sisterof

Google works too.

I am very sorry, but I think Thora may have multiple personality issues. :sad:

Yeah, two. The quests are largely independent. The only ones I can think of that conflict with each other is the main quest and the Civil War, because of the possibility to take cities during Season Unending (and missing the Thalmor in Markarth).

Oh, that would be great, actually. Better than simply saying "there was a mess and then the Dominion invaded and lol fare thee well, Skyrim". 'its okay. Here, let me offer a pirate laugh of support: har har har!

Elf snowman? On Dragonborn, I think you mean the Dragon Priests. There's a lot of info about them on both wikis.

Thank you for the inner lulz. "Quest limbo." :D Shall adopt that term. Skyrim is very undeserving of the term "RPG" when it comes to quests. Of course you can choose to follow a quest or not (you can't choose not to have them cluttering your journal, though). But there are no multiple ways to finish anything (at least that my sleepy mind can recall). It always comes down to kill the boss in one way or another. Letting Serana walk with an Elder Scroll and then tag along pushed the limits of my suspension of disbelief - it went so against the character I was playing. And yeah, you're quite right about the "if you don't want to give me choices, then don't write a situation when a choice is so evidently needed". Actually, I was unaware one could become a vampire without Dawnguard. Shame on me. I thought it was like with the Companions/werewolves, as no character of mine ever got infected. I have a tendency to play out something that offers no choice and, once the quest is done, just change the story in my mind to whatever path I found more convenient. Forge headcanon. Nod sagely at yourself. Keep playing.

It's the second time this week that I say this here - but have you played The Witcher series? :D For a viking-theme province, Skyrim is indeed quite tame. I think it's because they wanted to keep the place sympathetic for our current culture. A lot of people get annoyed with the Stormcloaks and more traditional Nords. Now imagine if the game said it's okay and even honorable to pillage foreign towns and have slaves, bash people's skulls for minimal offenses and so on. The lack of mods that add prostitutes and brawls surprises me - but I'm not that willing to use too many mods with scripts and such. What I would love is a smoking pipe in LotR style. Then I could smoke and stare nostalgically at the fireplace and brood about my homeland. Bonus points for manly singing.

If the Nords are indeed based on vikings (and I shall forever make free advertising of the series of that name here), plundering is something to be proud of. :biggrin: I missed that option for playing a warrior Dragonborn who would beat his chest and go ME. HONOR. I HAS IT. I guess I'll just have to get in the state of mind of the Thieves Guild. It wasn't hard letting my Khajiit give his soul to Sithis as he was my first character, but after so long playing this Dragonborn that despises Daedra, it's hard to get on a Daedra-loving thief's shoes. Oh well, that's what rpg are all about. Shoes.

You know that the opposing argument is going to be "that's because the Septim family was a divinely blessed lineage" right? And that now that the dynasty has changed that the rules no longer apply. That argument would be wrong then. The Septims were not given any special abilities above normal people. The only blessing they received was that Oblivion would be separated from Tamriel as long as their line was in control of the Empire. How long they remained in power was up to them. The Empire was blessed and had a divine reason to exist. I don't know why you require special powers - the fact that the Gods chose them to lead, and that their faithfulness would reflect in the well-being of the Empire is something that runs much deeper than battle power. Without a blessed lineage or an Emperor backed by the Divines, the Empire is simply a political institution with nothing on its side other than economy and diplomacy - two things it is failing at already. It's also interesting that the trials of St. Alessia mention that being blessed is not only about closing the Oblivion gates, but keeping the Empire powerful. Here, found it. About the faithfulness of the Emperor reflecting on the Empire and the need for him to have a nice Divine sponsorship: "So long as you and your heirs wear the Amulet of Kings, than shall this Dragonfire burn -an eternal flame- as a symbol to all men and gods of our faithfulness... But should these Dragonfires fail, and should no heir of our joined blood wear the Amulet of Kings, then shall the Empire descend into darkness...." - Trials of St. Alessia.

I'm under the impression that if you pledge your soul to any entity, it's not yours to take for a walk anymore. Though yes, you can use any of those claims (Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild) to enter the Hall of Valor temporarily. If you could choose to simply disregard any oath to the Daedra, Kodlak wouldn't need aid. Being Harbinger and a nice Nord all around wasn't enough to free him from Hircine's domain. You had to cure him of Hircine's gift, so he could enter Sovngarde as his final resting place. Also, the gate keeper, Tsun, doesn't say the Dragonborn is allowed in for being servant of Sithis/Daedra, merely that he won't hinder the quest to slay Alduin: "You trespass here, shadow-walker. Shor does not know you. Perhaps before the end you will earn the right to pass this way. Welcome I do not offer, but your errand I will not hinder, if my wrath you can withstand." "Do not mistake the night-shrouded thief's stealthily-taken spoils, stolen and unearned, for a warrior's plunder, won in honorable battle. Your doom already binds you to your dark mistress, but your errand I will not hinder, if my wrath you can withstand." So to me it sounds like once you pledge your soul, it's not yours anymore and Sovngarde is beyond reach upon your death. My thief is a Breton, and I think Sovngarde is not just for Nords but for anyone of Nord faith, but that's beside the point - the issue is that following through with the Thieves Guild questline, he is bound to Nocturnal for eternity. "Your doom already binds you to your dark mistress"

