Hi fellow gamers,

I realise this is a bold statement and i haven't posted this without careful testing and consideration.

I am a mature gamer (read old codger) and a long time fan of open world freeform type rpg's and obviously Bethesda themselves.

They have completely surpassed all my expectations with the amazing Skyrim and it is an incredible technical achievement that i would even say is leaps and bounds above any other RPG out there.

WHY OH WHY then did they have to go and release there first major DLC (expansion) with such a glaring and obvious faulty gameplay mechanic?

What am i refering to i hear you ask?

Quite simply - the awful RANDOM VAMPIRE ATTACKS AND THE DEATH OF YOUR NPC'S AND COMMUNITIES!

I have read many many posts on the subject and i just had to set things straight and 'tell it as it is'

The DLC is without a doubt unplayable in it's current form and i only hope it can be salvaged in some way pretty soon. I have uninstalled it myself and reverted back to good old Skyrim vanilla goodness.

Many of you who have played the DLC for any length of time will agree and newbies will realise the problem as time goes on.

I completely agree with the majority of people out there that have played around with this DLC extensively that random vampire attacks completely break the game and i don't know how it got past the game testers?

Please do not post inaccurate or misleading comments about how 'vampires don't attack during the day ' or ' they only spawn at the gate area in walled cities' etc - complete rubbish.

They spawn all over the place, at night or day and can be really unpredictable in general. And NO fast travelling or not fast travelling makes no difference - just try exiting your purchased home in Riften to the town itself and 'BAM' -vampire attack.

I have had the DLC since launch and tried my best to overlook the problem and work around it but it has made the game unplayable and it only gets worse the longer you play Skyrim with the DLC installed.

How people can post that this feature is meant to 'keep you on your toes' or add atmosphere to the settlements haven't really thought things through!

How can it be defended that the vampires have an unlimited spawn capability and your NPC's only one life!!!!!!! Do the math - as time goes on you are going to lose more and more NPC's to the vampire menace to a point where your towns and settlements will become almost lifeless (some NPC's are obviously flagged as essential but not many)

Not to mention the loss of future mission options and the failure of current missions linked with any dead NPC's. You get a lovely 'mission failed' message when a vampire claims another NPC you are currently questing for!

Bethesda have dropped the ball seriously and there is no way this is an intended feature to improve game immersion etc.

Some people are leaving misleading comments that you can use sun attacks etc that only harm vampires - they obviously haven't played the DLC for any length of time as the random vampire attacks can happen quite a distance from you and NPC's are already dead by the time you rush over to defend them.

Even after you complete the main Dawnguard quests for either side - the attacks still continue - WHY!

I really respect Bethesda and thank them for the original game but this DLC is seriously lacking in any kind of quality control and basic testing! How did this get released in such a state is worrying for me as i hope they are not a company that is going to gradually alienate there fanbase and ruin there own franchise.

Have many of you uninstalled the DLC like me????

I only hope the developers do listen and take this problem seriously as the DLC completely ruined the game for me.

I have seriously tired everything to work around this by only travelling at day or not fast travelling or using sun attacks but to no avail - DEAD NPC's everywhere!

WHAT WAS BETHESDA THINKING - how can we ruin our amazing game in one foul swoop?

Maybe miracles do happen and this forum will be read by someone who can whisper in the right ear?

This DLC could be fixed a number of ways from the quick and easy option of completely stopping random vampire attacks if you side with the Dawnguard and finish the quest (i could live with that) to a more complex and potentially buggy solution of making many more NPC's essential or respawn after 2 to 3 game days.

Why cant everyone just stick to 1 Thread on the subject, there is like 9 up at the moment counting the Gen Discussion, Spoiler, and Bug sections. Multiple threads isnt going to make Beth change anything, it is just going to divert attention from all the other threads that arent whining

I think these attacks might be bugged for a lot of people.

Well I for one have had zero in city attacks maybe I'm just lucky?

Seriously, I was actually a little disappointed with the vampire raid, I waited in Whiterun during the night to see one of these guys, and one dude spawned next to me who got killed in five seconds. Maybe it's because my character is already lvl 66.

Hi - wasn't my intention to 'SPAM' the board - didn't realise there was so many threads on the subject - just goes to show that this is not a glitch or bug or infrequent - come on guys - it's obvious someone at Bethesda thought this was going to be a really exciting gameplay mechanic and ' ON PAPER ' it might seem fun and exciting but they haven't executed it properly - more like rushed the idea into the game without any thought.

I was like many of you when i first installed Dawnguard - it's amazing - oh WOW that is cool etc etc and many of the features are - it's a lot of content for a very good price.

BUT YOU WAIT - play the game for any length of time (i love Skyrim) and the flaws will start to show.

