Chose one and discuss it.


Anyway.....

I think it would be pretty cool if TES VI was set in Black Marsh or Elsweyr. Both places seem awesom and somewhat mysterious....though I'd prefer black marsh.

LOL you stole my idea!

shaaaaaame.

Sorry People were getting really off-topic in my stormcloak or imperial thread though

Summerset for me. Although I am afraid that Bethesda would not do it justice as an exotic land of crystal cities, ancient structures that appear to made of strangler vines built atop older ones of coral. They seem to want to make their games as mainstream as possible to get as much money as possible, and unusual architecture or cultures do not fit with that.

But it would draw in long-time players, even newer players like me, if they made it so. They have a great fanbase as far as I can tell, and lots of people are dedicated. But loyalty doesn't always mean something in business. -grumbles about ME3 ending-

It's spelled "Hammerfell"

And I choose Hammerfell or Elsweyr. Turbans, decorated carpets, sand, palaces, concubines, snake-charmers, belly-dancers and oasis? YES PLEASE!

Bethe$da doesn't give a damn. Each game is being dumbed down in the amount of quality.

Old time players only make up a small fraction of the ES fanbase. So if appealing to the minority of old players means alienating the horde of new players, Beth goes with the horde. Gaming is a business, and that is how all businesses are run.

I guess in comparison to most long-running games, TES doesn't have as much as a following as I thought.

- Black Marsh would be cool, but given the fact that Bethesda has made a point throughout the series of accentuating the mystery of the place setting a game there would be akin to Chaplin making the Tramp speak. It would ruin the mystery.

- Elsweyr isn’t viable for the simple reason that it forces Bethesda to create several new subsets of Khajiit as playable. You would have to give players the option of playing as a Cathay or Suthay or Senche. Otherwise, what’s the point?

- I heard somewhere that Xenimax has a trademark on the name Redguard that they have already renewed more than once. Since their last trademark names (Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn) resulted in DLC it is logical to assume that Hammerfell will be visited as DLC for Skyrim, which makes a stand-alone game redundant.

- I stand with ‘Rosa on the Summerset Isles/Alinor. I hope they leave it alone unless they decide to really go for it like they did with Morrowind.

- Valenwood is my personal pick for two reasons: First the idea of getting vertical in an Elder Scrolls game again! Valenwood would give Bethesda an excuse to explore a climbing mechanic similar to what Assassin’s Creed gives us. You couldn’t create a land of such extraordinary trees and then not give us the ability to climb them! Which brings me to my second reason . . . once I reach the upper terraces of said trees I want to look down and see those stuck on the ground devoured in the fury of the Wild Hunt!

The early TES games were not really big sellers. They were not a top tier gaming company back then, but rather a plucky new kid on the block noted for doing what no one else would: making huge open sandbox games where the world itself was the main focus, rather than just being the scenery you looked at as you went down the linear path the game's plot forced you upon. Morrowind was their first big success, and it got them a lot of real attention because of how it broke from the generic Western Europe Medieval style setting that so predominates Western RPGs. Before then they were actually on shaky ground. That is why they released little miniature games like Redguard and Battlespire between Daggerfall and Morrowind.

But while Morrowind got them noticed, it was Oblivion that made them a top level game company. It made tons more money than Morrowind. But the interesting thing is, they did not try to repeat making an exotic, alien landscape again. While it got them critical acclaim and a small legion of zealous fanboys, Morrowind also turned off a lot of potential gamers as well. For every person I have seen praise Morrowind for being more momentous than the creation of the Universe, I have also seen another say that it was just too weird for them to handle.

I think Bethesda was paying a lot of attention to that crowd, because Oblivion went back to the old formula of the "standard" 13th Western Europe with magic setting that the games before Morrowind had. And let's face it, that brought a lot more people in. They tried to flirt with exoticness once more with the Shivering Isles expansion. But while it garnered a lot of praise from some people, once again it completely alienated others.

