The Next Elder Scrolls Game: What Should We Expect?

Deeper characters with a more immersive story.

Well Skyrim was much better than Oblivion which was much better than Morrowind, so if the trend continues the next Elder Scrolls game will be god-tier.

I will settle for an expansion at this stage due to the withdrawal that I am suffering.

But seriously, I would ideally like to see the platform that was created with Skyrim being built upon and expanded to make the next title even more immersive. For example -

1. Create the stories first. Really go for solid story lines... get the craziest fantasy writers and build and develop the game around that.

2. Why stick to a province? Open up the whole world! Come to think of it and I know this is overly ambitious (hopefully not) introduce the ability to travel back in time into other story lines and possibly have your actions impact on the future. It gives the writers the opportunity to change the current lore and timeline. If you like it the way it is don't meddle, if you like to change history, well.... You have endless expansion possibility and players wont have to wait for new installments in the franchise. This is obviously something that will take a lot of creativity and thought, but the sky is the limit....mmmm

3. Improve the crafting portion of the game by introducing a platform that allows the player to create his/her own designs, e.g draw it, source material, craft it. Clothes, armor, weapons, furniture, ornaments etc.

4. Improve the action portion of the game. A more engaging fighting system will go a long way.

5. Develop it with the rise of Oculus Rift in mind

The Undead Thread....

@Senor_Kami: I just wrote a loooong post, which then apparently disappeared and then I read yours. I like what you are saying. I am totally 100% on board with storytelling. In my view they should employ the craziest fantasy authors they can find to come up with excellent stories and then build the game around that. Currently it feels as if games are developed on a mere concept of a story and the stories are fleshed out afterwards. With this approach you make the immersion so much better. They should keep on focusing on atmosphere and "feel" by, for instance, doing an awesome soundtrack again, keeping an eye on Oculus Rift (no pun intended)

Why limit the game to a province? Open up the world. That will take care of your "forever"-idea. If they really want to go nuts and do something mindblowingly new and awesome they can introduce time traveling when you get to a certain level. You can go back in time and change the course of Tamriel history... each jump with its own main story lines and various possible outcomes and futures. This will make the sky the limit and will ensure that fans wont have to wait years for new titles, just new stories. Just think how cool it would be to go back in time and see what exactly happened when the Dwemmer disappeared, influence events that makes them stay and have them be the dominant force in Tamriel....

They should keep on keeping on with good soundtrack track record they have set thus far. If they want revenue streams (and I believe that most gaming companies would agree that they like revenue) they should have DLC such as more soundtrack, weapons, armor, trinkets, potions etc available for those who want to buy that kind of stuff. If you don't want to buy it, make it...for this they should think about a more interactive design and crafting platform. Sketch out the design. source the materials and make it. Players can trade or sell it online...

@roastedzombies:

They should focus more on Character Customization. They should also bring back Spell Making from "Oblivion" and more Extensive & Rewarding Faction Quests. Skyrim is an amazing game, dont get me wrong. But some things could have been better. Overall, i hope Bethesda keeps up the Good work.

This.

@classymushroom: Indeed.

In the next game the series will end with the elimination of all N'wahs, and the rise of the Dunmeri Master race. Praise Almsivi. In all seriousness, I really don't think I would want co op in my Elder Scrolls game. I feel like it would take away from the one true hero feeling that the game conveys so well if another self aware player with the same abilities was running around in my world.

1. The main character can actually speak. 2. If we could have a war with the Aldmerri dominion, and kick the everlivin shit out if the puny elven asses. 3. main character can actually have a child with their spouse and have the child grow. 4. Have the twisted falner come and invade and have a mission to eliminate them all. 5. More weapons like the halberd, spears, pointed shield so you can impale someone. 6. To actually find out that the Dremer are not extinct and play their race. 7. Become a Jarl or king and rule a area and choose laws. 8. To be in humongous wars with over thousands against each other.

