kevkiev Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 ...recruting in broad daylight in the middle of a city all sorts of tourists with no thievering skills ... As a guild member in my previous playthrough I took great joy in killing the random theives that started showing up in Riften and running obviously & aimlessly around in the open or in business establishments. (Presumably, new recruits who had to pass the stringent test of being able to breathe and talk.) A simple matter of culling the heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiegril Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 he ropes me into a stupid evil quest that I have no good reason to do and no visible reward to make me want to do it... and so I try stealth shooting him in the back of the head sooooo...."stupid" evil bad, evil that suits my purpose, good? I guess I'm ok with that.... I'm with you on the Thalmors. I want to stretch their intestines in a line across Tamriel. So where do I sign up? :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rossum Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 he ropes me into a stupid evil quest that I have no good reason to do and no visible reward to make me want to do it... and so I try stealth shooting him in the back of the head sooooo...."stupid" evil bad, evil that suits my purpose, good? I guess I'm ok with that.... I'm with you on the Thalmors. I want to stretch their intestines in a line across Tamriel. So where do I sign up? :biggrin: Well... I guess you could put it that way. The way I see it (at least in a fantasy world scenario) is that crime is more of a symptom of other factors than an evil and and of itself. If a criminal organization can act in a socially responsible manner (basically Neighborhood Friendly Gangsters) then that can be okay. Granted it would be best if there was no crime in my city, but if factors that create crime are present such as mass unemployment, an overabundance of violent thugs, lots of drunks or skooma addicts, etc then it might just be easier to harness and organize the crime in the area so that they don't cause problems. Such as: Skooma dealers providing health potions to flush the drug out of the systems of those who really want to quit and helping their clients get jobs if they start running out of money, existing crime families keeping an eye out for possible Thalmor agents or activities, crime gangs providing money to help keep the city clean and safe (they get PR making it look like they are a pillar of the community and not a blight while I have a city that's not a hellhole and I don't have to murder all of them). Again, ideally everyone should be Good. They might be Lawful Good like paladins, Chaotic Good like Robin Hood stealing an acceptable amount of wealth from the rich and helping the poor, or Neutral Good like the majority of citizens. If I have plans for organizing crime in an area, it's primarily to bend them more towards socially responsible good activity and away from destructive evil activity. Also, if I had a city and somehow needed an organized crime group to help me control the place, I would model it off of Ted E. Bear's Mafia-free Playland And Casino from the Sam & Max games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robanybody2000 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Why would skooma dealers offer potions to addicts? The point is to get them addicted to buy more skooma. If they were handing out potions there wont be any "dealing" because they would sell just the first batch, afterwich they could join the knitting team as a "socially responsible good activity". There is NO "good" crime. Every crime is labeled by society as "evil".A murder is still a murder regardless of who you kill. The fact alone that you end a life is goodenough reason for society to pin you as "evil".As for thievery, stealing is stealing, even if you steal from the rich. (wich is absurd...why would you rob a poor man's house? Steal food, rubish furniture, fish? Is thievery these days that low?). Besides, stealing from rich and giving to the poor it's thrashing of the economy. The rich people will eventualy leave the city in question, leaving a bunch of unemployed poor people. So the choices are obvious, crime OR no crime. As a lawful good or any kind of good character, crime (in whatever form) is never an option, even if assasinating the Thalmor (you wont be any better than they are). In conclusion, leave crime to the proffesionals or people who have inclinations to it and counterbalance that with the will to eradicate criminal activity.This is how things have always worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRavyn Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Short answer ... yes. I don't play me, or I'd be playing the goody-two-shoes type all the time. I'm boring. My characters are not boring. They're full of lives. Note that I used the multiple of "life". I don't play one character. Each one is unique, with his/her own personality, background, dreams, aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses. So, sometimes I play a saint. Sometimes I play a sinner. Sometimes I play one and game events cause me to have to switch roles. Sometimes I play someone who is so totally screwed up in the head that s/he is completely unpredictable and even occasionally surprises me, the Player. Because of the answer to the first part of your question, I really can't answer the second, because no single city is going to fulfill all the needs of all the possible characters I could play. Currently I'm playing a thief on the run in an alternate start of my own making that doesn't even engage the main quest. I obviously headed straight for Riften, and that city has just about everything I need for this character. If Bethesda wanted to please me with a city-based DLC, then I would like them to expand upon Riften -- bigger (cities are tiny in Skyrim), more NPCs with more interesting quests that tie in with the Thieves Guild, and TG quests that aren't just more of the same "radiant" BS odd-jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraquar Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 No room for Saints in Skyrim, if there was you'd have to overthrow pretty much every Jarl in the game, as well as castrate the Imperials for killing people just because they worship Talos. The DB is only a tiny fraction of all chaos in Skyrim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hexapuma Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Exactly. My characters tend to be simple adventurers (and I ignore the Main Quest after dragons start spawning), so I can focus more on personal loyalties. I help and support characters I like, or who convince me to like them, and sometimes have to remind myself to turn my brain off and go with a more instinctive choice (the Civil War is the standout example, if I think for too long I go Empire or neutral every time). So my characters are much more likely to end up as Thanes in every hold, with enough money and treasure to sink the world economy twice over, than to be true Paladins or outright evil. And, despite everything I've heard, I still can't force myself even through my characters to play the Dark Brotherhood. They're just a little too...psychopathic? And neither Cicero nor Astrid are exactly warm, cuddly, or inspirational figures. Even Ulfric has two of those going for him! On a final note, Thalmor are a wonderful source of Gilded Elven Armor. And an endless joy to put in their place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Garon Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I don't think you can play Skyrim as one or the other, it literally won't let you. I role-play as much as I can and my personality tends to the saint side; I don't steal from, pickpocket, trespass upon, or assault/murder "citizens", although the Jarls pay me to do just that to "others". I rob graves, corpses, and burial urns, slaughter wild beasts to fill soul gems, and lie for my own benefit. I murdered a guy to get out of prison, have fist-fights with women, hang out in bars, and I lollygag all the time. Even though I couldn't kill the guy to get Mehrunes Razor, I'm contemplating killing an old woman because a small child thinks she's "mean". I'll drink on a bet and kill peaceful giants whom I know are innocent. I'll run from a fight and leave my follower in a lurch, pluck the wings off butterflies, and, worst of all, I will not play tag with children. So, while I try to be good, I just can't seem to do it. I can't be all bad, either. Whether by choice or destiny, I'm in-between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robanybody2000 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I don't think you can play Skyrim as one or the other, it literally won't let you. I role-play as much as I can and my personality tends to the saint side; I don't steal from, pickpocket, trespass upon, or assault/murder "citizens", although the Jarls pay me to do just that to "others". I rob graves, corpses, and burial urns, slaughter wild beasts to fill soul gems, and lie for my own benefit. I murdered a guy to get out of prison, have fist-fights with women, hang out in bars, and I lollygag all the time. Even though I couldn't kill the guy to get Mehrunes Razor, I'm contemplating killing an old woman because a small child thinks she's "mean". I'll drink on a bet and kill peaceful giants whom I know are innocent. I'll run from a fight and leave my follower in a lurch, pluck the wings off butterflies, and, worst of all, I will not play tag with children. So, while I try to be good, I just can't seem to do it. I can't be all bad, either. Whether by choice or destiny, I'm in-between. May youre feet guide you to neutralness.(Wich is the most profitable "-ness" of all). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraquar Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) Thats Nobel Prize worthy. :D Edited May 20, 2012 by fraquar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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