Uh i'm pretty sure Akatosh is a good god- a divine- and not the nordic god. But thats a good point- if His servants must be killed, at least don't blame them for trying to kill you. And unfortunately, i don't have the time or money to play WOW as its rather addictive.

Akatosh is Alduin; they're different interpretations of the same god.

There's no such thing as a good god or a bad god. The only reason the nine are worshiped is because we cut a deal with them a long time ago. They help us, we give them power through faith. They don't help us because they think its the right thing to do. They help us because we're their energy source. Ya, the aedra are better than the daedra, but not by much.

And think of Alduin as time itself rather than a dragon or a being we can simply understand. He consists of a beginning, a middle, and an end. Without him, things are just there. New people, places, and things don't exist, because there is no such thing as a beginning or new/old. With him however, even though things can begin, they must also then end. And guess what?

...Nirn's timer just went off.

Alduin doesn't hate us. Probably doesn't like us per say, but he doesn't hate us. It just so happens that he's tied to Nirn, cause when Nirn was made Lolkharn tricked him into giving up his energy along with a lot of other aedra's energy to make the place, thus resulting in them being trapped there. See those stars? That's some of the aedra who got the heck out of dodge before it was to late. Alduin on the other hand didn't, and is stuck here till Nirn goes away. Once the dragons get rid of Nirn, they can go home. They're not evil, just between a rock and a hard place. And it just so happens that we're up here killing off each other in a civil war while Alduin has to watch.

He's probably a little pissed about that. So here they come to eat us, because they finally have gotten sick of us being the only thing inbetween them going home.

Its very gray. Which side is right? Neither in all honesty. So if you don't want to kill em, Nirn will be eaten and all the people around you will die. That's what we face. A question with no right answer. Either way, there will be blood on your hands.

I'm pretty sure its been confirmed that there are dragons you can speak with, I would bet money on a quest sending you into the mountains and while on your way you come across the long and well hidden home of either one or many dragons, ones who are rational

Most of them don't have scripted spawns, they're in the leveled lists.

TES games have always been good at duality, and I expect this will be little different. Azura, Vivec, Sheogorath - all have dual natures. Perhaps Akatosh:Alduin::Sheogorath:Jyggalag?

IOW, perhaps this is a divine cycle similar to that in Shivering Isles, but affecting Nirn? Who knows, but I suspect it won't be as clear cut as "Dragons = bad!1!"

I hope we get an Ur style speech from Akatosh at the end.

Just watch, when we kill or somehow destroy Alduin...it will be revealed that what we did was stupid.

We foolish mortals would selfishly attempt to prolong our existence, and in the process doom ourselves.

It will turn out that our world had an expiration date that was rapidly approaching, and even though we stopped it from being destroyed so that we could live our little mortal lives a bit longer, now that Alduin is no longer around to destroy and remake it, it will simply die out eventually anyways only with no way of being recycled.

Wait, Like........Cliff racers? <_<

This reminds me of the one time I played through all of Doom 2 without killing any imps. I just did this for the added challenge, this was before 'impse' was unleashed on the minds of doomers.

However, imps were slow and just hurled little fireballs at you. Barons and Knights were easy to ignore too unless they got in the way. With some wads that are much more difficult than the original game, avoiding killing imps is... IMPossible. Hahaha!

But I see Skyrim's dragons being like Doom 2's machinegunners. You can run but they'll be able to kill you if you stay in their line of sight.

I love dragons, but I'm still playing Skyrim. I don't let my personal affects intrude into the roleplay of a character, which will likely be a Nord that will slay dragons like Mario stomped on goombas. Or an Argonian, since they kinda have a dragonoid look.

But there is also likely to be a mod that will let you ride dragons. There was one in Oblivion. Shouldn't be too hard to implement in Skyrim. It has also been stated that there is a Dragon Shout that calls a dragon to fight by your side. Must be an intriguing story about how you get that power, because all you have to do is shout, "Hey Mr. Wilson!" if the dragon's name is "Mr. Wilson" and the dragon will come and pwn things for you.


I wonder if there will be baby dragons too that you can make friends with... then I might just make a female Breton or Nord and name her "Sintel"

NVM

I definitely do not want to destroy Alduin... and i was shocked in Shivering Isles, I didn't want to become a god, let alone a weird god. I hope there are many paths to the end of this game... but do you HAVE to be a dragon hunter? Even if you are the last? I hope i can forsake it somehow...

That's the thing with TES, you can do whatever you want. If you ignore the main quest, I'll bet dragons won't show up, like the doors to Oblivion in TES IV. And even if they do show up regardless of the main quest, you'll have to be careful to avoid them and run if they catch you -- just like you would in real life.

