I actually don't have any issues leaving "oops" quests in the log. *shrug* I'm not anol enough to have issues with it.

It isn't that simple. If I were to tell you, in real life, that I was going to kill someone in a very sick and sadistic way, would you not warn them? If they were going to confront me anyway, would you not try to ensure their safety? If you're playing a "good" character, you're not going to ignore a person in need, and you're certainly not going to allow them to confront a Daedric prince alone.

Sure, we know what happens now, but it's already after the fact. It should never have been that way to begin with.

But that person is himself evil and has killed quite a few people on that very same alter . . . . I see no problem with it.

I don't recall ever hearing of such details in-game, and even if that were true, all life is sacred for some characters. Even sending a murderer to his death (by a Daedric prince, no less) isn't something a lot of people would have their characters do. He doesn't even attack you -- only begs for mercy as you beat him with a rusty mace. That's cruel, no matter his previous deeds.

Todd Howard stated that he wishes for people to play how they wish to play, so making the assumption that, "Oh, he's evil so everyone must want to kill him!" just doesn't fly.

Molag tells you that when he tells you how the priest desecrated the alter. Plus, this is a priest of Boethiah, after all - no saint.

Although, I suppose I see what you mean about people feeling all life is sacred - but then how do they play this game at all?

Just because you believe life is sacred doesn't mean you aren't able to defend yourself. It generally means that you will never take a life unless provoked, or if there is a possibly that you might die unless doing so (such as killing animals for food, but never enjoyment).

Because Molag Bal demands it you filthy mortal.

You aren't just any mortal. You're Dragonborn; blessed by Akatosh, destroyer of Alduin, and a prophetic hero that cannot die until the prophecy is fulfilled.

As many have said, you are not forced to do anything. You could leave the quest unfinished or just stop playing the game entirely if you wanted to.

The Daedric quests are more questionable in Skyrim than they have been in previous games, but you know that from the beginning since you're dealing with a Daedric Prince. If anything, it's more true to what we know of their nature. And if you have a problem with it, don't do it.

You were given the chance, when you first discovered that a Deadric lord wanted you to do his bidding, to simply walk away. If you want to be a hero, go fight some dragons.

I agree with a lot of what's been said here. I find it disappointing that rejection is treated so flippantly. In the real world, 'no' means no. If I say, "No, I don't want to join the Companions," then don't ram the choice into my journal anyways, because I've already made my decision. If I change my mind later, I can always just sidle up to Aela and be, like, "Sooo, about becoming a werewolf." It's also frustrating that the only 'moral' path offered by many quests is that of apathy. I get the option to take down the Dark Brotherhood, by why am I forced to allow the Thieves Guild to thrive? Why is my only alternative to joining the guild standing back and watching as it keeps Riften's population in a constant state of fear? Why does every 'evil' action not have a polar 'good' one? Walking away from evil isn't righteousness, it's cowardice. If I'm given an outlet to actively pursue 'evil' actions, I should be given one to actively punish those who propagate them.

I am also a Christian and can see your point.

The thing is, if this bothers you...so should alot of things in the game. Murder, robbing, and all sorts of "evil" are in the game. To see that you were only uncomfortable with that..well its odd.

Saying that, I also must add this. It is a game.
Whether your killing innocents, stealing for things and what not. It's not really doing evil. It's just a simulation. I understand it's an annoying quest, i fell for it myself. But as i thought about it, i realized there was most likely not a way to do this quest "the good way" as i normally prefer. So i left it in my quest log.

I can understand it breaks the immersion, and i do wish there was a "he is trying to kill you!" option, but that is the fault of the dev's lack of adding a different path.
If somehow some evil monster came to me, and said "bring me this man so i can consume his soul!", I'd run and warn the poor guy.

But this isn't the case here. It lacks the other option, and that is what annoys me. It doesn't offend me necessarily though. It's a video game, and if the choices and deeds i did actually mattered, well i would't even have bought the game in the first place.

I understand the position, but this is just my cents on it.

So you're upset with Bethesda because you did an optional quest for a very clearly evil god entity know as the "Prince of Domination," despite even claiming yourself you have personal beliefs/morals (religion?) in the mix of this that make you feel uncomfortable, but you did it anyways?

Do you see what I'm getting at here? I blame Heckler & Koch because I bought their HK416 and when I shot myself in the foot I didn't expect it to hurt so bad.

You don't know that it has anything to do with Molag Bal until it's too late. After that, ignoring the quest means ignoring the fact that a man is being held hostage. That's not something "good" characters do, so stop assuming we're all blood-thirsty [censored]s or apathetic wimps.

good question

i cant answer it unfortunately because im not you

You listened to a daedra and killed the Vigilant of Stendarr even though you had the opportunity to walk out of the house allowing everyone to live. Then you listened to a daedra a second time and rescued a rival daedra's priest. Then you listened to the daedra a third time and beat the priest to death twice when you could have walked out the door at any time.

