So this question has been rattling around my head for awhile. Skyrim introduces Dragon Shouts and they are simply amazing, they really do compliment ANY sort of playstyle whether you are a full on warrior, a mage, a thief, an assassin, or any hybrid you choose.

Now I am going to presume we aren't going to see TES:VI set in Skyrim and I also will presume we won't have word walls or the huge focus on dragons or Dragonborn. Leaving these amazing abilities you get to be acquired.... how?

Could we really go backwards and have a TES game without the ability to force push people off mountains, call down a lightning storm, get a mammoth to fight for you, or slow time? I mean we could theoretically mix these in with the existing magic trees just as many were culled from there in the first place, but then it would feel less like they are complimentary to all playstyles. So in what ways could this mechanic be preserved without it being so heavily reliant upon Skyrim and Dragon lore?

Hmmm.... Chili farts?

Actually, I think it will depend very much on where the game is located.

I don't think the mechanic will be preserved, but I'm guessing Beth with make a return to Spell Making in some form, to make up for it. You may be able to cobble together more basic Arcane um.. Features or elements to construct spells that do more of what you actually want from magic and probably with a bit more Ooomph!

Maybe they'll drop the limitations of a magicka bar and let you power spells directly from grand soul gems.....or bunches of grand soul gems for potentially limitless absolute POWAR.

So perhaps then a bit of pick 'n mix. I fancy a drop of ice magic.....that explodes in an area effect, imparting an explosive force and causes struck enemies to glow in the dark.

And a black hole spell that svcks nearby 'everything' into a little ball leaving an empty spherical space. Yes it's been done in the movies, but the effect is really cool!

And acid rain spells that melt/ dissolve organics on contact......with suitable howls of pain of course.

For the illusionists and Alterationists a combined effect allowing you to walk through solid matter.....for a while!

Teleporting for the lazy too.......that'll cost you a whole grand soul gem sir!

The wabberjack kind of effect, but predictable and by casting......I choose to turn you into a.......chicken!

All the shouts could be done as conventional magic of course, but Beth is unlikely to leave it at that. Expect much tampering. But I do hope they listen to player feedback before committing to their unique vision. Removing all starting magics would help. Leave the player to choose which magical abilities, if any, they want to develop.

I'm still voting for chili farts...

Well if the next game is set in Elsweyr, we can expect to be able to cough up giant hairballs.

Chili farts are just shouts while facing in the opposite direction, and I've seen draugr doing that in the current game.

TES VI needs something totally new. How about the ability to fight in water? Or make spells, or use spears, or ....

What, you expect them to put in all the things that are missing but SHOULD be there just to make up for shouts? Now that's something worth shouting about...

Many shout effects can be put into spells, enchants or powers... some of them already are.

Dismay can be compared to war cry, bows and blocking can make time slow down, auriel's shield launches people away etc.

TES VI can still have shouting, considering everyone can learn it. Obviously, there would have to be way less shouts, and they would have to be way harder to obtain. No dragon souls involved obviously.

No word walls, no Greybeards. No Nord tradition. Where and how are you supposed to learn these shouts?

But, on the other hand, imagine a game where the skies are filled with soulless dragons, dozens of them, all looking for revenge...

I'd just like to see better racial powers, honestly. The only time I used Command Animal was when I got attacked by two bears at level three. I don't think I've ever used Voice of the Emperor.

I'd love to see TES:VI focus on the land of the Khajits - Elsweyr

So maybe instead of Dragon shouts um... really loud cat meows?

Black Marsh - and some really gross diseases. Don't shout at someone, or cast a spell, or even hit them with something sharp or pointy - infect them!

Watch as body parts rot and drop off. Boils, pustules, buboes! Player needs to carry a supply of barf bags, and nose clips.

All to support the new consoles with olfactory feedback!

"What could possibly replace Dragon Shouts in TES;VI?"

