No. It's like a tradition. It's like saying "we're STILL saving the world!?"

It's been different every time, and as has been said before, it immediately gets people involved in the roleplaying experience--making up a reason in their head as to why their character is in prison--without making any assumptions about the character's past life, which, I think, is the most important part. If you're in prison, you could have done ANYTHING before that point.

Yep. If I wanted to play pretend I could do it without a game.


I wish that you could actually create a custom backstory that would affect the game. Thats what I liked about daggerfall, you could set your reputation with certain factions at the start if you wanted to. So if you wanted to play a folk hero thief, you could make the nobility and scholars hate you, and make peasants and merchants love you.

I agree, I don't want anyone telling me how my character should act either,but knowing why you were on "death row", would only give the your character more depth .

Perhaps... But perhaps not. The biggest appeal of the ES series is the fact that you can be anyone you want, from the way you dress, to the way you act, to the way your fight (or don't fight), to the places you go, etc... You're put in this game world and given a character with a blank slate, and told to do whatever you want with that character. If they gave you a backstory at all, it would severely inhibit the player's ability to roleplay or even just make their character feel unique at all. The fact that you choose your own story is one of the game's biggest selling points.

I am absolutely, 100% opposed to anyone who would try to change that.

Lawl passing thought

You could always be in jail for stealing an apple. Or a pint of ale that was ON THE COUNTER in the bar. Or maybe that paint brush you pocketed...

Hah nah that can't happen in Skyrim. The devs were smart and added a "friend-system" so people who like you enough are less likely to get mad at you for "stealing" or "breaking in in the middle of the night" :ninja:

Agreed. Still does it have to be a prison start again?
Its not even that much of a tradition

TES I: Can't really remember or even care
TES II: Shipwreck
TES III: Released from prison and transported to a strange land
TES IV: Prison

If you wake up in bed at an inn in a city, you could have done ANYTHING before that point.

If you wake up on a slave ship in cuffs and shackles before having to escape, you could have done ANYTHING before that point.

If you wake up on the shore with waves crashing down on you, you could have done ANYTHING before that point.

I get that people care about tradition and all that but in this case I just don't, it's aggravating to me. A lot of people love starting out as a prisoner, but I'm just giving my personal opinion.

Well, what if I want my backstory to be that I was an honest, pure-of-heart man who just happened to be brought into the struggle for Skyrim? Starting off in prison really ruins that...

Really? Awsome!! I always got in trouble for nugging the apples i swear i never stole it....

did the OP's name tip anyone else off that this lads obviously here to ruffle our feathers?

Not really, that backstory added really insignificant bonuses, even on the reputation it was just a minimal change.

It would really only work if it was like in Mass Effect or Dragon Age, where you can select a background from a list.

Yeah. Or so I've heard. Can't quite remember where I read that though. Pretty sure I read it in a pretty old interview or something. But yeah I'm pretty sure they're gonna fix that kind of stuff. And some items I think will be "unstealable" like things of such little value, nobody would really say jack.

Edit: Don't hold me to that. I'm not 100% sure but I'm like 90-95% sure

not if you were wrongly imprisoned...

Lame? Maybe. But necessary, yes. I never played any RPG before morrowind and when I played it the second time through I had those same feelings as the OP.... then I realized the genius behind it from the RPG angle and now I appreciate it even more that beth does it that way, beth offers us 360 players something that nobody else does.... be anyone.

Lol moment......I would NOT want to land on a beach in Skyrim......*Shiver.....Shiver....Shiver.....* Lol
Sorry off topic but it was funny......
Your right in a way some of those begining would be kinda neat but *Shrug* i cant complain i like the storys they come up wit......*Smiles*

In Jail because you were framed? Wrongly Accused? Purposefully seeking time away from society? Loves uncomfortable cots? The list goes on....

Man talk about missing the point. NO BACKSTORY SO YOU CAN USE YOUR IMAGINATION> IF YOU HAVE ONE

Why not?

its a different character every time, its not the same one. also its not lazy its a tradition, sure they could think of different ways but i like it because like todd says it gets the character thinking about why theyre there and helps give them a starting point for roleplayers, and for just gamers it probably doesnt mean much but the game is mainly for roleplayers so whatever.

lol I wasn't necessarily suggesting the beach beginning for Skyrim, I was just using it as an example of how you COULD start a TES game without being a prisoner and without having a pre-written backstory. That'd work more for a Summerset Isles beginning obviously.

My character would never find himself in that position. Oh, no, surely not.

I like the prison thing, gives a good starting point and lets me fill in whatever I want into the past. Plus I think it is a good tradition at this point...

Um....Yes True.....But we r not talking about Summerset Isles.....it's Skyrim.....It's a tradition, it gives you room for your own thoughts and imagination. This of a reason for yourself....like......your were thrown in jail for all the horrible things your ancestor did in the last game (200 year ago) to the annoying fan....Idk....think of somthing.....use your brain.....if you want someone to create a story for you in a mideval time period with monsters....watch syfy channel they have a ton of lame movies like that were the characters have a huge ego and scence of self importance.......-_-'
you wont have to use your brain there......

No, not at all. It's tradition.

you know what i find funny?

everyone is always complaining that our destiny is laid out for us from the start... we ARE the dragonborn, we have no choice but to acknowledge it... and they compare it to morrowind, where we're just told someone wants to see us and to go find him... theres no explanation, no details, so we can just assume its someone wanting to hire us to be a maid and we can run off and do whatever we want, never learning of the nerevarine prophecy!

people liked not knowing their destiny and making up their own!

but when it comes to the beginning, you want EVERYTHING laid out for you, why you were a prisoner and everything, you want to acknowledge that your character is either a piece of trash or an innocent mistook for a criminal... completely killing off any creativity of your own.

you tell bethesda to get creative... uh, its a ROLEPLAYING GAME... YOU are supposed to be the creative ones... make up your own damn backstory!

if they set everything in concrete, it wouldnt be roleplaying, would it?

my god, people find the most stupid things to complain about. :facepalm: