Worst writing in the game?

[Teria23]

Because I do. It is a quest that sends you to beat up some random NPC. And it is sloppy writing that for an honourable group, such a quest exists at all and includes random women or harmless people from around Skyrim. The very first time I played this storyline, I was sent to beat up Arcadia or whatever the alchemist's name in Whiterun is.

 

Seriously, what's this going to be? I gave you my opinion on a minor topic because for me, those parts are badly written. I'm not going to turn this into an apologetic debate or a philosophical dissection of characters and storylines I couldn't care less about right now. I'm not here to "prove myself" right or wrong, I just wanted to give a few examples of what I regard as bad writing even within the restrictions of their AI or scripting. Many of Skyrim's characters are dumb as bricks but their dumbness is better written or at least funny.

 

You seem to mix up character and writing. A stupid character can be brilliantly written. This is not the case here.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Teria23

[kimmera]

Because I do. It is a quest that sends you to beat up some random NPC. And it is sloppy writing that for an honourable group, such a quest exists at all and includes random women or harmless people from around Skyrim. The very first time I played this storyline, I was sent to beat up Arcadia or whatever the alchemist's name in Whiterun is.

 

Seriously, what's this going to be? I gave you my opinion on a minor topic because for me, those parts are badly written. I'm not going to turn this into an apologetic debate or a philosophical dissection of characters and storylines I couldn't care less about right now. I'm not here to "prove myself" right or wrong, I just wanted to give a few examples of what I regard as bad writing even within the restrictions of their AI or scripting. Many of Skyrim's characters are dumb as bricks but their dumbness is better written or at least funny.

 

You seem to mix up character and writing. A stupid character can be brilliantly written. This is not the case here.

 

You gave examples, I disagreed with you. You could say 'fair enough' but contrary to your statements, you seem to believe this to be particularly bad writing. Moreover the topic is 'worst' writing, not merely 'bad' writing.

 

I think I found the quest you are talking about : http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Hired_Muscle

 

The person in question is causing trouble for someone, and won't back down. You only brawl them. They are fine afterwards, not crippled or dead. Killing them fails the mission. The person in question can't be that harmless or they wouldn't be a target, and just because you aren't told there is an honorable reason for challenging them doesn't mean there isn't. Moreover, the companions leaders are Weres. That means they might have a more canine/feral sense of honor.

 

 

As for your other point, I repeat, you seem to be confusing programming limitations with bad writing. You haven't given any examples of what spectacularly stupid things Adrianne or her father have done or said, merely said 'they are badly written' with no explanation.

 

And again, this is 'worst' writing, not 'bad' writing in skyrim. How do they compare with, as a vampire hunter, finding a vampire in the crypt you were sent to investigate, who happens to be carrying an elder scroll, then delivering her safely to the very faction of vampires you were fighting when you freed her? Or with the whole 'the skeleton key has to be in nocturnal's lock or everyone's luck will run out?' (despite that making no sense whatsoever in relation to past encounters with the key in prior Elder Scrolls games). Or the Blades saying "We don't care if Paarthunax is helping you save the world, you have to kill him or we won't like you any more."

 

 

In what way is Adrianne even in that league?

[Teria23]

Yeah, I'm sorry. I seem to have misunderstood the topic. I thought this was to be a voicing of opinions, not a catalogue of rules you set up and I have to follow else you tell me how wrong I am on everything. I didn't know I was expected to meticulously point out every single thing in the entire game, just so you can't accuse me of blatantly ignoring some horrible other detail. I could have listed a few more examples but I won't bother now.

 

Over and out, I really have other stuff to do. Have fun.

 

 

edit: But actually, yes. The Blades demanding you kill Paarthurnax is bad.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Teria23

[kimmera]

Yeah, I'm sorry. I seem to have misunderstood the topic. I thought this was to be a voicing of opinions, not a catalogue of rules you set up and I have to follow else you tell me how wrong I am on everything. I didn't know I was expected to meticulously point out every single thing in the entire game, just so you can't accuse me of blatantly ignoring some horrible other detail. I could have listed a few more examples but I won't bother now.

 

Over and out, I really have other stuff to do. Have fun.

 

 

edit: But actually, yes. The Blades demanding you kill Paarthurnax is bad.

