Okay, so the whole plot of Skyrim is centered around you being the Dragonborn and defeating Alduin before he can destroy the world and all the consquences that entails, but dear god did Bethesda screw that up. My travels across Skyrim were intended to give me the strength and experience to defeat this evil dragon, but they had unintended side effects as well. It introduced me to a country full of hardship that needed help on a much large scale that preventing the end of the world could accomplish. Yeah sure, by preventing the end of the world I've saved a lot of people, but from what? A massive war has just disrupted the government of the entire continent, former allies are now at each others throats, and a secret society of elves is trying to conquere it all. More personally, Skyrim, the province the entire game is based in, has just had its king killed by a renegade trying to start a war because he sees the Empire he once respected as a corrupted shell of its former self.
All the while several cities have to deal with major problems on their own and the game barely allows you to help. In short, Bethesda has given me people in trouble and no ability to save them beyond the generic end-of-the-world-preventing hero. Let me explain.


My favorite city in the whole game is Riften. Let's face it, the only thing keeping this city afloat is one big web of corruption. The Thieves Guild has made their home in its sewers, everyone knows it and yet they can't do a thing about it. They have criminals walking around in their feces, stealing their gold and they can't even kill them. Why? Because the Jarl of Riften has been convinced by the massively wealthy Maven Black-Briar, owner of the local meadery, that she'll take care of the Guild and eliminate them and their criminal ways. Of course, Black-Briar isn't trying to take out the Theives' Guild, in fact she's their number one supporter. What's worse is I can't do a thing about it. Yes, I always make a thief character, and yes he/ she joins the Thieves' Guild, but they aren't my only character. I have a Nord warrior that hates crime, absolutely loathes it in all forms. Every time he see's Brynjof selling his "special" potions, he wants to go over there and take him down. Then clear out the Ratway. My main question is: Why not? Seriously? Why can't Arsonolace Snow-Eyes take out this criminal scum? Sure, they're a guild, but not one people want around. They're not the only one hated and/ or feared, but they certainly don't have redeeming qualities. I want to eliminate these guys but Bethesda won't let me, every time I try they just stand back up. *SPOILER* They let me take out the Brotherhood, which was a fun surprise, but the Thieves guild is untouchable. I thought by supporting the Empire and retaking Riften from the Stormcloaks would solve the problem, and I believe it could have, but because she's so well connected, Maven Black-Briar becomes Jarl of Riften under Empire rule. Cementing the circle of corruption right into Riften's heart.
I can only hope that if Bethesda does a DLC expanding on the Civil War and/ or Aldmeri Dominion issues, they'll allow us to liberate Riften from crime (if we so desire), but that may be a pipe dream.

Otherwise, Bethesda just needs to add a quest that allows the Thieves' guild's destruction with a future DLC. I need to help these people Bethesda, let me do that please.

Welcome to the forums have a fishystick! http://images.uesp.net/c/c4/Fishystick.jpg

I also agree i wish we had more options in the game. I feel like the game is too shallow at times.

Yea i always wanted to take the thieves guild down.

that was... concise

hmm i like this post , but i remember another person created a topic after he encounted a problem about how some NPC's cant re-spawn after he killed a entire village .
so what if you decide to kill certain NPC's to change the course of a certain event ...... but later out of a change of personality you decided that was a bad idea .... and didnt want to start a new character .

just remember it is very easy to kill someone in skyrim ....even by accident .

apart from the NPC's that you cant kill .

alduin was too weak i say this because i used a skyforge steel great sword at flawless to take him down very quick on adept where trolls are more of a threat than him

Yes, it would be nice to have had an opportunity to properly deal with the Thieves guild for those inclined to rid Riften of it's crime. Even if it was only something as basic as the Dark Brotherhood one.

i actually found there wasnt enough dialogue between Alduin and the dragonborn. in some way i felt my character was running after a being that i didnt know allot about ... like chasing after a complete stranger to try and kill him . All i knew about Alduin was only from Parthonax's words .
dont get me wrong of course your going to hunt down dragons after they randomly attack villages and kill people but all i knew was that Alduin the world eater was apparently prophesied to destroy everything ... it just seems that isnt enough in m opinion .

one other thing ... if dragons are far more smarter then men and mer or beast why is it in there nature to destroy and create a wasteland ... it seems a bit basic .
so if dragons are to destroy and eat everything they should be viewed more as a pest rather then intelligent godlike beings , so in my opinion dragons should not be able to speak at all .

this is probs completely off topic lol

but all in all i love skyrim and the whole saving the world thing .

Yea we barely spoke to alduin at all. The only thing that comes to mind was when we met him reviving the first dragon and he called us arrogant for not speaking the dragon language. That was about it i think.

