Welcome to the General Discussion Group. This is a catch-all group for any kind of discussion whether is has anything to do with elder scrolls, fallout, or video games in general or  not. Discuss whatever you want here, but please observe our ground rules.

 1. You can discuss (almost) anything, but please respect everyone! Do not "bash" other people's beliefs or views, and do not be disrespectful. If we see misconduct here, you will be removed from the group.

2. No discussion related to pornography, pirating, or anything that violates Ning's Terms of Service are permitted here. 

3. Racist, sexist, homophobic remarks are not allowed at any time. 

With that being said, post away and have fun!

 

CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR OWN DISCUSSION

What canon event(s) in Skyrim would you change?

Hey y'all!

As I replay Skyrim- many, many times- I often find myself daydreaming about what I would like to change. Don't get me wrong; Skyrim is a wonderful, beautifully glitchy game, but I like to imagine how different it would be if some of my headcanons were accepted into the final script. Maybe a new NPC here, a new questline there.

The option to join the Thalmor...

Writing stories like "In Love and War" and adding mods to change various aspects of the game satisfies for awhile, but I still like to wonder how Skyrim would be if it was "Kendrix's Tamriel". So I pose this question: what canon events would you change in the game? Romance Brynolf? Join the Forsworn? Wipe out the Black-Briar Family? How does your "Skyrim" play out?

You need to be a member of THE SKY FORGE to add comments!

Join THE SKY FORGE

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • I wouldnt change so much as add to the game. Skyrim’s Civil war is sorely lacking in depth and political intrigue, which is a shame considering how important it is. It may have been mentioned this is another thread but the Civil War should have played out like the NCR vs Legion conflict of Fallout New Vegas. 

    The game needed more depths and options in general if you ask me. There should have been an option, like you suggested, to take down the Black Briar family and to destroy the thieves guild to list just a few examples. 

    I wish every faction in Skyrim had a rival faction with an opposing objective you could join. Silver Hand vs Companions, Synod vs the College, Dark Brotherhood vs Morag Tong are just a few conflicts which would have added so much to the game. 

  • Astrid’s betrayal and the slaying of most of the Darkness brothethood’s members. Turning on the listener was a sudden and poorly written part of the quest. I would argue it was the quest’s weakest moment. 

    Of the members killed I would have at least have liked to see Veezara and Arnbjorn survive. They were my favorite members.

    • Yeah, It seemed a bit out of character for Astrid to put her husband in danger.

      • I agree. Years of careful planning to keep the last known Brotherhood members alive, and she goes and does that? Any idiot could have predicted Commander Maro would go after the rest of the Brotherhood after disposing of the Dragonborn.

        • Exactly. Both she and her husband talking about loving each other more then themselves and the void and then she indirectly kills him.

          • Either Bethesda phoned it in when writing these quests, or the Dragonborn has this mysterious ability to turn faction leaders into morons.

  • Have someone else other than the Dragonborn become the listener. Then have the quest line split into two different paths depending on whether the dragonborn sides with Astrid or the new listener. 

  • The Civil War and the stalemate negotiation that comes during the main quest. The whole thing should make a very compelling backdrop for the story, but the wartime atmosphere isn't really there, and the war has little effect on the rest of the game unless the Dragonborn joins one side. In which case it's over in a heartbeat, narratively speaking. And the war questline is rather bland as well.

    To contrast, the Witcher series does an excellent job of weaving the large-scale war into its main narrative. The armies are there, fighting every day, and the war progresses and develops along with the main plot. The player character can affect the outcome directly, but joining up with one of the armies is so far removed from their main goal that it isn't even an option.

    I'm not saying Skyrim's Civil War should have been exactly like that, but I would have appreciated a way to affect it more deeply than "Negotiate a truce for the main quest, then it never changes again" or "Join one side for a quick and guaranteed win". Where's the intrigue? Where's the scouting and spying, the misdirection, and the sense of either side having an actual strategy? Where's the part where the player gets to directly see how the war is affecting civilians? Where is the meaningful response by either side towards the dragon crisis? Where's the chance to make use of either army for the main quest, and bring a sizeable force to bear on the dragons? Where's the brutal anti-guerrilla campaign against the Forsworn? How do the Orc Strongholds play into it? Has anyone even bothered to send out delving parties of any kind, given that Skyrim is utterly littered with magical artifacts of considerable power? And where are the meaningful changes to the country after one side has won the war? Do they prepare for Great War Part 2? Make a permanent force to deal with the remaining dragons? Does anyone even give a shit about the vampire threat within their own borders?

    I guess all of this displays the underlying problem that the war isn't really an integral part of the rest of the game. It's treated as a permanent side mission, never coming into the main focus unless the player chooses to join up. Which is a shame, because it would have been cool if it were a more meaningful part of the main narrative.

    • I would have remade The Companion's and made them more like The Fighter's Guild were in all the Elder Scroll's game's. They would have been a guild of Mercenaries/Soldiers for Hire that would have been more about rising up through the Faction's rank's by completing Missions,Jobs & Tasks instead of a half baked story about Werewolve's.

  • The Volkihar questline was a huge missed opportunity on Bethesda's part to imbue the game with a true sense of political intruigue. In my first play through of the Volkihar side of DG I thought this was what the questline was leading to upon killing Vingalmo and Orthorf's acolytes in Red Water Den. But sadly this was not the case. You have no choice but to kill Harkon once you've attained Auriel's Bow, which to me represents the kind of lazy writing that stifles a player's roleplay experience. 

    A better route, in addition to what we're familiar with, would have been to give the player the following options presented at various points of the quest: 

    1. Side with Vingalmo or Orthorf by presenting one of them with the Chalice upon completion of Red Water Den. This would initiate a new series of quests which would coincide with the DG questline as we know it, but end with either Vingalmo or Orthorf assuming Harkon's throne.
    2. Side with Harkon and betray Serana. This option is for vampires who are truly onboard with Harkon's goals and would stop at nothing to see it come to fruition. The final battle would be between the player and Serana as Harkon looks on. Her death is necessary to complete the prophecy. Perhaps Harkon will betray the player eventually anyway, but this should be handled better than "thanks for the bow, kthx die". Allowing Harkon to win should be impactful and his eventual betrayal should truly put the player in a bind, and maybe even make them regret killing Serana.  
    3. Convince Valerica to return to Nirn and take up arms against Harkon. I was disappointed when I found out there was no way to talk Serana's mother out of staying in the Soul Cairn. Convincing her to aid you would start a new branch of questlines which would culminate in turning Harkon's court against him and ultimately destroying him. 
    4. Side with an outside clan. To further complicate matters, an encounter, perhaps with another notable vampire clan, should present the opportunity to work with outside actors to thwart Harkon's schemes for their own ends. 

     

    Throughout the questline the opportunity to betray and double cross your chosen side should present itself. 

This reply was deleted.