Eye of the beholder.
When i first started out dawnguard, i went immediately to whiterun, cuz you know. Whiterun is like the central hub for everything. But after that orc asked me to join up, a group of vampires ransacked the city. people were dying, guards were failing. I was failing... It was one of the greatest things i have EVER experienced in this game. I still get chills when they attack. It's just so fun and exciting.
was WELL worth the $20. For me at least. But im strange

While I feel for the OP's pain...I gotta second this response! ^
There is a point around 55ish (for me) where the game begins to become easy and predictable. Before DG the only thing that gave me that spark of excitement and unpredictability was the random dragon attacks, the wild life, and the random encounters on the roads with "whomever" (thalmor, prisoner escorts, etc.). It got to the point for me that I started picking my own assassination targets just to see if I could do it cleanly...and then reloading to see if I could do it differently. There was a point where it almost mirrored Hitman, lol. But that was something I had to actively do, so eventually I got bored. I put it down for a few months to let it settle.
Dawnguard brought that excitement back to me in spades. Like the response above, I still remember the first time a pack of Vamps attacked Whiterun and I was genuinely saying aloud
"Oh [censored], oh [censored], that's not working. OH S***! He just dropped that guy! OH NOES!! I'm runnin for the hills!! Help! Help! Vampire Attack!"...and I'm suppose to be the mighty "dragonborn". I had traveled to Savngard, killed "the world eater", and these things were kicking my ass all over town. I eventually had to reload because of the damage they did...but oh boy! was it ever EPIC CHAOS!! I'm now able to better handle them, but now and then they'll catch me off guard. Those moments, I know I'm in for a ride.
And I sided with the Vamps, so I'm getting them both. Vamp city attacks and Dawnguard attacks (on me, in city and out). Now that I have Lakeview Manor though they LOVE ambushing me while I'm tending crops or drafting plans. I say BRING IT GRANDMA!
