Why did Bethesda make the college of Winterhold quest line so lame?

[kajackem]

I mean compare it to the mages guild, it is super short and all the quests feel the same (much similar to all the quests in Skyrim). Because magic is such a big part in this game, they should of put some real effort into it.

What do you guys think?

 

[anaxagoras]

I really agree with this, I mean compared to the dark brotherhood and thieves guild quest line it is rather tedious and boring and very unrewarding....


In the brotherhood quest line you get: Shadowmere, sick set of armor, around 30,000 gold, and you get to assassinate an emperor on a boat!!!! It really doesn't match up to that.

 

[Redguard Illusionist]

I respectfully disagree. While I do like the thieves guild quest line the best overall, Labyrinthian might be one of the neatest areas in the entire game. That alone puts it in front of the Dark Brotherhood quest line in my eyes. The Dark Brotherhood was the quest line that seemed tedious and boring to me, there could have been so much more originality there. A lot of potential wasted and nothing stands out like Labyrinthian.

 

[anaxagoras]

I respectfully disagree. While I do like the thieves guild quest line the best overall, Labyrinthian might be one of the neatest areas in the entire game. That alone puts it in front of the Dark Brotherhood quest line in my eyes. The Dark Brotherhood was the quest line that seemed tedious and boring to me, there could have been so much more originality there. A lot of potential wasted and nothing stands out like Labyrinthian.

I respect your opinion and I do agree with your statement that Labrythian was a neat place in deed. I probably dislike the quest line because I despise playing as a mage... I always enjoyed playing an assassin and role playing as a dark brotherhood agent.

 

[wrighty]

It is not a bad quest line it is just way too short, and you could easily work out what would happen next at every stage.
I think the dark brotherhood and thieves guild were the best and the companions was terrible and incredibly monotonous.
There should have been more benefits to completing a guild, most guilds had terrible rewards for example in the companions you get wuuthrad a crappy battleaxe which can't be improved, in the thieves guild yes you get the cool looking armor but it has enchantments which you can easily do yourself and much better, the archmages robes are good but the staff of magnus which is 1 of the most powerful artifacts is actually terrible and useless in most circumstances. The dark brotherhood has some good things like shadowmere and the double backstab gauntlets, but again there is no really powerful benefits or rewards, the blade of woe has been rendered useless with the new dragonbone weapons too.
The only good weapons and armour are in the DLC.

 

[Anthrax]

For me, it was lame. It was different! But nothing compared to an experience with the Mages Guild.

The notion of magic and sorcery freaks the plops out of any Nord and so in Skyrim that theme doesn't apply and contain any significants to the general theme.

The whole concept of arcane and becoming a mage is seen as lame to the inhabitants of Skyrim and only small fragments of those willing to learn and curious about it seem to be only Altmer and Dunmer.It's very hard to imagine that once we toppled Manni Marco and thwarted terrible evil in Oblivon to be shoved a long side nerds that are obsessed with Dwemer trinkets... Wtf Bethesda???

Skyrim is centered with a culture based on brute force rather in their perspective of weird and wonderful magic tricks. You know, we see this in Winterhold where the residence there are scared plopsless and have become a xenophobic bunch of drama queens how the "Evil Mysterious Wizzardz" destroyed our once was great capitol of Skyrim!!! (OMFG! Really???) . Like a bunch of old whinny unsettled morons dreaming of the good old days.

Residents of Winterhold get a fluffing life!

Coming out of Cyrodiil where one experienced the Mages guild quests and I was entertained and I thoroughly enjoyed the occultic atmosphere Bethesda put into the the game, I was amused and I loved it. Then Skyrim came and the first guild (is that a fluffing guild? ) was the college in Winterhold... I came across a hideous looking woman in hilarious robes (LOL..they actually wear those ridiculous costumes! ) with a snotty stiff lip mumbbling something like.. mblmblmb and you must earn your right here and blabla waffle waffle....

... ..... ..... ....... .. .

I literally... had a WTF cadenza and sat back thinking if I don't get coffee right now I will die...

Seriously Bethesda nice game etc...But.... ...

 

[DrunkenMage]

Morrowind Mages guild was apparently the best, never played Morrowind but heard about it. That you needed to be skilled in magic to even rise up the ranks.

 

[Adam Belmont]

Morrowind Mages guild was apparently the best, never played Morrowind but heard about it. That you needed to be skilled in magic to even rise up the ranks.

You're right. In fact all the guilds has a favored skill: to reach the rank of master of the fighters guild you need one skill in 90 and two in 35 of the favored skills (Armorer, Long blade, Heavy Armor, Axe, Block and blunt weapon), also you need to have the favored attributes like Strenght and Endurance high to be a Master.
The same goes with the Thieves Guild and the Morag Tong (the assassins guild in Morrowind).
I think that the most underated Guild in Skyrim is the guild that most represents the spirit of Skyrim: the Companions. I was very disapointed, the questline is too short, not to say the Companions should be the most important guild of the game, since they're Warriors and Skyrim is a land of Warriors.

