The dwemer ruins are disappointing.

[258789553873]

My first ES game was Oblivion. I always hated how there were no Dwemer ruins for me to explore in the game. I could read about the ones in Morrowind, but I could never do any of my own exploration. Unsurprisingly, I was quite happy that Skyrim came with dwemer ruins.

However, I never really liked them. I don't feel like I'm exploring a ruined city where people once lived; I feel like I'm exploring an rpg dungeon. They're all extremely linear, which makes sense for a dungeon but not a city. There's also the issue with how the places are clearly quite dangerous to be in. Honestly, it reminds me of the ayleid ruins in Oblivion. As I walked through those ruins, I just couldn't ignore that whoever designed these places clearly didn't intend people to live in them. I mean, they have things like giant guillotenes constantly swinging across walkways! Now, I can get that for the nordic ruins since those are supposed to be tombs, so its not too surprising that there's quite a lot of things that in there to keep people out, but why on earth would you design a city like that?

Besides, I never really learned anything new running through these ruins. I never got more a sense of who the dwemer were. I was just running through a steampunk dungeon filled with robots in what's supposed to be a high fantasy game. Really, the only dwemer ruin I like at all is that one in Markarth, because it has the highest amount of metal ore of any area in the game (great for grinding smithing). Also, there happens to also be a gold AND a silver mine in the reach too, so that's also great for powerleveling smithing. Beyond skill grinding though, I never really found amusement in finally getting to explore dwemer ruins for myself. The severe lack of variety in the enemies also doesn't help. You have spiders, spheres, and the occasional centurion. Yeah, you can find Falmer, but that doesn't help much, and they're not in EVERY ruin.

I was really looking forward to getting to see dwemer ruins for myself, but I've been horribly disappointed in what I got in Skyrim. Honestly, they're probably the least interesting dungeons in the entire game. Honestly, I find even the nordic tombs to be far more interesting than any dwemer ruin in the game. The only one really interesting at all is the Markarth one I mentioned. Its got A LOT of stuff to loot, and well the whole re-activating the defenses thing is somewhat amusing. It still doesn't make it feel like an actual ruined city of any sort.

[alexander_dougherty]

Dwemer didn't do things normally, in the books in oblivion it clearly stated their cities have cubby holes and dead ends that serve no obvious purpose.

And of course they are dangerous to be in, the dwarves have been gone for over two thousand years, it's a miracle any of their cities still stand.

[Chaotic Harmony]

Considering the Dwemer were an incredibly war-like species, paranoid and fighting over the limited supply of aetherium, the elves and occasionally their own falmer/snow elf servants i don't see the issue. To me it's just like how you have murder holes in a fortified castle; they aren't used except when a force breaches the outer gates and are on your doorstep.

As for the whole "They don't feel like people lived in them"? There's several large ruins where beds, chairs and tables can be found everywhere, and since they've been gone for millenia i'd just assumed the plumbing fixtures and tableware had been mostly picked clean (You still find cups and plates though) But this is a Skyrim issue in general; all the scales are way off.

Most cities would barely pass as castles; don't have enough people in them or around them farming for that matter. So within the jank universe it balances out.

As for the lack of discovering new things? all i can say is that the majority of the quests where you learn more about the Dwemer aren't structured like traditional quests, and can't be triggered by just walking up to something. This seems like a design choice on their part, and i do think it contributes signifigantly to the lack of intrigue compared to Nordic ruins to most people.

But it's also entirely a matter of opinion; i love the atmosphere and mystique of the Dwemer ruins. I love the sound design; where the sound of the machinery and hissing steam layers on top of the ambient score giving the impression of a strange, almost alien enviorment.

To me the steampunk elements that contrast so harshly with the rest of the world enhance this, and add to the mystery and intrigue.

Why hasn't anyone duplicated Dwarven metal after all these years? Why are their machines so difficult to replicate? Why haven't any of the ruins been cleared out by the imperials or stormclocks and occupied like forts?

Is it taboo? Or something more sinister? What happened to them? Did they ascend to another dimension? Or make a pact they couldn't furfill and someone was forced to collect? Were they just exterminated and butchered like animals because their infighting weakened them?

The lack of answers makes all of this more and more interesting to me, but i can see your points and don't actually dispute many of them.

