Anyone else find the starting in prison plot... again lame? : V - Skyrim

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:17 am

Yeah except in Oblivion you were forced to ask the emperor why you were in prison, which means your character didn't know anything, which means he didn't know a backstory, which means he didn't have one.

Now you mention it, that part is pretty weird.

» Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:36 pm

I heard that in skyrim, When you first start out, You create your customization, And then you are born, It didnt make sense to me. :mellow:
But It's good bethesda starts you off, It gives you that creativity, And it gives you a plot, and you decide how you play it, Instead of them telling you to do stuff. lol.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:45 am

Why would I want the game to tell me who I am? That would be the worst opening ever. If you're not creative enough to come up with you're own back story then why are you playing an RPG? I think I'd rather be able to come up with my own characters, than be stuck with the same back story every single time I play a new game, thanks.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:26 am

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.

Agreed, it is almost a throwback to Table Top RPGs which is where all RPGs get their roots. Most even use the same system these days, seriously if you look you will see it calculating for a die roll and a saving throw. In D&D you have the freedom to pick every little tiny aspect of your character and there is no back story, that is the nature of a table top RPG, there are no set characters you play as.

Mabye its just me but ever since I could remember I would make a backstory for every character I made, sometimes they would fit into the back story of another. Hell I have characters that completely ignore the prison part. Even the characters and things I draw have back stories. I can admit it I used to LARP TES with my cousins when I was alot younger, mabye thats where I get this strong basis in RPing? IDK

EDIT: adding to what GrumplyGrue said, if you watch the starting cutscene she even says "You have been taken from the Imperial city prison, first by carriage now by boat..."

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:24 am

What's the point of a game like this where you get to create a character if they give you a back story?

In fact, I would go so far as to say that starting out a prisoner is already too much back story. I would rather I get to create my character and start the game walking into the first town or area.

I can fill in the gaps myself, as i'm sure 99.9% of us will do as always. The one percent that don't have any imagination can deal with it.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:42 am

I like it, its a tradition.
Besides each one is different.
Its also great for roleplaying, because they wont tell you why youre locked up so you could be anything from innocent to a mass murderer.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:44 am

It's basically the only way they can start you out with a completely blank slate. You can change your ways, and live a different life than what had you on the verge of execution. Or you can go back to your old ways and continue walking down the path that put you into jail. The choice is completely yours and there aren't many ways for a game to put player in that position.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:13 pm

Heck at least they have us in different situations while being held against our will.

Looks like we're accused of being an imperial spy or something and we are going to die.

It works for me.

Oh, to answer your question, fallout for ever. Probably not!

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:34 am

its the best beginning any rpg could have had. im glad they continue the tradition

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:51 am

I think the OP only played Oblivion. There is a rich history of elderscrolls games, each of which you started as a prisoner. It is more of a tradition thing.

But also, consider this. If you have a story you will be tied to that story no matter what. Sure, you could change your story through your play but it wouldn't make sense in the game. For instance, if you were wrongly imprisoned and are actually an upstanding citizen, how can you play the game in an evil manner? Killing guards and innocent people are not your 'story'. Conversely, if you are a hard criminal who 'escapes' jail, why would you save the world? Screw the dragons, let them kill the huge cities! Then I can scour the cities and collect all the citizens belongings and sell to other people!

It gives you a clean slate. Do what you want. Tell your own story. That is the point of an RPG, to roleplay your own character as you see fit.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:06 am

I actually like the starting prison scenes. Every time I create my Elder Scrolls character, I think about creating the ultimate badass.
But I dont really need to prove myself to the world... cuz I started from prison, ho!

A series this epic should have some traditions

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:04 pm

What's the point of a game like this where you get to create a character if they give you a back story?

In fact, I would go so far as to say that starting out a prisoner is already too much back story. I would rather I get to create my character and start the game walking into the first town or area.

I can fill in the gaps myself, as i'm sure 99.9% of us will do as always. The one percent that don't have any imagination can deal with it.

You have to have some backstory to get you going so that you have a refrence as to what you are doing and why you are doing it. I don't know about just starting with a blank slate and having no direction on where and why you are doing the main quest.

Take Oblivion for instance, for the main quest to make sense and to make sure you got the amulet you had to start in jail or some place where the emporer would meet you. In Morrowind, you had to start in jail so you would get released and giving direction on where to go to get the main quest started. The same thing in Daggerfall.

If there was no main quest than starting a blank slate in the middle of the road would be fine. Since you have a main quest in TES you have to find a way to lead into the main quest, starting in jail is how Bethesda does that.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:29 am

I like that I get to make my own backstory, it would be disappointing if it was all already decided for me

This.
A new type of beginning would be nice, but prisoner is the safest.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:04 am

My point is to stop starting out as a prisoner. Why do I have to be in prison?

Well cause thats the game that the developers made.