I have consistently thought that the next game would be the Summer Set Isles, but recently, and I have no idea why, I have been wanting a game set in Akavir. Perhaps that sounds illogical, but the style, culture, and mystery surrounding Akavir sounds extremely interesting, not to mention the 4 new races you could play as. But realistically, I think the Summerset Isles is probably our next destination.

The main character can actually speak. 2. If we could have a war with the Aldmerri dominion, and defeat them. 3. main character can actually have a child with their spouse and have the child grow. 4. Have the twisted falner come and invade and have a mission to eliminate them all. 5. More weapons like the halberd, spears, staves, pointed shields so you can impale someone. 6. To actually find out that the Dremer are not extinct and play their race. 7. Become a Jarl or king and rule a area and choose laws. 8. To be in humongous wars with over thousands against each other.

More adventures, fewer arrows to the knee. The dungeons all look the same, give them some character. Also, I am waiting for the co-op version so I can play on the same console as my husband. Make this game multiplayer for X BOX, and I will be thrilled!

We'll see Fallout 4 before TES VI, which wouldn't happen for at least another 5 years from now. The main thing I expect is for NPC's to actually react to what you do and not treat you like shit after saving their city or lives. One of Bethesda's biggest downfalls. Freaking Companions still referring to you as a 'milk drinker' after becoming leader of the guild.

I would love to see the next game like this.

The Dragonborn after all his accomplishments can non escape his fate from Hermaeus Mora. In exchange for the power to save the world from Alduin and the first Dragonborn his fate ends with him missing without a trace one day.

This is not before he has children and one of the Elder Scrolls tells about a child who will bring peace or destruction to the world. The blades believe the child of the Dragonborn is the child and hide it in Cyrodil with no one knowing who or where he is.

The Dominion during the timeline sacks the Imperial City after the event of Skyrim. The Legion is weakened by the civil war, the emperor was killed by the dark brotherhood, the remaining imperial forces surrender or go into hiding.

The player starts of as child who does not know who or what he is. He is just a adopted child whose Aunt & Uncle are mysteriously masters at combat due to being blades.

The child is sent to run errands one day and the Dominion is tipped off that the parents may be blades and they are murdered but not before they left clues and instructions for the child to find out who he really is.

The child sets out to find out why they are murdered and what they meant by the strange letters. This eventually leads to the player to set of to Skyrim to learn more about his father and the way of the voice.

*The only explorable areas in Skyrim are Falkreath, Riverwood, Iverstead, Whiterun, Skyhaven Temple, and the throat of the world*

The player learns who he his, gets basic training, and then he sets back out to Bruma in Cyrodil.

The players is instructed by the blades to go out to visit each city in Cyrodil and get more powerful.

After visiting each major city, becoming a leader in at least one guild, and reaching a certain level player sets off for the Imperial Arena to make a name for himself. And after battle after battle he rises to the top and catches the eye of the Dominion Governor who suspects him of being the Dragonborn that was rumored to have escaped when they murdered the parents.

The player is forced to escape Cyrodil and goes back to Bruma that is under attack because of Talos worshipers being caught.

The Nords in Bruma agree to rebel against the Dominion soldiers and are severely outnumbered until a group of former legion soldiers who heard about the Dragonborn come to his aid.

This starts an all out rebellion in Cyrodil where the player leads the massively outnumbered Legion against a larger and better training Dominion army.

After all the cities are liberated a bloody battle takes place in the Imperial City that concludes with a new empire being formed.

However, the victory is only short lived a unknown threat emerges in the North (Falmer). Solitude, Dawnstar, Winterhold, Windhelm, Morthal, Markarth, have fallen. No one from the Southern cities knows what happened just every living soul in the cities is either dead is has disappeared.

The new Empires forces are forced to be stationed in Leyawiin to defend against the Dominion while the Dragonborn and a small force of soldiers and blades head for Skyrim.

DLC - Age of the Falmer, Return to the Shivering Isles, something involving Hermaus Mora.

