What would you like to see in the next elder scrolls games?

nyarlothothep

For me

1. Bigger more densely populated cities (this seems to be a pitfall since Morrowind, although they got Vivec right in terms of scale, too much of it was indoors and it was still sparsely populated).

2. Vastly improved voice acting.

3. Less generic. I feel that Oblivion and Skyrim are too conventional. I would like to see a return of Morrorwind's weirdness.

4. One or two extremely rich vendors. It stands to reason that there are going to be wealthy businesses/merchants in a game world.

5. A return of Morrorwinds customisation, one of the best things about it was that you could design your own spells.

6. More varied less repetitive dungeons. This is again a common problem, Skyrim made a significant improvement in this area compared to Oblivion. Still the Dwemer/Draugr ruins are very tedious and time consuming, particularly with the former.

kingtiger

made for the PC first and then ported to consoles

Genghiz Cohen

A game that I actually enjoy playing rather than just being terribly terribly compulsive.

Mr E

1. An Elder Scrolls forum on this site.

Oh wait....

nyarlothothep

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

A game that I actually enjoy playing rather than just being terribly terribly compulsive.

yes, this hits the nail on the head for me. The feeling of being in another world, the immersion aspect, provides an instant de-stressor. But the game isn't that fun or particularly interesting. The best Skyrim got to an actual compelling questline was with the dark brotherhood and some of the Daedric quests. Everything else I can take or leave. Also the frequency of Dragon attacks gets very annoying, especially when you're in the middle of doing a quest or talking to someone and then a fcking dragon appears and it's sigh, have to kill yet another dragon. But the thing is it's extremely compulsive, I just can't stop playing, it keeps rewarding you and then I like to unlock the achievements that have the lowest unlocked percentages on Steam. It feels like work a lot of the time. Every Elderscrolls game feels like this.

who_me

- Bigger land. Better fast transport if need be (faster horses? Other animals? Dragons?)
- Bigger cities, part of the game world rather than having to pass through a 'portal', i.e. gates.
- A very different setting. Hammerfell's desert cities, or the marsh/forest cities of Black Marsh with their giant wandering trees... Maybe Akavir?
- Longer, more involved quests (fewer basic "fetch" quests). I particularly like the Skyrim quests that you thought were over, but popped up again later.
- Different parts of the land have different difficulty levels. Instead of the generic difficulty of Skyrim, you can travel into enemy territory which gets more and more difficult (think travelling into the land of Mordor). Instead of being limited by invisible walls or keys which you're later given; you're limited only by your ability and the difficulty of your opponent.
- Storms/cold/heat have an effect on you, if you're not prepared.
- Rather than following map markers, you're given clues and have to find the locations yourself.
- More variety in the hand-to-hand combat, I always end up just button mashing and it works as well as anything.
- Ability to sail ships. Be a pirate. Arrrrrrrrrr....
- Bring back nudity.

nyarlothothep

who_me wrote: »

- Bigger land. Better fast transport if need be (faster horses? Other animals? Dragons?)
- Bigger cities, part of the game world rather than having to pass through a 'portal', i.e. gates.
- A very different setting. Hammerfell's desert cities, or the marsh/forest cities of Black Marsh with their giant wandering trees... Maybe Akavir?
- Longer, more involved quests (fewer basic "fetch" quests). I particularly like the Skyrim quests that you thought were over, but popped up again later.
- Different parts of the land have different difficulty levels. Instead of the generic difficulty of Skyrim, you can travel into enemy territory which gets more and more difficult (think travelling into the land of Mordor). Instead of being limited by invisible walls or keys which you're later given; you're limited only by your ability and the difficulty of your opponent.
- Storms/cold/heat have an effect on you, if you're not prepared.
- Rather than following map markers, you're given clues and have to find the locations yourself.
- More variety in the hand-to-hand combat, I always end up just button mashing and it works as well as anything.
- Ability to sail ships. Be a pirate. Arrrrrrrrrr....
- Bring back nudity.

There was nudity in the elder scrolls? Sailing ships is a good idea as is difficult enemy territories. There is an open cities mod for Skyrim which makes them part of the game world. I think the direction markers are good though because it saves you a lot of time just wandering around trying to find the place. However I would have preferred if the map in Skyrim was shrouded based on how much of the area you had discovered. Irc, the fog of war was in Morrorwind and Oblivion. The abscence of this in Skyrim makes the world paradoxically feel much smaller even though it's meant to be same size as Oblivion.

who_me

nyarlothothep wrote: »

There was nudity in the elder scrolls? Sailing ships is a good idea as is difficult enemy territories. There is an open cities mod for Skyrim which makes them part of the game world. I think the direction markers are good though because it saves you a lot of time just wandering around trying to find the place. However I would have preferred if the map in Skyrim was shrouded based on how much of the area you had discovered. Irc, the fog of war was in Morrorwind and Oblivion. The abscence of this in Skyrim makes the world paradoxically feel much smaller even though it's meant to be same size as Oblivion.

