#Thoughts(tm) brought to you by: some custom followers react badly to the PC joining the volkihar and i wish being a vamp in skyrim...

[konahrics]

I hate how much potential the Dawnguard DLC had and how shallow it ended up being.

TES doesn't usually deal in black & white, good vs evil. Imperials aren't better than Stormcloaks, the Companions aren't inherently good or bad, etc. But then the Volkihar vs Dawnguard conflict happens and it's just... would you like to rid the world of evil vampires?

Normally that's the part where you have to weigh the pros and cons of whichever side you'll take, but are there any pros to the vampires' side? You have to essentially sell your soul to Molag Bal to get a power that's kind of worth it sometimes, to live in a castle that houses actual human cattle and no one likeable except for Serana, who'd still be there if you'd taken the Dawnguard side anyway.

Besides Harkon's (stupid and self-destructive) plan, what objectives do the Volkihar have? Once the main story is over, the game just throws fetch quests at you. They don't actually do anything beyond existing.

And the fact that you fought for these vampires to exist is particularly frustrating because they're shallow and unlikeable. At least some of the Dawnguard members have a backstory: the young man you meet at the entrance to Daybreak Canyon who's scared of Isran, the Orc who wants to avenge his wives, the guy who might speak to Arkay, etc. The vampires get Nothing (except for Serana... who sides with the Dawnguard if you do). There's a former member of House Dres. Vingalmo and Orthjolf bicker. Valerica is admittedly an interesting character, but that's kind of it. Most of the vampires in the castle have almost nothing to say, unlike some of the Dawnguard who you actually go recruit yourself and have their own personality. Which is a shame because i wish that once you've sided with the vamps, you'd actually get incentive to stay. There are many reasons why someone might want to be a vampire (did they get taken in by the Volkihar in an uncharacteristic act of good will, and are now unshakeably loyal? Are they a disgraced noble looking for revenge? Do they think vampires should work with mortals rather than against them? There's potential dammit! Have some diversity!) but the only reason all of the Volkihar vampires have is to sit in the castle, drink blood all night and proclaim their loyalty to whoever's the leader.

Speaking of leaders! Isran is an interesting character who fights for a good cause but sometimes goes to extremes and pushes his own allies away; Harkon is a dumbass who thinks blotting out the Sun would be a good thing and who will 100% backstab you the moment he doesn't need you anymore or you become a threat to him. Actually, you can't trust anyone on the vampire side. Finishing the DLC as the leader of the Volkihar sounds both exhausting and unrewarding, from an in-character POV. Also, why isn't Serana the new leader after she helps you kill her father??

There's so many things that have me believe that DLC is meant to be played on the Dawnguard side, which kinda sucks. It's nice that they offer a way for the player to be evil, but the evil plotline is boring, and good vs evil isn't what TES is good at anyway.

TES could have done what it usually does, and does well, which is a nuanced conflict (while keeping the Volkihar somewhat monstruous, because they are.) A Dawnguard who's trying to destroy vampires but whose methods are extreme (Isran literally has a torture room in the game and makes Serana wait for you there) vs the Volkihar who are torn between obeying Harkon like they have for millenia even though his plan is self-destructive, or overthrowing him and facing the Dawnguard menace weakened. If you side with the Dawnguard, congrats! The Volkihar are no more, but without them around cull their numbers, vampires are popping up left and right. Destroy them and cure their victims before they turn. If you side with the Volkihar, once you've destroyed the Dawnguard, you have to fix the problems Harkon allowed to fester while he was obsessed with the prophecy. Stop other clans from encroaching on Skyrim and refill your depleted ranks, and choose how thralls should be treated.

At this point i'm just rambling but i'm so smad about that DLC. I love vampires but they're so 2-dimensional compared to everything else in the game. I'd happily play through the Soul Cairn every time if the rest of the story was engaging. Ok not happily but i wouldn't complain as much.