Most Annoying Sound / The Elder Scrolls

Examples of the Most Annoying Sound in The Elder Scrolls series.

• Daggerfall:
  • When the player is caught committing a crime, the game begins spawning an endless number of guards, all of them shouting Halt! constantly. The ratio of guards to civilian NPCs in the world goes from 1 guard for every 20 NPC to 10 guards per NPC (and the number of civilians has not decreased). If one remained in the area long enough, the game would spawn so many guards that it would crash. The chorus of so many voices screaming "HALT! HALT! HALT! HALT!" cannot be given proper justice in text. [1] Of course this trope is inverted when their sentence ends early with an "OOMPH" and they fall down dead, having fought you, who happened to be more fearsome than any mudcrab they had ever fought.
  • The monster cries themeslves - "RAWWRRGGGH" every couple of seconds. Oh. Lord. This is even worse if you're playing it on DOSBox because they might end up clipping over each other.
• Morrowind:
  • Sinnammu Mirpal is almost as bad as the guards in Daggerfall. If you go too far ahead of her, she says "Hey wait for me!" If you go too fast, she says "Hey wait for me!" If you go too slow, she says "Hey wait for me!" And she gets stuck behind a rock in the water...prompting more "Hey wait for me!"
  • The clanging metal item repair sounds are eardrum-piercing when the player is in a hurry and just mashes the repair button at high speed until the item is fixed.
  • Anyone who has played Morrowind remembers the cliff racer. In addition to their wonky hitbox and tendency to spawn in huge numbers, they make the most annoying high-pitched screech. Bethesda got in on the hate and, by Oblivion, had an Ensemble Dark Horse character drive the species to extinction.
• Oblivion:
  • "SOMEONE'S BEEN MURDERED!"/"HELP! SOMEBODY! WE'VE GOT A BURGLAR!"/"FILTHY PICKPOCKET! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"/"BY THE NINE, ASSAULT! ASSAULT!!"/(And finally) "STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!"
  • Any time you return to the Arena District after becoming the Grand Champion, expect to be greeted with a "By Azura, by Azura, by Azura- it's the Grand Champion!" courtesy of the Adoring Fan. Even if he's been following you for several months' time in-game, he'll still like to remind you of why he's following you. It gets old very fast.
  • Try attacking a Knight of Order. It's like smacking a screaming box of metal. Ouch.
  • This conversation is amusing the first time you hear it, but markedly less so on each subsequent occasion:
    Random villager 1: "HELLO!"
    Random villager 2: "What's going on with you?"
    Random villager 1: "I saw some mud crabs the other day."
    Random villager 2: "Filthy things. I avoid them wherever possible."
    Random villager 1: "Good-BYE!"
    Random villager 2: (without missing a beat) "HELLO!"
    Random villager 3: "What's going on with you?"
    Random villager 2: "I saw some mud crabs the other day..."
  • Obtaining alchemical ingredients in large quantities generally involves stopping off at many shops and taverns, wherein you will be required to individually click on each item in the list, while constantly being told "You got a great deal there", "You bought that for a song", and "You're a fine negotiator". This can be slightly amusing if you are clicking fast and constantly interrupt their lines: "Pleasuredoing...", "You got a great...", "You're a fine..."
• Skyrim:
  • The way bears roar appears to be bugged in such a way that the sound can't be stopped once it's started, and the last part of the sound is about twice as loud as it should be. Not helped by the fact that even killing the bear won't make it shut up for a good second or three.
  • The guards are fairly annoying: "I used to be an adventurer like you...then I took an arrow in the knee..." You'd think the entire garrison in every city is comprised of ex-adventurers with busted knees...
  • Guards will also comment on every skill you've ever used. This leads to situations when you have reached 100 in One-handed weapons and 20 in two-handed but guards still say "The gods gave you two hands, and you use them both for your weapon."
  • And then of course there's the children in the city of Whiterun:
    "I work with my mother, to sell fruits and vegetables. It's fun most days, but hard work!"
    "What are you lookin' at? I'm not afraid of you, y'know...even if you are my elder!"
    "Another wanderer, here to lick my father's boots...good job!"
  • Heimskr, the fervent Talos priest in Whiterun. He stands in front of the statue of Talos all day long and is constantly preaching at the top of his lungs. Since the statue of Talos is right between the stairs leading to Jorrvaskr (the Companions' guild hall) and Dragonsreach (home of the Jarl and his officials, highly relevant to a number of quests, and site of the only magic shop and enchanting table) and sits next to the circle around the Gildergreen where half of the city's NPCs congregate, that means that you will be constantly assaulted by his screaming.
  • Nazeem. There's a reason there are so many videos of people killing him. What's worse, you are almost guaranteed to run into him, since he spends his time right in the middle of the fucking market. Even after you are the Thane of Whiterun, have joined the Companions and saved the ENTIRE PLANE OF EXISTENCE from being destroyed by Dragons, hundreds of which you've likely slaughtered by then, he still has little to say to you beyond:
    Do you get down to the Cloud District very often? Oh, what am I saying, of course you don't.
  • Speaking of Whiterun, players who join the Companions will soon discover how pleasant it is to live in Jorrvaskr, which is a fairly cramped place full of NPCs, some of which never leave the building itself. Worse still, going to the sleeping quarters will make two or more of your fellow Companions spawn right next to you and, most of the time, the one "greeting" you will be either Athis or Njada Stone-Arm, both of whom being (respectively) a passive-agressive smartass and a plain rude jerkass. While they both tone it down after you become the new Harbinger and Njada considerably mellows out should you marry her, they will both make you seriously consider bringing either of them along for Boethiah's quest.
