First of all I apologise if this is a repeat of something that's been discussed before, I imagine it probably is, but I couldn't find anything about it. I love Skyrim, but I feel that way too much stuff is linked to the main quest without any sensible reason for doing so. I just reread the the introduction to Oblivion from the game's manual. It goes on at length about the freedom to do what you want, giving examples of following the main quest or just heading off and doing your own thing. It doesn't seem to ring quite so true in Skyrim. Of course there's nothing stopping you just going off and exploring, but if you do the game locks off a substantial amount of content which is based on main quest progression. If there was a good reason for it then fine, but from what I can see the stuff you're cut off from is completely unrelated to the main quest.

Several quests can only be started after certain events in the main questline:

In my time of need. Having done this quest both ways there is absolutely no reason to limit it to Dragonborn characters. There is no link to the main quest whatsoever.

White phial part 2. I haven't actually done this one, but I'd wager the same applies.

The big one. The civil war. You can hardly progress in the civil war without being brought to a halt by the Jarl, who has his head in the sand about the war until he's had his dragon dealt with. Oh, if only we could all focus on just one of our problems and pretend none of the other existed! This is a whole questline locked off with no good reason for it. Hundreds, if not more, are already involved in the war, so why can't I do the same without being held back by some nonsensical prerequisite that affects only me?


This of course isn't just limited to quests, it compromises other elements of the game as well. Houses for example. I wasn't exactly bowled over by the fact that there are only five houses to buy in the whole game game. Blocking off the previously mentioned quests bring that count down to three for non Dragonborn characters, since Hjerim is dependant on civil war progression and Breezehome isn't available until you've got rid of Balgruuf's dragon.

Even the guilds are linked to the main quest where you're steered to the College of Winterhold and the Thieves Guild as part of the main story. I miss how Oblivion made the discovery that certain guilds even existed a pretty unique thing.

I know a lot of people won't see a problem with this, and just suggest doing the first bit of the main quest to trigger all this stuff and and then leaving it alone. That's fine, but it does seem to fly in the face of roleplaying to a certain extent. I see being Dragonborn as a very character defining thing. I have played about a dozen different characters, and only two have been Dragonborn. The whole Dragonborn thing is great, but I also want characters who are a warrior and nothing more, an assassin and nothing more etc. It spoils that a bit when you have to do a certain amount of the main quest, which sets pretty much everyone in the world talking and speculating about the Dragonborn when you're trying your best to forget about it. In Oblivion, as far as I recall, the main quest was entirely it's own beast and didn't restrict the rest of the game in any way. I really miss that.

Rant over. Much love!