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?

[Destri Melarg]

The trouble there is that every member of each race is an exact duplicate. Apparently there are factories out there rolling out elves, humans, orcs, etc..., since we all start out with the factory-standard model. That would explain why the children all look the same... I find it very un-i... (sorry Renee, but here comes the 'I' word) immersive.

And I can understand that point of view. The point I'm making is that, if the opposite were true and we went back to fixed attribute starting points for the various races, then we would inevitably find ourselves in a situation where developers give us elves that are physically weak and orcs that are mentally inferior. That, to me, is far more limiting than just starting me with a blank slate that I can then develop the way I see fit. I'm okay with it taking me 5+ hours to get the character I'm going to enjoy for the next 150+.

But more than that, the bonuses they give the races rarely match up with who my character is at the start of the game. The characters I create are people, with their own personalities, histories, and stories. Not toons I roll to beat the game with (Ph3R M3 n00Bs!). Because of that I could work past the inability to customize my stats at the start of the game. I play a person, not a bunch of statistics. However, it makes it difficult to do that working past, precisely because what my character can or cannot do from the very first moment in the game does not match who that character is in my head.

I think we're actually in agreement here. I've still never even finished the main quest of any Bethesda game (going all the way back Morrowind, and that includes Fallout 3). My characters start with a personality, not with a pre-formed skill set. You are arguing that your characters are 'people, not a bunch of statistics' while being put off because you can't start with the statistics you want. My characters discover who they are throughout the course of their adventure, that's a big part of the fun for me… and all I'm saying is that I don't mind starting my character off as a blank slate if that means that I don't have to be burdened with the ideas of that 'guy sitting in the DC suburbs.'

For example, one of my earlier characters was Hera, who was an Altmer barbarian…

… I shouldn't have to wait until 5 hours into the game to be able to play the character the way I envisioned them being at the start of the game.

So it sounds like what you're really put off by is the fact that Hera couldn't steam roll the earlier levels the way you wanted.

Think about it… your Altmer barbarian was still able to use two handed weapons (which in a number of so-called rpgs would have been impossible because you had the effrontery to pick a high elf... and everyone knows high elves are just mages), she just had a not-too-steep learning curve to negotiate at a time in the game when enemies are easy anyway. You were also able to fit her into the fur armor you wanted (again, impossible in most so-called rpgs). As you've stated you could just ignore her apprentice level skill in Illusion… or you could just incorporate that into your role play by using courage spells to simulate her leadership qualities. All of that came with the vanilla game us console players use which, being on the PC where you can just change things to the way you want anyway, doesn't apply to you.

I have always sought out and respected your opinion, 'Rosa. But, in this case/thread, I think we're all getting upset about the wrong things in Skyrim. Personally, I don't care if they continue to streamline the mechanics. What I care about is that they continue to streamline the story-telling! Give me an epic and engaging MQ (hopefully one I'm not forced into), and interesting side quests & faction quest lines. Make the effects of these quest impact the world beyond whether or not a tree grows in Whiterun. Give me a world filled with 3 dimensional characters and relationships that feel real and not contrived. Do that and you can take away all the attributes and impose as much homogeneity in character creation that you want!

The real challenge is that if you put 10 players together, you'll get 10 differing visions of how things should work. So I'm glad I'm not a game developer, and think the smartest thing they can do is make sure and offer their tool kit (CS / CK) to the fan community.

The smartest thing to do is make it the way I want it!

I'd buy it… as long as it had a tool kit!

This post has been edited by Destri Melarg: Apr 8 2015, 08:39 PM

[SubRosa]

So it sounds like what you're really put off by is the fact that Hera couldn't steam roll the earlier levels the way you wanted.

Not steamroll. I don't expect that until the later part of the game. I just want to possess the basic competency of a person who has been using the weapon/skill since childhood. Along with the basic incompetency in other things they have not been using.

Think about it… your Altmer barbarian was still able to use two handed weapons (which in a number of so-called rpgs would have been impossible because you had the effrontery to pick a high elf... and everyone knows high elves are just mages), she just had a not-too-steep learning curve to negotiate at a time in the game when enemies are easy anyway. You were also able to fit her into the fur armor you wanted (again, impossible in most so-called rpgs). As you've stated you could just ignore her apprentice level skill in Illusion… or you could just incorporate that into your role play by using courage spells to simulate her leadership qualities. All of that came with the vanilla game us console players use which, being on the PC where you can just change things to the way you want anyway, doesn't apply to you.

My elf characters in all the other RPGs I have played - like the Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate games - could start out as muscle-bound barbarians who were good with a sword and clueless about magic as well. So I am not sure what other RPGs you mean?

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Apr 8 2015, 08:52 PM