hehe, never thought about it that way! i agree with the OP, less pressing main quest please.

I understand where the OP is coming from, but I feel that with Oblivion, the MQ wasn't too hard pressed because there was a specific point at which Oblivion gates would start opening that, if you knew about, could just ignore it. As long as you don't start SKyrim at Level 1 having to fight dragons and being pushed into the MQ, I don't mind.

He's talking about story/role-play wise, not game-mechanic wise. Yes, as long as you don't bring Martin back to Jauffre, the gates don't open -- except for Kvatch's, which is always open and the city always destroyed. But the very start of the game has you thrust right into the main quest, and everyone kept telling you to hurry to the next plot point without giving your character a logical point from where they could go out and explore. It's considered bad role-play if you have to break character, and once you're in Oblivion's main quest, there's no way out of it without completing it or breaking character (unless you're playing a character that would say f-it).

It would make sense if it was pressing (if the dragons are attacking from the start, that is), but if it is then it would be nice if there actually was some kind of pressure. Not a 'you have 100 days until the world ends' kind of thing, but at least something. In Oblivion they keep telling you to hurry but nothing actually happens, aside from an Oblivion gate here and there (and most of those won't even open until you've delivered the amulet I think).


I like how they did it with Morrowind. Okay, you're going to follow my orders. Here's some gold, go get some experience and a cover identity before we get to work.

I think more importantly, the only damage the gates appearing do is minimal. Like 4 deadra come through it and stand around with thier thumbs up their %&*$$%. They just make the place look ugly if anything.

Yeah. I didn't feel like the main quest was at all pressing. I don't see how it could possibly be less so, without losing all sense of urgency. I realize that the world is in danger and people want to mine instead, but some people actually think the main quest is the most important bit. I think oblivion had the right balance.

Yeah, i definately want this. Without forcing you to wait, it still encourages you to take your time, see more of the world. If you're given the choice, while still maintaining a sense of urgency, that would be great.

Yes, let us go on with our lives without having too worry about the fate of the world every morning. Let it start of slow, but pace fast if you pursue it. IMO.

Instead of making a hard-level cap that stops you from progressing farther into the story, there could be challenges that are just too tough if you aren't high enough of a level. An NPC could tell you something like, "The dragon guarding the cave(or w/e) is extremely powerful. Proceed if you wish but I fear you aren't prepared..." The dragon wouldn't scale to your level, and if you couldn't beat him, you'd just have to do something else until you were able to.

I honestly dont see the problem here...

just deliver the amulet and be done with it.

Well i usually roleplay that when I drop teh amulet off Jaffer (sp lol) tells me he will have to find the location of Martin, and he will sen dme a message when he does.

Then I'm off doing whatever I want until, I chose to roleplay a message being delivered to me and return to see here the Martin is and the main quest continues.

Im thinking you have to get to certain levels or gain certain skills in order to start certain missions. Maybe popularity could effect the questline by making you do side quests in order to raise peoples awareness of you before doing some missions

I loved the Oblivion main quest. That feeling of time-dependent was really fun, in an oblivion gate. But anywhere outside of that, it just ruined the feel of the rest of the world.

But if it's like Oblivion Gates, you would have to get to a certain quest check before you see any dragons.

I actually want that again. In Oblivion, if you never go to Weynon Priory, you can finish 96% of the game before ever starting the main quest.

I do NOT however, want the TUTORIAL to start the main quest, like in OB.

Thank you!
Now why couldn't BGS think of something as simple as that? That's one of the biggest reasons I don't like Oblivion and don't enjoy the roleplay of it; because it's forced upon the player, one task right after the other, without any break. I really hope BGS uses an approach like what Daggerfall or Morrowind had.



Very well put.


And people say they just ignore the MQ. Well yeah, of course you can. But the "feeling" you get from it is " go do this, hurry! There's no time to waste" It's the feeling of being rushed. I could stay in one city for 10 game years and everything would still be the same. Like RK said, it's a very linear main quest that is rushed as far as the storytelling of it goes.

I didnt find Oblivions MQ pressing. It was quite easy to ignore.

I actually really hope that the dragons only start coming into play at around the half-way part of the main quest. Up until the dragons show up, the main quest should revolve around trying to resolve the ongoing civil war and reunite Skyrim. That way, it starts off with the world not about to end if you don't take action, and includes some subtlety and political intrigue, while still having a point where the main quest becomes urgent and epic.

I think it would be good if, as we know you start in prison, that a dragon destroys the prison and you escape with the aid of someone else who knows what the Dragonborn should do. He basically tells you that you need to kill dragons, then dies. He also mentions the greybeards, introduces you to the shouts, but thats it. This leaves it to the player to do the main quest at the same time as not doing it. You can explore as you want, and every now and then a dragon finds you, and you kill it. Your doing your job. If you want, you can go to the greybeards and then carry on proper, but it isnt forced upon you.

I'm sorry, but that sounds absolutely horrible.

I agree that at some point in the main quest line, you should be able to figure out that you can kill dragons and drain their power, and then are left to go out and do it at your own pace (and level of experience), and I agree that your ability to kill dragons and take their powers should not be limited by progress along the main quest (even if the number of dragons is).

However, I do not think the proper way to do it is to lay it all on the player in the tutorial... what a terribly bland and uninteresting plot... there needs to be plenty of detective work, socio-politico-cultural intrigue and discovery, and at least one shirt-less drug addict giving you orders.

My first thought when I played OB and reached the part where the emperor dies was, "Why the hell can't Baurus deliver this thing? It's not like he has to guard the emperor anymore!" Really irritated me. They should have killed off ALL of the guards AND the emperor so when I loot the shinies a quest pop-up telling me to find someone interested in buying the necklace. The quest could lead me to the Priory eventually and it would remove the stupid 'You have to do this because....... umm..... just because. Don't you talk back!'

But that would be too interesting (and totally awesome... someone should make that a mod). I keep saying this, but for any game longer than 6 hours (and really any game ever), and especially any RPG, there needs to be enough depth to warrant investing so much time into a game. People don't want shallow RPG's, they want deep RPG's that make the player think; that pay off in great ways for the amount of time invested... like real character development and arcs, a reactive and engaging simulation of a "believable" world.

Finding things on your own in a game like TES is infinitely more satisfying that having it shoved in your face. That's not to say that everything should be so esoteric that you need to use online guides to figure the stuff out, but that there should be trails and hints that discerning players are able to pick up on. I guarentee that making the game more subtle will not detract anything from the experience of the shallow players, they'll just interact with the game on a shallow level... eventually maybe being drawn into and realizing and exploring the deeper level, while deep gamers also get what they want from the game.