I found this online awhile back... someone put WAY too much thought into this. But it's interesting. And yes, I do have permission to quote it.



A PRIORITY anolYSIS OF THE ADOPTABLE CHILDREN IN "HEARTHFIRE"

When you download and fire up "Hearthfire" on your X-Box or PC (and hopefully your PS3 soon enough), you soon find that there are a total of eight young children in need of a home. Well, nine actually, but little Aventus is bugged and cannot be selected (much to the disappointment of Dark Brotherhood characters everywhere). Sadly, you can only give two of these young ones the family they desperately need. So who do you choose? Well, if you are like me, you choose the child or children that you feel would benefit the most from a safe and loving home. And while all of them are definitely needy children, some of them are needier than others.

Which child should be given highest priority is the sum of several factors. Perhaps most important is what physical environment you are rescuing them from. A child who sleeps on cold city streets will receive greater priority than one who has a warm bed in Honorhall Orphanage. Also of import is how well-supervised the child is. The children in Honorhall have Constance Michel*, who is devoted to their safety and well-being. Others have indifferent supervision, or none at all. A child who has some form of employment is considered better off than one reduced to begging. For children who spend large amounts of time outdoors, the environment is also taken into account: a child sleeping outdoors in Winterhold would be in deadly danger, while one doing the same in Falkreath would not. By the same token, non-Nords also have to be given priority, since Skyrim's climate poses a greater threat to them. Finally, limited priority was given to each child's attitude. A youngster who is eager to be adopted will receive a higher score than one who is indifferent or hesitant.


*Grelod the Kind is not considered a factor in this anolysis, since it is confined solely to adoptable children. The children living at the orphanage do not become adoptable until after Grelod has been killed.



1. ALESAN - Nord Male (Redguard, according to other sources)
Found in: Dawnstar
Employed: Yes
Supervised: Indifferently
Sleeps: Indoors
Attitude: Average
Comment: Alesan's story is a sorrowful one, to be sure. However, he seems to have landed in a hard and lonely but relatively secure life. He has food, shelter, and honest work, and might even learn a trade in the process. While he's a solid enough choice, there are others in greater need than he.
Overall Score: 5


2. BLAISE - Breton Male
Found in: Outskirts of Solitude
Employed: Yes
Supervised: Indifferently
Sleeps: Outdoors, sheltered
Attitude: Eager
Comment: Blaise has to sleep out in the cold, protected only by a stable roof, in the chill of Solitude. For a Nord, that might be tolerable. For any other race, it's death by pneumonia waiting to happen. This, plus the fact that he wants a real home and parents so terribly boosts his score even further. So, I'm going to go against conventional wisdom and declare that his situation is just as desperate as that of Sofie, who many regard as #1 on the list.
Overall Score: 8


3. FRANCOIS - Breton Male
Found in: Honorhall Orphanage
Employed: N/A
Supervised: Caringly
Sleeps: Indoors
Attitude: Reluctant
Comment: His own words say it all. "Pick one of the others. I'll be fine."
Overall Score: 1


4. HROAR - Nord Male
Found in: Honorhall Orphanage
Employed: N/A
Supervised: Caringly
Sleeps: Indoors
Attitude: Eager
Comment: Poor Hroar... orphaned, condemned to Honorhall, and saddled with a dorky name. Maybe he would be the best son ever, and we hope that he gets the opportunity to prove it. But since he is sheltered and cared for, his neediness level is fairly low.
Overall Score: 3


5. LUCIA - Imperial Female
Found in: Whiterun
Employed: No
Supervised: No
Sleeps: Outdoors, exposed
Attitude: Eager
Comment: She spends her days begging, and the frigid Skyrim nights asleep behind the inn... it's amazing hypothermia or pneumonia haven't dispatched her to the kid's table in the Sovengard banquet hall. You unfortunately can't find her rotten relatives and give them the royal butt-kicking they deserve, but you can provide this little princess with a safe port in a very rough storm. When she asks you to be her mother/father, just say yes.
Overall Score: 10


6. RUNA - Nord Female
Found in: Honorhall Orphanage
Employed: Yes*
Supervised: Caringly
Sleeps: Indoors
Attitude: Very Eager
Comment: The asterisk indicates that Runa's domestic situation seems a bit worse than the boys. I doubt they make her do "all the chores", but as the sole girl, she'd probably be stuck with more than her share. Also, she's the eagerest child in the game. I get a twinge in my cardiac region when I hear her beg my characters to adopt her. Of the Honorhall children, she scores by far the highest, making her a very adequate candidate. Still, she is not the neediest by a longshot.
Overall Score: 5


7. SAMUEL - Imperial Male
Found in: Honorhall Orphanage
Employed: N/A
Supervised: Caringly
Sleeps: Indoors
Attitude: Eager
Comment: Little Samuel's story is made sadder by the fact that he was born an orphan, and has never known a family's love. However, we are measuring neediness rather than sympathy. Samuel is safe, supervised, and cared for; all too many children are not.
Overall Score: 3


8. SOFIE - Nord Female
Found in: Windhelm
Employed: Yes
Supervised: No
Sleeps: Outdoors, exposed
Attitude: Average
Comment: It is hard to look down at this little one, wandering or sleeping on the hard and snowy streets of Whiterun, without getting a lump in your throat. However, her Nord blood grants her a certain resistance to cold, and she at least has some form of support (she actually sells useful items). This, plus the fact that she never actually expresses a hope to be adopted, brings her into a tie with Blaise. If the game let us choose three instead of two, the final decision would be far easier.
Overall Score: 8


FROM ODDISH: One possible solution to the Blaise or Sofie dilemma might be for Imperial supporters to pick Blaise and Stormcloak supporters to go with Sofie... that way you don't have the sticky problem of possibly adopting someone whose parent(s) you yourself might have helped kill.

O.o

Excellent anolysis even though its in many ways an emotional rather than intellectual problem (accepting it is only a game!)

The anolysis is actually pretty logical; it only touches on one emotional issue. Most of it seems to focus on the child's degree of physical need: food, warmth, shelter, and the presence of a parent figure.

The reason for this would seem obvious: emotional issues vary from player to player. For me, as mentioned, I'm creeped out at the idea of my Imperial supporters adopting a child they themselves might have orphaned. Some players might not be bothered by this, others might even see it as a redemptive act (and they have a valid point). Some players might want a boy, or a girl, or one of each; others might not care. And some might take race into account: have an Imperial adopt Lucia, for instance. Or, they might consider location: a character who dwells in Riften might choose a kid from Honorhall instead of off the street in a distant city. A child's chances of survival are easier to objectively judge than their suitability to your character, especially since characters vary so much.

The one emotional issue that was taken into account is one that would seem pretty universal: whether the kid actually wants to come and live with you. However, even that is somewhat subject to interpretation: in some topic or other, one person stated the opinion that Francois's holding out hope for his birth parents made him a higher priority, not lower.

I came across Lucia to late...

Her and Sofia are my two picks but I have Runa and Sofia. no regrets but I buy flowers/give gold to Lucia every visit to Whiterun.

LOL I love it, but I still put Sophie above Lucia. Windhelm climate is much harsher than the Whiterun one. I guess that's why my current character opted for Sofiie. (And Alesan).

I picked Lucia & Sophie right away. Didn't have to think too hard. Anyway, to each his own.