I've been hard at work creating a world very much inspired by TES. Most of the ideas behind this world have been evolving and coalescing for over a decade. Being a hybrid Elder Scrolls/Myst nerd that I am, I attempted to combine the best of both worlds into a cohesive universe and story. This is what I have:

http://extrazoom.com/image-9853.html

http://allatwan.blogspot.ca/

Will it be open world, what platforms is it for, and is it DRM free?

This is basically all conceptual at this point, but I am studying game design and I do intend to turn it in to a franchise when I graduate and have more resources and skill. For that I would need a strong team of dedicated individuals. Right now I'm fleshing out everything in great detail to see where all the bugs are from a conceptual standpoint.

Its flattering that you thought this is good enough to be an actual game at the moment.

When the time comes and you start assembling your team let me know.

A bit I have always wanted to see in a fantasy game is a bit of "magic" actually being science. The Crystal balls that the wizards use to communicate with each other being a video cell phone. Magic wands being pistols, Magic Staves being rifles, fireballs grenades, and the magic self moving chariot a car.

I don't know how well it would work for a game, but I think it would be an interesting take on the typical fantasy setting.

Looks good so far but I'd look to come up with new names for some of your areas, places like the Holy Mountains, Great Forest etc. are kinda cliche. Instead call them the Sanctorum Peaks which is just Latin for holy but sounds cool. Also the Merveilleux forest which is French for formidable/ wonderful etc.

Doing this will add a sense of history and diversity to your world and allow it to sound real rather than made up. Instead of using real life languages use your own made up ones, hell you can even name a place with a language that is dead and instead have everyone refer to it by a common more modern name. Or have multiple names for one place etc.

Thanks for the feedback! I went in and revisited the issues you mentioned tundrafrog and made some changes. I'm trying to actually develop the world's internal languages and cultures so this seemed the right thing to do.

Here it is updated: http://extrazoom.com/image-9858.html

No problem, and good to see that you are willing to take some criticism to often people only want to hear what is good rather than what needs improvement. If you can take that advice and the words of the critics you have already fought half the battle to getting this out there.

If I could offer further words of advice develop the the cultures and then the world, after all before mankind left the first valley they already had their own culture. also each culture should reflect the area that they live, not be cliche and have the swamp people and the desert people but to have ideas and clothing that reflect the life they live. Also just think about how many things/places are named after people in real life don't be afraid to have places named after ancient kings and warlords. They don't even need to be developed simply mentioned in passing to give the world a sense of history.

Good luck and I'll keep my eyes on this thread to offer my help.

Thanks! Great food for thought. I particularly agree with your sentiment about culture and cultural diversity/originality. Its why I get so pissed off at the many fantasy MMOs and other fantasy-type games that always depict copy-pasted Earth-like cultures. I hope I can create a world that appears to reach back into history for its visual and written style. Just because arabic cultures live in the desert does not mean that one must mimic arabic culture in a fantasy desert environment for instance. This is one of the elements that drove me to the Myst lore, as it is more based on anthropology and romantic-era adventure literature than Tolkien inspired fantasy, with a touch of Greek tragedy added to the mix.

I guess the key is subtlety and trying to develop something that takes elements from the real world and rearranging them piece by piece rather than being obvious. It's actually quite hard to do.