I don't think dragons will spawn until a certain part in the MQ.

I am going to roleplay a non-dragonborn character.


If there are dragons at the beginning, I will not learn dragonshouts, or won't use them in battle.

If there are not, I won't start the main questline.

you can chose to not kill the dragon, but then you are dragon poop

I say have both, Torchlight is a damn fun game!.. not helping I know.. I'll get my coat.

Torchlight is fun. But it's a button mashing straight combat game, which is why I suggested it for him.

I hope they are always there, but you don't get dragonshouts for killing them and they are a lot harder to kill. That would be the best option imo. So you can kill them, but you will basically be like an NPC. You probably want to run.

You don't get shouts from them anyway. You get them at word walls.

are you serious.... this isn't up to you. the dragons are there when the game begins. Why do you want to avoid the dragons??? they are just another creature in the game. and they give u more power. man up

Probably one of the first mods I'll download is to delay anything that has to do with dragons, and main quest urgency.

It should be delay-able (not just avoiding a crisis, but having it not happen until a certain time) just like the past games have been. If I just want to be a silent thief character who's not that powerful, I should be able to play that damn character.

Dont do the main quest=Dragons probably wont pop up. Few of my characters will ever go through the MQ.

I maintain my hope that dragons only enter the equation at around the halfway mark of the Main Quest (which I remember reading takes about 20 hours to complete), and up until then you're mainly trying to reunite Skyrim and end a civil war. That way, if you choose to ignore the Main Quest, it's not like you're blowing off the end of the world - you're just blowing off politics. Of course, at some point the crap needs to hit the fan, and things need to become urgent.

In Morrowind it took me about half a year to even realise there was a main quest.
It was my first TES game, I didnt have internet and I had sold the package to Caius to a merchant and never thought of it again.
There was just so much to do.
Eventually though when reading my log I thought: oh yeah, I wonder what that is about?
It took me a while to track down the trader but then I was very happy with the eventual realisation that this Nerevarine character could very well be me.

I have no doubt that just like previous games, most things will be optional and you can simply choose never to trigger a key quest.

Is it possible to have mods for alternate quest lines? (Spice up your game with a completely different main quest?)

Yes, you can avoid the main quest if you want. You always havea choice in TES.

THIS PLEASE!

What I loved about Oblivion was that you didnt have to be a hero, you could just be. Only in one play through did I actually do the MQ. Hell the play through I got the most evil fun out of was when I decided to rob every single poor person in the game, put all their crap into Adoring Fan, and I pushed him down some hole I found. Ahhh, good times. :angel:

well if a really upset dragon lands down in front of you im sure you will be more than happy to slay said dragon wouldnt you? :hubbahubba: dragons are handled like creatures they appear from the moment you start the game. how many there are remains to be seen but still sooner or later you will run into one. and it wont be happy knowing you have a dragon soul within you even if you havent progressed far enough in the main quest to find that out.

According to http://www.gamersglobal.de/angetestet/skyrim (it's in German, and requires translation) 'Not all dragons will attack you immediately.' So it seems they'd be avoidable.

It also says at one point 'The dragons are a big threat in Skyrim - but gradually it is you their "screams" at.' Sounds like you're not their main priority until later in the main quest. So we may see them around at early stages, but they're preoccupied with attacking towns and the like, and you are a relatively low threat to them and so are ignored. Just my interpretation - might just be a dodgey translation, courtesy of Google.

so how does this whole town attacking crap work? do they kill anyone important or destroy any buildings?

The thing about radiant story is, no-one is important. NPC's involved in quests can be changed and replaced.

No idea how this will work in regards to buildings, though.

Where did that come from?

And if I heard right, no they still spawn, but they are easy to avoid.

Lol man up? Like I said I'm looking forward to slaying dragons as a Dragonborn Nord, but when I want a simple Khajiit character who is a petty thief and silver tounged, I don't want to be a world renowned dragon hunter, do you understand?

edit: Some people completely miss the notion of role playing, and how unlikely it would be to have an Bosmer Dragonborn in the land of Tamrael, but since the option is in the game for any race to be dragonborn, you can do whatever you want, which is great. *Myself* however hopes to see optional ways to avoid dragons for certain characters of mine, by using sneak or race related perks like maybe an acrobatic perk for a Khajiit to make a graceful escape.
If I get cornered by a dragon and have no place to go, and I'm forced into combat then I'll use whatever skills and perks I have to defeat it, and then go and celebrate at a tavern, sell whatever spoils you get from a dragon corpse, and then overindulgence with alcohol and then go fine some skooma and go to sleep tripping. (I can't wait to have a character like that)

I hope dragons are there from the start, but I also hope you do not know your dragonborn at the start. I like the Idea of having a "normal" character in a time of crisis