I don't fast travel and have the same problem - mainly because I only take quests that suit my current character. Main quest, Dragonborn, Companions, Mages Guild College of Winterhold (without taking the title of Archmage), a bit of the Civil War, bunch of those bounty and random quests like the Redguard woman and the Aetherium Forge - and I'm barely over lvl 35. And it's the highest level I've ever reached in Skyrim. My poor second-most-played is 25 or so. I'm not sure you can roleplay and reach lvl 80++. Unless you're willing to go hitting stuff randomly and doing mechanical chores ad infinitum. :/

So you mean that watching over Nocturnal's sanctuary is not a full-time job nor forever? Because exchanging a few decades of life in good fortune for an eternity of checking in with a Daedra isn't much of a fair exchange. :/

I won't be TES VI so soon, unfortunately. I'm quite alright with Fallout 4 - I love the series. Hopefully it will be something that offers more freedom like New Vegas did, in terms of player character. I never liked the "pre-story" forced upon the player on Fallout 3, even though several elements of FO3 are superior to FONV. New Vegas is just so decadent and hopeless and bright, can't help liking it more. So... Fallout is a beloved series and FO4 a welcomed game. Now let's hope their announcement won't be about some other lesser series. Regardless, anything they announce now will take years. So I'm looking forward to Dragon Age III actually.

No, i don't agree. What's the point adding the Thalmor story if it ain't gonna be finished. Skyrim deserved a real ending with multiple twists & turns but Bugthesda just ditched it like it was yesterday's trash. Skyrim is not over it was canceled. & FYI in TES VI there's gonna be different storyline. Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. Disagreed (out of hope, though). We never kept hanging on lore like with Skyrim in previous TES games. Everything that was significant was resolved by the end - the Nerevarine finishes off the Tribunal and the threat of Dagoth Ur, the Hero of Kvatch stops the Oblivion invasion. In Skyrim the only thing that got resolved was the Alduin prophecy. The Civil War has no definite resolution (because it cannot be both, it must be resolved in such a way that both endings are addressed/rendered invalid), everything stands still midair about the Dominion. I don't require another DLC - I want at least a single official blog post saying "the Dominion invades shortly afterwards and enslaves Skyrim" or "a new Emperor manages to get on Ulfric's good side and Skyrim remains sovereign but allied to the Empire" or anything that solves the Civil War without ignoring the choices of players that picked one side or the other. And yes, I've been ranting nonstop about it. Bear with me. Otherwise, Skyrim was a great game. If the OP was so annoyed by it, perhaps TES is simply not the kind of game he enjoys - which is perfectly fine. I only enjoy a very limited number of games too - couldn't care less about any other. As far as the TES series goes, Skyrim was true to it - thought it was indeed lacking in dialogue and writing in general. Regardless, TES was never THAT brilliant in that regard, even in Morrowind which is our best example still. I have nothing against the levelling system. The combat can get a bit boring but alas - the openness of the world and the sheer beauty of it, coupled with the nice lore and universe, makes up for any technical woes in my book. @hubsabubs: Perhaps you'd enjoy the Witcher series. The atmosphere offers much more immersion, in my opinion, but of course it lacks the freedom. You're right about the world-building taking precedence over all the rest - the developers repeatedly remarked that the main character of Skyrim is Skyrim - the province. The look and feel of it. I too wish there were more details like those you mentioned - but given the size of the world versus how small the developer team actually is, I can see why they sacrificed a lot of things. That said, since they put so much effort into making the land and such, it's strange that they won't be releasing more DLCs to build up on this "firm foundation" they built. Modders with probably address some of the immersion things, though, in a smaller scale.

