Skyrim's Civil War - What could have been

[SajuukKhar]

Except the war isn't significant.

Bethesda fully plans to retcon any sort of win out of the series using a dues ex machina like they did at the end of daggerfall.

It never mattered who won, because Bethesda already knows who did and will invent some cataclysm that forces their winner no matter what side you picked.

 

[Gatx]

I wouldn't be surprised if the "overshadowing everything else" part was true.

Oblivion originally had a very large and detailed quest-line were you rose up the ranks of nobility that was cut because it was so large it overshadowed the main story.

I could see how taking farms, mines, and other things, and then having to hold them while also capturing forts, recruiting giants, and defending the big cities, would have been a management hell, and would have taken time away for players to do anything else in Skyrim.

Still, it would be been nice to at least see the battle for whtierun events for each city, as it is now you capture a fort then the city mysteriously falls under your control. I think adding the battle for each city event would have done a lot more to make the Civil war seem better.

But at that point wouldn't you have to reconsider what your game is going to be about. If the Civil War is more interesting than dragons that means that they put a little more effort or it game more easily, and I'd gladly have a game about that instead.

Except the war isn't significant.

Bethesda fully plans to retcon any sort of win out of the series using a dues ex machina like they did at the end of daggerfall.

It never mattered who won, because Bethesda already knows who did and will invent some cataclysm that forces their winner no matter what side you picked.

Well it's also a civil war within one region of Tamriel, so I imagine the next game will time skip ahead a couple decades where either the Empire or the Dominion will have won the big world war and what happened in Skyrim would have been of little consequence.

 

[SajuukKhar]

But at that point wouldn't you have to reconsider what your game is going to be about. If the Civil War is more interesting than dragons that means that they put a little more effort or it game more easily, and I'd gladly have a game about that instead.

Again, it has NOTHING to do about being more interesting, or having better content, it has to do with that it was taking up so much player-time that its overshadowing the other quests.

When you shove 50 million things into the players face as the civil war original did, it doesn't matter if the content is more interesting or not, players will be overwhelmed and feel like they HAVE to do that right now, to the detriment of other quests.

Well it's also a civil war within one region of Tamriel, so I imagine the next game will time skip ahead a couple decades where either the Empire or the Dominion will have won the big world war and what happened in Skyrim would have been of little consequence.

Na its probably gonna skip into the middle of the next great war, not after it.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Battles for all the cities would suck ass in my opinion as that was the part that sucked ass in Oblivion. As far as I know the giants aren't too friendly so I couldn't see that working but the rest of the stuff sounds good.

 

[SajuukKhar]

the giants are only not friendly when you mess with them in their camps, the giants that are just walking around aren't hostile until you attack them.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

the giants are only not friendly when you mess with them in their camps, the giants that are just walking around aren't hostile until you attack them.

You need to start quoting me if you want me to reply. I just happened to refresh the page. That isn't being friendly that is neutral as long as you leave them alone they will leave you alone. Now maybe I missed this quest but not once in Skyrim do you open dialogue in Skyrim, trade or do any tasks for Giants. That leads me to believe they have cool relations with the other races and do not involve themselves in their affairs. In that respect I don't see it working.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I don't see the need to quote someone when their post is right above mine, seems redundant.

Also there is a random encounter with a Farmer who is giving a painted cow to a giant in exchange for them not attacking his farm. It shows the giants at least have unspoken deals with the local Nords.

Furthermore lore states giants can talk, they just choose not to most of the time, there is nothing in lore preventing them from communicating with others.

Within the context of the game's lore there is no reason you couldn't make a deal with the giants, it would probably giving them lots of cattle in exchange for help.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I don't see the need to quote someone when their post is right above mine, seems redundant.

Also there is a random encounter with a Farmer who is giving a painted cow to a giant in exchange for them not attacking his farm. It shows the giants at least have unspoken deals with the local Nords.

Furthermore lore states giants can talk, they just choose not to most of the time, there is nothing in lore preventing them from communicating with others.

Within the context of the game's lore there is no reason you couldn't make a deal with the giants, probably giving them lots of cattle in exchange for help.

This is the last time I am refreshing this thread to see if you've replied and you quote the there you are talking to so they get a little notice in their inbox to know you've replied so I don't have to sit here and wait 5 mins refresh a page and repeat. At the very least people right @:Name so others know more easily who they are referring to. People usually want to go look at other threads rather than floating around the one unless it is their own.

