Well in the North the sea will act as a good natural border around the rest of it maybe the best way would be mountains to steep to climb. There would be however need to be a couple of points where you could get through the border but they should be patrolled by border guards that are impossible to kill.

Although I did liked the 18 dragons beat the crap out of you unless you run away :rofl:

Well, I think it should be like Oblivion's system, but improved with more natural barriers and lore-based barriers that make sense. For example, bridges that have been destroyed over chasms due to the civil war, mountain passes closed off by rubble, rockfalls, or avalanches, and of course some huge mountains with natural steep cliffs that are part of the normal geography.

So basically, it should be broken down like this. First, here's the http://i.imgur.com/nxx36.png. Now, from looking at that, we can determine how the borders should work.

Out of the 100% of border area, we can assume roughly 30% to be the sea to the north. That border could work simply as an endless sea with no profit for swimming further out, or an invisible barrier far out, or sea serpents or something. Next, we can conclude based on the known geography that almost 40% of the remaining land border is a string of naturally mountainous terrain that is incredibly difficult if not impossible to traverse (this is fitting to the lore for Skyrim as well, since most national borders throughout history IRL, and in Tamriel, are determined by natural barriers and terrain/biome fluctuations as borders). Finally, we can estimate that the remaining space made up of mountain passes, lowlands, and generally "normal" terrain between Skyrim and the surrounding provinces can be covered with about 10% of that space being impassable due to lore-related circumstances and the remaining 20% left to being wilderness that has to have a "turn back" invisible barrier.

Granted, those are rough estimates, and since I nor anyone here knows the exact layout of Skyrim's borders, we can only speculate. But based on the evidence we have, I'd say Bethesda has it easier making borders for Skyrim than for Cyrodiil. And even with that 1/5 of the map area with invisible barriers in the wilderness, I really don't think anyone will care. I mean, who really gets upset when they reach the obvious map edge? Why would you care about it when you could just turn around and go play the game?

I think It will be the best map border design yet, given the geography.

"You cannot pass! I am a servant of the Bethesda Softworks, wielder of the invisible wall. You cannot pass. Those strong legs will not avail you, hero of Skyrim! Go back to Skyrim! YOU CANNOT PASS!"

I′d like that, if only once and never again!

Naturally impassable landscape is the best option but I'm also fine with invisible barriers for as long as they're placed around the edge of the map.

I'd prefer natural barriers. It's not as immersion breaking as invisible walls or unbeatable guards (who wouldn't fit in lore wise anyway). Oblivion had a few of these natural barriers but not many.

I think using the weather and creatures as barriers are a good idea too. Maybe a pack of wolves attacks if you try to enter High Rock, or a couple dozen Cliff Racers fly in if you try to enter Morrowind.
Or there's a landslide if you enter Cyrodiil.

10000 cliffracers descend upon any who dare venture too far out into the world

Natural barriers would be best I think, although the odd invisible one would be ok (I got frustrated by the amount in New Vegas, for example). Rabid stealth deer as border patrol is always a good option though.

How about a Greybeard Fus Roh Dah'ing you back into Skyrim?

Natural impassable landscape makes the most sense. I like hlvr's idea.

What's wrong with invisible barriers? It doesn't make sense to me that Skyrim will be entirely closed off by mountains, that conveniently have no way over them or through them. I think that that is more immersion breaking than an invisible wall.

And invisible walls also make it easier for modders to add something outside of Skyrim borders. When there are mountains all around, the only areas to mod will be inside the borders.

I am fine with invisible barriers at the edge of the map. Part of the game design is that I would never have a reason to go there, as there wouldn't BE any place of interest near there. And since we have a map of the world from the beginning, I would know there was no point going any further.

Invincible guards are just trouble. Especially as that would mean someone would try to bait a dragon to attack them eventually. Put an invisible wall, it is simple, to the point, and everyone knows it is silly to try to walk off the map anyway.

(The anti-invisible wall people are just anti quest barriers. This has nothing to do with the issue of this thread, which is about what to put at the edge of the map.)

See my above post for a proper explanation of how Skyrim's geography will actually work. It makes the border issue too small to be of much consequence to anyone, imo.

Take a good look at the Skyrim map. http://riftwall.com/images/skyrim_text.jpg
It does make sense that Skyrim is closed off by mountains, because that's pretty much how it actually is.

I'm fine with the invisible walls from Oblivion and Fallout 3 that just said "No! Bad! Turn back."

Someday I want a game with invisible borders that gives you an error message on the top of the screen every time you hit it.

"You have been inexplicably frozen by God"

"You lost your map and must turn back"

"The time-space continuum ends here"

"The world does not exist past this point"

"You hit an invisible wall"

A light shines from the sky with the voice of the developers, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS......."

3 warnings, and then the skies darken fiery black and a lightning bolt turns the player into a smoky, crispy critter.

...

Either that, the dragons, or Gandalf.

:confused: Not for most people. Natural borders work best for most people, I think. Invisible walls always feel abrupt and pull me out of the game. I prefer endless sea and sheer mountains.

I want border guard posts that you cannot cross. It makes no sense at all if there are no roads/paths out of skyrim (a major annoyance of mine in Oblivion, the fact that there were no roads to other provinces).

Inivisible walls are fine, but please make it so that there are a few paths that actually lead to the edge of the map for realism's sake.

I guess a combination of natural barriers and a few invisible walls (that block access to other provinces) would be ideal. I think an endless sea and mountains that are too steep and jagged would fit just fine in Skyrim. Aren't mountains common there?

You are pulled out of the game the second you reached the edge of the map, no matter what you put there. Anything you put there to pretend the barrier isn't present is not going to fool anyone.
As I said earlier, the smart thing is to simply never put anything quest related or of interest anywhere near the map's edge. The best way to prevent the break of immersion is to make sure it never happens. And if you deliberately try to march to the edge of the map, you are not role playing any more and is just testing the game out of curiosity. Bethesda is under no obligation to try to convince you there isn't a barrier present, when you as a player shouldn't even be at the edge of the world at all.

That's an interesting point with the no roads out of Cyrodiil. I never even noticed that.

C'mon, you know that would be fun

It'd be nice if they kept all quest related stuff or points of interest far enough from the borders (without sacrificing content). Having a nice sized buffer layer between the map's edge and the area with quest stuff would be great. It's true. No matter what border is used, every player will instantly recognize it as the edge of the game world. Still, a steep mountain that I can see from a ways off is less jarring than an invisible wall.

A combo of a decent sized buffer, natural barriers, and some walls works for me. It's been brought up before. How do you guys feel about an endless terrain. That could be sea, mountains, forests, tundra, working like the sea surrounding Morrowind/Solstheim. (Wait... I think you could swim between Morrowind and Solstheim, right?)

I actually didn't mind how close some things were (like Hermaeus Mora's shrine). I really felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.

Natural barriers for me, but I wouldn't mind invisible wall. They didn't bother me in Oblivion.