I think this would be perhaps the most common complaint for this game? (Or the interface... )



Anyway - the questlines in Skyrim are pretty bland. I don't think any reasonable person can deny this. There are FANTASTIC moments sure... And don't misunderstand me.... I love the game immensely (I have spent an embarrasing 500+ hours on it already, yikes!)....


But naturally any game will have strengths and weaknesses.... And the weakness of Skyrim is lack of emotional and psychological depth to the questlines. As rational, objective advlts we can observe and conclude that too little time was spent in the writing department fleshing out interesting stories and characters, particularly when you compare this to prior Elder Scrolls titles.


The questlines overall need a bit of work. One of the more obvious mistakes is their duration: All of the quild questlines (including their radiant side quests) were exceptionally short by Elder Scrolls standards.... And as a consequence we didn't have the time to become emotionally and psychologically attached to their plots and characters.

Anyway... I could rant on for hours about the issues of story telling in Skyrim but my worthless opinion is just that - a worthless opinion. I am merely expressing publicly my hope that Bethesda once again refocus as a priority both plot and characters for TES6.

I liked most of them...

Extremely well put & i completely agree.

I assume Skyrim is your first foray into Elder Scrolls?

(That isn't supposed to be an offensive remark, by the way. It's just that I have observed the pattern that newcomers tend to enjoy Skyrim's stories whereas people who have played most of the previous titles find them comparatively bland).

you assumed it wrong, sorry, I play since daggerfall
still, I liked most of them, except the civil war and the blades.

I agree with the shortness.
Liked a lot of the quests thought they were well written, but far to many radiant AI?
It's good they exist, but from my experience they were all the same fetch, kill, carry quests, yes they flagged areas up and gave thing to explore.
However try running a dozen characters and tell me how responsive it is. Same quests, same kills, same areas.

The lack of deeper faction quests shows this up more.
I love that you're never left without something to do, just in an open world that would take ages to explore itself.
You don't really need a reason to go from A to B to C.
Certainly not one saying "Kill this giant in the same place you just killed one, for the same guy that sent you to kill the first giant in the first place."

50 less miscellaneous quests would be small price to pay for one more College of Winterhold quest. Each of the factions seems to be crying out for a little more. Bard's college anyone? You are in, here are three quests, oh you already found all three items?

All the questline of faction are very short , and with cutted story, on skyrim for example we have 6 quest for the College of Winterhold, on morrowind we have 27 principal quest for guild mage and some secondary quest

Yeah, the College of Winterhold is perhaps the questline I disliked the most...... The story itself had gigantic plot holes. And that's before acknowledging the repetitiveness of "Fetch this magical item".

The Civil War questline also needed more variety.

The Companions questline needed to be longer. It was just so brief and flat.

The Thieves Guild was pretty good. Probably my favourite, actually.

The Dark Brotherhood was also pretty passable. The ending was definitely spectacular.

longer doesn't always mean better. if the long part is fetching an item form the east border to the west border I'd rather not have it.

Many factions have hidden quests , and not all are radiant. I think all the teachers at the College has their own bonus q.

Longer doesn't always mean better, but it can help a little in situations like this where the guild questlines are insanely short.

I don't necessarily need 27 repetitive quests to be satisfied, I could live with the short questline if the college itself had more character. The wizards within remind me more of absent-minded anthropologists than mages, there is no mystique around them (except for the Thalmor, who plays the usual part of Thalmor villain satisfactory). I think mages college and I think Hogwarts, filled with deep secrets, ambitious wizards with hidden agendas, dangerous experiments and strange rooms and contraptions around every corner. Winterhold feels more like a nursing home for mages, a little friendly place where old mages can go into retirement. This is the ONE place that is central to mage characters in the game, and it should have delivered much more to the mage-experience.

One thing I think Oblivion did right, though many disagree, was the requirement quests for the University. Imho all the factions should have several 'prove yourself' quests to get membership, and any benefits.
The Skyrim DB makes sense, and the Thieves', but casting one spell, or just asking to join. Look at OB's Fighters' Guild, and the non University Mages', "How do I join?" "Speak to her." "How do I... " " Please take all our silver weapons, potions, and to feel free to sell our armour and warhammers back to us"; "Oh you went to all the effort to carry five alembics from the shelf two feet away, have lots of cash."
More having to prove yourself, please.

I would enjoy longer and more depth. The game is amazing, but lacks in story. Nothing you do has any impact on anything. The questlines just amount to dialog selection.There are no branches or multiple outcomes. They are tunnel quests. You have an entrance and an exit.

The DB and Thieves Guild are okay, but I agree with the OP.

I think they should hire a well-known novelist to craft a story and script.

Playing through Skyrim I get the distinct impression that the story was created by committee with lots of ideas by different people being tossed into the pot, and it just doesn't mesh very well together.

The MQ isn't bad. But it just doesn't have that wow factor or the power to really draw you into the world.
NPC characterisation in particular could do with some work. Personalities are important.

Not only should questlines branch, with multiple endings, have a direct impact on the game but dialog options should reflect on your characters skills. As well as have NPC disposition reflect dialog and reaction based on race and what have you.

I said in another thread, Skyrim is a great action game with some rpg, a few more pages from New Vegas' book may have made it a great rpg.

I understand why some people say longer isn't always better but in Skyrim the thing I feel strongest is that I didn't really earn my Guild leadership. Too quick and too easy, You should have to oversome some amazing challenges to be guild leader. Not have it just be 'Hey new member' > 10 quests later > 'hey guild leader'. That and no one acknoldges your status. When I walk thru the college the little students I started out with should talk to me like 'Archmage it is an honor' not 'Hey B***H, go fetch this for me!'

In Skyrim they acknowledged when you became Dragonborn and when you got your skills high, (high pickpocket - 'You have nimble fingers, careful they dont get you into trouble') yet no one acknowledges I'm the most powerful archmage or Master Theif or Fighter guy.... Lame.

Skyrim to me is amazing when it comes to graphics but I feel the other elements that were crucial in TES rise to glory and cult status have taken a back seat to simply get more fans of simple RPG's into te fold. Less spells, Less Weapons, Less Choice. Bethesda (and PC community) simply says MOD it to how you think it should be, but us people who are limited to console (and thats at very least half of the Skyrim Sales) are stuck with their beta version of their half finished edition of what TES V should have been.

I agree. That would not be a bad idea, at all.

Skyrim is truly breathtaking...visually that is. I have invested well over 1000 hrs in it. I say i have more than got my monies worth. It's just that it could be so much better with a little boost from the dialog and story department.

I'm a huge TES fan since Daggerfall. So far Skyrim is probably my favorite in terms of gameplay and the world itself, but I agree in that my one minor complaint are the guild quest lines (specifically, the Mages/Companions/Civil War). Even the main quest seemed a bit short. The Thieves and DB lines are solid, but to me they simply don't match the level of past lines like House Telvanni from Morrowind, The Mages in Oblivion and the DB in Oblivion (which is the best side story they have done so far IMO).