Why all the hate on Hearthfire?

[AntiChri5]

As a PC player who frequently downloads mods, i purchased and thoroughly enjoyed Hearthfire.

No, it didn't change my life or inspire me to play Skyrim 15 more times, but anyone looking for that from a $5 DLC needs to adjust their expectations.

I have not found any mod that can come close to equalling Hearthfire in house customisation, character relevance, immersion, lore-consistency, quality or weight.

 

[Blunderboy]

I'm not angry about it. I'm indifferent.
I've got mods that provide me with homes and if I want to raise a family I will play Europa 1400 The Guild, or I will buy the Sims.
It's fine for console players etc though.
OP, you seem to be the one getting angry that people don't like what you like. It's not a personal insult.

The Guild was great, the Sims doesn't really fit the tone many people prefer.

Just imagine how awesome it would be to truly raise a dynasty of legendary warriors - if you die in battle, you get the option of reloading as your heir, the world moves on a few decades, and you get to avenge your ancestor, maybe even as a quest. Imagine the kind of epicness a battle against a dragon would gain if that was the flying lizard that killed your father (who was a character you invested hundreds of hours in, instead of some NPC the game handed to you like many do)!

Okay, maybe I'm going a bit off on a tangent here - just saying that there is a lot of potential there in family building and such things that would really work well even in the context of Skyrim.

And yet none of this is in Heathfire.
I do agree that could be awesome though. I suspect we will see it in mod form eventually.

 

[Dandark]

Well I don't really care about it. The house and marriage has never been that important to me in Skyrim so I don't see myself getting Hearthfire in the near future as I don't even want to bother getting the mods. This DLC isn't really for the PC community, it's for consoles, I also heard something about this let's them get out of a deal with Microsoft.

Mods can do it better but as said this is more for consoles anyway. Besides what is good DLC then? Shivering isles? It added new weapons and armour? Mods can do that. It adds a new area? Mods can do that. It adds new characters and story? Mods can do that.

Pretty much the only thing Shivering isles had over mods was it's voice acting and the fact it was an offical Bethesda release so it's all a correct part of the lore and story.

 

[Monsterfurby]

And yet none of this is in Heathfire.
I do agree that could be awesome though. I suspect we will see it in mod form eventually.

Yeah, that was kind of my point on why Hearthfire is somewhat disappointing. It's kind of like a door without a room behind it, implying an idea that would be really awesome (and might not even have occurred to many players before), but never delivering that.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Its lazy and boring and pretty much exactly copies mods that already exist and are superior. Doesn't really justify having a price tag at all.

 

[VoidWanderer]

And this makes me glad to not be subjected to the DLC for Skyrim, due to mainly playing on my PS3 while I upgrade my PC.

I honestly found the world to be as shallow as a puddle of water, with the only deep part being the Dark Brotherhood... then I finished that quest and didnt like the taste it left in my mouth.

 

[Montezuma's Lawyer]

a worthless little thing to spend money on.

I like how you can ignore all the information coming from actual modders and pretend you're right.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

SNIP

Heres why i hate it:

I think Hearthfire was a totally stupid direction to go with the DLC. I hate it because i dont like the content. And i believe the time could have been better spent focusing on Skyrims strengths rather than trying to cover obscure unrelated bases.

Skyrim is a land where youre the fucking Dovakin. You kill dragons. Explore an ancient dead city. And scour the land with your fury and lightning and its fucking awesome. Skyrim is a playground. An amazing beautiful playground. With amazing rides and scenery and youre a god placed in this playground to do whatever you want. Some amazing tools in skyrim. The dwarven civilization was fascinating. The origin of the falmer. To me hearthfire is like giving you the power to change the colour of the smallest swingset in that playground. Its boring compared to the possibilities that such a setting unlocks for you. Creative and brilliant stories could be told.

Instead your mighty powerful dovakin can adopt a kid and make a fish farm. It seems like Skyrim is trying to appeal to a niche of players who honestly, even if they do play skyrim, are not playing skyrim to fullfill that need to create an average virtual life. They are there to create an amazing virtual life where they can be something above the ordinary. Im not gonna touch the mod arguement. Instead ill say hearthfire for me poorly fills a role filled by the sims. It forgets the niche Skyrim fills for gamers and tries to be too much to appease too many people. It should stick to its strengths. Add this content later after they properly explore all Skyrim can be. Its like having a beautiful unfinished painting and using the extra space for naughts and crosses. Use it for more art instead!

 

[Smeatza]

It's tiny and highlights how few options and consequences there are in the game.

 

[Montezuma's Lawyer]

SNIP

Heres why i hate it:

I think Hearthfire was a totally stupid direction to go with the DLC. I hate it because i dont like the content. And i believe the time could have been better spent focusing on Skyrims strengths rather than trying to cover obscure unrelated bases.

Skyrim is a land where youre the fucking Dovakin. You kill dragons. Explore an ancient dead city. And scour the land with your fury and lightning and its fucking awesome. Skyrim is a playground. An amazing beautiful playground. With amazing rides and scenery and youre a god placed in this playground to do whatever you want. Some amazing tools in skyrim. The dwarven civilization was fascinating. The origin of the falmer. To me hearthfire is like giving you the power to change the colour of the smallest swingset in that playground. Its boring compared to the possibilities that such a setting unlocks for you. Creative and brilliant stories could be told.

