[Amy Gibson]

I hope it's not a direct continuation of Oblivion's story, since that was pretty weak.

I want a political power struggle.

Wouldn't the end of Oblivion result in exactly that, a power struggle?

As the author has translated it into chronological instead of direct, I think this is what he meant when he wrote direct.

[Guy Pearce]

Note: being privately owned, Zenimax has minimal investor concerns compared to, say, Activision.

In fact, Zenimax may well be better served not quashing rumors, if they have a good pitch. Rumors of TES V bring in people who are thinking "hey, TES is not Call of Duty, but it's damn sure going to make a hefty profit" and "I wonder what kind of ROI I can make with them". Meanwhile, Zenimax is thinking "Todd, if we offered you a bigger budget, what does that bring to the table? We'll jump on it if you can convince us our ROI is there!"*

* If Zenimax buys Splash Damage, I'm blaming Todd Howard!

[Tarka]

False dichotomy FTL.

If that were true, then TESV has been confirmed at least a dozen times in the last two years.

Big companies do not comment on rumours until they gain silly amounts of traction in the mainstream and threaten investor confidence.

Why wouldn't they come out and deny it, by not denying it or confirming it the rumors about TESV would continue. I do see one problem with denying it but the thing is we would see through the lie.

[Nicole Mark]

I don't believe it will be a continuation of Oblivion like some are making it out to be. If it were a continuation, what else could there be storywise?

Spoiler

I mean, in the main quest all of the Oblivion gates were close, and Martin Septim died and defeated Mehrunes Dagon.

It's just not Elder Scrolls/Bethesda fashion to have direct sequels to their games.

[Stacyia]

Why wouldn't they come out and deny it, by not denying it or confirming it the rumors about TESV would continue. I do see one problem with denying it but the thing is we would see through the lie.

These "rumors" haven't hurt them in any way (at least that I can imagine) so there's really no need for them to comment on them as this is basically just free publicity for them. Now if there was a severe backlash to these rumors, similar to the one generated by the Todd misquote, which would be hurtful to them, then I can see them publically commenting on the rumors, like they previously did.

[Rachael]

... If it were a continuation, what else could there be storywise? .....

I thought it was obvious: Who will be the next Emperor?

[evelina c]

I thought it was obvious: Who will be the next Emperor?

Spending 4 1/2 years to make Oblivion II is pathetic. Honestly, all you'd need are a few writers. I seriously doubt Bethesda is going to do that. Again, look at history... each addition to the series has had a completely different theme.

[Ria dell]

Spending 4 1/2 years to make Oblivion II is pathetic. Honestly, all you'd need are a few writers. I seriously doubt Bethesda is going to do that. Again, look at history... each addition to the series has had a completely different theme.

Actually, each addition tries to do something new and cool, that's what Todd said on the making of dvd. as far as the ending I think it's bluntly obvious. Your going to have a serious impact on tamriel.
ending to oblivion

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1HX7YnG39w

[Elisabete Gaspar]

These "rumors" haven't hurt them in any way (at least that I can imagine) so there's really no need for them to comment on them as this is basically just free publicity for them. Now if there was a severe backlash to these rumors, similar to the one generated by the Todd misquote, which would be hurtful to them, then I can see them publically commenting on the rumors, like they previously did.

Fully agreed. This is what I was trying to say. That is an example of a rumour getting crazy wide, and being potentially detrimental to the reputation and health of the company.

"OMG TESV Confirmed!" rumours happen every three weeks, mean nothing, and merit no reply from the company. Everybody basically knows that they're working on a game and it is almost certainly TESV, so its not a surprise that people speculate, create and disseminate rumours, and such rumours are never going to hurt the company if they don't address them.

Saying '"The fact they don't quash the rumours is proof the rumours are true" is really barking up the wrong tree. A policy of not commenting on rumours to confirm or deny is a basic practice in the industry, in part to keep people from reading into non-replies.

Even if the story from Eurogamer is 100% fact (pfft) why on earth would gamesas come out and say anything? They're not going to change their press schedule just because of a leak or rumour, and they're not going to come out and tell a blatant lie either (David Jaffe is the only person to do this lately, and he got heat for saying that Twisted Metal was not happening before E3, rather than just refusing comment). If the story is bogus, or incorrect in details, Bethesda isn't going to benefit from saying anything either, because they would have to confirm too much to dispute the details, or again blatantly lie.

If they responded to some rumours some of the time, people would jump to conclusions about rumours they didn't reply to (perhaps because they didn't hear them), which is another reason to never address rumours unless they are likely to hurt the business.

So "No Comment" means "No Comment", and should just be left at that, reading into it is a fruitless effort. ("we're not ready to talk about that right now", OTOH, usually means "well, yeah, but we're going to officially reveal that later")

[Pants]

I was under the impression that we were due another TES Novel before the game came out. That Barnes + Noble leak ages back implied that TES V was going to take place 200 years after Oblivion.

Otherwise, we'll have TES V as a direct sequel, despite already knowing what happens in Infernal City.