Well ok, toplessness.

The direction markers are fine (as long as they can be turned off) for most quests, but it would be nice if there were some quests where you had to use your head and eyes, rather than just playing 'follow the arrow'.

I like the fog of war idea.

Zomg Okay

A greater variety of weapons. Shortswords, spears, throwing knives, etc. The arsenal in Morrowind is bigger than in the one in Oblivion and the one in Oblivion is bigger than the one in Skyrim. That's pretty backwards.

paulbok

• As mentioned, have the environment have an effect on health, eg swimming through freezing water depletes health.

• Once alchemy & enchanting levels are high enough, make you own magic scrolls. i though at the start the rolls of paper were for that, like you can turn a broom into a staff. Also bring back collecting apparatus for alchemy, upgrades for the alc/ench tables.

• Less bugs.

• More varied wild animals & monsters.
• Limit to the number of potions you can carry. Perhaps in certain buildings (own house), you have to divide out your carry capacity between weapons, armour, potions, etc.
• Less types of magic,

R.W Callaghan

An all Tamriel map like what Bethesda are doing for Elder Scrolls Online

Zomg Okay

R.W Callaghan wrote: »

An all Tamriel map like what Bethesda Zenimax Online Studios are doing for Elder Scrolls Online

Bethesda aren't making The Elder Scrolls Online, Zenimax Online Studios is. Online has been in development for years already. Between Fallout 3 and Skyrim, I imagine Bethesda wouldn't have had the time or manpower to develop it.

hypermuse

For me I want to see an all Tamriel map.. Would be amazing!

I like the idea of having to prepare differently for different regions (i.e the marshes or the cold of north).

I really think a huge improvement could be made in the combat. Magic is just keep firing and there is nothing to stop you (except a ward spell), hand held weapons is just button bashing.
Only the sneak class has a true sense of tactic about it!

There obviously needs to be an even greater variety of wold creatures, I think Skyrim did have a nice variety but more is always better!
For example a type of creature that is practically resistance to weapon damage but very susceptible to magic damage and vice versa.. Would encourage you to think alot more before just engaging everything.

The world defo needs to have certain areas that are immensely difficult and some that are constantly easy. The leveling system in Skyrim is BS! There has to be areas you avoid until you have improved your character but should not be restricted to entering there if you want too!

Alchemy should be far more variable than just making potions.. Weapons/staffs should be uniquely customisable! This way you are more likely to stick with a weapon that fits your characters build than just take up the next weapon that does 1 more extra point damage!

there are loads more in my head but they are the major ones for now.

Zomg Okay

I'd love to see a Hardcore mode, kind of like the one in Fallout: New Vegas, but even more challenging. E.G.: You need to eat, drink and sleep regularly. Not eating or drinking weakens and then kills you, not sleeping reduces Stamina and Stamina Regeneration. If weather, etc. could hinder or even kill you that would be interesting too. For example, having to dress in furs, etc. before you began that pilgrimage up the 7,000 Steps or tiring more quickly if you wore Heavy Armour in the deserts of Hammerfell.

Peetrik

I'd like to see the unarmed & unarmored combat styles get their own 'martial arts' style expansion. Was disappointed to see it was dropped in Elder scrolls 5.

Now that the Khajit and Argonian races are playable unarmed would be a clear 'role' option. I reckon a 'black marsh' area (perhaps where metal corrode or don't keep their edge (blacksmith improvements)) so that Unarmed is an advantage or is at least worth training might be fun.
Also a little more variety in the craftable items, sure give all 'steel weapons' the same stats but give us the option of Katanas, Kukris, Machetes etc instead of just 'sword'. Same goes for armor sets, lets see some Samurai outfits.

hypermuse

Oh how could I forget...

Bring back the arena!!

Chancer3001

mounted combat.

getting off the horse to swing your sword was stupid.

Zomg Okay

Chancer3001 wrote: »

mounted combat.

getting off the horse to swing your sword was stupid.

Considering that was patched into Skyrim, having this in future titles shouldn't be a problem.

Celly Smunt

I guess what we all want is more variety.

Peetrik

I'd also like to see race or class specific quest chains... like taking over/running an Orc hold if you're an Orc, merchant caravans/eliminate merchant competition for Kajit etc etc

Zomg Okay

I'd like to see alternatives to quest lines. Skyrim was a step in the right direction,

as you can choose to attack Astrid in the abandoned shack, prompting a quest where you destroy the Brotherhood instead of joining.

I want full quest lines that are alternatives to the 'norm', though. Not one quest but a series of them that are opposites to existing questlines, e.g: joining the guards to crush the Thieves Guild, or joining the Silver Hand to obliterate the Companions.

