Poll: The next Elder Scrolls game and the obstacles it faces

[Recusant]

I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone that Arena and Daggerfall are currently available, pre-DOSBoxed and free, on Bethesda's website. Yes, they're old, and yes, they're ugly, but they'll give you the whole of Tamriel to play with.

Actually just Arena. And literally about 95%+ of all that space is generated. And it's really really shitty generation. Like, the worst. Although to be fair, I haven't had any hands-on with Daggerfall so I won't comment on Daggerfall's generated content. Also, Arena was a long-ass fucking time ago too so yeah, it definitely gets a pass.

https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/daggerfall/
Please tell me how it's not available.

And there is, for example, a hell of a lot more interactivity to be gained with a proper force feedback joystick than the modern "slap in a vibratory motor and call it a day" approach- old doesn't mean bad; it just means old.

 

[Argonian alchemist]

I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone that Arena and Daggerfall are currently available, pre-DOSBoxed and free, on Bethesda's website. Yes, they're old, and yes, they're ugly, but they'll give you the whole of Tamriel to play with.

Thanks for that, just picked up Daggerfall. Played it when I was a kid. Really fantastic game, plus I can be a wereboar. Which is nice I suppose. Not sure if I'm correct or not but doesn't Daggerfall have the the largest game world ever? I remember that being a thing back in the day, not sure if it still holds up.

This is pretty unrelated but as I'm playing Skyrim right now I realize that I've never seen an Argonian, Khajiit, Elf or Orc child in the game before.

 

[Saelune]

I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone that Arena and Daggerfall are currently available, pre-DOSBoxed and free, on Bethesda's website. Yes, they're old, and yes, they're ugly, but they'll give you the whole of Tamriel to play with.

Thanks for that, just picked up Daggerfall. Played it when I was a kid. Really fantastic game, plus I can be a wereboar. Which is nice I suppose. Not sure if I'm correct or not but doesn't Daggerfall have the the largest game world ever? I remember that being a thing back in the day, not sure if it still holds up.

This is pretty unrelated but as I'm playing Skyrim right now I realize that I've never seen an Argonian, Khajiit, Elf or Orc child in the game before.

There are none. Only human children.

Edit: And GoG has Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire and Redguard, and they work without having to know how to use DOSbox.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Please tell me how it's not available.

Hm? Oh, no, I meant that Arena is the only ES game which allows you to traverse all of Tamriel.

 

[Faaip]

Edit: And GoG has Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire and Redguard, and they work without having to know how to use DOSbox.

This is good to know.. I wasn't a big fan of messing with DOSbox and I don't have it on my new PC

I second the idea that another developer should make a TES-style game. As much as I enjoy Dragon Age, Witcher, etc. nothing else quite has the feel of exploring in a Bethesda game

 

[PurplePonyArcade]

Elsweyr because I have a huge khajiit bias. That said as much as I would love a new TES game I really do not trust Bethesda to deliver at this point if they do. I am afraid of the direction their games are going in.

 

[Saelune]

Bethesda dropped all its "weird" lore post-morrowind so I really really doubt they'll ever do elsweyr or black marsh. Even ESO kinda dumbs down those places and sands off their edges for consumer tastes.

Is there any reason why he have to move forward in time like the last three games? Cause I want to play a game set in vvardenfell during the battle of red mountain

Granted it would take a lot of the ambiguity out of the event from morrowinds multiple conflicting reports on it but

To be fair, ESO wasn't made by Bethesda, and though I am at times impressed by what they do know, clearly alot of it was more "What TES memes are there?". Like "Lusty Argonian Maid" which was funny in Morrowind but got old fast. But it was written during Morrowind, so how the hell did it show up in the 2nd Era with Cassius still credited despite not even being born?

I would prefer main series games move forward. Too many fantasy settings seem stuck in certain things, so I like that TES moves forward and incudes radical changes to the world.

I do wish they would give side adventures/games another chance though, like Redguard was.

Hell, an Elder Scrolls stragegy/RTS game is dying to be made. I'd imagine the main part of that would be playing as Tiber Septim as he conquers Tamriel, but they could easily do side missions or something where you do famous battles like Red Mountain.

