Why am I forced to be a mage? : V - Skyrim

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:13 am

Same reason you have to:

become a Werewolf....

or a Nightingale (to Kill Mercer who you do not use any special Nightingale powers on to kill, anyway, and do not recieve until afetr he's dead)

it's written that way... but hey, they said we'll be able to play anyway we want, but unless you play their way (the Right Way - according to Todd) it will be messed up.

you are not forced to become a werwolf or nightingale.

kthxbye

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:51 pm

In terms of not being told by the game that it can be done a different way: the thing is in a lot of quests the only way to do it is to do exactly what you are told. There's no real indication of which quests want you to think outside the box.

Um, I can't think of one quest in Skyrim that requires any 'thinking outside the box'. Can you? They're all straightforward 'go here, do/kill this' events.

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:40 pm

How has this thread gone on for three pages?

You don't have to be a mage. You don't have to join the College to do the main quest. You don't have to say the word "magic" out loud if you don't feel like it.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:42 am

You're not forced to be a mage. If anything the game forces you into being melee.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:03 am

On a similar note, I hate the fact that you can not find all the shouts (or stones, or pieces of amulet) unless you join every faction in the game. As a heavy role-player I will never play a character that is great at everything as that just isn't possible.

Huh? You say you arene't playing a character that is great at everything and in the same sentence you complain you can't get each and every shout in the game unless you become great at everything.

Has it ever occured to you that a specialized character isn't *supposed* to be able to learn all shouts?
:cool:

PS: I'm on my second character, some 200+ hours in, and i haven't even shouted once. You can play the game just fine without having to have every last single shout. It's called role-playing ...

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:47 pm

Huh? You say you arene't playing a character that is great at everything and in the same sentence you complain you can't get each and every shout in the game unless you become great at everything.

Has it ever occured to you that a specialized character isn't *supposed* to be able to learn all shouts?
:cool:

PS: I'm on my second character, some 200+ hours in, and i haven't even shouted once. You can play the game just fine without having to have every last single shout. It's called role-playing ...

Funny thing is, hundreds of hours and dozens of shouts learned into the game, I still rarely use any of them, even though I have no self-imposed ban on it. Mostly, I just forget I have them . That, and the fact that the game hands you so many easy ways to kill stuff, they're just frosting. Unneeded frosting, it turns out.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:40 am

I was just about to post a very similar thing.

As I tihnk about it, I've found that in both OB and Skyrim I've done less "thinking around" an issue, less trying out different ways of doing a quest, and more doing the straight path... maybe that's more about having less time now thant I did when I played Morrowind, than it does game design.

To be honest I'm the same lately, follow the path, don't take time to investigate. At some point over the past 5-10 years in the vast majority of games investigating became fruitless because there simply was only one path available to the player. I think I got used to it, just take the path shown to you, don't spend hours investigating because they don't make games like that anymore :confused:

So now when there is an option, I miss it, don't even think to look.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:49 am

you are not forced to become a werwolf or nightingale.

Yeah. I was very satisfied with my Fighters' Guild experience. First mission: I went to kill a raccoon the next town over. Second mission: sorry, you don't get a second mission unless you pledge your eternal soul to a murderous godling and let him turn you into a giant dog.

Oh well, I guess I can walk around at random and fight bears and pretend I'm doing it for a reason. Cool! My warrior character is fully realized. What a great story!

As for the Nightingales, the less said about that the better. Though I will say that I was overjoyed with the numerous options there too. (1) Out of the blue, dress up like a reject from a Batman fanfic and (again) pledge your eternal soul to some chick in exchange for, uh, I don't know, 25￠ and a punch in the mouth; (2) Close your eyes and run away from the story that's been building up for the last 15 hours. Optional: stick your fingers in your ears and go LA LA LA LA LA

Seriously, some (not all, but some) of the writing and quest structure in this game is sheer garbage. "Do this quest in one incredibly contrived and stupid way or don't do it at all" is not freedom of choice.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:03 am

After gaining access to the college...

Spoiler

you only need to head to the Arcaneum and speak to the librarian there to continue the MQ. the rest will just advance the College quest line.

Also, behind the college there is a cave where you can climb to to get into the college without joining them. And the location the librarian reveals can be found by just exploring, which allows to continue the main quest.

Didn't know you could do that, I'm gonna with my assassin lizard. For my first play through with my orc I just went along with it kinda pretending that I was intrested in magic just to get them to trust me so I could get into the archmages quarters for the stone that I needed. Once I was done using them for my own needs I never went back. Though now I might just to get a certain item I need to complete the set.