Anything, I hope. I thought them to be silly and ridicules and I avoided using them. Imagine a bunch of big-mouthed Northmen running around the battlefield shouting at each other. It would be like that horrible 300 movie. If this is to be the the future of The Elder Scrolls then let me know now and I will be done with them.

Rabbit

Personally, I hope we don't lose shouts, though I'm afraid we will. I think some of them are overpowered of course, but still they add a fun element into playing.

Also, while it may not seem overtly obvious, shouting has a basis in reality. For instance some police training is in the use of "the voice" for instance to gain an automatic obedience in certain circumstances. have you ever heard a martial arts master breaking breaks silently? No, me neither. The shout actually helps focus the chi, enabling better results, and at the same time has a physical effect on the shouter of tightening various muscles and compacting the body making it easier to take a physical blow with less damage inflicted.

Neil.....absolutely spot on.

Shouting IRL heroic battles is also a means to raise adrenaline and helps to mask pain ( which is why we make noise when hurt). It creates a bravado to bolster courage and up close a sudden outburst in an opponents face can create a brief shock or inactivity.

A fierce yelling enemy....especially ranks of them, is an intimidating force.

I did Taekwondo for a few years in my relative youth. So +1 from me on Neil's observations. It's an integral part of the art. I heard somewhere that a few masters of martial arts in such as types of Kung Fu and Karate could actually focus their energy into a shout that can stun birds up in trees. I'd like to see that, but I don't doubt it.

So....sorry Rabbit, Mythbusted !

Big Northern men yelling at each other on the field of Battle is realistic and expected.......using the imaginary Thu'um in a big battle with several tongues firing off different shouts would look Awsome!

I'm hoping they'll include the PK family of machine guns in the next ES . . . 'metal burps'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxr5oBVOpY

Mysticism, in all of the Morrowind variety the school had.

I want to see that now. Somebody create a video of that!

if we ever get a game set in Akavir (which is unlikely), there might be a mechanic very similar to the Thu'um, Kiai, which was mentioned briefly in http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Children_of_the_Sky..

as to the full capabilities of this "Kiai", we have no clue, as I can't find it mentioned anywhere else..

EDIT: Although.. with Akavir's history with Dragons, the fact this "Kiai" is similar in someway to the Thu'um, and the entire point behind Dragonrends power is its something that Dragons can't natively understand, I personally wounder if Dragonrend was the result of trying to mix both Thu'um and Kiai.. granted, thats just speculation on my part..

Over on the Lore page, there is currently a thread about the possible resurgence of Thuum. I think it would be really cool to have something like that happen, so that future TES games could not only have shouts, but have new and different shouts, and new possible ways to learn shouts. If we consider that we may have a return of Dragonkind, there may be a way to create storylines that allow Thuum to return more broadly as well.

Is it likely? I really have no idea. But it would be a lot of fun. A lot more fun than it would be to lose the Shout dynamics in future games.

Unfortunately, many Threads involving resurgence of the Voice tend to get very polarized just like Civi War Threads (Look at Who posts for and against). I have been saddened about the fact that Shouting may be lost in the next Elder Scrolls Game since 2012, because the Thuum is seen in Lore a tool of the Nords. I am worried Magic may become even more simplified in the next Game too.

You're right. It's unlikely, but a possibility. One could learn a shout by doing some quest for kynareth, or by dealing with hermaeus mora.

Do not forget a lying Cat like Maiq.

All they really have to do is come up with a good mechanic for learning the Thu'um, as a person other than the Dragonborn can learn it ( Ulfric did...the Greybeards did). So that is the major issue on having the ability in the game. Who is to teach the Thu'um to the pc.

As it's supposed to take a goodly amount of time for a Non-Dragonborn to learn any Thu'um, they would have to come up with some way to slow the progression of learning or make the shout's more limited in power.

So you need a teacher or school other than the Greybeards, something that makes Lore sense. Then again didn't ole Parth run off to find dragons that he could teach "the way"? He or a former student could be the teacher...or someone else that they taught....ect. If Beth want's to keep "shouts" in the game, they can find a way.