I never played the Thieves Guild questline to the end. :ermm: Unfortunately, I was too dumb to resist kitten-like curiosity and read a bit too much and spoiled myself. Now I can't come up with a character that would be OK with selling his soul for eternity for some Daedric Prince. That said, I wouldn't hurt Brynjolf (whose name's spelling I must always google) because for once there's some different voice acting, and a great one at that. The fact that he comes to any character is quite ridiculous, though. My Dragonborn was completely "wtf dude, I never stole a single thing in my righteous life - erm... on purpose". Dishonored has a fantastic setting, I loved it. The setting. Not the game itself. The powers are extremely cool - so cool that after a long play session, I returned to Skyrim and kept stupidly trying to use that Blink ability without realizing I had changed games already. The Outsider looks awesome with his Bosmer eyes and monotone voice. The place itself too, which reminds me of a rundown and cursed version of Hamburg. But the story is weak as weak goes, I couldn't care less about Corvo and his woes, there's no emotional involvement. I do hope that they release another game set in the same universe, but with more free roaming, TES-style. I'll be playing Skyrim for a while longer until I'm done with bullshitte writing about the characters I created there, and then probably go back to Fallout New Vegas to drown my sorrows about the lack of a lore conclusion to the Civil War. And then join the line for Fallout 4. Totally out of topic, but I needed to procrastinate somewhere. These lab reports are getting on my nerves. :psyduck:

Disney Villain Dude won't kill you if you refuse becoming a vampire - he'll show you the way out. Politely. The vampires in TES have this interesting relationship with blood, which I find quite original. They don't require it to be powerful - quite the contrary. They require it to fit into mortal society - at the expense of their power. So a vampire that wants to keep meddling with mortals will have to drink blood, look normal and be weaker. And a vampire that wants to be powerful will have to not drink blood, forfeit his ability to walk with his vampirism unnoticed, and become isolated from mortal society. It's an interesting choice to make. That said, Serana should look overwhelmingly creepy after spending so long without blood, and being much more powerful. Her whole characterization is a mess, in my humble opinion. She keeps making conflicting comments about the time when she was imprisoned so it seems the writers didn't even decide on an age for her. She is impressed with Dwarven ruins and that they are no more, but doesn't find it strange that Dark Elves exist, and I think there are some other comments I don't recall now. And for a worshipper of Molag Bal, she's surely a way too nice kid. She was no child when her parents introduced her to the cult, and she undertook the "ritual", she should have some maturity to show for it. And yeah, it felt ridiculous to have no choices regarding her. My Dragonborn knew what an Elder Scroll was, he'd never allow her to walk away with one, and he'd never take her anywhere without having the full story. And needing her to enter the Soul Cairn made me a very disgruntled sisterof, but I can accept that a character that knows nothing of necromancy would need a necromancer's aid in that quest. I have never thought of attributing the forced BFF with Serana to some kind of mesmerizing spell. I will keep that in mind. :D The game itself doesn't offer anything more intelligent or interesting then "she's just nice" but hey... imagination! Thank you for the idea, I shall abuse it thoroughly. And yes, it's ridiculous that the Dawnguard is so butthurt with your vampirism and not hers. But I think it has to do with the fact that you become a vampire in the first time you get to Castle Volkihar, which is before the Dawnguard trusts her. Or does that happen if you become a vampire later too? The Civil War is an endless source of frustration to me - and the fact that Bethesda bailed out before offering lore about its conclusion is something that will hurt my soul forever (or until the next game clears that out, and I'll probably be over 30 when that happens, alas!). I only took the Dawnguard quest less harshly because it was insignificant for Skyrim as whole. Harkon never came across as a true threat to me, Elder Scroll or not. He sounded like this delusional narcissistic vampire that fell for a plot some depressed Snow Elf conjured up (a Snow Elf I wish I could save - come on, he was just upset that his god abandoned him).

Quite agreed. What I keep thinking is that we don't have any good choice either. We've been debating for these 151 pages the pros and cons of Stormcloaks or Imperials. This thread has made me pick a side after a long while avoiding the Civil War altogether - because I do agree that picking any side means losing something very important. But at the same time, letting the war drag on and more soldiers die isn't a valid way out either. We're effed up big time regardless of choosing one side, the other, or inaction. :confused:

Remember that the only thing that will absolutely play on every single Thalmor wish is letting the war drag on.

I don't remember the ending of Shivering Isles. How do they address the fact that Daedra and mortals are entire different "species" in a very fundamental level? One may become a god, as Talos did, because mortals are related to the Aedra. But how can one become a Daedra? Or was the Hero of Kvatch always Sheogorath or an avatar of his? That makes much more sense in my book.

I quite agree. Were you in the other thread when I was whorin' around for the Wyrmstooth mod? If yes, bear with my dementia. If not, then go take a look! This is exactly what I wanted from each Dovah: all of them "overlords" by themselves, with servants, plans, strategy, personality. The game would need a different mechanism for learning shouts, though. Or maybe we could get a high number of Dragon souls from the minions of those greater Dragons - like the most powerful ones having armies of their own kind at their disposal, like true conquerors instead of random angry flying lizards here and there. The lack of any Dragon like the one we meet in Wyrmstooth is what makes me a sad panda. The only one that does show the any level of intelligence and influence is Alduin as we barely see him. :/ Paarthurnax doesn't count - he's a retired overlord. Oh, there's Durnehviir too! He's great but we only hear about his days of glory instead of witnessing them. "Our" Wyverns? :P