You start as a prisoner not in prison,

Morrowind was on a Boat being shipped to Vvardefell, in Oblivion, Yes you were in Prison cause it fits with the emperor escaping from assassins through your cell.
In Skyrim you are being lead to your execution. These are very different forms of the same thing....... being a prisoner is the tradition and it makes for a great blank page to come up with your own backstory of how you got there.

I much prefer this as you can set the story of your character from this point and choose how you want to roleplay either a good or bad character or something inbetween.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:33 am

We will start the game being led to are execution! I think that sounds awesome. Plus its a good way to start a game having nothing, and working your way up. I kind of like the tradition.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:59 am

Either you don't role-play, or if you do, you have no imagination.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:27 am

Well cause thats the game that the developers made.

You start as a prisoner not in prison,

Morrowind was on a Boat being shipped to Vvardefell, in Oblivion, Yes you were in Prison cause it fits with the emperor escaping from assassins through your cell.
In Skyrim you are being lead to your execution. These are very different forms of the same thing....... being a prisoner is the tradition and it makes for a great blank page to come up with your own backstory of how you got there.

I much prefer this as you can set the story of your character from this point and choose how you want to roleplay either a good or bad character or something inbetween.

I don't think it made much sense to start you as a prisoner in Oblivion. To get to the escape tunnel from the palace they had to run through the graveyard, through the market, across the open bridge, and through the prison to get to sewer tunnels. The sewer is all throughout the city, and you can get to it from inside the palace.

So basically, making you be a prisoner who meets the emperor while he was escaping was a convoluted beyond stupid idea.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:41 am

I like that I get to make my own backstory, it would be disappointing if it was all already decided for me

They still allow you to have your own back story. As to why you are to be executed is up to you as a player to decide. It is a tradition and sort of a blunt Easter Egg basically. I personally don't care and I look at it more like an Easter Egg than a lack of creativity.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:43 am

I like it, its a tradition.
Besides each one is different.
Its also great for roleplaying, because they wont tell you why youre locked up so you could be anything from innocent to a mass murderer.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:18 am

I don't think it made much sense to start you as a prisoner in Oblivion. To get to the escape tunnel from the palace they had to run through the graveyard, through the market, across the open bridge, and through the prison to get to sewer tunnels. The sewer is all throughout the city, and you can get to it from inside the palace.

We don't know that. For all we know, there are multiple escape tunnels- including one from the palace to the Imperial Prison.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:50 am

I think it is neat to make your own backstory, but what I really like is when such a thing matters. Like, in Arcanum you could select a few things that represented your characters background and affected your stats and/or starting equipment/gold. I think a little something like that goes a long way toward increasing replay value and adding in a special little something to the RP experience and to your character.

The whole "you are in prison" is pretty lame. Maybe we could just start by waking up in the woods/a cave/a shelter on the outskirts of Skyrim. If you're going to do in medias res, then go all the way! Plop the starting character in the middle of a blizzard, have their "life" (character creation) pass before their eyes, that sort of thing.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:21 pm

We don't know that. For all we know, there are multiple escape tunnels- including one from the palace to the Imperial Prison.

The reason that bridge connects the prison to the city is because there's a ravine between them, so his escape tunnel would have to lead him up eighty feet into the prison to come back down right beside itself, if there was a tunnel like that.

I think it is neat to make your own backstory, but what I really like is when such a thing matters. Like, in Arcanum you could select a few things that represented your characters background and affected your stats and/or starting equipment/gold. I think a little something like that goes a long way toward increasing replay value and adding in a special little something to the RP experience and to your character.

The whole "you are in prison" is pretty lame. Maybe we could just start by waking up in the woods/a cave/a shelter on the outskirts of Skyrim. If you're going to do in medias res, then go all the way! Plop the starting character in the middle of a blizzard, have their "life" (character creation) pass before their eyes, that sort of thing.

I like that. I'd also go for your character waking up in a tavern on the edge of the country to see some commotion outside. Just something open ended.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:57 am

Its perfectly reasonable starting in jail why?

Well here are the reasons. You live a hum drum life where you are then forced into this situation. Its all about being forced into the predicament and a reason for you to explore into it. If you really look into the logic of the Devs thinking this is the best possible way of forcing the player into the story where things out of your control and put into a situation look at life today.

Even today in the modern world people are being put into prison without explanation or reason by third world dictators.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:40 am

Starting off in prison is better than some lame back story you have no say over. Honestly, you people saying it's "lame" must either be new to the series or not understand the significance of having a clean slate, it allows for role-playing and serious character development, much more than some generalized lame-ass back story that not everyone would agree fits in with their specific character. Figure it out.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:35 am

Starting off in prison is better than some lame back story you have no say over. Honestly, you people saying it's "lame" must either be new to the series or not understand the significance of having a clean slate, it allows for role-playing and serious character development, much more than some generalized lame-ass back story that not everyone would agree fits in with their specific character. Figure it out.

I've played all their games and I call the prison start lame. I do understand the significance of having a clean slate. They can do better.