Bethesda: No More Remasters in the Elder Scrolls Series

[ffronw]

Bethesda: No More Remasters in the Elder Scrolls Series

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1373/1373032.jpgIf you were hoping for more Elder Scrolls remasters, we have some bad news for you.

Ever since Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, fans of the series have been hoping that we might see more. Perhaps a remaster of Morrowind or Oblivion could be in the works, they hoped. Unfortunately, it sounds like that won't be happening.

In an interview with Official Xbox Magazine UK (posted online by GamesRadar [http://www.gamesradar.com/pete-hines-bethesda-interview/], Bethesda vice president Pete Hines explained why Dishonored and Skyrim got remasters, and why the rest of the Elder Scrolls games probably won't.

Hines said that Dishonored "was a unique case where it was a new IP at the very end of the last generation of consoles. So remastering it and bringing it to this gen wasn't a ton of work and it made a lot of sense given the proximity of those two.

Skyrim was more about the work that Bethesda Game Studios had done in the early days of getting ready for Fallout 4 on this generation of consoles-moving the Skyrim engine and doing some work to run it on this generation of consoles just to see how it worked, and so forth, before they started doing all their Fallout stuff. It's the most recent thing they did."

But Hines went on to point out that Bethesda generally doesn't want to spend the amount of time that sort of remaster would entail on old content. "But these things take time, it takes effort and manpower. Generally speaking, our approach has usually been that instead of spending all this time on a thing we've already made, why don't we instead spend that effort on something new, or on the next version of that thing?"

Hines said back in December that the studio had said in June [https://twitter.com/DCDeacon/status/808354939525300224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw] that TES 6 wasn't currently in development), or it could be something entirely new. We'll just have to wait and see what it turns out to be.


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[Jacked Assassin]

For a moment I thought this guaranteed that Skyrim wasn't coming to Nintendo Switch.
If Skyrim doesn't come out for the Nintendo Switch I'll be saving some money.

 

[Xan Krieger]

So they're intentionally avoiding profitable ventures, seems odd for a company to do. I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

 

[Igor-Rowan]

And here I am, thinking about those Game.com and N-Gage Elder Scrolls spin-off games that nobody played, and nobody will thanks to Bethesda.

 

[Imre Csete]

I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

They'd have to do voiceovers for all the NPCs, or people will get brain damage from all that evil reading.

 

[Xan Krieger]

I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

They'd have to do voiceovers for all the NPCs, or people will get brain damage from all that evil reading.

Hahaha yeah I forget how much things have changed. I was blown away playing Fallout 4 when the character you play as started talking.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

So they're intentionally avoiding profitable ventures, seems odd for a company to do. I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

I've always seen well-done remasters as introducing a classic game to a new generation of gamers. Morrowind was great, but suffers badly from dated game design, to the point where I can't stand to go back and play it anymore. No quest markers, severely limited fast travel, and the fact that your weapon attacks miss if your skill is low just makes the game unfun to actually play.

Seriously, give Morrowind a new coat of paint and update some of the game design decisions, and I'd throw money at Bethesda.

 

[Buizel91]

So they're intentionally avoiding profitable ventures, seems odd for a company to do. I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

I've always seen well-done remasters as introducing a classic game to a new generation of gamers. Morrowind was great, but suffers badly from dated game design, to the point where I can't stand to go back and play it anymore. No quest markers, severely limited fast travel, and the fact that your weapon attacks miss if your skill is low just makes the game unfun to actually play.

Seriously, give Morrowind a new coat of paint and update some of the game design decisions, and I'd throw money at Bethesda.

I could see them doing a Morrowind 2 before they even consider a remaster.

They know people like the game but to update it would be a nightmare. Here's hoping they just simply make a new game set in that area.

 

[bliebblob]

"Plus those TES Renewal Project folks are already all over it anyway. Best not open that can of legal worms. >.<" - Bethesda

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

It's a shame, but not a surprise. Couldn't care less about Oblivion [footnote]aka 'The One Where Bethesda Received Some Kind Of Head Trauma And Needed To Start Streamlining To Cope', aka 'Fallout 4's Ground Zero'[/footnote], which means Morrowind was the only update/remaster I'd have been interested in - and to modernise that game would surely dilute much of what made it so great (or at least much of what I loved about it).

 

[Trunkage]

Morrowind has a whole bunch of fetch quests and, other than the main quest, is mostly pretty boring. You don't have the awesome final quests of the Thieves or Dark Brotherhood like Oblivion either (although most of the other quests are trash)

There's also the fact that they have been streamlining the levelling system over the years which simplifies it, make it useable (I never want to see levelling like Morrowind or Oblivion again) and make it symmetrical. I dislike the first as its a less realistic, but the symmetry does appeal to me.

Honestly, do a remaster of Daggerfall. That would interest me more.

 

[RealRT]

It's a shame, but not a surprise. Couldn't care less about Oblivion , which means Morrowind was the only update/remaster I'd have been interested in - and to modernise that game would surely dilute much of what made it so great (or at least much of what I loved about it).

