In Arena the tradition was set, you're starting in a prison cell with the key right next to you (seriously).

In Daggerfall you get "imprisoned" by a landslide. The only really big difference is that the game writes you a reason why you've come to Daggerfall in the first place, depending on your class.

In Morrowind you get freed from a prison ship due to the Emperor's orders.

In Oblivion you start in the first prison, but this time your cell is the Emperor's escape route.

In Skyrim you get executed.



I think we get a fair bit of variety here...

Stendarr demands it! :stare:

I don't mind because I just imagine I'm a prisoner of war, if I'm a good person and if I'm bad, well then there could plenty of reasons I'm in prison.

"Why this town"? We're in Skyrim. Why Skyrim?

New Vegas plopped us in Goodsprings because it was the town closest to where we were gunned down - the Courier could have been anyone beforehand. I admit: starting in prison, minutes from execution, is an exciting way to start a game. I'm just saying that it doesn't lend as much roleplaying freedom as a more "mundane" intro would. As New Vegas proved, seemingly mundane introductions must not always be mundane. New Vegas did a better job of hooking us into the plot than any other free-roam RPG in recent memory.

Actually, I wouldn't mind if it didn't start in a prison. I know it's an Elder Scrolls tradition. However, it feels great to be the big guy afterwards, regarding the fact you were such a little prisoner at the beginning.

You didn't start in a prison in morrowind, neither in daggerfall. Therefore it's not tradition.

While that might be true he is the head honcho now and has been since Morrowind. What Bethesda is today is because of Todd Howard and not because someone else couldn't do it or he did it all by himself but because he earned the position with an astute head for business and a strong moral yet relaxed work ethic.

Executive Producer = "Final say in all matters"

You can bet your bottom dollar he's the most reliable source at BGS.

Yes you can, being imprisoned doesn't make you a bad person at all. It's your decision on making the backstory of our character and you can make your squeaky-clean paladin falsely imprisoned. What we know of the prison start this time, you got captured and imprisoned as you traveled into Skyrim. No one knows why you were captured and imprisoned or why you were going into Skyrim, that's for you to decide and is why the prison start is not only a tradition that is great but also the perfect shoving off point for your character to start off in.

Okay - let's say this: It doesn't allow us to play as characters who have never been to prison. How's that.

Say I'm a magically-inclined thief. I'm stealthy, and capable of becoming Invisible when the odds turns. I've never been arrested, because that would be impossible. Say it would be out of character for my thief to let his guard down long enough to be captured. Then I have to start thinking: "Oh, he meant to be captured, so he can steal something from inside the prison".

OR

I could start out as a free man, penniless for some reason or another, who could make the above-mentioned adventure a part of his in-game escapade, as opposed to having to think around it. I know I'm whining, here, but I can't stress enough how important it is to me to have complete control over my characters situation. If I wind up in jail, I want to do something that makes it happen, you know?

Even with other starts your backstory would be limited somewhat.

Starting in a prison is just more interesting.

It's Count of Monte Cristo awesomeness and I hope they keep the tradition, personally.

HERP DERP, BETHESDA IS DA WORST STORYTELLARZ EVAR.

Really? If you're so lazy that you can't even come up with a backstory then don't play TES games. You actually have to make a character in them (hard, I know). I'm so tired of hearing "Bethesda is cutting corners" "Bethesda is lazy". How about you get off YOUR lazy ass and make the game if you think they aren't doing a good job. :brokencomputer: I bet you couldn't write a decent story if your life depended on it

How would you RP a thief that can become invisible but can't actually become invisible when you start the game? That makes no sense. You're level 1, you aren't some amazing God at game start.

As I said, I get where their coming from and I too don't like to be too controlled. When it gets to this point though where they reuse the same plotpoint over and over again, thus giving no credence that a new idea is even good at all, that's when they become lazy. I want to create a backstory for my character but there's too much openess and it winds up that we're going to have a lame introduction. There are plenty of ways around this, many different scenarios they could try, but they have a proven formula and don't want to sway from it. They slap it under the label of "tradition" and just roll with it. I, personally, want differentiation as well as some sort of idea that the game I'm playing is going to be better than the last instead of at the poor level (writing wise) the last ones were.

Im guessing your not a fan otherwise you wouldnt be bashing the devs

I didn't bash the devs, OP did

Not really, It is tradition now, and wouldnt be the same if they changed it .

I am thinking when they take you out to execute you a dragon attacks ,... only makes sense

does it really matter you will probably spend less than 1% of the game starting out

I didn't bash the devs. Didn't bash anyone really. Just saying that the story-tellers aren't up to par with what I'd expect from such an excellently crafted game.

It's become classic. I'm fine with it, and i think it's one of only a few good ways to give players almost complete control of their backstory, which is important for lots of Elder Scrolls fans, especially the long-time fans.

Other ways i can think of:
You just start in some random position after you pick your race and appearance from a menu (lamer than jail)
You wake up in a healer's hut and you lost you memory... (kinda like NV)
You have a decision for how you arrive. the choices would HAVE to be like:

- I wash up on shore
- I arrive by boat
- I arrive by land
- I just woke up and lost my memory
- I am a criminal, escaping the law
- I am just getting released from prison
- I am a regular citizen in Skyrim
etc. etc. etc.

^my point is that that will be way too complicated.... with probably dozens of choices (if we don't get too specific)... but it would be pretty cool...

But a penniless hippie brings up more questions than being in jail and warrants having the game create a partial backstory for your character instead of letting you do it for your character. Having things like your family killed will create something out of your hands and your characters emotions aren't what YOU choose.

For your thief, he is a magically inclined thief and he was one of the best thieves in all of Tamriel but he attempted to steal from a powerful archmage that was waiting for him and when he snuck into the room, the mage struck him with a powerful spell that made him forget his skills as a thief and he wandered aimlessly into Skyrim where he was captured. When you get free, you end up on the same path of rebuilding your skills as a magically inclined thief subconsiously.

No I do not, starting in a prison is an elder scrolls tradition, one which shall never change.

Just because you are Dovakiin doesn't mean you can't have your own seperate backstory, heck up until the point of your execution you might not even know of your own destiny.

Care to reconsider your defense? I'm pretty sure calling someone cheap, lazy, bad storytellers, and one who cuts corners is bashing

My mistake thank you for correcting