Through my travels mainly in cyrodil but dabbling in morrowind. I have noticed lots of hints to Skyrim's story and setting.

Obviously the Skyrim province has been there since Arena. I'm not claiming I discovered it just things I have noticed on my playthrough since skyrim has been announced.

In the dark brotherhood quest where you have to kill all other members. The ghost of Ruffio (your first victim) is (When your cursor is over him) named as ''Dovakihn''
In the quest in Shivering Isles expansion pack ''Symbols of office'' your clone is also called ''Dovakihn''

Some NPC's when asked about Rumours they speak of ''War in the North'' and ''corrupt Nords''.

The Skyrim logo is present on the Morrowind GOTY edition box art.

Also in Morrowinds in game start screen.

Spolier*
In Oblivions final cut scene Martin breaks the amulet of kings. Which is filled with Dragon Blood and the dragon of Akatosh emerges. Could the dragons returning be due to the smashing of the amulet?

Post any other things you may have noticed in the comments thanks :foodndrink:

All I have to say is that the dragons returning has EVERYTHING to do with the smashing of the amulet

The logo you see in Morrowind is the logo of the Empire.

And they didn't know that they were going to make Skyrim the next when they made Oblivion. Though that about these "Dovahkiins" is curious.

There are loads of hints in Oblivion but I can't think of many parts of morrowind which hint towards it.
I think they just decided half way through making Oblivion.

May I ask which hints? People from Bethesda said that they hadn't decided where their next game was going to take place while working on Oblivion.

I'm sorry, all of those are wrong.

None of those are named Dovahkin, and that logo is not the Skyrim logo, it is the logo of the Empire. It's Akatosh.

Hints such as dragon born/dragons having a vital part in oblvions main story and books such detailing skyrim being reused from morrowind. I think they had a pretty good idea of what sort of setting they would like. If they wanted to put dragons in skyrim would be their natural choice seeing as nords had worshiped them in the past.

I don't think those things were telling us that the next game would be in Skyrim, I mean they mention BlackMarsh a lot in rumours and NPC gossip, as well as a Hist tree from BlackMarsh but it doesn't necessary mean its gonna be the next game.

Well, the Septim dinasty are dragonborns, yes, but they have nothing to do with our Dragonborn main character. There are books detailing stuff about Skyrim as there are books speaking about Valenwood or Elsweyr or Akavir. But none of this has much to do with the dragons returning and a Hero facing them in Skyrim. That was thought after finishing Oblivion.

1. Pretty sure its called Summoned Ghost of Rufio, at least it is in my game :shrug:
2. Its called corrupted clone in mine :shrug:
3. Good point, never noticed that before.
4. Its not the Skyrim logo, its the symbol of the Empire
5(spoiler). Not sure but highly doubt it.

Just my two cents, but certainly an interesting topic.

The only hints I know of are:

The doors on the Imperial City had the Skyrim logo (Might just be the Elder Scrolls Logo IDK)

And Maiq the Liar's quote..... "I have seen dragons. Perhaps you will see a dragon. I won't say where I saw one. Perhaps I did not."

It's the Empire banner, Akatosh.

And M'aiq telling that probably referred to the Avatar of Akatosh, at the end of the game.

I am not sure at all myself, however with all of the things which had happened in oblivion it seems like it would be a natural choice to have skyrim as the setting seing as it fits in with the dragon theme. Also I thought they had designed Bruma's architecture the best out of all the towns.

Mate I just seen it myself you [censored].

just because they didnt have a location yet does not mean they didnt have dragons in mind. Just thought i would point that out. They may have had a story but no chosen location.

I was just saying it would be ideal to set it in skyrim due to the lore about nords worshiping dragons.

It may be worth pointing out that im playing oblivion GOTY edition...

Neither of those two things are labeled as "Dovakihn"
I have heard NPCs talking about Skyrim
And it's the Empire's logo, not Skyrim's.

OMG I just found some Skyrim Greaves in Oblivion they knew all along!!! /sarcasm

Tamriel is a big place, of course they're going to reference the other provinces they do it at the start of the game when you pick your race. Plus they want to keep the game world believable wouldn't be able to loose yourself in the game if the only thing you heard about in other parts of the the land were, "My cousin went to Blank Blank and found a Blank with a golden Blank."

i agree. I was just stating that they only said they did not have a location in mind for TES V during Oblivion, meaning they may have had the story in mind already.

what platform do you play oblivion on?

Pics or it didn't happen. Besides, I just checked the editor with SI loaded. Rufio's ghost is named "Summoned Ghost of Rufio". I also sorted all NPCs by name. There is no Dovahkiin. Closest is Dovesi Dran and Dovyn Aren.

Neither of those characters are called Dovahkiin, whether you think you saw that or not.
The Skyrim logo is the symbol of he empire, not Skyrim.
There are rumors and books talking about every province.
Alduin's wall depicts something from each of the first four games, plus an event from Skyrim. I'm pretty sure the staff of chaos is there, I'm just having trouble finding it.(Arena) It also shows the Numidium(Daggerfall), Red Mountain(Morrowind), and a gate to Oblivion. In the first trailer, Esbern says "Til the time after Oblivion opened, When the sons of Skyrim would spill their own blood." This leads me to believe that the gates opening, not being closed, was what needed to happen in Oblivion. And Obviously, the final thing is the Skyrim civil war.

Proof?