Factions You Wish Existed in Skyrim

[The-Fiction]

I'd be really interested in seeing an arena style faction, similar to the pit in Oblivion. I really enjoyed fighting my way up to the top of the contenders and facing off against the Arena Champion.

I'm pretty sure that there is some data related to the bloodworks and other arena style things in skyrims game data, but it didn't make the final cut? I'm sure someone has done a mod for it but as I am on Xbox I highly doubt I'm going to see anything like that. Hopefully they can include it on the Elder Scrolls online as a PvP option, that'd be pretty damn cool.

 

[Zeema]

The Guys who wore suitable Knee cap armor

 

[SajuukKhar]

3) The Greybeards.

Not using your power means Alduin wins, and game over.

The Greybeards even tell you that you are not subjected to their rules because you are The Dovahkiin, a doom-drive, destiny-born, hero who is MEANT to fight, and one shouldn't ignore their destiny.

As long as you aren't using the Thu'um to murder random people, they are cool with it, because even THEY know it would be stupid for you to not use your powers for violence, when your entire existence is based on doing just that..

6) Your Own Hold to Rule.

No, just, no, and anyone who understands TES lore can tell you why also.

Your character is meant to be forgotten, they can't do anything that would put them in a political role like Jarl/Emperor because it would be far to hard to explain in lore later, and would defeat the entire "mythic hero who becomes so famous no one actually remember who he/she really is" point of the series.

 

[LG Jargon]

4) Survivalists.

This one irks me more than most of the other ones I've mentioned. There are multiple races of beastmen in Skyrim, and more than one deity associated with the natural world (Hircine, Kynareth, Kyne, etc.), so why isn't there a faction of (for lack of a better term) "wild men"? Some aloof group of tree huggers huddled up on an idyllic patch of dirt who want nothing to do with all that civilization nonsense. Really feels like this is something that should be in the game already.

Actually, there are Survivalists in Skyrim--well, in the Dragonborn DLC, at least. They're called the Skaal, a small group of Nords living in Solstheim who only take what the land provides, hunting only when necessary, and always living within their own means. As for "wild men", I actually met a small group of werewolves in Solstheim who live in the wild and hunt and trade the meat and fur from animals they've killed....do ether of these guys count?

EDIT:

The Guys who wore suitable Knee cap armor

Ba-dum tish?...Sorry, I'll just sit over in the corner...

OT: Well....how about a small faction of treasure hunters or jewelers? Ever since I got that one perk that increases treasure found in chests, I've found tons and tons of jewels: maybe there could be a faction unlike the Thieves Guild who prefer to hunt for rare jewels to either display them or make them into jewelry to sell...

Or maybe a society who wishes to create a museum of old art and ancient weaponry and armor? I dunno...

 

[Abomination]

I just want a faction that responds to the fact that you saved the world and/or settled the rebellion one way or the other.

An option to join the Aldmeri Dominion and sow chaos would also have been fun.

Killing the Emperor has no significant effect - you killed the damn EMPEROR and the only thing that happens is guards go "Oh noes, the Emperor died! D:"

 

[Bloodstain]

A Necromancer guild. I want to be the new King of Worms.

Also, I second the Artificer guild idea.

 

[iamnoobie616]

I was rather disappointed at the exclusion of the Arena of from Oblivion, for I truly enjoyed the quests and battles it offered.

Aside from which, I have always thought that there should have been more stealth-oriented guilds/factions, at least one whose quests do not result in either unjust assassinations or theft from people for the benefit of a character I despise(Maven Blackbriar), i.e. one that is just(Ranger's Guild?). The fact that Bethesda believed that only "evil" players would choose a stealth character was much to my dismay.

 

[sanquin]

Trust me when I say that killing a key NPC can end a quest line, I've managed it a few times without even realising it. But that's because a fair number of important quests start off in the same category as the things like fetching an old lady milk so I tended to forget about them...

Those are not key npc's. Key npc's are for the main quest, for instance. And you can't kill such npc's in Skyrim. Take the companions dungeon quest. You can't kill the one that's accompanying you. Take the Greybeards, you can't kill them either. In Morrowind you could, and if you did you'd get a message box with a roleplay message that your quest had failed (even the main quest) and an option to continue playing or start from a previous save again.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Those are not key npc's. Key npc's are for the main quest, for instance. And you can't kill such npc's in Skyrim. Take the companions dungeon quest. You can't kill the one that's accompanying you. Take the Greybeards, you can't kill them either. In Morrowind you could, and if you did you'd get a message box with a roleplay message that your quest had failed (even the main quest) and an option to continue playing or start from a previous save again.

You are aware that the only reason you could do that in Morrowind was because NPCs in Morrowind stayed rooted to the spot they were in for all hours of the day, and ever never in any danger of dyeing by anyone's hands but your own?

