Alright, I know this might sound nuts, but I'm going to recommend it anyway. Because it would be damn cool.

Firstly, I'm not talking about a technological radio. I'm talking about something more akin to a Palantir from "The Lord of the Rings". A magical device which can communicate (broadcast) to other magical devices of its kind within the world of Skyrim. I'm just going to call them them "Lumis Crystals" (a shoutout to Mahlon Loomis and crystal radios) - but they could be called anything.

I think it'd be so cool to be able to place a 'Lumis Crystal' somewhere in Skyrim- and then, after leaving that place- to listen to what's taking place by wearing another Lumis Crystal.

It would become especially novel if there are musicians performing within Skyrim- say, at a Tavern. I don't know if 'live music' is planned or not, but it certainly seems overdue. Even just having one venue in the entire game where music is constantly being played- perhaps in Winterhold- would be awesome. After all, we have "Bard" class characters who are by their very definition musicians and storytellers, and we have "Elder Scrolls" lore aplenty about famed bards (such as Nightingale the Bard in "The Real Barenziah", with his epic songs of war and heroism...) And yet- to date- we have no music but the ingame orchestral music. I think there's a real opportunity for Bethesda to raise the bar here and bring even more in the way of immersion to the experience. (I LOVED those little campfire fiddle player moments in Red Dead Redemption, brief though they were...)

So... IF there was even one real music venue- perhaps with a rotating roster of different bards and little bands and singers- THEN being able to leave a Lumis Crystal at the venue would effectively give one a plausible equivalent to the PIP-Boy radio experience. For my part, being able to listen to Galaxy News Radio- and those old classic tunes- added SO MUCH CINEMA to the Fallout 3 gaming experience. And being able to turn on Agatha's radio station- and listen to her violin playing- added even more. It's impossible to really describe in words just how much additional atmosphere is created by the presence of those musical options, but it really completed changed the game for me. And- though I'm partial to Oblivion over Fallout- the radio aspects were one area in which Fallout was superior to Oblivion.

Now- you could also just as easily slip a Lumis Crystal into somebody's pocket, and listen to them going about their daily business... Having conversations, forging weapons in their foundry, whatever. That stuff could be novel and amusing- though it's far less interesting to me than the possibility that could open up by being able to listen to Skyrim's various Bards and Singers and Musicians performing to drunk, excited crowds.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I know it's a longshot suggestion. But I'm making it anyway. I don't think- at this point- there's any excuse for the genuine scarcity of music that we see in Oblivion. So please, Bethesda... Consider using some of the time that remains to get some badass musicians into a studio and cranking out a set of ingame songs that we can listen to as we roam the frigid loneliness of Skyrim... I expect it to be a dark, cold, mysterious place- and to be spending a lot of time journeying alone into the depths of old ruins and mines and dungeons. And as with Fallout and its equally lonely surroundings, I'd love to hear a little of uplifting music broadcasting across the Ether into my Lumis Crystal... Reminding me that somewhere, not too far away, there's a lively gathering- singers, and music, and ale and companionship.

Thanks for indulging this rambling but heartfelt suggestion.

i would rather have a bard that is like the Adoring Fan and i would just feed him to Alduin.

I don't listen to the radio in Fallout, and it actually makes sense in that game.

I won't listen to these 'Lumis crystal' broadcasts either, and I don't want development time wasted on them.

Yea, listening to magical Nordic opera sounds great.......

0_0, lul wut?

You truly have a gift for understatement.



Big surprise there. :rolleyes:



No, it wouldn't. You were right, it sounds nuts...and then some. But then most weak attempts to shoehorn Fallout into Elder Scrolls by slapping an extremely thin veneer on them do.

Keep your bloody Fallout out of my Elder Scrolls, thank you very much.

This


I was too lazy to say all this. But yea, magical radio? "Da hell?"

I do not like this idea. Something I think they should avoid.

I don't think I'd use a radio broadcast in Skyrim, but some kind of 'magic eye' like a Palantir would be outstanding.

Just think of a magical radio in the Elder Scrolls and try NOT to laugh....

Yes. By all means. Let's keep music and musicians out of the Elder Scrolls. Let's have characters called "Bards" who can't play instruments or sing. Let's have entire countries where music is spoken of very often in literature, yet never performed... Let the ban on ingame musical performance continue, because it lends so much "authenticity" to the "Elder Scrolls" experience.

Only if such devices can be used otherwise, too. Throw a crystal over to a conversation you want to overhear, for example. The Dark-Brotherhood-Equivalent-Questline could make great use of them I am certain.

Magic radio? Na...

Ability to play music? Don't see why not. Just not over the radio.

It'd be nice, but at this point, I don't think they could record several songs to put into the game for this "Lumis Crystal". Maybe one of the next games.

I really want bards in taverns, some playing their lute, some telling stories of great adventurers and heroes, maybe some of you.

I agree.

But I think they will be able to add in the magic toe nail so we can use to slay Giant frost fish. Doesn't sound ridiculous at all.

