The Ultimate TES game, What would you like to see Bethesda do? Options

[Vital]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but it's not directly related to Skyrim, Oblivion or any of the older games and is a general discussion about an RPG series (The Elder Scrolls) so it seemed the best fit

Just to clarify: This is not a "Which TES game is the best" thread. It is a thread to discuss the various features seen in any of the TES games, whether you liked them or not, how they could've been done better, why they should've left them out, what they should've had instead/as well, etc etc...

Ultimately it is a discussion about what would be the ideal Elder Scrolls Game in your opinion and how Bethesda could combine all the failures and successes of the previous games in order to create this. If you're already happy with one game, how could it be made better? (It can't be perfect )

Feel free to talk about different mods and games other than TES and how these could be implemented into the game as well.


To start:

I personally would love to see a combination of Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim (these being the only TES games I've played in depth) put into one game. The alien environment, number of factions, lack of hand-holding and so on from Morrowind, combined with the brilliant questlines and general feel (I can't explain this one but it just.... is) of Oblivion and the better combat, crafting and mechanical superiority of Skyrim.

This is just a brief description of some of the things I would like to see. I could write a 30 page essay on this and if this thread gets response I will put more stuff up. Anyway, what are you guy's thoughts?

[gpstr]

Here are two significant facts about Todd Howard:

When he first applied to Beth (which he did on a whim, because he used to go past their office on the way to university - he didn't even play video games at the time, much less have a particular desire to develop them), they turned him down. He didn't give up. He kept coming back until they finally relented and hired him.

When he was first put in charge of a game, he put out Redguard - a wholly linear action/adventure game with a fixed main character, and a game that was such a bomb that it almost bankrupted the company.

Now remember - Todd doesn't give up.

RPGs are a niche market. There just aren't enough fans of complex RPGs to establish and maintain the sort of franchise Beth unsurprisingly wants TES to be. So the real hell of it is that Todd was right, all those years ago - he was just trying to sell an action/adventure game to a fanbase that was then exclusively serious RPG players. So what he had to do - what the company had to do - and what they HAVE DONE - is to slowly transition away from that fanbase. That's exactly why each and every game since Daggerfall has contained less roleplaying complexity than the previous game(s). They float this nonsense about how each game is its own thing, but that's obviously not the explanation, if for no other reason than that no company invests millions of dollars into a whim. The games are what they are because that's what they've been designed to be, from the very first development meeting. And the trend has been consistent with every single game - every one, with no exceptions, has less roleplaying complexity and more simple linear storylines than the previous one(s). That's not just a random happenstance - it's a deliberate design decision on which millions of dollars rests. And from a pure profit standpoint, it's obviously the correct decision. Even the people who see what's happened to the series and hate what's happened to the series are more likely than not to buy the new game anyway, so Beth gets their money anyway, so their opinions count for exactly nothing. And for every one who decides that s/he's had it and isn't going to even bother, there are dozens of new fans who are eager for the chance to pump 20-some hours into a cool looking game with some neat features that they don't really understand but that's okay because it's set up so that they can't lose anyway and then they get to post their list of achievements on their Facebook.

It doesn't matter what RPG fans might want - RPG fans are to Bethesda as decaf-drinkers are to Starbucks. Sure it pays to at least make an attempt to satisfy them, but only as much as is necessary to not drive them away entirely. The bulk of their efforts have to be spent satisfying their MUCH larger "20-some hours of cool looking game with achievements I can post on Facebook" fanbase, because THAT'S where the money is.

The ONLY way that RPG fans are going to get another great game out of Beth is if they do a spin-off RPG series - a sort of specialty series, done knowing that it's not going to sell 20,000,000 copies. The next main series game, just like every single game since Daggerfall, will be LESS of an RPG than the previous games. That's absolutely guaranteed. Todd doesn't give up.