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TES 25th Anniversary Discussion - Favorite Questline

    • 1467 posts
    March 26, 2019 4:54 AM EDT

    Hey there, welcome to my little discussion. For those that don't know, we're currently celebrating The Elder Scrolls being 25 years old (older than a fair few of us I'd imagine) this week. For that I'm aiming to run a few little discussion to talk about one of our favourite gaming franchises and where better to start than discussing our Favorite Questlines. 

    What you define as a questline is up to you and obviously there's no restrictions on why you think it's your favourite (if the answer is that it involves goats then that's fine :P) but it does have to be more than just the one quest to be considered a questline. I will ask that you throw up a quick Spoiler Warning for any of the games just in case anyone hasn't played them, or hasn't seen that quest at least. Not much to it just say "SPOILER FOR ESO" in massive text at the start or something. 

    Other 25th Anniversary Discussions

    Favourite TES Book

    Crossover with TES


    This post was edited by SpookyBorn2021 at March 28, 2019 7:34 AM EDT
    • 2 posts
    March 26, 2019 12:30 PM EDT

    Only played Skyrim so, huh, SPOILER FOR SKYRIM AND DAWNGUARD !

     

    Dawnguard is my favorite questline. The very first time I did that quest was the most fun I ever had in Skyrim, there is so many "Oh wow" moments in this questline !

    I still remember my "Whaaaaa" when I met Gelebor, or went to the Soul Cairn, or the Forgotten Vale, or got attacked by two dragons in the Forgotten Vale, or fought Durnehviir, or read the Elder Scrolls with the butterflies things, or simply shoot a crossbow for the first time

     

    Lost to the Ages was really fun too and The Forgemaster slowly walking out the lava was so intimidating and silly at the same time

     

    And I have a soft spot for the Thieves Guild because it's the first faction questline I completed on my first character

     

    Not sure if it's a quest"line" but I also like The Man Who Cried Wolf and The Wolf Queen Awakened 

    • 694 posts
    March 26, 2019 10:40 PM EDT

    Hm, tough to pick just one... there have been so many really good ones. Heracross mentions some really good ones in Skyrim. The Wolf Queen Awakens was my favorite for a really long time and I'm still a very big fan of that quest. Especially (weirdly enough) playing it as a necromancer. Just good old fashioned head-to-head necromancy and an army of corpses.

    Kyne's Sacred Trials is probably a close second for me.

    In ESO I couldn't even begin to pick. I really loved the Aldmeri Dominion main quest line with the Lunar Champions in Reaper's March and the Thalmor College quest in Auridon--both of those were pretty poigant and stuck with me for quiet a while.

    In Ebonheart Pact I like the Knahaten flu in Shadowfen a lot too. I won't even touch all the chapters/DLCs in ESO because there are just too many to name and I couldn't begin to rank them. xD


    This post was edited by Edana at March 26, 2019 10:41 PM EDT
    • 1467 posts
    March 27, 2019 3:50 AM EDT

    Only played Skyrim so, huh, SPOILER FOR SKYRIM AND DAWNGUARD !

     

    I'd definitely recommend trying out Oblivion and Morrowind some day if your on PC. They're really great games, even if there are a few things that can make them a bit tricky to get into. But the quests in Oblivion are hands down still mostly my favourites across all TES games (though some ESO quests are starting to really get me hooked). 

    Dawnguard is my favorite questline. The very first time I did that quest was the most fun I ever had in Skyrim, there is so many "Oh wow" moments in this questline !

    I still remember my "Whaaaaa" when I met Gelebor, or went to the Soul Cairn, or the Forgotten Vale, or got attacked by two dragons in the Forgotten Vale, or fought Durnehviir, or read the Elder Scrolls with the butterflies things, or simply shoot a crossbow for the first time

    Yeah I have a few soft spots for Dawnguard as well, had a lot of fun with it and I thought Fort Dawnguard and Castle Volkihar were really awesome central locations. Oh and the Redwater Skooma quest was probably one of my favourites in the DLC.