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:29 pm

Seriously, some (not all, but some) of the writing and quest structure in this game is sheer garbage. "Do this quest in one incredibly contrived and stupid way or don't do it at all" is not freedom of choice.

Thus is encapsulated the entirety of the 'RPG' experience, in Skyrim. And I would have said 'most', not some. The only branching in Skryim, is on the trees.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:56 am

In order to save the world, one must make sacrifices. Joining the Mage's College is one such sacrifice.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:35 am

Thus is encapsulated the entirety of the 'RPG' experience, in Skyrim. And I would have said 'most', not some.

Thanks. I was trying to be charitable

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:19 pm

.... Folks... give Peace a break.
If Skyrim didn't lead people around like fish on a line most of the time, there would be no problem. There suddenly being an exception to that isn't intuitive. Heck, I didn't know there was a secret entrance to the college... BUT THEN I mostly don't go near the College until I'm high level, as I wouldn't want to jinx the levels of the followers there by joining the same cell as them.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:12 am

Judging from quests and loot it seems that mage is clearly a class more favoured. Most of the loot are mage robes and not nice armor for melee, and most of the weapons are staffs. I have lost count on how many robes and staffs I found in chests. And like you said, the part of the the mq where you have to join the college is irritarting, because even if you can enter without having to cast a spell, you still get the quests of talking to someone who will show you around. And there are way to many quests focused on mages too, the quest Lost Legends for example can't be finished unless you are a mage.

And yet, look at all the threads complaining about how magic (especially Destruction magic) is crippled.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:45 am

And yet, look at all the threads complaining about how magic (especially Destruction magic) is crippled.

Well, it's not crippled.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:28 am

what a relief. the game was about to be shelved.

You ARE forced to be a thief though. :biggrin:

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:39 am

...But you won`t listen, Bethesda, will you? Too drunk with success to.

Don't end a sentence with a preposition.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:19 am

Don't end a sentence with a preposition.

It wasn't a preposition, it was a spelling error :biggrin:

NM, I'm a tard and I'm wrong.

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:22 pm

You may not see this, but I hope you do. Also, I didnt really read any of the replies so it may have been said already.

There are two other ways if you do not want to join the College and go through the MQ. The first is obvious, simply bypass the College portion of the quest altogether. Go straight to Sepimus's outpost and speak with him. Also, it is possible to get into The Midden (Dark) through it's exit. You can get up the cliff they put there. Of course, both of these require prior knowledge of them, so if your RPing a character that doesn't have a Divine's knowledge, you need to just join, then go to the Arcanium and talk to the Orc.

I found out about the 'back door' with my Khajiit thief/assassin. He was 2 Stones of Barenziah away from the whole set (Thalmor Embassy was the other, wasn't that far into the MQ yet and was before 1.4 patch), and the Arch-Mage's room is freakin' key locked. And no, Savos Aren does not have a key. Some Arch-Mage, locked himself out of his own room. I deleted and restarted that character because I didn't want to have joined the College, and I didn't want the extra clutter.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:49 am

Seems more like to me mages are forced to be and do other things.
Why do I need a lockpick to open that lock.
Why do I need to walk or jump up the side of this mountain.
Why do I have to persuade this person I stead if using a charm spell.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:56 am

I was kind of mad when I got to that part too... I don't understand why you can't just tell them you want to get some information. They act like you want to join the college, and never let you say otherwise.

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:14 pm

Learning a few spells doesn't make you a mage lol

A single spell makes you a mage.

» Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:11 pm

A single spell makes you a mage.

Well, you're born into the game world with two spells, so I guess you're twice the mage, then.

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:24 am

You ARE forced to be a thief though. :biggrin:

Nope, you arent' at all ... No one forces you to join the thieves guild. I haven't and my game works just fine.

I'm actually thinking about making a mod that allows you to team up with Mjoll the Lioness and get rid of the thieves guild once and for all ...
:cool:

» Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:33 am

Personally, for my very first character, I hold the MQ until I completed the questlines for all 4 guilds and found most POI on thhe map, including the Outpost by myself. While I did enter and become a member of COW, I have already had the Elderscroll in my possession long before Paarthurnax asked for it.

For the theif part, you can enter the ratway without joining TG. To those who are insistent on Skyrim forcing you to join XXX guild, you need to play the game more.