Here goes....This will be relevant to hearthfire.

Dawnguard could have taken place on Solstheim. Granted, the efforts of the East Empire Company on Solstheim went bust, but would not the Nord populace have towns and settlements the like of Falkreath and Morthal? There are your damsels in distress that need saving, or subjugation, whether you join the Hunters or the Volkihar.

I'm not going to go into how stupid I thought aspects of the storyline in Dawnguard were (Oh, yeah I just joined an ancient order of Vampire killers little lady, but sure I'll escort you home to your father the Vampire Lord!) but a huge miss for Bethesda in the DG DLC was a Mission in the main quest line to establish either:

a. A stronghold for the Dawnguard that obviously you would be in charge of as steward (Your new player home).

b. A stronghold for the Volkihar Vampire Clan that you would be in charge of as steward (Your new player home).

These "strongholds" could have been requried to be built in Skyrim or on Solstheim.

This brings me to Hearthfire. The aspects of crafting, acquiring a lot of land, adopting children could all have been included in Dawnguard. Personally I would have left out adoption. I don't know about anyone else but I would have loved to have been able to build somehting like this.There are already player homes available in the major cities that are pretty much what you can build in Hearthfire.

My character spent 120 hours as an Adventurer-Mercenary traversing Skyrim. She owned no houses, was member of no guilds, was thane of no lands. She had heard of Dragons returning to Skyrim but the only one she ever saw was the giant black one that saved her from execution. She remains Neutral in concern to the Civil War. When the Dawnguard came calling it was perfect for her. She would have built an awesome Dawnguard outpost. Now all she can build is a manor or a hall, that reminds her suspicously of a very large Breezhome.

Edit: I enjoy Skyrim and as an extension Dawnguard very much. But I just shake my head at the missed opportunities. I felt the same way with Oblivion and SI. Of all the expansions I could have thought of for Oblivion, SI would have been one of the most mediocre. Not to mention taking one of the most interesting Daedric Princes and turing him into a [censored]. I also realize Beth may have some plans for Solstheim in the future....but...

Yeah, you're probably right. They could of probably squeezed this into Dawnguard but I'm sure Beth is looking forward to all those extra $5 payments. lol


I agree with you about the discrepency of being a member of the Dawnguard yet you're walking a vampire to her home which is basically the headquarters for vampires with Lord Harkon only a few feet in front of your face. Pretty strange. I also agree that Castle Volkihar and Fort Dawnguard had potential to be phenomenal player homes.

Sad, but true.

if this is all you do it seems you have no idea what you are doing in the game. You joined no guilds yet you adventure, you own no home yet you adventure and you adventure all the [censored] time. I agree that hearthfire could have been in Dawnguard but you must get really bored if all you do is adventure. I have no clue what the point is getting skyrim was if you do nothing but walk and fight. Can you correct me maybe?

You know...you probably had some good points in there, but...overall this is what I heard.
"I wanted to go back to Solstheim..."
And
"I wanted to build a fort..."

Just another case of "I didn't get what I wanted".

I've played the MQ, I've done the Comapnion quest line, I've done the Civil War, I have become thane of all the holds. However, Ive done none of this on my current playthrough. As I said, I enjoy Skyrim. This is how I enjoy the game. Some people, for whatever reason, really enjoy getting married and adopting kids. Go figure.

Edit: I'm not trying to be a jerk by saying this...but I'm quite experienced with TES games. So yes, I do "Know what I'm doing".


Actually, I've never been. I never played Bloodmoon. I Installed it. Fought a Spriggan and went back to Tribunal. Snow wasn't my thing back then. As for getting what I wanted...I never asked for anyhting. I just dont like to see missed opportunites to make a great game better. Than again you probably enjoy the option to adopt kids and being able to build somehting like a fort is just not your cup of tea.

In this case, it wasn't. I felt they were going for a "build a home, build a family" DLC, to go with the name of 'hearth'. Hearth, a home. Y'know?
This is something relatively unique. A DLC in an RPG that wasn't about weapons, fat loot, and powers. It was about role play, strictly role play, with things that surrounded the development of having a family, in a way that Peter Molyneux should take notes from.
I applaud Hearthfire for what it's done. It's not an adventure, it's an experience.

Not to be rude, but what's the experience? Cant use show cases properly, cant customize your home, wife stuck in Falkreath when I tell her to move, weapons and shields disappear.. again where's the role playing.. please!

i know this is a common thing to say but If you dont want hearthfire why do you care? I just dont understand. If you really want what you want i dont see why you play this game. Bethesda wants to improve the game and they are improving it. I think hearthfire is fine but you really dont need to buy it. again a common thing but you dont need to buy it if u dont want it. It sounds like you didnt like dawnguard and you dont like hearthfire because it didnt meet your requirements. I'm sure there are people out there who feel the same but you need to know you dont get everything you want.

you knew it was gonna come with bugs. Just uninstall and dont play it. simple. everyone knew it was gonna come with bugs yet people still download it. Gotta learn from the past.

Ah the magical land of if's and what could have been. I was pleased with Dawnguard. And i hope Hearthfire gives me the same pleasure.

It's refreshing to see genuinely thought out missives on this subject, thank you for that.
I see your concern, i think in a way, this DLC is a novelty gift; it's a role player's dream. Even though this is an RPG, i doubt over 5% of players are real hardcoe role players. Hence, i see why this is cheap and on it's own, and to be fair; of no relevance to much else in the game itself. Who knows, maybe they'll update it. Then you'll be glad you bought it.

LOLWAT? They both have massive strongholds - Fort Dawnguard and Castle Volkihar.

Why be so negative about it?
You should be greatful that you have the option to build your own home, you say u don't want a family? Then just make it a warriors home, 1 bed, enchanting room, alchemy room, smithing room.(cellar) etc, make it a home that a true warrior would have.
Yes they could have added more, but if they added everything everyone thought was a good idea or everything they wanted to add, there would be no gaming system that would handle it.

I'm a ps3 owner, I have not once ever complained about the delay in DG being release for us, yet you have had it for what 2 - 3 months? You honestly should just be greatful that you are able to play these expansions.

"Stronghold" does not necessarily mean "massive". Outpost, if you will.


I've been thinking that they may update Hearthfire through patches as it is so small. Time will tell I guess.


As I said, some enjoy this type of feature. If you enjoy it I am seriously happy for you.

newsflash castles are outposts

Newasflash: Also holds, keeps, bastions, redoubts, garrisons......None of them specify any certain size. Fort Dawnguard is actually what I would qualify as a castle. Stronghold could consist of a single tower with a wooden wall. Outpost could consist of a single wooden structure with a stone wall.

Think Redoran, Hlaalu, Telvanni quest lines.

Edit: Spelling.

pro everything skyrim. includeing DG and hearthfire though i wish you could place the furniture where you want.