Hey everybody, has anyone else gotten tired of the main story, or for that matter the guild stories? I find it difficult to even play story lines in new 'play through' games because really, the plot of the game was only meant for the first time retail experience. At least thats how I see it...

i started using the 'live another life' mod where you can choose from a list how you want to start the game not having to start crossing the boarder and all that stuff. I feel that in contrast, there should also be a different world plot as well. I know this is a big deal because of the vast amount of scripting that would go into it and how much of the game that would be needed to change in order to make it work, but all the same it would be a great project.

I thought about how I would do it, and simply to keep the feel of civil war and a country in turmoil that each hold would become an independent city state each with its own politics, and the main story could be like which faction will rule skyrim over all the others. Naturally each hold would have to be built up to make them all relatively even or at least balanced enough for a good war story to unfold organically. I would want a dynamic system where for what ever reason one hold gets pissed at another then calls up their ally hold and they go and invade. The hold thats being invaded my have some allies of their own and in the process of a siege gain the upper hand and take territory from another. These events wouldnt require much script in the way that the vanilla game where the player is the central focus of all activity. The success or failure of events like this would have a deep impact on the economy, the regional politics, the radiant quests, and on as far as the player is concerned. To make it feel more ambient I would have dialogue that is more or less ambiguous so that anyone in any hold can say it and have it fit the situation based on what just happened in the world.

Anyway, thats how I would do it, but unfortunately I dont have the technical where-with-all to make mods, never mind an overhaul of that scale...

Basically what im looking for is something that already exists. Lengthy side quest lines and interesting stuff like puzzle solving and connect/collect the dots are cute and fun and something I would like to look at, but having a real story that has an impact on the world are the kinds of things that really have me motivated. Also, this whole trend that bethesda has of 'the weight of the world on my shoulders' where all the side quests essentially amount to 'woe was me, I have troubles and need help' so the player steps in to take out the trash... Stuff like that has gotten really old, I feel that quests should stop being about 'pitty party' and more about getting stuff done in a more business sense.

For example, im a Ranger, I like to spend time out in the wilderness hunting and gathering. I use only a bow, and compensate the obvious drawbacks with alchemy to produce potions and poisons to give me the edge I need to take on that heavy armors monster with a battle axe. To stay in my element, I would look for jobs where I need to travel, 'take this package to this settlement' or 'escort this person' that way I have a reason to get around and see the world. Being a Ranger I have tactical applications for assassination or ambush support roles which are the kinds of jobs I would seek out from the fighters guild and so forth. And in the middle of what ever i might do I can always hunt and gather skins and produce remedies that people would want to buy in order to keep myself supplied.

I guess this is getting a little large for most people so ill end this by saying that I see ambient (re-occurring) quests as most important because the world doesnt simply stop after a few weeks of honest business. Even if there are only a good thirty unique jobs and they get repeated over and over, as long as the quest givers arent too repetitive making the game feel stagnate the game could virtually go on forever, its just a matter of making 'business as usual' feel like life just goes on and there wont really be an end.

If anyone has any suggestions I think a number of people would appreciate it, thanks in advance!

It makes more sense to have the extra content in a new map space I would think, maybe even unreachable through normal play even and only as an addon start to LAL. More realistically, you can try to add the sort of content you like to the existing Beyond Skyrim project.

As for the second half of what you said: "More Radiant quests" would probably have sufficed