In which I explain that “Flinch your mod is too hard,add floaty markers and log entries” is fundamentally incompatible with the
whole point of the mod.
 
 
0.0 Foreword:
The Skyrim quest log is a poorly designed abomination.It is responsible, either directly or through one order of separation knock-on
effects, for probably 80% of the removal of the R in RPG in the elder scrolls.
This is due to a multitude of problems it introduces under 3 primary categories:
the Active Quests system, the Radiant Quest system and the Psychology of “The
Arrow”. In each case, the solution to the problem involved whittling away at
the roleplaying elements, which is why there are almost none left.
 
The whole point of this mod is to restore theseelements, obviously meaning the quest log was out of the question. My solution
was not ideal. Ideally I would have been able to implement something along the
lines of the Baldur’s Gate journal. Alternatively, I could have used
experimental mechanisms such as time limits that auto-fail quests to solve some
of these problems at the cost of others. However, the Take Notes/literal
notepad solution is overall the best I could devise.
 
 
1.0 Active Quest System:
The first and most critical problem introduced by thequest log is that when a quest starts it sits in your log forever unless you
fail it or finish it.
 
1.1 Adding Quests to the Log:
Many, though not enough, of the quests in Skyrim havean intermediate start state where they leave a note to pursue them in your miscellaneous
tab. This is better than starting the quest outright, but still carries the
problem of clutter sitting in your log forever, constantly needling you to do
it. This fundamentally encourages the “master of all trades” approach rather
than roleplaying a specific character type. All it would have required was that
Bethesda implement an ability to delete miscellaneous objective tips and have
all quests require actively starting after receiving said tip. Mods such as
Quest Eraser try to implement this, but the way the implementation works means
that the solution is not natively compatible with other mods. Quests that force-start
in this way also destroys mutual exclusivity. If you could not be both the
Harbinger and the Listener when both those chains auto-start when walking by an
NPC, it would be an exceptionally frustrating experience. Instead, now you can
be both a hero and “king murderer” at the same time.
 
1.2 Active Quests in the Log:
Once a quest is actually in the log, it is foreverthere cluttering up your UI. The objective system is particularly problematic
here, constantly noting all the things that you SHOULD be doing rather than
things you COULD be doing. The whole log is a railroad which appeals to the
psychological need for completionism, regardless of how well it actually fits
your character. The log UI itself is also a problem as the entries have to be
pre-written, so there is no way to tailor them to how your character feels
about it. This completionist-centric approach means that active quests
therefore can’t have the player make any meaningful sacrifices, as it just
creates bitterness if you feel like you were FORCED to sacrifice something
instead of it being a choice. It also means that once you start a quest, it has
to be theoretically possible to complete it straight through without major
detours for your character or else there is an impossible entry stuck there, so
there is no sense of progression in cases like becoming the Archmage of the
College 2 days after joining as an apprentice.
 
1.3 Removing Quests from the Log:
Any quest that is in your log cannot be left there ifit isn’t possible to complete it. The way the quest system works, this requires
either adding a script to every possible NPC that can die/item that can be
lost/etc. that fails the quest or making it so that NPCs cannot die/items
cannot be lost. The former strips the player of choice, as it requires an
exponential amount of time in implementation and testing to ensure that
everything works for every possible branching option or choice, meaning that making
a single branching quest can easily take as much time as 4 or more normal
quests. Even simple linear quests are still often twice as time consuming to
implement in this way. The latter strips the player of agency, by making it
impossible to fail and also littering the world with garbage like items you
cannot drop and NPCs you cannot stop from witnessing your crimes.
 
1.4 Collective Impact on Roleplaying:
Collectively these three elements rob the player of anymeasure of choice. You are forced to start quests, so you cannot have quests
that are mutually exclusive. Quests cannot have cost-benefit tradeoffs, meaning
you cannot make hard sacrifices. You are forced to complete quests, even if a
given quest makes no sense for a given character. Quests have to be capable of
completion by any character that starts them, meaning there is no long-term
goal and no appreciable difference between novice and master. Quests have to be
linear or close to, so you can’t tailor your approach to suit specific
characters. It is almost impossible to fail a quest, meaning there are no
consequences.
 
Together, this means that questing becomesfundamentally impossible to roleplay. Content is forced down your throat in a
way that actively discourages any attempt to roleplay. If you simply put up
with the cluttered log of non-applicable quests and resist these attempts, the
amount of content available to any particular build is extremely limited and
often chained together in nonsensical ways. It actively encourages a “turn off
brain, kill-loot return faction 1, kill-loot return faction 2, kill-loot return
faction 3, game complete, uninstall” where the player just completes all the
content with no roleplaying at all and then has substantially reduced replayability.