    Lost to the Ages was really fun too and The Forgemaster slowly walking out the lava was so intimidating and silly at the same time

    I think Lost to the Ages might be my favourite single quest in Skyrim (with the possible exception of the Sanguine quest), you get a fun little treasure hunt that takes you all over the place, some pretty neat puzzles, a cool final boss (that really seemed like a boss fight unlike a few others), and then the rewards are pretty great. Yeah it's a really nice quest.

    And I have a soft spot for the Thieves Guild because it's the first faction questline I completed on my first character

    Not sure if it's a quest"line" but I also like The Man Who Cried Wolf and The Wolf Queen Awakened

    I'd say that it is, you do get multiple quests that are all linked together so, yeah definitely counts in my eyes. It's an interesting questline really, personally am rather fond of the Lore around Queen Potema so I was fascinated by it and how she ties into Solitude as a whole. But entering the cave for the first time and watching the ritual starting from above is a really awesome scene. 

     

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts Heracross :D

     

     


    This post was edited by SpookyBorn2021 at March 27, 2019 3:52 AM EDT
    • 1467 posts
    March 27, 2019 3:57 AM EDT

    Hm, tough to pick just one... there have been so many really good ones. Heracross mentions some really good ones in Skyrim. The Wolf Queen Awakens was my favorite for a really long time and I'm still a very big fan of that quest. Especially (weirdly enough) playing it as a necromancer. Just good old fashioned head-to-head necromancy and an army of corpses.

    Necromancer Wars are the...worst? Best? a kind of war. That'd be a pretty fun way to go about that questline, it's one that I kinda have to do on most of my playthroughs just because I like getting the Shield of Solitude but it's a damn fun quest. 

    Kyne's Sacred Trials is probably a close second for me.

    I never really complete the Trials, or even start them unless I'm specifically playing a Kyne-worshipping character. Dunno there's just always been something about the quests that didn't work for me and I have no idea why. Maybe it just needs more Lore for me to be happy :P

    In ESO I couldn't even begin to pick. I really loved the Aldmeri Dominion main quest line with the Lunar Champions in Reaper's March and the Thalmor College quest in Auridon--both of those were pretty poigant and stuck with me for quiet a while.

    In Ebonheart Pact I like the Knahaten flu in Shadowfen a lot too. I won't even touch all the chapters/DLCs in ESO because there are just too many to name and I couldn't begin to rank them. xD

    Yeah ESO's quests make this discussion so much harder in my opinion. Everytime I've thought of a point for one of my older favourites I find something about a quest in ESO that's just better. So, since I am exactly the sort of person who needs to figure out his absolute favourite I've kind of gotten stuck trying to figure out which one I enjoy the most. I'm just trying to think if I've done the Shadowfen quests...they're before Windhelm right? Can't remember honestly because it's been awhile since I've made it far enough through the Pact Questline to get out of Morrowind. Which you know, I'm not complaining about because Morrowind (the Province not the DLC) is my favourite so, yeah it's pretty great. 

     

    Thanks for dropping your thoughts E :D

    • 1595 posts
    March 27, 2019 4:18 AM EDT
    Good call on the Wolf Queen questchain guys, that's definitely one of those quests I absolutely must do no matter what character I'm playing. So much lore and weight of history in Solitude's quests! I think that could be my favourite questline from Skyrim, although the Forgotten Vale quests to find the books for the College and pretty much everything there are also contenders.

    I'd nominate the entire KotN questline, but that's more like "favourite dlc" so I feel a a bit of a cheat to say that.