Cill94

Skyrim was definitely a step in the right direction but there's always things to improve on.

- More variety in shops, and vendors with more gold. In Oblivion the Imperial City had an entire shop just for shields! I'm often too weighed down in Skyrim because the shop owners don't have enough gold to buy all the loot I get.

- More special weapons. There's a distinct lack of cool and unique weapons in Skyrim. In Oblivion there were awesome swords like Umbra and Dawnfang/Duskfang. Shops also had unique enchanted armor/clothes/weapons to buy. In Skyrim you could mostly only find generic levelled loot in dungeons. Enchanting made up for this somewhat though.

- I agree that you should be able to travel by ship

- I want to be able to fight in massive pitched battles between 2 armies. Should have happened in Skyrim with the Imperials vs Stormcloaks but everything was quite small scale. The closest I've seen was the battle at the Bruma gate in Oblivion.

- The next game should be set in Akavir. There's been numerous references to it and its serpent people, mention of the war going on there in books and rumours in the last 2 games. Introducing an entire new race would breathe new life into the series. If not, then I'd like to see a game set in the Summerset Isle, which seems likely given the attention it got in Skyrim.

- Better combat. The kill animations in Skyrim were a good idea. But I'd also like to see stuff like proper wounds from axes and swords, lots more blood too >:D

paulbok

Another post has reminded me of this, how about a stable with each house or being able to buy a stall in the stables outside the main cities.
Then you could leave your horse there and not have it follow you when you fast travel. It gets annoying when you land straight into a battle and the horse gets killed.
Opens up additional smithing options for shoes and armour etc.

Cargin

More connection between the primary quests, like in Fallout: New Vegas. In Elder Scrolls I always felt I could have my cake and eat it. I've always played a two-handed weapon tank of a character, with almost zero magic or stealth and yet I get to be Head of the Thieves Guild, and Archmage, and Head of the Assasin's Guild, as well as Head of the Fighters Guild.
I didn't think I'd like the restrictions of quest and character in New Vegas, but I found them really challenging (in a good way) and was faced with really tough decisions that forced a level of engagement with the game that I've found lacking in Oblivion and Skyrim, even though I've loved them.

Barbarian25

Cargin wrote: »

I've always played a two-handed weapon tank of a character, with almost zero magic or stealth and yet I get to be Head of the Thieves Guild, and Archmage, and Head of the Assasin's Guild, as well as Head of the Fighters Guild.

In Morrowind there were requirements to going up a rank in each guild,
quick example: Mages guild -
Rank 4 Conjurer, Int 30 Will 30, 1 skill @ 40, 2 skills @ 10,
Rank 5 Magician, Int 31 Will 31, 1 Skill @ 50, 2 skills @ 15.

In the fighters guild you had a choice about halfway through which guy to take quests from as some guys were corrupt and in it for the money, not to help people.

Cargin

Barbarian25 wrote: »

In Morrowind there were requirements to going up a rank in each guild,
quick example: Mages guild -
Rank 4 Conjurer, Int 30 Will 30, 1 skill @ 40, 2 skills @ 10,
Rank 5 Magician, Int 31 Will 31, 1 Skill @ 50, 2 skills @ 15.

In the fighters guild you had a choice about halfway through which guy to take quests from as some guys were corrupt and in it for the money, not to help people.

Dear Bethesda, Up with this sort of thing!

Dr Bob

More consequences , it's kind of mentioned above but the you can be head of 3 completely different guilds, and be part of several factions that clearly hate each other

you can side with the imperials and still , if you're on the DB questline kill loads of them , and their freakin emperor(twice) and still not piss them off!

I'd rather have a game that closed off certain avenues depending on what you did than one where you can literally have 15 jobs

Dr Bob

Also , (not the point I know) , nearly everything mentioned above can be done pretty much now with skyrim with mods, in some cases implemented a lot better than beth' would have done.
(which is why you should be playing it on PC if you can ,rather than on consoles )

Leadamp

I'd love to see Hunger and fatigue.

GodlessM

Cill94 wrote: »

But I'd also like to see stuff like proper wounds from axes and swords, lots more blood too >

Proper wounds from axes and swords in the game would just mean dying more usually. It's a sense of realism that has to be taken away from games to balance them.

Cargin wrote: »

More connection between the primary quests, like in Fallout: New Vegas. In Elder Scrolls I always felt I could have my cake and eat it.