However, with the advancement of dynamic NPC schedules, such as them going to hunt for food, or them going to market to buy food, or them going to check on how their farms are doing, and with more dynamic world interacts like Vampire/Dragon raids, NPCs CAN die by hand other then your own, which is why they are unkillable.

And given how much people HATED how many NPCs were dying because of random vampire raids on cities for the Dawnguard DLC, the simple fact of the matter is, most people dont want it in a world where NPCs do something more then just stand in their houses all day.

Not to mention, how many times in Morrowind did you actually just randomly kill a MQ giver? or a important NPC from a guild? In my case, it was NEVER, and I have never heard a case of it happening outside of instances were people just deiced to go on murderous rampages for no reason beyond to just try an kill everyone, which the vast majority of people never did.

Being able to kill everyone meant nothing because almost no one ever tried to kill people who weren't already hostile. the only real reason I have ever seen people complain about it being removed is for the simple fact that it was removed, and not because they actually used it.

They changed it not it sucks comes to mind - http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheyChangedItNowItSucks

 

[sanquin]

--snip--

Then they could easily script in that npc's can't die from other random npc's. And for things like a simple farmer running to a dragon to fist fight it for instance, they should script them better so they run away at danger.

As for the Morrowind thing. I did kill important npc's. When I found them highly annoying or just kill-worthy (was playing an assassin-type character) then I would kill them. So a quest line ended, oh well. And when the main one ended I went 'shit, well...I wasn't doing the main quest anyway.' and moved on.

 

[Somebloke]

I usually play a Redguard character, which it turns out fits me very well, for the reason that I share the uneasiness their culture has with the whole soultrapping business (...which is why Redguard conjurers are few and far between).

I do enchant items, because I like the idea of living through the game, but would still like to be able to join a small faction of people who wander Tamriel, setting trapped souls free and possibly walking in spirit with these souls, to guide them on their way.

Sounds a bit MarySue-ish, I suppose, but you could still have these people adhere to the All-Factions-Are-A-holes-in-some-way standard of the Elder Scrolls universe: Just make them stupidly uncompromising about just whom they'll unblinkingly unleash on the world and/or having somewhat lost perspective and appreciation for the gift of life.

Maybe I should consider trying to mod one in myself... There is an obvious potential questline, where you'd have to clean up your own mess, after barely surviving releasing some nasty piece of work from well-deserved captivity.

 

[Pandabearparade]

Instead of adding more factions, I just wish they had improved the factions that were in the game already.

Spoiler

I wanted to side with Astrid, but wasn't allowed to.

I -really- wanted to refuse to sell Nocturnal my soul (for nothing), but I didn't get the option. In my opinion this is the crowning moment of fail in Skyrim.

I wanted to be able to refuse turning into a werewolf with the Companions.

In short, I wanted choices and consequences for my actions. Skyrim is a huge world where your actions mean nothing.

 

[The White Hunter]

Trust me when I say that killing a key NPC can end a quest line, I've managed it a few times without even realising it. But that's because a fair number of important quests start off in the same category as the things like fetching an old lady milk so I tended to forget about them...

Those are not key npc's. Key npc's are for the main quest, for instance. And you can't kill such npc's in Skyrim. Take the companions dungeon quest. You can't kill the one that's accompanying you. Take the Greybeards, you can't kill them either. In Morrowind you could, and if you did you'd get a message box with a roleplay message that your quest had failed (even the main quest) and an option to continue playing or start from a previous save again.

Right okay got you. I failed a daedric quest or 3 because of poorly placed wars with the guards.

I can see why they'd make it so you can't fail that main questline, but it'd be nice to have a choice to play with vital NPC's on or off.

 

[endtherapture]

Your character is meant to be forgotten, they can't do anything that would put them in a political role like Jarl/Emperor because it would be far to hard to explain in lore later, and would defeat the entire "mythic hero who becomes so famous no one actually remember who he/she really is" point of the series.

And this is the reason why TES quests suck and are soulless and boring.

They should move beyond this archaic storytelling mechanic because it's really holding back the gameplay.

 

[Savryc]

I'd have loved to play the Morag Tong again, maybe start it out as a little branch with refugee Dunmer and build it into a full fledged guild now that Morrowind is pretty much kaput. I've always liked them more than the "shank shit for Sithis" crowd.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Not quite a faction, but I wish there was an arena in Skyrim.
I had a lot of fun with the one in Oblivion- in fact, I think I did all the arena fights first, which helped in getting me used to the combat as well as giving me some pretty good starting gear, as well as cash rewards.

 

[ninjaRiv]

I'd be happy if the factions that are already in there were better. They're not bad but they're not great.