And then I double posted somehow. Where's the delete button anyway? :dry:

^ This. And pretty much what everyone else pointed out.Unless you can give us a real life dragon and prove TES got it wrong, I'm afraid we'll have to just accept that they are mythical creatures with the most diverse interpretations. Just browse Wikipedia for a second on the subject - you'll see several cultures around the world have dragons in their mythology, and several of them completely unlike any LotR's version. As I already said somewhere else in the forums, I find Skyrim's dragons made of sheer awesomeness. They are strong, imposing, intelligent, cultured. They make use of a little known real life myth of dragons teaching humans to talk. They are graceful while flying and savage when on ground. They are immortal and care nothing for belongings (even shiny ones), though they are inherently arrogant and power-hungry, which is very amusing in my book, and a good change from "I feel compelled to hoard gold". </unhelpful and irrelevant comment> </closing tags that haven't been opened>

@TheLoreSeeker: Ah, that's awesome. It makes me happy to see people using Skyrim as more than an action/adventure game. There's nothing but fun to be had with playing around with writing. (Except when you get annoyed with the lack of clear lore like I am now.) @mighty zog: I'm actually thinking the Aldmeri Dominion invades, negating the Civil War's outcome by rendering it pointless. A while ago and before those sad news, I rambled in my dark corner of the internet about my thoughts in case that doesn't happen. Your idea makes sense too, though I thought Balgruuf would be elected High King (he's a stronger figure than Elisif, but I can't imagine Ulfric letting him of all people in case of a Stormcloak victory)and in the end Skyrim would be independent anyway. But it's really difficult to have any certainty on those matters... Since I don't write a novel nor plan things ahead (I simply play and then write interludes about the play sessions without getting into details of the quests everyone knows), I think I'll just keep this beloved pastime of mine for just a while longer and then pause it completely. Maybe replay Fallout New Vegas or something. Dunno. :confused: @Anska: I really like your idea for an "excuse" to get into the holds! I have played those thane quests with other characters but never found a good reason for my Dragonborn to do them. First, he was too busy being a normal person and rising in the ranks of the Companions. Then he was too busy running after Alduin. Then after Miraak. Dude never had a good reason to simply gather nobility titles or influence. Like I told mighty zog, I think I simply won't give it an ending. I'll write the other character I like to play with (in other games too). For now, I'll still be grieving and rambling for a while so I better not write anything at all (maybe even forum posts). :unsure: @Everyone: I think it would be grand if we discussed these possibilities. There is another thread about the Empire existing or not after Skyrim, but I think it would be cool to discuss possible scenarios too that Bethesda may forge so that no player gets his choices denied. Edit: Also, I never stopped to think that the other Jarls that Ulfric put on power could act against him. That's a very interesting thought.

Oh no, I mean that the problem is precisely how soon the moot is. Trying to be clearer: after the Civil War is done, how much more can someone write about the character? It's not like I can go on and on about months and maybe years about my Dragonborn's story without ever addressing the moot, because it wouldn't take that long to be called. And I can't simply write an outcome of it because there will be canon released about it - in several years. My writing is terrible and nearly nobody reads it, but it's my anti-drug and I'm actually ashamed to confess that fiction (be it reading/playing/writing) is my single life-saver in a world of depression and woe and all that crap. And I know tumblr has a pretty bad rap. I don't use it for reblogging at all to avoid perpetuating this style of "online diary" filled with randomness and "fandoms". And keeping the "follow" count to less than 15 helps with a clean dash. :D The MMO in the past is great in my opinion - I couldn't care less about gaming online without the ability to pause and toggle free camera and so on. It may be nice and entertaining but that's not what I use TES for. Anyway, I'm a big fan of Fallout too. I'd be celebrating if I wasn't busy ruminating over the lack of closure for my "headcanon".

@Anska: The problem is that there is a definite ending, but we'll only know it in at least 5 years. It may be a silly thing, but I do enjoy writing my RP bullshitte in my tumblr, and now that my Dragonborn is getting into the Civil War (thanks to this thread I got him a side), I'll have to stop soon - because there's no way the moot would take years to be called, and I don't want to write something that will be completely denied by future games. It maybe be just grumpiness and childishness on my part, but the lack of closure drives me crazier than any terrible ending would. "The Dominion invaded and the Dragonborn died making a last stand" is great to me. Much better than "we'll be suspended in time waiting for the moot that will never be resolved (because we cannot have a non-canonical KING) for at least half a decade". Well, at least it's not like the Legacy of Kain series that died after five games and with not only no ending, but not a single plan to ever have a new game. And thank you for the tiny snow Paarthurnax. I shall treasure it in my memory long after warmth and time have its way with it. :wink: