I've been hearing good tings about the thieves guild quest line
but I really hate doing anything for maven black-briar so I stopped doing anything for the guild.
I realized this is only a symptom of a more fundamental aspect of my method of game playing.
do you play the game in the most convenient/entertaining/etc way possible
(as in you play the game in a way that you normally wouldn't live your actual life in terms of morality)
or do you try to steer clear of things you don't agree with?

to elaborate, if I just did the thieves guild quests I'd end up with some pretty great loot and armor
but I'd have to do some buttkissing for maven and be loyal and whatnot.
despite this being a game and all, I'm still struck with this dilemma

I don't often roleplay myself in RPGs, so morality really comes down to that character. So doing questionable things isn't an issue in the same way as you're describing, but I do have to think if my character would do such a thing.

Even if I'm playing a character who isn't a very good person though, I'll get quite uncomfortable with some of the really horrible things you can do.

I tend to stick with my characters defined alignment throughout a playthrough. Just so happens the alignment I always lean toward is Lawful Evil. Kinda makes things simple.

I wouldn't mind doing something "immoral" in a particular instance or quest. Although, I wouldn't play an evil character and do bad things for a living 24/7.

I tend to do everything at least once.


Poor Noble Rainer being my lab rat...=p

I stick to my character's morality.

For example, my thief character will never take the life of an innocent. Mercenaries that are merely doing their job, soldiers, everything like that. Bandits, corsairs, and raiders have to answer for their crimes, on the other hand.

Theft, smuggling, pickpocketing, breaking and entering, breaking and stomping upon, lollygagging, lying? Fair game.

I think morality systems are botched in games, if one were to gloss the matter over, and only a few manage to avoid moral absolutism. It should, after all, be based on a variety of socio-cultural factors, not merely a character-sheet which lists your alignment.

The Elder Scrolls games have always at least attempted to leave it to the player; you aren't inherently good or bad but you may be well liked or despised by particular culture. I think the morality system in Fallout 3 lack this, particularly when you are action-dependent titles. Dragon Age is another game which tries to implement a flexible mechanic of a morality system.

Ok, listen. I had the exact same qualms about doing the thieves guild questline. You only have to do 1 quest for Maven, then it gets better. The guild is honor-less at the beginning but the quest line brings it back. I'm trying to keep a positive morality character as well, but thieves guild is harmless. Do it, you wont regret it.

True. looking for morality in gaming is like looking for a wife in a brothel.

My characters are always a mouthpiece and avatar for myself within the gameworld, so I always tend to steer things towards my own interests and morality.

I have seen you make many-a-post my murder pony friend. Theyre all fun to read. Youre cool = D just wanted to say that.

I steal everything of value, but give whatever I can to help the needy. I think it balances out, in the end. :wink_smile:

Pardon me, Good Sir/Madame, but I will have to confiscate that quotation for my signature.

:vaultboy:

that sounds better than what I was imagining
which was working as maven's slave..
I'll give the thieves guild another try

On the subject of stealing, Bethesdas games make me feel like a kleptomaniac, Its gotten to the point were it almost spilled over into real life

I try to steer clear of things that I don't agree with.

So eventhough I play a stealth character, and the thieves guild and dark brotherhood offer the greatest rewards for me, I don't want to join them.

I feel the same way but since I don't want to miss out on a whole lot
I participated in things I don't 100% agree with
but [censored] I do hate maven black-briar and she's making it very difficult for me to be in the thieves guild

It's a video game not a test.


Though sometimes I prefer alternate choices regarding to quest obligations.

no one has in the slightest even suggested that the game is like a test in this thread.

it's hard to put that much complexity into a single game (imo)
but I do feel that it is a bit shallow to only have your character's morality defined by which factions you join (out of the few there are)

I found it EXTREMELY hard to be an evil character in this game. As soon as I hit Riverwood, I was stealing, robbing, killing and before I knew it I had a bounty on my head that was impossible to pay and all kinds of people after me that outgeared me by a mile. I understand that's the price I pay for being evil but it just seems like the game almost makes you play by the rules to a certain extent. Why can't I just be the Scourge of Tamriel??

If I played the game based on my own morality, it would be severely limiting. This is part of the fun of a role playing game, creating characters and exploring what they would do based on a system of boundaries you establish. I leave the evil and morally corrupt quests for specific characters.

In Tamriel there was no Abraham.

When in Skyrim, do as General Tullius would do ..

"You Americans and your sense of morality.." :cookie:

I don't think you're quite getting what I'm saying