The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has launched its first large-scale downloadable content today, at least on the Xbox 360. Dawnguard lets you choose between aligning yourself with the vampires and the vampire-hunting Dawnguard. Bethesda planned for the Skyrim DLC to be more like an expansion pack, but the company hasn't decided yet on what to do next.

Shacker Mark DeSanto (aka Warcrow) interviewed Matt Carofano, lead artist for Skyrim, and wrenched out a few juicy tidbits. For one, the company seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach to further DLC. "Right now we’re completely focused on Dawnguard," Carofano said. "Everyone is working on this. Once it's out we'll see how it goes and see what could happen in the future."

The story's focus was born out of the feeling that something was missing. "We want to expand and add to the game to make it better, and Vampires were something that we really hadn't told a good story with -- hadn't really developed much -- so we wanted to focus the DLC on that." Plus, he says, the game lets you "play the game differently" by becoming a Vampire Lord or joining the Dawnguard and having access to crossbows.

While the DLC doesn't add a new guild, Carofano says the story is about the size of a faction quest, and it lets you align with one of the two groups to boot. "If you decide to help the Vampires you can end the tyranny of the sun -- you know, block out the sun -- so they can come out at night and be more powerful. Or you can join the Dawnguard and become a vampire hunter. You'll be able to build up the vampire hunters' base as you recruit new members, build crossbrows, and even get an armored troll to come along with you to fight against the vampires."