This idea seems to go against everything Bethesda has been telling us about TES...Do what you want. If we are now going to be ushered through the main quest, that takes away the do whatever in the hell you want aspect, and that's one of the main reasons why I (and I suspect) many others play the game as well.

No thanks, I do not care to have any penalties for putting off the main quest, if I want that I'll find a different game to play.

Please no...

Let me ask you this. What good is adding something like marriage if you are forced through the main quest from the start because of having heavy consequences for ignoring it?

You are basically forcing a player down a path in a game which is supposed to be open world. An open world game doesn't force you down a path.

I am perfectly fine with TES games proceeding at the speed of plot. I am okay with a sense of urgency once you have undertaken a quest, but to start it before you are even ready to pursue it... nope. That would kill a lot of the real fun in a TES game.

I disagree with your conclusion.

Dragons spawning from time to time are not a punishment or penalty. They are an expected part of the fun of playing Skyrim.

There is not going to be any sort of ticking time bomb where you have to rush to do the main quest or suffer some penalty.

Rather, the game will entice you to progress in the main quest at least to some extent, because learning dragon shouts is part of the main quest. If you want to learn dragon shouts, at some point, you will have to go to the Throat of the World and the Greybeards will shout your name from the 7,000 steps, somehow activating your dragon shout power I believe.

After that, every time you kill a dragon you absorb their soul and every time you find a new word of power, you are progressing in the main quest at least in some way. There will also be some Radiant Story quests that might send you to a dungeon that turns out to contain a new word of power, for example.

/current Oblivion playthrough is a couple hundred hours and sdtill haven't touched the main quest, encountered any Oblivion gates or even visited Kvatch yet.

Lots of dead NPCs, because the dragons will keep attacking towns.

i dont really like being forced to do anything

In what way are we forced to go through the main quest?

what consequences are you talking about?

I have very little interest in being a silly dragon hunter. I am hoping that Dragons don't even appear until you have made a bit of progress into the main quest. It should be like how there was only one oblivion gate outside Kvatch until you progressed through the story. However in Skyrim there should be no Dragons and the only hints at an apocalypse is on its way should be easily ignored. This way I can pretend that the main quest doesn't exist.
I'm sorry if Bethesda really wants us to do the main quest then they can make it a bit more original than how it sounds now.

Thats why I think the main quest should start out slow like in Morrowind. If it forced you to do it right at the start then even I think that it would be bad. The game shouldnt force you to do it in the beginning but once youve done it to a certian point it should start getting a lot more urgent and hard to ignore. That gives importance and weight to the main quest and makes it feel like something that matters.

Realism is overrated, I vote no penalty.

If you are forced, or pushed into doing a mission, then it's no longer a roleplaying game. You might as well not even have a sandbox game.

I like to go at my pace and tone; a cornerstone of RPGs, but the fact that Cyrodill in Oblivion moved with you, and not the other way as it is with reality, broke some immersion. I guess I can go either way with a pinch of salt.

What is so bad about a dragon spawning once in a while?

I have been playing Oblivion for years and I still have absolutely no idea what happens after you take Martin to cloud ruler temple, but I would have no problem with fighting a dragon once in a while. Isn't that one of the reasons we are all looking forward to playing the game?

And I have absolutely no problem with learning some dragon shouts. Just because some activity is related to the main quest doesn't mean it would suddenly turn this into a Bioware game on rails.

I'm sure at some point to progress in the main quest you have to go to some "Location X" and you can just not go there until you're ready.

Personally I do plan to learn dragon shouts and fight me some dragons, but as for moving forward to the next stage of the main quest, I won't do that until after I've been playing about 400 hours or so and I'm completely ready to retire that character.

I think you are mistaken, Bethesda has already said that if you haven't faced a dragon in a while, one will appear. THis is seemingly to get you back on the main quest. So to the OP, there is already a mechanism for carrots and sticks to get you focused. If dragons are as unscripted as we are being told, then they can burn anyone and any village if you don't bother to handle them.

Personally, I would love this.

HOWEVER it seems that a great many people, possibly even the majority, never bother with the main quest (or only do it once or twice in all their playthroughs). This means that your proposed consequences would simply get in the way of their fun.

I can propose a solution though:

If a hardcoe mode is included, have this be in a menu of options that you can edit before starting your fantasy simulation.


[ ] End of the World countdown enabled/disabled
[ ] Fast Travel enabled/disabled
[ ] Thirst/hunger/Sleep enabled/disabled
[ ] Aging enabled/disabled (have 1 random stat [health/magic/stamina] be reduced by 1 each in-game year; very very very slightly add marks of age to your character]
[ ] Realistic Damage enabled/disabled

ect.

The reason I play rpgs is immersion which realism helps a lot so its definitely not overrated. The entire world moving with you breaks immersion. The world moving on without you makes you feel a part of it and helps immersion. It also gives a lot more weight and importance to the main quest which makes it more interesting.

Besides, you dont HAVE to do the main quest. You can play the role of a osterich and pretend nothing is going on around you:)

Being bothered by dragons is a penalty enough (that is if we presume that dragons are gone after the Main Quest).

I don't want another Fallout 1...


RPG do a lot of unrealistic things.
Turn based combat, HP, Levels, XP...

DING DING! Solution to both sides!

Add an option for it! :foodndrink:

i agree dragon hunt you down every once in awhile. That's good enough for me it makes it a little harder to settle down and reminds you that you are DRAGON BORN!!

Honestly, this may work in ME2, but I feel in Skyrim (and the TES series in general) it would put way to much pressure on each and everyone of my playthroughs, especially considering I may do things differently per playthrough. I just don't want to be herded into making a decision, especially in Skyrim.

Anyone got a source to these claims, I've seen them mention this in regards to radiant story and general side quests but not one word about dragons.

OK, I misunderstood what you were saying. I'm fine with how Morrowind did it because in that you didn't even have to start the main quest until you talked to Casius the first time. Even then he forced you into breaks to level up to a certain level before continuing on. I'm fine with that.

I just don't want to walk out of the first dungeon and then have dragons start tearing up Skyrim because I decided to level up a few times or live life a while before starting the main quest.

A long long time ago I suggested evolving quests. Basically you could fail, but the quest wouldn't end. There's still be a way to finish sometimes with the same results. Like if the bandits kidnapped a girl and told you to have the money in two days, but you never payed the money and rather went to pick the flowers on the side of the road for two days, and then you got around to the cave to make the payment later the bandits would be there but after "talking" to them you'd learn the girl was sold into slavery.

So then you'd have to go to an estate with guards much stronger than bandits and figure out the best way to free the girl. So basically if you did everything right you could complete the quest early, but if you took your time the world would realize that and change up the quest without smacking you in the face with a game over sign.

As for the main quest, it is especially touchy cause the world is at risk. At the beginning there shouldn't even be any sign of danger for those who wish to ignore the quest. But at specific points in the mq a small portion should be slapped with a timer. Not something constantly nagging at you in the corner either. If you wait, rumors about a town in another provence being distroyed by dragons could rise. People could start wondering where their hero is. A town could get the Kavatch treatment.

It shouldn't be constant presure rush rush rush. At realistic points though, if you walk away the world should at least pretend that it's moving on without you even if it isnt.