Instead your mighty powerful dovakin can adopt a kid and make a fish farm. It seems like Skyrim is trying to appeal to a niche of players who honestly, even if they do play skyrim, are not playing skyrim to fullfill that need to create an average virtual life. They are there to create an amazing virtual life where they can be something above the ordinary. Im not gonna touch the mod arguement. Instead ill say hearthfire for me poorly fills a role filled by the sims. It forgets the niche Skyrim fills for gamers and tries to be too much to appease too many people. It should stick to its strengths. Add this content later after they properly explore all Skyrim can be. Its like having a beautiful unfinished painting and using the extra space for naughts and crosses. Use it for more art instead!

You make a good point, and I appreciate your honesty.
Of course we all have different play styles, and roleplaying is important for some players, myself being among them.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Well, I was really eager to get it, as in "Oooh! Shiny new DLC! Must get it! Must play some more Skyrim!"

...and what I got was, basically, a Barbie house with a Playdoh kitchen and an MLP experience of how-to-parent an adopted kid because sex is out of the question. Let the peasants make filthy sex and ship the kid to you with UPS!

OK, my fault for not reading up on it beforehand, but I was expecting to build my fancy own black tower of doom right outside the city walls, and then open up franchises all over the map. Can't have that, but I can play digital Barbie stuff, no thanks for that. It's like adding a clown nose or a giant wiener to a Lamborghini Gallardo - it's just wrong.

 

[anthony87]

I don't hate Hearthfire. It's just that I'd downloaded the Olympus Mons mod that gave me a castle that I had to fight a really strong mod-exclusive dragon on top of a mountain to gain access to. 'Twas badass as fuck.

I've no interest in adopting a kid because the kids in that game annoy the fuck out of me, I don't bother with cooking, I'm not interested in a pet. Basically the stuff it added didn't interest me.

At least it's not Horse Armour.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I think one's perspective would be based entirely upon if they play Skyrim on console or pc. On console, you might want to build a custom house and all that since every house available in the base game has some sort of compromise inherent. By contrast, on PC there are dozens of house mods of varying quality.

That said, I have not seen a house mod on the PC that has anything approaching this amount of depth. Of course, now that the base has been put in, the modding community is certain to capitalize it and make it better. So, in general, I don't have any hate for the mod and those who direct such hate are silly in my book. To hate something so easily ignored is silly.

 

[Khazoth]

Gee, why on earth would someone pay five dollars of their own money to get a house DLC that was built by professional developers and not some guy in a basement. How dare they not share my same opinions on this DLC, they must obviously have the brain power of your average taproot!


Seriously, if you like it, good for you, if you hate it? Then hate it, just try to do so silently without foaming at the mouth with vitriol for people who are adults who can choose how to spend their money in any way they want.


Sure, I don't agree with the things people spend their money on, infact I could sit here and complain about people giving money to Anita Sarkessian, or to Call of Duty games, or Battlefield games. But come on, this DLC is five bucks, most people have that much in spare change alone.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I don't hate Hearthfire. It's just that I'd downloaded the Olympus Mons mod that gave me a castle that I had to fight a really strong mod-exclusive dragon on top of a mountain to gain access to. 'Twas badass as fuck.

I've no interest in adopting a kid because the kids in that game annoy the fuck out of me, I don't bother with cooking, I'm not interested in a pet. Basically the stuff it added didn't interest me.

At least it's not Horse Armour.

There's a horse armor mod, and it's really cool.

 

[Soopy]

I hate it because its a buggy heap of shit. As is everything from Bethesda. I can't even use it because I wanted to build the House in Falkreath but its bugged and the Yarl won't give me the option.

Bethesda games are horribly bad games with an awesome concept.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Based on what I've seen and heard....

Why would I want to play the Sims while I'm playing Skyrim?

 

[Krantos]

My thought on it is this:

It's primarily a console oriented DLC. However, if they hadn't released it on PC, PC gamers would have complained.

It's a $5 DLC that you don't have to buy. If Mods do it better, good for you. Get a mod. For me? I got it (I'm on PC). Why?
I'mma quote myself here:

1. Because Bethesda DLC historically has higher production values than user created mods (I currently have 25 mods installed for Skyrim, ~20 for Oblivion, and ~50 for Morrowind, so I know).

2. Because I support the dev.

3. Because I want Bethesda to know that PC gamers still want dev made content.

4. Because I suspect modders will use it for a starting point for future house building mods.

I don't really want to get into a "Don't buy DLC, Get MODS!" argument. Few companies have the level of community support that Bethesda has. Some companies in recent years have actively been trying to discourage modding (some even put it in their EULA). As long as Bethesda continues their high level of support for the modding of their games I will continue to purchase their DLC.

Sometimes companies need to be shown that fostering consumer loyalty and good will pays off.

 

[Tdoodle]

I quite like it but I can see why it might not appeal; PC gamers can download houses for free from Nexus, not everyone is bothered about adoption and marriage, nobody I know bothers with cooking and a lot of people are straight-up bored of Skyrim, and that's all pretty reasonable. I don't understand the hate - I doubt Bethesda are taking time out of bigger, Dawnguard style expansions and throwing all their manpower into Hearthfire and it's not like they're throwing in things that people would have expected to be included in the original game (eg arrow crafting in Dawnguard) - but I can definitely see why people wouldn't be interested.