    Athis: I never thought they would actually let me join The Companions. But now it looks like they're letting anyone in these days.
    Njada: I'm still trying to figure out why Skjor let you in in the first place.
  • Cicero. He can be considered Skyrim's answer to the Adoring Fan. Most of his lines are either screamed or whispered in a painfully high-pitched voice sent straight from the depths of Oblivion. Also, if you become Listener for the Dark Brotherhood, he will constantly repeat the same line to you.
    Oh you are the Listener! You are the Listener! I have served Mother well, I have!
  • The tone that accompanies being informed that "Your vampire blood boils in sunlight."
  • The obnoxious chewing noises that happen any time you eat anything.
  • Bandits aren't terribly creative when it comes to battle cries, meaning you'll be hearing the lines "Never should've come here!" and "Well ain't this a surprise!" until you're sick to death of them. And then you'll hear them some more.
  • Probably the biggest downside of the Dead Thrall spell, which permanently resurrects a corpse under your control, is that it makes every NPC greet you with "That spell looks dangerous... keep your distance." To call it obnoxious would be a severe understatement.
  • If you install Dawnguard and don't bother starting it for a while, you'll get very tired of hearing "Heard they're reforming the Dawnguard..." For that matter, anything the guards say can get very tiresome after a while, since they only have so many lines to choose from.
  • Speaking of Dawnguard, potential follower Serana is a fountain of annoying phrases. If she's accompanying you, you'd better get used to hearing "Where did you come from?" and "Done and done" every single time you enter and leave combat. To make matters worse, due to a bug, Serana also loves to say "Yes? What did you need?" every few seconds between the quests "Prophet" and "Chasing Echoes". Especially grating when you're forging, enchanting or brewing potions and she decides to stand right beside you and repeat it over and over again.
  • Shopkeepers in general have the same problem, especially if you're borrowing their facilities (alchemy, enchanting, smithing). One of the biggest boons to getting your own alchemy lab, for instance, is probably not having to listen to Arcadia's sales pitches every three seconds while you're mixing potions. They also only have around three stock sayings every single time you want to buy or sell something, which will be often. Hearing them say "Trinkets, odds and ends, that sort of thing" for the 500th time can get pretty grating.
  • Most of the in-game spouses decide to become shopkeepers to keep themselves amused while you're not home. Ask them what they have for sale, and they offer the same phrases. "Some may call this junk; me, I call them treasures" is not made any more endearing by coming out of the Dragonborn's beloved's mouth.
  • Mjoll the Lioness as a follower is basically an embodiment of this. You'll be nursing a nice headache after hearing about her hunting trips to Morrowind, and her love of the cold about every 5 minutes.
  • The Spectral Assassin also counts, for similar reasons as Mjoll. "Have you heard the tale of Mathieu Bellamont, and the great treachery of Cheydinhal?" Yes, we have. Five million times, thank you very much.
  • The Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary contains a friendly Frostbite Spider right next to the alchemy/enchanting stations. If you plan on using your trade skills in the Sanctuary, the sound of the spider walking around in its enclosure may prompt you to stealth-kill it just to get it to shut up.
  • During the Civil War questline when you go looking for the Jagged Crown, you'll end up in a part of the dungeon where you'll have to find a well-hidden lever in order to open a gate. If you can't find the lever right away, get used to Legate Rikke or Galmar Stone-Fist (depending on faction chosen) asking you every ten seconds if you've seen a lever anywhere.
  • If you choose not to do Jaree-Ra's quest, be prepared to constantly hear him say "You should see me when you get bored, stranger," whenever you're in Solitude. Some good-aligned players have agreed to do the quest just so he'll shut up.
  • Depending on one's ability to pick up higher pitched sounds, Nirnroot can be this. Some people find its chime actually pretty soothing, while others equate the higher pitched tones as the equivalent of nails on chalkboard.
• The Elder Scrolls Online:
  • In Daggerfall, you will wish you'd let King Casimir die by the 4,000th time you hear the following exchange:
  Random Townsperson 1: I heard some stranger saved King Casimir's life.
  Random Townsperson 2: Really? I'd like to buy that hero an ALE!
  • Similarly, in the Aldmeri Dominion, this line gets old quickly:
  "You're the one who saved the Queen, eh? You don't look that special..."
  • Until you start the Orsinium questline, get used to hearing Stuga run up to you every time you're in one of the starter cities:
  Stuga: "Do you know how LONG I've been LOOKING for you?
  • There was a glitch that occurred at the launch of the housing system that caused dog pets to bark continuously whenever their player moved, which quickly got on everyone's nerves".
  • Some of the random encounters out in the wilderness involve a non-playable character calling for help, but some of them would just call it over and over, repeatedly. This was fixed, and was memorialized with the following patch note: "The summoner requesting help in the wilderness will no longer shout endlessly about his predicament. He has advanced to the next stage of accepting his fate."
  • Until you start the Elsweyr DLC, expect to hear a couple of NPC's having the exact same conversation in every Zone capital:
  Woman: Can you believe it? Dragons, in your homeland?! What are you going to do?
  Khajiit: This one does not know! He only hopes his family is safe in Riverwood...
  • In the Kvatch arena fight, extra enemies will spawn if you go near the walls, accompanied by the announcer "helpfully" reminding you "THE CHALLENGERS WILL GIVE THE WALLS A WIDE BERTH, UNLESS THEY WANT TO BECOME A MEAL!" over and over and over and over. It's especially bad when some enemies park right up against the wall themselves, forcing melee weapon players into the area that triggers this comment.