 
1.5 Comparison Examples:
Consider Bethesda’s Dawnguard questline, any time youwalk past a guard after level 10 you are saddled with the niggling note in your
log forever. Even if you ARE a Vampire, this is the only way to start the quest.
Further on, while you do at least get to choose Vampire or Dawnguard radiant
quests (radiant problems covered below), the actual main questline railroads
you into things like taking Serana to the castle even if you want to play
Dawnguard. Even if you join the Dawnguard and then later become a Vampire at
the Soul Cairn quest and decide to stay that way, you can’t turn on the
Dawnguard because they are immortal. There are no actual costs involved,
becoming a Vampire carries the biggest drawback of any feature in Skyrim and it
just provides a small flat stat modifier to stamina regen and fire resistance
which can be easily neutralised with enchantments. Once you start the
Dawnguard, you can complete it at level 10, killing thousands of year old
vampires. Every step of the questline forces the player to act and feel as
Bethesda intended and there is only one possible ending, you kill Harkon and
then kill the other faction. A complete dumpsterfire of a questline for
roleplayers, only worth completing once for each faction.
 
Consider DwD’s Mageblight questline, there aremultiple pointer tie-ins providing roleplay accessibility to a variety of
character types, ranging from: being on a courier job, catching the disease as
a mage, catching the disease as a muggle, finding incriminating documents in a
crime-lord’s safe, having your vigilant handler outed as a warlock, deciding to
join a witchhunting society etc. None of these actually force themselves on you
if you don’t want to follow them, you can simply move on and never consider it
again. During the questline you can choose to turn on Grados and kill him at
any point if you decide he has gone too far or you learn more about the context.
You can choose to get infected or not, with infection carrying a permanent
modifier to magicka regen which also applies to any future enchantments/etc.
which increase magicka. The questline is broken into an easy intro section and
a more difficult second half, which actively directs you to take a questing
detour or just stop the questline there. Each step of the questline you can
decide how the character feels and there are 3 major endings which each
permanently lock out certain mechanics. This is objectively better for roleplay
than Dawnguard is with at least the POTENTIAL for replay, which would not be possible
if using the quest log
 
 
2.0 The Radiant System:
The second biggest problem is how the radiant system dynamicobjective fill is self-limiting. According to the trickster god Todd Howard,
the point of the radiant quest system was to provide infinite and replayable
content. As noted above, the knock-on effect of the quest log caused a severe loss
of replayability, which is likely why this was necessary.
 
2.1 Alias Filling Objectives
The way the quest log is set up to process aliasfilling from radiant objectives is too loose to be engaging but not flexible
enough to be freeform. You must kill random <Alias=BountyLocation> cell’s
Boss flagged actor, no history behind why this target exists or what he did or
who specifically set the bounty. The radiant system has created an objective so
bland and disposable that it is completely forgettable and provides no context
through which a player could craft a roleplay response. On the flip side, if an
alias picks a warhammer of embers no other fire enchanted warhammer will do,
you cannot solve the problem by buying another one or enchanting a replacement
yourself. The “gameified” nature is so apparent that it ruins immersion while
there is absolutely no opportunity or leeway for interesting roleplay
approaches to the problem.
 
2.2 Alias Filling Destinations
The way that alias fills work on text means that astandardised template must be used which makes it impossible for the quest to
be tailored for the destination. The result of this is that it is not possible
to actually give the player enough information to discover the location
themselves, requiring that the quest immediately reveals a marker on your map. The
player is actively blocked from exploration and discovery by limitations of the
system. Not to mention that it is immersion shattering for the player to
magically know where a secret bandit camp is.
 
2.3 Collective Impact on Roleplaying:
The alias log system destroys roleplay by randomisingand standardising quests, making them bland and forgettable, while
simultaneously destroying immersion and ability to take any sort of initiative
in locating the target. It solely serves as a band-aid to replayability and the
most low-effort possible impetus to look at setpiece dungeons. No flavour
whatsoever and no margin in which to reliably roleplay.
 
2.4 Comparison Examples:
Consider Bethesda’s Retrieval quest in the Companionsquestline, Aela gives you a radiant bandit dungeon to collect a fragment of
Wuuthrad from. “Aela has heard that the Silver Hand are holding a fragment of
Wuuthrad at <Alias=Camp>. I'm going to retrieve it.” is the entirety of
the instructions you are given. It is actually impossible to complete this
quest without looking at the mapmarker it gives you or already knowing where
that camp is. You have no control over where this alias is, so it can send you
to the same far corner of the world over and over. Further, there is absolutely
no flavor at all, completely bland. There is one fragment that she wants and
only that fragment will do, and it didn’t even exist until the magic moment
when you spoke to her. Even if we generously ignore the fact that random
bandits have it for some reason and Aela knows for some reason, the quest is
just braindead and boring.
 
Consider DwD’s witchhunter bounties system, you canbuy a note with a customised text for a point of interest in a hold of your
choice. Each note has a customised text which both alludes to the target of the
quest without explicitly stating it, so the player is forced to apply a modicum
of critical thought, as well as having actual flavour as a hook for a roleplay
reason to go do it. If you get a note you don’t like, you can simply ignore it
or keep it for later. Additionally, the notes actually have an upfront cost,
turning it into a cost-benefit investment opportunity for the character. If
they simply explore around themselves they might not find anything, but if they
DO it is pure profit compared to buying the information. Any trophy item will
get you a reward, any viable bounty target will drop a trophy. This would not
be feasible if each bounty started a quest, if said quests used an objective
alias or if the bounty text description needed to fit a standardised radiant description
text.
 