I even started a new character and reinstalled skyrim from scratch with Dawnguard in case my game was bugged etc.

Two of my mates and my girlfriend are also getting the exact same problems - the vampire attacks are just too unpredictable and you will lose NPC's sooner or later and start constantly reloading and worrying if any important NPC's have dissapeared in your current play session.

NOT FUN and i would think it's a cardinal rule that you do not kill off NPC's willy nilly with no chance of saving them - wheres the RPG choice - how can it be okay to get mission failed messages out of the blue about an NPC that has been killed the other side of the map??

I don't mean to whine like this as i love the main game and 90% of the DLC and it's for this reason i started this thread as there is so much mis-information out there about this broken gameplay mechanic.

If you're not getting any problems yet then i am glad for you - but it can strike at any time and will occur eventually and over and over the longer you play the game

I can't enjoy a game where NPC's (the life blood of any rpg) can die with or without my knowledge and break story missions and in effect corrupt my save files as i might continue saving my game without knowing some really useful NPC's are lying dead in another area that was beyond my control.

Nope you're not lucky i've had no problems either, considering the vampires only attack when the Player Character is within the vicinity. All you have to do as a player is kill the attacking vampires (very simple). I really think this "problem" is being blown out of proportion. Are you running away from the vampires? Because they do NOT attack people "behind your back" on the other side of the map. It happens in your immediate vicinity.

PS, Please stop posting so many threads about this, use the search function or just look on the main page, there's plenty more threads to post this in.

I get plenty of Vamp attacks but i rarely have to do anything because the guards put them down and that is on my level 27 DG guy, level 70 Volk guy, and my level 30 Vamp guy. I WISH they attacked more and were stronger but they arent, they are usually called Master Vampire but they are more like Blooded Vampires and as long as you dont walk blindly through town and NOT check the spawn points you should be fine

I still have yet to lose a named NPC to a vampire attack, what is causing all these widespread deaths that people rave about? I feel left out =(

Not the best fix or work around but you could just side with the vamps and become a VL, all my NPC's are alive lol

OKAY - again i am happy for you guys that have been 'LUCKY' - but there are too many of us (and increasing) with problems with this DLC and i suspect Bethesda know full well they have rushed this out too soon and i bet a patch fix is imminent.

Wehter they will be honest enough to admit to this mistake is questionable - it would be so refreshing to hear the developers admit to a slight problem and then offer us help but that is like expecting an MP to be transparent on his expensives sheet - LOL!

I will illustrate the problem briefly in more detail to let people understand that these attacks can be completely beyond your control and in no way could anyone do anything about it.......

Riften seems to be one of the buggiest areas although it happends all over the map.

On leaving the 'back door' or trap door of the thieves guild and entering Riften you immediately hear commotion in the distance (shouting and fighting etc) - you leg it as fast as you can to the trader area by the blacksmith and find guards and NPC's fighting off a vampire attack - BUT - many bodies already lying scattered around - DEAD GUARDS , DEAD NPC'S AND DEAD VAMPS.

Can happen exactly like this when walking past the smaller towns in the wilds.

Sometimes you get a chance to save people but oftyen in my game there are already NPC casualties before i can even react.

It's just all so unpredictable and it only takes seconds for NPC's to die no matter what difficulty you have the game on.

I am a seasoned gamer and even done a lot of game modding in my heyday for Lord of the rings battle for middle earth 2. I am trying to save NPC's but it is just not possible sometimes and i do not want to constantly reload and redo the battle over and over untill i manage to babysit some NPC's.

Again - i then have to search around to ensure no essential NPC's to my game have not perished and sometimes you may not be alerted to there demise.

The whole thing is so random and unpredictable and stinks to high heaven of very bad game programming not worthy of Bethesda's high standards.

I forgot to mention i play on the XBOX 360 and this is making me consider moving to the PC version and modding the NPC's myself or using someones else's mod to fix this.

Never had this issue. I've had them attack in the city but between the guards, myself, and my companion they didn't last long enough to do much. I seriously doubt anyone is losing a whole town to these rampaging vampires. If you are then you are just sitting back and watching it happen because they aren't even the most difficult vampires. Usually there are 3 and 2 of them are complete wimps. People overblow everything. But I'm sure when the PC and PS3 versions are released there will be a lot of crying from those camps as well.

I agree with the above sentiment. Haven't had anyone of importance die on any of my playthroughs, being on Master and not of a particularly high level. The magnitude and frequency in which you describe them may be a bug.

Has anyone from Bethesda responded to the enormous volume of player comment on this issue? I feel like there must have been something...... anything....... by now, addressing it in some way (even just to say "we're looking into it" or "it's fine, L2P"), but I haven't come across anything whatsoever.

