yay

I'm a little worried about the prospect of a new ES game. I've seen very convincing arguments from old-school ES fans, which fit with my experience of Morrowind and Oblivion, that the state of "story" in the ES games is declining, i.e. the older the game, the better the story. Now, if you want to make a hack n' slash action RPG, lack of story is okay; after all, in an aRPG, you only need just enough story to link on kill to the next. But if you're going to call a game a true RPG, you need to have story. Without story, you may have G, but no RP. One of the things I really enjoyed about Morrowind was the depth of the setting, the significance of the lore, and the value that these provided to the gameplay. In Oblivion, I found some aspects of the combat more enjoyable, and there were some fairly creative quests (mostly DB and Thieves guild), but I didn't really feel that the story had anywhere near as much depth as Morrowind. I was also very disappointed in the incredibly limited things the NPCs had to say; I realize that a lot of the NPC dialog in Morrowind was repetitive, but at least people had things to say.

I suppose my biggest criticism of Oblivion is that Bethesda put too much focus "immersion", i.e. better graphics, better sound, object physics, spoken dialog, and not enough focus on story. I understand that these things are expected from a "modern" game, but the real joy of an RPG comes from story, not pretty pictures. The reviews I've read for Fallout 3 seem to be in the same direction, suggesting that Bethesda and I simply do not see eye to eye on what makes a good RPG.

I suppose the clearest sign of my feelings about Oblivion is that I have not purchased the expansion. I spent many hours in the game (hundreds, I'm sure), but by the time the expansion came out, I had lost interest.

I'm sure that if they make TES V, I will buy it, but I don't believe it will even live up to the standards set by Oblivion, which were already much lower than those of Morrowind.

I think it ought to be set in the Summurset Isles. We could get a lot of interesting wizardly affairs that way. Y'know, like with House Telvanni.

But yeah, I'm not too optimistic about the next game either. It's a shame - because I know there's the potential for TES V to be the best RPG ever made. I just don't think Bethesda has it in them anymore, though.

Have to agree with many people here. Morrowind just kicked boat, and Oblivion kicked the bucket. Vvarendfell is rough, a really wild island, while Cyrodiil is like Center Parcs or something. The only thing that's missing is wooden cabins and screaming children.

I just came up with an idea that will rock the world (or maybe not, but it´s still great).
what if they made a elderscrolls strategy game, like u could choose one country and build stuff and attack stuff and that, controlling armies and that, form allaiences (sorry for the terrible spelling).

anyway, I read somewere about all things u could do in next TES, like riding a horse and throw spears at people (while u are riding the horse). Or if your good at heavy armor (or light armor) u know were all weak spot is and u do more damage to opponents with heavy armor (or light armor). and they are taking back enchant!

Uhhh, I think we have more than enough of these slash-and-bang war-games! What I like about MW is that you actually don't HAVE to go around killing and making war all the time...

I hope they will go for more RP and actual interaction between the different charachters


But that will probably be futile, to many ppl want to make war and fight with each others..!!!

I agree but i didn´t mean that, more lore, less fighting, but my point is that they are making the next one more realistic then the other ones, like u can be challenged if u are a guildleader in a guild, and if u lose u must do some more missions and then challenge the new guildleader, if u know what i mean

Yeah ok I understand, it's just that I do not like too much fighting and stuff, I'm more into serious roleplaying...

Personally, I think Bethesda have earned redemption with Fallout 3 myself. They have enough of RPness to attract older fans, but enough hack and slash/shoot and blast to attract a larger audience too. Now with Oblivion and Fallout bringing them into the mainstream, I think they can get back to the more roleplaying side of things and still get good enough sales for the the new game to be worth the effort.

As for the storyline, if anything, it would be extra juicy. Why? The Emperor has been assassinated-things in the Empire will rapidly fall apart. In Oblivion, one of the things I didn't like was the whole cut and driedness of it all-either you were good (fighting the daedra) or bad (ignoring the daedra and doing the Dark Brotherhood/thieves guild quests). However, this game's setting, like that of Fallout, could offer more moral ambiguity-are you there to make a difference, serve yourself without a care for others or simply survive the perils of the world?

And hopefully starting out will be easier than it is in Fallout 3-that's hard.

I certainly hope they move in a slightly more RP-ish direction now that they've introduced a new audience. I never played Fallout 3 (my computer doesn't have the specs for it), but I've heard some good things about it (and some bad).

