the ONLY problem I have with Skyrim

[Oly J]

I will first just mention that I absolutely LOVE Skyrim and have been playing it non stop for a while now

besides the obvious that will probably be fixed with later patches there is just one thing that bugs me about Skyrim, and to be fair this was in Oblivion too, the beginning bit, it makes no sense.

example, you're apparently on a cart headed for execution, why are you there? what exactly is it your character did to end up on the Skyrim equivalent of death row? it's never established, and to make matters worse they discover you're not even on the list, and they decide to kill you anyway just for the crime of being there, I mean it could be that your character didn't do a damn thing! was just in the wrong place at the wrong time during a raid or something, well you get my point I'm sure

rewind about 5 years to Oblivion, start of the game, you're in jail, again it's never established why, but you can ask Patrick Stuart, and he just says "Perhaps the gods placed you here so we could meet" which of course begs the question, HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK? to be in jail you must have been arrested at some point for something, and in nether game is it ever alluded to again, there might be a good DLC story in that but Bethesda chooses to ignore it completely, I KNOW they can write better than that....it just bugs me is all

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

The whole idea of it is that beginnings like that can start all players in the same way. No backstory, and no belongings. That means you are pretty much free to think up any crazy backstory for your character, which accentuates the Role Playing part of RPG. The backstory doesn't matter, its up to you what happened, all the game cares about is that you are about to embark on this quest and become a legend!

 

[Hal10k]

I will first just mention that I absolutely LOVE Skyrim and have been playing it non stop for a while now

besides the obvious that will probably be fixed with later patches there is just one thing that bugs me about Skyrim, and to be fair this was in Oblivion too, the beginning bit, it makes no sense.

example, you're apparently on a cart headed for execution, why are you there? what exactly is it your character did to end up on the Skyrim equivalent of death row? it's never established, and to make matters worse they discover you're not even on the list, and they decide to kill you anyway just for the crime of being there, I mean it could be that your character didn't do a damn thing! was just in the wrong place at the wrong time during a raid or something, well you get my point I'm sure

rewind about 5 years to Oblivion, start of the game, you're in jail, again it's never established why, but you can ask Patrick Stuart, and he just says "Perhaps the gods placed you here so we could meet" which of course begs the question, HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK? to be in jail you must have been arrested at some point for something, and in nether game is it ever alluded to again, there might be a good DLC story in that but Bethesda chooses to ignore it completely, I KNOW they can write better than that....it just bugs me is all

In Skyrim, it's established in the opening sequence that you were caught in the ambush that captured Ulfric. How you got to the ambush, and how you wound up in prison in any of the other Elder Scrolls games (bar Daggerfall) is an exercise to the player. Bethesda are huge proponents of the "blank slate" approach to main character design (Fallout 3 being an exception)- there's no backstory because it would probably conflict with the character that the player wanted to come up with.

Also, "Blank Slate" sounds like the name of the protagonist of a sci-fi action movie played by Bruce Willis. Just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[Riddle78]

It's explained (Although it IS easy to miss) that you were trying to hop the border into Skyrim. Apparently,the Legion had an ambush there waiting for Ulfric. You were caught in said ambush with Ulfrik,and Lokir (Horse thief who gets arrown'd before character generation). They simply assumed you were with the Stormcloaks because you were caught with Ulfric. Reasonable assumption,considering the war. The captain,although informed that you aren't on the list,decides to err on the side of caution,and orders your head lopped off anyway.

Like I said,it's REALLY easy to misss. But it's there.

The other games,your stint in prison is never explained for the sake of the ever necessary Role Play (and philisophical) concept of "Tabula Rasa" so you can imagine this character as,somehow,being a representation of yourself.

 

[jthwilliams]

I will first just mention that I absolutely LOVE Skyrim and have been playing it non stop for a while now

besides the obvious that will probably be fixed with later patches there is just one thing that bugs me about Skyrim, and to be fair this was in Oblivion too, the beginning bit, it makes no sense.

example, you're apparently on a cart headed for execution, why are you there? what exactly is it your character did to end up on the Skyrim equivalent of death row? it's never established, and to make matters worse they discover you're not even on the list, and they decide to kill you anyway just for the crime of being there, I mean it could be that your character didn't do a damn thing! was just in the wrong place at the wrong time during a raid or something, well you get my point I'm sure

rewind about 5 years to Oblivion, start of the game, you're in jail, again it's never established why, but you can ask Patrick Stuart, and he just says "Perhaps the gods placed you here so we could meet" which of course begs the question, HOW THE HELL DOES THAT WORK? to be in jail you must have been arrested at some point for something, and in nether game is it ever alluded to again, there might be a good DLC story in that but Bethesda chooses to ignore it completely, I KNOW they can write better than that....it just bugs me is all

In Skyrim, it's established in the opening sequence that you were caught in the ambush that captured Ulfric. How you got to the ambush, and how you wound up in prison in any of the other Elder Scrolls games (bar Daggerfall) is an exercise to the player. Bethesda are huge proponents of the "blank slate" approach to main character design (Fallout 3 being an exception)- there's no backstory because it would probably conflict with the character that the player wanted to come up with.

Also, "Blank Slate" sounds like the name of the protagonist of a sci-fi action movie played by Bruce Willis. Just wanted to throw that out there.

hmmm, I don't know I think bruce willis as "Blank Slate" and Uma as "tabula rasa" they meet and things really go empty.


*EDIT*

Oh come on people, I should at least get a few groans and some sheep thrown at me.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I prefer this little. It means the character is mine and mine alone. Don't tell me what my character is like. If they tell me I was a noble knight then it doesn't make much sense me joining the dark brotherhood.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Why would they change the formula that has worked for them for so long when they got to the fifth game? This doesn't just go back to Oblivion, EVERY Elder Scrolls has started with the player character in captivity for unknown reasons. It's an elder scrolls tradition. Don't believe me? Just read the in game books which detail histories from the previous games.

Whether you like it or not, the player character starting out in prison is a time honored part of the Elder Scrolls formula. You don't have to love it, but don't expect it to go away any time soon. And don't blame the writers for it either, really just by not having you start right in a prison cell, they'd already broken convention.

 

[Wuggy]

[EDIT]