    For ESO, possibly my favourite, or certainly most impactful, is probably the Wilderking quests. (SPOILER!) I really didn't like Bosmer in Elder Scrolls games prior to ESO. They were the joke-race and I couldn't see beyond that or take them seriously. I mean, Fargoth? Glathir? The Adoring Fan? Ugh, I shudder. ESO completely changed my perspective and presented the wood elves in such a way that preserved the spirit of the older games yet expanded upon everything to make them one of the most complex and detailed races in the setting. The Wilderking quest arc came just at the right time in Greenshade after enjoying Grahtwood so much. It dared to be different, to change the pace and embrace the story-telling the aspects of the Spinners to tell a very unique tale about friendship and the huge significance of simply being accepted and loved. It blew me away and that one questline, more than any other, made me absolutely adore the Bosmer people.
    • 275 posts
    March 27, 2019 4:57 PM EDT

    Seconded on KOTN. That's possibly my favorite DLC questline so far, though it's probably because I like the feeling of leading an army or group and the whole DLC has you generally setting up a small army, and you get a decent player home at the end iirc.

    Outside of DLC questlines (and probably just my overall favorite even including DLCs) I'd have to give it to Oblivion's Main Questline in general. Unlike the Dragon Crisis it did feel like it had a bit of urgency (something I absolutely adore because a lot of RPGs push the main quest to the side a bit), it had a lot of action without making enemies that had a shitton of health, it really felt like a power fantasy when you jumped into an Oblivion Gate and fought the opponent on their own turf, it had an amazing story with fantastic pacing, and at the end of it you actually felt like you completed something since the gates were closed and you were always reminded of it when talking with people or if you went into the Imperial City Temple District at all... and it gave you some armor at the end that actually didn't look like shit and changed it's stats a bit to accommodate your skillset.


    This post was edited by Ebonslayer at March 27, 2019 5:14 PM EDT
    • 1467 posts
    March 28, 2019 6:03 AM EDT

    Good call on the Wolf Queen questchain guys, that's definitely one of those quests I absolutely must do no matter what character I'm playing. So much lore and weight of history in Solitude's quests! I think that could be my favourite questline from Skyrim, although the Forgotten Vale quests to find the books for the College and pretty much everything there are also contenders.

    I'd nominate the entire KotN questline, but that's more like "favourite dlc" so I feel a a bit of a cheat to say that.

    Yeah, DLC really complicate it for me. I think (in general) that they're all better written than a pretty hefty chunk of the main game no matter what title we're talking about. Bloodmoon and more importantly, Tribunal are really awesome, same for SI, KoTN, Dawnguard and Dragonborn. Then of course I'm pretty in love with Morrowind (ESO) so far and from what you guys have told me about Summerset I'll really enjoy it as well. SO kind of tend to push them to the side a little bit because I think they're really great. 

     

    • 1467 posts
    March 28, 2019 6:22 AM EDT

    Outside of DLC questlines (and probably just my overall favorite even including DLCs) I'd have to give it to Oblivion's Main Questline in general. Unlike the Dragon Crisis it did feel like it had a bit of urgency (something I absolutely adore because a lot of RPGs push the main quest to the side a bit), it had a lot of action without making enemies that had a shitton of health, it really felt like a power fantasy when you jumped into an Oblivion Gate and fought the opponent on their own turf, it had an amazing story with fantastic pacing, and at the end of it you actually felt like you completed something since the gates were closed and you were always reminded of it when talking with people or if you went into the Imperial City Temple District at all... and it gave you some armor at the end that actually didn't look like shit and changed it's stats a bit to accommodate your skillset.

    Yeah it's really something else, at least for a Main Quest. I don't think any of the other games really compare well to it, even what I've experienced from ESO's main quest (which has better characters for the most part, but I'm not fond of the quests). I tend to enjoy the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild more but there's a lot to be said for the Main Quest. I'm really insanely fond of Kvatch to be honest, that and the Mythic Dawn section are the best parts of the questline IMO.

    • 197 posts
    March 28, 2019 2:47 PM EDT

    the Ultimate Heist is my favorite. Hands down. Oblivion had so many good quests. Their add ons weren’t bad either. mehrunes razor was super fun, even though the razor wasn’t that great a weapon. Sundercliff Watch was a fun place to stealth play. Loved it. 