Personally, I think it's more than possible for a game to be awesome even when you're not shooting and hacking and slashing your way through everything. It's more interesting that way. I remember in the original Fallout where you could actually TALK the main bad guy into giving up, thus avoiding a final boss fight (although you still have to if you aren't charismatic enough). And the way that it happens is actually PLAUSIBLE. I had never seen anything like that before.

Basically, I'd like more options. For instance, the ability to lie to people or change my mind would be nice.

Way to go bbq! I totally agree about games without hacking and slashing! i prefer interactions between charachters oooooohhh aye I do!

I have MW-chars that just walk about picking flowers and talking to others!

Then whats the point?

Well, I don't want a game entirely WITHOUT action. I tend to like to play as warrior-type characters. I just want a game with variety and choice.

I would like to see actions have consequences beyond the immediate NPC involved. Eg.- you do something anti-social in Bruma, then head to Anvil. Upon arrival, a citizen says- "Hey, you're the one who robbed my cousin in Bruma!"

Daggerfall has a (fairly simplistic) system whereby the things you do for one faction affect your reputation with other factions.... Something of that would be nice.

Setting- hmm, the desert would lead to some interesting gameplay.

Mostly, I want to see more depth- character classes with REAL differences, even at high levels; more joinable factions, with rivalries and alliances; the option to negotiate with/persuade NPCs rather than just fight/flee.

Hey I'm new here; I hope no-one minds me gatecrashing this party!


This is what I want, too. From the beginning, Beth have always made a big deal that their games allow you to play as anyone you like - warrior or thief, mage or bard, noble or assassin - but the truth is that it's pretty misleading. Sure, you can CREATE any character you want... but you could never complete the main quest without fighting. So it was actually really limiting. In ALL the games, including Daggerfall and Morrowind, completing the main quest meant fighting and killing people. There are none of these famed "different paths" to take - nothing that would be in-keeping for even a thief, which is one of the main character classes. No way to negotiate round it.

The only game that even came close to having different ways to complete the main quest was Daggerfall, when you could choose to steal and publish Lord Woodbourne's diary (therefore disgracing him and causing his arrest) rather than killing him. But even so, you had to fight through a million dungeons to get to that choice in the first place, so the point is moot.

I want to see an ES game where you can TRULY play any character you want - and still complete the main quest. I want to see a game where you can complete the whole thing as a nonviolent diplomat, and still have an interesting and varied character questline. So far, no game has measured up to the challenge.

My request is simple for me. I want the next Elder Scrolls to be bigger and more realistic. I finished Oblivion quite quickly on medium difficulty without cheats or anything. Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine do provide some more stuff to do, but if I hadn't had them installed I don't know what I would've done.

I would like more grander cities and a more denser stories and backplots, and I'd also like there to be more characters. They don't all have to have a deeply intertwined and complex history and background, but just have a dialogue option and possibly something vaguely interesting about them. Talking to people in Obliv about the same rumors over and over again gets annoying.

I do fully agree Rumple! Exactly what you said is my dream as well!

Just something I thought about after remembering my experiences with Arena and Daggerfall. For the treasure hunters among us, I'd like to see the return of bashing. Back in the old days, if you didn't have a key or anything, you could always give that chest/door a good beating and maybe break the lock/your weapon.

But nowadays, when it comes down to locks, (pure) warriors are just screwed nowadays. Mages have their open spells and thieves have their tools. But warriors can't do a damn thing about even the simplest lock, even if they have 100 strength and a superheavy warhammer of mass +50. Although, if bashing would return, it would be fun if it made a lot of noise and alerted anything with functional ears nearby. I mean, warriors aren't meant to be stealthy anyway.

That would be awesome! I just hate it when i run out of lock picks, goddammit.

That would be an extremely handy skill, the amount of times I could've broken chests open without wasting about twenty lockpicks trying to get in .

Also, the difficulty of the lock could determine how hard it is to break/bash in.

I also remember reading one of the security skill books, History of Lock-picking I think, and character in it said something like if you hold a torch next to the lock it warms the metal and makes it easier to pick, so say if you cast a fire spell or there was someway you could activate a torch with the lock and it could maybe make it easier to break, which would be great for people who aren't good at security or alteration.

Especially since I suck at both .

