I was really expecting the plot to be about an Akaviri invasion now that the empire is collapsing. But I still think the dragon plotline is compelling, especially because the civil war, secession, and lack of a king is a pretty compelling human backdrop. I am expecting more than one main plot thread as a result, because the dragons basically represent a common threat just as the Oblivion gates, but the capability to tell this story and the difficulties of developing a political situation that allows Skyrim to present a unified front against them make it sound cool to me.

The plot threads that would not surprise me:
-Training as a Blade and dragon hunter under the last Blade
-Dragonborn plotline achieving dragon voices
-Reforming the blades, training them as true dragon hunters, constructing your own hold/fortress to base them
-The usual guide questlines: Mage's Guild, Fighter's Guild, Thieves Guild, Morag Tong/Dark Brotherhood/Assassins
-Dealing with hints that the High Elves or Akavir are preparing to invade (setting up next game)
-Picking either the secession side or the imperial side, going on a quest line for that, and unifying Skyrim (which would involve dealing with Whiterun cult, Morrowind refugees, etc)
-Becoming king of Skryim (before or after...)
-Defeating Alduin

In the DLC I could maybe see Roscrea, visiting the Imperial City only to claim the throne, or going to the Summerset Isles to deal with elven opposition.

This would set up a situation in the sequel where another Akavir invasion seems plausible, or even better, that idea of invading Akavir to preempt them. Or, even more interestingly, your character from V becomes the King of Skyrim and you are traveling to Summerset Isles (I know they are to the West, bear with me) or some other location to muster more opposition against the Empire and get them to join Skyrim, but your ship gets caught by a storm and you wash up, alone, on a beach in Akavir. Then you need to go on a quest to get word back to Tamriel and stop the pending invasion force being gathered in Akavir. Instead, due to your natural leadership, you manage to unite the various peoples of Akavir against the snake people and dismantle their empire as well. But that could still inadvertently start a war in Tamriel so the world would still be ripe for conflict.

Since TES main characters need to start out from essentially nothing, the only way to keep a previous game's main character is some sort of reset like this. If they want to do it, that's a plausible way.

Either way, resolving the political situation and uniting the competing factions against the dragons seems to be the only way to humanize the plot since the dragons seem more creature-like than a sentient, coordinated enemy. There would be space for plenty of gray ethical situations you could go different directions on but, clearly, to defeat the dragons you'd probably have to unite the factions some way or another. And essentially a dragonborn leader that could potentially be the emperor would be the best figure to accomplish that as the main hero. If the king's job is open, and you are clearly the natural destined leader of Skyrim, wouldn't it make a ton of sense that you'd become king? I really, really don't see it turning out any other way, at least by the final cutscene.

Sorry, I'm not talking about the backround lore, or what was in the books. I'm talking about the game. And Oblvion's main plot was as shallow as they come. Almost everyone can agree that it wasn't very good. It was linear, you weren't the hero (you were an errand boy), the only enemy was someone who was a god of destruction, so there was no grey line, just good and evil, and the quests were to do the same exact things over and over and over and over again.

The game did not portray Dagon as an interesting character, and that's all that really matters. He was just some "Big evil dude".

This

Mehrunes Dagon was the LEAST fleshed out character I have seen in a long time. He could be barely be called a character, you never interacted with him or learned of his true motivations. One of the greatest aspect of Morrowind was that you learned so much about the Dagoth and the Sixth House etc. In fact the MQ required you to learn a ton about of interesting lore. Dagoth Ur > Mehrunes Dagon in terms of dimension of character.

It is difficult to judge based on the scant details that have emerged, but the main story sounds quite formulaic to me (although I doubt it could be anything but an improvement from Oblivion). In the end, it doesn't really matter, because Elder Scrolls stories really just exist to give the player an excuse to go dungeon delving. As long as I can reasonably ignore the main quest completely, and make my own story, I'll be happy.

People who are already 'disappointed' at this point had their expectations set too high. But it's good to be cautious.

I have to admit, TV Tropes is a genius site and perfect for dissecting entertainment. Keep in mind, however two logical things when considering Skyrim:

A) You're thinking too much. In the grand scheme of things, what we enjoy is usually the same thing we enjoyed a long time ago. It isn't until we actually think about the story's fabric that we realize its similarities with other works. This is why we really loved Inception: not because it was different, but because it presented things differently...

...just like the Matrix (the first one), Minority Report, Moon, Blade Runner, etc...

Why am I comparing all of these movies?

All of them:

-Are in some way science fiction
-Involve a complex plot and mythos, even going so far as to introducing new terms (ex: the "kick" in Inception)
-Usually end ambiguously and/or creatively for the sole purpose of leaving the audience baffled and/or considerate
-Make us question our normal lives, and those that dictate them for us (political leaders, commercials, etc)

You see, no one would criticize Inception of being generalized because of the very fact that is was in league with many other equally smart films. In addition, it followed many of the same patterns as them. Absurd? Maybe. My point is that everything is based on everything else, nothing is original because when trying to create something original, people end up basing their ideas on other works. (Star Wars is in many ways inspired by Lord of the Rings)

B ) Humans are naturally prone to enjoying things that involve good versus evil, and a huge threat against a weak nation, because...SURPRISE! We were in the same situation thousands of years ago. This idea of a massive force threatening to kill all that is good, therefore, isn't bland...it's merely part of who we are.

