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Elder Scrolls: Favorite Guild Questline?

    • 743 posts
    November 9, 2017 2:10 PM EST

    Apologies to everyone for the unexpected Forums hiatus; I've been really busy the past 2 weeks and have neglected my duties as a result. Anyways, now that everything is settled down, I'd like to kick off a new TES discussion. So, from the title, you probably know what this is about. Out of every Elder Scrolls game to date, what is your absolute favorite guild questline? 

    My pick is a tie between the Dark Brotherhood Oblivion and Elder Scrolls Online storylines. I adore Skyrim's as well, but the other two narrowly outshine it, which to me shows just how consistently good the Dark Brotherhood questlines have been. Oblivion was my first TES, and I remember fondly of the plot twist that happens with the faction. And being named Silencer for Lechance was probably the coolest moment I've experienced in Oblivion. As for ESO, I can honestly say it's my favorite out of all the story driven DLCs I've played so far. It's mysterious, intriguing, has a nice plot twist (as ever DB story), and has a Minotaur outside of its door! What's not to love?

    So what TES guild do you still get giddy thinking about? 


    This post was edited by Rogue at November 9, 2017 2:20 PM EST
    • 261 posts
    November 9, 2017 3:01 PM EST
    Oh boy. Let's see the large list, shall we?

    -Oblivion Thieves Guild: Best TG story. Sure, Skyrim is arguably more realistic, but Oblivion TG climaxes with a heist on the Imperial Palace, to say nothing of the Gray Fox.

    Oblivion Dark Brotherhood: Excellent story and quest design; nothing else in ES is quite so twisted, but it's tremendous fun regardless, especially with the more creative quests like Whodunit.

    Skyrim Companions: The only area where I feel Skyrim beat Oblivion story-wise; the Fighters Guild was meh, but a bunch of honorbound warriors who happen to give lycanthropy? Hell yeah.

    ESO Alliances: Not 100% sure if the three alliances count, but what the hell. They all got something going for them: AD has lore out the wazoo, EP is a grim and gritty war story, and DC is reminiscent of previous ES games.

    ESO Mages Guild: Not only does this story really explore the neutrality of the MG, but the main villain is Sheogorath. It would've been easy to have him be fully comedic, but he's not, and I love that; he well and truly is madness incarnate.
    • 275 posts
    November 9, 2017 3:14 PM EST

    I'd have to say the Dark Brotherhood from Oblivion. It's just so good.

    • 284 posts
    November 9, 2017 5:27 PM EST

    The Imperial side of the Civil War because I can get rid of those Stormcloaks. :)

    In reallity, the Thieves Guild in Skyrim.

    • 29 posts
    November 10, 2017 1:43 AM EST
    The Dark Brotherhood questline in Oblivion was truly a pleasure to play. It's really the only thing I play on that game. Skyrim's guild quests kind of put me off in so many ways. The Civil War lines seemed very poorly fleshed out. The only fun part was the Battle For Whiterun on the Stormcloaks side, in my opinion. The Thieve's Guild line was the most fun, I thought. So many radiant quests. The Dark Brotherhood was fun, but I think they should have added more contracts and made the radiant quests more challenging, rather than the random "go here and kill this old lady" kind of thing.
    • 288 posts
    November 10, 2017 6:36 AM EST

    ESO generally has better guild storylines for all guilds compared to Skyrim - sad, but true.

    • 1467 posts
    November 10, 2017 7:01 AM EST

    ESO generally has better guild storylines for all guilds compared to Skyrim - sad, but true

    Everything has generally better guild storylines compared to Skyrim's. Though really it's just the College of Winterhold that I dislike immensely. The Companions is just boring, Dark Brotherhood is just Oblivion's made worse, the Thieve's Guild might be the best but only because I kinda like the characters, but it's not amazing. Mediocre is the word I'd use for all of them really, none of them are great but they don't cause me pain.

    Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild are just... So amazing, the Dark Brotherhood is a lot better during the First Half but it's still solid later on (and had a somewhat more surprising twist) and the Thieves Guild has the best final quest of any Guild I've ever played.

    Morrowind...man, I dunno they were all pretty good but suffered from being a little too long in my opinion. I mean they were still good, and I hate shorter questlines but still. 

    • 167 posts
    November 10, 2017 9:04 AM EST

    Hmm I 'll have to go for Dark Brotherhood Oblivion and Thieves guild Oblivion. I don't know about ESO because I haven't played it yet but I 'll trust you guys and will also agree with DB that pretty much everything has better storylines compared to Skyrim and that Skyrim's CoW questline is so damn lame. I still remember the first time I finished it and I was like what the actual f..k?! That shit is like a thing you would write in the toilet or something..... >_< The best time I have with the CoW is when I join it and roleplay as a mage who is a member of it that goes around doing cool stuff and be like hey I 'm from the College and we 're all cool people there, including me, you know ^_^  the other questlines are as DB said mediocre but they don't cause the pain CoW does.  


    This post was edited by Duvain at November 10, 2017 9:04 AM EST
    • 773 posts
    November 10, 2017 9:09 AM EST

    I don't think there's any question - the faction questlines in ESO are massively better than in Skyrim or Oblivion. If you compare something like the Daggerfall Covenant questline to the Stormcloaks in Skyrim, well, it's like comparing chalk and cheese.

