Poll: The Elder Scrolls VI: what do you want?

[trollnystan]

SNIP

We've already been to Skyrim, Cyrodiil, Morrowind and High Rock. Nothing is happening in Black Marsh, like, at all so there goes that one. Hammerfell is under threat by the Aldmeri and could use the newly weakened Cyrodiil and Skyrim to attack Hammerfell. I don't foresee the next game taking place in Valenwood, even though I'm a big archery fanatic and would love it. We've gotten some good hints of what's going on in Valenwood but it's otherwise quiet.

I think Elsweyr is more-likely because Bethesda might finally want to change things up from human-dominated lands, especially after Skyrim which is as human-centric as you can get. Summerset and Black Marsh are a definite no for reasons already stated. Valenwood seems unlikely and Elsweyr has a few interesting things going on. Could be interesting to see basically the only Dominion territory that joined willingly.

I hope you're right, because it'd be fun to get back to non-human centric storylines again, and it'd be awesome if we got a beast race centric one.

They really should have made the fact that Elsweyr joined willingly a bigger deal in Skyrim; I'd totally forgotten that until you said it. Then again the beast races have almost no presence in Skyrim beyond the caravans, the docks of Windhelm, and a couple of miners here and there.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

Time. If you are going to put something as big as a TES game should be, and make it deep as well, then you need time to do it. Please, don't release a sixth installment for the next few years.

As for the game itself, depth, and by that I don't mean making the dwemer ruins going even deeper, but proper depth. Your game world won't come alive through scripted events and poor AI occasionally doing something out of the ordinary.

Also something that has been bothering me (about all RPGs for that matter) is that you have no competition. Oh, you have plenty of enemies, but no rivals. Why are you the only quest-doing kleptomaniac in all the land? There should be other adventurers. They could accept the same quests as you, and then the additional difficulty is added of having to complete said quest first. Or in skyrim itself, you get the option to join the empire or the stormcloaks. If you join one, the quests of the other are largely ignored. If another adventurer-type would join them and do their quests, then it would actually feel like something is happening, because the whole rebellion thing felt like neither the rebels or the empire are doing anything. They just sit in their respective keeps, and whichever lucky enough to have you will send you off to get shit done. If both sides would have a resident shit-doer, then it would feel a lot more convincing.

Also, having the ability to be a member of all guilds simultaneously annoys me to no end. Isn't there a measure of rivalry between these organisations? I'm not saying you should only be allowed to join one, but polar opposites should lock each other out. These guilds should be actively competing for control, fame and money, not all of them, once again, doing fuck all, sending you off to do their respective quests. They should have opposing interests, conflicts of ideals, that sort of thing.

As immersive as the most recent installment could be at times, it always found a way to wrench me back out again.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I want:

1. More weapons and armour, and better scalability for them as well. Ending up with all Daedric on because it's flat out the best choice is stupid.

2. Get rid of perks that involve matching armour. I don't like wearing helmets because I want to see my ugly face I spent an hour creating.

3. A more fluid storyline, mainly for the purpose of...

4. ...being able to kill ANY NPC I want. Including children. Fuck children. (Or at the very least, don't make them the most belligerent little pricks you've ever had the misfortune of hearing talk).

5. Crafting skills gain experience in better ways. Maybe weapon durability/sharpness, allowing you to repair/sharpen a weapon and improve blacksmithing skills regularly. Better than making a million butter knives.

6. Dynamic events to be better. In other words keep the assassins, change up the notes they drop, and allow you to go and interact with the person who paid the assassin. And get rid of "Venture into Place X to get the Cleansing Iron Hammer" - in other words, change the format sometimes, and don't use everyday items you'd sooner leave on the ground. Perhaps even allow the player to erase a dynamic quest entirely from their to-do list if it's something stupid. Maybe have some NPCs only show up in dynamic events, over the course of a playthrough.

 

[kasperbbs]

As far as engine goes i would like to see some impoved animations, skyrim felt like oblivion with higher res textures.

 

[Longstreet]

-Classes.
The problem with Skyrim was that, at one point or another, you would be master of EVERYTHING. Why would i replay a game as a mage, when i got a level 60 warrior / mage / thief already. It doesn't have to be the typical warrior/rogue/mage choice next to your gender decision. But something that would prevent you from an expert in EVERYTHING would be nice.

-Better guild system.
In skyim, as a pure warrior, i can become the master of every single guild. Even to become the master of the wizard guild i don't really need to know any spells, a few to pass some tests, but then i can complete it with an axe just the same.
Preferably i would like to see that if you join the companions, the thief guild hates you. You can't join them, you might even get attacked. Hell, if you sleep in your own bed and you wake up, you could find a thief in your house. Just because you are a companion. Just the same the other way around of course, but as a thief you might also be able to join the brotherhood, for evil reasons.

