As long as they don't implement conversation things like they did in Fallout... where it says if a conversation option is good or bad. I hate that, I wanna judge that myself

Fallout 3 did it somewhat better than Oblivion by reducing the ridiculous zoom in on the faces in dialogue, and adding some animations too. In Oblivion NPCs were talking heads.

I've often though about a Bioware style dialogue system, but I just can't see it going well in a Bethesda style RPG.

I second this especially - it's one of the main things missing from NPC interaction in TES games. It'd be great if, say, a nearby patron could join in your conversation with the barkeep in a tavern. It would also make greetings dialogue a bit more natural; speaking to one of two NPCs speaking together might cause both to greet you. Perhaps the dialogue UI could include the speaker/actor's name before an entry, though Bethesda's designers would probably have to figure out how to intuitively direct a PC response at one NPC and not another.

And while it seems we all must endure voiced NPCs nowadays, please don't let voiced protagonists anywhere near The Elder Scrolls!

PS: You can change the in-dialogue camera distance with an .ini setting in PC versions of Oblivion.

I do not find these interactive dialogues actually interesting. Just normal dialogue would suffice for me.

I would like a change. However, look back at Daggerfall. They had Mass Effect dialog before Mass Effect existed. I find the "pick topic, get exposition" style to be boring and dull now, if it was fine for its day. Just like the Dragon Age/KotOR/Balder's Gate style of dialog trees. I think those were fine but now need to go. Bring back the Daggerfall tonal system, but keep the player character mute, is my suggestion.

A conversation system where you, and NPC's can talk to multiple NPC's at a time would be best.

This, something like Fallout New Vegas, a simple dialogue system full of skill checks and options.

But jeez, there are people who thinks Dragon Age / Mass Effect dialogue would work on a first-person, open-ended, non linear RPG not driven by the story line? IMO, if I went to talk to an NPC in first-person and the camera changed to third with a cinematic view, it would break-immersion.

I completely agree, I really was impressed with the way they did Mass Effect, I think you should pick a voice pack in character customization (Like DA) and you use that voice when you speak,
What I didn't understand was why they made you pick a voice pack in DA but you were muted except battle and drawing your weapon. Laaaaaaaaaame. :brokencomputer:

Completely agree with what you said on the voice pack and that should voice your character





Not everyone plays first person. It was vice-versa in Oblivion and Fallout 3 when you was playing in third person and you talked to someone it zoomed right in. Maybe it can have one for first person and one for third person, or you could choose what kind of dialouge and view system you would have

I like the topic system used in Morrowind and Oblivion. It's much easier for me to roleplay. It gives me the freedom to imagine very specific responses for my characters. Bioware-style dialog trees are too restrictive for me. Dialog trees rarely stimulate my imagination the way the topic system in Morrowind and Oblivion does.

I agree. Mass Effect is th Holy Grail for conversation systems in video games... for now. I bet in another ten years NPCs will have actual speech recognition built in, and you'll be able to actually talk to them via mic.

I guess I'm the only one who loved Morrowind's wiki-style text dialogue system lol. I know that isn't gonna fly these days, but for me, the more dialogue, and the more detailed and verbose, the better.

The conversation system in ME is almost exactly the same as Vampire Bloodlines btw.

You had the usual replies/topics and occasionally special dialog options based on your skills/spells marked in a color.
I think it was also the first RPG with full in-game voice acting.

Just saying, because that game deserves way more credit than ME imo.

Game Informer article, page 52.

-Conversations no longer happen in a zoomed in view
-Bethesda is using more voice actors
-When you're in a conversation, the NPC can still continue to do whatever he/she was doing before, ie, cutting wood or cleaning a counter.

It sounds like they overhauled the conversation system pretty thoroughly.

I don't think There should be a change in the way dialog works.
I like it classic.
But, like i said before, i want more topics to talk about, like it was in Morrowind and Daggerfall. Not only friggin "rumors"