If it's optional then I don't have a problem with a hardcoe Mode system being included in this game.

....which is EXACTLY what I wouldn't want to see. At that point, 150% becomes "normal".

That reminds me of a line in the movie "This is Spinal Tap". The one guitarist is boasting about the mods to his amp, and how it now goes to "11". The other guitarist tells him that it's just renumbered, and still only goes to "10", but that it "says 11". Argument ensues.

Either food/drink/sleep should give a SLIGHT benefit (10-25% boost) for attending to them (Normal mode), OR give a penalty for not taking care of your character (hardcoe mode). Doing both, especially with an extreme boost, seems too "gamey".

How does slowing down time make the game more realistic? It would completely ruin the illusion of distance between towns and you would be able to do 10 quests in one day or so.

I don't want to turn this into a discussion on NV hardcoe mode but I found NV hardcoe mode annoying. It wasn't harder, I just kept plenty of food and water from the outset and you can use SS to fight the urge to sleep. So knowing from the outset that you need to eat/drink/sleep lead me to prepare accordingly. I would do the same thing in TES if this kind of hardcoe mode was added, just carry plenty of food, water, and whatever else. I don't think that a hardcoe mode is a bad dynamic but I think the focus should be changed from a type of 'help your character live in the game by doing daily functions you actually do in real life' to something else.

I like the idea of a blacked out map that gets discovered as you discover it. I don't really know what other things hardcoe mode could have that would be acceptable in the context of TES. I don't think eating, drinking, and sleeping wouldn't be so tedious, as it seemed to me in NV, if the game days lasted longer. If it took say 4 real time hours for 1 game day to pass I would me more apt to go along with the notion. As it stands now I believe a game day passes in about 1 hour so in the course of playing of playing for say 3 hours I would have to eat/drink/sleep 3 times to stay at optimum efficiency which to me becomes tedious and annoying after so long.

Having to survive in the wilderness, or carry provisions for a multi-day trip would be fun for me. Hunting for food (against animals that actually have a high Perception and will run away at the slightest sound) would add a challenge.

But it's pointless without a game that's designed for it.