I don't know about you guys, but my character was put in there because the lord of the town he was in couldn't find a wife because all the ladies were infatuated with me. And of course they will bust me out.

There's never a reason. Anything said about you being imprisoned is intentionally vague so you can decide for yourself why your character might be in jail.

Have a Fishy-Stick!!!

Crossing the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border with a duck on my head.

Failure to grow a beard (naw, my character must have a beard if he's a Nord).

Truth be told, I kind of want to start out in jail again, just to keep the tradition going. On the other hand, I'm not going to lose any sleep if we start out differently.

We were gay and in the army, but they just repealed dadt so we get released.

Because not enough people have the imagination to start off elsewhere, and was tossed in for speaking out at such an injustice.

Because Bethesda puts you there?
Did we ever have a reason to be in jail? That's just how it is, you dont get to chose.

Start out in a carriage on the way to somewhere when it is overtaken by bandits... you can choose to join them or high-tail it back to civilization on foot. I think that would work because there is no need for a generic back-story.

Start out in a cave after getting lost in the wilderness.... fight with rats ensues..

Picked up off the street without any explanation and delivered to some authority figure who asks for your assistance.

Arrested for relieving yourself onto the side of a Lord's carriage as it passes.... harder for the women-folk, but the broad-side of a carriage shouldn't be too hard to miss.

Pass out in an alley and have a night-mare about dragons... fight with rats ensues. (No explanation why you were in the alley or for passing out.)

Arrested for having too much cowbell and thus violating public noise laws... fight with rats ensues. I PICK THIS ONE!

How about not starting out in a stupid prison? That would be nice. BTW, its not a tradition.

http://http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1150526-making-sammiches-in-skyrim/

I plan on playing as an Argonian, in which case my character will have been locked up for partying just a little too much at the news of so many Dunmer being vaporized by a giant rock.

Exactly

Might want to filter out the public urination, but I'm sure the fishy sticks would make a great stir fry.

Probably a prank somewhere along the line that caught up to me because of existing nobility having connections.

Violating the law.

I think it would be after three games. Overall, it's a minuscule portion of the game that would feature a prison, so it shouldn't be a big deal even for those who don't want to start in prison. Besides, we have to start somewhere. If it's prison again, I'll be amused. If not, that's fine.

Domestic Violence
Animal Cruelty
Assaulting an Officer
Public Intoxication
DUI
Made a lot of mistakes that night but boy was it fun.

Maybe you just wake up in the wilderness, having no idea how you got there?
Surrounded by rats, of course.

Stealing a fork in Leyawinn and failing to remember that All Guards Are Psychic.

Lets look at history, shall we? In Arena, one start in a dungeon full of monsters just because the Final Boss does not like ya. Daggerfall, there ALOT of reason how the PC got to Daggerfall in the first place, all lead to ship wreck. In Redguard, ya start out fighting pirates. In Battlespire, one was sent to a mission to fight off Dagon himself. In Morrowind, ya got out of the boat. They are not all "minuscule portion of the game that would feature a prison".

The big deal is how "open" the background the Players can have without screwing them from the start, ya know, like a goodie two shoe start out in prison. I would not take the "ya framed to jail" quite nicely.

Only in Oblivion, one start out in a legit Prison Cell. In a way, the dev could have done BETTER with that intro.

I've come to like starting off as a former inmate, but this would be pretty cool too. A lot more potentially immersive.



Don't know about this one. I'd rather there be no life around until I take a few steps and then BAM! Big-ass dragon tearing the land a new one. :rock:

Killed a hoker in the house of earthly delights.

You got caught riding dirty. The imperial legion found an ounce of moon sugar in your carriage, and you were imprisoned for possession and intent to distribute.

Everyone in Imperial prisons has seen the worst of the worst: vase pushers, fork grabbers, and plate touchers. You know how they say "don't drop the soap"? Well Talos help you if you pick it back up.


I thought it was a routine arrest. I had been at a bar with my buddies when I brushed the side of a fruit basket with my elbow and heard that merciless "STOP!...", but oh no fate never keeps things that simple and as it turns out I had violated Imperial Bar Code Article XI Subjection S: Illegal contact of fruit containers while under the influence of alcohol, the only punishment severe enough for a crime like this was imprisonment at an Imperial prison work camp in the far northern reaches of Skyrim.

I'm gonna poop a brick if we're in prison for the third time around. :banghead:

Arrested for being... a (criminal) scum.

They need to break this tendency. But I like playing a character with no background, so I can tell my own story the way I want and come up with clever and cool backgrounds that explains the life my char had before.

As long as the character has no background I am happy with it. Starting off a boat would be the coolest way I think. Makes me think of the beggining at Point Lookout, where you are on the boat and you see the destroyed and abandoned shore and buildings.

Just make a cool cinematic entrance like Point Lookout on a boat followed by the character creation and then toss me into this world with no tutorial or anything.

Framed for a crime I did not commit after a night with the local lord's daughter.