Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of Bethesda,

this is an open letter to the developers. Bethesda has lately created a series of very succesful open world roleplaying games. Albeit the history of roleplaying games goes further down the line, if asked i'd say the big breakthrough in this genere came with Morrowind. In retrospect Oblivion, albeit technologically more advanced was, despite being a respectable game on its own, not as succesful. There are of course game mechanic reasons for this assesment, like autoleveling monsters and repeditive Oblivion towers.

But the main difference was the setting. Morrowind, albeit a pretty standart fantasy role playing game had its own tweak, making it feel different. And let's not forget the cthulian elements which spiced up the overall atmosphere as well as the amazing weather effects. I was very pleased to see it has been implemented into Skyrim even if as pay-for-use addon content.

Oblivion was pretty much standart fare medivial fantasy and it was a bit bland in that regard. In Skyrim things went back on track with its northern-themed setting. Not too much away from standart fantasy, but different enough to provide an unique experience.

And there was of course the Fallout 3/Las Vegas games, which were an amazing hit because... its unique post apokalyptic setting, which was not entirely new, but rare and it made all the difference.

I can also add to that point with two non-Bethesda games, namely Vampire the Masquerade and the Mass Effect Series which also provided fresh settings and whilst V:tM couldn't save the developer from its finnancial misery, its certainly very well remembered.

Where i am trying to get here? Well, its obviously about the impact a fresh, unique game setting can make. And i am also here to make an suggestion. You probably heard of pen and paper roleplaying games. They are certainly getting a bit out of vogue these days, but maybe you have some experience in that regard. I have and despite no longr active engaging in any games i go and buy a corebook here and there out of nostalgia, which kinda keeps me on top whats happeing in the industry.

And well, i strubled about something very amazing - in my humble opinion. A fresh setting, mysterious where sci-fi and the mystical merge together to a remarkable whole. And i am not talking about something stitched togehter like Shadowrun (i realize this game has its fanbase, but i always felt the transition is not that smooth, sorry).

Well here is my suggestion: Numenera. Take a look at it, especially the creatures. You won't be disappointed, i can promise you that. Look at it and think about how the Fallout series was recived. And then think about which setting you like more, which offers more interesting stories and the freedom to come up with the weird. And cthulian elements would also find their place here quite easily.

Consider it. I have no idea if the company is willing to license a game, btw. But i think they might...

Best regards,

Elbereth

Nah.

It takes more than an idea on a forum to believably get a company like Bethesda to license and or develop a game. You need spreadsheets, facts and figures and a whole portfolio of things to even remotely hope they'll agree to something like this. Just saying 'I have this idea....' will 9 times out of 10 get you laughed out of the boardroom.

To be fair, he's just suggesting that they look at an already existing game and take notes from it. They won't, but it's not bad as the "I have this story, I'll give it to you and you do all of the work" threads that usually come up.

And those are so much fun. They create a profile on here and their thread usually gets destroyed within minutes and then they promptly leave this forum forever.

Good stuff.

I like the focus on story the developer is going for, but the whole setting and art style isn't for me.

Also only 3 traits for character creation,

The day I show my rpg world ideas, ewww, man, people would probably chew it out and piss on it, then burn it with fire.