Every ES game since at least Daggerfell you start in prison. (I never played Arena so I don't know if it does or not). I have nothing against it, I enjoy it, but I am curios why? Is there a certain trend? Or a subliminal message? Maybe a way to show that prisoners can reform so much that they can save the world? Or maybe to encourage criminals to do good? Or some other kind of message? Or is it just a story starting style? Anyone have any thoughts why ES games tend to start the main character off as a prisoner? Also, it is worth noting that it is never explained why you are in jail, so maybe it is to generalize criminals?

Yeah, in Arena too we start as a prisoner. I think it's a great way to start the character's story as a blank canvas. For me, it was a nice change from the classic "I'm the son of a farmer, my family is gonna get murdered in the first few minutes of the game and I'm gonna be the best hero ever!". Plus I like the fact that they never explain why you were sent in prison...except in Arena I guess. It's a simple intro, but it works.

Edit: Just remembered, in Daggerfall we actually start in a 'random' cave that our character found after his boat sank.

It just became tradition. Todd also said that it's a great way to begin the roleplaying experience. Immediately, the player comes up with an excuse as to why their character is in that prison, whether they murdered someone or they were framed or something like that.

I thought I remember starting in some kind of dungeon in Daggerfell? But its been a long while so I don't remember well.

I'm with this - every time I begin a new game of Oblivion it's a fresh restart...I get to role play. for instance if my new char is:

An assassin - he was sent to the Imperial Prince for his heinous crime of murdering a noble man in his homeland of [insert here]

A mage - he was caught practicing necromancer and was sentanced to a lifetime in jail [but by the circumstances of the emporer he was freed]

An archer - jailed for hunting on Imperial property

On it goes. You can make a story about each character - it is a blank slate, not a cookie-cutter mould that most RPG games thrust upon you.

BTW, Daggerfall starts in a Cave, which leads into a Dungeon.

Ya start in a cave after a ship wreak that was supposedly ya trip to Daggerfall. That wasn't a prisoner intro. Same goes with Arena (ya in dungeon left for dead because the big bad hate ya guts), Redguard (ya start fighting pirates), Battlespire (ya got an assignment to investigate an academy), Morrowind (prison ship drop off but nothing else is known before hand; and this one is arguable it isn't a prison intro). Only Oblivion start out as a legit convict, and with that, I modded the hell out of it to remove it.

The concept of the idea of prison is more that ya a prisoner of destiny/main quest; basically, ya have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

That I would agree with. It's part tradition and part the role-playing benefits of starting in prison, aside from what Todd says about it, I'd also say that starting in prison has the advantage of assuming very little about your character. Aside from Arena, the game doesn't tell you why you're in prison, nor does it tell you who you were before you were in prison, after all, anyone could go to prison if there's a reason to convict you, and that doesn't have to be a good reason if you don't want your character to be a criminal, maybe your character was wrongly convicted, or maybe your character is in fact guilty but feels that the crime was justified. If you start out as say... a farmer, it says something about your character, which is, of course, that you're a farmer, you might also see your house, and maybe even your family and friends. As a prisoner, the game doesn't need to tell you anything about your character because you begin in a situation where the game can justifiably hide any details of your former life from you. Being a prisoner also allows the game to start you off with nothing more than the clothes on your back, because obviously, they wouldn't let convicts carry weapons around in prison, if your character gets released officially (Like in Morrowind.) they can always not return your possessions to you, and if you escape (Like in Oblivion.) then it's pretty easy to justify you not getting your items back, in the end, though, the game lets you start off with only what you can require at the beginning, which I'd say is a good reason to consider the prison start. After all, RPGs don't usually start with you already having good equipment. If you were an adventurer or something at the start, than one would logically expect to start with at least basic equipment, of course, you could begin the game with events that lead to you losing said equipment, but the prison into pretty much serves to do that by default. I wouldn't say it's the only start that achieves a similar effect, but it would probably be hard to find one that creates more of a blank slate short of the old amnesia trick, of course, when you pull that card then people probably expect you to eventually reveal what happened before the memory loss so maybe it doesn't have that effect after all.

1) Yes, you start in a prison in Arena

2) Todd Howard answered this question. I can't remember where, but I can remember the answer. Basically, it is just a story starting device. It's used for two reasons. The first being to explain your complete lack of knowledge of the continent you live on. The second reason is to give players total freedom in creating a backstory, it is used to encourage roleplaying because as soon as you start out, you start working a story in your head about why you're in jail.

The answer is they like to do it that way.

All the fine detail has pretty much already been masterfully covered here. Have fun with that.

Yeah, it was Privateers Hold. Your ship crashed there (somehow) in a cave that lead to the dungeon.

Perhaps we are all gluttons for punishment, so we like to start out being punished for an unknown (or non-existent) crime...?

in daggerfall you start in a cave... not prison. lrn2lore.

So, at least three ES games begines with sea travel. Another tradition?

By the way, TES Travels Stormhold also was in prison.

I'd prefer it if you simply arrived on boat from your homeland. If you played as a holy knight it sort of starts you on the wrong foot.