I entered Markath today and decided I'd kill the guy before he killed the woman. I did so. She was not dead. Then she magically disappears from the screen and people announce she's dead even though I killed the duded before the guy could kill the woman.

Shouldn't this quest have differing options? Differing paths you can take as a quest?

People acknowledged you killed the man and you end up involved in the situation in a different way?

Why are the quest so linear?

Why aren't there multiple paths to take except for the quest that are written with multiple paths?

I think every quest should have a different outcome depending on a choice made. Not force a decision because the quest was written with linearity. For instance the Thieves guild guy in the market, you should be able to report him if you refuse to aid him. The Markath incident the guy who gives you the mystery note goes, "I saw what you did, you saved that woman's life. Here you dropped this." Boom different reaction, notes the real action you took, etc.

Where are the choices and paths?

I saved her and she never dropped into the phantom zone for me. She's sitting in the Silver-Blood Inn at this very moment.

The choices and paths are everywhere and that sounds like a glitch. She has never died for me or disappeared, she even rewards me for saving her.

I agree with you in principle, but in this case she should be ok if you killed the man before he could murder her. Probably a bug. Try again.

I killed the man and the woman survived. She then gave me some jewelry to say thank you. I interrogated her in the Forsworn Conspiracy quest about why the guy wanted to kill her. Your game probably just glitched.

There are none, and it damages the replay value of the game significantly. In my mind, it's like this: it's an RPG, EVERY quest should have at least two different ways to complete it. Bethesda's focus is more on the world itself than quests, though.

I saved her and she's fine on my game.

Though there is a similar situation with the Roggvir execution in Solitude...you can't save him no matter what you do...which I think is wrong.

Oh yeah, you can save the woman, btw. It's a glitch.

A glitch, damn it. Jewels sounds cool.

It was my DB assassin who saved her. He did it on the account that no motal other than a mortal of Sithis should kill in blood. And the Forsworn defile this right. Hail sithis.

There are other times I wish the game didn't force me into things. Like Astrid from the DB questline forces me into a Nazir contract before going to the crypt. How about being able to disobey her orders because the Night Mother's word is law?

I wish quest and choices in the game had multiple paths. It actually gives replayability. The only reason I'm redoing the DB quetsline is to save Cicero this time, which isn't really that much into comparison of what could have been done.

Great .... Astrid is going to try and recruit a forsworn sympathizer now. Wonder who he'll have to kill to repay the debt. Probably a choice between a hagraven, a goat, and a cave bear.

He isn't a Forsworn sympathizer. He feels the only person who has the right to kill are those ordered by Sithis and the Night Mother.