- Enemy scaling
Don't make me run in to a deadric overlord of the death just because i chose to upgrade smiting a bit and i am still running around with an wooden sword.

I might think of more, but this is the most important stuff off the top of my head.

 

[Scrubiii]

2. As someone said above, this essential-characters-can't-die crap needs to stop somehow. TOO LONG have I lusted for blood and been denied.

No essential characters.

There is a very good reason for why games like Morrowind didn't have essential characters, but games like Oblivion and Skyrim did. It's because in Morrowind, all important characters ever did was stand in the same place waiting to be spoken to.

In Oblivion and Skyrim, when characters actually walk around, interact with the environment etc. it means that not everything that happens to them is the will of the player. Now couple this with dragon/vampire attacks and imagine that while your back's turned a dragon swoops in and kills Eorlund Gray-Mane. You don't notice at the time because he's over at the Skyforge which you have no reason to visit if you're not yet a companion, so you kill the dragon and carry on with your game. Ten hours later you decide to join the companions and upon taking Vilkas' sword to Eorlund to be sharpened, you discover his tragically charred corpse. No companions questline for you.

It doesn't even have to be enemies like dragons, trusting NPCs to control by Skyrim's AI is akin to a death sentence in some cases. One of my Dragonsreach guards somehow patrolled right into the pond under the bridge, got stuck and subsequently drowned.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I think Elsweyr is more-likely because Bethesda might finally want to change things up from human-dominated lands, especially after Skyrim which is as human-centric as you can get. Summerset and Black Marsh are a definite no for reasons already stated. Valenwood seems unlikely and Elsweyr has a few interesting things going on. Could be interesting to see basically the only Dominion territory that joined willingly.

Elsweyr is highly unlikely for the same reason it always has been, Bethesda simply doesn't have the budget to make all 17 forms of Khajiit in one game.

And not putting at 17 forms of Khajiit in an Elsweyr game would cause everyone to hate them.

 

[Dragonbums]

The engine they have works for Skyrim. Besides I love their glitches. They are comical.

Want I do hope to see in the new Elder Scrolls games is that we get to explore the Khajiit or Argonian home land. That one mod where you go to the Khajiit's homeworld was amazingly good, and it really made me jealous that we can't see what it looks like in game (sans the Elder Scrolls online) Also being able to romance with another Khajiit would be nice too.

 

[Cecilo]

I love how everyone assumes there will be a VI. If Elder Scrolls online is a success, you can pretty much kiss Elder Scrolls Single Player games goodbye. Just like WoW and Warcraft's series. Why would you make an entire new game to compete with your MMO.

 

[silver wolf009]

Spears and throwing weapons weren't actually that good in Morrowind. The only advantage spears had was a little more reach.

A similarly styled game, New Vegas, had rather effective spears. I'd be more than content if they just copy pasted those. Wouldn't be overly excited, but it'd be stomachable and functionalbe.

OT: I want A more interactive world, one that I can screw around with. I want to be able to enchant things, and have people react to them. Like enchanting a chair to cancel out gravity as a prank, so someone floats up when they meant to sit down. Adding to that, more magic, especially stuff that changes how you move, like levitation or shape shifting. Also can't go wrong with heavier feeling combat, where you can change what attacks you do, like chopping or slashing or stabbing.

I'd also like my pants back please, not this curiass plus greaves business.

 

[Requia]

Mostly I just want to not have to worry that improving the skills I want to improve, instead of making an ideal build, will make me weaker because of poorly designed level scaling (I know they can do it, the level scaling worked just fine in Fallout 3).

 

[Jandau]

I want them to do non-shitty combat for once...

Granted, none of this matters since we're not getting a new TES game as long as TES:Online is kicking around...

 

[BlackFlyme]

Edit: Never mind.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

1. Improved combat. Skyrim was a big improvement in my book from previous TES games, so I hope they keep on improving it.
2. Bring back more separate armour pieces. It made customising your character more fun.
3. Bring back some of the more fun spells and enchantments like water walking etc. Sure some of them where over powered and game breaking but they where fun.
4. Make the Guild feel like being in a guild. I found the guild quest lines in Skyrim a little under developed and too short.
5. On guilds and quest lines, don't have it so you can do everything with one character, it makes repeat playthroughs feel samey. Have some conflict and choices that will stick with your character.
6. Stop having so many no killable characters or at least limit them to important characters in the main quest. Sure it may break a questline or two but that's what multiple saves are for.
7. A minor thing but I think they should bring back requiring to sleep to level. For me it helped get immersed in the world and gave reason to stop at inns and such.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I love how everyone assumes there will be a VI. If Elder Scrolls online is a success, you can pretty much kiss Elder Scrolls Single Player games goodbye. Just like WoW and Warcraft's series. Why would you make an entire new game to compete with your MMO.