 

[DrunkenMage]

You're right. In fact all the guilds has a favored skill: to reach the rank of master of the fighters guild you need one skill in 90 and two in 35 of the favored skills (Armorer, Long blade, Heavy Armor, Axe, Block and blunt weapon), also you need to have the favored attributes like Strenght and Endurance high to be a Master.
The same goes with the Thieves Guild and the Morag Tong (the assassins guild in Morrowind).
I think that the most underated Guild in Skyrim is the guild that most represents the spirit of Skyrim: the Companions. I was very disapointed, the questline is too short, not to say the Companions should be the most important guild of the game, since they're Warriors and Skyrim is a land of Warriors.

Well you do get an axe that is just designed for Thalmor hunting.

 

[The Wanderer]

I thought the coolest thing about the College was the Midden, and talking to the Augur of Dunlain was pretty awesome IMO. Other than that i was a little dissapointed in the quest line as well.

 

[MrDSL]

I actually liked the College quest line. Being a pure mage the final boss guy who had the staff of magnus was one of the hardest fights ive been in..

I found all the other quest lines pretty lame to be honest.. I can't comment on the Thieves Guild cause the damn buggy game wont initiate the next step to where i talk to Maven.

I'm still peeved I cant get that cool ass armor.

 

[Moris]

I didn't find Labyrinthian particularly exciting. For a non mage it was decidedly meh.

Oh, creepy voice in my head, now I'm going to lose all 100 points of my magicka.... Oh NOOOOOOOS what ever will I do?

It was probably better for mage characters.

 

[Shadow King]

Because Bethesda are lazy bastards , they must have made the quests last during production and they thought, ah we have made a beautiful world fluff the quests lets all take a holiday lmao

 

[Ritterkreuz]

That alone puts it in front of the Dark Brotherhood quest line in my eyes. The Dark Brotherhood was the quest line that seemed tedious and boring to me, there could have been so much more originality there.

I wish I could join the Penitus Oculatus, and play a full campaign out hunting down the Dark Brotherhood instead of a single mission.

 

[UnLonged]

I wish I could join the Penitus Oculatus, and play a full campaign out hunting down the Dark Brotherhood instead of a single mission.

While I would hate to have my family members (except Astrid, how I loathe that woman) be slaughtered in cold blood, it would be cool to have more depth in that alternative quest.

That last battle with Ancano is full on blegch. Thralling him to kill him for the 'nth time didn't even gave the satisfaction one would get when finishing a storyline. The only challenging and somewhat rewarding part of that storyline is having to clean up Winterhold of the pesky anomalies (free soul gems).

I also agree on the Staff of Magnus being goat-kick weak. Its strongest suit is the cool look it has, other than that, the staff is just a doorstop if anything. It's suppose to be anti-mage as the primary effect of it is magicka drain, but the rate at which it drains makes one just use other means of fighting mages. Only time I use the staff is for fighting dragons, it helps reach them when my character is trying hard not to be a dragonborn.

 

[Malignanttoe]

I agree that the college's quest line was dull and just not that engaging. It's not rewards that I look for in a questline, it's the story. I loved the Dark Brotherhood questline and the Thieves Guild as well. Companions was ok, but like the College quests, it felt generic and predictable.

 

[Redguard Illusionist]

I didn't find Labyrinthian particularly exciting. For a non mage it was decidedly meh.

Oh, creepy voice in my head, now I'm going to lose all 100 points of my magicka.... Oh NOOOOOOOS what ever will I do?

It was probably better for mage characters.

From the outside of Labyrinthian with all of the frost trolls to the skeleton army and skeleton dragon popping up of no where in the dungeon to the dragon priest at the end - all the while following the story of what happened to the arch mage and his doomed exploration party, made it the most memorable area of the game for me. It is the only dungeon that didn't feel exactly like all the others. All the dwarven ruins feel more or less the same, all the Falmer dungeons feel the same, all the bandit and vampire caves feel the same, etc. Labyrinthian really stands out in my mind as THE best dungeon in the game.

 

[MrDSL]

From the outside of Labyrinthian with all of the frost trolls to the skeleton army and skeleton dragon popping up of no where in the dungeon to the dragon priest at the end - all the while following the story of what happened to the arch mage and his doomed exploration party, made it the most memorable area of the game for me. It is the only dungeon that didn't feel exactly like all the others. All the dwarven ruins feel more or less the same, all the Falmer dungeons feel the same, all the bandit and vampire caves feel the same, etc. Labyrinthian really stands out in my mind as THE best dungeon in the game.

Same here...that place really took me awhile to go through.

 

[Moris]

From the outside of Labyrinthian with all of the frost trolls to the skeleton army and skeleton dragon popping up of no where in the dungeon to the dragon priest at the end - all the while following the story of what happened to the arch mage and his doomed exploration party, made it the most memorable area of the game for me. It is the only dungeon that didn't feel exactly like all the others. All the dwarven ruins feel more or less the same, all the Falmer dungeons feel the same, all the bandit and vampire caves feel the same, etc. Labyrinthian really stands out in my mind as THE best dungeon in the game.

Your description is very moving.

I guess I was put off by being forced into the college by the main quest, and then propelled forward by npc's who were utterly oblivious to the fact that I had only ever cast a single spell in my entire life. That I was referred to as a "mage" in Saarthal, when I very very clearly wasn't (decked out in scaled armor and carrying a two handed battle axe).

The College should have been off-limits to all but real mages, and no forced entry should ever have been put into the main quest.

 

[Nocte Aeterna]

I think the questline could've been a little more exciting. But there are very few things more gratifying than banishing Ancano's sorry ass from the mortal world.