Exactly. As I like to say; don′t start nuthin′ and you′ll get nuthin′!

I'm trying this approach on a new character.

The more I think about it, this really IS the ideal solution to the main quest. You closed the one gate, no more ever open, crisis averted. No one else has to die, Martin lives out his life as a simple priest. The Amulet is safe in Jauffre's closet, Brothers Piner and Maborel live peaceful lives.

I tell the procedure for closing a gate to Savilan Matius, and he can pass it on to the other city guard captains at one of their annual conventions. If any more pop up they'll know what to do.

I've more than repaid the favor for them springing me from jail. Kind of like community service work in exchange for clearing my name.

Jauffre knows Martin was in Kvatch if he wants to go look for him. He's got a horse already saddled up, nothing stopping him from riding over there. Since every single guard in the kingdom knows instantly on sight that I'm the "hero of Kvatch" it's a cinch that the leader of the Blades has heard about it, so he knows it's safe to go look for survivors.

So I'm free to explore the unsullied beauty of the landscape and do the occasional odd job for the locals.

Instead of taking Martin and Jauffre to Cloud Ruler Temple from Weynon Priory do a bit of adventuring with them as your companions. Such as: The Killing field, Separated at Birth, Legacy Lost, and Sins of the Father. They make fine companions and cannot die. I haven't tried it yet but they might even help you liberate the Umbra sword.

I have taken Martin to the Killing Field. He fights with magic.

As soon as you take Martin to Cloud Ruler temple.

At that point, you have no reason to think you are playing such a key role in the operation that it will fall apart without your help.

You can literally spend months ingame without returning to the MQ because as fas as your character is concerned, his/her job has already been done. Uriel's heir is safe and Jauffre as well as his Blades will handle things from that point forward.

Maybe you'll run into a random oblivion gate and that might be the cue for you to consider checking how they're doing.

Hmm, yeah, you seem to be right. I really hate the pacing of the entirety of the game, to be honest. Even at Cloud Ruler, Jauffre is asking something of you. I really, really miss the pacing of the Morrowind MQ. "Here, have some money, buy yourself a nice pair of shoes. Keep up your identity as an adventurer and do some legwork for some of the local guilds or something. Come back when you're ready and maybe I'll have your next set of instructions ready."

But I suppose that is the best time to do the side stuff. It's kinda hard to ignore the amulet because even if it's "just an amulet", only you and Jauffre know anything about Martin.

I usually never bother to go to Kvatch to rescue Martin.

They also keep you in the dark for more than half the game at the real urgency of the situation whereas in Oblivion they're all like, "DAEDRIC INVASION!" and in Skyrim they're all like, "DRAGON INVASION!"

But yes, back at the OP, this is usually the point where I stopped playing the Main quest.

Most of my characters deliver the Amulet to Jauffre and that's it. Not sure if that counts as taking a break though...

I do have one character currently doing the MQ, but that's only because I used an alternate start mod for him, without realizing that the author went to all the trouble of including Kvatch Rebuilt, only to go to additional trouble to force the destruction of it later on and providing absolutely no way to leave it intact. So he sort of got backed into doing the quest, and I'm experiencing that all over again.

I loathe - absolutely detest - the way it's set up. From a practical standpoint, you can take a break from it at absolutely any time, since nothing ever progresses unless you do MQ stuff. But the problem is that that doesn't fit in at all with the veritable flood of breathless hysteria from all sides. Every time you talk to anyone who's involved with any aspect of the MQ, all they tell you is that you HAVE TO RUSH OFF AND DO THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!11! It's almost sort of nice that there isn't really any need to rush right off and do much of anything, and you can actually go off and do whatever you want, but it's just flatly stupid that that complete lack of real urgency is paired with a deliberate depiction of the absolute need of instant action. One or the other would've been better (I'd much prefer a lack of urgency on both fronts) but the combination of the two is cripplingly unrealistic, and the biggest reason that the vast majority of my characters never touch the MQ.

