The carrying capacity for characters is way too high, IMO. The inventory system just needs to be rebuilt. I think that both weight and volume should be accounted for.

We all know how dumb it is to be carrying multiple full suits of heavy armor and still be able to unequip everything and run around in a loin cloth. I've come to accept this as part of the CRPG genre though. I just think carrying tons of stuff should bring about some logical penalties and the weight capacity itself should be lowered.

That isn't 'fun' though. I honestly HATE inventory management. It gets to be a pain in the ass. Might be a nice tradition to get a personal pocket to Oblivion for us to through loot into. Think we are on opposite sides of the fence on this one. While it most certainly is a dumb thing to witness. An even dumber thing would be spending absurd amounts of time managing inventory.

The eels are a necessary mechanic. Look at a map... Summerset consists of two sizable islands. The story adds a few small ones too. In a proportionately scaled down open world, swimming between islands would be a few minutes work. So my options are (1) revise the plot to allow it, (2) create annoying invisible walls, or (3) provide a compelling reason for the player to avoid deep ocean water. I like the plot as is, and I hate invisible walls.

Yeah but 70 foot eels seems a little strange to me. Perhaps Great Whites and Colossal Squids? Colossal Squids actually exist btw

Yeah, I suppose it would make the game a little more of a headache. But it would only be bad if you're the kind of player that has to pick up every little thing and carry it around until you get to a merchant. If you hate inventory management, why grab every item you see and carry it around with you?

Lowering the weight capacity means less inventory and therefore less management though, right?

If you think something being strange isn't an immediate call to include it in TES then you're not doing it right.

I Arena: Human
II Daggerfall: Human
III Morrowind: Elven
IV Oblivion: Human
V Skyrim: Human
VI Elsweyr: Beast

A couple things of note. One, this is one person's ideas (moi). Even if, by some 50,000,000 to 1 chance, Bethesda opted to use said ideas, they would bring in a committee of other devs to work on it. Eels might become sharks, or squid, or maybe they'd just say screw it and inflict those miserable Invisible Walls on us after all. They're kind of a tradition in Bethesda's open-world games: Oblivion, F3, and Skyrim all had 'em.

Second, I would LOVE to do Elsweyr, really I would. But since I think many gamers would not be interested in a game set in Catworld, I think that an Elseweyr DLC is more realistic, either in Skyrim or ES VI, maybe set in one of its subset kingdoms like Anequina. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe if I get a good idea for an Elsweyr game, I'll post it after this one.

Last, I observed that someone gave another poster static about "creating their own game". Well, this is the only topic where that's allowed. If you object to that, simply avoid this topic, there's only a few hundred thousand others you can peruse.

Anyway...

ELDER SCROLLS VI - Dominion (Continued)

MAIN QUEST SYNOPSIS - Part 1

Surrounded by deep, dangerous ocean and manned by cruel jailers and merciless torturers, the Culuma Prison is every Aldmeri subject's worst nightmare. It is also your new home, and will be your last. A chatty young Altmer is in irons alongside you, along with an elderly, sullen, and battle scarred Nord who says little. The former explains why what has happened to you has happened, then is silenced with an armored Altmer fist. The Nord is then roughly grabbed, stripped of his ratty prisoner garb, and chained down. Remorselessly, the torturers prepare to apply the red-hot pincers to his flesh. And then, the old man expands and furs out, revealing that he is a werewolf. He breaks free of his shackles, slaughters the torturers, and breaks down the door on his way out.

Freed in the resulting mayhem, several other prisoners go charging down toward the sewers, hoping to escape. However, Tragil (the elf who was with you) knows that the other guards will quickly corner them, and urges an alternate path. He takes you up, into the higher reaches of the prison. As you battle your way up, the game's tutorial takes you through fighting, equipping weapons, magic, potions, archery, sneaking, and everything else you need to know. On the roof, as hordes of Thalmor are approaching you, Tragil explains that your only chance is to jump from the roof into the roiling ocean below. You jump, and are at the apex of your leap when the game freezes and gives you the opportunity to make tweaks in your character. This done (or not), time starts again and you hit the ocean with a splash. This ends the game's primary tutorial phase. It can be skipped if the player wishes, how to do so will be discussed in a later section.