May I ask why? Before the Dragonborn becomes the leader of the thieves guild they are pretty pathetic, saying they hold the city and keep afloat is pretty silly. They're pretty much falling apart before you join them.

I think it'd be cool to be able to get rid of the thieves guild too, like the Dark Brotherhood, but since thieves aren't about murder it'd have to be something else--some other way to clean up the town than just "kill them all." Beat them at their own game, so to speak.

I love Riften too and I wonder what it would be like without its corruption. A pretty little town on the edge of a lake? I'm not sure.

Brynjolf is part of the main quest. Granted, you don't have to talk to him to complete it, but he is part of it none-the-less. A lousy excuse, I know, but the only other excuse is not enough development time.

This is a flaw of the game; it doesnt have much choices in its questlines. There are rarely any alternative endings for a certain quest, and many choices actually lead you to the same destination. Its rather annoying sometimes.

Get some ideas from Bioware, Bethesda! and Bioware could get some nice graphics from Bethesda.

Bioware!?

Get some ideas from Obsidian!

I haven't done the thieves guild yet. I got halfway through OP's post and stopped reading cuz I read that maven black brair is their biggest supporter

Dude, the Thieve's guild is nowhere near as bad as Alduin who if he were at full power would probably literally eat the world.

How does OP's post reflect that the game is too shallow? Rather he discovered the simple fact that the main quest is not the end-all experience of the game. I don't see why this would upset a player, rather, they should be able to appreciate the beauty of such a large and diverse game.

Thats one thing I don't like about Skyrim and Oblivion you can't kill quest npc. I think they should do it the way Morrowind did.

yeah i've learn from past forum posts to get to the point.
i usually start ranting about one thing and then go into
300 other subjects that have nothing to do with the original.
i actually almost did it with this one too but i decided to
keep to the original point.

i want to kill the Thieves' guild. putting them out of their misery for the betterment of Riften. bringing peace to a small part of Skyrim
and preventing a return that could spread across the land.

i agree and disagree with both of you

there are parts that have amazing beauty and depth, including stories and settings, but there are
places where it seemed that Bethesda could have taken a few more steps without ruining the experience.
like they played it safe in a few areas to keep logic or just not to out due themselves.
yet, there are parts i feel they did too much in, ala the Dark brotherhood's questline
not to say that wasn't fun and unexpected, but i mean where do you go from there?
what does that mean for future events both dealing with the dark brotherhood's future and Tamerial's
then again, its hard to judge these within the scope of the game. they may have left somethings cut off
to finish in later DLC or even canon in future sequels, and there's always the noncanon aspect of the game.
Hopefully whatever they have planned for events in this game and their impact on the future
will be the perfect balance of both tying up loose ends and tongue-in-cheek wink wink
this may have happened, it may not have happened canon books

Yeah, but you can beat him, and you do.

Then what? Alduin's dead, but Riften is still full of criminals.
I've stopped the end of the world, but I can't stop a dying street gang?
I've stopped the other one that are experts at murdering people and are lead by Sithis,
a being that pre-dates the creation of the Divines and the Daedra, and I can't
end a group that's passive and been forsaken by their matron Daedra?

The whole point of my qualm is that I want to be an end all be all Hero on a scale beyond
"hey i stopped the apocalypse! give me a statue!" I want to be a Gorram Saint that not only
stopped the end of days but stayed around to pick up the trash, even if it was there before
i arrived to the party

that's no secret nor a surprise, one of the first people you meet in Riften tell's you about it if you ask.

the biggest name in Riften, Black-Briar, backs then up. spending an untold amount of septims keeping them out of jail and allowing them to keep their chins just above the water
despite their slipping foothold. Maven could easily let them drown and turn her money directly to the city, but instead she keeps the Thieves Guild alive as her own personal
band of criminals. In doing so she keeps the city alive, but again, only by its chin. in my perfect scenario, i wouldn't just eliminate the guild, i'd expose Maven for the corrupt person she is
and have her estate either aquired by the Jarl to use for the betterment of Riften or allow it to be inherited by a member of the Black-Briar family that isn't "evil", if one exists.
or as an alternative alternative, when the Dragonborn takes over the Guild he returns them to the thinking of the Grey Fox. using their aquired wealth to help those in need,
Robin Hood style.

they may be weak and dying, but they're criminals and they need justice.

Right?!?!? I bought Battlefield 3 so I could pretend to have a desk job in the military. It forced me to be a soldier! Wtf!

I bought a game about being a soldier just to be forced to play as a soldier. Rip off!

if he's absolutely important, then maybe while he's peddling his potions, i sneak to the ratway when his back is turned. he's not even the guild master, so i guess he can live.