Should it?

It already is. Morrowind.

Full-on Steampunk would actually be pretty badass, so long as it was done in a way that was pertinent to the game's lore and setting. Maybe technological advancements from the continued study of Dwemer ruins and artifacts?

I've always thought that the Dwemer ruins and enemies in Morrowind and Redguard were Steampunk(ish)

If there's ever this huge explosion of Dwemer knowledge that redoes that entirety of Nirn's technology, then yes. It would be very badass.

As others have been saying, there is that element of steampunk via what The Dwemer have left behind, and even Sotha Sil's creations you could say (It has been ages since I've played Tribunal though, so maybe I am remembering wrong).

I think something to be explored in the future would be great, perhaps brought in a little bit, or via some sort of faction that crops up. However, it would need to be handled in a way that wouldn't clash with the rest of the environment. I don't know if I would like to see the series go completely steampunk.

Prepare for the coming lame argument that "Magic makes no need for technology".

And then we go, "Then why does armor exist?"

When TES goes all technological, it won't be steampunk; it'll be extremely weird. It'll have to be engineered around the universe's metaphysics rather than its physics in order to accomplish anything special. By "weird", I mean "read Kinmune" (on the lore forum).

Also, with Morrowind becoming all [censored] up, there isn't very much Dwemer tech left around to study. The ruins in Skyrim are probably more primitive than the ones in Morrowind or Hammerfell as the Skyrim ruins were built by the Rourken Clan as they were migrating to Hammerfell, and they left Morrowind 280 years before their Disappearance. Not to mention that trying to mimic them with more than a relatively limited amount of success would mean trying to think like they did, which involves learning how to divide by zero to do things like make cubic spheres (or glomic tesseracts in the 4th dimension, and probably something in the 0th dimension) and engineer gods, and good luck with that.

yes but only after TES 18 (maybe 16, somewhere between those two numbers is when TES will have all of mundas and the deadric realms, after that it could use a new update to keep it's flare, dwemer tech would be just the boost it could use then)

So we can enchant it with magic!

As Shades said, Morrowind is already pretty damned Steampunk.

I need to point out to some of you that steampunk is pretty wide these days, and doesn't need to look like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Kyle-cassidy-steampunk.jpg

It can look more magical in nature, like this:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sy3UEYGx4HI/S6puUR6ugUI/AAAAAAAAAsU/VjRyDPS4_3U/s1600/Steampunk+Isengard.jpg

Or like Final Fantasy VII:

http://lparchive.org/Final-Fantasy-VII-Dirge-of-Cerberus/Update%2004/67-mako_reactor.jpg

Or, well, look at Dwemer creations:
http://pnmedia.gamespy.com/planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/images/potd/14234/1281495240_medium.jpg


I've heard it referred to as "magic punk", basically taking the power source of "steam" and replacing it with magic.

Ever heard Arthur C. Clarke's famous "Third Law", stating that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic? Well Larry Niven made a corollary to that, stating "any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology".

This is of course because, in a fantasy world, magic is not "magical", it's normal, so it would stand to reason that users of magic would use it to power stuff just like we use any other power source. I mean, why not? And Tamriel is older and further in the future every time we see it, so it's about time some advances in technology are made.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Let us keep our fantasy-soaked world, damn it. Swords and sorcery.

As I just talked about, it can still be swords and sorcery. I don't think anyone is wanting the world to turn into Midgar from Final Fantasy VII, they just want ELEMENTS of steampunk.

there already is, and it was illegal in morrowind to have dwemer stuff, and probably is in most provinces. and above all else those dirty elves with their nose so high in the clouds would probably ban it if they ever take over tamriel, which it seems like the thalmor are lining up to do.

It already is, check out a dwemer ruin and tell me that it it isn't steam punk.

I'm talking about 1850's type steampunk.


Magic and technology co-exist in a uneasy balance. Magick works independent of science while technology works dependent on science. Primitive guns and railroads come. Would be refershing.

Nords, Imperials and Redguards all push technology forward while all the Elven races are opposed to it. Argonians and Khajiit are indiifferent.

Tensions in the region rise and the second 'Great War' comes as a possibility.

No thanks. Really no thanks I would hate that.

No... THere are far more worlds that pull off Steampunk a lot better.

Look what happened to Fable when it decided to go Steampunk.

Turning Tamriel into Iron Kingdoms would not be a good idea: the Iron Kingdoms are good enough.

Of course, steam-powered robots still make pretty fun sword-fodder.

Magic makes no need for technology.

Exactly, one of the things I like about TES lore is that it's physics is irrational magic physics, so concepts like steam power make no sense. Volcano erupt? Obviously this wasn't caused by a release of pressure from the world's core, it was wizards messing with a God. Uh-oh, there go the moons disappearing again.

Even the dwemer steam stuff was basically magic steam made through magic.

Magipunk makes some sense, especially if you go to Summerset Isles in the next game. (Clearly, the elevators are powered by the souls of storm atronachs whose wind energy keeps them aloft.)

^^^THIS
Especially when magic is like in TES
(almost everyone knows how to use it)

In Arcanum technology made sense because magic was complex and mysterious art, too complicated for everyone to use
Just one of examples
In Nirn EVERYONE can throw fireballs with minimal training
Why under such circumstances would anyone need complex/unreliable guns and expensive bullets?
I bet in their regular forces soldiers get basic magical training (restoration and destruction) in same manners how our soldiers are trained in first aid and firearms
And in their case it is more reliable and efficient

So no, leave steampunk to other games

Well, you will notice that any sort of enchanted item relies upon soul gems and the ability to fill them...

For that matter, where do soul gems even come from, and why isn't the world out of them by now? Are they organic and they just grow more or something?

Steampunk theme is boring to me, and always unoriginal, and as already mentioned, it does make sense to include technology when magic is so easily accessible. And removing magic from a TES game would make an entirely different game.

TES is already Steampunk, at least to a certain degree.