It sounds like the quest did exactly as it should; provide a moral decision and invoke an emotional response. You chose to go against your own morals multiple times and it made you feel bad in the end. It was your choices that led you to that point just as much as the quest. Your desire to check another quest completed, earn an achievement, or pick up a new shiny piece of loot was enough to bend you to the will of an evil god. Take a little responsibility for the decisions you made.

Why did you do it then? You just had to refuse to do it and load a previous save, in case refusing would result in your character getting stuck where he was.

Even the 'good' Daedra have their dark sides. This is why Daedra worship is taboo in most of the Empire, they are evil beings. Even Azura cursed the entire Dunmer people because of the actions of three. No one forces you to do the quest, but in all honesty i don't care about his age, he was an advlt and a knowing enemy who picked a fight with one of the eviler Daedra lords. If you're turned off by that, then don't play CoDMW. Even the blood rooms in TES seem timid compared to 'No Russian'.

The door was locked and the Vigilant attacks pre-emptively.

He tried to warn him.

I haven't done this part of the quest myself, but can you leave the house while he's trapped? Are you stuck with the rusty mace?

The door was never locked when I did the quest, but that was before any of the patches came out so it may have been unintended. This definitely explains why the preist went back to default Vigilant of Stendarr dialogue after I escaped, which I found quite strange considering what had just happened to us.

If the only intended outs are to not rescue the priest without knowing if you have the option to warn him and not returning to the house after rescuing the priest, then I do see a problem with the choices available in the quest.

Deciding to rescue a priest of another evil god, even to warn him since he's still going to serve an evil god, versus leaving the priest in captivity should still be weighed however.

Just think of it as being a Crusader for Stendarr your killing those dirty daedra worshipers. There all better. Although wasn't Boethia's quest in oblivion awesome: The Tournament of Ten Bloods. Opps... I we're supposed to comfort you... well back to that whole Stendarr thing.

I agree with the points about having more options overall. Getting to destroy the Dark Brotherhood for once was good, being able to clean up Riften from the Thieves Guild too would have been better for example.

But with that said, the rest is as it should be. Bethesda did not cross any borders with this quest. Molag Bal is not a nice guy, and doing his bidding should not be nice doing deeds which leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling afterwards. Having to commit sickening deeds to earn artifacts granted by "evil" (subjective term) Daedra is appropiate in my eyes. And for me it added some flavour, having to balance the prospect of collecting powerful Daedric artifacts with possibly going against your morals, entering ethical gray zones and sacrificing others for your own gain. Not every choice should be easy, and unless your character can see the future you should at times end up in situations with unfavorable circumstances.

You don't get it! How could i know that if i listen the f**king demonic lord of domination, enslavement and r*ape, i would be forced to do some evil things! I don't care whether he is an omnipotent being or not! i paid hard earned money for this game and my whims are priority even before a gods will!

He locked and forced you to kill someone once and YOU ENTER THAT HOUSE WITH ANOTHER PERSON AGAIN(!) and expected a different outcome? I mean realy you did expect what? Molag Bal clearly said that he's planning some nasty things about that guy.

I praise Bethesda for Deadric Quests: they're well written, well thought and mature. These quests don't hold players hand show her what's gonna happen next. I hate rpg's with last moment choices like "1-do good, 2- tell some irrelevant things, 3- do evil".

I had more issues having to kill the priest you first enter the building with than that evil priest of Boethiah. I didn't even kill the first guy and tried to look for an exit but he flipped out on me. The last one deserved what was coming to him, trust me a priest of Boethiah isn't someone you'd want as a friend.
With my new character I just avoid that house and quest altogether.

I agree there should be more options in most quests.

I'm just curious why people get uncomfortable with a game, I've seen this issue pop up frequently lately and I don't understand it one bit... Person A can't stomach/cope with action B... because of some moral/ethical/religious/etc.. high ground.

I mean if some religious high ground prevents you from walking away indifferent from a single quest what about the murdering, assassinations, animal killing, enslavement of daedra, thievery... etc

To me even with the immersion, it is just a game. Thus no remorse, regrets, or any internal conflicts with anything I've done. Eventually (if I haven't already) I'll choose the alternative side on a different character to explore a different path.

That said yeah there should be more ability to sabotage these types of quests as it adds more more content and would allow for people to play different RP styles. Its an unfortunate lapse in content... but as said above it is what it is.