[lupus_hegemonia]

To me, the dwemer ruins/dungeons are the most boring places in the game, AFTER the Soul Cairn!!!!!

(Soul Cairn... oh boy, I need, always, few cheats to speed up and leave from that SUPER boring place)

[Castyles]

Play Morrowind.

[Chaotic Harmony]

Originally posted by lupus_hegemonia:

To me, the dwemer ruins/dungeons are the most boring places in the game, AFTER the Soul Cairn!!!!!

(Soul Cairn... oh boy, I need, always, few cheats to speed up and leave from that SUPER boring place)

Now that place is MASSIVELY wasted potential....

You could literally do anything with the whole "This is where souls go when used in enchanting"...but instead it's a brown desert with gray castles strewn about, and no interesting characters. Only several relatively boring fetch quests, and a new food item that doesn't benefit you at all once you leave.

I haven't gone as far as cheating to make it go by faster, but it was very tempting.

[AirborneMuffins]

All the dungeons are disappointing. That's Skyrim

[258789553873]

Originally posted by AirborneMuffins:

All the dungeons are disappointing. That's Skyrim

Far better than oblivion. There was only like four or five possible dungeons that were copy-pasted all over the map. Yeah, the inhabitants could be different for each one, but it was impossible to ignore how every dungeon was a cave, and there was only four or five possible layouts for each cave. At least in Skyrim they're all unique, even if the variety of things that can inhabit them are far smaller. Of course, lack of enemy diversity is a problem throughout the entire game, not just in its dungeons. There's a reason there's so many monster compilation mods.

[Halcyform]

Originally posted by IXBlackWolfXI:

As I walked through those ruins, I just couldn't ignore that whoever designed these places clearly didn't intend people to live in them. I mean, they have things like giant guillotenes constantly swinging across walkways! Now, I can get that for the nordic ruins since those are supposed to be tombs, so its not too surprising that there's quite a lot of things that in there to keep people out, but why on earth would you design a city like that?

Besides, I never really learned anything new running through these ruins. I never got more a sense of who the dwemer were.

The dwemer were a fairly war-like race. Of course they'd install guillotines on walkways, killer robots in alcoves, and keep their living quarters as spartan as possible to minimize distractions so they can concentrate on building their next murder machine.

The walkway, and other thoroughfare, guillotines/arrows/scythes are to develop their serpentine skills as well as armor testing.

You find most of their killer robots in alcoves or other places out of the way so the dwemer can further develop their martial skills without bothering anyone else in case things go badly. There's usually an off switch nearby that the clean up crew makes use of prior to approaching.

(As well as another switch located in a nearby overseer office that can be used for training purposes. Sometimes you don't get to choose your fights, so the overseer will occasionally ambush the clean up crews to check their readiness).

It's referenced a few times (in game) about how little the dwemer left behind, making it difficult to discern what their overall purpose and their everyday life was like.

[258789553873]

When I mentioned guillotenes, I was talking about Ayleid ruins. And by guillotenes, I mean those gigantic 15x15 foot blades that drop down onto walkways every few seconds. How are those even still running? And why would you put something like that in a city?

[Perplex]

Originally posted by lupus_hegemonia:

To me, the dwemer ruins/dungeons are the most boring places in the game, AFTER the Soul Cairn!!!!!

(Soul Cairn... oh boy, I need, always, few cheats to speed up and leave from that SUPER boring place)

Blackreach and Soul Cairn is equaly boring. Soul Cairn is a bit better nowddays after they removed the mist so you can actually navigate that place now.

[Castyles]

Originally posted by IXBlackWolfXI:

When I mentioned guillotenes, I was talking about Ayleid ruins. And by guillotenes, I mean those gigantic 15x15 foot blades that drop down onto walkways every few seconds. How are those even still running? And why would you put something like that in a city?

Since the Ayeleid's were like super Bosmers, I'm inclined to believe the traps were meant to ban outsiders. Just like the Dwemers did.

As for how they're still running? You have bandits, poachers, adventurers, scholars, necromancers, thiefs, cultists, madmen, goblins and all sort of mutated animal roaming abandoned ruins all the time. Not hard to trigger something.

In real life, for example, some traps from the old world still work when you trigger something. Same here, in a fantasy land.