I'd rather have origin stories for all these damn factions. The first thing I get told to do is to join the Stormcloaks. Then the Imperials. Then the Companions. Then this. Then that. I have no idea who's good, who's bad, what they do... so I just haven't joined any of them.
I am reading the books. It just doesn't help when you get asked to join 3 factions within 40 minutes of starting the game. I've also played Oblivion (though not Morrowind), but it was so long ago that I've forgotten a lot about it. I'm picking things up as I go along, I'd just... like a little more condensed "meet the heavy"-style introductions for, for example, the Forsworn.
They have all books available in real life ebook format now, heh. Rather amusing.
While I share the same views, I feel sad and ashamed to admit I feel this may be a product of a watered down spoon-feed-me-info of the gaming industry as of late.
I hate to admit it, but I think I've been spoiled by back stories and histories that have been written for me, rather than what CB said: letting my mind fill in the blanks and go from there.
It's hard to break my mind to stop thinking 'what's the best way to play this' and just play. Lately, my mantra has been: you're a new emigrant to a strange world - I'd want cling to the first group of 'likeminded' people so you can to somehow feel part of something.
I've been having a lot of struggle with this myself, Snark. The nice thing about Elder Scrolls, however, is that you can join almost ALL the factions (except you have to choose between Stormcloaks and Imperial, for obvious reasons).
You can be a Companion, Thief, Bard, Mage, Assassin though. That's the awesome thing about TES.
I sort of agree with Kenkel in that these games truly bring back what it is to role play. I haven't felt so connected with an in-game character since... Man, since the 80's when I played an old Atari role playing game called Alternate Reality. I've actually sat here for days, gone back and forth, and devoted brainpower to making the big "Which side am I on" decision. That's actually an incredible amount of immersion for me; it speaks both to the quality of the storytelling in the game that makes the decision so difficult, and to the level of involvement you have in this game world.
Modern gamers (and I'm speaking just in general here, not about anybody specific) are getting used to experiences that are so force-fed, that they're not even games as much as they are cinematic experiences.
Skyrim lays down a framework of a story and asks us to fill in the gaps however we want. It's incredible. This is one of the best games I've ever played.
Skyrim lays down a framework of a story and asks us to fill in the gaps however we want. It's incredible. This is one of the best games I've ever played.
I like that it gives you the freedom to play your character with a personality. For example, for the Dark Brotherhood,
when they kidnap you and put you in the cabin with three people and you have to decide which to murder, in some games you'd just have to pick one and be done with it. In Skyrim, if your Nord warrior decides that only cowards play that way, turns into a werewolf, and eats the Dark Brotherhood representative, not only are you allowed to do that, but it triggers a NEW quest to eliminate the Dark Brotherhood.
I've been just discovering things as I come to them and taking my time getting attached to any one faction or guild with each run through. My first time I was a pure mage so joining the mage's guild first was the right thing to do. This run through, I'm a Khajiit so the thieves guild was the right thing to do. (BTW, level gain with thievery is so fast compared to with a mage!)
You have to craft your own story. Who are you? What motivates you? It does help to understand the universe first, though. I didn't know I was a Dunmer refugee until the guard mentioned it but I worked it into the story afterward. I also can't/won't do what I did in Oblivion where the same person was a Knight of the Nine, Sheogorath, the Grey Fox, Archmage, head of the Figher's Guild, etc etc. I'm a Thief who had so much fun killing things while on missions for the guild that I decided to join the Dark Brotherhood. I'm a mage who found out I'm Dragonborn so I'm going to save the world. I'll be a rough and tumble fighter who wants adventure and fame. The only problem has been that I don't get up in levels before I'm done with the tasks appropriate to that archetype so I'm not going to hit the level cap until my last character, "The Completionist" who just wants to see everything the world has to offer and do everything I can to help (or kill) everybody I can.
Also, you can join almost any organization without penalty. Unless it's an obviously dichotomous political thing (like stormcloak v. imperial), I always accept invitations to join organizations, then the first quest or two make it clear what the goals of the organization are. If I join the Brotherhood of Happiness and the second quest is "go murder this entire village", then I know not to deal with them anymore (unless my character is into that sort of thing), and I'm even still free to go join The Hunters of The Brotherhood of Happiness if I want.
