Stupid question but I've been thinking about this for a few days now because it just seems like it feels odd to play as a thief in Skyrim. Not so much because the combat doesn't work or anything like that (though some of the bosses are obviously geared towards the run in and mash head to controller type), but because the game itself and the storyline with it isnt really geared towards the style.

Starting the game you are told to go talk to a Jarl which takes you directly to fighting a dragon. The storyline basically forces you to keep going on this "kill dragon and complete story" path with no mention of Riften, the thieves guild, how to sell stolen items etc. etc. Infact, even the dark brotherhood has a rumor you can pick up in the first town, but nothing is mentioned to new players on where to go to start your path as a thief. You steal something and can't sell it. You don't know why you can't sell it. The game forces you to go outside of the game to look up where to go to sell your stolen items and then you figure out there's a theives guild to join that the game makes no mention of. On top of it all, Riften is actually pretty far from where you actually start the game which makes it even more difficult to find the path as you wouldn't normally stumble apon it. Intentional because the guild is supposed to be a secret? Sure. But then why have a rumor about the dark brotherhood in the very first town then?

So the only option you have here is to completely ignore the main quest from the very second you step out of the cave and find your way to a town thats half way across the map. Yes take a buggy but how many new players even know about that if they're skipping the mainquest? Or are we not supposed to join the thieves guild until we're halfway through the game?

Huh? New players can find a wagon- there's one parked in front of Whiterun. The reason the Thieves guild is not near the start of the game is probably intentional- I'd just be guessing, but the thieves guild quests, and rewards, are made in mind with a minimum level. The challenges are not ones for the newly arrived. That's to keep it interesting.

Personally, I was suprised there was so much murder in the thieves guild. I killed as many people during that guild line as the dark brotherhood, maybe more. (You don't have to kill all the thugs on a certain island...)

Both Skyrim and Oblivion force the main quest on you too fast, I think.

As far as finding the thieves guild in game... that seems to be a basic problem with Skyrim and not just for the thieves guild. There are virtually no directions. You pretty much have to look outside the game for several quests, or just follow the quest marker with no hints.

What I found odd was how the members were already impressed with me when I didn't do a single quest yet - apart from the first one (which I failed) and the second one.

That's what I was thinking because there's either a rumor or some type of entry point for every other guild in the game. The thieves guild is the only one that you're just supposed to stumble apon on your own. So it's better to start out by doing the dbh first then move on the thieves guild?

So your upset that all the main quests are not nicely laid out for you right when you start the game? I for one would prefer to do a little adventuring and find things out for myself by accident, this is the reason I play rpg's.

The main quests takes you across the map, in a way. Delphine sends you straight to the one of the leaders of the Thieves Guild. It's up to you whether you want to get to know him better. You don't stumble into him at all... she gives you his very name.

I had absolutely no problem role playing a theif in this game. The bigger problem was role playing my chaotic neutral thief to give a crap about the civil war or the main quest. She's selfish. Why should she flippin care? The quests in this game lack moral choices (and personality choices) within them.

I do agree you're kind of "forced" into the main quest. The thing I mind most is being made "Thane" practically from jump street. I think you should have to WANT it and work for it more like the other cities.

You basically have to pass on going to Riverwood when you emerge from the cave and just go your own way and start adventuring. Which in fact Bethesda gives you the freedom to do so you're really not actually "forced" to do the main quest or anything when you think about it.

The Thieves guild is introduced in the first quarter or third of the main quest- that's not blindly wandering around trying to find it. Bethesda said the main quest was doable in a little over 30 hours- so in just a few hours, you have the thieves guild.

It's not as if it remained hidden and you absolutely can't find it. As for the DB, I have no opinion on whether or not to do it first or after the thieves guild. There's a point in the DB where if you're in the thieves guild it helps you-.

The thieve's guild is referenced enough to give you an idea of where to go, and I'm satisified with the DB's ambiguity. It seems fitting.