Which is what has made the Elder Scrolls games so popular. New Vegas fell flat on its ass because the quests were so connected the game almost became linear. There's was no exploration to be had because you were always directed exactly where to go next.

chanste

I'd love to see them completely revamp the control system to something like that in Assassin's Creed. That's probably blasphemy on this forum but as much as I love Elder Scrolls, sword fighting in it is ridiculous. If you actually help the guards in Skyrim when a vampire or someone attacks them, you may hit one of the guards by mistake and have a bounty on your head, this made worse because if you don't help them the bad guys can kill a necessary NPC.

hypermuse

chanste wrote: »

I'd love to see them completely revamp the control system to something like that in Assassin's Creed. That's probably blasphemy on this forum but as much as I love Elder Scrolls, sword fighting in it is ridiculous. If you actually help the guards in Skyrim when a vampire or someone attacks them, you may hit one of the guards by mistake and have a bounty on your head, this made worse because if you don't help them the bad guys can kill a necessary NPC.

While I think everyone would agree that the combat mechanics in the game are not up to scratch I personally would not choose a AC style.

Played the 1st AC game (got sick of its repetitive gameplay but thats besides the point) and one thing that really bugged me was the fighting in it..

Surrounded by 6 enemies.. yet only one of them (maybe 2 :eek:) would attack you at once and the rest would just stand there and politely wait their turn!

Zomg Okay

chanste wrote: »

I'd love to see them completely revamp the control system to something like that in Assassin's Creed. That's probably blasphemy on this forum but as much as I love Elder Scrolls, sword fighting in it is ridiculous. If you actually help the guards in Skyrim when a vampire or someone attacks them, you may hit one of the guards by mistake and have a bounty on your head, this made worse because if you don't help them the bad guys can kill a necessary NPC.

To be fair, you do get a warning or two. It is extremely annoying, all the same. Wielding Mehrune's Razor when accidental hits occur does nothing to improve the situation.

Cargin

GodlessM wrote: »

Which is what has made the Elder Scrolls games so popular. New Vegas fell flat on its ass because the quests were so connected the game almost became linear. There's was no exploration to be had because you were always directed exactly where to go next.

Clearly you and I have had very different experiences of New Vegas

Chazz Michael Michaels

One thing I don't like about Skyrim is the repetitive nature of quests. Almost all go along the lines of:

"I need you to go to cave/dungeon and get staff/amulet"

Surely more variety can be entered. Like, why aren't there any games? Win an archery contest, for example?

Barbarian25

Most of the quests in Skyrim involve Dungeon plunging as it's a console port. Less power means less graphics able to be rendered so dungeons and caves are easier for the GPU. As for archery contests... the closest is when you get a few lessons from Angi which will, if used early, bump up your archery skills after each lesson.

Chazz Michael Michaels

Barbarian25 wrote: »

Most of the quests in Skyrim involve Dungeon plunging as it's a console port. Less power means less graphics able to be rendered so dungeons and caves are easier for the GPU. As for archery contests... the closest is when you get a few lessons from Angi which will, if used early, bump up your archery skills after each lesson.

So, actual games would add something, imo.

MadYaker

I would love to see it developed specifically for P.C and then ported to consoles but that's never going to happen. Huge pitched battles with hundreds of NPCs would also be really cool but would drive the hardware requirements through the roof, so that's unlikely too imo.

I think the game would definitely benefit from a character care system where you have to eat, drink, sleep. Your character should also have to wear warm clothing in cold areas. Also, why did they ditch the weapon and armor degrading system for skyrim? Your weapons and armor never degraded like they did in Oblivion. +1 for bringing back the arena, that was one of the best parts of Oblivion.

Chazz Michael Michaels

I would be amazed if they could make a game that didn't crash every time you open a door. Level 30 is the furthest I could make before this pickle makes the game unplayable.

One can dream....

Peetrik

Chazz Michael Michaels wrote: »

I would be amazed if they could make a game that didn't crash every time you open a door. Level 30 is the furthest I could make before this pickle makes the game unplayable.

One can dream....

Never experienced this myself

Chazz Michael Michaels

Peetrik wrote: »

Never experienced this myself

Google it, very common.

Chazz Michael Michaels

I think that horses are quite useless in Skyrim (not sure about other ES series), which is a great shame, given the setting. For me, Red Dead Redemption absolutely nailed horseback riding, it was both fun and practical. TES should take note.

So, hopefully horses improve.

MadYaker

What is wrong with the horses in skyrim exactly?

Chazz Michael Michaels

MadYaker wrote: »

What is wrong with the horses in skyrim exactly?

Walking/Running is only slightly worse than horse riding. The speed difference is barely noticeable. Attacking while on horseback is awkward, you are better off running away.

As I said, RDR made horse riding fun, practical and advantageous. Skyrim horse riding is none of these.

Peetrik

I think they would benefit from looking at the gameplay of mount&blade, integrating the speed bonus to damage from weapons like lances etc.

Chazz Michael Michaels

In my experience with the game, I simply have no use for horses. That is their failure.

paulbok

I only found horses useful at the start of the game (same in Oblivion) to explore the map, find the major towns and then I could fast travel.