They work on bugs, the Vamp attacks are not a bug but a feature that they decided on. Now the massive frequency and difficulty which which people "Say" they attack might be a bug OR maybe the ease and un-frequent amount (like mine) they attack could be the bug. Otherwise they prolly wont remove or change a feature like that just because people cant take responsibility for letting their NPCs die

Saying "it hasnt happened to me yet so all is well" is like a guy (not you so dont bother spitting that one at me) saying "That suspicious lump on my back hasnt turned cancerous yet so it never will".

Ignorant and just asking for it to occur in future!

I too have moved Dawnguard to a flash drive out and away from my vanilla Skyrim just in case Bethesda come to their senses on the issue.

...but I have the creepy feeling theyll only listen to the mad, foamy-mouthed yesmen and do nothing about it.

The forums will continue to fill up with both the learned posts and the ignorant "Merchants ded pls halp".

And ill wipe the drive and wait for reviews/bug reports before I get the next DLC.

There's a thread about this in the hardware and software support section:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1390027-are-the-vampire-attacks-on-towns-supposed-to-be-this-robust-killing-off-shopkeepers/page__fromsearch__1

The big issue though is that this is not a bug.

It's just a consequence of the "Dawnguard" DLC and one that is annoying for a number of players.

Should shopkeepers be killed and if so are they being replaced?

If not I'm sure a great many users would like to see the developers either code the game so that named shopkeepers cannot be killed, or code the game so that someone will take their place.

How many people feel this way is anyone's guess though.

People are far more prone to complain than they are praise.

I might not like the way a certain quest pans out but it would be incredibly vain and self centred of me to 'demand' the Developers "fix" it, especially if things are playing out the way they planned.

Az

Thanks for the replies guys - and for being civil and polite.

Some forums can be downright evil and vindictive and i appreciate any feedback even if it disagrees with me.

I can't seem to get my message across to some of you and that's okay - most of us live in a democracy and everyones opinion is valid to them.

Some of you are saying that the attacks are easy to cope with and that no one particularly essential died etc but can't you see that it is only a matter of time and more a case of luck as to what NPC dies and to what extent he is usefull to the player.

Some may love there traders well others may lose that person they were getting ice wraith teeth for etc - it makes no sense to kill NPC's off like this - it is such a huge gameplay mistake.

Some of you also admit the attacks but say you can easily fend them off - you do realise that as your player level goes up so do the amount and level of the vamp attacks - they get pretty tough and with multiple spawns how can you be all places at once defending your NPC's?

Anyway - i think the post by http://www.gamesas.com/user/764689-arwengoenitz/ says it all - judge by your own experience and just because your game is going okay doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

My humble advice - avoid this DLC for now or uninstall and wait for Bethesda to help us all out.

My fear is that a large major game company like Bethesda is never going to admit to a major mistake in it's artistic gameplay decisions (even if they know it is causing many of us to uninstall the DLC). They could still help a lot of us out by releasing a patch that completely stops the random vamp attacks for joining the Dawnguard and completing there quests. They could do this without admitting to any mistake and then people who want the vamp menace to continue would opt for the vampire storyline.

OH WELL - off to start a new character without the DLC - SOB - i'm going to miss my crossbow!

I guess bethesda figured it wasn't a big deal... seeing as how a lot of people were saying the npcs are forgettable at best (not my opinion btw). In any case, I say leave it the way it is. The only potential problem for me would be venders not respawning.

I had only about 3 vampire attacks until now, one or two guards died, but no named NPC.

Funny, after release the complaint was that too many NPCs are essential

But anyway, this is why i buy my Bethesda games for PC, they just can't make one without some features. I thought the UI was the only one for Skyrim, but now they include them in their DLCs too

Agreed plus putting it in just to push the player into starting the quest was a bit stupid in the first place, we downloaded it, we were eager to play it, it's not as if we needed any more pushing to start playing the DLC, even the attacks you get outside the towns would have been enough. I only needed a guard comment it's over that way and I was there.

It hasn't ruined my experiance yet and I don't think I have cancer, but there's no reason why I can't have both happen to me in the future.

I'm not aware of vampire raids killing off Skyrim's population, I've seen a two or three TOTAL that were dispatched almost immediately with no fatalities that I'm aware of. Is this a problem if you join the Dawnguard? Because I went with the vampires.

I have found the worst offenders to be exiting the thieves guild from the graveyard and traveling to dragons reach. At both of these you are to far to save anyone, and at dragons reach you can't even hear an attack occurring.

I had not vampire attacks whatsoever after I finished the quest and only had a few vampire attacks in cities they posed no trouble to me but then again I play the game on Novice