VolenKiller
The Idealist
Haha indeed
Skyrim didn't have a black hand because it wasn't legit, Astrid was in charge not a Listener... It wasn't until the Night Mother arrived that they started getting thier pl*** together, and even then Astrid tried to set you up...
Oblivion took place when the dark brotherhood was at thier hieght, skyrim comes when they are on thier last leg...
That's why Cheydinhal would win, they wouldn't have been willing to 'make a deal' with anyone, they would have told the imperials what's up.
I'm gonna break down by character, (my own opinion) using 'cs' to stand for Cheydinhal Sanctuary, and 'fs' to stand for falkreath's sanctuary.
Ocheeva would kill Astrid easily (cs-1, fs-0), That Orc would go up against Astrid's Hubby the werewolf (tie). the Falkreath's Shadow Scale was more badass than taneeva of Chedynhall (cs-1, fs-1), Nazir and the Khajit would have been a pretty good battle (tie), and the Cheydinhal vampire was better than Falkreath's (cs-2, fs-1). Cheydinhal also had Lucien Lachance as thier listener, falkreath didn't have one until you (cs-3, fs-1), and they had two pets, the skeleton and the rat but falkreath's spider would have beaten them, Cheydinhal also had that girl antionette maria, so they win that one by default, (cs-4 fs-2 w/2 ties) ...
Also, Cicero would have fought for Cheydinhal had a battle occured...
Grand total = Cheydinhal wins...
p.s. You could buy stuff in cheydinhall, like spells, weapons, and lock picks... they were better equipt.
What?!Why is the Blade of Woe so lame in this game?
Yes. The DB was probably the best of Skyrim's guilds and its still like 'meh' compared to Oblivions. Too short, no rankings and the story/characters aren't even interesting.Cheydinhal by miles, the people were alot cooler aswell. Is it just me, but did you find all the guilds on Skyrim abit lacking in somthing? Oblivions were just longer, and better in my opinion.
.......Uhhhhh you like your words now don't you.I simply cannot believe some people actually prefer Skyrim over Oblivion when it comes to the Dark Brotherhood. Now, I do prefer Skyrim over Oblivion in general but the Dark Brotherhood of Oblivion had so much more depth to it.
Starting with the recruitment, I believe this is where Skyrim could have superseded Oblivion. To receive a mysterious letter from a courier and to be hauled away in your sleep to prove yourself was a unique experience to say the least. On the other hand, Astrid has absolutely nothing on Lucien Lachance. That guy was simply the very embodiment of a fanatical assassin devoted to his cause albeit a bit too stereotypical.
The family of Cheydinhal in Oblivion was somehow more memorable to me. Perhaps I am biased towards them. I did hate the wood elf that was arrogantly full of ambition and looked so ugly, it made it worse. Then again all the wood elf females of Oblivion looked simply horrid and I'll leave the aesthetics out of this.
I will confess that I had little to do with the family of Falkreath even though I did talk to them all. However, the very fact that I can scarcely remember the interactions only indicates that they simply weren't as interesting. The one thing I do remember is their fake laughter when they gathered around to talk about their killings, when the werewolf mentioned making loincloth out of a Khajiit monk. That was just bad....
The breton vampire was much more to my liking in comparison to Nazeem. There was something rather creepy about that Redguard and I don't mean in a secretly drawing and mysterious way. His slow manner of speech and his subtle arrogance annoyed me. I wish he died with the rest o them, really. The shadowscales I cannot comment upon since I was never interested in Argonians as much in either case. The little girl reminded me of Claudia from Anne Rice's novel too much. I did not really find her interesting for some reason. They should have given her a unique model or textures to somehow show or hint at her darker side. The fact that she looked like every single girl out there just killed it for me even if that was the whole point of her disguise.
Taking a closer look at the other quest givers though, I could say that Astrid was certainly more interesting of a character compared to Ocheeva. However, Skyrim did not have a character that could possibly commensurate to Lucien LaChance. I'm not even certain whom to compare him with. The jester? I found that guy atrociously annoying and over the top. His obsession with the Night Mother was borderline creepy. Having read his journals I can understand why, I suppose, but it does not change anything.
Now, for the main part. Everything else aside, the most important thing about a faction are the quests. Like mentioned before, Skyrim's questline is just too short. I'd like to add that in addition to that, the quests were never as unique as they were in Oblivion. All,you do is just go out there and kill. In Oblivion you get to stage accidents, stage a death, you sneak past guards. The fact that you picked up orders from locations other than your sanctuary was rather smart. If you always went to the same place, wouldn't it become too suspicious to ignore? Either way, to say it with fewer words, the DB in Oblivion felt far more sinister and organized, not to mention longer.All you do in Skyrim is act as some typical cutthroat. There is no need for much subtlety either. The Dark Brotherhood Forever quest was disappointing as well. Skyrim is a continuation of Oblivion and yet it takes a step back in the quest department. They could have done so much more. I can understand that storylines and plots are things that you can never guarantee will work out better than the previous ones but in terms of game mechanics and possibilities Skyrim is clearly superior. They could have at least given missions where you had to sneak past many guards to kill their boss. Or make some of the random targets CHALLENGING. Each and every one of them takes a single well-placed arrow.
To add to that, it also achieved to stir some emotion in me when I had to wipe out the whole sanctuary, especially after I had suddenly become friends with the cat. That quest pretty much showed you what it is to be an assassin, a murderer. The whole questline tricks you into thinking you can be friends and then it takes that away from you. The death of Lucien LaChance had some impact as well albeit I felt that the ending of DB in Oblivion rushed.
The whole deal with the Imperials and their ultimate betrayal was certainly interesting but it did not evoke the same feelings. Astrid had it coming for her. The very notion of assassinating the Emperor himself seemed absurd. If only the questline was longer.... then maybe.
Oblivion certainly had its flaws but Skyrim cannot begin to compare.