A vast majority of members on this forum, myself included, have repeatedly stated that they will ignore/not do the MQ for a looong time in their game. However, I have been thinking about this lately and I am going to go out on a limb and say that BGS might really make something special with the MQ here. Who knows? I may even get svcked in and play through a large chunk of it before I realized I haven't explored yet!
I just wanted to say that I have faith in BGS and just maybe the MQ will be the best quest line of them all.

Why wouldnt you do the MQ? I jumped right into it in Oblivion, bu then slowed down a bit to complete the guild quests. I will probably do the same in Skyrim, do a few quests from the MQ, then go about exploring and doing side quests and faction quests.

I usually wait around 6 months before doing the Main Quest.

-Mr. Maric

I'll probably do the main quest first. You don't think you'll be exploring dungeons, visiting cool places, and killing dragons in the main quest? lol

I guess I'll do it in Skyrim.

The only reason I completely avoided it in Oblivion was because of the random Gates to Oblivion destroying my scenery - Dragons don't do this, they just make it more epic.
Also let's hope there's no stupid stuff after doing the MQ like a completely obliterated Temple District.

I'll progress natrually with it, and use the MQ as a sort of a way to guide me to areas on my first playthrough.

I'll likely do it within the first month.

I won't actively hunt the MQ line, just do parts of it as I stumble into that area on my explorations.

Plus, I plan to atleast get far enough into it to get dragons appearing a fair amount first. As I think they'll only start showing up a lot after so far into the quest. Thats just speculation on my part from things that have been said though

I too usually take quite a long time with TES games before doing the mainquest.

I waited about 4.5 years to really get into the Oblivion MQ

Good idea seeing as how those gates are annoying as hell

It is Bethesda game, MQ never was as good as side quests.
In Oblivion and Fallout 3, MQ was pretty boring and linear.
Skyrim wont be any different, i guess.

I never have counted out the MQ. I just go wherever I feel like. I will start the game by doing the first quest of the MQ and then probably get side tracked from there but it isn't because of a fault with the MQ, its just because all the other quests are pretty to. It's like if you throw a shiny piece of metal onto the ground when an idiot is talking and they all of a sudden stop talking and chase the shiny blowing in the wind. I.E: "So, like, yeah, did you hear......OH SHINY!!!!!!" Runs off.
Same concept.

I found in Oblivion that if I waited until I was over Level 10 when I tackled the main quest, then I enjoyed it a lot more. We'll see what happens with Skyrim, though.

I started the Oblivion main quest but got distracted and after a while. I'll probably do the same with Skyrim.

First thing I'm doing when I get Skyrim is the Main quest :shrug:
Was the first thing I did in Oblivion, but hopefully this timw theres level requirements so i cant complete the MQ at level 2 -.-

I'm with the OP, I think I'm probably going to finish the MQ relatively quickly (like first 3 or 4 months or so), doing only handfulls of wandering and exploring here and there. I really didn't care about the plot/story in Oblivion, but this one has me very intrigued and like the OP said, I have a good feeling that this time around Bethesda have really got something good with the MQ here and it'll be a lot more than just the equivalent to a big side-quest mixed in with everything else you can do. Also, I don't remember from Oblivion (cause I never beat the game lol) but I know in Skyrim you can continue on after the main quest, like normal, so that's a nice incentive as well.

Plus, I plan on multiple play throughs with varying characters, as do most of you I'm sure, so I think I may actually want to get through the story just so I know what happens and then really dive into the world, not worrying about Aludin cause I already know how that's gonna play out.

I just hope the MQ won't rush the player like the Oblivion MQ did. Quick, bring the medallion to Jauffre! Quick, find the heir! Quick, find me a daedric artifact, argh we're running out of time! Geez, was that a quest or a Fedex simulation?

I think it'll be the best MQ by far in TES. I'm very much looking forward to it.

@dab I just ignored the urgency. Didn't bother me at all. I go exploring and just forget about it.

I think the main quest will be fun. I think a lot of people will play this way:

Play into the MQ. Get distracted by sidequests or discouraged by low levels.
Mess around.
Eventually get around to the MQ again, or start a new char with better knowledge of how to play the game.

At least, that's how I go about it.

I agree wholeheartedly.

i want to fight dragons so I'll do it right off the bat. But Ill do faction quests too, to see if its true that this time around story arcs are not completely oblivious to each other, as Todd once stated.

in MW I managed to finish the MQ after 1 year

OB a few months later

skyrim will be the same

While you go to Kvatch you'll pass Skingrad and you could join some guilds there.
After you bought Martin to Cloud Ruler temple, you can just reject Jaufree's request and return later.
While you're looking for the Books and the hideout, you'll meet with other people, asking you to do their things.
Getting the Daedric artifact is basically up to you (you can do the recommended quest and losing one of the best artifacts in the game if you're stupid enough)
...

Yeah, there were a couple of parts where you could just do something else other than the main quest.

Honestly, I've never understood this concept. After all, the main quest is kind of the "point" of the game, so why would you just ignore it for so long. Seems strange, personally. (different people, different opinions, of course)



True. Which is why I get it out of the way in my first playthrough - I don't grind it right out, I take the time to do sidequests as I go, but I do pursue it.... MQ in Oblivion takes you to Weynon; ok, while I'm there, I obviously stop at the city to sell off stuff and talk to people, get distracted by some sidequests. Etc, etc, etc. Do the MQ as I go, but don't let it drag me around by the nose.

It's on later characters that I tend to ignore it (or only do the parts that happen to be in front of me, or are parallel to a path I'm already taking).


edit: only part of the OB main quest I felt pressured on was the one with the actual timer. But, then, I've been playing RPGs of various types for thirty years - I'm really used to taking all the time you need to do random sidequests, even while there's a giant meteor hanging in the sky about to annihilate all life. :tongue:

^this is what I plan on doing

You missed my point. Since the MQ might be completely avoided there's no need to hurry the player up. It felt completely wrong, it was just like the world would have fell apart without the player following the MQ.