While I have occassionally lambasted the inanity and backwards mentality that has kept nudity on the outs, I have not really done much in the way of advocating prostitution in the games. And I wasn't going to start either, until I happened to be re-reading The History of The Fighter's guild, and was reminded that there was indeed an Imperially sanctioned Prostitution Guild. I knew of the six-priestesses and holy prosttutes who serve Diebella, but I had quite forgotten the lore refferences, and they exist in several tomes, to the guild of prosttutes. In light of this, it does seem odd that Oblivion went out of its way to avoid having them. In light of the fact that they are part of the cannon, and that games like Fallout and the Fable series have managed to incoprorate them as standard features of those gameworlds without doing any notable damage to the brands and without getting harsher ratings, Skyrim should, perhaps, be bold enough not to gloss over or ignore this fact of life in Tamriel.

I doubt this will be added in, not to mention that I think Beth said during one of their interviews that the lore in the game was written by the people in the game and wasn't always correct.

uh huh... well whatever floats yer boat lol

No no prostitution in Skyrim please, it would just feel tacky and out of place (despite the history of the fighter's guild). Besides, mods can add that stuff later.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Will it matter in the end (for me)? No.

How did they "go out of their way to avoid having them," as you say? (Not a rhetorical question.)

What would it really add to the game experience? (Again, not rhetorical.)

Written by the people in game, damn that's smart.

Also, a guild of prosttutes? REALLY? Most people, including the fanbase, game critics, and any and all regulatory bodies, like the ESRB, PEGI and CERO would stamp this a mechanic of the game (more specifically a six-based mechanic) and that is the LAST thing a developer needs to put into any game, even a RPG. Remember that the last AAA game that featured a full six-based mechanic was investigated by the American federal government for withholding information from the ESRB, and I REALLY think that any sane developer studio would do their best to avoid that kind of publicity.

Edited to tone down the language (i got hit by the censor filter, so I toned it down).

It's funny how American society allows blood and guts on T.V. on many channels, and yet one slip of a nipble will cause the FCC to have a heart attack.

So we want to expose people to blood and guts, something we hope no human being should ever see in his/her lifetime, and yet we DON'T want to expose private parts, which is completely natural and is something every human usually sees in his/her lifetime.

Strange times we live in, eh?

Prostitution is okay, as long as it can add some aspect to the game, via quest.

To be honest, its not a deal breaker for me one way or the other. It is why I didn't bother attatching a poll to this one. I don't have any problem, generally speaking, with the game not having Prostitution. It isn't one of those moronic things like the obsession with avoiding any hint of nudity while casually allowing for mutilated corpeses etc.

But I do find it odd that, with the presence of prostitution in other franchise games like Fallout and Fable, and with the known history of their being Prostitution guild's in Tamriel and the whole of The Cyrodillic Empire, that it should be overlooked and excluded.

As to the books not always being accurate, a topic brought up by an earlier poster. . . the Prostitution Guild is accounted for in historical records, which is different from "fictional" plays like "A dance in Fire" or "A less rude song".

I don't want prosttutes in the game, but it would be nice if it had some six references to make it a little grittier and more mature.

Something like the "House of Earthly Delights" would be fine, but I have a feeling that that guild have been disbanded.

Just because it's in the lore doesn't mean they have to shine the light on it.

There is no denying that the Victorian Mindset has warped our society very badly, and we Amercians especially are very schizophrenic in our sixual attitudes, and also, as a culture, very warped and backwards in our tolerance for violence versus our tolerance for natural nudity, six etc.

But that isn't my core focus here. It is really just a question of internal adherence, since the guild features in the game lore/history, and since other games have managed to implement similar features without being hammered. I.E. Fable games have always had a brothel, and is still considered more accessible to a wider age range and less "advlt" than was Oblivion (which makes sense, as Fable III was far less dark and gruesome than Oblivion).

I would be okay with this if it was included in Skyrim, either way though its not too big of a deal to me.

Why is it that:

1) People want decapitation and gore but a bare chest is a big no-no? You have to question the insight in morality of people that do not frown on violence but do frown on the naked form.

2) People always assume when this question pops up that the question asker wants full on graphical depiction of intimate goins-on?

I have never seen people ask for some sort of advlt virtual simulator, from what I read people want a more mature approach to certain basic aspects of human life.
I would welcome something like the house of earthly delights in Skyrim.
It would be fitting for the location and atmosphere and add another layer of immersion/ perspective/ verisimilitude.

But please lets not treat this subject like twelve years olds in the classroom anymore.

I don't think he's advocating a deep mechanic, but rather a presence, which has been done in countless games with no repurcussion beyond an "M" rating -- something Todd expects already. I don't think their "services" need to be available to use, or that they need any quest involvement. But I think in the right seedy part of town, it could add to the "feeling" of the area. I always thought ES games lacked areas that were less "savory" than others. They all kind of felt the same. There was no ghetto, or bad part of town, or red light district. I won't close the door on the concept, but could probably take it or leave it. Not everything in lore needs to be included... I'm guessing there are children in the lore too!

I agree. House of Earthly Delights is something interesting and would gave a certain tone to certain parts of cities of where it may fit. Something similar could fit for "rough" parts of ONE of Skyrim's cities. One is enough.

Prostitution guild? No thanks. A mild erotic tone like in the House of Earthly Delights is enough to make it feel "realistic" and "fitting". Prostitution guilds sounds more like an excuse for lonely people to jack off while playing, rather than an actual addition to the game.

Also, FO3 is a completely different game with a completely different tone, setting, reality and atmosphere.

Have you just completely not read my post?
Id really like it if this discussion for once, only once, not to turn into a giggle fest of twelve year olds.
No-one wants what you describe.
What Oblivion lacked was a more 'mature' layer of depth. There was this one quest in Anvil, but that might as well have been written by a fourteen year old for all the lack of subtlety.
No-one wants simulated pixels dancing the horizontal, but something as simple as a chapel of Dibella, something as fitting as a house of eartly delights on the dock part of town..
I find it really odd that people always confuse sixual/ sensual with six. Its not the same thing at all.

Because if we had naked girls in video games, we would NEVER go outside again.

I could have sworn we had a thread like this before......Shades?

I doubt they'll have a guild like this, but hey the more guilds the merrier.

....now a leather making guild, thats more my style.

I read all what you said. Still think it's very unfitting and more an excuse for people to jack off.
I call it more as something sick and useless, rather than mature. If it actually adds to the other atmosphere and tone of the game that's otherwise there, like in FO3, then I can accept something erotic. I certainly don't see it adding to that in Skyrim.

And now there are children in Skyrim! I do think the presence should be there, even if it's just a slight undertone. I liked that Morrowind had a bit of an underground to it. The drug trade, the slave trade, the "house of earthly delights", these kinds of things really did make the world feel more real and more advlt without adding anything gratuitous or over-the-top, and I really did notice the lack of any of it in Oblivion. The only underground was the dark brotherhood and the thieves' guild. Thieves and assassins can't possibly be the only "bad" people in the world. I just didn't like the way morals were presented in Oblivion in general. Either you were good or you were intentionally bad. There was no in-between; not for you or for any of Cyrodill's inhabitants. It just made the world feel completely generic imo.

Wait, like an actual guild that you can join?! I wonder what the quests would be like... O_o

NO. SKYRIM WILL NOT BE DISMISSED AS A six SIMULATOR.

Sounds like fun