You are aware that the MMO is being made by a different company, Zenimax Online, specifically so that Bethesda can continue to make single player ES games? Its also why they set the MMO over 1000 years in the past.

Well then, this man

I think you should read the mod page before you talk about it
"This is more like the kind of facial restoration that Uncle Pete, who isn't really your uncle, does in his van in his backyard for 50 bucks a pop. This feature restores battles for Morthal, Markarth, Falkreath, Fort Greymoor, Dawnstar, Riften, and Winterhold - and puts them all back in the game. "

And as I said before as I said before

The only thing that remains in any complete form are the city sieges, but even those are missing dialog, and followup quests, and a bunch of other stuff.

Everything else in his mod is of his own creation, and tries to mimic what Bethesda originally planned, but its not Bethesda's code.

And if you actually read the quote YOU posted, he said Bethesda left the INFO, as in, what they planned to do, not the code itself.

 

[saintdane05]

Elsweyr. I get to have a good excuse to play as a Kajhit, and we can finally figure out what the hell is going on over there.
In addition, make pacifism a viable option. Why can't I persuade the bandit to let murder me before he attacks? Or why not let the Battle of Whiterun be fought without an arrow flying? Why must I fight all the time, rather than persuade the enemy to surrender?

 

[afroebob]

Improve the AI and combat system. The biggest problem Skyrim had was the fighting wasn't good at all and the game would be much more fun if I truly enjoyed the fighting.

On top of that, they could really use some better character animations. I know it might sound somewhat petty, but its less that that is a huge deal to me as the fact that Skyrim is so good that that minor complaint is still one of its biggest.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

There is a very good reason for why games like Morrowind didn't have essential characters, but games like Oblivion and Skyrim did. It's because in Morrowind, all important characters ever did was stand in the same place waiting to be spoken to.

In Oblivion and Skyrim, when characters actually walk around, interact with the environment etc. it means that not everything that happens to them is the will of the player. Now couple this with dragon/vampire attacks and imagine that while your back's turned a dragon swoops in and kills Eorlund Gray-Mane. You don't notice at the time because he's over at the Skyforge which you have no reason to visit if you're not yet a companion, so you kill the dragon and carry on with your game. Ten hours later you decide to join the companions and upon taking Vilkas' sword to Eorlund to be sharpened, you discover his tragically charred corpse. No companions questline for you.

It doesn't even have to be enemies like dragons, trusting NPCs to control by Skyrim's AI is akin to a death sentence in some cases. One of my Dragonsreach guards somehow patrolled right into the pond under the bridge, got stuck and subsequently drowned.

You could make it work actually. Maybe you could have an option in the game menu that would turn on and off essential character invulnerability.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

There shouldn't be a VI... yet.

Instead, in order to figure out how to expand upon the experience, there should be four games, one to focus on each core element of roleplay. Each one can be interlocked if they want, but in the end they need to do some experimentation to see where people want and like and what people don't want.

The first three games are pretty straightforward on their intention. One for warriors, mercenaries, barbarians, and smiths, one for mages, clerics, alchemists and enchanters, and one for thieves, rouges, assassins and nightblades.

The fourth focuses on the less-explored non-battle-based roleplay - In other words, your fighting is lousy and spellcasting blows up in your face, and everything you do is somehow louder when you try sneaking around, so you've got to make your name some other way. Here you've a lot of job options, such as being a simple farmer, or run a business and be a merchant or tavern-keep, or take up specialty jobs like smithing and weaving. You could even take up being a bard or run messages as a courier if you desire, maybe even wander the lands as part of an entertainment troupe.

From those four games they can lay the groundwork of VI's mechanics. Now, for story and setting, well... There's always Obsidian... Just don't let them write the beginning. (Sorry, but I've always considered the beginning of Obsidian's games just so boring!)

 

[Johnlives]

One of my biggest problem with RPG's of this stype can be boiled down to population. In Skyrim we are told of an epic war that forced the Empire to sign the White-Gold Concordat. But my character could wipe out the population of Skyrim in an afternoon without much effort, so where did all the soldiers for the war come from?

For a really immersive RPG I'd want the sort of tech they have in assasins creed where they have the illusion of a living city with a large living, breathing population.

Of course there are problems with that sort of world. If there are hundreds of people surely there have to be hundred of homes to break into? If that was done there may be a lot of copy paste houses. There would need to be a method of limiting access to the main population centres. Maybe a competant police force so players would be under massive pressure, that wouldn't let up, if they broke into homes in residential areas. It would therefore only be worthwhile breaking into homes where proper money could be made.

The Elder Scrolls could also do with taking a few tips from the chaps at Bioware about making companions with personality.

Infact if you locked Bioware and Bethesda in a room together and refused to let them out until they made a game, you'd likely get one hell of a good RPG.