    • 275 posts
    March 28, 2019 3:51 PM EDT

    Dragonborn2021 said:

    Yeah it's really something else, at least for a Main Quest. I don't think any of the other games really compare well to it, even what I've experienced from ESO's main quest (which has better characters for the most part, but I'm not fond of the quests). I tend to enjoy the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild more but there's a lot to be said for the Main Quest. I'm really insanely fond of Kvatch to be honest, that and the Mythic Dawn section are the best parts of the questline IMO.

    Yeah, I really loved Kvatch. I had played Oblivion after Skyrim, and when I reached Kvatch and saw that big red glowing sky with that perfect amount of foreboding I knew the game was gonna be good.

    The Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild questlines were really good too. Dark Brotherhood got really emotional for me on my first playthrough mid-way through the questline. I never actually completed Thieves Guild on my first playthrough though because I was immensely horrified of slaughterfish at the time and I was supposed to go into a pit with a giant one so I noped out of there, but when I finally completed it I'll admit that ultimate heist felt great.

    As for ESO, I believe the main quest was really good but sorta weighed down by it being an MMO. There were a lot of points where enemies just had way too much health and I generally got annoyed enough to just sneak past them. I'll admit, the ending portion felt amazing though, caught between a sense of righteousness, selfishness, and revenge combined with power fantasy galore.

    • 1467 posts
    March 29, 2019 9:44 AM EDT
    the Ultimate Heist is my favorite. Hands down. Oblivion had so many good quests. Their add ons weren’t bad either. mehrunes razor was super fun, even though the razor wasn’t that great a weapon. Sundercliff Watch was a fun place to stealth play. Loved it. 

    You know, I've never actually finished Mehrunes Razor, it's probably the only add-on that I haven't played from Oblivion which feels weirdly...wrong. I always really liked uh... Frostspire? Urgh I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head but the big wizards tower (the other 'class homes' were fun as well, like the Pirate Cove thing) in the mountains. It probably only got better for me when playing Beyond Skyrim: Bruma and how it was used in that mod...

    Eh, now I really feel like playing some Oblivion...

    • 1595 posts
    March 29, 2019 11:37 AM EDT

    Ebonslayer said:

    Seconded on KOTN. That's possibly my favorite DLC questline so far, though it's probably because I like the feeling of leading an army or group and the whole DLC has you generally setting up a small army, and you get a decent player home at the end iirc.

    Outside of DLC questlines (and probably just my overall favorite even including DLCs) I'd have to give it to Oblivion's Main Questline in general. Unlike the Dragon Crisis it did feel like it had a bit of urgency (something I absolutely adore because a lot of RPGs push the main quest to the side a bit), it had a lot of action without making enemies that had a shitton of health, it really felt like a power fantasy when you jumped into an Oblivion Gate and fought the opponent on their own turf, it had an amazing story with fantastic pacing, and at the end of it you actually felt like you completed something since the gates were closed and you were always reminded of it when talking with people or if you went into the Imperial City Temple District at all... and it gave you some armor at the end that actually didn't look like shit and changed it's stats a bit to accommodate your skillset.

    That's interesting, I really struggled with the sense of urgency in OB's MQ because in the early days I'd find it hard to put things off without feeling guilt and then be a bit too underpowered in places, such as Savlian Mattius' quest to retake Kvatch - my butt served to me on a platter over and over again - or the great sadness of trying to keep Baurus alive to the end :D

    Ebonslayer said:

    Yeah, I really loved Kvatch. I had played Oblivion after Skyrim, and when I reached Kvatch and saw that big red glowing sky with that perfect amount of foreboding I knew the game was gonna be good.