That out of my system - when to take a break if you're going to actually do the MQ? That recent character has been dealing with just that, since he was right in the middle of other stuff when the mod-added messenger tracked him down to announce that the events leading to the MQ were going to be forced on him anyway. After parking Martin at Cloud Ruler is pretty good, though that leaves Baurus drinking away his days in the IC. Lemdel (the character in question) took a bit of time then, but not a whole lot, since Baurus was right there in the IC, so there wasn't much excuse for not contacting him. The real chance for a break came after delivering the Daedric artifact to Martin, since a flurry of quests follows that, and most notably, Allies for Bruma. Since Allies requires going to every city, Lemdel's taking it as an opportunity to wrap up some of the other stuff that he was doing before he was so unnecessarily interrupted.

I always just dump the amulet off with Jauffre. But you're right, it only makes sense to at least go to Kvatch, and after Kvatch you end up escorting Martin to Cloud Ruler Temple. So I agree with you.

I agree with glargg in the other thread. I quote his post:

"If you close the gate and help him retake the chapel, if you don't talk to him again, he won't tell you that Martin was one of the people in the chapel, and even if you are aware of it, you know that Martin is safely at the encampment. Having closed the gate, you have effectively "ended" the Oblivion Crisis..."

From a roleplaying perspective I think that is the best time to take a break from the main quest.

I dislike the state of urgency so early on in a questline. Everything but the MQ in Oblivion starts a nice slow tempo in my opinion. Skyrim on the other hand.. :facepalm :

My present character, Talinwae, considered it part of her promise to the dying Emperor to bring his son to safety. So she escorted him and Jauffre to Cloud Ruler.

When they arrived there, a Blade came down to greet Jauffre and Martin, and escorted them up into the fortress. Nobody even gave a second glance at Talinwae, or invited her in. She was rather sad about it, since she had gotten to like Martin on their journey from Kvatch, but she was evidently not welcome, so she turned away and left, never to return.

She never entered Cloud Ruler at all, so she never got any further "orders" from anybody.

She assumes that the Legion, or the Blades, or Martin, or Chancellor Ocato, or somebody will deal with the Oblivion Gates that are randomly popping open here and there.

Now that I think about it, I'm wondering why on earth the player-character would be motivated to enter that fortress with Martin and Jauffre. You are not invited in.

Well, that has more to do with when you're trying to avoid it altogether than just taking a break to do other things first.

I also don't see how would this scenario be reasonable since Jauffre already told you Martin is a priest at their chapel. You'd at least check if he's there.

Because this isn't a question. It's a statement.

As in "Would you please like to enter for a cup of tea"? There's no need for that.

And you clearly earned their trust.

Trust is beside the point. What I'm saying is that they walk away from you and go up the stairs, and you're not spoken to. You're not even thanked for your trouble. This is clearly an armed Blade facility, and you're not a Blade. You're an ex-convict.

Think about it in modern terms. You're a cab driver, and you just delivered a VIP to the Pentagon. The VIP goes in the door. Are you really going to follow him in? I don't think so.

You've "closed the jaws of Oblivion" (the gate at Kvatch), and you've delivered the Heir to safety. That's what the Emperor asked for. What's the player-character motivation for going up those stairs?

I agree that Jauffre should have stopped to talk to you. That would have made it more clear that you're allowed in that otherwise secret facility rather than just leave it implied.

It's true that the Hero didn't know that wasn't the only Oblivion gate. But Jauffre's panic when the Amulet of Kings was gone does show the threat isn't gone yet. And at that point you already know the Amulet's role in keeping the daedra away.

Depending on the character, s/he could want to know more about the situation in order to fight for the world's safety, or just leave it to the Blades because s/he doesn't feel any obligation to do anymore than the Emperor asked.

I believe that if you turn and leave at that point, when Martin and Jauffre enter the temple, that the "Find the Heir" quest remains open and that no additional Oblivion gates open. So for those who enjoy a pristine world without Oblivion gates opening here and there, but also prefer not to leave Martin sitting in a tent outside Kvatch, that may be the ideal time to go off and do other things.

Now as to what motivation would ever cause you to go back and follow up with them afterwards, thereby triggering the rest of the questline, that I can't figure out.