You guys want a recruiting poster?

On directions in quests :

Most quest givers provide landmarks from what I've seen, or general areas to explore to find your destination. Perhaps the idea that there are 'no directions' is less of an indicator of quest marker logistics and more of a notice on how much players read dialogue.

Also, the MQ is by no way railroaded... I don't understand this. You can go anywhere after Helgen, without ever participating in the MQ save for maybe one or two instances for a couple of quests.

Being a thief is probably the most overpowered melee-type in Skyrim. Sneak is crazy in Skyrim. 30x backstabs, 15x backstabs, free sneak bonus with archery... Throw Voice... shooting dummy arrows...

You can very easily send NPC's running around in circles in Skyrim.

Utilizing a thief-type build is probably the easiest archetype in Skyrim, you will rarely ever participate in direct close quarters-face to face combat. Provided you utilize the mechanics provided.

If you explore Skyrim, you will find many references to guilds across the region. I don't think there should be some arbitrary Quest Master waiting outside Helgen to point you towards the guild of your choice.

Exploration is a large part of these so-called Open World games, and if you want explicit directions you are provided with the Quest Marker as an anologue. Because... they are essentially the same thing.

This is technically true when it comes to the freedom that is given to you to just go on your own way, but at some point you have to go back and start the main quest which basically starts by you rushing to Riverwood to seek immediate aid. So you eventually go back after you've done whatever it is you want to do and just kind of act like the pressing attack of a dragon still exists. Now you could just "go your seperate way" right from the start of the cave, which would actually make more sense, but then when you go back it's back to the "I JUST RIGHT NOW SAW A DRAGON!" which actually happend ...20 levels ago. So it's more about the "sweet spot" of when the game could give you a break for your character to say "screw it Im going my own way now Ill deal with you later".

I do agree with the cival war quests though. Why would a thief that does nothing but steal from people care about their cival war?

I don't think that's true about finding the Thieves Guild.

As soon as you find one of the "Unusual Gem's" you are directed to have it appraised in Riften as a Misc. quest. And you find gems fairly early in the game.

You have no choice but to find out about the Guild once you go to Riften. Especially when there's a guy practically waiting for you at the gate with info on the gem and who to speak with.

Looking at your character stats....... it says you're a two handed character type, but you use dual weilding war axes. Huh?

I actually heard about the Thieves Guild from one of the merchants. I forget which city at this point (I'm thinking it was either Markarth or Windhelm, but I can't remember), but it came up through their normal dialogue. It was something about how they (the merchant) aren't too concerned with the guild anymore since it doesn't have much of a presence outside of Riften, or something along those lines.

I guess it's luck of the draw. I never follow the main story on my first couple of characters. That dragon is attacking Riverwood? svck to be Riverwood. On to the real story, ME!!!! I ended up in Rfiten pretty quickly. I wanted to travel to each city and get the lay of the land. So, the carriage was my good buddy for the first few levels. Right away in Riften, people were practically begging me to inquire about the Thieves Guild. Granted, my first character had no interest, but his travels, being told far and wide by many bards, happened to reach the ears of my third character. A Theives Guild in Riften, he thought. How interesting.

That being said, had I not taken the carts to all the cities first, I'd probably have not found out until about level 15. But if you wanted to play a thief, and skip the main quest or delay the main quest, wouldn't the first thing you do is seek out the guild for yourself? I'd have gone to each city looking for it first before I did anything else.

That's what I did for the Mage's College. I didn't need to be told where. I looked.

This^. That's exactly what happened to me my first play through. I was going around looking for the theives guild for the longest time, and walking everywhere. I didn't even know that those carriages at the towns where for transportation at first. lol I spent half the game.. up till about level 25 when i decided to just talk to the buggy rider.
"HOLY! YOU MEAN I COULD'VE USED YOU 23 LEVELS AGO TO GET TO THE MAIN TOWN?" (facepalm)

Then when i did find out, i took it to riften just for no reason in particular than to get it's location on my map and sure enough, they mention the guild. WTF.. Yeah, though i have to say that first play through i did uncover 80% of locations before i figued out about the carriages. LOL

-Mush-

I found it funny that the thieves guild hates you and then after the first quest all of the sudden I was one of them. The guild quests in this game are my only real complaint.