I never said Giants couldn't talk but that is good to know. Also one deal where a farmer give them stuff not to wreck his shit up is hardly on any good terms for striking deals for a rebellion. No right commander in their mind would enlist that help.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Except a commander who knows that Giants can be bribed and knows of their power....

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

If you really wanna screw people over for that civil war quest, wait to do it after you kill Alduin. Because then you force the grey beards to interfere and you can to decide who controls what, to a point of course.

 

[White Lightning]

If you really wanna screw people over for that civil war quest, wait to do it after you kill Alduin. Because then you force the grey beards to interfere and you can to decide who controls what, to a point of course.

That was so lame, as soon as Ulfric Stormtrousers started babbling like a dork I said "Nope, Empire gets everything."

This looks like it would of been a cool questline, but then I remebered that the Civil War was quite silly and I didn't care who rules Skyrim, I mean honestly I could single handidly kill everyone everywhere by the time I started the War and was like "Well why can't I be in charge? It's not like anything could stop me." They should of made the fights bigger, not a small jog from the damn gates of Whiterun or you and the other 4 guys crouching in front of the Fort in clear sight.

 

[Sande45]

Except the war isn't significant.

Bethesda fully plans to retcon any sort of win out of the series using a dues ex machina like they did at the end of daggerfall.

It never mattered who won, because Bethesda already knows who did and will invent some cataclysm that forces their winner no matter what side you picked.

It definitely should be significant, at least then and there. They could later come up with reasons why things ended up whatever way they did some decades/centuries later in the sequel even if the war had any significance in this game. And besides, I'm talking more about significant presence, which doesn't affect retconning at all. Barring few lines of dialogue, it doesn't feel like there's a war going on, just a few brawls the Dragonborn can initiate on a whim for his personal amusement.

 

[gim73]

Yeah, I can definitely see that there is quite a bit that /might/ have been added. Some of the areas have caves that link to them, which could have been alternative paths.

I think what would be an awesome DLC addition is the Marog Tong from morrowwind infiltrating Skyrim through the Grey Quarter and working to get a dark elf influence in a harsh land full of Nords.

 

[cojo965]

Kind of sucky really, if that was the reason. "Let's cut this part of the game because it's too good.' >_<

Well, its not so much that it's good, just that it's a lot.

Also, while all of that sound cool on paper, actually playing it in-game could be fairly boring.

Imagine taking over a mine, your objectives are
-Go to a mine, were 5 stormcloak npcs are
-You kill them
-Now you have taken over the mine
-end quest.

Or burning down a mill, it would probably just be
-go to marked mill
-run up to it
-cast fire spell
-run off
-end quest

Killing enemy generals
-go to marked camp
-kill general
-end quest

getting enemy soldiers to defect
-Go up tp NPC
-Talk to him
-Use bride, persuasion, or intimidation
-End quest

Not really that fun sounding is it.

Wait use bride? You mean I would have to marry him/her?

 

[RicoGrey]

Kind of sucky really, if that was the reason. "Let's cut this part of the game because it's too good.' >_<

Well, its not so much that it's good, just that it's a lot.

Also, while all of that sound cool on paper, actually playing it in-game could be fairly boring.

Imagine taking over a mine, your objectives are
-Go to a mine, were 5 stormcloak npcs are
-You kill them
-Now you have taken over the mine
-end quest.

Or burning down a mill, it would probably just be
-go to marked mill
-run up to it
-cast fire spell
-run off
-end quest

Killing enemy generals
-go to marked camp
-kill general
-end quest

getting enemy soldiers to defect
-Go up tp NPC
-Talk to him
-Use bride, persuasion, or intimidation
-End quest

Not really that fun sounding is it.

You have basically described the entire game.

 

[Misterian]

frankly I mainly wished they kept the 'Kill Enemy Generals' thing on.

Even after I finished the Civil War questline I found that mainly of the remaining Stormcloak Generals were still marked essential even after I killed Ulfric.

Seriously, what's up with that?

 

[Rednog]

Meh, I was already sick of storming generic fort after fort and slaughtering the enemy who just popped into place, because apparently that makes shit epic. Like other people have said it would have just been more mundane heaped onto the already large pile of mundane quests in skyrim.