You taking it a bit too far, the gameplay and the ending that concerns the character, lets stay on that for now, shall we?

Idea: TESV can have multiple endings without having another Dragon Break by having the one, monolithic change to the world remain unchanged accross all endings. The fate of the players associates - thives, assassins, local warlords, merchants, etc. - is up in the air. whether they live, die, or find success can hinge on the players choices. The same could also be said of small communities.

I voted a no, although that is subject to change based upon how different the endings are. If they have pretty much the same outcome, but with slight variations (similar to FO3), I wouldn't mind, but you have to consider the long term reprocussions, as stated before, we don't need another Dagerfall ending to confuse the lore.

Why dont you read the books instead of playing the game? i care only for the game and please give me a break with Dagerfall, you are talking about 14 years ago

It seems a pretty nice idea to me

It would be cool. It would be a good reason to try all the races.

I see we start to get reasonable

I don't get it. Why say you don't care about the story when endings are a function of the story?

When you say story you mean the lore?

Yes, I'm all for it. I've made good experiences with it and the option to "go the other way" always seemed to be missing from Morrowind or Oblivion.

The story still remains to be. Lore is the foundation where this game stands will soon be a part of.

Declare one ending canon. They do it with Star Wars titles and it works, so why not?

Interesting, i havent played Star wars, what do you mean canon?

You, sir, are being relatively closed minded. Excuse me if i come off strong but i must say:

Video games are an avenue of art. Art is expressed in various ways. One of the strongest ways to express a piece of artwork is within the story it tells; be it picture, video, or literature. By saying you do not care about the story, and only the game, you are being completely contradictory. You must understand that the developers put a lot of passion into creating these games, not just for us; They love it too! For them to create a game with an ending (or in this case multiple endings) that does not make sense, lore-wise, would be to shoot themselves in the foot. They would recieve hideous feedback, and thier baby (TES series) would be marred and ugly in thier eyes.

Also, they would be unable to create future games, books, movies, artforms of any kind, without explaining the lore (story) behind it. So to create a game with 5 endings, they must explain why 5 different things happened in the universe all at once (or make an excuse ala daggerfall / dragon break). This not only seems shallow, lacking creativity, and simple, but also breaks believeability and immersion for the loyal TES fans and casual gamers alike. TES has always been amazing BECAUSE of its believeably rich world. It's full of culture, lore, atmosphere; All because the developers put thier minds to work creating an amazingly deep world.

That kind of passion would be insulted by a pathetic excuse to throw in a few endings to satisfy the typical casual gamer. Period. Passion = Lore = Depth = Believeability = Immersion = FUN!!

I agree with there being a different middle in the game, with multiple pathways leading to the same ultimate result. That is just good writing.

So to answer your question: No.

They could pull a KOTOR move and make 2 non-interactive endings, with extremely similar final quests/levels/dungeon crawls leading up to them. In KOTOR you basically did the same thing, the aftermath was just different. That way it didnt use up too much resources.

I think that it should be possible to fail quests without dying. The problem with lots of games that I have is that there is not real gravitas to the player's decisions. In most games the player's decisions are merely facile problems that can be rectified with a save-game reload if the outcome isn't copacetic. I believe that games should have decisions with profound ramifications that sometimes may take protracted in-game periods to be realized. This system would obviate the easy reversal of these decisions with saved game reloads and it lend a sense of verisimilitude to the game.

I want many different endings. I would prefer 5 different endings.

In Oblivion, it was very linear. What if I wanted to join the Mythic Dawn? Oh? I can't? Multiple endings add depth and roleplay.

Yes, absoulely.

I remember in Morrowind, after the conversation with the Dagoth guy in the first Sixth House base you visit, strolling into the heart of Red Mountain hoping to join forces with Dagoth Ur. My face fell when I realised this was impossible.

Well, the Star Wars Universe is created by many different minds. It is so bloated it needs guidelines to function as a whole. That's why some works are declared as canon (fitting the universe) and others as non-canon (as not fitting the universe). Otherwise all the lore wouldn't fit together and contradict itself, something that people don't want (well, it still contradicts itself a lot but it's bearable). What I was talking specifically was KotoR or the force unleashed where some endings are considered non-canon.
I've pretty much given up on the canon-concept, I as a fan don't need that thing (I see it more as an "mythology"), but it works for others.

@ Tech ology x
You're taking it decidedly to serious. We're not talking books, we're talking games. And it is definitely not good writing (I happen to be a writer, though not in the english language) to force a character into an ending that doesn't fit him in the slightest.

The problem, as I see it, is that the endings would really have to be largely the same, or have no impact on the world at all, in order to prevent interference with non-main quests and quest-lines.

This would be entirely possible with different middle ground pathways in the game. But I think the ultimate ending shouldn't be able to be avoided and should not be evil / good / selfish / righteous. Something like, if you don't do this, everyone, including you, will die. That way we can justify it within our own roleplaying, and within our characters minds.

It's nearly impossible to have different endings based on attributes in a TES game. How would you even measure it? If you say "whichever skill group has the most" then that would mean someone with 1 more point in combat over magic or stealth would get a combat ending even if they generally prefer magic or stealth.

Race seems more feasible but not incredibly compelling.

Basing it on "morality" is a gray area. Do you decide it based on innocents killed? Thefts? Thefts you are caught for? TES doesn't really have a black and white morality system.

It's probably best to base it on direct choices. Are you in this guild? Did you kill this important guy (requires the Morrowind system for important character death)? Did you join this faction?

Like someone said at the beginning though, I could care less. I'd rather they take the time to work on the environment, quests in general, debugging, ai, and physics.

I care a a lot about different endings. But the endings don't have to be way over the top. What I would like is there are TWO endings.

In the case of Oblivion, I wish I could join the Mythic Dawn. That would be easy to implement right? Only two different endings?

Yea right, give me a brake please, i m a customer and i want it to have it all, i dont care how they will make it fit the story, because i may not buy the next game, and the story outside the game is an excuse to simplify things, so i dont care, if i want to read fantasy i read Lord of the Rings etc, you refer to lack of creativity, well for me endings according to your character means only creativity, and if you re so restricted because of the books then i suppose that you play only the character that is written on the books ha? well i believe the witcher is a more appropriate game for you, and first of all its a franchise which is meant to sell and then its art alright? if you want art go to see PIcasso

I am also a writer, and i respectfully disagree. Nearly all games have an absolute, unavoidable ending. And they are written superbly.

And wouldn't an epic situation like dragons threatening your entire continent "force" you to do some things you didn't really want to? It's plot progression my friend.

But this is an RPG. An open world to. I don't want to have an ending shoved down my throat. Why? What if my roleplayed character wouldn't do that?

DP