Yep, I think the fact that Elder Scrolls games don't give a back story is what makes these games so great. It leaves it up to you as to how to shape your character...
I've always preferred real RPGs over any other form of game for precisely the reason that I can literally do whatever I want inside that world. There are no invisible walls forcing me to move on, if I want to hike up that mountain simply for the view then I bloody well can...as long as I'm capable of killing whatever lives on said mountain of course.
Another excerpt from my warrior:
I was walking along one of the mountain paths, having finally decided to visit the Greybeards atop High Hrothgar. Traversing the winding mountain paths I encountered a group of Imperials leading a Nord prisoner, quite likely to his death. The man wasn't connected to the Stormcloaks at all and when I asked the men replied that he was caught worshiping Talos.
Now simply I could've left the man for dead saving myself the time, and the trouble of dealing with three Imperial Soldiers. However as a fellow Nord and a self-purported champion of good I simply couldn't let them drag the man off to his death, regardless of his crime.
Getting immersed into a story is the greatest thing about, well any form of entertainment really and if I'm going to play a single-player game then I'd damn well better care about what I'm doing or it'll just end up gathering dust on my shelf.
Comments
We also have sparksnotes however Coles Notes is imo far more detailed (5000 pages for Lord of the Rings is ridiculous)
read the 3 million books in the game.
They have all books available in real life ebook format now, heh. Rather amusing.
I hate to admit it, but I think I've been spoiled by back stories and histories that have been written for me, rather than what CB said: letting my mind fill in the blanks and go from there.
It's hard to break my mind to stop thinking 'what's the best way to play this' and just play. Lately, my mantra has been: you're a new emigrant to a strange world - I'd want cling to the first group of 'likeminded' people so you can to somehow feel part of something.
A lot of these things are described as you go through various quests. There is a fairly long quest in Markarth which tells a lot about the forsworn.
You can be a Companion, Thief, Bard, Mage, Assassin though. That's the awesome thing about TES.
I sort of agree with Kenkel in that these games truly bring back what it is to role play. I haven't felt so connected with an in-game character since... Man, since the 80's when I played an old Atari role playing game called Alternate Reality. I've actually sat here for days, gone back and forth, and devoted brainpower to making the big "Which side am I on" decision. That's actually an incredible amount of immersion for me; it speaks both to the quality of the storytelling in the game that makes the decision so difficult, and to the level of involvement you have in this game world.
Modern gamers (and I'm speaking just in general here, not about anybody specific) are getting used to experiences that are so force-fed, that they're not even games as much as they are cinematic experiences.
Skyrim lays down a framework of a story and asks us to fill in the gaps however we want. It's incredible. This is one of the best games I've ever played.
I like that it gives you the freedom to play your character with a personality. For example, for the Dark Brotherhood,
You have to craft your own story. Who are you? What motivates you? It does help to understand the universe first, though. I didn't know I was a Dunmer refugee until the guard mentioned it but I worked it into the story afterward. I also can't/won't do what I did in Oblivion where the same person was a Knight of the Nine, Sheogorath, the Grey Fox, Archmage, head of the Figher's Guild, etc etc. I'm a Thief who had so much fun killing things while on missions for the guild that I decided to join the Dark Brotherhood. I'm a mage who found out I'm Dragonborn so I'm going to save the world. I'll be a rough and tumble fighter who wants adventure and fame. The only problem has been that I don't get up in levels before I'm done with the tasks appropriate to that archetype so I'm not going to hit the level cap until my last character, "The Completionist" who just wants to see everything the world has to offer and do everything I can to help (or kill) everybody I can.
Another excerpt from my warrior:
I was walking along one of the mountain paths, having finally decided to visit the Greybeards atop High Hrothgar. Traversing the winding mountain paths I encountered a group of Imperials leading a Nord prisoner, quite likely to his death. The man wasn't connected to the Stormcloaks at all and when I asked the men replied that he was caught worshiping Talos.
Now simply I could've left the man for dead saving myself the time, and the trouble of dealing with three Imperial Soldiers. However as a fellow Nord and a self-purported champion of good I simply couldn't let them drag the man off to his death, regardless of his crime.
Getting immersed into a story is the greatest thing about, well any form of entertainment really and if I'm going to play a single-player game then I'd damn well better care about what I'm doing or it'll just end up gathering dust on my shelf.