I like the original thinking but it's maybe a little too over the top, as far as relying on magic to explain or make an excuse for a cool feature.

I definately like the ideas of bards playing music. Have minstrels or bards in taverns (even have full-on drunken viking sing-alongs), buskers playing in the streets, and the possibility to have musicians accompany you on your travels (whether professionals or characters who just play instruments or sing as a passtime).

Perhaps a non-magic reliant equivelant to the radio would be having an instrument in your inventory which allows you to chose a track in the game. It's still not realistic that the intrument would be playing constantly. For slightly subtler magic, you could say it's an enchanted instrument that plays itself.

One last think I'd like is the ability to make "requests" to buskers and bards etc. Toss them a coin and choose a song, and they play it. That'd be cool.

Let's be a drama queen?

You can put music, and musicians, into Skyrim without the obvious Fallout radio ripoffs- believe it or not. And I will continue to sneer at said attempted ripoff..."Hello, this is Mr. Winterhold coming to you live via Dragon Magic Radio..."

Seriously, how about throwing out the "must sneak Fallout in" and try a setting-appropriate method: Bards and Minstrels in every tavern and inn. Nobility filling their audience chambers with the sounds of musicians performing works created solely for their patrons. Right there alone is an "immersive, in-game" way of giving each ruler/count/duke/whatever their own theme, heard anytime you visit them.

And the astounding part- all this can be added without the screamingly obvious "lol, let's make magic radios so I can have teh Skyout Fallrim, lol"

Now you're not wrong that musicians could be used more, but I'd rather have musicians play in taverns, lord's courts or something like that.

I actually agree with Alois here, it's a very bad idea. Sorry.

radio?
meh, get on my nerves during the scenic treks across skyrim

live music in taverns? hell to the yes!

Oh god Alois you are win :foodndrink:


If you just advocated for more immersive Taverns with Bards, singing about etc etc at the very least think that Taverns were very loud and would be the over arching theme in a region/City then epic...but who exactly would be wearing a ring to listen to music being made by some anonymous person?

Relabeling a radio a magic crystal doens't change the fact that it's a bloody radio, it would feel really weird and extremely out of place

As noted above, the additional utility of such a tool for eavesdropping purposes is pretty obvious and would also be useful.

Perhaps you're playing as a thief or an a stealth mission. You want to know what is being whispered about by two characters far away- or otherwise unapproachable. You affix a crystal to an arrow and fire it in the grass nearby them.

I get it if some people don't like the notion since I'm positing how I personally would choose to use them to listen to the musicians that I hope are in Skyrim. Though it's bullcrap to act like this is some sort of anachronism or implausible violation of fantasy gaming. Palantirs are, heaven forbid, fantasy crystals using magic to broadcast to other Palantirs... And if those post had been called "What About Adding Palantir-like Crystals to Skyrim?", there would likely be much less condescension in the replies...

Oh wait. Maybe it's just be "Keep your Tolkein out of my Elder Scrolls!" variations...

Exactly- the whole magic radio idea merits naught but, to quote Monty Python, "Howls of derisive laughter, Bruce!

But more music- oh, the possiblities. Even in Oblivion there was at least one sneaky reference- passers-by would ask if you'd heard the lastest bardic composition and sing (er...sorta...hehehe) part of it.

Take it to the next step- couple of points in quests, you do something that causes the minstrel in the local tavern to make a song about your heroics, which you then hear (or "must suffer," as the case may be) anytime you enter said tavern.

If you really want to get crafty, consider this: unmarked side quest where a song is composed about one of your acts that isn't so...flattering. You then have to try and stop its spread- based on your own character concept, you could bribe every bard you find playing it...or threaten them....or take the real no-nonsense route of hunting down the composer, killing them, then using that as a threat against any others you find singing it. If any dare to after word gets around.

Among all the other wanderers that (hopefully) keep roads from being the empty trails they were in Oblivion, you could add roving bards. Some may or may not sing while travelling, you could happen across campsites you're led to by sound, and so on.

Hell- you want the ultimate Adoring Fan situation? Rescue a bard who then becomes a cross between the Adoring Fan and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZwuTo7zKM8. "He was not at all afraid to be mashed into a pulp. Or to have his eyes burned out, and his elbows broken..."

I'm all for bards and music and merriment in taverns because it would be rewarding to be out adventuring for a few days alone and then be bombarded by the purely ecstatic humanity that would abound in such a place. I think it could make the populated region much more interesting and worthy of remembrance/game time.

There HAS been music in past elder scrolls games, look at Bloodmoon

Anyway this was an interesting idea, it IS 200 years after Oblivion so these crystals might've been invnted since then. It'd also let you see what NPC's are doing when you're not there, let you experience their lives from another perspective. Still, perhaps not for radio broadcasting, it'd feel kind of out of place.

But the most interesting part is the one about in-game music. Surprisingly it's barely been discussed, yet it's a vital part of the universe, especially Skyrim. I'd love to see numerous in-game songs and heroic poems, maybe even concerts.