You're not just in prison, you're also going to be executed! What else do you need?

Uhm, I would absolutely hate to have a preset backstory in a TES game.

Yup

"Got any fishy sticks?"
"Let'er Rip I'll be in Oblivion by dinnertime!"
"You hiding your face from guilt, or are you just ugly?"

Not lame at all, this is a sandbox rpg, not a story driven one, so you can create your character from scraps instead of picking one. Filling in the blanks is part of its charm, at least for me.

I look forward to escaping the Skyrim ice prison! :toughninja:

And normal sized men....and normal sized women....in different armor and clothing..... But yes, I sort of agree.

OT: The point of starting out in an RPG where you have a very limited(if not any) back-story is because the point of the game is what you do while you play, not what happened before you created your character. Does it have to be prison? No. Does it matter if it is? Not really. In OB, I didn't really care about being in prison with any character. I just assumed there was a reason, good or bad, and played. I focus on the writing, story, and gameplay of a TES game WHILE I'M ACTUALLY PLAYING, not when I'm designing a person's name, race, and entire genetic stats from scratch. I think TES games are supposed to give a generic "amnesia" sort of effect for having any advlt character. If we started as babies, no one would complain about this. Because you would do everything in your life while you played, thus negating the concern about back-story. I think that since we will start as advlts in Skyrim, about to be executed for crossing the border, we can make any reasonable explanation about where we came from, who we were, and what we want to do/how we lived. The TES beginning sequences are some of the last true RPing built into a game for the player to decide on. Most all other games nowadays have back-stories. I think TES being unique like that is a great thing.

All I want is let me decide my own back stories and still allow me to build up my character from the ground up. Starting as a prisoner, is a nice enough compromise for this, I think.

As a concept it is fine - I like the way you think up you're own backstory and I like that it is a sort of tradition for Bethesda - but it could be done a lot better than what was on offer in Oblivion, you just did't get the sense that it was a proper prison for all the people in the Imperial City. Skyrim's prison plot sounds good though and I am hoping the prison will be more fleshed out.

That's what I tought! I thought you would be like on a chopping block and the executioner is about to chop your head off and then some guy, like the one when you enter kvatch when the oblivion gate is there (I think he was an Altmer?) runs up and says "Dragons are attacking! Run!" and then the dragons fly across (like they just came), everyone bails and you are alone.
The optional ending of this scene is: one of the dragons lands at the execution zone and then Esbern finds you, gives you a sword (orr you get to pick what you want) and you have to kill the dragon. And he helps you... Then he explains everything. (Who is he, that you are dragonborn and about the dragons)
Anyways I LIKE starting in jail... It's a tradition and It actually makes you ROLE PLAY!

If the character did not start out in prison he/she would be all buffed up. This way you start with nothing but who you are.

I have provided a full list of reasons that i would assume each of the races would find themselves in jail:

Altmer: Spitting on the homeless
Argonian: stabbed a guy
Bosmer: Cannibalism on his neighbor
Breton: fraud
Dunmer: Caught keeping slaves
Imperial: Accidentally drank from the wrong tankard
Khajiit: Trespassing
Nord: public indecency
Orc: Caught eating horses at the stable
Redguard: Attacking and robbing Altmer in the night

I prefer to create my own back story,because i like to role-play.Do you have no imagination at all?. Why is it lame?.....I like it,i'm used to it,i don't see the big deal.
Many of us here like to create our own back stories. I actually think it more fun,and allows you to attach to your character more. I would rather choose my own story,rather than have everything told for me. There are plots and story there,it's just left open at the start to encourage you to come up with why your there,be it a good or bad reason etc. I like it,and i wouldn't mind them doing it again either.

Maybe our character does have a backstory. We do not know if a reason for our execution will be mentioned or not until the game is released, and besides, it's just the first 10-20 minutes of the game; it will not make or break the remainder.

I think Bethesda should stick to tradition.

Added my reasons.

Arena, we did, Daggerfall started in a monstrous hideout, Morrowind on a boat, Oblivion was first to return us to prison, and to my knowledge, nobody said we'll start in prison (only apprehended, but feel free to correct me on that) in Skyrim.
I'd wished they went for a more free approach as done in Morrowind though. Yeah, go visit that Blades dude, maybe he can help. Now it's OHMYGOSH you must like so totally go and save the world, like, help us Chosen One, you're our only hope... again.

BLEH....those khajiit would need a LOT of charming to convince people to sleep with them lol

This. Making your own backstory adds to the aesthetic that the Elder Scrolls bases it's entire franchise on: freedom. Yes they did the prison thing twice, and I personally didn't mind it at all. They made the dungeon a good tutorial to Oblivion, and Morrowind's prison beginning was integral to the story because it was part of the prophecy. This time, however, you're not even in prison. You're only caught coming over the border. I don't know why people are fussing over it. I think it's a great way to introduce the character because they could have been over the border for any number of reasons. They are not specifically a prisoner. It's an exciting way to look at it, and I think they have transcended the whole prisoner role.

except that i dont see why you would be executed for crossing the border....maybe the think you are a rebel? its braveheart all over again

on morrowind it was a prison boat...as in the boat took you from your prison to morrowind. in the construction set it is even called prison boat...and in skyrim you are about to be executed so unless you dont stay in prison while waiting to be executed, you will start in prison

Ah but this is exactly my point. you have made that story up on the fly using your imagination. Just like that. That is how the story works. Maybe you are a rebel. Maybe you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe you were smuggling goods. Maybe you were trying to rescue someone. It's not the action that dictates how you feel toward the beginning, it's what you can make with your imagination. And that is why it succeeds where other games may fail. And I'll tell you another thing. It is impossible for anybody not to think of a reason they were crossing the border. Impossible. Because somewhere in your mind you will think of something. You may not think of it consciously, but you will have a reason, and you will think of that as you play through the beginning scenes. It is mentally impossible not to. Not unless you had chunks of your actual brain missing. It works. People just don't acknowledge that it works.

I love to roleplay Bethesda games so having no set back story is a bonus for me.

It can be boring, but like all elderscrolls games the beginning is soon forgotten .

Tradition.

I have no problems with starting in jail. It helps with the second part in which I LOVE, not having a back story. I LOVE not having a back story. It's called Role Playing, you know the "RP" in RPG.

Being able to make my own back story and creating my player from scatch without any preconception of who he was is great. It adds to the Role Playing experience and that is why I'm playing the game.