So i am roleplaying a breton mage who is NOT the dragonborn, and has nothing to do with the main quest, he is in the imperial legion and got orders to go to whiterun, the jarl said he wouldn't help me unless i helped him deal with the dragon problem, so i was essentially forced to become the dragonborn and do the mainquest, this is really messing up my roleplay, i don't understand why bethesda would put that in don't they know that people often ignore the mq.

I agree, this happened to me as well on one of my characters. Really annoying, because you are forced to trigger the Dragons appearing that way. But alas, the civil war and the dragons questlines are intertwined...

I know, my Imperial was going through the MQ until she came upon that part! You must also do this is you want to buy a house in Whiterun, very annoying for my normal bard when a dragon comes chasing him...

Ultimately, your character is the Dragonborn in Skyrim; whether you like it or not. It's unfortunate, but I can see why Bethesda made this ultimatum, since your character ends up playing an integral role in every major conflict they involve themselves in.

Regardless, I too would like them to move away from this design philosophy.

and they make you join mages guild to get into sarthaal(sp?), that was shocking. i can't think of another elder scrolls game that made you join or do any faction things.

There is way too much railroading in this game, the MQ forces you into the College of Winterhold and Theives Guild as well.


I honestly think it's because they were aiming for an audience who wouldn't go off their path/questline unless they were forced too

Well your character isnt exactly the dragonborn, there is a person that is dragonborn in skyrim you don't have to play as them

Even in other TES games, the game pretty much comes out and tells you that you're the hero of legend destined to save the world. Remember the Emperor's speech at the beginning of Oblivion, and the vision at the beginning of Morrowind? You always have the option to ignore your destiny, but it is what it is.

Honestly, though, I wish Bethesda could construct something more like Daggerfall, where instead of being prophesized to save the world, you're just a semi-important person that has the ability to if you so choose.

Uh... no it doesn't. Going into the Ratway/College building does not equal joining the faction.

I wanted a similar thing, with Hjerim in Windhelm as home base, but could not aquire this house without going deep into the Civil War questline, which would force me to enable dragonspam. Meh. Had to go with a different house. This has to do with the outcome of the Whiterun civil-war quests and how Whiterun is linked to the main story. Too much work to make two dialogue versions for the Jarls of Whiterun for the main quest?

Well, you don't really have to join them. But you can only skip them if you do it on purpose.

Daggerfall was the best game in the series at not having any sense of rushing you to finish the MQ (Morrowind did well too, and I suppose Arena did too)



Yes, it does. Maybe not for the Theives Guild, but the College gates won't open if you don't join. So the only way to get around it is unrealistacally going straight to the iceberg

Kind of feels like a neglected 5 year old trying to show his perpetually drunk mother his finger painting.

"Did you hear about the boy in Windhelm trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood?"

ugh...

Still, there are work-arounds, but they arnt oblivious too many people.

Actually, there's apparently a back way into the college, which you can use to continue the main quest without joining the game's mage faction. However, the game certainly doesn't do a very good job of making you aware of its existence.

Even those of us that love the game should realize you're really force fed many aspects of the game. You can't choose not to be dragonborn. You can't choose to be against the war all together. There are many "roles" that the game simply forbids you to enjoy. Give in... because it's not going to change. If you can't live with this design, wait for some heavy-duty mods to change pretty much everything.

No point in complaining that a questline doesn't conform to your RP plan, OP. Kudos on sticking to your guns, though, most people wouldn't give a [censored]. You've just learned that the Legion is not for you. Learn from this experience, reroll, and try something new. Or just continue RPing as a member of the Legion without advancing the plot (raid stormcloak camps, etc.)

I can't. They never did it in any of their previous games (I haven't played Arena, so I'm not sure about that). Even in Oblivion, despite all of "the world is falling apart" stuff, nothing happened when I abandoned the MQ right after giving the amulet to Jauffree. That's why TES games are advertised as "be whoever you want, go wherever you want". That was supposed to be Skyrim's selling point. Ironically, regarding the questlines there's less freedom than ever before - we're practically forced into Thieves Guild and Winterhold College, and the Dark Brotherhood joining is a joke. It would be passable if you we had to put some effort into finding Aventus, but the rumour about him is the first thing we hear in Riverwood. Sad.

I know there are workarounds. I also understand that this desing was an attempt to show that Dragonborn's return has a great impact on the whole land of Skyrim (and to put a big, red arrow pointing to every guild for those who are too lazy to find them on their own...). Still, there are other ways to achieve this, like mutually exclusive guild quests, seeking assistance of another guild's member, things like this. Not necessarily JOINING those other factions, just interacting with them.

Actually, you are whatever you say you are.

From what I gathered, both sides of the civil war quest are built around your character somehow being inherently better than all other soldiers, you're given special treatment - complete freedom of movement and uniform, as well as elite black ops style mission roles. If you really wanted to roleplay as a simple soldier, find an outpost and hang out with the rest of the common rabble. Attack soldiers from opposing factions as you come across them. The main quest will never get in your way. If you want a Jarl to treat you with respect though and dub you Thane, I guess you're just going to have to become Dovahkiin to impress.