such work has been done for the brotherhood before. Definitely a guild link there rather than a personal one. Note it is a working business relationship rather than a political one, but nevertheless it is a tie between the guilds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saurusmaximus Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 If you do both the DB and TG quests, it's pretty obvious that they have a working relationship with one another, both Astrid and Delvin allude to it and I got the impression they have scratched one another's backs before. In regards to the OP, you are right in that they didn't really develop the "us or them" mentality that you saw in previous games; Skyrim really doesn't use the fame/infamy system like you saw in Oblivion. While I agree that it would have been nice to have more specific npc dialogue in regards to your choice of friends, the reality is there aren't a whole lot to choose from; The Companions are respected by everyone, the College of Winterhold is generally viewed with mistrust, and the TG is a bunch of wannabe has-beens that most people roll their eyes at, at least at the beginning. Besides, with the TG and the DB, it really doesn't make sense for people to comment on those anyways; what thief or assassin in their right mind is going to run around advertising that they are a thief or assassin? If you are in those professions, being recognized is a liability and if people are identifying you as such, your career is likely going to be short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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