But I'd like to see the ones you mentioned, definitely.

 

[lord's voken]

i just wish the nature of radiant quests would change once you become boss of the fraction.
its just weird for example that once you kill harkon and lead that court of vampires they still ask you to fetch old limbs from random bandits and murder some bum on the street. that is grunt work. lets work on conquering skyrim or something and let those two lazy loser who eat all day take care of the grunt work

 

[Loonyyy]

Before any new factions in the game, they should properly do the factions that are already there. They should take some hints from Morrowind. Going with one faction should decrease reputation with another. Same with guilds. What fun is there in being both a high ranking member in, say, the dark brotherhood. Yet also be a high ranking member in, say, the companions? I would think that a group of basically illegal assassins wouldn't want to have anything to do with a group of mostly legitimate mercenaries.

That's the thing I missed the most in Skyrim (and oblivion, btw) I think. Your actions having actual consequences. Killed a key npc? The quest chain can't be continued. Gained high rank in one guild/faction? An opposing guild/faction doesn't want you near them any more. Etc.

As for actual factions that I'd like in the game: As mentioned in the OP, a tinkerer guild, an artificer's guild and a pirate faction should be in there!

Or also a lot of fun; Being able to make a new guild that does the same as an existing one, and then be rivals. Like, say you want to make a new mercenary guild without werewolves and that does things your way. You could start small. A few people under your wing. You get assignments and have to divide them and such. Your group forms into a small guild. The other guild notices you and becomes a rival. And eventually you would be able to grow large enough to overtake the other guild. Basically doing management rather than being the errant boy in the form of getting assignments, handing them out to npc's, and managing your guild's funds, size and members.

Pretty much this. You can join pretty much every goddamn faction, and do everything. Everyone's heard of the heavy armour beserkers getting into the Mage's Guild. A stealth character can join the Companions. The Theives Guild no longer cares if you murder people.

The only conflict between factions are these stupid binary ones: Werewolf or Vampire. Stormcloaks or Legion (Yes, you can go the greybeard route, I did, and negotiated a peace. But it was stupid, and made me look like the only sane person in the entire fucking nation). There's no depth to any of these. You flip a coin and do the opposite on another run through. Especially the Stormcloak/Legion conflict. The Thalmor are dicks. Pure and simple. The Legion are trying to keep them in check through appeasement, and have become a harsh dictatorship, and they even try to kill you at the start, and the Stormcloaks want nothing to do with the Thalmor at all, and are happy to fight them. But lots of the Stormcloaks are also racist wankers yelling "Fuck Off, We're Full" about the Dunmer and Argonians. On top of that, Ulfric is a jackass, and comes across more as a usurper-king than a rebel. The Greybeard/Blade conflict was ridiculous as well. I mean, really, how many people killed Paarthunax? The Blades were pathetic dicks, who you spend an inordinate amount of time pulling their asses from the fire, and then they presume to tell you what to do. It's a shame, because the Blades were a great faction in previous titles.

I get that it's meant to be ambiguous, but could I choose between at least more than two groups of pointlessly evil assholes? Can the ambiguouity at least not come from giving groups moronic flaws? Could they have some conflict because of reasons which tie into their aims? Could we have more than two?

 

[SajuukKhar]

Then they could easily script in that npc's can't die from other random npc's. And for things like a simple farmer running to a dragon to fist fight it for instance, they should script them better so they run away at danger.

There is no way to script NPCs to not be able to die by anything but you, the tried it in Skyrim with the protected status, but it has many flaws. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrimrotected_NPCs

Also, making NPCs run away just makes enemy NPCs follow them to wherever they run to.

And this is the reason why TES quests suck and are soulless and boring.

They should move beyond this archaic storytelling mechanic because it's really holding back the gameplay.

Except having to be forgotten quite literally changes nothing about the content in quests, it only prevents you from being named Jarl/King/emperor.

Your argument makes no sense, unless you were trying to say you NEED to be able to become Jarl/King/emperor in order for any quest to have soul. Which also makes no sense.

Instead of adding more factions, I just wish they had improved the factions that were in the game already.

Spoiler

I wanted to side with Astrid, but wasn't allowed to.

I -really- wanted to refuse to sell Nocturnal my soul (for nothing), but I didn't get the option. In my opinion this is the crowning moment of fail in Skyrim.

I wanted to be able to refuse turning into a werewolf with the Companions.

In short, I wanted choices and consequences for my actions. Skyrim is a huge world where your actions mean nothing.

You are aware all of those options are entirely nonsensical.
-Siding with the person who wants you dead?
-Being able to progress in a faction line without having to prove your loyalty?
-Not getting blacklisted by a group of werewolves for finding out they are werewolves and NOT showing them you are willing to keep their secret?