Maybe they should bring back Admire and Intimidate but have them as skills. All these would appear as options when you talk to an NPC, like where barter and train was.

Admire- It could be alongside speechcraft, but used separately. If that makes sense... It could be used to get information, flirt, or barter

Intimidation- Not only could it help with getting information, but it could get enemies to surrender or even switch sides and join you depending on how high it is.

I love this idea. If by the end of the game I'm the leader of the fighters guild, mages guild, and listener to Sithis you'd think that I'd be pretty famous across Cyrodiil. I think bandits would think twice before attacking me in broad daylight.

Bandits have a tendency to make poor decisions. . . that's why they're bandits.

It's funny to see the two different mindsets collide on this board though.
The "people should know me and my fearsome reputation" people; and the "I just wanna be left alone quit calling me Hero of Kvatch!" people.

I must say, I just noticed the title of this thread and I really like it. Lol, not sure if I like the implication though...

I believe we should choose our past. So instead of not knowing anything about yourself like you did in TES IV you should be able to choose and know who you are and who your parents were. I should my past if it being a soldier who was the son of a great general in the army. Or If I was born of a thief and I grew up to be a thief who was thrown in jail for stealing. I should be able to choose what Army I belonged to before the whole story began. I should choose to join a guild or make my own. I should b able to choose to fight the bandits or join them. I should choose to follow the leader of said empire or start my own and build up my military power to fight the surrounding armies. My people should hate me or love me depending on my actions. A political system should also be added. TES V should be all about the choices you make and the consequences for making them.
Sorry about all the military ideas I would just love to have them put into this game.

No that would limit roleplaying alot.

Glow bugs, if you collect one in a jar you get an intermittent flashing light you can use to see in caves, if you collect 200 in a jar you get a fairly constant and considerably brighter light you can use.

Stephen.

EDIT: You then release them anywhere (more spectacular and useful in a dark cavern) and they fly off in different directions lighting the area.

No because I would be all choice. You would choose who you wanted to be. You would choose you past.

Yes because Bethesda is going to make EVERYTHING that people can think of an option right?

How did that have anything to do with the subject at hand? I understand they won't put everything people want in it but if your going to be such a downer about it why are you posting on a SUGGESTIONS thread? This whole thread is meant for SUGGESTIONS. We all know they won't all of it in the game.

Ahh I see what you saying. Never mind what I just posted. Sure they won't get every idea into the game but thats like saying we shouldn't let the gamers them choose anything because some people won't get to choose exactly what they want. It was just and idea.

I suggested a while ago that you COULD be able to write your history, however this wouldn't be a actual history about yourself but more occurrences that happened in your past which then affect your skills, attributes and even how you get along with certain groups. It still wouldn't say anything about your parents or who exactly you are, hell you still freely chose all those yourself. All this would be is a more role playing friendly way of setting up your character since it depends everything you currently have on things that happened instead of choosing them randomly or on a preset.

That could work. Although I don't know how they would implement it.

Simple, a drop down list from which you chose what you did, where you spent most of your time, what groups you interacted with etc. You'd simply have a limited amount of choices you can select, they influence all your skills, attributes and other factors, many choices would influence more than one. Depending on the amount and time of your actions they influence gets stronger or weaker, choices far in your past are weaker, those younger are stronger. Also ones you do frequently are stronger than ones you just do sporadically.

Hey thats a really good idea. Much better then my idea. (although I still hope I can become a king in control of the military.)

That could work now that I think of it.

And if you don't like it there simply is a "Unknown" option.

Why not do like the Daggerfall quiz,minus the readable summary afterwards? That way you have hints but nothing explicit outside the player's own brain. So you answer that as a child you recieved an amulet. That amulet would be in your starting gear, not be particularly good but would at least be a hint to the hero having a life before the game started.

Okay after reading your ideas I personally would rather have you making the game but thats just my opinion.

Exactly, it would be fully optional like the "10 questions" you had in Daggerfall and Morrowind only a lot more detailed, otherwise you can simply set most stats yourself like you want them, more mechanical but works too.

With simply having a number of drop down choices you can have millions of variables ending up with different stats, attributes, skills, relations, immunities, strengths and weaknesses.
Take this example, even if you'd just have 20 "slots" each giving you 20 choices, that alone gives you 8000 possible combinations. Now take into account that their relation towards each other matters as well it (I think at least if my math is right) over 3000000 possible outcomes if not more. Your start out character would never twice be the same unless you chose EXACTLY the same past as before, and even then there can be some random factors that play into it too. For example choosing you spent a lot of time in Black Marsh in your past could mean you already contracted some diseases and are more immune to them now while your health could be a bit attacked, but which diseases you contracted and how much they affected you can vary from time to time.

That way it would really give you millions of start out characters even with variable you wouldn't even think off.

That's 20^20 = 104.857.600.000.000.000.000.000.000 combinations.

Ahh thanks, math was never really my strength

But yea, now imagine that with having, lets say, 30 possibly past "slots" and then add to that your race and six (10x2 bases), direct training for each skill you have (maybe 30, lets be optimistic), places you may have been (9 provinces), then add in some details about what tpye of character your "character" is (lets say maybe 15 more choices), directly choosing if he was sick or had to deal with poisons in the past (maybe 10 more), what groups he interacted with (lets again say 10)... then you already end up at 30^84 possible outcomes, and that by far wouldn't be all possibilities you could chose from

awww nobody has anything to say about my talking skeleton...

Sort-of like wisps? But little versions?

Like... little wisps with a flee AI package and a "light" ability?

I think that might be possible in TES:IV.

Edit: 'Cept you couldn't have 200... 200 fleeing NPCs?

I agree, background traits would add a nice extra layer of customization... however, only if the leveling system doesn't cap at 100 regardless of starting racial and & background bonuses to skills. If you get a +10 bonus in sneak, then you should cap at 110, not 100 in the skill.

Background info can pertain to: skill bonuses; magicka, health, and fatigue (or any other derived stat) bonus; multiplier bonus (for example, the multiplier/conversion between strength and carrying capacity) for derived stats (encumbrance, speed, etc); starting gear; faction/racial disposition from NPCs; extra spells/powers/abilities.

That reminds me... there shouldn't be a level cap!

You should just keeping get powerful until you can one hit everything and are practically a god.