I apologize in advance if this exact topic has been visited before, but I have two kids, so I'm limited with time when it comes to searching previous topics.

I'm a fan of the DLC Bethesda offered us in Oblivion, but it always annoyed me how it was triggered in the game. The quests themselves were fine, but come on...a note appearing in your inventory? Really? Seems like a real cop out to me. Put a little writing skill into it! I would prefer DLC in Skyrim to require a little bit of exploration and curiosity. Even something as simple as entering a town and overhearing a conversation. They did that to an extent with Knights of the Nine: NPCs were all upset by the events in Anvil. I would prefer that over having seventeen relatives all die simultaneously, conveniently leaving me with all their property! My five year old has more creativity than that! I would like something to directly happen to or at least nearby my character. Or witness something that triggers a new storyline. Just please, no more notes or dying relatives!

I'd love to hear some other ideas on this subject! And feel free to criticize (as if some of you need encouragement....you know who you are!)

Sounds sensible to me - they've mentioned that they were experimenting with the OB DLC, so chances are they've learnt a trick or two since then.

Pfft. Like 3/5 DLC for Fo3 were radio beacon triggered... They weren't exactly the most creative there either.

I do hope if varies a little more for Skyrim, that would be nice.

Would be cool if like in TES 2 DAGGERFALL some messenger would run up to you and hand you a note at some random point in the game for some DLC quests. A bit more immersive actually seeing someone instead of the "note" magically appearing out of nowhere.

Another cool way would be just traveling about and coming across a rumour in a tavern or someone you did a favor for or perhaps didnt do a favor for and thinks giving you the quest will lead to a deserved untimely death

Sure... but it made more sense than just "having" a note in your inventory. It may have been cheap, but it worked in the circumstances. The same thing could be said for overhearing conversations, but I'm happy with that. Having NPCs deliver notes or other plot devices would be welcome too. They've had a fair bit of time to think things up, after all.

I agree that it was kinda weird to be just walking in the woods, far from everybody, and suddenly have a pop-up that said "I have heard rumors about a strange door in Niben Bay" when you CLEARLY have heard NOTHING

Could do it more like KotN. You had to ask around or just happen across it to start that DLC. Frankly it should come with a file that says how to start it and just have it be somewhere in the game. Little to no clues unless it is something really huge.

Right! I didn't even think about the Fallout 3 DLC. New broadcast stations were a lame gimmick, too. Definitely better than notes and dying relatives, but still not what I'm looking for. The radiant story thing seems like the perfect way to bring new content in. I'd much prefer that the DLC didn't even feel like DLC. The one thing I did enjoy with Fallout 3's DLC was the one that extended the main quest. That one didn't seem like downloaded content to me...just a continuation of what you were already doing. And all done without space aliens!

I think that's why Knights of the Nine was my favorite of the downloads. It just flowed easier than the rest of it.

Sadly enough I never completed that DLC, nor did I get past the first quest. As soon as I was told to travel to one of the wayshrines for each god I basically just said "[censored] that."