    The Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild questlines were really good too. Dark Brotherhood got really emotional for me on my first playthrough mid-way through the questline. I never actually completed Thieves Guild on my first playthrough though because I was immensely horrified of slaughterfish at the time and I was supposed to go into a pit with a giant one so I noped out of there, but when I finally completed it I'll admit that ultimate heist felt great.

    As for ESO, I believe the main quest was really good but sorta weighed down by it being an MMO. There were a lot of points where enemies just had way too much health and I generally got annoyed enough to just sneak past them. I'll admit, the ending portion felt amazing though, caught between a sense of righteousness, selfishness, and revenge combined with power fantasy galore.

     I kinda really want to know more about the horror of slaughterfish xD

    ilanisilver said:

    the Ultimate Heist is my favorite. Hands down. Oblivion had so many good quests. Their add ons weren’t bad either. mehrunes razor was super fun, even though the razor wasn’t that great a weapon. Sundercliff Watch was a fun place to stealth play. Loved it. 

    Good call on Mehrune's Razor! I enjoyed that and it was like the mother of all dungeson at the time. First time I went in I came up with an rp justification why my knightly Divine Crusader should go in and then proceeded to stock up on Colovian Battlecry and Frostdew Blanc from Battlehorn Castle's cellar. It was a long process preparing for that dungeon, and iirc, needed a lot of repair hammers too.

    • 197 posts
    March 29, 2019 4:27 PM EDT

    Yes. When I get back to Washington (in North Carolina visiting family at the moment) I’m definitely Getting back into Oblivion!

    • 20 posts
    April 3, 2019 5:16 PM EDT

    Jeez, theres way too many good ones to choose from! Im gonna try to go game by game I guess (SPOILERS BEWARE)

    Morrowind... I did really enjoy the quest where you have to hunt down the murderer in Vivec, I played through as a justice oriented Nerevarine and it just felt like I was doing good stuff. I liked that you really had to search for things in Morrowind, I wish they kept that for the later games, it made quests where you had to find things seem so much more rewarding and involving. I also like the Fighters Guild line, where you had to root out some corruption. I kind of caught on to some of the wonk, and I felt so good when I had finished things out. Finally, the Twin Lamps questline I did on my first character, an escaped Argonian slave, that was awesome that I got to get revenge. The experience of how well it fit with my character makes it one that I always really remember. Morrowind is so good hehe.

    Now Oblivion, I played Oblivion less. I liked the quest for the house in Anvil, partially because I really like the Anvil house. My favorite quest in Oblivion probably has to be the quest in Skingrad with Glarthir, that crazy little Wood Elf. Oh, and Whodunit? with the house party is a really neat quest. I like when I can be creative.

    Skyrim I've played the most, and the Thieves Guild has got to be my favorite questline overall. It's one of the longer ones, which is nice. I just play a lot of thieves, so I end up joining a lot and getting attached to the members. As said mentioned by almost everyone, Wolf Queen Awakens is incredible. I was really impressed the first time I completed it. I also really get invested in the Forsworn Incedent. I feel so bad for Eltrys and his wife. A touching quest.

    ESO has so many good quests, I'll try not to ramble too much lol (DEFINITELY SPOILERS HERE LOL). First, the Pact starter zone quests (Bleakrock and Bal Foyen) absolutely crushed me. First quests I did in the beta, and right away I had so much guilt for letting half of them die. Then I'd say my favorite zones were Deshaan and the plague quest, it felt really important and I kinda felt for the baddies. Then Alik'r for all of the Redguard lore and how beautiful everything there is. Also, the Thieves Guild DLC and Wrothgar DLC are phenomenal. Thier quest writing was definitely a step above the others, I remember them fondly. Edit: Oh and Rivenspire!

    And that's my favorites! Maybe a bit long, but what can I say, I love TES quests!