Methinks the first wave of 'random' gates is triggered by delivering Martin to Weynon Priory.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion_Gates

I've got a new character parked on the last hill before the approach to the Kvatch turn-off, specifically because I'm considering doing this with him. I have zero interest in actually doing the main quest, but it's certainly possible that this character would take Jauffre's exhortations about seeing the heir to safety more seriously than most (most of my characters just react with something along the lines of "You've got an entire personal army dedicated specifically to protecting the emperor - they're much more qualified for this than I ever could be, so here's the Amulet and I'm outta here."

In point of fact, it's the exact same statement you already made on that thread.

It's probably notable that, on that thread, nobody responded to it either way.

I just did this, so I know the answer. Acadian has it right. The random gates definitely open if you've gotten Martin as far as Weynon Priory. My present character, having turned and left Martin and Jauffre at Cloud Ruler, encountered her first random gate on the way to the Imperial City.

I also know from experience with a previous character that gates will open even if you leave Martin at the Priory.

It's pretty simple, really. When there is a great threat at hand, chances are you won't feel safe or satisfied with just the thought "It's probably gonna be okay".

Well, this is about when to "take a break" from the MQ, right?

The game-player's motivation to go up the stairs is clear. "The story can't end here. I'm obviously supposed to climb these stairs, and continue my involvement."

It was the same thing before. "This Oblivion Gate must be removed, and I'm obviously supposed to go into it." Or: "Here's Martin safe at the encampment. I'm obviously supposed to escort him back to Weynon Priory."

Character motivation is a whole different thing. The Emperor's death and his dying request have carried the character this far, but now there have to be all kinds of conflicting thoughts, temptations, fears...it all depends on the nature of the character.

The character is free. The wrist irons are off. Nobody seems interested in re-arresting you. There's nobody to stop you from going off and doing whatever you feel like.

From a game-play point of view, the two "ideal" points to interrupt the Main Quest are 1. Either give the Amulet to Jauffre and drop out (or never deliver it at all), or 2. After helping liberate Kvatch, leave Martin at the Encampment. If you do one of those things, the Main Quest will be frozen in place, and will never bother you again. No Oblivion Gates, no more Mythic Dawn attacks. And you can take up the quest line again at any time, if you choose, right from where you left off.

From a character point of view, I think that's harder to justify. I'm coming around to the opinion that the two likeliest places where an ordinary person would walk away are after returning Martin to Weynon Priory, after realizing what an absolute doofus Jauffre is for losing the Amulet, or after the two of them enter Cloud Ruler without so much as a backward glance or a thank-you-very-much.

Either way, a small number of random oblivion gates will open, but they're manageable (or can be safely ignored, if you want.)

Here's the thing. We aren't really discussing the same thing. I'm talking about taking a break. You are talking about abandoning it altogether.

In any case, saying that "a character" would never feel or think in a certain away comes off as a generalization.

Some people may feel like the world's problems are none of their concern, and others may worry enough to take up a cause.

I don't agree. If it's a real crisis, then taking a break is abandoning it. Whether it turns out to be one or he other depends on later events, and whether you get svcked back in. The decision to stop is the same. You can only think of it as "taking a break" because you know the script.

If you're not continuing it, then that's because it doesn't feel like a real crisis that needs you at that point. That can be because of others' attitudes, or whatever, but it's just your character's opinion at a particular point in time. A few more gates pop up, and there's more reason to think there's a problem, not just for Martin and Jauffre, but everyone else. So the two points already suggested stand. Martin's safely out of Kvatch, so first panic over, or else he's been moved to CRT, so second panic over.

I'd also suggest not closing the first gate outside Bruma, but pausing after the spies are killed. That is a plausible interruption to Dagon's plans that conceivably buys you time to do something else.

have to agree with a couple of points: not being spoken to at all at cloud and them going up into the keep is very shortsighted writing. it's just a simple neglect of writing by someone at beth.

as well, the "take a break" vs. "it's a crisis" - one doesn't take a break from a real crisis. they say, screw it and abandon it. or else, it wasn't a crisis or they weren't a hero. of course, i guess you could say after x amount of game days later the pc had a change of heart, but, it still comes down to bad pacing and writing.