If they had that option in Ob or Morrowind the mainquest could be quite difficult. I don´t think a daedra prince cares about what a mortal would offer him to make him not to conquer the mortal realm or try to convince Dagoth Ur not to make that giant thing (but just getting to him means you have to fight all ash ghouls, ash vampires and his followers).

How on earth could you suck at lock picking?

Well I suck at lockpicking as well. Part of it is me not hearing any difference between 'bolt got stuck' and 'bolt will break your pick'. The other part is a lack of patience. I just ram the auto button again and again, Morrowind style. Of course, having an unbreakable lockpick of skill +lots helps.

And I also have more fun by sucking. Going into the last Thieves guild quest with over 140 lockpicks and coming out with only 4, things got pretty tense near the end.

I don't know I just... suck. People say you can hear the difference, but like jack here I really can't tell. Every tumbler sounds the same to me. Skeleton Key really saved my character's life... and my sanity .

Maybe it's harder on the PS3 compared to the computer I don't know.

I think lockpicking is pretty easy but then again, I can hear the difference. Plus I watch it, it goes slower when it gets stuck.

This is an old topic I came across, but I wanted to say that if memory serves, in oblivion people do a lot of talking about the war between skyrim and morrowind, so that could be the reason for the rumors of the next game being in skyrim....maybe even a little of both provinces...

If I remember right isnt morrowind now occupied by Black Marsh?

if so I think it would be an intresting proposal, the clash of two cultures and whatnot... oddly enough Im actually writing fanfiction about this xD

A new kind of setting would be nice. While it seems likely Skyrim will be the next location, I would have loved to see the game set in Valenwood/Elsywere; combined about the size of Cyrodiil. We would have three pretty broad environments, massive forests (Most of Valenwood), desert (Central Elyswere), and tropical (Southern Elsywere).

Part of Morrowind's charms was the odd environment. And I'm getting bored of merry old England.

Not to mention the Wild Hunt! Ever since reading A Dance in Fire back in Morrowind I have wanted to see one . . . from a distance, of course.

I am still hoping that the next game takes place in the Summerset Isles: Alinor, Firsthold, Shimmerene, and perhaps the ability to sail to the Isle of Artaeum.

I think I would like to see the land of the Altmer most of all as well. It sounds like it is a really unique, and amazing place. I would just hope that Bethesda will put the kind of effort into developing the setting like they did in Morrowind, with all sorts of unique creatures, architecture, etc... Like Verlox said, been to merry old England in tons of RPGs, done that.

As long as it isn't stupidly cliche and poorly done, I'll be fine.

I'd love to see some consequence to your actions. And not just: swing your sword and a baddy dies.

That too, Remko.

If it's better than Oblivion. I'll take it!

-Liam

I'd prefer it be better than Morrowind, myself. Personal preference Morrowind>Oblivion.

Yes, yes, yes, I'm back hooray all that usual stuff. But I just felt the need to bring this news to you guys. That aside:





*********SPOILER ALERT!!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT LIKE TO BE SUPRISED...OR WHATEVER.****







OMG, OMG, OMG!!

The Elder Scrolls V is finally announced!!!!!! Saw it on UESP today. Unbelievable... Shocking.... Ashtonishing...


"Bethesda Softworks announced today, April 1st, that the next version of the Elder Scrolls series, the long awaited TES V, will be... A RETRO GAME?!

Bethesda spokeperson, Opal Firlo, announced that the next game would 'revisit' Pacman- the popular franchise from the 80's, and abandon typical RPG elements in favor of choices, such as 'Flap Or Oil' which would see the protagonist flying out of harm's way or oiling themselves to slide out of an enemy's grasp.

In addition, a geography element will be added to the game- a player will be able to select 'Polar if Lo' option to head back to a base if seriously damaged. This reviewer found a cheat code to finish the game: typing ' I ALL PROOF' will prevent the character from dying, but if the player can find the 'Poor Flail' or 'Flair Pool', that shouldn't be an issue"

- From UESP's Roving Reporter, Opal Firlo.



.... This is a joke, yes? Abandoning RPG Elements, the one that made it famous btw, for Retro stuff? I don't know but one thing is certain for me, I WILL CRY IN A CORNER BECASUE OF THIS! LOL!

This is just brutal for me! =

Ever heard of an Aprils fools joke?

'Flair Pool' rearrange it, and it becomes April Fool! Ah-huh, I got carried away on that one, sorry