You and Tragil try to swim to safety, but you have landed in deep water, and it is full of enormous carnivorous eels with razor-sharp teeth. The elf is pulled down and devoured, but you are saved in a nick of time by a boatman who normally makes a living by ferrying individual Thalmor agents to and from the island.

he boatman is a Khajiit named Jo'Rak, and he is sick and tired of the treatment the Altmer have given him and others of his race over the last two centuries. He offers you safe passage off the island, albeit at his convenience. First, you must secure dinner: pick some veggies, acquire some meat, and cook said items over a fire. Then, you must retrieve his amulet, which an elf soldier stole, from a nearby barracks. Finally, he hides you in a barrel and sails away with you. However, he is flagged down by a Thalmor vessel, who intend to inspect his ship (most of the escaped prisoners are dead, but you and the ill-fated Tragil are still missing). Fortunately, the cat says, you are in shallow water, which eels instinctively avoid. You are also reasonably close to the smaller northwestern island, not far from Firsthold, and can expect to survive until he can come back for you, which he promises he will. With no other options, you jump overboard and swim to shore. Exploring the island, you are taken captive by armed warriors; resistance is instantly fatal. You are led past a beached transport ship with a broken back, and to the town of Firsthold, which has now been taken over by the ship's crew, one-quarter of the New Stormcloaks, who are very much alive.

You are introduced to the leaders: Hodlin, the grizzled old Nord in charge of the group, and Yadbaam, his cynical but loyal Orsmer second-in-command. Upon hearing that you are an escaped prisoner, Hodlin sees no reason not to release you, but Yadbaam thinks it wiser that you remain as their guest for a time. At this point, you have a choice. Hodlin states that he's noticed that you have no gold, and offers you some work in exchange for money, or you can simply remain as their guest. If you do the latter, the main quest is halted, but Jo'Rak soon returns and corroborates your story. You can leave in peace. Along with the option for skipping the tutorial, this means that repeat players starting a new game can have access to all of Summerset almost immediately. The only downside is that you have no gold and minimal equipment upon arrival. If you choose to do the main quest, you may simply return to Firsthold and offer your aid to Hodlin.

If and when you offer to help out, Hodlin asks you to retrieve some lost items from in and around the wreckage of the ship and return them to him, and offers to compensate you. If you agree to help, you have access to the northernmost quarter of the island (it's divided by an impenetrable stockade), including the ship. The hardest item to find is optional, a special enchanted sword. You can keep the weapon for yourself. Or, you can give it to Hodlin, and in return he will teach you a trick he learned some time back, from the descendants of the last Dragonborn: the Unrelenting Force dragon shout (unfortunately, since you are not Dragonborn yourself, you can only use this power once a day).

Your troubles aren't over. Lairah, the ranking Redguard present, reveals that her fellows are growing increasingly upset, due to the fact that the former had to throw the boxes containing much of their armor and weapons overboard. They have set up a blacksmithing area on the island, but need an extra pair of hands to do the work, and Yadbaam nominates you. You need to hunt some animals for leather and meat, mine and smelt some iron ore, and make some armor and weapons in the forge. Alternatively, if you've acquired armor and weapons elsewhere (escaping from prison or wandering Summerset), you can sell them to Lairah. Once the Redguards are properly equipped again, things begin to settle down between them and the other members of the group. However, they are undecided about whether to slip away or recommit to their original mission. There is little hope of success with the majority of their force now fish food and the elves now aware of their presence, but little point in continuing to live under Aldmeri rule. Either way, they will need transportation, so the three group leaders ask only one more thing of you: escorted by a small prize crew, you slip into a Dominion shipyard and make off with a small transport vessel that the Thalmor recently confiscated; hopefully they won't consider such a small prize worth the effort of a lengthy pursuit. The ship is only lightly guarded, and you can either sneak up on and eliminate the guards, or deal with them (and reinforcements) in a bloody straight fight.

Once you have taken the ship, you proceed into the hold to make sure no one is left on board, and are waylaid by a previously invisible Thalmor justicar, Bryn. He states that he has no intention of stopping you, but suggests that you might want to work for him. Rooting the Stormcloaks out of Firsthold will cost many lives, he explains, but if you help him lure the group (and possibly other enemies of the Dominion) into attacking, which will lead them into a deadly Thalmor ambush, it will be different. A grave threat to the Dominion's stability will be neutralized and his own position in the hierarchy will rise. He gives you his word that he will tell no one of your encounter, not wanting any enemies to get spooked until the trap is ready, and will ensure that no one will be looking for you. He reminds you that the Thalmor look after their own, but are very vengeful to those who oppose them, and urges you to think it over. Then, he becomes invisible again and leaves the ship. It is impossible to fight him as this juncture. Instead, you sail the ship back to Firsthold.

