The Dark Quest Lines of Skyrim

[ShadowHunter9999]

I love almost every aspect of Skyrim. I feel that Bethesda has created a fantastic game. The environment, characters, animations, visuals and effects are stunning. The open architecture of the game allows it to be pushed even further. There is, however, in my opinion, one exception to the aspects above. So many of the quests are so very dark.

 

You cannot complete all the quests or online achievements without your character turning into a treacherous, twisted, sociopathic sycophant.

 

Bethesda seems to be trying to create a quest line that is, for the most part, gray or black. While also demonstrating that there are two sides to every story. Certainly commendable and taken in small doses, interesting and thought provoking. However, dedicating so much of the game to this concept has made it unpleasant for me.

 

In previous Bethesda games; Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, there where dark aspects but nothing approximating depths Skyrim has plunged to.

 

Further, Fallout 3 allowed the player to try and follow a decent path. Albeit, sometimes with disastrous effect.

I am, of course, aware that I have the option of not playing the quests I find distasteful, (the pun is intended). Still, I would find it even more fun to oppose more enthusiastly some of the quest of the game. An example, the Dark Brotherhood, actually thwarting some of the assignations.

 

My questions for the forum are:

 

How does the rest of the community feel about the direction Bethesda has chosen to take the quests?

 

Do you enjoy Skyrim game-play more or less than previous Bethesda games? Example: Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc?

 

Would you like an alternate decent/good path?

 

If you had the skill/power, what quest line changes would you make? Please note these changes in the Skyrim Mod Talk Section. I have posted a discussion there titled “The Dark Quests of Skyrim, Thoughts.”

[Joshico]

I don't even consider Skyrim "dark" after Fallout 3, hell because of that the term "dark" is now normalized for me!

 

I guess Fallout 3 made me a much more "hardened" guy or watever, but Skyrim?? Naahh, maybe the main quests, the colleged of winterhold, and various daedric quest sure.

 

But Skyrim is not dark, atleast for me, comparing Skyrim or Fallout 3 (maybe Dragon Age) make Skyrim look rather weak.

[Joshico]

Also I like to say the darker the game the better.

 

You can call me a glass half empty kind of guy (in a good way ;) )

[PharmakosChroster]

I think it might have been a deliberate design decision in Skyrim to make it much darker as a tip of the hat to the Norse source material. If you read the Norse eddas, they are extremely dark and violent, even by the standards of mythology. Take the Lay of Volund (in English the name is Wayland Smith), for example. The hero of our story is Volund, the greatest smith in the world. A king decides to kidnap Volund to force him to work for him, then has Volund's hamstrings cut and imprisons him in the castle dungeon to prevent him from escaping. Volund befriends the king's two young sons, who like to come to Volund's workshop to watch him smith. One day Volund tells the two children to look in a chest at something amazing. When they look inside, he creeps up behind them and slams the chest shut, cutting off their heads. He then gouges out their eyeballs and smiths them into shiny jewels, which he presents to the king as a gift. Volund then tells the king what the jewels really are and, when the king cries out in horror, escapes out the window on metal wings that he's crafted, laughing.

 

There are a lot of Norse legends with the same dark feel. They were a dark, grim, fatalistic people, and their heroes were equally dark. If anything, Skyrim is considerably less grim and with rather less betrayal, torture, and infanticide than the source material on which it's based would suggest.

[gsmanners]

Skyrim's whole viking style does seem to mandate a turn to the dark side. Still, you see the influence of the Empire all over Skyrim. It's hardly dark if you do nothing but the Thane quests, find Word Walls, do various NPCs "favors" (radiant quests).

 

Between the Kyne quest, the Mara quest, and the Kynareth quest you have a few hours of Divine duties to carry out, which you could hardly even think of as anything but bright. Azura, Meridia, and Sheogorath have nothing but beneficial things for you to do, and even unlikely daedric princes like Clavicus Vile, Hermaeus Mora, Malacath, and Sanguine add a lightness and a bit of humor to the story. You can avoid Molag Bal (though that generally means ignoring what he tells you to do), and you don't *have* to find the shrine of Boethiah, even if you discover that book and end up with the quest in your journal. Hircine's quest is grim, but not strictly speaking dark. It's a question left to be answered whether Peryite is truly a dark and evil force, and even Namira isn't all that terrible (though some will strongly disagree with me on that point).