Their follow ups have been Fallout 3, which is your standard post-apocalyptic setting that everyone in the world knows by heart. Then Skyrim, which is your basic fantasy world that everyone knows by heart. They did at least remove some of the genericness by putting some emphasis on a pseudo Norse setting. But it is still close enough to what people expect that no one was weirded out. Vikings, dragons, etc... are not going to surprise anyone after all.

I believe that Shivering Isles is the last time that Bethesda will try to experiment with an unusual setting. For the past decade or so every game they have made that was easily accessible to a mass audience has made them more and more money. Skyrim's sales have been phenomenal, to the point where it became a pop culture reference, something Morrowind and Oblivion never achieved. Sky brought in a huge crowd of people who had never played an ES game before. I am sure Todd Howard's toilets are now all made from solid gold. Probably his underwear too. Given how much money they have made from making the games more accessible, I cannot imagine they would risk that to make something wild and edgy once more. I am not saying that to bust their chops either. Video games are a business, same as any other. A business has to make money, or it dies. So of course they are going to do whatever they can to be as profitable as they can.



Nice to have you back Destri! Hope you have been well during your interregnum from Chorrol...

Bethesda/Xenimax has been renewing the trademark on Redguard for a while now. They have to or else they will lose the rights to it. So it could mean they are going to make a Redguard dlc for Skyim. Or it could just be that they want to make sure they keep the legal rights in case they want to make a future Hammerfell game, even years from now. Only time will really tell.

Valenwood stands a good chance for another reason. It is basically a big forest. Not hard to make, and something easily accessible to the general public. No one is going to be shocked by a fantasy setting that mostly consists of trees. Hammerfell I think is a likely one because as far as the general public is concerned, it's just 1001 Arabian Nights. Lots of sand, some curly pointed shoes, curved swords (they have curved swords...), nothing that will blow anyone's mind like the giant mushroom trees of Pelagiad or Mania.

I miss Shivering Isles. I adore weird things like that.

I’m afraid my approach to the question is pretty far off the beaten path and even selfish. I blend play and writing together - and Cyrodiil, as the center of Tamriel, makes a fine anchor as far as games go. I had big plans for my story longer term that involved Skyrim. Then Bethesda announced that TES V would be in Skyrim. Not their fault, but in broke my heart and shattered the plans I had for that province because, sure enough, Bethesda’s Skyrim does not match my own by a long shot. I now am working on plans that involve storylines in both Elsweyr and Valenwood and am concerned about history repeating itself with TES VI. The rich variety of Khajiit in Elsweyr (as mentioned above) and the complete absurdity of ‘The Green Pact’ give me great confidence that my concept for these provinces would never align with Bethesda’s. Therefore, I voted Summerset Isle, simply because it is more isolated from Cyrodiil and I have no plans for it.

Well, everyone has an opinion and that’s mine.

*runs for cover*

I vote Elsweyr! Deserts, jungles, and tons of Khajiit? What's not to like? Hey, where's my wallet? That cat stole all my money!

I never took into consideration of the possible... 'difficulty' it would present the company to make the different types of Khajiit. I read up on the different types and yeesh. There's quite a few.

They can figure it out, they're Bethesda

I voted Hammerfell...Simply because it sounds the closest to the original Assassin's Creed stuff... ...

I'm also kinda in the same predicament as Acadian, but in that I've been doing some stuff in the Summerset Isle, and it's not going to be anything like...

But then, Skyrim is nowhere near as good or interesting as I was expecting, coming from Oblivion...

Hammerfell; I'd love a game set in a nice, Moorish-styled environment, and considering that it's Hammerfell that means I'm still able to indulge my favourite TES hobby of poking around in Dwemer ruins. Plus it just seems to me to be a really cool and interesting place.

This one. I actually don't care where the next TES is placed in, but Valenwood would be my first choice. And like you say, I would hope to be able to climb trees.

What about ES Online? You'd be able to take Buffy (or Acadian) in whichever province you'd like! EDIT: but I guess you'd have to keep your game off-line for it to work, especially with a story going on. Otherwise everyone would be clamoring around your character as you're just trying to focus on his or her story.



