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Moral traps and ambiguities


BrettM

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If we're talking true immersion, then there would be opportunities to go a little further down the path of asking why or being able to investigate the facts a little more.

I think this is the main problem with some quests. Asking any sort of question commits you to the quest before you even know if you want it.

 

In real life, if someone asks me to do a favor then I'm going to ask what they want before I commit myself to it. I reserve the option to say yes or no after I hear them out. In many cases in Skyrim, asking that same question instead of refusing immediately forces the quest into your log, which penalizes curiosity.

 

A case in point is the Thalmor commander in Markarth, who says he needs a favor. Your choices are to ask what favor or to say no immediately. Even if you already know you hate the Thalmor, you would certainly want to inquire further in case the favor is something you could use against them, like delivering a letter that you could turn over to the Stormcloaks instead. Unfortunately, that isn't the kind of favor he wants, but asking about it takes away any opportunity to refuse.

 

Maybe don't enter into pacts with Daedric princes if you're scared/dislike (of) the consequences. I find it absurd you would want the option to reject a Daedric prince's orders as well. Somehow I don't think your moral compass holds any weight with these guys. You don't just tell Molag Bal, an immortal other-worldly God, to settle his dispute himself after you've entered into a pact with him just because the choices offend your character's delicate sensibilities.

I don't recall ever agreeing to a pact with Molag Bal. I walked into an abandoned house. That's it. There was no sign on the door saying "This is Molag Bal's place and entry is considered a binding pact between you and him." But that's exactly how the quest worked. No warning. No way out other than killing the Vigilant, which I did in self-defense rather than because I agreed to follow Molag Bal's orders.

 

It's like one of those old shrink-wrapped license agreements for software, where you don't get to read the agreement until you open the box, but opening the box is taken to mean that you accept the agreement that you haven't read yet. That kind of thing is BS.

 

Yes, I agree that it is unreasonable to expect a Daedric prince to play fair, and the consequences should be on your head if you agree to any sort of pact. However, you should actually have to agree to a pact before you're stuck with it.

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DUR HUR HUR DERP DER DUR HUR HUR

 

Here is the problem:

 

*Find group of drunken bums in the wilderness*

Option 1: What are you guys doing?

No option 2:

"Blah blah blah blah we are going over to the meadery and get wasted even though we are already wasted"

Only option: I see.

"Blah blah blah blah blah Hey want some mead?"

Only Option: Sure, Cheers.

 

Real response: WHY CAN I NOT SAY NO?!?!?!?! I DONT DRINK!!!!

 

You can never turn anything of this crap down and its like this with everything. This is the problem with Skyrim the railed dialogue that make you feel like your playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. no wait not stalker because in stalker you could turn down missions!

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DUR HUR HUR DERP DER DUR HUR HUR

 

Here is the problem:

 

*Find group of drunken bums in the wilderness*

Option 1: What are you guys doing?

No option 2:

"Blah blah blah blah we are going over to the meadery and get wasted even though we are already wasted"

Only option: I see.

"Blah blah blah blah blah Hey want some mead?"

Only Option: Sure, Cheers.

 

Real response: WHY CAN I NOT SAY NO?!?!?!?! I DONT DRINK!!!!

 

You can never turn anything of this crap down and its like this with everything. This is the problem with Skyrim the railed dialogue that make you feel like your playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. no wait not stalker because in stalker you could turn down missions!

 

 

You can "tab out" of the dialogue most of the time (I think this has been mentioned) then you don't have to have the mead forced upon you. If it helps as you tab out you can say aloud "No thank you I don't drink!" Also as has also been said before, there are plenty of missions you can turn down in the game, just not all of them.

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Now that I'm on my second play-through, I'm catching some details that I didn't catch the first time and I've changed my opinion on "In My Time of Need".

 

 

 

Although the Alik'r mercenaries initially don't provide info on why they're looking for Saadia, they do provide more information when you ultimately confront them. Yes, it's still up to you to decide whether or not you believe them, but I think at this point, you have enough info to either side with Saadia if you like the Thalmor or you can side with the Alik'r if you don't.

 

On my second play-though, I sided with the Alik'r since I have a deep hatred for the Thalmor. The nice thing is that the Alik'r still let you take all the loot they have in the chest. :-)

 

During my first play-though, I didn't know enough about the Aldmeri Dominion / Thalmor since I did this quest pretty early on and am new to the ES series. I didn't even have enough knowledge to choose between Imperials or Stormcloaks back then.

 

 

 

 

In short, I'm noticing a lot more details this time around and see that it helps to have more background on the politics and history of the Elder Scrolls in general.

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or maybe saadia was right and the Alik'r were looking for her on behalf of thalmor?

 

Oh crap! Was that part of her side of the story? I don't recall that part. :-(

 

Either way, there's no way you could know. The Alik'r could just be lying to you. Or both could be! The only way to be sure is to go to the Thalmor embassy and slaughter them all muhahahaaaaa

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Either way, there's no way you could know. The Alik'r could just be lying to you. Or both could be! The only way to be sure is to go to the Thalmor embassy and slaughter them all muhahahaaaaa

 

Definitely the best option, IMO!

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Can you tell OP how to get, how to get to sesame streeeeeeeet!

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of games like this as well as hand-holder games like SW KOTOR, but seriously, the game doesn't force you to complete the quest, so if you don't like the situation, I'd suggest you turn off the tracker for that quest and go kill more "bad" guys. There are lots of dungeons in the game, full of people who want you dead the moment they see you. I know, there's no way to tell if they are the good guys or the bad guys, right?

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