Survival: Would be nice to see some of it incorporated as hardcoe mode like in FNV.

Seasons: Would be nice to have them!

Fast travel: I'd prefer Morrowind style services but I won't shun Oblivion style FT either.

Compass/Map: I'd love if we had to buy/find/steal the map/maps, pretty much like it is done in Gothic series. Then add Morrowind style quest instructions without Oblivion quest arrow. Also quest and normal NPC should be able to mark locations on your map if they know where they are.

I do hope the eating and drinking part, if it's included, would be optional which I doubt it wouldn't be, but it'd be a bummer if it were forced.

I'm pretty sure you won't be eating all the time, but needing to eat occasionally, like once every 2-3 days, otherwise you have stat penalties. Same with sleeping and stamina.

What will make it interesting is the new job/skill, cooking. I think it would be cool if you had to cook your food to avoid getting diseases from it. So, say, you've been traveling in the wilderness for a few days but you haven't bothered to cook meat from the deer you killed, even though you could have set up camp to do so anytime in the last hour or two of play. You need to eat, but you decide to go down into some ruins anyway. You are adventuring when you start to get really hungry and your stat penalties intensify (it works like rads in fallout, except the stomach bar goes from full, to empty, to starving. you get increasing bonuses the closer it is to full, no effect for empty, but increasing penalties the closer it is to starving). You might starve to death in another day once you get to starving if you don't eat, but the bigger issue is some nasty wraiths that are giving you trouble. You really need those stat penalties gone. So, you eat some RAW deer meat. Unfortunately you contract a disease that you will need to heal with alchemy but at least the stat drains for that haven't kicked in yet. If you'd only cooked your meat earlier and eaten, while keeping some extra in your pack, you'd be better off. Either way it's forgiving enough. Also, if you fast travel a couple times in a row, you will be really, really hungry. Keeps you from abusing it if you fast travel at all.

I think that would be a workable system that wouldn't be too annoying. It's actually simpler than RADS, though you didn't have to cook in Fallout.

Also due note, id love to see some herbal medicine in the game as well, like using a poultice and teas to cure some diseases. As well as alternative hunting/ranged weapons, like the sling, and spears! It's one of the things i missed about Marksmen skill in TES4 where marksman has other weapons besides the bow and arrow.

One of the best things in the game is how the wind howls and you can feel the countryside of the game blowing though you as you look over the star expanding scape of tamriel, its beautiful in every respect. And totally unforgiving in skyrim 'the throat of the world'

Regarding seasons, I really enjoyed their implementation in Oblivion. All seasons were represented without causing a great amount of trouble. I think it was genius and flawless. Having seasons everywhere... I just don't know if it would work well. What about outdoor chests or items? Can I just not get to those in winter because they're covered in snow? What about mobs? Do they change with the seasons, making it impossible to find the one you need unless you sleep for 3 months? I love what I heard so far about this in the interviews. 'Epic reality' he called it, and also noted that all sorts of natural environments will be shown in the game, not just winter. This is the one thing that I am 100% happy with and excited for about Skyrim.

edit:

I should note that while I adored the breathtaking environments and representations of seasons in different geographical locations within Oblivion, I enjoyed the weather effects much more in Morrowind. Being outside in a storm in Morrowind genuinely scared me, and that was awesome.

YES, this is as close to as entering the matrix. I'd love to swallow this red pill!

Some of the answers we could give seemed like they were written from a bias. Please try to keep answers to one word yes, no, etc. to avoid this.

I see a lot of people posting in threads saying "No, this will break immersion" or "Yes, this will add to immersion". Personally I have no desire to increase the level of "immersion" than what it was in Oblivion! It annoys me, because it seems thats all people seem to care about! Anyway, this is just my opinion, because it seems like a lot of people do care about this stuff.

I think the survival things like eating and sleeping and all the other options should be left to either a mod or DLC. It would really put me off the game if it was something that I had to do. I dont care for it, I just want to get on with the story and explore different parts of the world. Personally, I wouldn't be happy if, in Oblivion, I was attempting to close one of the gates, only to be experiencing negative effects, simply because I had not eaten enough apples that day...

As for the fast travel thing. I see that being posted quite a lot too. I can kind of see where people are coming from, but usually, you travel to some location outside of a city, only to come back after completing that stage of the quest, along the exact same path... So you don't really miss anything. I don't find that I will find new locations or anything like that, so it would annoy me if the fast travel was not included, but I also like the idea of non-fast travel, but the carrige thing.

Seasons, I think thats a great idea. I think it would add a higher level of detail to the game, and also may completely change how certain areas look. I'm not that bothered about how my character is going to feel warmer, and might want to change what clothes they are wearing... But to see a snowy area with bare trees, turn into an area with grass, flowers, and trees with lots of leaves on would be really nice!

