Actually.... I've been playing CRPGs since the mid-80s. I've found it perfectly possible to ignore the MQ storyline in any game I can think of offhand, beginning with the SSI Gold Box games set in the Forgotten Realms. I had a few issues with the Baldur's Gate series (due to Imoen *sigh*), but eventually worked out ways around not only that, but the idiotic "companions" Bioware thought no one could resist.

Even WoW - I do what I want to do, and never bother with whatever Blizzard thinks is the be-all and end-all of the endgame. It's always possible - but sometimes you have to be creative. Beth makes it pretty easy really with TES.

but whats the point? wouldnt that defeat the purpose of the game
just saying rpg's are supposed to be exciting and let you do things you really cant (some shouldnt) in real life,do I kill people for money? no
do I go menial tasks every day? yes
not trying to be all "[censored]ing"

The purpose of any game is to provide a field for people to play in, for their own enjoyment. Each person's enjoyment is as individual as that person is. It's unfortunate that the OP (and others) want to play the MQ and civil war questlines without being Dragonborn, since THAT is impossible. But not doing the questlines at all, and having fun in the game, are not mutually exclusive ways to enjoy it.

But you certainly have the freedom of choice to not do the Main Quest, or to do it at your pace. I went to Whiterun and talked to the Jarl, then killed the first dragon...then waited a while before going to talk to the Greybeards. Then I waited a REALLY long time until my level was in the thirties somewhere before I actually bothered going to the next quest in the Main Quest. Haven't gone further than that now, and my character is almost level 42. So no, I don't feel railroaded into the main quest.

The thing is, aside from the MQ where it's natural that you'd have to fulfil the destiny of the Hero of the Event - in this case, the Dragonborn - the Civil War quest is the ONLY questline that requires that you become Dragonborn. You can be Guildmaster, Listener, Harbinger, and Archmage and never have done battle with a dragon. But you can't manage to deliver an axe without revealing a destiny that is not in keeping with what you want to do with your character.

Thank you. If you dont like being forced to be dragon born just do about the other hundred hours worth of stuff there is to do. I think simpleton threads like this should just be locked immediately. Go complain about other games that offer 30 hours play time with no option to NOT take on main quest.

Oh come now. Surely you're exaggerating a bit. All games are not sandbox games. Chess has an end goal to it, and so do most other games. Then there are games whose point is entirely to accumulate score - as much score as you can achieve in three lives. Surely if you've been playing computer RPGs since the mid eighties, you're old enough to remember going down to the arcade and stuffing quarters into Asteroids and Gorf and Galaxian and Gauntlet and the like. None of those were sandbox games.

Considering that's how they advertised Skyrim, yes.

14 others?

What kind of things do you find to pass the time on 14 different characters?

I've mostly just played the main quest, guild quest, and I already feel like there isn't anything else to do in the game.

I just can't understand what else there is to do...

Nope. Never played arcade games. NOT my thing, mindless - just like slot machines. All games (even board games) exist to provide fun for the players. Some of them are more "directed" - but those are outside the field of RPGs. And I'm not about to get into an argument over it.... I have played every CRPG without doing the MQ - on at least some characters. Actually.... hmmm. I never did the MQ in BG.... eww.

fenrir: I have various toons in various stages of "development". Some of them are melanges of stealth, magic, and combat users. Others are "pure" types - like a "pure" Breton mage, and a "pure" High Elf mage; a "pure" Nord fighter, and a "pure" Redguard fighter. I play them to see how they differ as to the challenges in game. It just depends on what floats your boat, you know.

Here you go, enjoy:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Skyrim-Quests

^ This

Your able to do everything else in the game, but can't deliver a simple letter without being dragged into the Main quest.

There are Daedra Quests and over 25 original side quests (outside of the Radiant quests) that have original narratives and unique rewards. How many dungeons? Oh... 130 +.

There is also the option to create a, god forbid, new character.


They also advertised Skyrim as the player being Dragonborn.

/end thread.

Well, because, you ARE Dragonborn

It is the premise of the game. Looks like you did most/all the other quests- if you want to do it all.... Guess what? One (questlines) includes being a dragonborn. Pretty sure this was "hinted" at in the commercials. Suprise?

You're Dragonborn at the beginning of the game, yet Skyrim isn't being harrassed by dragons (save for Alduin) and you're unable to shout, so the three don't necessarily go hand in hand... in hand. Just like you're the Nerevarine in Morrowind, regardless of how far you've actually progressed through the game. You don't need the Moon-and-Star to know that you're the hero. You only need it to prove such a thing to others, yet you're never forced into actually getting it unless you continue along the MQ.

Why isn't such a thing possible in Skyrim? Why can't you do the civil war questline without being pushed into the MQ? So much for freedom.

"The key to being successful is knowing that you can't please everyone."
-Bill Cosby or someone

either a troll question or you have no clue about coding/scripting narrative.


they want to tell a [censored] story. they want you to influence it but games can only be so open ended.


they have to have a narrative plot arc. otherwise it is random kill stuff game.


if we were all rich as god, we could pay a company to code a game where it was insanely open ended and there were 50000 ways things could go. but we are not, and games have to MAKE MONEY.

so they code a good story. then they make branches for different outcomes.


end rant.

Thats fair, but I would contend this for one reason :

You can do just about every single quest but that one.

Too much freedom in a game can be a bad thing, I know... hard pill to swallow.

The civil war quest is arguably one of the better ones, given that it isn't just another typical faction questline that existed in previous games. It did have flaws, but we should have been able to complete it without touching the main quest. Sure, too much freedom can be a bad thing, but I have a problem with how they distributed that freedom, not neccesarily the lack of it. There was a better way, that's all.

And again, the Civil War quest line is obviously the major subplot of the game...and could have been the main plot very easily. I'm not really surprised they decided to tie the two together.

To be honest, I was disappointed you could even complete the Civil War Quest without proceeding through the Moot.

Come to think of it, you really only have to do one minor stage of the quest.

Hindsight is always 20/20, and the curse of being in the present is being able to see how things in the past could have been different.

So, in principle...

I agree with you?

*head explodes*

So you have to kill some dragons and eat their souls to continue your quest arc...it's not like you have to follow through...just don't go to Hrothgar.

Isn't that kinda the point of the whole game? The story of the Dragonborn? Why get the game if you don't want to be part of that? Of course you can play the game anyway you want, that's the way it was designed, but to me it would be like playing a LOTR RPG, and decidng that Frodo doesn't want to go adventuring and decides to open a pipeweed shop.
Being the Dragonborn is your Destiny, you can't escape your fate. ( A major theme in a majority of fantasy fiction).

Gotta say, very few RPGs I've ever played where you can just ignore the plot. That's probably because most RPGs I've played stuck you in the plot from the opening scenes, had areas locked out until you progressed the plot, etc. They've tended to be pretty focused on the story that the developers were trying to tell.