Likewise, dragons to me seem uninteresting, bleak and not dark enough for a compelling tale. The Thalmor scenario does seem interesting, as long as it involved a preternatural creature or two in it. The whole sciene fiction thing is...meh, in my honest opinion. But we'll see. Bethesda doesn't fail to appease the different varieties of people.

You haven't read Anne Rice, have you?

Granted, TES vampires haven't ever been particularly engaging. But that doesn't mean they can't ever be. There's potential there. My personal preference would be a connection to Lorkhan's Heart and its Godsblood. Something funky with ebony. And an exploration of why vampires hate Magnus (or vice versa, I suppose).

Wait, what? They patched in mounted combat? How did I not notice this? Why is it that my google searching reveals they don't let you use mounted spells (the only form of combat my main char gets involved in)???


Anyway, on topic:

I really feel that both Vampirism and the Thalmor plot both need some love. As it stands, vampires are probably one of the lamest aspects of TES. They've just got no love. Werewolves? They have a nice TES spin (imho, probably the best spin), what with the whole, "great beasts created by the lord of the hunt to serve as penultimate predator and ultimate prey" thing. Vampires? Uh.... something something Molag Bal! It's flat, but it could be made very interesting.

As for the Thalmor, well, everything seems to be leading up to a big conflict with them, and while we need a bit of a respite (AFAIK only the companions and thieves guild didn't set up the conflict), we also need to develop the backstory a bit, otherwise people will be totally lost.

If we really have to see vampires in this DLC, I would rather we had something Stephen King-esque. Would be nicer to see something Thalmor related though, but as I said I expect that to be saved for an actual expansion, not just DLC.

Yeah, it's in the beta for the 1.6 patch. You have to opt in to the patch, steam won't download beta patches automatically.

Likewise. If Bethesda elaborates more on vampirism, I hope they won't resort to over-the-top theories suggesting the reasons that vampire exist other than being supernatural. With all these scientific stuff, Bethesda might succumb to making vampirism a biological condition rather than a supernatural affliction. The disease aspect is already present. I would throw away the game if Bethesda tried to explain the reason for vampire feeding is because their blood cells are unable to produce hemoglobin. If I wanted to read that stuff, I could go study porphyria at the local library instead of trying to enjoy myself with a video-game.

I worry that they are going to use the Thalmor to nullify the choice the player made as to whether the Imperials defeated the Stormcloaks, the Stormcloaks won, or they signed their peace treaty. For it to work though it would probably have to happen post-Skyrim, pre-TES 6. If they let our choice stand they would have to be ridiculously vague when it comes to the documenting of the rebellion in the future games of the series, and a failed/succesful rebellion by such a integral province to the Empire would be hard to gloss over to the degree that they need to.

Edited because I am an idiot (thanks Inglar).

Keep the bulk of the sci-fi outside the games. I don't like there being one system which explains the universe and I'd rather have different cultures with different answers as in "Where were you when the Dragon Broke?". Which means leaving the truth in the dark. Even if it is canon, I don't want every npc talking about the Dreamsleeve and the Godhead, because it should be super occult at best.


Oh come on, Ancano messed about with some weird magic orb thing of untold power, Alduin just tried to reset the universe and you want to see the Thalmor do one better in an expansion?


I assume you're talking about the ancient Snow Elves, not the modern ones.

Perhaps the prince could achieve CHIM by enantio-mantling emantliomering Magnus or some such [censored] and bring about a dragon break which turns them into light blue Altmer with frost resistance (more than that of Nords) and a "spellsword" skill group, but not the attitude. In the process they occupy Markarth (they still sought refuge in Dwarven cities, but they didn't get enslaved) and displace the Reachmen. Then they join the Empire/anti-Thalmor alliance. And before all that, some of them are vampires.
If you work against the vampires, you get a questline a bit like a more scientific Ultraviolet (Ultravarliance) without the smoke and mirrors, but instead of turn of the millenium technology you use Restoration. If you join them, you get the Companions questline again.
Just think about something like that until it's released and you'll surely be pleased with what we're given.

*Stormcloaks

Hey, that time travel crap was my favourite part of the MQ. Well, not what happened when you actually got there, but the idea of it.

With any luck, time travel will allow us to discover the truth about the Eye of Macguffin and get some more lore of the merish Weltanschuaung.



I'd buy it. Don't think it will happen, though.

Snow Elves as a playable race would be amazing actually. They haven't added any races since Morrowind. They'll have to make it work out good. I don't want some cheesy bs on why you can play as snow elves in the TES VI.

Imagining the racials: 75% resist cold, 25% weakness to fire.... that's all I really know about 'em. The best thing about them is there isn't much established lore on them yet, so Bethesda can write in some really cool stuff.

In the file names, they all say DLC01. It's all Dawnguard.

Though I would laugh so hard if Bethesda was trolling by adding these files, and Dawnguard has nothing to do with any of this. They're already my favorite devs but if they did that... major props.

Where can I find an Imga who's face I can wear? I wanna photoshop mine a little.

That would be hilarious! No Snow Princes, no vampires, no crossbows, no animations, no dragon mounts, no new companions. Ha! If one thing is out, then the rest should be too! Fairness is bliss.

exactly. It would be the perfect prank.

I have read Anne Rice, and although she's a fine enough writer and the character interaction is good, vampirism itself is still boring to me.

And when I say that I would like to see some more metaphysical or science-y stuff actually put forward in the DLC, I don't mean that you need to anolyze the chemical composition of moonsugar. Although the expansion of scientific knowledge in the real world actually serves to increase the mystique of the universe, the same cannot necessarily be said for fictional universes. Uncovering every dark corner...TES wouldn't be the better for it. However, I think nearly anyone can attest to the fact that the "science-y" parts of TES apocrypha and monkey-truths carry their own mystic weight that rivals the more standard fantasy fare. That's all.

Sunbirds
Mannanauts
Dreamsleeve
Prof. Numinatus
Particles of Creatia
Artful Mantis
Glyphdiscs

I demand these things in future DLCs. At least in passing reference.

All that stuff with Vehkships that was going on a few months ago made me want to scalp myself. Most of those elements are all right but when I read about Cyrus in space it kinda pissed me off. No joke.

I look at the unconfirmed MK stuff as the "could be" but not as the "it is" if you catch my drift.

As for the topic, I'm just as confused as you are. Though something to do with the revival of the Falmer Prince sounds awesomely awesome.

At least it's not werewolves. That would be even more boring.

/completeopinion (which really isn't one I have, as I'm excited for whatever they focus their DLC on. Anyone remember the Skyrim vamps everyone hoped would be in? I want to see some DLC that makes the vampires of Skyrim as terrible and scary as they are supposed to be. I also want werebears though.. )

Chocolate in my Peanut Butter?

Vampires in my Colored Rooms?!

Has anyone ever noticed that in the Barrow of the Snow Prince on Soltstheim there are no actual remains? There's just the armour. Could this not mean, then, that the Snow Prince was actually undead, i.e. a vampire [lord] and just strolled right out of there when the nords had left?

Since the files we have seen have been so seemingly random and unrelated, I'm assuming some of them are just game-jam features that they're releasing along with the actual DLC.

Or, you know, falmer-vampires with crossbows riding dragons that are also somehow related to the name Dawnguard.

I hope you're right. I don't think a DLC revolving around vampires is necessary. They could just add vamp stuff in without dedicating (wasting) a whole expansion on them.

After taking his armour off. Which he might if he turned into a grossly deformed gargoyle of a vampire. To be fair, being undressed in wilderness is something that can happen to anyone.