OP, nothing you stated is keeping you from having the revenge story you posted. That's exactly what the prisoner opening gives you- the opportunity to use this pivotal moment to write the backstory you wish to have.

As far as not wanting to be the hero goes...

...

This is a game. The point of playing a game is to win. To progress, to become better, to achieve, and to overcome. That's the point of EVERY game, the essence of why we play them. You can play in whatever manner you choose- be a murderous villain and complete the main quest to have the power, or be a hero and save the world, or a million things in between.

No one really wants to play a support character in a single player game. Even in multiplayer, people end up fighting over control of the group, and in MMO's like WoW, there are more mages and rogues running around than there are healers, because everyone wants to play the guy who WINS, the guy who does the most damage, the guy who is supported by the group...and is the hero.

As well as a game though, it's a sandbox. Some people genuinely enjoy playing minor bit parts in the Elder Scrolls world. It's good that Bethesda still give us this choice.

Absolutely.

But...you can't finish the game in that capacity. It's merely for roleplaying purposes, for those who may want to start from humble beginnings only to be svcked into the main story. At least, that's what Bethesda intends.

A lot of people seem to think Bethesda creates this open sandbox to be like a Sims simulator. They don't. They create it so you have as many choices as possible on your path to completing the game. They have an endgoal in mind, which is why they haven't introduced allowing the player to purchase a shop, become a farmer, have a daily job, etc. Notice all the crafting and 'jobs' around town are temporary. They don't want to tie you to one place, they want you to have forward progression. Now, you can stray from that, never complete the main quest, and live a life as a humble peasant, but that wasn't the point of making the game this way.

No, I'm not saying you have to do the mainquests. You can roleplay as much as you like and create your own story. And that's fine, if that's what you like to do, which I can assure you that I like very much. That's what makes The Elder Scrolls so amasing. However if you're going to play the ''intended'' story, if you will, then you're going to become the hero.

When I say I don't like the aspect of turning into the legend foretold, I'm merely trying to suggest that I'm growing a bit weary of the formula. A little change would be nice. That doesn't mean I'd like to be a support character, by any means.

There is no end to the game. What you are referring to is the end to the main quest. The game doesn't end after that.

Not everybody plays the main quest. In Morrowind, I had the game for about 5 years before even starting it. That was with 10's of characters. The Elder scrolls are not like any other game out there, it's not about finishing, it's about having an adventure.

I hope they never take the prisoner out. I think its awesome and is a great starting point to have a clean slate.

You can still play the main quests and not become the "hero". Not at least the hero in any typical sense. It's all up to you how made it there and how you accomplish it. Or how you rationalize certain choices. If you say it's heroic, then that's your game. Not mine.

Clearly the "Start as a prisoner" bit is a Running Gag. It does give the player a reason to have his character go out and get involved, either for revenge (Stormcloaks) or to clear his name (Imperials)

I think the next game should be different though...how about this?

Your character is being payed by a wizard to test a new travel spell (Thus he gets some starting money after character creation) - the spell http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoneHorriblyWrong ™ and transports the character back in time to the time of the war between the Snow Elves (later to become the Thalmer) and the Dwemer. This way, Bethesda could have Dwemer in the game without retconning anything, and the quest line could explore and explain exactly how the Dwemer disappeared.

Can I be from the 20th century, get a boomstick, and can we call this game Army of Darkness?

So many people want to change Elder Scrolls to what other games are already doing instead of playing those games instead. WTF.

I like the intros. I definitely like Skyrim's more as it was shorter and less scripted / more choice involved (albeit a small one)
Still, yes I agree the prisoner route is getting old but until a better /just as original idea for an intro is made, I think we'll be sticking to this route for a while.

...yeah. I know that. I'm not new to the series m'dear. Just pointing out that roleplaying in that capacity does not give you the option of finishing the main quest, as you need the progression in skills, armor and weapons to defeat the top baddies.


Cheers. A voice of reason.

Prisoner to hero works as it is a good reason for you to start out with nothing.

I much prefer to just wander the land and make my own way. When I do start the MQ I aways feel as if I`ve started the end of the game...

This is why I avoid the MQ until i`m like about level 20 or 30 and even later...

Oblivion was especialy bad for this because once you started it those annoying Oblivion Gates started popping up when I didn`t really get the chance to just explore the world. I even restarted the game and AVOIDED ever going near to Kvatch cos that was the trigger. I also didn`t like the way Oblivion kind of `rushed` you to do the MQ. Skyrim was much better in that you did not feel your mission was really that urgent or important.

this is very true, u can do EVERY guild quest and ur never referred to as the dragonborn, u can do al the misc quests and ur not referred to as the dragonborn, the civil war quest...they dropped the ball to where if u try to complete it, the game will force u into becoming the dragonborn. Pretty much did good on giving u a game where u DONT have to be the dragonborn "the hero, the big man". i was very disappointed in the civil war quest line only because u have to start the main questline to finish it and i cant really see the reson behind it to why they did that..ow wells.

i see why they did the prisoner thign in skyrim because it gave ya the oppertunity to meet the civil war factions, but hopefully in th next TES they can go with the whole morrowind beginning approach.

Your sig is really wrong , I guess you meant this:
PC > owns everything
Graphics = as important as Gameplay
Fantasy > much better than reality.

You only have to sit through the wagon ride once ya know.... it saves the game for you RIGHT BEFORE character development... saved with the name "Prisoner".

Just load that save for any new character and you can skip a good couple minutes of pointless wagon riding (it was nice the first time... I sat through it a second, and was relieved to realize the save for my 3rd+)

Prisoner thing reminds me too much of life.
Forced to start at a scripted beginning with no real freedom at the start.
Here you are, now join a side to escape!
There is no escape by the way.

I would like to see it be like Blondie from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Just a wanderer that appears one day.
It begins with nobody knowing who the wanderer is, and may even end that way if the wanderer doesn't care to share a name before leaving.

Yeah you're right, I got my sig. horribly wrong, forgot to correct it and have been chugging on ever since. Thanks for pointing it out to me, now I can readjust my opinions to suit yours, and the world shall be rightened again.
Funily enough no, actually, I meant what my sig. said.
PC does not ''own everything''.
Graphics are by no means on par with gameplay. Ever.
And yeah, whatever, 'fantasy > reality' works fine for me.

The Prisoner starting point is excellent for Roleplaying, anything else would make it a challenge for Roleplaying like Fallout 3.

Well said.

I think a DA 1 approach could be amazing (multiple starting points)

No one calls me m'dear and gets away with it (without a follow-up meal)! But despite your flirty mannerisms, I yet again have to disagree with you. Thanks to level scaling, you can complete the main quests in the last 2 games at any level. There are a couple of youtube videos of people doing just that at level 1. But that's an aside to my point. The main quest is there as an option. Not a necessity. You can reach level 81 without playing a single quest and you can play all the quests without levelling. The game has far more in common with the sims than it does Dragon Age.

Oh and black tie or casual (For that meal)?

Haha I don't know why but your reply is really funny !
Well , I guess opinions