C) Don't mix up a generalized plot with one that is secretly intricate. Oblivion's plot, for example, involved a man who doesn't want to be king and then he takes down a big evil force and BLAH BLAH BLAH, you'd say, "I've seen this soooo many times before!"

First of all, don't be ignorant. There were many themes to Oblivion that so many haters left under the rug. Take, for example, something you don't see in gaming or movies at all lately...

...the good guy died, there isn't a king, and the divine line of dragonborns, the Septims (you know, the ones who united Tamriel), were wiped out. It's the concept that, even though we won, the main guy that led the fight, Martin, sacrificed himself in the process knowing well that it would end his lineage. Think about it: the one guy that would have gotten all the riches of the throne battled to his death because he cared more about the future than the present. He proves that, ultimately, you don't need a king to unite an empire in times of crisis.

...the empire ends without a King just as it begins in the game. How symbolic it must be that, despite being a fantasy game, Oblivion ends with its world just a little less divided than it was (in terms of an actual ruler heading the empire).

...Martin was illegitimate.

...you only see the head honcho, Mehrunes Dagon, once. That's right, once. The main enemy is the Mythic Dawn, a satanic-like cult.

Don't even get me started with the side-quests.

The ones who complain that Oblivion was shallow, and the ones that complain Skyrim is shallow (even though it isn't out yet), are the same people that will ALWAYS complain that something is shallow. They're necessary to remind us that nothing is "a masterpiece", but they also hurt our enjoyment of the game. They're like the kids in the sandbox that knock our little hills because they're too simple. Basically, these people become movie critics.

My response to them: have a little fun. Please.

I think bethesda was at their creative peak when they did Morrowind, but it's still probably gonna be a good game and who knows, maybe i'm in for a surprise. But even though we don't know a lot about it yet I'm confident it's gonna kick Oblivions ass.


EDIT: And to above poster, great work at generalizing people that have a different opinion than you.

I don't think Morrowinds MQ was shallow. I don't think a lot of Oblivion's side quests were shallow. In fact Oblivion had some great side quests (i.e. Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild). The MQ in particular WAS shallow, disregarding in-game books.

I think a lot of the shallowness comes from the fact that the dialogue system in Oblivion was so limited. The lines of text were all text-message length, dialogue could never convey that much information so a lot of the stuff in books was left out. You never really got the whole story just listening to dialogue (and most gamers won't read very many of the in game books). Hopefully more voice actors and dialogue will help the plot in Skyrim.

TheFisherKing - it is all well and true, but humans - against dragoons - in Nordic, pseudo medieval setting is quite a bit more specific than "Are in some way science fiction" or even fantasy "involve a complex plot and myths" and "Usually end ambiguously". I'm not saying they can't make it enjoyable, but it will take a lot of work to put a good twist on that old song. Don't take me wrong, I do have some faith in Bethesda left still, so I think they just may do it right, but there is room for doubts.
Oh, and Morrowind was in no way shallow, I still have questions about how our first incarnation died And the plot while generally was about the struggle against evil had enough of fresh twist to keep me interested.

And we can't be sure that Skyrim will fail what Morrowind did right

That's true and my point about Inception was merely to note that even the best pieces of screenplay are based on other well-written stories.

Furthermore, I really apologize if my comment insulted anyone. I'm only explaining why just saying something isn't original is, in itself, not very thoughtful. Trust me, I've taken several college courses dealing with literature...I could criticize Oblivion to kingdom come. But that isn't the point of fantasy settings. What I loved as a child I still love today: things that aren't afraid to go back to the roots of myth and legend (good versus evil). Keep in mind: it isn't what it is that makes it memorable, but how you present it.

Anway: we'll see how the game turns out once it comes out

Yes

It hasn't even been fully fleshed out yet

Have you ever heard about HYPE ? VAPORWARE ? RADIANT AI IN OBLIVION ?

Come we know they really can t do what they are promising on the lvl we wish.

And they certainly CAN T make a DECENT AI or they would be gaining tons of money with the army, which they arent. And obviously at TES, IQ has been decreasing in the game design lvl, and increasing in the MKT lvl. The good point its that its dificult to be as bad as Oblivion, be better than Oblivion isn t good enought if it doesn t reach near Morrowind/Daggerfall/Arena lvl.

Your obviously a new comer to TES. Great you enjoyed your first sandbox game.
OTOH we veteran are used to it, and we expect a level of quality of TES game, which you obviously cannot understand.

You say have fun. Yeah you have fun eating what for us is "dog food", i m used to better standarts. Oblivion without expansion fail in so many aspects it isn t fun.
I understand people can have fun, its like first six, no matter how bad, it ll probably be good, but people used to the basic want maybe more than basic, because they are used to more than basic.

Can we just put this at the top of this forum in a sticky or something?

No, I'm not disappointed in something that I really don't have a clue about yet.

I was also disappointed that it wasn't an Akavari invasion.

I'm not a newcomer to TES, and I'm not a newcomer to open world games. You see, I'm a veteran, too.

What your point is, and what your definition of "basic" is, I can't understand. Are you sure you're just not nostalgic?

At least we don't have to close the same oblivion gate ten times.

No it sounds so far that there "streamlining" and "dumbing down" the game. Hopefully this game will be as good as they keep saying.