    The Stormcloak quests are basically just a series of 'go over to a fort and kill the Imperials'. The Imperial side is essentially a mirror image of the same thing. If you put that alongside the DC, which has over 120 separate quests (plus at least that number again of side quests you can pick up as you journey across the continent) with multiple twists and turns, engaging characters (some of whom pop up over and over, and develop their personalities), there's literally no comparison.

    I'd say that the Mages and Fighters Guild in ESO are certainly better than either Oblivion or Skyrim, albeit the improvement is less drastic. Still, I think there is more lore and better story in ESO. 

    When it comes to the DB and TG, it's more a matter of personal choice. I really liked how they did the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, I thought it was better overall than Oblvion because of the repeatable quests and just more variation in the quests (granted Oblivion has the Grey Fox, but still...). The Oblivion DB was miles better than Skyrim, I've not really got to the Brotherhood yet in ESO to compare.

     

    • 558 posts
    November 10, 2017 11:40 AM EST

    I have to go with the Dawguard questline because it expands on the Snow Elves. Need I say more?


    This post was edited by Gollum at November 10, 2017 11:40 AM EST
    • 585 posts
    November 11, 2017 1:28 PM EST

    Well as I've only played Skyrim in any great detail, looks like my choices are pretty limited.

    The Dawnguard questline is pretty awesome just because of the badass premise, plus you get to go to fancy places like the Forgotten Vale, so that's definitely a plus. There's a decent climax as well compared to other guilds - I mean they all end in a bossfight, and perhaps it is the most unsurprising, but it still feels awesome just because it's so different.

    If its just vanilla, then the Thieves Guild wins just because its the least bad :P Sad but true, but I think the characters are the most likable, you get some awesome gear and there's more of a feeling of prorgression compared to others, especially if you pad out your time with contracts from Vex. That's what The Dark Brotherhood did wrong I reckon, you could only get contracts from the Night Mother after the whole thing ended, so there wasn't really a way to stretch out your time.

    • 278 posts
    November 11, 2017 10:44 PM EST

    I don't know honestly, I've only played Skyrim in insane depths, and I've only ever skimmed Oblivion once. Morrowind I haven't even touched, so here's my best impressions. 

    TG Skyrim: This is really sad since my favourite playthroughs are spellswords after the likes of Gandalf (magicky but down-to-earth) but it's purely because it's the least bad. The characters are interesting and the story is well designed (tho, come on. You're a thief and you're GIVING SOMETHING BACK TO IT'S RIGHTFUL OWNER?) at least, story-wise. The armor and rewards are nice, and mercer is an alright villian. (Tho nothing felt as good as plunging my greatsword through that altmer in the Winterhold questline. Take that, Thalmor!) And the base is unique. Sadly, my main factor is that it's simply the least bad. Unless you've got mods, of course. (Immersive College of Winterhold) 

    TG Oblivion: Stealing an Elder Scroll. Said it all. Not to mention, Gray Fox, great characters, good progression and the ability to not ever kill ANYONE. Woops, that dickhead guard captain. But that's all,  unlike the dungeon crawls in the TG Skyrim. I tied this between Dark Brotherhood and TG Oblivion, but in the end the TG is better by this much. Admittedly, Whodunit is an amazing quest tho.

     

    • 743 posts
    November 13, 2017 9:19 AM EST

    Awesome replies, everyone! It seems like Oblivion and ESO were the most popular of choices. I can't say that's a surprise. They're both in my top 3 TES games.

    • 122 posts
    November 15, 2017 7:08 AM EST
    I’m inclined to agree. ESO has an extremely powerful engine, making it possible for that game to have truly massive cities on a scale Skyrim and can’t match. In particular, I absolutely adored the Thieves and Fighters Guild storylines. The fights in the Fighter’s Guild stories felt epic, and there was an adrenaline rush to thieving that really, well, made me wish I were better at thieving since my character was based on it. :p
    • 140 posts
    November 15, 2017 8:55 AM EST

    A bit of a tough one here.

    I've always found Skyrim's Guilds to be a bit dreary, to be honest; the Thieves Guild's in disarray, DB's all but fallen apart, the Companions and College are under threat. The Dawnguard were probably my favorite of the bunch (Though the Thieves Guild did have some good moments), though I also think the Bard's College could've been so much more than three fetch quests.

    Oblivion's Thieves Guild has always been one of my favorites, followed closely by the Brotherhood. The Mages Guild was quite fun too (I actually think it's the first one I completed through to the end), but I found the Fighter's Guild to be a bit lacking. Knights of the Nine was also pretty good, now that I think about it, though it did feel a bit shorter compared to the others.

    Morrowind's Guilds were all pretty fun, particularly the Fighters for me. I could never really get into the Mages, though, I guess because they just pale in comparison to the Telvanni. One that I often feel is overlooked is Bloodmoon's East Empire Company, which I found to be quite enjoyable. Having to walk back and forth between Raven Rock and the Fort, then finally unlocking the boat to take you between them felt really rewarding.

    All in all, I'd probably rate them as Oblivion's Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood, followed by either Morrowind's Fighter's Guild or EEC. Though I feel a bit bad not giving the Dawnguard a place, so they can get honourable mention here as well.


    This post was edited by Caesar at November 15, 2017 8:55 AM EST