The Elder Scrolls VI: your wish list

[holycow]

We've been playing Skyrim for a good four and a half years now and I imagine that for most of us there aren't many corners, nooks and crannies that we haven't yet discovered.  I imagine most of us are starting to dream of what awaits us in Bethesda's next visit to Tamriel.  I'm still working my way through the Addict podcasts (just started the Dawnguard round table) so I don't know if you've already started discussing your wish lists, but here's a spot for all of us to talk about what we'd love to see in the next Elder Scrolls game.

Starting off quite specifically, I'd like to see the next game set in Elsweyr.  Jungles, deserts and Khajiit in abundance seems like a nice juxtaposition to the last game in the series.

Chief among all the improvements made in the next game is artificial intelligence.  When I read about some of the things Bethesda were trying to achieve with Oblivion I was so excited.  They were demonstrating to journalists characters that were encountering minor problems and giving them the ability to use the world around them to solve those problems.  Memory's a little fuzzy here as it was a long time ago, but I remember reading thet a character was frustrated by the constant barking of a dog.  I think she tries to shoot the dog with a bow and arrow but her archery sucks and she keeps missing, so either buys or finds a potion that improves her accuracy and shoots the damn dog.  It's quite possible you can find the video of this demonstration on YouTube as I'm pretty sure I saw it there a few years ago.  It was this kind of thing that had me hyped for Oblivion more than anything else.  I could see myself just following people around and watching what they got up to.  This sort of thing never made it into the final game of course, and I heard tell once that Bethesda actually had to dial back the radiant AI as it was having unforeseen consequences, such as one character going from shop to shop and buying up all of a particular armour.  In the next game I'd love Bethesda to shoot for clever AI again, and I'd also like that to extend to the wildlife.  If you're going to put buffalo in your game then they should herd together, wolves shouldn't be running around the countryside attacking anything that moves.

Next...the dreaded loading.  I don't know whether they keep their games modular to make it easier for modders, but having to load into every shop, every dungeon is not only immersion breaking but it feels very last gen.  I's love to see open cities with music pouring out of taverns and when I see a patron enter that tavern they don't hold their hand out to a door and disappear.

I think I've rambled on enough.  What would you like to see in The Elder Scrolls VI and also what do you think we will see?

[Renmiked]

I think the toughest thing for them to resolve will be the load screens on consoles. Even with Fallout 4 on XB1 the loads can be quite long. Figuring that there will be some settlement building in ES6, as well as the normally extensive quest lines and radiants, I just can't see how they can improve that aspect.

I would love to see multiple settings, where you actually get to travel to different lands. Also, I am curious what happens with the dragons, considering how important they were to Skyrim and how immensely successful the game was.

I would also like to see items be repairable again. I know it's a pain in the ass but, I really liked that things wore out and broke.

[holycow]

I would hope that keeping players out of loading screens and in the game would be top of Bethesda's to do list in future games. If other games are successfully handling it then why can't Bethesda. If their engine can't handle it then perhaps it's time for a genuinely brand new engine and not just the heavily upgraded Gamebryo they've been working with for years. Or perhaps there's a compromise; if you're going to hide your cities behind load screens then at least eliminate loading once you're in, having shops and house interiors fully integrated.

As for dragons Bethesda like to skip forward a couple of hundred years with each game, so that gives them plenty of lore time to either omit or include for whatever reason they see fit. I'd like to see them back again, but take the Dragon Age: Inquisition route. Make them rare, eventful encounters.

Settlements? Hmmm...not sure I want to see the Fallout 4 system incorporated into my Elder Scrolls, but I would like something. Perhaps gathering settlers together and instructing them to build certain buildings that take time to complete so you slowly build up a settlement over the course of your play through.

Another thing I'd like is a much larger land mass. Skyrim felt quite a bit smaller than Oblivion and Fallout 4 felt smaller still. The best part of any Elder Scrolls game for me comes not from the quests, but from the journey you take across the land. I want to get lost in the next game, not know the lay of the land like the back of my hand within a month.

[legendaryzelda]

I think my biggest wish is more consistency as to your effect on the world. The guards seem to know every new faction you join, but they still give you crap about sweetrolls after you've saved the world from Alduin? You can become Arch-Mage and Farengar still tells you to JOIN the College of Winterhold? People complain about quest markers breaking immersion, but stuff like that breaks my immersion far worse than any quest marker.

Also, I think it would be really cool if the next game took place in either Valenwood or Elsweyr.