Official TES V Speculation Thread # 61 : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:58 pm

I have a question.

Why is it that some sites say that Infernal City is the first of a two-book series?

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/j-gregory-keyes/infernal-city.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-Infernal-City/dp/0345508017
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780345508010.html

I thought that was just guesses and speculation, not fact.

From the official press release:

Bethesda Softworks?, a ZeniMax? Media company, and Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, are pleased to announce that Del Rey Books will publish two novels based on Bethesda Softworks' award-winning, high-fantasy video game series, The Elder Scrolls?

http://www.gamesas.com/eng/news/pressrelease_042709-3.html

Ninja'd. Multiple times.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:18 am

There is going to be a second book Ontopic: Not to be pessimistic but when he said if Pete Hines told him to announce it now he would I got a bad feeling because if it is tes v then wouldn't they want the book to be announced first?

I don't see why the book has to be announced first. Todd could show the game and then they could say, "Oh yeah, the second book will bridge the gap between IV and V and will be out in march.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:38 am

There is going to be a second book Ontopic: Not to be pessimistic but when he said if Pete Hines told him to announce it now he would I got a bad feeling because if it is tes v then wouldn't they want the book to be announced first?

Maybe that's what they're waiting for!

Thanks everybody, I thought it was all just guesses.

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:37 pm

Why would Todd bother mentioning all this at Quakecon then make an announcement next year? I Think it will be announced sooner than most folk think. I cant see many games coming out on PC/Console's that sound exciting enough for Beth to hold back.
DEC would be the perfect Christmas present :celebration:

So true:) I really hope we hear at least Something new around Christmas time:D

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:53 pm

So true:) I really hope we hear at least Something new around Christmas time:D

Yeah that's all I want for Christmas this year! An announcement for Christmas 2010, and the actual game for Christmas 2011!

» Tue May 17, 2011 8:05 am

I think it would be more likely to have the book announced after the game. Seems like it would be something to hold the fans over until the game is released, and since there would already be a lot of hype around the games the book would probably sell even better.

I forget who it was who said it, but it seems like the books were just one big book that Keyes wrote, and then they just cut it into two. Seems very likely, and it would mean that the book has already been done and ready for when they want to announce/release it.

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:12 am

There is going to be a second book Ontopic: Not to be pessimistic but when he said if Pete Hines told him to announce it now he would I got a bad feeling because if it is tes v then wouldn't they want the book to be announced first?

I really don't think Bethesda is all that concerned about the book. I still say they're going to announce it after the game's announcement. If they announce the game, then announce the book, they'll get many more sales than they would have if they announced it before the game, due to there being more people looking to see what happens before TES V. The only drawback is that if they talk about the plot of TES V without releasing the book, they may make it seem pointless for people to read the book if they know what will happen after it anyway.

» Tue May 17, 2011 10:53 am

Why would Todd bother mentioning all this at Quakecon then make an announcement next year? I Think it will be announced sooner than most folk think.

Yeah, that's what I was also thinking. He already mentioned they're far into the game and said they could show a lot. I'm a bit confused why people say it's going to be revealed at the end of the year... Maybe it's just me, but that isn't really "soon", like Todd said.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:46 am

2 years right after Oblivion of fine tuning their engine, 2006 - 2008

Bethesda improved upon the Oblivion engine for Fallout 3, I'd guess they've either further improved this engine or started fresh with a later version of GameBryo - buth either way they wouldn't have started this until they were done working on the Fallout 3 engine.

Or maybe they pull a 'New Vegas' and tell Arkane to make a third adventures game, a year or two after TES V.

When Obsidian got the rights to make a Fallout game this fact had to be announced, I'd guess if Arkane got the rights to make an Elder Scrolls game they'd need to announce it as well. I suppose it's possible that Arkane didn't officially start this project until they had joined Zenimax but I bet they've got different under wraps right now. An Elder Scrolls spin-off may be a possibility for the future though!

On another note...has anyone considered that the game in pre-production is a new IP? Maybe Obsidian will take on the Fallout series and BGS will start a new IP for the next gen consoles.

Yes, this was discussed http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1110982-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-61/page__view__findpost__p__16288701 in fact.

I myself am not adverse to a new IP from Bethesda but now just seems like very poor timing.

I seriously doubt Bethesda is going to give Obsidian the reigns to the Fallout IP. Bethesda has stated in the past they're interested interested in making more Fallout games so I don't see why they'd stop. Are future Fallout games from Obsidian also a possiblity? Certainly, but these will be in addition to Fallout games from Bethesda.

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:10 am

Why would Todd bother mentioning all this at Quakecon then make an announcement next year? I Think it will be announced sooner than most folk think. I cant see many games coming out on PC/Console's that sound exciting enough for Beth to hold back.
DEC would be the perfect Christmas present :celebration:

Yeah Todd has already said that they are ready to announce but they haven't. So to think that they will wait long is kinda absurd. And with the quickest turn around in history i think we can expect to get two christmas presents the announcement this year and the game next :drool:

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:24 am

Yeah, that's what I was also thinking. He already mentioned they're far into the game and said they could show a lot. I'm a bit confused why people say it's going to be revealed at the end of the year... Maybe it's just me, but that isn't really "soon", like Todd said.

There are only 4 months left of the year if you don't count August. The way Todd worded it, imo, made it seem like it definitely wasn't a few weeks away, but it wasn't more than a few months away either. The end of the year (Nov-Dec) seems much more likely than September or October as they seem to be too soon. Of course this is just my view on what he meant by "soon."

