Sorry to re-necro this but was a solution ever found that didn't involve killing the children? Not that I'm against killing children you understand; just that having them around does kind of add a degree of depth to the game. My penchant for immersion notwithstanding however, there's only so many times I need to know that this precious little brat in Whiterun works with her mother selling fruits & vegetables, regardless of how fun it is most days. This is arguably at its most annoying during the MQ where Irileth is briefing the contingent of guards prior to heading out to the western watch tower. Between idle commentary from passing guards, snide remarks from Nazeem and anywhere up to 3 children constantly running past, I don't think I've ever actually heard the entire briefing uninterrupted... just as well I like subtitles! (Why Nazeem & the children seem so drawn to that spot at that particular moment in EVERY SINGLE PLAYTHROUGH is completely beyond me... talk about ghosts in the machine!) Regards to the time period, I was under the impression that Skyrim takes place long before what would equate to the real-world 1600's. More like 900-1300, using Northern Europe of that time as a technological & sociological benchmark. My understanding of that time is that adult commoners living in small, isolated & close-knit communities (as we see in Skyrim) would probably have been quite liberal with their children, rather than beasting them for so much as raising an eyebrow at an adult. That said, in a society where children are required to pull their own weight and pecking order among commoners is established primarily by physical attributes & skill, children would most likely know their place in that society instinctively and just not speak to adults that much, unless it was to ask "why" something or to beg some form of supplication. What they would definitely NOT be in dialogue is petulant & self important. "...Skeever hole of a city", "...No-one I wont fight", "...Don't get on my bad side". The list goes on... and I'm in full agreement with the O/P that the unabashed American accents do nothing but make a bad thing infinitely worse. Slightly off topic but also of relevance to the argument for silent children, doesn't anyone think that the entire population of Skyrim is rather too accepting of newcomers? I mean no sooner are you away from the headsman's block than people are telling you their life stories & trusting you with their most delicate tasks. Necessary from a game perspective perhaps but in a time of high superstition, low education and pressing tension, would the arrival of an outsider in a small population be met with warm hearths & open arms or irrational fear & paranoia? Window shutters would be closed, frightened eyes would peep from behind them, People would make up stories... and since no good deed goes unpunished, the more you tried to help them the more likely you'd be to find yourself the guest of honour at an unsanctioned midnight witch trial in the middle of the woods! At the very least there'd be some tumbleweed rolling across the road... (this space intentionally left blank) Begging the question, what irrationally fearful parent would a) let their child out of the house with a dodgy looking stranger around, 2) not pump said child full of unfounded superstition & fear about that stranger and D) not kill the child themselves if it dared speak to the stranger in anything less than a tone befitting? So, has anyone managed to shut the children up yet?!
