I think a message informing the player that he can't go further is fine - as long as it's an immersive, in-character one, combined with a plausible or ambiguous visual demonstration of why (mist-shrouded, forbidding mountains, or vast deep lakes extending beyond frozen ice, get my vote).

And then combine that with some kind of exploration reward - perhaps there are dangerous dungeons, treasure caves, easter eggs or special NPCs (a secret merchant?) at the "edges of the world", or even cavern passages that appear to lead beyond the borders, but actually wend their way back to Skyrim.

I feel it is abit odd having the whole of skyrim blocked off with natural barriors, i thought it was possible to walk from province to province, so i think it sould be like oblivion, some natural barriors and a large wall of pikes and stonewalls and a gate with guards that tell you you cant get to daggerfall as it is under attack or something, and maybe a dlc where you can go through.

How about a bright yellow fluorescent flat wall that says Insufficient RAM in bright RED LETTERS!

Ghost fence was plausible in-game.

You cannot go this way. Turn back now.

Either natural borders or computer generated landscapes with a few randomly generated dungeons and enemies. The idea with the hungry wolves might be fun at first but it would get old very fast.

Well http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8840/tamrielmap.jpg shows seas to the north, so they could do the infinite seas from Morrowind again for that. I'm out of ideas for what to do with the other borders (probably how the developers feel). Maybe the main quest's crisis will provide for border closure?

Edit: The borders of all of the countries might have changed from the map above, but the sea probably didn't move :tongue: . There will have to be land borders somewhere though, so the problem remains.

Just make the 'turn back' message appear before you actually hit the invisible wall, so you know that you will not be able to go much further.

Mountains with mages dispelling you if you attempt to levitate
or
Dragons carrying you back

I made a thread just like this last week. Someone suggested that Bethesda use fog that gets thicker and thicker as you reach the boundaries and eventually you cant see anymore and you have to turn back. I would personally prefer just natural barriers. I hated the invisible walls in Oblivion.

They could have done the sea thing for Oblivion too, but they didn't. Ever try to swim far out from Anvil? You just get the turn back message.

Assuming that the player is patronized by some deity, there could be roads going to the other provinces: However, when you are about to leave Skyrim the deity reveals itself to you and says something like "if you leave you will forfeit your destiny." The game presents you with a choice: Stay in Skyrim, or leave. If you leave, the game ends as your character traipses down the road into the unknown.

As you walk further and further away from the border, a blizzard starts to pick up and the blowing snow starts to obstruct your view. Eventually you will freeze to death, and the in game display and sounds should make that obvious.

You forgot your thermal underwear, turn back now

Natural borders by mountains (and if levitate exists, then all magic shouldn't work near the border... due to extreme cold?), and a big ocean which you eventually realize is endless like in Morrowind.

Well, if you're crossing the border into Cyrodiil, I'd have the game save and end, and your latest TES IV save loaded up in that game. Ditto for TES 3 if you cross into Morrowind.

Moutains, or some endless randomly generated terrain.

Natural borders just aren't creative or plausible in a game which is supposed to occur in a formerly united empire (it's difficult to unite with impassable mountains obstructing you). I think that divine intervention is the only plausible option.

a combo of mountains, water, chasms/canyons, epic man-made walls/structures, and possibly a barrier of super cold weather/fog that slowly kills you and makes you turn back.

I hate the invisible barriers. I loved that you could get on top of a mountain and look into neighboring provinces though.



I actually like the dense fog idea. I mean, there should be a border on the map and it should be obvious when you've crossed it, but once you go further, it becomes just a super-foggy forest and you get lost and are forced to fast-travel back or something. If you go too far like a mile out, THEN you can hit the invisible barrier. Also, there could be wolves and stuff out in this foggy forest to make it even more of a no-man's land.

You're right! I'm sure they won't change anything for this game. Invisible borders for all!

"You cannot levitate this way, turn back"

Is that sarcasm I sense, good sir?

Actually I agree here. When I climbed the mountains to rh north in Oblivion and found that I COULD get over them I was thrilled, and certain that I'd managed to get into another country. When it said I could o no further I accepted it, no problem. Not like I thought they would have programmed the whole world. And as I said, I was just happy to have been able to get there at all.

Invisible walls I say. The only not immersion breaking thing. If it was mountains, you'd wonder how the Nords ever managed to trade with Cyrodiil and the other provinces bordering it. There'd need to be roads there. Also, mountains are hardly something a player character can not possibly get over.

Invisible walls are not immersion breaking. It's half a second of "sorry, player, but not this way", and you're back in the game. Just as much as a floating rock or some other minor bug. What is important is that no quest leads you too close to the borders and there's nothing too interesting there, then people probably won't ever be there anyway unless they WANT to explore the borders, in which case they'd better be facing invisible walls than illogical natural barriers or hordes of wild animals instantly killing them.