Your character might be slightly gimped due to the lack of access to Dragonshouts, but again, that would be the case IRL, too. And they'll hurt the economy in the towns they ravage.
It might actually be a fun challenge to have a character that refuses to kill a dragon.

I want a dragon companion. Just a friendly buddy flying overhead to keep an eye on me - make sure the wolves or bandits don't get too close.

Tragically, I can probably mod that in easily - and then wipe out every small town in Skyrim the first time I get in a fight...

Can you choose not to kill a dragon when you encounter it? Sure you can, it just might mean your life.

That, and the rest of the dragons will be laughing their reptilian a**es at the silly tree-hugging hippie...

Look, im all for more diplomatic options in pretty much all video games. But, there are always enemies that cannot be reasoned with. Besides, sentient or not, these things want nothing more then to destroy the world. Dragons are like the Daleks of TES. Or Nazis.

No offense, but this thread leaves me with just one question.

WTF is wrong with you?

Is it wrong to care about the fate of an entire species, other than our own? Is it wrong to feel bad in which dragons have no place in the world simply because they're dragons? In most fantasy media, it is because of humans that the dragons are gone. In dragonheart, one knight believed a dragon to have corrupted his disciple, and killed all of them just to find him. In dragonkeeper, the dragons the people once worshipped were killed off because they couldn't fulfill the people's wishes, and greed of dragon hunters for their organs killed them off too. In fable, in the Age of Archon, the dragon hunters killed them off for sport, and to make a profit. In Merlin, they were killed off simply because they were magical. In Eragon, one human blamed all the dragon riders for his despair and killed them all. This reminds me of what is happening in this world; expoitation of creatures to satisfy our desires or hunt them to extinction because they are a threat. Sooner or later, someone is going to get sick of it. If you enjoy killing for pleasure in real life, then you deserve no less than suffering. Its too late for many species already. Even if they aren't real, we should respect them, to honour those already deceased, because of us.

CHarm them and walk away. I did it often with Dremora Princes. :tops:

Agreed. The problem about humans is, they often have a very hard time recognizing the fact that sometimes they ARE the monster. In this case, the dragons seem to be bent on destroying the world as everyone has known it. . . a familliar theme for humans as well. lol

Its wrong when you forget that its your fate to protect people from dragons. They're going to kill people, you realize that right? They're going to come into towns and kill people. Children will lose their parrents. Lovers will loose their lovers. Families will die.

Are you seriously telling me...that its wrong to try and stop the dragons? Most of them are coming here to kill us. Alduin wants to go home, he's sick and tired of being tied to Nirn while we're caught up in a Civil war. But that's in the past now. Right...wrong...it doesn't matter. Peoples "lives" are going to be lost, depending on the Dragonborns choice. There's no middle ground to stand on.

Go watch the Cell Saga in DBZ. It spells it out perfectly. Gohan doesn't want to fight anymore. Cells here to kill us and blow up our planet. Gohan doesn't fight. Cell gets his kids to beat the Z-fighters into the dirt, right infront of Gohan. Gohan's left with a choice. Fight...kill, or watch as everything and everyone he cares about die right infront of him. Fight, and stain his hands with blood himself, or watch as the lives of millions die while knowing he had the power to stop it all.

There's no third option. No get out of jail free card, where everyone lives happily ever after. That's what the Dragonborn has to decide. Hey, if the dragons didn't come hear to kill us I might consider getting to know a few. As it turns out, they're not here to chat.

I don't know about you...but I'll gladly become a monster if that means I save the planet and all the people on it whom I care about.

I don't think we'll have a choice

Even in OB, you didn't have to fight to the death. You could just paralyze/charm/calm them with magic, run away, or avoid fighting them in the first place using Sneak. Very rarely was this not the case outside DB missions.

Funny, i'd say almost exactly the same thing... i'd gladly betray my own people if it means saving the world and a better race, with reference to Avatar. I value all lives equally, but humans' lives are a detriment to all others. If you killed all the dragons, most likely you might have saved the world from being consumed, but the fact remains that the world will die unless we change and have respect for all living things. As long as humans are involved, there is no happily ever after, especially for the dragons. But really, if Alduin wants to destroy the world, i will stop him, but what matters to me is that i at least try to save him as well, and respect the dragons because it is not their fault for trying to survive. But for someone like me, who loves fantasy, only to find that every single new installation the dragons are already exterminated and there's nothing i can do about it, is pain that i keep suffering. Thats why i like mass effect: you can question why your enemy needs to be stopped, and you try to find other ways to stop them and only kill them if it is absolutely necessary.
Look, this is my opinion, no one has to agree with me. I just want the game industry to improve, put more depth into the stories, satisfy all customers.