This, and more unique items. I remember Morrowind when I took a dive in the sea at Ebonheart and found an undersea entrance to a cave where I found the Lord's Mail on random, that was so awesome! Oblivion also had this but not as unique.

Awesomeness.

Who keeps ressurecting this thing ?

@Lulu_Lulu: threads like this should be able to live on, it'll likely remain relevant up until the next game arrives

@Macutchi

If you say so.

A bit optimistic, but i would like the entire continent of tamriel availble as a game world. And seafaring (dunno why i want it, for some reason it speaks to me).

I've heard rumours recently that the next Elder Scrolls game will be set in war-torn Boston, and will feature some kind of robot rebellion.

Also, they'll still be pretending that it's part of the Fallout series, for some reason.

@Planeforger: this hilarious, spot on! made me laugh a bit........but like an idiot i will still buy it day 1

Build combat from a 3rd person perspective FIRST and then transpose that to 1st person, the other way around limits everything.

Unique styles of combat, depending on the weapon you're using, using a axe/sword/mace seems similar in Skyrim. Slots in weapons to encrust jewels/alternative to enchanting weapons.

More factions and sides to choose, your actions could affect you in the whole map. Be a king or thane or whatever in a huge side-quest line.

Better NPC interactions, specially on marriage dialogues and options.

Frozen water settings - you would suffer if swimming in frozen lakes, more realistic settings with a switch on options for running, falling, etc.

Co-op Play, maximum 2 players on consoles. Have the chance to play on another player "game" and actually affect his and your world.

No online play thank you or PvP, that would ruin the show forever, Co-Op would be the best option for multiplayer.

Gorgeous gfx, but maintain the lore, with a huge map, endless options and bring back Oblivion ghosts, those were creepy as hell.

More weapon costumizations in terms of looks, carving the blades, choosing designs, etc.

A more "happy" world, I love Skyrim but the game as a depressing touch to it everywhere, a sense of doom and dread that even the most happy of bards can't brush away.

Elder scrolls needs a huge overhaul away from skyrim. Im sorry but the game just sucks. Thing is, its not something a player really figures out until they spend an extended amount of time with the game. The game is beautiful, and big, with a lot of "stuff to do", its just that none of it is particularly engaging or complex. A large amount of activities stripped down to a stupid degree as if it was strictly meant to check boxes on a list of features without actually being fun. Mounts in particular would be the first example that comes to mind. A player cant do shit from on top a horse like interact with the world. Magic is totally blocked from it and control is extremely awkward. The counter response i typically get for this is that it isnt a main focus of the game.... well then it shouldnt be available at all. Everything in skyrim is like this, a LOT of mechanics half assed with nothing done well.

Standard combat is absolutely one of the worst i've seen in any game. Half the perks are useless basically just adding extra crap to making the system appear way more in depth than it actually is.

They should have taken that Shout mechanic and combined it in some manner with the standard perk/combat system. The shouts themselves are pretty useless and that totally conflicts with the story because its painted as the end-all power that significantly sets the hero apart from the rest of the world. Turns out, the true capabilities of your character has very little to do with low damage/long cooldown shouts. It destroys the immersion.

All characters act, speak, run in the most awkward, styless method possible in Skyrim. It becomes painful to watch after a while.

Flagged NPCs ruined the game. Especially a sort of game that is heavily marketed/sold to the audience as a "do whatever you want, anyway you want" sort of game. Unless PC version is the only one that matters, but even then it doesnt matter because modding tools and user created mods do not properly reflect the actual game itself.

Anyway, fixing those issues will put Elder Scrolls on the right track. Some additional ideas would be:

Adopt a more sandbox approach, less RPG. It better suits a game with questionable moral standards of the main character.

We need better interactions with the enviornment instead of slow, limited plate or basket carrying. I want to see warriors who have enough physical perks able to pick up chests and hurl them at oncoming Draugrs. Or knock down some walls and structures. Thief perks could include human shield hostages, disarming chokeholds and takedowns, leaping jumps that will immediately put the player on top of houses or wall scaling.

