The Dark Brotherhood was one of the most popular, if not THE most popular faction to do quests for in Oblivion.

This was for a variety of reasons - the reason I'm addressing today is their system of giving bonuses for meeting certain criteria during a quest.

Its really the first time I'd seen that done in an rpg - usually, you either pass or you fail. End of story. But with bonuses to be had, especially challenging ones, the entire quest becomes much more interesting. As well, the bonuses themselves are usually very handy - Blessing of the Night Mother, for example, a permanent stat boost for the rest of the game.

I'm not saying all or even most quests should have optional bonuses - but it'd certainly be nice to see it used more often. I much prefer that to 'radiant story', in my honest opinion.

What are your thoughts?

I not only think that having quest bonuses is a great idea, but also having the ability to receive different rewards for completing a quest in different ways. My memory is a little fuzzy but there was a quest in Choral where you could either return a stolen artifact to the queen (king?) and receive an awesome ebony shield, or return it to a man in the tavern and get a good sackful of gold. I'd like to see this kind of quest variation but between artifacts, weapons and armour as opposed to items and gold. And quest bonuses are a nice cherry on top. Although I don't think the criteria should always be stated. Sometimes sure, but I'd like to see a few quests where it's up to the player to figure out a better solution that the one proposed by the quest giver, and be rewarded for it.

Quest bonuses, I'm all for it.

More of this, but not to many. I want to solve many quests my way. Could possibly be included in the radiant story, but that might be to complex.

It is always best to offer hints if there was to be bonus rewards though. Otherwise item collectors like me would be forced to go read walkthroughs in order to not miss anything unique.

I consider myself a completionist so I agree. But the hint should come from someone that you decide to talk to, or from some other source that wasn't specifically stated, but also makes sense. And only a few quests of that nature, but many with multiple paths, multiple quest rewards and bonus rewards. It adds a lot to the replayability of the game and allows you to have to make choices about what you want for your character. Also if there is an artifact suited for a mage and one for a stealth character, then it adds a layer of depth to how you tackle your quests.

But that last bits a little off topic. I like having the option to go the extra mile for item collectors, completionists and enthusiasts alike, while those who are more focused on the story and like a faster pace can finish the quest the easy way. No shame in either option, it just makes more people happy.

There we go again, re-playability.

I have never inclined to restart with a new character in TES until I either lose the save-file or if I screwed up something in the game permanently. "Re-playability" sounds like to me to be nothing more than "You are forced to play the game multiple times to see all the content, whether you want to or not".
For a Collector, this is downright demeaning. If I can't have all the quest items in the same save file then I haven't got the complete collection. If I can't have the complete collection then I will be forced to get the item through console command.

TES is a long term investment for me. As I said just before, I have no desire to dump my character to start again. I just want you to know I am not happy that so many people are telling me I can't play the game my way because they want to force me to play the same way as them.

I like the idea of having more bonuses. Not in every quest, but some... Some quests should just keep their fail/success black and whiteness, but yeah... :goodjob:

Some, not too many because I don't want to feel like in a competition with handicap all the time. I usually like to deal with things at my own pace and in my own terms.

Hhmmm. I felt the same as you before playing Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, or at least it sounds like it. I've always played RPGs by completing every quest, collecting every item and acquiring what I believed to be the best stats by the end of the game. It was a labour of love and it was a real achievement by the end of the game. Played the newest FF game? It's tedious, but I still go for every item.

But even without labeling it "replayability" having that degree of choice and consequence throughout the game is what makes it that much more exciting. I'm currently replaying Fallout: New Vegas and I'm doing whole quest sets I never did before and completing others in a different manner. Frankly they would have been boring as can be with my old character because I'd maxed out my character level (I predict Skyrim will be similar with faster leveling and a perk cap at 50) and could take out any enemy with a wave of a hand. The challenge was gone by then.

Now by the time I'm done playing the game (totally) I've gotten every unique item, and by the end of that playthrough I've gotten all the best equipment and weapons for that specific character. I think of it as though I've still collected everything, done everything, seen everything, etc. but the ride was a lot more enjoyable.

It's a long term investment for me too. I played through Oblivion 3 times on the PC and two on the 360, with each game consisting of about 150 hours on average and I'm sure I'll play it again before Skyrim comes out. Each character should be an experience and the game should be good enough that you want to play it over and over. If you purely just want to collect (which I'm not saying you do) then I think you should stick to stamps or coins, but I think it's better to find this balance between depth of choice and completionism - whether it be through collection, exploration, stats, etc.

This discussion is getting off topic, so if you'd like to continue it I'd be happy to debate in another thread, I'll table further debate from myself so this thread can get back to its original purpose.

Not trying to invalidate you, just win you over to my side

Collecting stamps and coins?

I am sorry, but you have no right to kick me out of playing TES. You are the one who is demanding that the TES meta game change to fit what you want, to say that I should not play Skyrim because of the changes you want is demeaning.

Yes, I am being bitter. I did not buy Fallout3 New Vegas precisely because of its mission style, but I didn't go on the NV forum complaining that it isn't more like TES. And yet, here we have NV fans tell me that I should play NV style Skyrim.

Poor poll. What is a "good amount of quests"?

Anyway, I thought that this was done well in Fallout 3. A slightly greater proportion of the quests in Skyrim should have bonus rewards. However there has to be more than one way of getting the bonus reward: in Oblivion they just funnelled me into one play style and one mission outcome.

I really liked how it was done with the DB quests in Oblivion, so aslong they keep it the same kind of style as they did with OB i am happy

That's not what I was trying to get across. I apologize if you took it that way. I was in no way saying you should collect stamps and coins, simply trying to separate the action of collecting on its own (replace stamps and coins with anything else) from playing an expansive game with lots to offer. I'll try to phrase it another way and say that this. I believe having multiple quest pathways, consequences and endings adds depth and outweighs the joy collecting items in-game brings. Like I said I believe I used to have a similar play-style to you and like I said, I'm not trying to belittle or demean your play-style, simply hoping to make you think about it a little differently. I'm predicting more content in Skyrim that follows this route because it seems to be where more games are going. Fallout: New Vegas had many paths, Heavy Rain had many endings, and even Portal 2 has different ways to complete puzzles. In the end I believe most people who love a game want to play it several times over and experience the ride again. I think Skyrim will be similar, but because they've traditionally had a much more rigid main storyline, I think that variation needs to come through side quests and consequences. Again, I apologize if I came across as offensive. There was no intention to do so.

Of course you have a right to play TES and I'd never try to allude to anything different. I hope you end up loving the game. It's my favorite video game series and I think it should be enjoyable to everyone.

And I agree with greatcarbuncle. I didn't like being funnelled into one playstyle and one path. Then you're not really making choices, just going through the paces. Some bonus rewards, others not.