(Closes book, and takes pipe out of mouth while seated next to fire place.)

Hello, dear fellow forumers. Before my long and tedious lecture begins (I advise those with little patientce to avoid this topic), I want to clear some things up. Yes, I know there are threads similar of tone and topic to this, no, I will not search for one and divert to that one. No, this is not a complaint thread albeit it is pointing out a history of flaws. And (this is for you, MODS) this IS about Skyrim, and I kindly ask you do not move it to a different section to gather dust. Now, let us begin.

I've noticed a most, disturbing trend. It go's by many names, streamlining, dumbing down, what have you, call it what you will. This thread is not about that either, but they factor in. Anyways, let us take a look back. Arena was a mess of a game. A fighting game turned full blown RPG, and poorly named at that, with a paper thin story. Daggerfall, If i dare say, is where the The Elder Scrolls truly shined for the first time. And then there was (people tired of Morrowind comparisons may leave now), yes, Morrowind. Now, since this thread is about plot, there will be spoilers. Morrowind's story was amazing for a video game. It was full of political turmoil and prophecies and uncertainties, with a great twist that ascended the main character into legend. It was properly paced, with a satisfying start, middle, and conclusion.

Now we have Oblivion. Oblivion had an amazing premise, the armies of Oblivion and the outer realms itself were seeking to destory the mortal realm. But, I think most would agree that this grand premise was a tad poorly recognized. The game felt a bit rushed, and even in the end, Spetim's bastard son is realized as the true hero, leaving the champion of Cyrodiil meager in comparison to his predecssor. And now we come to Skyrim.

Skyrim, much like Oblivion, has a great set up, but one that is trashed within the first five minutes of the game, with some of the worst pacing I have ever seen. You are in a land of turmoil. With the advent of a group of Elves hell bent on domination, the province begins to tear itself apart. And, in the midst, the Dragons, long lost, have returned. Sounds great, right? But then, right there, at the start, we meet the primary antagonist about five minutes after we make the protagonist. Ok, we can deal with that. Darht Vader was introduced before Luke right? Then in the next misson the majot twist of the plot (a known one, but still), that the PC is essentialy Nordic christ reborn, is revealed, to a relatively mellow reaction. Then, before you know it, you (spoiler) ................

destroy the NORDIC GOD OF DESTRUCTION with relative ease, relativley quickly. I literaly stood up and asked the game if it was pulling my leg, I know, very sad. I was half expecting Alduin to pop out of one of the magic baskets screaming [deleted] in draconic. My point is this: why do you think bethesda has put very little effort into a compelling and fufilling storyline? You may say "oh, TES was never about the main story line". Alright. Then why is it the Dark Brotherhood, and to a lesser extent, the Thieves guild, the only faction lines that have fully fleshed out stories with lovable and interesting characters? The college is barely passable, and the companions a joke, at a mere FIVE MISSIONS.

What happend to the complexity and intriuge and use of lore the previous games have used. Is Bethesda so focused on building its worlds, which it does remarkbly, that they don't care enough to fill them with interesting inhabitants and stories of wonder? I leave you readers to make of my post whatever you wish. It is all my opinion, and I know it, so please do not flaunt that fact. Now, I love Skyrim, just as I love all the previous games in the series (save Arena), but, I felt I should voice my opinon of the story. And, yes, I know Bethesda could care less about the ramblings of a humanoid demonic rabbit.

- Sincerely, Frank

I am about to state a Fallacy (I think) but it is an honest question none the less.

As short as they are, and as history has shown otherwise in that lenght do you think there is a truely effective way of conveying the multiple stories in Skyrim? do you not feel it would be some kind of melty fondu to attempt to tie everything thats happening with Alduin? ( I don't but thats me) how do you tell 7 stories albiet short to the player and keep consistency in tone/urgency/conveyance without fumbling in the long run? honest question.


On To Alduin, I am, Hark! wait for it! the hated Term! Dissappointed with Alduin, not just in the obvious aspects like poor boss battle, knowing how he looks not only at the beginning of the game, but many months prior to the games release thanks to Bethesda. But also in that, this is a Guy (ALDUIN) who owned 2 Gods, TWO GODS were scared of him, they did not dare face him and for eons trapped portions of existence IN FEAR never confronting him directly, and when he found out they got promptly curb stomped. so WHY putting aside the Dovakiin nature of the player, was he so simple to stomp? -Why- does a GOD need aid traveling to and fro Mundus? (lore lacking on my part this may have been discussed properly without my attendance) is he not a Force? whats going on here.


and lets avoid blaming anyone outside Beth, or just blaming in general lol

Well, if they would have focused perhaps, and truly developes the stories and maed them unique, the crossing and melding of them would not be an issue.

Is anyone honestly that surprised? I mean really now, given past track records, Bethesda cannot if their lives depended on it:

Balance anything
Release a game without glitches
Tell a compelling and consistent story in said game

I've said it in many other posts as well, the whole thing with the dragons and Alduin, was presented poorly, and squandered by mediocre writing and execution.

A project of Skyrim's size will always end up suffering to some degree from Design by Committee. IMHO, some parts of the main story and the particularly the side-quests are brilliant, and show real nuance(Everyone's a Bastard, Bad Guys Aren't Psychopaths, Blades not being "The Good Guys" etc.), which is a vast improvement over Oblivion. It's just that the individual parts of the story aren't really that well integrated, and sometimes this has undesired side-effects. There's some effort put into this, like with the civil war affecting the main quest by the way of the Peace Conference, but it could use more work.

One of my personal peeves is how the game seems to make a conscious effort to remind the player that it's indeed a game. By this I mean the comments you get from the NPCs based on your skill levels, and completed quests, some of which the NPCs should have no way of knowing of.

I found that the theives guild had some aweful characters due to them mostly being stereotyped. The Db was not much better in story.


Maybe, had bethesda animated the characters better, the plots would have seemed... less [censored]?

Agreed pacing is bad in almost all of the questlines

But... btw...