Ahem. Morrowind was the one where Bethesda started to streamline, not Oblivion.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I don't even care. Modders put more effort into making their games look and play better than Bethesda did with their "remaster".

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Ahem. Morrowind was the one where Bethesda started to streamline, not Oblivion.

Technically, yes, but what it sacrificed was arguably well worth it (particularly, and obviously, the inventive, varied, and richly detailed handcrafted world). What was gained by the sacrifices with Oblivion? Better visuals? Slightly better - if still fairly poor and empty-headed - combat?

Oblivion was the mass market cultural shift, and it started the journey that ended with Fallout 4 - ostensibly an anti-RP RPG.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

Honestly in their defense, a remaster of Morrowind would be less of a remaster and more of a 'complete and utter overhaul given how much of this game is held together by bits of twine and sticky notes'. The graphics, the leveling system, the stats, the countless exploits and glitches, FUCKING CLIFF RACERS, the fact that so many of it's gameplay mechanics are severly outdated these days (2002 was fifteen years ago, god dammit), the fact it's engine is a flaming garbage heap... it'd take a shit-ton of man-hours to bring it to the modern era. Add in the fact that while a lot of us older, fartier sorts would probably buy the shit out of a Remastered Morrowind, we'd also probably eviscerate it if it wasn't remastered the right way, and the newer Skyrim Fans would probably find the sudden shift in style incredibly jarring, with the... 'combat' Morrowind offered being something I can see turning a lot of people off from the game.

So, you know, I get them not wanting to do it - it's too much work for something that doubtfully would make it's money back.

 

[Vern]

One of my favorite, or most disliked memories in gaming was a quest in Morrowind. My memory is a bit hazy, but I was told by someone to find someone in a cave to the north. I had no markers to go by, and no fast travel in that area that would've gotten me closer. The caves were easy to miss, the entire area was a maze of mountains and valleys. I spent about 5 hours on that quest before I found the cave they were talking about. And it wasn't really a close cave, it was around a few mountains and valleys. And if they would've told me "It's a cave to the North, facing West" I probably would've found it sooner.

But I found some really great loot while looking for it, and it was enjoyable. I learned the layout extremely well, gained levels, fought beasts, had an adventure! The downside, now I don't have five hours to waste hunting for things. It was great a decade ago when I could put 300 hours into a game, now I don't have the time. But, for people 10 years younger than me, keep making those games for them. They'll grow up sooner or later, but they deserve the chance for a great, time-consuming adventure.

 

[Naqel]

adventure

The whole point of this exercise is locked in this word: "adventure".

You didn't go do a chore, you went to have an adventure, that's gone in a world of quest markers and pinpoint accurate GPS maps.

 

[Tiamat666]

So they're intentionally avoiding profitable ventures, seems odd for a company to do. I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

They won't do a Morrowind remaster, but perhaps they would do a Morrowind II.

I would be extremely happy if they moved the Elder Scrolls a tad in a new direction, taking hints from the civil war quest in Skyrim. Imagine a game world from Skyrim to the Summerset Isles with Hammerfell in between. You could explore the world like in previous Elder Scrolls, but there is a strategic metagame on top that enables you to raise armies and conquer fortresses and cities, Hammerfell being the main battleground. You would have to start out building your reputation until becoming the ruler of a city, at which point you could start raising taxes and controlling trade and craftsmanship of your city. Eventually you could become king, which would enable you to lead the entire war effort instead of just providing or leading troops into battle.

I think what I'm talking about is an Elder Scrolls game crossed with Mount and Blade. If properly executed and not compromising on the core Elder Scrolls gameplay, such a game would be legendary.

 

[Xan Krieger]

So they're intentionally avoiding profitable ventures, seems odd for a company to do. I'm pretty sure a Morrowind remaster would enable them to build a big statue of Talos (the best of the 9 divines) in front of their headquarters.

They won't do a Morrowind remaster, but perhaps they would do a Morrowind II.

I would be extremely happy if they moved the Elder Scrolls a tad in a new direction, taking hints from the civil war quest in Skyrim. Imagine a game world from Skyrim to the Summerset Isles with Hammerfell in between. You could explore the world like in previous Elder Scrolls, but there is a strategic metagame on top that enables you to raise armies and conquer fortresses and cities, Hammerfell being the main battleground. You would have to start out building your reputation until becoming the ruler of a city, at which point you could start raising taxes and controlling trade and craftsmanship of your city. Eventually you could become king, which would enable you to lead the entire war effort instead of just providing or leading troops into battle.

I think what I'm talking about is an Elder Scrolls game crossed with Mount and Blade. If properly executed and not compromising on the core Elder Scrolls gameplay, such a game would be legendary.

You mean like this?
http://www.moddb.com/mods/war-in-tamriel
Yes the mod is dead but it had potential. Also I would think Morrowind itself would be a great setting for such a game with the three dunmer houses, the imperials, and Vivec. I would absolutely play that all day.

 

[iblis666]

i dont really want morrowind remastered, i just want a game with some of the same design choices and the magic system