Map and Compass. In Oblivion, it was usually fairly easy to find out what to do. I think sometimes it is nice to have to work out for yourself where you need to be going. Although, at the same time, I don't want to have to ask every NPC in a city to find out where some place is. I mean, you have a map, this guy has been running about Skyrim before he was captured, surely he knows where some places are!

Basically, I don't want a game where I have to make my character sleep every night, eat three times a day, and only carry a few items, because for me, that "breaks immersion". To me, immersion is where I don't realise how much time I'm spending playing the game. It has nothing to do with how real a game is. From the different posts/threads I have seen I think that some people would definitely benefit from certain features, but, I think they should be left to DLC or mods. I thought Oblivion was perfect, so a revamped version with a new story in a new location, is all I really want!!
Thats just my opinion anyway!

I was playing Morrowind around one A.M. one night and I had just finished an excruicating long quest, but I had conquered the hardships and I was on the return journey. My supplies were extremely low and most of my equipment had been broken, but I was still in a good mood. It began to rain, I knew this to be an ill omen but I continued on anyways. I didn't want to spend the night in a tavern, I wanted to finish the quest. It got darker and darker, and eventually the rain really began to pour. I noticed strange shadows moving along the ground in front of me, I knew that they were Cliff Racers, but I didn't dare look up for fear of attracting any of those annoying beasts. I saw something very large moving in the distance, lumbering over the dark horizon. I crawled forwards, trying to get a closer look. It was an Ogrim, and I was scared [censored]less. I noticed that not all of those strange shadows were from eratic Cliff Racer movements, some were from the demented spires of a Daedra Shrine. I slowly turned around, and began to sneak away. Not wanting to risk an encounter with my equipment in the condion it was. Then, thunder shook my headphones and I fell out of my chair.

That storm scared me literally out of my chair. I want that level of immersion in Skyrim.

You can easily have that in Oblivion too.

As someone who played blade of destiny and star trail and darklands and and and and and...

Remember thats a PARTY based game... much like darklands when your dealing with 4-6-8 characters at the same time you have alot of skills... ALSO unlike elder scrolls that was a standard xp system not the system elder scrolls uses.. Being gain as you use causes some serious changes to a skill setup as apposed to how those games worked.


Also note that wasnt made for the people skyrim is made for... back then only NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! played these games.. people with the innate ability to juggle dozens of numbers and complex calculations and with a certain set of real world skills and abilties.. most humans dont have.

Tedious annoyance er, Survival - no thanks, never interested in those mods or the FO:NV hardcoe mode

Seasons - I doubt we'll spend enough in-game time (except for those people who spend hundreds of hours on one character) for it to ever be worth programming in. The game always starts on the same day (at least, the previous ones did) - if that day were, say, in Spring, no one would ever see Winter. Programming the extensive changes required for that season would be an utter waste, maybe seen by a handful of people.

Fast Travel - I have no issues with FT whatsoever. But, hey - if you want a network of coaches and to waste your playtime walking nearly everywhere else, even though all that terrain is cleared of encounters.... go for it.

Map & Compass - something between OB & MW, maybe? Red compass arrows pointing to general locations, but not specific targets (like, just the front door of a dungeon). Map markers appear on the map as they're discovered. No opinion one way or the other on major cities starting marked - having a coach network is effectively the same thing, it just costs a few gold to make the major cities appear on the map.

Rather then a survival mode or hardcoe mode id like a challenge mode with spawn rates amped up and spawns slightly ABOVE your level more often.. Then a mode beyond that amps up even more with deadly weather and even more nasties and with nasties with much more lethal ai setups.

But I would like the normal game to be easy enough to get into that we pick up anouther 3-4 million players.

A: By "sleep" it doesn't really mean you have to sleep at night though. I mean hell if it's anything like FO:NV's hardcoe mode, you won't have to sleep but once a week =P
B: Cooking feature you say? I haven't heard of this (I've heard of crafting but not cooking). But if it's been confirmed that they're including a cooking feature then it's very likely they'll have a hardcoe mode. I mean why else would you need to be able to cook? O.o

I'm lazy so I'm not gonna type out what my answers were.

I voted with the majority, let's leave it at that.

Anyway, I agree with a lot of these posts. One idea I like particularly about fast travel is that it should be toggle'able in the options menu. on OB I remember many times trying to make a non-fast-travel-dependent character but I'd always fail because sooner or later I wouldn't want to trek from Cheydinhall to Anvil to do something (not literal, just an example), and having the option was just too tempting.

Seasons, I think, would be pretty damn sweet and easy to implement. I haven't heard anything about it or thought about it a lot though so I can't really talk a lot about it

Magic compass: is in. Ok I dunno if the magic compass is in but I do know that there is A COMPASS in the game. You can see it on the five seconds of leaked footage from the demo ;D. I just hope it's not that thing where it's set to the item you gotta find. If there are quest markers I want them to be a lot less "Look here! RIGHT HERE." I mean c'mon I don't need the game holding my hand and telling me where that valuable family ring or ceremonial is.