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:27 am

I don't think Todd Howard ever said they were going to announce their game "soon". VG247 wrote that Todd Howard said their next game would come out "soon", but from the Eurogamer interview, he never said that.

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:57 am

I don't think Todd Howard ever said they were going to announce their game "soon". VG247 wrote that Todd Howard said their next game would come out "soon", but from the Eurogamer interview, he never said that.

*looks at interview* Good point. He said "I have a sense but we're not ready even to talk about that, because it might change. I don't want to disappoint people." And he also said he would be ready to show it if he had to. That to me really doesn't imply that they'll be announcing it a month or two from now. The end of the year or at most the beginning of next year really seems like the most likely scenario.

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:14 pm

Yeah that's all I want for Christmas this year! An announcement for Christmas 2010, and the actual game for Christmas 2011!

Yea :celebration: I so hope so

Btw everyone, I know I am gonna get beat for this by some but, does anyone know when the second book is being released and if it is Confirmed that it will be the breaching point for Oblivion and ES V?

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:15 pm

I don't think Todd Howard ever said they were going to announce their game "soon". VG247 wrote that Todd Howard said their next game would come out "soon", but from the Eurogamer interview, he never said that.

Someone linked to another Eurogamer article that was basically a summary of the interview. In it they specifically mentioned (without quotes) that Todd said they would be announcing soon. Again, it could have just been their impression inserted but it is more compelling.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-16-todd-howard-working-on-two-new-games

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:00 am

I think it would be more likely to have the book announced after the game.

Seeing as the second book will lead into ESV I suspect we'll hear about the book and then we'll start getting ESV info at the release of the book,
this is similar to how most game/film tie ins are worked out in my experience.
I suspect any info (and a release date) on the second book is purposely being held back until a timeline for the games reveal is firmly decided.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:08 am

Someone linked to another Eurogamer article that was basically a summary of the interview. In it they specifically mentioned (without quotes) that Todd said they would be announcing soon. Again, it could have just been their impression inserted but it is more compelling.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-16-todd-howard-working-on-two-new-games

Interesting, thanks.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:36 pm

I don't think Todd Howard ever said they were going to announce their game "soon". VG247 wrote that Todd Howard said their next game would come out "soon", but from the Eurogamer interview, he never said that.

Well it really doesnt matter because from the interview with Eurogamer he says that they have been working on it for 2 years and he also say they have come a long way. That means they are going to announce it soon anyway. They announced Oblivion 2 years before it was released, and i dont think TES V will be released more than 2 years from now.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:05 am

Seeing as the second book will lead into ESV I suspect we'll hear about the book and then we'll start getting ESV info at the release of the book,
this is similar to how most game/film tie ins are worked out in my experience.
I suspect any info (and a release date) on the second book is purposely being held back until a timeline for the games reveal is firmly decided.

That is a plausible scenario and the best argument so far for it. I'm still sticking to an after-announcement book reveal but we'll just have to wait and see.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:32 pm

*looks at interview* Good point. He said "I have a sense but we're not ready even to talk about that, because it might change. I don't want to disappoint people." And he also said he would be ready to show it if he had to. That to me really doesn't imply that they'll be announcing it a month or two from now. The end of the year or at most the beginning of next year really seems like the most likely scenario.

I think this is a really key point.

As for discussion about the announcement being "soon," that is a very vague phrase. To me it doesn't sound like they're ready to unveil this so I don't think we'll be hearing about this in the next month or so. The end of the year wouldn't surprise me but I'm still leaning towards early 2011. Given how long this game has been in developement even early 2011 would be relatively "soon."

I don't think the next book needs to be announced before Bethesda's next game is announced, although I would expect the book to be released before Bethesda's next game if it's an Elder Scrolls title.

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:57 am

Releasing the book after the announcement makes sense if there's a long wait between TES:V's announcement and its release. If there is a shortened period of time between the announcement and release (as Todd noted), then it may make more sense to announce beforehand. :shrug:

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:18 pm

Releasing the book after the announcement makes sense if there's a long wait between TES:V's announcement and its release. If there is a shortened period of time between the announcement and release (as Todd noted), then it may make more sense to announce beforehand. :shrug:

Like someone already said. Bethesda might try to sell the book by incorporating exclusive content with each copy of the novel. Its a great sales pitch made to sell DLC and I guess some lore, for a much higher price.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:34 am

Todd Howard did say they worked on their next project before Fallout 3 went gold. Probably pre-production.

The kotaku interview? Updating the engine is what he said they were doing, post F3. How likely is it TESV's been near completion, since F3's release, and they've been optomizing the tech, for the last year and a half? When he mentioned 'work,' he followed that up with the tech speil. Just a thought.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:43 am

Yea :celebration: I so hope so

Btw everyone, I know I am gonna get beat for this by some but, does anyone know when the second book is being released and if it is Confirmed that it will be the breaching point for Oblivion and ES V?

We don't know when it is will be released (although it we are moderately certain it is finished/almost finished), but IC and the next novel and bridging the gap between Oblivion and ESV.

» Tue May 17, 2011 8:25 am

The kotaku interview? Updating the engine is what he said they were doing, post F3. How likely is it TESV's been near completion, since F3's release, and they've been optomizing the tech, for the last year and a half? When he mentioned 'work,' he followed that up with the tech speil. Just a thought.

He's said that there is a lot of game to show right now...