 

I would say that the best and most affecting quests are dark, but they are in the minority. The vast majority are still either mostly good or mostly neutral.

[luzburg]

Wait, Clavicus Vile and Hermaeus Mora quests are not dark?

 

You don't see killing an innocent man or being asked to kill a doggy as dark? Do I really have to say what is dark about the Mora quest? Unless I'm wrong and its not fatal?

Edited July 26, 2012 by luzburg

[gsmanners]

The Clavicus Vile quest is Disney-esque. Being asked to kill a dog is straight out of a child's storybook. It's silly and I find it hilarious.

 

Hermaeus Mora helps you open a madman's crazy Dwemer door. There's no killing involved.

It's true that said madman (who admitted to committing a few murders, himself) does mysteriously die at the end, but you can't possibly expect your player character to know that in advance.

 

[ShadowHunter9999]

I don't even consider Skyrim "dark" after Fallout 3, hell because of that the term "dark" is now normalized for me!

 

I guess Fallout 3 made me a much more "hardened" guy or watever, but Skyrim?? Naahh, maybe the main quests, the colleged of winterhold, and various daedric quest sure.

 

But Skyrim is not dark, atleast for me, comparing Skyrim or Fallout 3 (maybe Dragon Age) make Skyrim look rather weak.

 

I do agree with you that there are aspects of Fallout 3 which are darker than Skyrim. For instant, the raiders with their macabre environments. They were an enemy that no one could take exception to wiping out. On the other hand, the forsworn have some reasonable grievances.

 

One of the features I like about Fallout 3 was you could choose how to play the game, dark/evil or good/light. In Skyrim you don’t have that option.

[PharmakosChroster]

One of the features I like about Fallout 3 was you could choose how to play the game, dark/evil or good/light. In Skyrim you don’t have that option.

 

Sure you do. For example, even most bandits will yell at you to clear off and warn you away rather then just attack you. It just so happens that most interactions with the Dovahkiin tend to go like this:

 

Bandit: "Oi, geroffit, 'is iz moi patch!"

 

Dovahkiin: "That is a nice pair of boots you have there. Orcish, are they? Enchanted?"

 

Bandit: "Whuz all 'is, then, eh? Clear off a'fore oi up'n job ye!"

 

Dovahkiin: "FUS RO DAH!"

 

Sure, pillaging your way across Skyrim is rewarding, but nothing says you have to mug every person you meet and heave their stripped corpse away over your shoulder like an empty beer bottle. It just generally works out that way.

Edited July 27, 2012 by PharmakosChroster

[ShadowHunter9999]

I think it might have been a deliberate design decision in Skyrim to make it much darker as a tip of the hat to the Norse source material. If you read the Norse eddas, they are extremely dark and violent, even by the standards of mythology. Take the Lay of Volund (in English the name is Wayland Smith), for example. The hero of our story is Volund, the greatest smith in the world. A king decides to kidnap Volund to force him to work for him, then has Volund's hamstrings cut and imprisons him in the castle dungeon to prevent him from escaping. Volund befriends the king's two young sons, who like to come to Volund's workshop to watch him smith. One day Volund tells the two children to look in a chest at something amazing. When they look inside, he creeps up behind them and slams the chest shut, cutting off their heads. He then gouges out their eyeballs and smiths them into shiny jewels, which he presents to the king as a gift. Volund then tells the king what the jewels really are and, when the king cries out in horror, escapes out the window on metal wings that he's crafted, laughing.

 

There are a lot of Norse legends with the same dark feel. They were a dark, grim, fatalistic people, and their heroes were equally dark. If anything, Skyrim is considerably less grim and with rather less betrayal, torture, and infanticide than the source material on which it's based would suggest.

 

I was completely unaware of just how dark Norse Mythology was. Thank you for the sample. I will seek to broaden my knowledge of it.

 

It is possible that Bethesda is tipping its hat to Norse legends. It might be that the demographics of gamers or possibly the Elder Scroll gamers is slanted more towards dark. Bethesda also has to adhere to prior rules, story lines, etc. established in their earlier games. Scheduling, budget and resources no doubt came into play. Probably a synthesis of all of the above. I will continue to enjoy playing it and winding my way around some of the quests.