Or playing as a level 26 who doesn't have a strong weapon or spell to his name, and considered finding an orcish warhammer a huge success. I shouldn't be hindered starting a new character by a bunch of Master vampires attacking everyone I need to help level up my smithing and whatnot

You should be powerful enough at level 26 to handle some squishy "master" vamps.

So you havent had a situation yet where the attacks are at a distance that means you just cant get there before the NPCs get killed ?

No. They survived long enough for me to jump in. Only issue I had was when I fast travelled to dragonsreach, and they attacked at the gate. I just reloaded and fast travelled to the gates and [censored] 'em up. Problem solved.

To deal with the vampires, I'll transform chew on a few bandits, charge into a city and deal with the vampires (if any) then leave to change back. Or I go during the day.

So long as my fences aren't killed I have no problem...

The only time that would happen I think is if you fast travel somewhere other than the main location, or travel to the stables and go in the front gate. The only NPC's I lost were two in Riften, Braggen never saw the altercation and I never realised it would happen, he had not yet had any attacks, and I had only just started Dawnguard. Braggen fast travelled to the Riften stables and went in the back door of Honeyside, he existed the same way never going into Riften. The Courier eventually caught up to him with the news. Later Braggen inflicted one of his wretched dragons on Riften the same way, going to the stables and then through the main entrance. I do not know if it is the same for all walled towns, but for Riften the stables were loading the random events for the whole town. Braggen's dragons do not normally appear in walled towns, it would have loaded with the stables. If you went to the Whiterun stables and the enemies spawned by the main gates, you could lose a lot of NPC's before being able to get in the gate.

Except the people that complained about it being to safe are NOT THE ONES complaining about it being "too dangerous".

Straw man much?

I believe all Beth needs to do is make the gate guards essentials but only to vampires that way its a easy vanilla game patch, since they claim is so hard or expensive to patch dlc

best idea by far lol

Or people could try using their grey matter. The lack of thinkers these days is why games just get simpler and simpler. One day its gonna be click "a" to watch game.

Hey i understand that some people are not good in video game and I do believe that games are getting dumb and simple..but this is not the case there is a bug that cause vampire attacks way on the other side of the map, I know cause it happen to me...just cause it didn't happen to you, consider yourself lucky. Try to be understanding that this bug is affecting people and it happens even when your not in the city. Insulting peoples intelligence just cause they are bringing up in the forums is not right, that is what the forums are for, no matter how stupid or annoying some things in here may be ,lets all try to be constructive and mature about it .

Its NOT a bug. That is intended. Its a feature. That is what beth told us during the beta. And i didnt insult any1 by saying they should use their grey matter. Thats another way of saying think more and find a way to deal with their issue. No different than overcoming any obstacle in the game. Sorry if my previous statement came out in an overly negative tone.

I think you need to stop talking. A) like I've said many times before it's not a matter of thinking, I'm damn smart and concocted some weird [censored] to try dealing with them, all of which I listed on the very first post here, but since I'm only a level 26 I have practically nothing to combat them with and all of the tactics I tried resulted in at least one death. Unacceptable. I wouldn't care if Nazeem were the town ass, he's still part of the town and that's one less person inhabiting the already small population. And; Games are not getting simpler, they're getting harder. Example: Halo 3, all of ten or so very basic gamestypes (Slayer, CTF, Bomb, VIP, Infection, King of the Hill, Territories, etc.) with a bunch of guns, vehicles fairly simple way find matches, and customs and forge to do with your friends. Nowadays, there's stuff like perks, hit markers, umpteen hundred guns, attachments, etc. that make it more complicated. Halo, if you shot someone four times in the head with a BR, they were dead. Simple as that. Battlefield 3, oh no- I shot you with the same guns with more bullets but you turn and shot me once with that gun because oh one of my bullets actually hit your leg or some other crazy BS because of how complicated it is. So no games are not getting simpler they're getting less simple.

No, having vampires attack is not a bug, you're right. But having Master Vampires attack and kill important AI's that do not respawn like guards do without me being able to do squat about it, sometimes because I'm on the opposite side of town, IS A BUG. Not really because they're trying to attack people, but because the people are trying to attack THEM, and they can't win, because they're shopkeepers wearing cloths and brandishing an iron dagger. This isn't a glitch either, but the two put together is an OVERSIGHT and a PROBLEM. Plain as that. It's not because I'm not smart, it's because the townspeople don't run and hide with their weak weapons while I confront the vampires alongside the guards.

I've been doing the companions quests first with my newest character, and I fast travel to dragons reach to run to jorvaskr quickly. I was going to hit breeze home after picking up a new mission when I see a bunch of bodies in the market, and at the gates. Apparently a battle was raging while I was busy selling crap to eorlund, oblivious to what was happening down the street. This is getting out of hand.