This is the thing. A lot of of Morrowind fanpeople say Oblivion is "generic" because it has a lot of Earth-like similarities, but they won't say this about Skyrim as often, despite the fact that Skyrim has just a many Earth-like similarities (the trees, the buildings, even the Nordic ruins are all Earth-like IMO).

Ah, but the key thing with Skyrim is that it has a unique spin on the generic medieval setting by taking a much more distinct Norse/Celtic vibe; with Oblivion, it was much more a case of '14th Century Western Europe with magic' which is a setting that can also be called 'Fantasy game setting ten-jillionty-five'. There are far fewer fantasy games, however, that go for a distinctly Norse/Celtic aesthetic, on the other hand, which is why Skyrim can't accurately be called generic.

On the 'setting', let me just chime in with my two septims. I'm not a TES fan; rather, I'm a fan of medieval fantasy RPGs - preferably open world ones. Yup, Robin Hood, King Arthur, forests, castles, all of it. I think there's good reason for the resounding popularity and classic feel of such games. Long may they reign!

And I only came to Oblivion for much the same reason...Plus the Templars Knights of The Nine...Hence why I only skim the surface of the lore...

Oblivion's look and feel really was one of the things that pulled me in.

I was just digging through some games when I happened to come across a game called oblivion.

I tried it out,

Loved it,

And still love it to this very day

I voted for Valenwood. After reading "A Dance in Fire" many years ago, my imagination has run rampant and I'd love to see Valenwood in an Elderscrolls game.

I would say Valenwood, for fairly obvious reasons...

Also - (picky hat on) - it's really Cyrodiil that gives Oblivion it's (admittedly Awesome) look and feel, rather than Oblivion...

Nobody picked High Rock yet? Seriously? That's the site of Nirn's most oldest building AND one of Tamriel's most prestigious family; the Dirennis. Sure, it'd be a generic feel regarding the surroundings, but FWAIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH. A lot of history is etched into the foundations of Hi-Rak.

Plus, I love Bretons.

Next to Hey-Locke, I'd pick Valenwood. First the name. IMO, it has a nice ring to it. Then, like Kiln said, the sights. Walking city-trees, a millenniums worth of leaves forming a grungy ground, and..... DE WOILDE HONT. Turning into spirits of killing... whatevers? Sure, I'd pick Valenwood as a vacay-spot for that alone.

FWAIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

^^^ You're nuts. I like you!

HOHOHO! Why, I like you too, Ms. Elizabeth! They don't call me the Pink Wizard of Rainbow Underoos for nothing!

Actually, no, nobody calls me the Pink Wizard of Rainbow Underoos around here, its just a title I came up with myself. But the Pink Wizard.... the name itself is covered in awesomesauce, IMO. How banana-pancakes-awesome sounding is THAT?!

FWAIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Kwafahahahahahahahahaha!

That's good. It's a bad title.


I don't think that's awesomesauce. Are you sure that you're not thinking about Casanova-love-juice? (Yes, I went there).


Not much. Banana pancakes are delicious. The Pink Wizard is what I expect to see advertised on spam messages from an adult party store.






Or the title of a fantasy-themed, Skyrim-parodying porn film. HEY-OOHHHHHHHHH!

I started writing the intro for that on here, then thought better of it XD there was no way I could do that and get away with it.

Yes, please.

The Dragonborn comes?

All wizards are pink on the inside...

Witches, sure. In one particular place, but sure. Wizards are more reddish. Almost as if that strange iron-rich liquid that's in them was necessary to support life, and flowed through every part of their bodies.

Are you sure you didn't mean to say that wizards need to avoid a witch's pink insides so as to avoid catastrophic loss of control?

On a related note, does a Dovahkiin need to gag him/herself if visiting a house of ill repute? Could get messy at the end when that moment comes.

And "The Dragonborn Comes!" Suddenly becomes a warning/risky proposition. HEY-OOHHHHHH!

Hurr durr hurr. So from Pink Wizard to pink... innards. Whooo boy. If a certain fox was present right now...

Hey, this place is ruled by Sanguine. Grab a brew, strap on some armor (it gets bloody), and join in.

You never know who will jump on you from behind, but it's an experience you'll never forget.