I believe that direct sequel simply meant that it will be a sequel to Oblivion in the same way Oblivion was a sequel to Morrowind, but Redguard was not a direct sequel to Daggerfall or Battlespire.




Also, you guys are great, debating the meaning of single words like this. Usually you only see that in the Supreme Court.

[Schel[Anne]FTL]

Oh Oh I have it!

How about a commerical during a Thanksgiving footbal game, or the Superbowl?

That would save a step and promote straight to the masses instead of the minority at the VGA's

If they're doing voice-overs, they should have something ready to work with, expecially for the Superbowl

Set's them up for a release in mid summer 2011 (just my idea, I don't think they are a year out if they're doing the voice acting)

that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! well, until facts start coming out...

[Sara Lee]

Oh Oh I have it!

How about a commerical during a Thanksgiving footbal game, or the Superbowl?

That would save a step and promote straight to the masses instead of the minority at the VGA's

If they're doing voice-overs, they should have something ready to work with, expecially for the Superbowl

Set's them up for a release in mid summer 2011 (just my idea, I don't think they are a year out if they're doing the voice acting)

that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! well, until facts start coming out...

I don't think will see it till holiday of 2011, or an august release

[krystal sowten]

How about a commerical during a Thanksgiving footbal game, or the Superbowl?

I don't think many RPG nerds watch the Superbowl.

[Lillian Cawfield]

Since we're speculating I'll throw out a crazy theory of my own though it's really just wishful thinking and I don't know if anyone's suggested it yet but for all we know Bethesda could have been working on a 5th installment this whole time and are simply using the book to work their way up to announcing the game itself.

[Danel]

I know, it's pretty OTT debating the word "sequel" tbh. The principle of Elder Scrolls is each game is unique and stands on it's own feet so that you don't have to play the previous game to understand.

In fact. It was probably someone with the intelligence of a smart orangutang that "reported" this *cough made it up*.
I'm taking this with a grain of salt and waiting for news from Bethesda themselves.

[claire ley]

Since we're speculating I'll throw out a crazy theory of my own though it's really just wishful thinking and I don't know if anyone's suggested it yet but for all we know Bethesda could have been working on a 5th installment this whole time and are simply using the book to work their way up to announcing the game itself.

That's pretty much what everyone thinks. Unless you were being sarcastic about the crazy theory.

[Chloe Mayo]

I thought it was obvious: Who will be the next Emperor?

If gamesas acknowledges the books, we already know what happens up to 40 years after the events of Oblivion;

Spoiler

Titus Mede, son of Prince Attrebus Mede, Is crowned emperor after retaking it with 1000 men as the empire crumbled. Black marsh and elsweyr drop out from the empire, becoming independent. Vivec city is destroyed when the ministry of truth falls, and Black marsh exploits this time of weakness for the Dunmer and invade Morrowind. Dunmer remnant retreat to Solstheim (soulstheim in the book) I think I got everything...

[tannis]

There is already the holding page for TESV at Elderscrolls.com http://www.elderscrolls.com/splash/index_05.htm

[Ernesto Salinas]

That's pretty much what everyone thinks. Unless you were being sarcastic about the crazy theory.

No, not being sarcastic i'm just crazy... :bonk:

[Joey Avelar]

There is already the holding page for TESV at Elderscrolls.com http://www.elderscrolls.com/splash/index_05.htm

Tha'ts just an edited version of Oblivion. See the 2004 copyright and the daedric rune.

[Abel Vazquez]

I don't think many RPG nerds watch the Superbowl.

Not going for nerds...going for the masses! Oblivion appealed to more than just cRPG nerds :nod: Going for nerds would be VGA's

Fall Out was on TV, Assin's Creed, etc. Why wouldn't ES 5?

I'm still thinking summer 2011 for release...mark - my - words !

[no_excuse]

Not going for nerds...going for the masses! going for nerds would be VGA's

Fall Out was on TV, Assin's Creed, etc. Why wouldn't ES 5?

I'm still thinking summer 2011 for release...mark - my - words !

I remember when Oblivion was shown in commercials, I saw it at school.

[Killer McCracken]

There is already the holding page for TESV at Elderscrolls.com http://www.elderscrolls.com/splash/index_05.htm

No, it's not. It's just the 5th number in the countdown timer that was used to announce Oblivion. Sorry, nothing to see here.

[Jessica Thomson]

There is already the holding page for TESV at Elderscrolls.com http://www.elderscrolls.com/splash/index_05.htm

Heee, the copyright on that page is 2004!
Now we just need someone to translate the runes
Never saw that page before, thanks!

[Robert Devlin]

Heee, the copyright on that page is 2004!
Now we just need someone to translate the runes
Never saw that page before, thanks!

You can actually read it. Dragon prince, empire... bla bla bla.

And the Oblivion logo is very suspicious.
Maybe it really is a 'direct' sequel. Meh... I'm confused now.

Oh yeah, and at the bottom it says FIVE! *tum tum tuuumm*