Thats not a bug, if the developers intended this. They're performing the way the designers intended it to. Just because you cant keep your npc's alive, doesnt mean its a bug.

I need to stop talking? Wow, someones mad. If you're so smart, you'd be able to stop a few vamps from killing every1. Level 26 is good enough to deal with pretty much everything. And dont compare Skyrim or ANY rpg to Halo or a FPS. That is a very stupid example. Games, and especially rpg's ARE getting easier to attract a wider audience. This is fact.

The "Designers" don't even understand their own game. They didn't put legendary dragons on standard leveled lists until level 78 because they were supposed to be for "high level characters." What, pray tell, does having locking pickiing, pickpocket, speech, and illusion skills in the 90s have to do with fighting a dragon? Nothing, But that is what you need to do to get to level 78. The "Designers" concept of high level differs from the actual combat mechanics where you can max out your armor, smithing, enchanting, alchemy and combat skill at a much lower level.

God forbid they put DG in a GOTY edition because it simply not compatible with Skyrim. To take just one instance, in Skyrim you supposedly can become Thane of every hold. But what happens if Silda the Unseen dies in a vamp attack before doing Blood on the Ice? Now that quest fails before you can do it and now you can never buy Hjerm and therefore never become Thane of Eastmarch.

Or just look at all the conflicting and bugged quests the radiant system produces. Saying the "Designers" intended something in one area does not mean they thought through all the ramifications of their decision. This should be quite clear for tha numerous different bugs in the various quest lines.

I am not attacking them for this. Something as big as Skyrim is going to have all kinds of unforeseen interactions pop up. I believe these vamp attacks are producing just such unforeseen consequences. To say the designers meant for the vamp attacks to be threatening to npc's is one thing, to say they meant to break large portions of the pre-existing game is another.

Its not just Vamps I lost NPCs in shors stone to spiders I cleared red belly mine then went on my sweet way.Some time later I went past shors stone again not long after that I got a letter of inheritance. I went back to shors stone to check it out and sure enough once again the mine was full of spiders but this time the miners where in there with them. When I came out the blacksmith was killed by a vamp attack and a wild werewolf joined in the fun after that the only people left were the guards. If NPCs got replaced with new ones after say a month then I wouldnt mind I like the attacks it makes the place seem dangerous and in need of a mighty hero. What I dont like is the world my character lives in becoming a place full of ghost towns with only guards in them. NPCs should ether be replaced with new ones or have the good sense to run like the wind when all they have is an iron dagger and no armour to face down a master vamp with.

You are getting into a whole different issue. There is a big difference between a feature or game machenic that u dont like and an actual bug. The way that you have to go about levelling up to 78 is NOT a bug. That is fully intended whether u like it or not. Beth fully intended for vamps to attack the way they do and to pose a threat to the citizens. NOT A BUG. And the mission Blood on the Ice has multiple ways of starting, so Silda dying wont make it impossible to continue. Which by the way, Silda dying doesnt hinder ANYTHING actually, since she is not at all esential to that mission. She is just a witness who saw nothing important. Ur Logic is fail. And they only "break large portions of the pre-existing game" if you let it happen due to playing the game blindfolded.

I'm going to wait to get a new PC before I get DG (when it's eventually released on PC) my current PC is creaking along on low settings. I'll wait until then to decide whether or not I want this DLC. I find the dragon attacks tedius enough as it is let alone vamp attacks. I simply can't be bothered to fight off any attacks in towns. For me towns are safe zones, want the chance to die by my sword? Well come get me in the wilderness or in dungeons. This reminds me of the PS3 lag issue, some people had games running like a slide show and others had no problems at all. Here some people are obviously having issues with large portions of NPC populations dying others are only losing one or two.

Try none at all. They let em die because they're not paying attention, or cant kill a vamp in light armor or no armor at all. That sounds to me like a severe lack of skill. Dragons are one thing, but vampires? Really? Even on master, a few vamps are barely worth sneezing at. And if you're unlucky enough to have them spawn on another side of the city, reload, and rush in asap. Problem solved.

How regular are the vamp attacks? Is it every other town you visit?

Once in every blue moon. More frequent before starting dawnguard. Less so during, and none at all after. At least for me. Some people still get them afterwards. And they seem to attack more often at night, which makes sense.

Vamps posing a threat to citizens is fine in fact I like it but when I come out of the Bannered mare and citizens that wont get replaced are being slaughtered by the front gate its not fine. Ether new NPCs should replace the killed ones or they should be programmed to run for it when vamps show up. I would prefer them to be replaced as if NPCs always run for it and never die then the attacks would have no danger in them at all.