Co-op is a great idea as long as its limited to one single partner rather than a group and no pvp. But i think an interesting story can come about with the dual player mechanics. I think a lot of players would like to explore ruins and such with another player.

Overhaul the player owned housing mechanic. I understand that we cant really allow custom built player structures, this cant work like minecraft. But what we can do is just let the player occupy ANY structure he or she clears out weather it be ruins or a fort or shack. Then just let them set furnature wherever they want. That will be good enough customization available to the player without putting too much work on a dev team to impement a complicated house building mechanic.

We can expect it to be completely underwater in the argonian country.... Lol :p, that would be funny

Personally, I preferred Oblivion over Skyrim. The story was much more immersive in my opinion, and I loved killing Daedra Lords in the fiery planes of Oblivion. Skyrim however, was a much more grounded and realistic game, which steered me away from it honestly. Don't get me wrong, Skyrim is definitely one of the greatest RPG's in the history of gaming, it's just that I don't really feel like it lives up to the hype of social media. For one, the combat was repetitive and quite boring; you just hit people with spells or swords until they fall over. I'm not asking for a master tactician sort of game, maybe adding different animations for attacks (Assassin's Creed Black Flag is a great example of varied combat animations). It would also be a refreshing change to have more pros and cons about the style of fighting you choose. A sword and shield for example, you barely get any benefit from the shield, you might as well dual wield Daedric Swords or carry around a giant axe than an essentially useless shield. You shouldn't need to push a button to be able to block; just carrying the shield should instantly give you a bonus to defense, blocking say 1/4 of hits automatically. Or if you double wield, they're missing so many opportunities for some badass cinematic kills with double daggers or whatever. They should attack at least three times as fast as a sword, have some epic combo kills, etc.

And this point has been made plenty enough times, but it bears repeating; bigger cities. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a bigger city, just more people. I do not believe for a second that the only people Dovakhin would have known in the Stormcloak or Imperial armies were Ralof or Hadvar, there's just no freaking way. There needs to be much less "filler" NPC's and much more "interactive" ones. Nazeem from Whiterun for example, was completely useless besides pissing players off to the extreme.

A different story. I've only had the opportunity to play Oblivion and Skyrim from TES, but these both start with you being a prisoner, and honestly, it's old. Dragon Age: Inquisition started out with you as a prisoner, and everyone's tired of it. Instead of starting off as the most wanted criminal in Nirn, how about starting the story as an innocent merchant that was at the wrong place at the wrong time? What I'm looking for in an RPG is a game that might go something like this: You wake up and begin work just like any other day, but things take a turn for the worst when you get caught in a skirmish between the Altmeri and a group of rebels who have been working in secret to destroy the Aldmeri once and for all (because really, nobody likes those bastards). In the confusion, you're hit in the hit by the hilt of a dagger and are presumed dead, so the Aldmeri Dominon tries to cover it up by dumping you in the closest river. The rebel group however, rescues you and takes you to their leader, a total bad ass Wood Elf who has been wronged too many times by the Altmer. After they begin to trust that you aren't a part of some elaborate plan to blow up their compound, you're free to roam the long abandoned ruins that they have claimed as their headquarters, which lead to a section of completely uncharted, colorful, exotic and dangerous lands full of bizarre creatures (yes, dragons should be there. Nobody's been there since the time of the Ayleids.) And so on and so forth.

Strange locations. One of my favorite things about playing Skyrim was all of the random, unmarked things that you could find just by exploring, such as the random perfect circles of mushrooms or even the sword in the stone. I also really enjoyed that one Dwarven ruin that caused you to fall hundreds of feet, scaring you shitless as eight hours of gameplay was about to be lost, until you land completely unharmed in an underground lake. The little things make a difference, Bethesda.

