I think it's always nice to have a main story that you can play through whenever you feel liek doing so. However, it's not like it would be necessary for the game, just a nice thing to have.

Other
Depends on the quality of the main story and (if the main story is good) my character.

It isnt the most important aspect of the game, but i would like a good gripping story that serves some purpose.

in Morrowind and Oblivion i have never done the main quest!!! well, in OB i closed one portal.

Unlike Oblivion, i enjoyed how both fallout games had a Main Story that connected greatly with exploration, like in Fallout you had a goal of finding you father or your killer (in NV) and on your journey doing everything else felt nice because it was part of the adventure. In Oblivion the game drops a lot of stuff in you right on the start and it gives a certain feel of urgency which made doing side quests something like.. just not caring about the main cause. "Go speak to the old commander at the chapel blablabla! HURRY!".. "nah.. i'll just go do the other 100 side quests."

it's important to me until i discover the dark brotherhood faction quests

Of course the main story is important... It really bothered me how in Oblivion I didn't care when certain main characters were killed off or when events that were supposed to be "epic" turned out to be very lackluster instead. I want Skyrim to make me care when something happens, not make me apathetic to the supposedly important stuff taking place.

depends for morrowind by the time i was ready for the main story my character was insanely strong

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I feel that maybe what the OP intended to ask is if the main quest is important. The story is what sets the tone for the game.

I always put the main story off until i've spent a year or two (in game. gotta love the in game days/years/months) adventuring and gaining power, abilities, renown.

I was a fully realized Arch Mage, head of the Arcane University, owner of Rose Thorn Manor and a giant library of books, an armory of weapons, armor and magical items.

When I took on the challenge of saving the world the enemy had a dangerous foe to deal with. If I had the DLC at the time they would have had a Mad God coming for them too.

I cant wait to play the main quest, will be the thing i focus on first on my first character. I most likely ignore it on future playthroughs but yea it surely should be good since it has teh dragons

It's certainly not "important" to me. World exploration is whats important,but it's a nice side feature imo

A ton of big scary dragons trying to devour or blow up the world? Yeah, that's too uber to ignore.

Voted 'other'.

I like that I don't have to do the main quest - or rather, that I don't have to do it except when I want to. But I don't like games that are pure sandbox either. I like a sense of progression, of increasing challenges that have to be overcome. And while I like the freedom of the Elder Scrolls games, I also like the structure that a well written story gives.

If there's no main quest, no story driving things along, if quests can be done in just about any order you like, then for me there's no sense of achievement. It's just a diary with a list of 'things to do' that can be done as and when.

Of course, I appreciate that's great fun for a lot of people, and sometimes it's great fun for me as well. It just isn't quite enough fun .

Sure it is. There are plenty of other things to do, but the main quest is also the main story of the game and will be a big part of the lore of TES's future. I always love a good story, and learning about the world's lore, so it's fairly important; that said, I'll probably spend quite a long time doing other things before I get very far into the MQ. I like how Morrowind didn't make the MQ seem drastically important from the very beginning like OB did. It gave you plenty of opportunities to just go off and do your own thing without feeling pressured to go do the MQ right away, and that's how I hope they present the MQ in Skyrim as well.

I'm just glad that they decided to include the dragons as normal (albeit very difficult) enemy characters. That way I can fight dragons often without having to go through the main quest in order to encounter them! I'm excited for the main quest, but I'm glad that they exist outside of the main quest.

Although I prefer the faction quests, I need a good main quest for the overall feel of the game. It's true in Oblivion I can ignore it and do the side quests (some of them are exceptional) but once I get into the main quest to the point where it becomes obvious that it's very weak and clicheed compared to the others, it starts bothering me. I need a main quest at least on par with the best of the secondary quest lines.

i also enjoy studying the history in the game such as in oblivion i read over and over again, every book on the Akavari. i also like reading some of the stories because they are actually pretty good i also think we need a longer and more challenging main quest

of course the main quest is important. It's what the game is suppose to be built around. no main quest would probably mean no dragons. i hate dragons personally. i think they are overrated. so i will be overjoyed the main quest is hell-bent about killing them

Other, It took me a while to do the Oblivion story due to the constant distractions and I've only completed it once across all my characters. I suppose it just depends on whether the story is good or not.

The main story isn't all that important as I prefer the freedom of going off and doing the whole exploring thing. :turned:

Im the same way. It really just depends on the quest for me, however, I've gotten as far as the "Aid for Bruma" quest. Thats when I really just said "You know what, this isnt any fun, at all."

"Well thats one gate down.....two....hmm.....maybe the next city will have something a little diffirent.....what? Another Oblivion gate you say?" -__-