Why does Thieves Guild feel so rushed compared to Dark Brotherhood?

I'm on my 5th playthrough and just hit the Thieves Guild questline again, and man, it's clicking for me how much faster it moves compared to the Dark Brotherhood. Like, the Dark Brotherhood has you doing these specific contracts with actual stakes and character moments - Astrid's whole arc, the sanctuary getting attacked, all of it builds tension. But Thieves Guild feels like you're just... doing jobs? And then suddenly you're the Guildmaster and it's over.

The Dark Brotherhood questline is like 20+ quests with actual narrative weight. Thieves Guild is what, like 9 main quests before you're running the whole thing? And half of those are just "go steal this thing" radiant jobs that could be literally anything. I get that the guild's supposed to be more about the grind and the sneaking gameplay, but it makes the story feel thin.

Does anyone else feel like the Thieves Guild got way less love in the writing department? Or am I just noticing it because I'm comparing them back-to-back this time around.

Yeah, you're not wrong. The Dark Brotherhood questline is genuinely tighter - it's got that narrative throughline with Astrid, the Night Mother, the whole Sanctuary under siege thing. Thieves Guild is more like a series of jobs that happen to advance you toward leadership rather than a story that's actually building to something.

That said, I think it's intentional design rather than "got less love." The Dark Brotherhood is about a specific conflict and conspiracy. The Thieves Guild is supposed to feel like... well, like you're joining a criminal enterprise and working your way up through the ranks. The radiant jobs aren't filler to me - they're the point. You're supposed to feel like you're actually doing guild work, not just watching cutscenes. The story beats are there (Speaking with Silence, Hard Answers, Trinity Restored), but they're spread out and less melodramatic.

That doesn't mean it's better - the Dark Brotherhood questline is objectively more narratively satisfying. But I think calling it "rushed" undersells what the Thieves Guild was going for. It's just a different vibe. The Dark Brotherhood wants you invested in characters and stakes. The Thieves Guild wants you invested in the fantasy of being a thief and climbing the ladder.

Doesn't help that Brynjolf and Delvin don't get the same character depth as someone like Cicero, though. Dark Brotherhood's got way more personality in its cast.