     

    • 1467 posts
    April 3, 2019 10:28 PM EDT

    Jeez, theres way too many good ones to choose from! Im gonna try to go game by game I guess (SPOILERS BEWARE)

    Morrowind... I did really enjoy the quest where you have to hunt down the murderer in Vivec, I played through as a justice oriented Nerevarine and it just felt like I was doing good stuff. I liked that you really had to search for things in Morrowind, I wish they kept that for the later games, it made quests where you had to find things seem so much more rewarding and involving. I also like the Fighters Guild line, where you had to root out some corruption. I kind of caught on to some of the wonk, and I felt so good when I had finished things out. Finally, the Twin Lamps questline I did on my first character, an escaped Argonian slave, that was awesome that I got to get revenge. The experience of how well it fit with my character makes it one that I always really remember. Morrowind is so good hehe.

    To be honest I kind of think my memory of Morrowind's quests is incredibly shaky so (despite knowing that I've done most of these) I can't recall any of these specifically. I do still remember loving the Morag Tong but I couldn't point out any specific quests there...urgh I really need to play Morrowind again.

    Now Oblivion, I played Oblivion less. I liked the quest for the house in Anvil, partially because I really like the Anvil house. My favorite quest in Oblivion probably has to be the quest in Skingrad with Glarthir, that crazy little Wood Elf. Oh, and Whodunit? with the house party is a really neat quest. I like when I can be creative.

    Oh yeah the Anvil House, personally I think it was the Skingrad House that I always enjoyed a bit more because I think it was the one with the treasure hunt? But I did like how they were a bit more creative with the houses when compared to Skyrim's "pay us money to get them and upgrade them and that's it" system...Well I suppose Windhelm is a bit different but eh. Whodunit? is just about my favourite quest in any of these games, just so much fun to mess around with people and the different paths you can take through it (and the reactions of the people) are really well done.

    Skyrim I've played the most, and the Thieves Guild has got to be my favorite questline overall. It's one of the longer ones, which is nice. I just play a lot of thieves, so I end up joining a lot and getting attached to the members. As said mentioned by almost everyone, Wolf Queen Awakens is incredible. I was really impressed the first time I completed it. I also really get invested in the Forsworn Incedent. I feel so bad for Eltrys and his wife. A touching quest.

    Oh, I did like the Forsworn Incident, more because of the Lore personally rather than the quest but it's still a really solid quest, makes Markarth one of my favourite cities even if I've gotten a bit tired of the opening (mostly just because I feel the need to kill Weylin because you get a reward for doing it). Hell almost all of the quests in Markarth are really enjoyable for me. 

    ESO has so many good quests, I'll try not to ramble too much lol (DEFINITELY SPOILERS HERE LOL). First, the Pact starter zone quests (Bleakrock and Bal Foyen) absolutely crushed me. First quests I did in the beta, and right away I had so much guilt for letting half of them die. Then I'd say my favorite zones were Deshaan and the plague quest, it felt really important and I kinda felt for the baddies. Then Alik'r for all of the Redguard lore and how beautiful everything there is. Also, the Thieves Guild DLC and Wrothgar DLC are phenomenal. Thier quest writing was definitely a step above the others, I remember them fondly. Edit: Oh and Rivenspire!

    Whoo, Pact Starter Zones! I'm a huge fan of Bleackrock Isle (and Stonefalls for that matter, something about the whole fighting fire demons in volcanoes really works for me), and I think it's by far my favourite starting section, it just really nails everything in my opinion. I still haven't delved into Wrothgar yet but I'm really excited to play it.

    And that's my favorites! Maybe a bit long, but what can I say, I love TES quests!

     

    • 197 posts
    April 3, 2019 11:14 PM EDT
    Yes! The Skingrad house with the treasure hunt! And really good treasure. I LOVED that.
    • 1467 posts
    April 3, 2019 11:39 PM EDT

    Yes! The Skingrad house with the treasure hunt! And really good treasure. I LOVED that.

    Treasure is everything :P Or at least makes a house far more interesting than a house without treasure :D
     

    This post was edited by SpookyBorn2021 at April 3, 2019 11:46 PM EDT