 

[Argonian alchemist]

-snip-

Couldn't agree more. I've always wanted an RTS. The battle of red mountain would be awesome to see in it's full scale. Huge battles in the elder scrolls games are always disappointing because it's always like 20 men against 20 men and it's meant to be the sacking of a huge city. I mean the final battle in the civil war quest (if you choose a side) literally has around 20 men in total.

But as Undeadsuitor mentioned, the battle of red mountain would be fantastic. Especially in an RTS style. Hundreds of Nords using the power of the voice against a desperate Dunmer defense. Even something strange would be worth a shot. Even an X-COM style game with different tES fantasy characters would be fun. Create a team out of an Argonian alchemist (shameless plug), an Orc berserker, a thalmor agent etc.

But alas, I fear the next Elder Scrolls will just be Skyrim 2.0 with the Fallout 4 engine/graphical upgrades. Plus how are they going to out-do having the main character be a dragonborn? They can't make us one again in the next game, we'd probably have to learn a lot of the same shouts again I'd presume. And they can't really not make us one either because then our character will lose a huge gameplay mechanic that made the game more fun and content filled.

So what do they do? Give us some other unique power? Maybe we play as some sort of miracle birth child of a Daedra or something? or uh... Maybe we'll have the power of the first ever (as far as I know) vampire/werewolf hybrid, because I can feel it in my soul, in either Elder Scrolls VI or VII we're going to be able to be a hybrid, especially after all the work they put into the vampires in Skyrim.

edit: However as an Argonian master race person myself, I'd prefer the introduction of the other 'were' creatures on the lore, were-crocodiles to be specific.

 

[Saelune]

-snip-

Couldn't agree more. I've always wanted an RTS. The battle of red mountain would be awesome to see in it's full scale. Huge battles in the elder scrolls games are always disappointing because it's always like 20 men against 20 men and it's meant to be the sacking of a huge city. I mean the final battle in the civil war quest (if you choose a side) literally has around 20 men in total.

But as Undeadsuitor mentioned, the battle of red mountain would be fantastic. Especially in an RTS style. Hundreds of Nords using the power of the voice against a desperate Dunmer defense. Even something strange would be worth a shot. Even an X-COM style game with different tES fantasy characters would be fun. Create a team out of an Argonian alchemist (shameless plug), an Orc berserker, a thalmor agent etc.

But alas, I fear the next Elder Scrolls will just be Skyrim 2.0 with the Fallout 4 engine/graphical upgrades. Plus how are they going to out-do having the main character be a dragonborn? They can't make us one again in the next game, we'd probably have to learn a lot of the same shouts again I'd presume. And they can't really not make us one either because then our character will lose a huge gameplay mechanic that made the game more fun and content filled.

So what do they do? Give us some other unique power? Maybe we play as some sort of miracle birth child of a Daedra or something? or uh... Maybe we'll have the power of the first ever (as far as I know) vampire/werewolf hybrid, because I can feel it in my soul, in either Elder Scrolls VI or VII we're going to be able to be a hybrid, especially after all the work they put into the vampires in Skyrim.

I never used shouts. I'd honestly prefer a bit less prophecy guiding me honestly. Let me be someone who is awesome cause I just am awesome!

Screw some unique power, just make the regular stuff fun. Make magic better, make stealth more fun. Give more depth and variety and let go of my hand dammit.

Morrowind's Magic > Shouts.

 

[Argonian alchemist]

Time for me to go protest outside of Bethesdas office with a "bring back spell creation" sign. That'll teach em'.

Also bring back spears. Pretty please.

 

[Saelune]

Time for me to go protest outside of Bethesdas office with a "bring back spell creation" sign. That'll teach em'.

Also bring back spears. Pretty please.

I think they need to be less afraid of letting you basically break the game. People already mod the shit out of the games, and use exploits when they can. Might as well encourage the sandboxyness.

It is fun to think of how differently you can go about Morrowind. I am considering making a pacifist character who doesnt kill and uses non-violent methods of dispatching enemies. Already tested it slightly on Umbra by damaging his strength so the was permanently encumbered and just stood there as I took him down with my bow.

Also I like that in Morrowind most of the rules that apply to you apply to them. Encumbrance, limited items and magicka, etc. Might have been that way in Oblivion too, but Im not sure about Skyrim.