You want an easy, obvious (note: almost enforced) route to the thieves guild?
Try picking up one of those shiny looking floating-pink-stones-in-boxes scattered about the game.


Note: Unless you're willing to go hunting down every single last one of them, you've just gained a permanent addition to your inventory.

Really? I think we're forced into guilds in Skyrim, not kept away from them.

MQ will give you directions to both the Thieves Guild and the College. It actually makes you JOIN - sure, you can tell Faralda you're Dragonborn, but you're still treated as if you joined the regular way.
You're invited to Jorrvaskr before you even reach Whiterun.
The first rumour you hear is about the Dark Brotherhood (or about the love triangle, but let's ignore that).

I had no problems with finding the Thieves Guild. I immediately went after Aventus's quest and got to Riften. But if I jadn't, there are still the Unusual Gems - they're all over the place, you're bound to find them - because if you don't go lurking into all the chambers in every palace you visit, you don't deserve to be called a thief
Warriors will most certainly go talk to Kodlak - another stone right in front of you. No way you can miss it.
Mages get to see one early in their questline as well.

No, it's very easy to find the Thieves Guild.

With all the talk of the unusual gems I thought id look them up and see the closest one to where you leave the cave. There is a bandit hideout west of the cave entrance http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Pinewatch that contains one and a mission item for the thieves guild. Just cleared it on a level 2 character so it seems easy enough.

Leave cave find items in bandit hideout go to theives guild ignore mq. Seems like it should work.

I get around that by the idea that dragons are an annoyance and threat, so finding out why they're suddenly attacking you everywhere is in your best interest, and also the notion that the thu'um has power and a selfish character could be motivated by desire to be more powerful. I just didn't do the civil war quest line on my thief character, other than the part you have to do to finish the MQ. I suppose you could reason that siding with the imperials puts Maven Blackbriar on the jarl's seat, so it benefits the guild, but that was not enough for me.

I always skip the main quest and do it as one of the last things. I looked around and had no idea where to locate the Thieves Guild, and I ended up just looking it up. Once you're in Riften, it's easy, but figuring out exactly which city is a nightmare. You get no leads if you aren't doing the main quest. I didn't find a single Unusual Gem until I was level 15 and doing the Dark Brotherhood quests. The NPC's don't even mention Riften until after you start doing Thieves Guild quests.

I think that one should do the DB after the Thieves Guild as well as completing several other quest lines as well. The reason being is that if your sneak isn't high enough and if you don't have certain perks from the Sneak tree, then you end up doing the ol' hack n' slash instead of being a silent assassin. The DB is always one of the questlines I do last.

As far as the MQ being "forced" on you, that's just not true. Turn the arrow off. The Quest will wait for you. There's no time limit in which you have to finish it by. I'm in my third play-through, at level 42, and have barely touched the MQ.

YOU dont have to fight the dragon.. just hide in the tower and wait till the guards kill it.

Let's see, Thief's Guild is hidden?

- Riften is one of the biggest town in the game and as soon as you step somewhat close to the gate, a guard jumps at you and practically says the thief's guild headquarters are inside town, then as soon as you walk near the well you get another NPC that tries to enroll you
- The main quest sends you literally to Riften to look for someone hidding with the help of the thief's guild and tells you to contact them through someone there you are given the name and quest marker arrow
- The many unusual gems you find send you to the thief's guild itself
- The marriage ceremony requires you to go to Riften which as a result causes you to meet entrance guard
- The civil war questline sends you to Riften


Really, the Thief's Guild is so well hidden you need out of game spoilers to find it indeed.