The New Stormcloaks agree that you have done your part, and so they release you, though they suggest that there's more work you can do for them if you want. They also reveal that Jo'Rak has finally returned, and is prepared to keep his promise to transport you to the Summerset mainland. He also agrees to ferry you to Culuma, Firsthold, or King's Haven on the Summerset mainland anytime you wish, though other locations remain off-limits to him. Before you part, Jo'Rak suggests that the Stormcloaks numbers have been reduced, and they will not be able to oppose the Dominion on their own. However, enlisting others as allies might strengthen them, and the Aldmeri have plenty of enemies. He points you in the direction of the forests to the south of Shimmerene, the home of a shadowy group called the Valenwood Rangers, composed principally of Bosmer.

You now have access to most of the vast open world of Summerset...

NOTE: In response to those who cry foul because they don't think dragon shouts should return... I was never all that fond of them myself. However, FUS-DO-RAH has something of a following among Skyrimmers, so I found a way to bring just that one back.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewanolytics?formkey=dDRGVGw0QUwxYmdKbE43T3lDcUZCc0E6MQ
Summerset Isles: 458 votes, Valenwood: 433 votes, Black Marsh: 464 votes, Elsweyr..1658 votes.
"Catworld" FTW

I stand corrected. I think one of those 1654 votes may have been mine. I'm doing Summerset now, though.

1st. Elsweyr 1659 votes
2nd. Black Marsh 464 votes
3rd. Summerset Isles 458 votes




Imagine this fur on a Khajiit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25n7KLYzX3g

That poll is has no credibility, more than half the voters wanted the entire continent portrayed... I can't account for the high cat vote though, i love cats but..a return to an elf focused game, mile high tree climbing, a possible sea element are all too promising for me.

I am a big fan of TES but i really think they need a massive overhaul. After playing games like Assassins creed 3, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect etc. Skyrim, which is only a year old already seems so clunky and outdated.. the graphics are great but the game play hasn't really changed since Morrowind.
Things like combat, magic, character movement, interacting with NPC's, interacting with the environment etc. lacks any sense of realism and immerson.. and considering how indepth some elements can be and the time some of us put into the game feeling more a part of the adventure would be awesome.
And seriously could they test the game properly before they release it for a change, TES are the only games i have ever played with more than just a couple minor glitches.

Enough with the 1/3rd size DLC's (especially a location that has been done before). How bout bringing out a new TES game every two to three years instead so the Bethesda team could maybe get a bit more trial and error time in to perfect the game instead of waiting 5 years so that by the time the next game is out it is already outdated and outclassed by everything else on the market.

I have spent around 900hrs on Skyrim to date and at this point i am rather over it and am not entirely sure that i am going to bother with the Dragonborn DLC as i can't imagine they would have improved the above mentioned stuff in any way. Just give me a new improved TES so i can experience a whole new adventure.

I think a beast province deserves a turn.

Daggerfall = Human
Morrowind = Elf
Oblivion = Human
Skyrim = Human

The only problem with that is identification with the province...Most people don't identify themselves with cats or lizards.

AC 3,Red Dead Redemption are action games with linear quests..So I just don't see the comparison.
Mass Effect I agree does a few things better than Skyrim,But it's just not as big as Skyrim is..The glitches and bugs are there because of the sheer scale of the game world and quests.

Objection! It is only natural for a TES fan to dream about being able to explore the whole continent and beyond.
It's not realistic, of course. But neither was the poll requiring them to be.

Agreed

They don't have to, they have 8 other races to choose from. Didn't stop Mysts of Pandaria from being successful.

Also, cats are the second most popular pet, so they are instantly identifiable.

Maybe it's just me but identification is not what I seek in video games. I'm seeking the thrill of the adventure and the originality of each story. Vvardenfell was weird and alien, I had no attempt to identify with the land or the local culture, and yet it's my favorite game of all time. The beast races lands would offer great alien worlds to explore and wonder, so different from the last two games. I hope they'll give these provinces a try, there can't be a better moment than now, after a very successful human game.

Yeah, Khajiit aren't mankind in a cat body. They have a unique culture alien to our own, with their unique rules, habits, and rituals.

Yes, but Elsywere will be shown in TESO. Valenwood and Black Marsh are the only two not being portrayed, correct?

Alien to Americans probably, but the Khajiits culture is based on that of real-world humans.

specifically a heavy gypsy culture.

All of the provinces are somewhat represented in TESO.

There is way more to it than that. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Khajiit

Elder Scrolls wiki is a terrible source for lore, full of fanon, and unsourced information. Use UESP at least, if not the The Imperial library.

But really, everything about the Khajiit culture is based on real-world culture. The Khajiit's culture is only alien to those who have a very poor knowledge of current, and historical, of human cultures.