 
3.0 Psychology of “The Arrow”
The third member of the unholy trinity of god-awfuldesign choices in the Skyrim quest log is the magic objective marker arrow. The
arrow completely destroys the spirit of exploration and actively punishes the player
for trying to think.
 
3.1 Conditions A Lack of Player Attention
When you cannot reliably find an objective on your owndue to the lack of adequate directions created by the radiant system above,
combined with an arrow that tells you exactly where to go at any time, your
brain turns off. Why bother to think if thinking doesn’t help and isn’t
necessary. This in turn means that if an opportunity to think does arise,
players don’t. The Blood on the Ice quest, while still extremely basic in this
regard, is the most open-ended and exploration heavy quest in Skyrim. It is
also probably the number one most bug reported quest in Skyrim. It is
essentially the only quest like that, so when the arrow didn’t magically solve
the problem the player didn’t even consider thinking about it and just assumed
it was broken.
 
3.2 Disincentivises Exploration
If you know exactly where to go you do not need toexplore. Location appears on your map, arrow appears on location, fast travel
to nearest known marker and move in direct line to objective. No need to look
for landmarks, no need to pass world interaction triggers or unmarked
locations, no need to critically appraise the ground for the little animal
paths and dirt roads. Movement from point A to point B becomes a simple chore
instead of an actual part of the game. This is in addition to the immediate
roleplay problem introduced by having the arrow point directly at the objective
when your character has no in-universe reason to actually know where it is yet,
no need to look around for clues or poke into every cranny to find a chest.
 
3.3 Appeals to Lowest Common Denominator
This final point is perhaps the most contentious, but perhapsthe most egregious. The kind of player who could not play Skyrim without the no
thought required arrow, the impossible to fail quests, the no consequences questlines,
the no roleplaying approach, the impossible to forget log and the impossible to
miss questlines would not be able to play a Skyrim that used Morrowind gameplay
mechanics. Class system and birthsigns? Too complex and carries permanent
consequence. Attribute system with interplay beyond just the 3 main stats? Too
complicated and opaque without reading a manual. "With this character's
death, the thread of prophecy is severed. Restore a saved game to restore the
weave of fate, or persist in the doomed world you have created"? Can’t
have that. By implementing the absurdly casual quest log, it opened the door to
complete casualisation of the entire game to match, a process that has occurred
every game since Daggerfall > Morrowind but was by far the most severe in
the transition from Oblivion > Skyrim. Every casualisation reduces player
expression, roleplay potential and immersive depth.
 
3.4 Collective Impact on Roleplaying:
Collectively these all rob the player of any agency,any ability to apply critical thinking, no need to understand the compass or be
capable of identifying landmarks or reason to actually explore the world of
Skyrim. The quest log actively destroys the journey of discovery in favour of “kill-loot-return”,
where the world is just an inconvenience to go through rather than a rich
medium for roleplay and story.
 
3.5 Comparison Examples:
Consider Bethesda’s Escaped Criminal quest in the Companionsquestline, where you are given an objective which is fundamentally ridiculous. “There
is an escaped criminal wandering <Alias=LocationHold>. I'm supposed to
track <Alias.PronounObj=Criminal> down and kill <Alias.PronounObj=Criminal>.”
is what you are given, but there is a pointy arrow directly on their head. No
investigative elements where someone at a nearby tavern heard someone bragging
about escaping jail, no having to track down where a convict might be camping
solo or a bandit group they might have joined, no reason to travel through the
world except in a straight line from the nearest discovered landmark. What is
even the point of the quest, it is immersion shattering and braindead easy if
you do it with the marker and absolutely impossible to complete if you don’t.
 
Consider DwD’s “Exile Apology” step of the Dealingwith Daedra questline, rather than given a greyed out mapmarker with an arrow
on it, you are given a start point and a list of landmarks to follow. Rather
than just the quickest and easiest way to get there, this curated set of
landmarks takes the player near a spriggan which can be avoided by paying
attention, past a pack of wolves for low-level characters to cut their teeth
on, past a bandit fort so the player needs to sneak or offroad and try and find
a connecting point back without getting lost, by an unmarked location and
through a world encounter trigger point. All the while, the player has to
actually pay attention because they are looking for landmarks rather than map
markers. By not immediately revealing the destination and having no arrow, the
act of going from point A to point B is now an adventure in itself which opens
up roleplay potential for how the player tackles these points of interest.
 
 
4.0 In Closing
DwD is a niche mod by very definition. It is designedto undo the catastrophic damage that Bethesda has done to the roleplay aspect
of the series. The vanilla Skyrim quest log was directly responsible for this
damage in a multitude of ways. As such, DwD does not use the log and never
will. Either try to play it as intended and perhaps discover the joys of the system
that the quest log stole from you or go elsewhere. With that said, if you have SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES such as “technically X is south-south-east, not south-east, so it was
confusing” or “Y is missing their reminder dialogue” tell me, I regularly patch
such things.