Auto save. Auto save shouldn't mean only saving when you open the pause menu or sleep or travel or whatever. You should have an option to turn on a true automatic save that saves ever fifteen minutes or so, because honestly, nobody just pauses the game every once in a while to save it. You always mean to, but shit happens *cough legendary dragons cough*

All in all, bigger and better. Skyrim was plenty big, but it was restricted by nearly impossible to navigate mountains (unless you had a horse because **** logic), cutting the space way down than what it could have been. Oblivion was much bigger, and I used to do this thing that I called "Walking the map", which doesn't hold as much meaning in Skyrim as it did in Oblivion. I'm not asking for a huge world, just something a bit bigger, especially with the next gen consoles in mind.

New partners. It would be a freaking miracle if Bioware and Bethesda teamed up to make the ultimate RPG of the decade, but that would mean EA would get involved and that's a mess that nobody wants. ANYWAY, my point is, Bethesda could make The Elder Scrolls VII so much better if they put their expertise and talent with someone who is good at graphics and/or story play (stares intently at Crystal Dynamics) to make their game their best one yet.

A delayed start time. I wouldn't like it, but I will definitely wait a couple extra years so Beth can make sure they've combed out as many bugs and glitches as they could, and made sure that everything was top quality. A 2020 release date is a long ways away, but Skyrim was six years in the making, and we're trying to do better than Skyrim so please, take all the time you need.

Decisions that matter. An element of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series that I really enjoy is the fact that your decisions matter. In Skyrim, you kill the fucking emperor,and nobody gives a shit. Come on Bethesda, come on.

All in all, I'm expecting the next installment of TES to be a great one, and judging from Bethesda's past works, these next gen consoles (and perhaps even the next next gen) makes greatness even more easily graspable, and I expect Bethesda to deliver no less than their best.

I prey to god its a Skyrim taking place in an elve country.

Even if it has the same little mistakes like TES:V i can live with that.

Imo Skyrim was the perfect balance between not to many annoying developer fails and awesome game design. Definetly one of the highlights in recent game history.

@roastedzombies: 1) Allow the ability to reset questlines in the middle of them at anytime. Such as restarting the thieves guild questline to the beginning. Thus, deleting the bugged part of the quest and allowing a fresh go at. But to keep other accomplishments you had performed while doing that questline.

2)Have a never ending supply of expensive houses or yachts to buy keeping gold relevent.

3) When a chest takes a master skill to open, dont let it be filled with a rusty pair if iron boots wrapped in dirty underwear.

4)Create a spell that lets you teleport 10 feet to escape imminent death or more importantly, to get out from being jammed behind a dresser.

5)develop a sliding scale to let us customize what damage certain weapons do to our characters. Arrows were too powerful in skyrim.

6)fix healing. Took too long to cast in a combat situation. I didnt use it in skyrim at all. Not so in oblivion.

7) Allow the invisibility spell to actually make you invisible as it was in oblivion. It was basically worthless in skyrim.

8)Make sneak work again as it did in Oblivion. It to was almost worthless in skyrim. I couldnt sneak past a dead guy in skyrim even though I was at 100 and in full sneak gear.

9) Develop a sort of temporary flight spell that allows you to fly out of danger. Have it to where at first you could only fly short distances until you increased your stamina allowing you to stay aloft longer. Oh, and have it where you better be back on the ground when your stamina is gone or you fall to your death. Would be a super cool feature

10) last but not least, please dont make quest items have weight. I ended up with 50 or 60 extra pounds of worthless quest items I couldnt drop with my last character.

@roastedzombies: allow an m16 to be randomly placed somewhere in the world. If you find it, its lights out for everyone else. :)

Somehow add Team Deathmatch to appease the CoD crowd.