 

[Souplex]

Time for me to go protest outside of Bethesdas office with a "bring back spell creation" sign. That'll teach em'.

Also bring back spears. Pretty please.

Spell creation was obnoxious and overpowered. I'd rather have a set of interesting balanced (They were under-powered in Skyrim but they were more mechanically interesting.) spells that do their job.

 

[Saelune]

Time for me to go protest outside of Bethesdas office with a "bring back spell creation" sign. That'll teach em'.

Also bring back spears. Pretty please.

Spell creation was obnoxious and overpowered. I'd rather have a set of interesting balanced (They were under-powered in Skyrim but they were more mechanically interesting.) spells that do their job.

You dont have to use it though. I mostly use it to fill in specific needs. I always make one spell specifically to recover Strength and Endurance. I call it "Cure Bonewalker". But otherwise I mostly use bought spells.

But it was still fun to have it there.

Enchanting is also far superior in Morrowind. I like the freedom it offered. Let me shoot fireballs out of swords dammit!

 

[Raddra]

Spell Creation was fun in Oblivion until your spellbook was completely filled with 100+ spells you created as your skills went up with no way to delete them..

But I still want spell creation back. And I want Mysticism back. And I want unique interesting effects like chameleon back. Etc. Stock Skyrim's spells are pretty bland and boring once the ooh factor of having a jet of flame or ice from your hands has worn off and you realize its only bolts from here.

 

[Saelune]

Spell Creation was fun in Oblivion until your spellbook was completely filled with 100+ spells you created as your skills went up with no way to delete them..

But I still want spell creation back. And I want Mysticism back. And I want unique interesting effects like chameleon back. Etc. Stock Skyrim's spells are pretty bland and boring once the ooh factor of having a jet of flame or ice from your hands has worn off and you realize its only bolts from here.

In Morrowind you can delete spells.

I think the next game needs to focus less on having a few very elaborate spells and just work on bringing back old ones that are still perfectly useful.

And levitation. Seriously, bring it back!

(and cure disease, a rather odd spell to remove in Skyrim)

 

[Mahorfeus]

I'm sure many will agree with me when I say that the real charm behind Morrowind was in its alien atmosphere. With a few exceptions, its actual gameplay mechanics were not really my thing, but the sequels were nonetheless lacking in a few important areas.

When it comes right down to it, Cyrodil and Skyrim just weren't weird enough. Mehrunes Dagon's plane of Oblivion got old very quickly, and even Apocrypha (if it can even be counted) was too repetitive. My visit to the Shivering Isles was the last time that itch got scratched.

That being said, which place was supposed to have the moving tree cities again? Valenwood? I want to go there.

 

[darkcalling]

I'd like it if the next Elder scrolls was set in Black Marsh or Elseweyr if only so me and my brother can play our preferred races and have more than one marriage option of the same race. Bro didn't even get the one. lol

what's more likely IMO is the Summerset Isles, Valenwood, or maybe both depending on how big they want the game to be. The most logical assumption for plot to me is dealing with the Thalmor and that's where they're strongest.

 

[Misterian]

I'd like to see the next Elder Scrolls take place in Elseweyr for a couple of reasons:

1) the vast deserts and dense jungles Elseweyr is known for would be an excellent contrast to the snowy landscapes of Skyrim.

2) We've already seen games take place in provinces belonging to the Men and Merfolk, it's only fair to give a Beast Race the spotlight for a while.

3) we already know Elseweyr is now part of the Aldmeri Dominion, and their overarching threat to Tamriel is among the few loose plotlines that have yet to be resolved.

I've play Bethesda's sandbox RPG's for over a decade now, and I still have nothing but good things to say about them, and I don't see much reason Elder Scrolls 6 will be any different. Though I am curious of how of much Fallout 4's mechanics will be carried over to Elder Scrolls 6...

 

[Argonian alchemist]

Though I am curious of how of much Fallout 4's mechanics will be carried over to Elder Scrolls 6...

That makes me think of something, something that might deserve it's own thread but to avoid clogging up the board I'll just say it here.

Does anyone want Fallout 4 style base building/settlement management in The Elder Scrolls 6? I don't think I do. But I wouldn't mind a watered down version of it. Maybe just making your own guild? Or something. Bandit group maybe?