Been there done that.

Unless they're going to add a questline and all that. Vampires in both Oblivion and Skyrim were very lacking. Besides the abilities, the only story and quests you had for them was to get cured.

They could add some quests without wasting the entire expansion on vampires though. If it was the size of Bloodmoon, we could have a vampire questline without vampires being the focus of the dlc. You see what i'm saying?

Yeah, though we're not sure how big the DLC will be (they've been rather inconsistent in saying what they've wanted to do). If it's the size of Bloodmoon, perhaps it could be like the Raven Rock quest line. But if it's smaller, it may only be able to focus on one questline. Given that it won't even be a year after the release of Skyrim befor the DLC is released, I wouldn't expect something the size of Bloodmoon unless they have a sizeable group working on it.

It's Bethesda. Look at what they did in the Game Jam. That was one week. They said the DLC would be on par with FO3 DLC like The Pitt and Operation Anchorage. I can't really imagine Betheda releasing anything small after 6 months.

Though I hope there are a couple Shivering Isles sized expansion some time in the future. Or at least one. Send Skyrim out with a bang.

As someone that never played those, were they questline/item additions like KotN or (what I would say was) a complete expansion like SI?

More like SI, give or take, the closest thing to something like it was Point Lookout. Pitt and and O.A gave you a different areas to participate in, but were smaller in scope. They offered more then KotN, as far as new things go.

Oh, nice, a Dawnguard speculation thread in the lore forums.

So I can submit my favourite theory to the lore buffs and see what they think of it.

The datamined files were, among others, about vampires and Falmers... Well...

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1371845-dawnguard-and-future-dlc-discussion-thread-26/page__view__findpost__p__20743880 that the connection between Falmers and vampires could be Molag Bal. Molag Bal created the first vampire, Lamae Beolfag, the Blood-Matron. Moreover, Molag Bal is the Prince of Domination and Enslavement of the Mortals. Therefore, he might be involved in the narcotic enslavement of the Falmers by the Dwemers and its perpetuation even after the disappearance of the Deep Elves.

Azura's followers have already fought against vampires in the past, the specific example of Dratik appeared in Oblivion. Moreover, Azura is the Prince of Dusk and Dawn. Thus, Dawnguard could be the name of a faction of her worshippers, who struggles against Molag Bal. Let's expand a little railtracer's ideas...

Azura's realm, Moonshadow, is said to be so beautiful that it turns the ones who visit it either blind or mad. Well. Maybe the Dovahkiin's glowing eyes on the announcement picture are in fact an outer sign of the change which happened after his coming to Moonshadow? Maybe other people visited it in the past, and came back with such eyes, and were then wrongly considered blind? Or maybe those eyes are a blessing from Azura, allowing its wielder to walk into Moonshadow without harm?

The natural opponents of the Prince of Enslavement seem to be the Twin Lamps encountered in Morrowind. Now, would it be possible that its name originate in such a blessing of Azura, that the founder of this order had two glowing eyes, and thus was seen by his or her followers as the wielder of "Twin Lamps"? This would explain the very origin of their name. Could the Twin Lamps of Morrowind be actually a subfaction of a larger Dawnguard?

So a new hero, blessed by the "Twin Lamps", could have to free the Falmer from their perpetuated enslavement, restore them, and then fight against the worshippers of Bal's creature, Lamae Beolfag.

Is it too far-fetched to be plausible?

I like it, but I don't think Bethesda thinks like that. It just doesn't seem like something they would write.

No, a DLC on Azura would be a waste. She's been done before in Morrowind. I hope Bethesda gives us something new. The Thalmor plot is a waste, we already fight them in the game. We don't need anymore Thalmor stuff.

We fight them, but their story is far from finished. Too many open-ended hints from NPCs and all that.

Nah. Maybe next game or something.

This is innacurate. Based on Morian Zenas' trip to Moonshadow, we can certainly say it imparts no lasting effect upon one's vision or mind. While it is true that, while in Moonshadow, mortals see everything as a blur, with "colors running like water," there is absolutely no evidence that visiting Moonshadow has effects on sanity or has lasting effects on vision.
Yes. I can't see gamesas ever writing something like that. It's too much of an epileptic tree.

I agree, the tension between Skyrim, the Empire, and the Thalmor can be taken so much deeper. It has the overarching mythic/global magnitude that will/should reverberate for centuries to come. It feels very "undone" so far, IMO.

EDIT: Oops, posted too late, this was following Kourumi's post.

Based solely on the inclusion of vampire files in the patch, and that teaser image they gave us of Joe Dovahkiin with particularly sinister-looking, glowy red eyes, my first impression would be vampires play a large role. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. That's not enough to really make even an educated guess. Then again, those files could just be preemptive additions for a small, vampire-related update. Only Beth knows, and she ain't talkin' yet.

To be completely honest, though I've never really been all that interested in vampires and have never played a vamp character, I don't think I'd be all that disappointed in a vamp-heavy expansion. As long as none of them sparkle and prey on teenage girls, they can add as many vampires as they want.

That's understandable. gamesas has never given vamps a lot of love. Hell, I'm pretty sure it's still standard to reccomend the unholy trinity to Morrowind players.

If the Thalmor play a damn big role, then vampires should too. It won't matter since many people don't care. Others obviously do not want vampires. It was the same when Skyrim came out. Not that many people were excited to see dragons, but many were. Bethesda should expand and make vampire lore better, and then add some Thalmor if they want. Vampires themselves had so much potentially in Oblivion when a single ingame book expanded their lore(Not Immortal Blood). Lore-wise, the ones in Cyrodiil are power-hungry, manipulative politicians who worship their Dark Gift and Molag Bal and Clavicus Vile who deceive the masses of people while aquiring wealth and status.

With a bit of more lore, they could of went from boring old cave-dwelling baddies to a good clan with a good potential story-telling. It seems to me that Bethesda just want to make vampires a bunch of blood-thirsty monsters with wings and fangs. But there is much more to them than parasitic individuals. They, at least in Oblivion, should of been like the Thalmor in a much less public and inquisitorial way. But no, damn golden elves got a better story .

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like vampires or that I think they're lame, the "horror" monsters just never stuck with me as well as the "fantasy" monsters did. But the great thing about Elder Scrolls is that vampires, werewolves, and zombies fit into the world just as well as dragons, giants, and elves so there's a little something for everyone.

Come to think of it, I think they probably could bring some love to TES vampires. If they did something really awesome and unique with them (which you know they could if they put their minds to it), it would definitely help wash away some of the *yargh* "Twilight Taint." At least from my mouth. And vampires as enemies in TES go back all the way to Arena, so it's not like they're new kids on the Elder Scroll block. I think one of the reasons that the Thalmor get more attention than vampires is that Thalmor and the Dominion are part of the written history. They're a plot device, while vampires are seen more or less as generic enemies. So yeah, vampires could use more Beth-love, and no, I wouldn't be upset if Dawnguard focused on vampires as long as they did something sweet with them and enriched their lore, and not just, "go kill generic vampires in generic cave location because they're evil" kind of thing.

Thalmor Vampires.

Vampires vs Werebats.

Vampires vs Zubats.

I don't know how I feel about this.

Thalmor vs CHIM.

Selective vs. Ebonheart Pact.

Pitbulls vs Hoboes

"Minotaur" vs "Taurmer".