The next game should take place in Valenwood where the Rebel Bosmers, The Empire, Argonians, the mercenary Nords fight against The Aldmeri Dominion (High Elves and Khajit) out of the mainlands of Tamriel. While The Empire and Bosmers clash with the Altmer, Argonians will take up a front with the Khajit so they wont be able to assist them. The hero will lead heroic victories, with a strange mystical being a guide (Divine Talos). The hero will take all the lands, but in return the war-torn Valenwood must choose to become independent or join the Empire. There should be other stuff like graphics and whatnot. Sieges on the great cities and then taking them away from the Altmers and whatnot. I don't know, if any place in Tamriel, Valenwood would definitely have the nicest graphics. Great ideas for cities and forested areas everywhere. There should also be flying mounts or something like that. That be a great game to play.

Wow, so many bitter Skyrim hating gamers in here. I'm sorry for you people.

How about some thrown weapons! Or an ACTUAL hand to hand skill!!

@hrpies:

Agreed. Skills in general really. Everything on the whole perk tree is stat related. Percentages and kill animations, its all very boring. Where are the cool abilities like ground tremors, or thrown enemies?

I would also like to see some additional bonuses come from food, ale. This could put an interesting spin on the cooking mechanic. Just like real life people, if you dont eat good food on a regular basis, you're health isnt so great. So perhaps in the game a player wont have access to the best perk bonuses if they dont eat right.

I hate the system with potions. Just pause, freeze time and spam until healed? I prefer a more realistic approach like Dark Souls where the player has to physically pull out a flask and take a swig in front of opponents and risk being attacked. Its more interesting.

But then i hate how long Skyrim loads weapon changes. Takes forever. It completely discourages hybrid builds that uses more than one weapon type because of how long it takes to switch.

I hope they add a better main storyline, the side quests seem better and filled with more content then the actual storyline in Skyrim and Oblivion. Also they need a better combat system and stat and leveling system, its far too simple and not very satisfying as it should be.

I'm not sure the hate for this game, it has countless mods available to it thanks to bethesda releasing a development kit for the game. Yet random trolls bash this game. This games kept alive because of the mods released for it and if they keep the future games like this it should move forward well. Its too bad the actual company doesn't make some mods themselves instead of money grabbing DLC which nobody wants.

@Old_Gooseberry:

So then what is your opinion of the console version of the game?

@amillionhp: If you've not played Skyrim on the PC, you absolutely must! One of the best decisions Bethesda has ever made was releasing the GDK for usage on the Steam market. There are a couple cool mods like Realistic Needs and Diseases that add basic health, food, and drink requirements to be met. Not mention something like Frostfall which adds the effect of weather on your character and disables fast travelling, making a whole new experience altogether.

I've noticed a lot of people are saying they want a bigger world with a lot less bugs. This might be ideal, but not realistic. If bethesda were to do that the game would take years to make and we would be waiting a very long time. I think skyrim's map is fine, and oblivion's is just the right size. Also, it would take a very long time for bethesda to iron out all the bugs that would be made from creating a large game. Otherwise, I'd love to see spell making in the elder scrolls again and the NPCs need more emotion. I don't think more character creation is needed, obviously it is good to have a lot but you do not need tonnes on a singleplayer game. I'd prefer it if bethesda spent there time making better quests and areas than adding to character creation. As for setting, I'd like to see Elsweyr or Summerset Isle, but for me, anywhere is good.

This is awesome, I can't believe this is still an active form.

There have been rumors going around that the game will be set in the Black Marsh and Bethesda will unveil details about the game next winter.

Now, that I would pay good money for. Have some of the modders take part in the development too, like the guy who created Requiem.

Would be nice if they went back to making real RPG's instead of action-hack&slash games where you're given a million repetitive quests that are all solved by following the arrow on the compass. I miss having decent character customization, a vast array of skills, a unique world/environment (Oblivion & Skyrim failed hard here), and interesting characters. Oblivion and Skyrim simply couldn't have been more bland if they had tried.

Also - less procedurally generated garbage and more hand-crafted content is probably the most important thing they could do.

@KHAndAnime:

And the game play ?