 

Not a question of rules.. more just that it is an expression of opinions with free discussion. If you post something in an internet forum, people will occasionally post disagreement with it. This is known to happen.

 

Nothing personal in it. Hope your other stuff goes really well.

[Relativelybest]

I suppose the thing that stands out to me is that in Dragonborn, there is no real basis for your conflict with Miraak. You're pretty much just supposed to fight him because he's there.

 

The only reason you go to Solstheim is to investigate where those weird cultist assassins are coming from, and they actually seem to be doing that on their own initiative. When you eventually face Miraak himself, he seems mildly surprised to actually meet another dragonborn, and even though he has you at his mercy he just tosses you out of Apocrypha and lets you go about your business.

 

He doesn't even seem particularly evil. Pretty much the worst thing he does is brainwash the islanders to build stuff for him, and they don't seem very bothered by that. He rebelled against Alduin and the other dragons, which if anything should make him an ally of yours if you haven't finished the main quest, and over-all he just seems to want to break free from Hermeaus Mora and go home. That actually seems pretty reasonable - if I had been stuck with Mr Tentacle Face for a few thousand years I would probably be willing to brainwash a few people as well.

 

You really have to go out of your way to fight this guy, for no good reason. I mean, if he had just gone: "Bwahahaha! When I get out of here I'm going to use my dragons to take over or/and destroy the world!", then I might have had a motivation for stabbing his face. But he never does. I think at most it's implied he wants to go back to ruling Solstheim, and at least in my book that's negotiable. Couldn't we at least have talked about it a bit before the magic swords came out?

 

What I'm basically saying is: You can't just dress a guy in black, give him a deep voice and put a spooky helmet on his head, and then just expect me to accept him as a villain. There needs to be an actual conflict. There needs to be a clear motivation for him and the hero to fight each other.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Relativelybest

[notmyhome]

Miraak keeps stealing muh souls...

That bastard's gonna get hammered.

In his ugly masked face.

With a mace.

Enchanted with the souls of his followers.

 

Do NOT mess with my dragon souls, ever.

[DodoEgg]

 

The nature of the main quest is boring, just another save-the-world-from-a-random-arrogant-prick. Was never able to feel anything regarding Alduin. (However, I did feel a sense of doom with both Dagoth Ur from Morrowind and Miraak from Dragonborn. I always find that mind-bender/hypnosis villains tickle my sense of doom and gloom the way entities like Alduin or Mankar Camoran and his Daedric master never do).

 

Miraak appears to be the only good (or at least somewhat interesting) Skyrim villain. Alduin wants to destroy the world... because he's a dragon. Harkon is basically Pagan Min from FC4, he looks evil, sounds evil, but every evil thing he does is something that someone else tells you. Miraak has gained followers through both power and intelligence, so he's much more of a threat rather than an evil. The greatest Skyrim villain is without a doubt, Winstad Manor, I spent ages building the house, then only realised that it was in the middle of a goddamn swamp.

[Relativelybest]

Miraak keeps stealing muh souls...

 

He never did that with me. Turns out, that's actually a game breaking bug that makes him impossible to defeat, go figure.

 

But even if he did, I'm not sure it would have bothered me much. By the time I got to him, my character had well over a hundred dragon souls. Like, what the heck am I supposed to do with them all anyway? I could have maxed out all the shouts in the game and still have plenty to spare.

 

Anyway, the question is: Why is he stealing your dragon souls? What is his motivation for doing that, aside from "being generically evil-ish"? It's never explained.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Relativelybest

[notmyhome]

 

Miraak keeps stealing muh souls...

 

He never did that with me. Turns out, that's actually a game breaking bug that makes him impossible to defeat, go figure.

 

But even if he did, I'm not sure it would have bothered me much. By the time I got to him, my character had well over a hundred dragon souls. Like, what the heck am I supposed to do with them all anyway? I could have maxed out all the shouts in the game and still have plenty to spare.

 

Anyway, the question is: Why is he stealing your dragon souls? What is his motivation for doing that, aside from "being generically evil-ish"? It's never explained.

 

 

Not sure if this is canon or something I came across on /r/teslore, but I think he's trying to gain enough strength to break free from Miraak by accumulating souls.

[MidbossVyers]

You mean from Hermaeus Mora?