Was the any mention of them pre- DLC? nope, they just pulled a new faction out of nowhere. See, I like the idea of a faction of vampire hunters, but there was already at least two other factions they could have used instead.

The first faction that springs to mind is the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Vigil_of_Stendarr they were already in skyrim and could have been put to more use then they are already. On the UESP it says that they are " dedicated to wiping out Daedra and any other "abominations" (such as vampires, werewolves, and witches)." this would not only have given us a main quest, but Sorine and Gunmars quests (or their replacement's), and also quests involving daedra, witches, werewolves and all sorts of nasty creatures.

The quest could have started with the Dovakhiin defending the hall, and making sure it doesn't get destroyed.

The second Faction they could have used in the Dawnguard's place is the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:The_Order_of_the_Virtuous_Blood_%28faction%29 If you've played Oblivion you'll hopefully remember them. Yes, they were abysmal at actually combating vampires, if you've done the quest you'll know why, if not click the link. But a lot can change in 200 years, and surely having the champion of Cyrodill in your order can only improve them. But alas, we have no mention of these guys at all, all that history...wasted.

Discuss.

They tied in the Vigilants pretty well IMO, and the Order of Virtuous Blood was pretty lackluster. Besides, they came up with some interesting supposed backstories for the Dawnguard, and you can't expect them to draw everything off of established lore. I just hope that this isn't the last we hear of the Dawnguard.

Just because they were back then, doesn't mean they would be forever.

I have three questions

1. Why would an order who only existed for a short time in the Second Era, and who really only worked in Riften, be mentioned outside the province? We dont hear about all the various other minor cults/groups from all the other provinces, yet we know its likely that they exist. Might as well complain that the black-blood marauders weren't mentioned in past games.

2. Why would the new version of the order, which is so new it only has like three people in it before you join it, be anywhere near large enough to be known, and thus, mentioned?

3. Based on the two questions above, why on earth does it matter if they were never mentioned before, when their lack of being mentioned is adequately explained by lore?

Bethesda puts books for you to read in game, it's their way of adding bits of lore I suppose. So you wouldn't need to be outside skyrim, you would just need to read a book. And a group of bandits is hardly the same as a order of legendary vampire slayers, that were formed during the second era....

Probably a bad example but, everyone knows the Nazi's, right? there's hardly any Nazi's nowadays but we still know about them....

Because they already had two other factions that served the 'dawnguards' purpose.

-Except they weren't THAT legendary.

-The real world isn't the same as a game world, where Devs can add new things into the past, nor should real world inabilities prevent Bethesda from adding something cool, like the dragon war, the dragon cult, and the Dawnguard, into lore.

-Well

1. the order of the virtuous blood isn't a real substitute for anything, they were a VERY small group of like 5 people in cyrodiil, and have no reason to have gone to Skyrim.

2. No one liked the vigilant really, nor can Bethesda account for player's who may or may not have killed all the Vigilant before the DLC's release, thus preventing people from being able to play the DLC. You cant deny people the ability to play a DLC based on actions committed in the base game.

To have a castle that big, I'd say they were pretty proficient at killing vampires...

Of course the real would isn't the same, i was just giving you and example of an organisation that everyone knows but isn't a part of anymore. Like how the Dawnguard was.

The order of virtuous blood were small 200 years ago, just like the dawnguard were in the 4Era. 200 years is a long time, and once word got out that the champion of Cyrodil was part of their order, I'm sure that they would gain lots of new recruits.

Just because you don't like the Vigliants, and Vigliants re-spawn anyways so the would be no problem.

And I think the lore around the Dawnguard was well written, it fits in well, it's just that the were other factions they could have used, really.