I play the three newest Elder Scrolls games somewhat regularly and I realized how satisfying it is to play a social character in Oblivion. I stop and chat with people, even the guards, ask about rumors, make friends or just exchange a few words.

Yes, the minigame is silly. But I'm having fun.

Morrowind is ok in that regard also. My social skills (speech skill and personality) influence how much the NPCs like me... and so do several other things such as factions and reputation. One of my best early experiences with Morrowind was when my Personality was drained and everyone said things like "you stink", "I really got to go now" etc. However I can only "admire" the NPCs, not make them like me more while having a conversation.

In Skyrim I get little gift sometimes from people who like me, I can marry and adopt and travel with others. That is great! But speech is not so much a social skill as an "I level by selling loot to Belethor" skill.

I was thinking about the best way to handle social stuff in an RPG...

Of course there needs to be a reputation system and my actions and affiliations should also have impact on how people treat me.

As for speech skill, conversations and such...

Oblivion is nice because I can do more things than just "admire" the NPCs to make them like me. And also because different things work differently on different NPCs. Some don't like when you joke, some are more easily intimidated than others etc. The bad thing is that you have to do all of this. My character is a friendly sort and he is not the bragging type either.

So there could be the normal dialogue mode when you discuss quests, asks for information etc... and a "chat mode" where you just socialize and what you say effects the NPCs disposition... like in Oblivion but without the wheel. Instead you can choose different options freely, like "joke" "brag" etc. How the NPC reacts depends partly on how much they like you already, partly on their personality (are they hard to impress, do they love jokes) and partly on your Speech skill, Personality attribute or however talents and traits are handled in the game.

Something that people complain about regarding Morrowind is the "wikipedia" dialogue. While they do have a point, the many topics available to discuss is a means to roleplay a conversation. My Morrowind character adores the Ordinators, but he has bad manners and often talks before he thinks, so "admiration" doesn't work. But he still stops to ask them about random things just to get to talk to them. That is a way to simulate a conversation without it having an impact on the disposition, which is also needed, and is missing in both Skyrim and Oblivion.

...Just some thoughts about this.

What do you think? What would be the best way to handle the social stuff, in your opinion? Would be interesting to hear some ideas.