If we're going to add an emotional element. Is should not be like fallout. It out to happen through the character's effort to pursue a relationship with an NPC weather a friendship or otherwise. Not likely to happen because of the large amount of voice acting that's being implemented which have to already deal with a large amount of "what does this NPC say if this character (NPC or PC) does this?" they've really done a vast amount of that I'm not sure if they considered having a deepening relationship with all possibilities. For instance a possibly gay NPC. It's not easy to calculate to all these "If and then" scenarios. If they have already put it in great, but otherwise don't get mad it's just a heck of a lot of work to add last min.

Uck. Leave the fricken drama alone. I don't want stupid parts, I want to have fun.

@Al Mushman, some of us like the drama *shrug*

But I love killing Tali off! It's the most fun part of the game when she takes a rocket in the face!

As everyone on the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1158639-how-much-should-be-revealed-about-our-character/page__p__16986322__hl__how+much+should+be+known__fromsearch__1#entry16986322 thread stated we want a clean slate, I don't want a daddy who wants to save the world from irradiated water, I don't want a mommy who was eaten by balverines, or a sister who's gone blind and now can kick butt or a wife who was killed by someone claiming to hate me for some wacko reason.

Nice Fable and Fallout references.

Oblivion had very weak characterization. There was nothing truly unique about the characters, no backstory, no really memorable cutscenes, just a couple lines of canned dialogue.

Ha, I liked her too. She's quite well characterised for the short time she spends in the game. Baurus was likeable too, the only competent and non-souless person in Oblivion. I built him a funeral pyre covered in flowers when he died in my game. The Gray Prince was cool as well.

Some of the Skaal, and the Ashlanders were quite memorable as well.

In fairness, TES games are massive sandboxes with so many possible paths for the PC to take that developing a storyline "relationship" with a single NPC would take a very large amount of effort for the potential payback.

Yeah, in a game like Mass Effect it's easier to develop NPC character - there's a limited number of 'em, and a limited amount of options at the PC's disposal.

Oblivion, Morrowind, etc., are more wide open. (I think - I've never played Mass Effect; this is based on discussions w/ friends who have)

That said, it would be nice to see more dynamic interactions with NPCs, possibly some series of linked sidequests that lead you to develop some connection with certain NPCs. But tbh, I'm more interested in ensuring that the game is atmospheric, there are plenty of questlines, the interface is smooth, and combat isn't clunky. If all those are covered, great - on to developing those NPCs!