I was pondering on this for a while, and I was thinking after 200 years shouldn't Tamriel be like in terms of technology.. Advancing? Every Civilisation evolves we see it now, sure I don't want The Elder Scrolls 7 being in like a modern day New York style setting, but should we start to see more advances on for instance steam power? Perhaps see more modernised things, like agriculture, the way they harvest crops perhaps they have invented ways to improve crop harvest, I mean it would make a lot more sense if we seen it slowly start advancing technologically, agriculturally, and perhaps economically(Something I doubt we'd know for a while after all the game is set during Civil War), but mentioning the Civil War, advances on Warfare, the improved use of Cannons during war (If I recall one was in a Elder Scrolls game before). Also I'd expect cities, most definitely the capital of Skyrim being more advanced in terms of Architecture.. Perhaps some person has discovered a way of using Dwarven technology for example.

I don't expect major changes like cars, robot arms and what not, but if the game is jumping 200 years, I'd like to see at least some advances as it does seem rather strange that a whole continent was at complete stand-still for two centuries.. Besides the whole infernal city thing killing everyone.lol But it would be nice to see at least some advances just to show us.. A lot has changed since we last ventured in Tamriel.. Perhaps changes in Fashion, people finding new ways to battle the cold perhaps?

I'd like to hear you views.

Maybe a tiny bit here and there, but there's a been a big decline since the death of the Emperor and the fall of the Empire. Trade with the other provinces has probably taken a big hit, civil wars are going to be taking priority over technological advances for convenience. Personally, I'm expecting more of the same. I'd say hold off on even steam power for another game.

It's only logical. With time civilizations advance. But as Skyrim would have more poverty due to the civil war then it would delay all technological advance as well as magic. But a bit more advances would be more logical, exploding runes are a magical advance. Steam power is a bit too much. Plus we'll most likely have Dwemer ruins, and Dwemers are full of steam powered things and... stuff.

Well there will be advances in Skyrim.
For example the people learned how to chop wood or the warriors learned how to wield two swords simultaneously.
:)

The Elder Scrolls universe runs on the rules of myth. Those rules include the idea that things aren't getting better from an earlier dark age through finding things out about science (it's doubtful that science as we know it works in the Elder Scrolls universe anyway), but instead are slowly deteriorating from a golden age in the past, with the possiblity of that age coming to be again due to heroism or magic or good governance - not technological advancement. The great machines and works of wonder are only for the lost civilisations of the past, not for you nor or for the future.

I was wandering though seeing that has been steam-power before, of which is only in Oblivion which is the Hist Sap Machine in the Blackwood company, that shows at least some advances in technology, so it does seem rather reasonable for there to be at most some minimal advances on things like machinery.

Something came to my mind:
Have you played the game "The longest Journey"?

There's a world with magic but without science (in physics), because there is no need for it. You can do everything with magic, so why study physics?
And there is a world without magic but with a lot science (our world). The people have to rely on physics to advance.

So in a magical world, will there be much science other than magical science? I haven't seen any real mathematician in Oblivion or Morrowind.

I don't feel like Skyrim is the right place to do it. Particularly considering the time period. However, there are decent odds of Dwemer ruins. If there ARE Dwemer ruins, it would be ESSENTIAL to include a mad scientist type character/archaeologist or some sort of Dwemer scholar and a quest line including discovery of new technologies. Possibly technology-driven puzzles in the ruins as well... >.>

Skyrim is not our world. Our world has also only started to develop a lot (in terms of big technological advances that affect the society) in the past hundreds of years. Before that, our world didn't develop much. Still, this doesn't matter, because as I said before, Skyrim is not our world, even though it has some similarites.

Look at LOTR for example. Thousands of years could pass without the slightest development. Development even degraded during those years. In other words: Skyrim is not our world.

Technology didn't change all that much when humanity was at that stage. Hell, at one point we jumped back a couple hundred years.

I'll just think of Skyrim like Poland. We'll still be on horseback while they other provinces around us have Tanks and Warthogs.