Survival: Yes to all. But as an option. Not an option for me mind you. If there is a hardcoe or survival mode I'll have in enabled every single time I play. Like on FO:NV. First character I had an all the alternate role playing characters I've made since that have used hardcoe mode. Just an option for people who like to play a less labor/tactic intensive game.

I agree with the morrowind transport network. I believe fast travel stops most people from actually seeing all the content skyrim has to offer!

SURVIVAL MODES ARE NOT IMMERSIVE!!!
You people clearly do not know what Immersion is.
Immersion is graphics, story, sound, dialog... anything to make the game seem like more than just a game. To keep you playing for hours at a time, without watching the clock.
Survival/hardcoe elements add a very unrealistic meter in you menu telling you when your character is hungry, tired or thirsty. It can become frustrating at time and even pull you right out of the game. NOT IMMERSIVE.
It is this mentality that made Immersion a taboo word around here.

The more immersion the better as long as it is optional

I 100% agree with the above. My wife loves to fast travel, but for me its a masive disconnect. Having to memorize travel routes, and landmarks to find my way through Morrowind was a big + in my book. If you took away my fast travel in Oblivion I doubt I could find my way, it simplifies things needlessly.

Also, I'd like to see the old Morrowind method of questing brought back. Right now I just follow the arrows and occasionally glance at quest text. Again, its a big disconnect. I'm not a die-hard RP person by any means, but in a game thats as massive and gorgeous as a TES title its a damned shame to turn it into a "point and click" adventure.

buying a map would be an interesting twist...I think it would be great if it was a mix of Morrowind and Oblivion...where if you don't buy a map then you reveal the map piece by piece, or if you do then you gain immediate access to fast travel to major cities. As far as quest markers, people who give you quests would give you a general idea of where you are going...so if quest markers led you to a quadrant of the target location, then once there you are on your own...

We kinda have a biological (AND mental) meter that decides when we are hungry, tired, and thirsty... but it's not so concrete...

Hunger thirst and Tiredness should be brought about by physical activity, not just time... and starving to death should take a very long time...

Truth is, if you haven't eaten in a couple days, you are going to be weaker, and all around less productive of an individual, Hungerr should affect damage, fatigue, intelligence magicka, and health. If you haven't drank in 2 day or so, you will pass out of dehydration, maybe causing you to die, depedning on where you are. Thirst should only effect your fatigue I feel. If you haven't slept in a long time you might pass out... fatigue should be drained, as well as magicka.


It's not a super-realistic way to measure these things... but it's the best we have... and it didn't ruin immersion for me in NV.

"Yes, more immersion" to all of the above. More hardships, less Xbox.

I really don't like this "Immersion is always good" mindset. You should stab yourself in the arm every time you would get hit in the game, that would be true immersion!

But on topic:
SURVIVAL:
Only Eating. Drinking only worked in Fallout where it played on a desert wasteland where water was scare, and it would be just silly to die from thirst with all the snow around. Sleeping is annoying when you're on a longer quest or you just can't find a bed. I only accept eating because it would make all the food item actually useful, other than ingredient or health.
Fatigue is already in, but it could work like in Daggerfall/Arena where it didn't regenerate, but it was a much bigger pool. Eating and sleeping could restore it, so we could hit two birds with one stone.
Injury and Temperature would be just way too annoying. Injury wouldn't be more than apply healing kit on yourself after every battle. Temperature is meaningless if you can't feel the could yourself, just reading that "you're freezing" is not enough.
The whole, getting fat thing in the OP is just a dumb idea though...

SEASONS:
It won't be in the game for the sole reason, that nobody will see it. I played a lot in Oblivion and I was proud of myself how I could get to the start of spring. This is the same reason there won't be big festivals on holidays...
Making months shorter won't help at all, unless you make every month one week long, but that would be just ridiculous.

TRAVEL:
Carriages are already in. NEXT!

MAP & COMPASS:
Contrary to the popular belief, the red/green arrow and the magic compass don't ruin exploration. The quest markers were a bit excessive in Oblivion, yes, but they can still mark the way to the dungeon if you have been told where is it located. And the magic compass in fact tend to encourage exploration. You walk the road, and you see something on the compass, so you go and check it out. Sounds like exploration to me!

Heh in one of my ob games I was something like 20 years forward before I had even gotten halfway through the mage guild quests...

I didn't like the shopkeeper schedules added in Oblivion. Sure it makes sense and is realistic, but I just found it more annoying than anything from a gameplay standpoint when I'm hauling lots of loot from some place and get to a shop around night time. It didn't really make me view the NPCs as more human with lives of their own, just as a script getting in my way.

I realize it is a good feature for thief-type characters though who want to break in and steal stuff, but it's not really the type of character I like to play. I think the optimal solution would be to have some additional shops that are open at night.