Not necessarily. People forgot how to make decent pottery when the Dark Ages came around. Certain situations can make the technology levels of a civilization drop.

Perhaps with the Civil war we could see some technology drops as well? I'd also like to see economically some differences, I mean with the empire fallen and everything else going to pot, perhaps we will see Solitude being in economic decline as it is one of the most richest and influential counties in Skyrim so it would be nice to see things altering but it would be nice to see..

Also I want to change the title now to perhaps "Technological Changes...And other changes.." So it takes into account drops as well as advances..

This has been said before somewhere in these forums, which I thought was pretty smart. In the TES universe magic basically replaces technology, and causes it to stagnate. Technology breeds from necessity, and if there is no need to get over those mountains when you could just levitate/teleport, then there is no need to think of, build, test, and fly an airplane (that is a poor example but you get my point, hopefully).

An even bigger example is hydraulic cement. The Romans built with it extensively, but it was lost until the invention of portland cement in early 1800s. The n there's the arch. In the west, outside the Byzantine Empire, it was forgotten from a few hundred years. When you study cathedrals, you can literally see examples of them trying to rediscover how the arch works.

As another point, the expectation of technological advance is a relatively recent phenomenon. Way back then, people didn't expect everything to improve. Nor did they at a rate that was anywhere close to what it is today.

I get your point, kinda like walking on water, why buy health potions when you can use a healing spell? But I guess in a way it can be argued with, as in TES you have your mages and your barbarians, and people who aren't that powerful of mages, the less willpower fused of people they would need things to help them out, not necessarily a highly powered mage but a simple citizen would most definitely require this, sure it doesn't have to be completely physics based, but it could just be that magic has been enchanted by a mage to make it work etc. But before like blacksmithing if magic replaces technology then there would be no utensils for blacksmithing at all as in a way a utensil to help create something is a advancement of some sort. I guess you could say that in the TES universe as a whole it is a mix, both technology and magic but in terms of ratio it'd likely be 35:65 (Tech:Magic).. So technology advances is still quite plausible in a sense.

But I don't overall mean that Tamriel is to become a futuristic place in over two centuries, just a little more shaped from the recent events and advances or dis-advances are a more obvious way of showing it, and not just technological changes but perhaps economical changes, like the way the place is ran, this could show the differences between the rebels and the other side(empire I believe?), like perhaps the empire is ran more strictly whereas the rebels is not as strict for example.

I would lik to see the dwarves and they were well ahead of their time. other than that not too much different (no guns).

It might be nice to see some spells designed to do something other than kill or control things, but a society that has magic shouldn't need advanced technology.

Actually to answer your original question, i say no. In the history of people we've only had real tech ( machines and such) for 200-300 years. And look how long we've been around! I think the folk of Tamriel have some years to go before some tech shows up. just because time goes on does not mean a people will gain tech advances.

TES X, A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game... haha

Maybe a little change cant hurt anybody...

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1172685-pre-modern-crude-explosives/: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_fire

and

Repeating Crossbows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_crossbow

^would both be fine for me. These kind of advancements are the kind that would happen in time of war. maybe further technological advancements should happen in future titles.

In fact my original question was overall advancements, this means technological, clothing, economics and architectural. But I agree with you about the advances statement being in the 200 or 300 something years that we've had any real advances.

our world dosent work like Nirn.. they have magic we don't.. Necessity is the mother of invention.. we invented cannons because we needed to be able to take down naval ships in the ocean and a cannon was a naval ships only weapon back in the day.. why would Nirn need cannon's when everyone can shoot a lightning bolt from their hands or bring down a fire storm on a house..there is no need for advances so thier won't be any

Other: Not in Skyrim. Eventually, yes, but after they have done all the Tamrielic provinces once. Then they can start over with a bit of evolution after TES X.

Ahh I misread that then. I will stand with my answer of tech not advancing, and add clothing and architecture to that. Not gonna add economy, as im not sure on it.