[Cheryl Rice]

It's not funds we're worried about sapping, it's disk space. Voice acting everything takes up so much space, that shouldn't be necessary, and it causes the game to lack in other areas.


Exactly. I think I heard somewhere in Oblivion (I don't play it much, so I may be wrong) that Vivec was taken by the Daedra? Or was it the city Vivec was attacked? Anyways, I still think Vivec could make an awesome main bad guy, especially if teamed with a Daedric prince. I loved the blurred realisation of good and evil, due to insanity in Morrowind (Dagoth Ur seen as evil, and Almalexia seen as good until it was too late)

I agree, Vivec could make an awesome main bad guy. In morrowind, they didn't really touch on him, at all. You saw him one time. That's it. One conversation, and then you had no reason to see him again. Such a interesting background and story, and you saw so little of him. I guess that might have been the point though. Mystery and all. I know for a fact the first time I stepped into his palace during the MQ, it was a pretty epic moment.

But it would be really cool if they touched on him more again maybe in TES:V or TES:VI.

[Marilú]

It's hard to say how much of an obstacle that is. Extra disk space by no means guarantees less room for other things; they can just put it on two disks. As well, game size and hard drive size both increase over the years. Oblivion, released in 2006, calls for 4.6 gigabytes of space. Mass Effect 2, released 2010, calls for 15, and is on two disks. I'm not even sure where that demand comes from, but the game sure doesn't seem to be over three times the size of Oblivion. As far as we know, by the time TESV comes out even having double the amount of voice space used may be a negligible amount of its size.

Those 15 gigabytes probably come from voice acting and graphics. It IS the best looking RPG on the market right now, and it has a million and one voices for each and every thing. It definitely is something I'd like to see Oblivion do. I don't care if the second disc is only for voices alone, as long as it makes the game deeper and allows it to have more quests and more options. I really really really hated in Oblivion when I would pick an option, and get a response, then reload, pick a different option, and get the SAME response as before. That's just disappointing.

[naana]

• Please add guild advancement requirements on skills.

[Nicole Coucopoulos]

• Please add guild advancement requirements on skills.

I'd say rather than a hard skill requirement have a required DISPLAY of skills. I mean what do they do, read your stat sheet?
I'd rather believe they'd TEST your skills, give you certain tasks you must handle before you can advance.
This still requires you to have certain skill, especially if they have conditions under which a test of skill is success or fail, like solving something only using magic but you use a weapon, at how much is it still considered valid and where "NO, it clearly says magic only", that can define if you pass or not.

[D IV]

I don't care if the second disc is only for voices alone

I was gonna say...

I'd say rather than a hard skill requirement have a required DISPLAY of skills. I mean what do they do, read your stat sheet?
I'd rather believe they'd TEST your skills, give you certain tasks you must handle before you can advance.
This still requires you to have certain skill, especially if they have conditions under which a test of skill is success or fail, like solving something only using magic but you use a weapon, at how much is it still considered valid and where "NO, it clearly says magic only", that can define if you pass or not.

For magic the trial might hinge around casting a specific spell where the 'required' level and attributes guaranty success, a lower level and attributes would be possible but dangerous, higher attributes but a lower level could even things out again, and buffs could take care of all the problems. Alchemy and Enchant would involve getting a specific soul and ingredients to make a minimum effect. The time it takes to sucessfully cast, and the better the potion or enchantment would be rewarded style points.

For combat related skills you get specific arraignment to spar with that drops your intelligence to 0, rings and amulets could be used but looked down on. Then you try and do what they told you with what they gave you.

With armorer, speechcraft, and mercantile its a test of skill like casting

[Motionsharp]

I don't care if the second disc is only for voices alone

I don't think anyone would, as long as they don't get some of the stupid ridiculous voice actors from Oblivion. But, TESV will likely be a console game aswell, and consolers will be whining if they don't get all of what PC gamers get (Just look at how many complain due to the lack of a CS)

I'd say rather than a hard skill requirement have a required DISPLAY of skills. I mean what do they do, read your stat sheet?
I'd rather believe they'd TEST your skills, give you certain tasks you must handle before you can advance.
This still requires you to have certain skill, especially if they have conditions under which a test of skill is success or fail, like solving something only using magic but you use a weapon, at how much is it still considered valid and where "NO, it clearly says magic only", that can define if you pass or not.

Aren't your stats a show of your skill? The fighter's guild is more likely to promote a large butch warrior than a skinny commoner. (Maybe everyone would have the same build, but only due to limitations)

Anyways, do you not count quests as tasks? The guild will know your skills once you've killed every bandit in a cave. Stat requirements makes sure they know you've got the awesomeness.

[Peter P Canning]

Not only do we need more voices for npc's, but the npc's also has to be interesting to talk to. In oblivoion, I ask about rumors, and get "I heard that they hire people at fighters guild" I was like, ohhh really! Like I would have figured that myself.

Morrowind showed us interesting people to talk to. You could go to a temple and ask a priest about saints and the daedra and you almost felt like he was teaching you about the history of morrowind.

Or simply the imperial guards could tell you a bunch of things about imperial laws, imperial legion and a whole lot of stuff.

I just loved when I talk to different priests and telvanni wizards about necromancy.


Please make npc's interesting to talk to!!!

[Katharine Newton]

Morrowind showed us interesting people to talk to. You could go to a temple and ask a priest about saints and the daedra and you almost felt like he was teaching you about the history of morrowind.

Because Morrowind didn't waste tons of space on voice acting!! :banghead:

EDIT: Maybe in a few hundred years when my computer is the technological equivalent of a calculator, discs may be able to hold all the extra room for voice acting.

[Alyce Argabright]

Hire some new people to write the dialogue. Recently I've played a lot of games that have believable and interesting dialogue, including The Witcher, Mass Effects and Dragon Age.

Make the combat more realistic. Lots of hints can be found in Mount&Blade.

Make the character creation meaningful again, as in TES2 and in less extent in Battlespire and TES3.

Then choices and consequences, as never seen in TES series before. Really different endings as in Dragon Age, and branching pathways to take as in Gothic3.

Then, challenge. Lots of it. It's annoyingly hard to enjoy a game my grandma could play through, even if she's never touched a computer game. Nowadays you have achievements instead of challenge. The game tells you when you've achieved something, you don't get the feeling of accomplishment. Getting my hands on the Wayrest painting, or finding the Lich in Castle Sentinel gave me more sense of achievement than all the achievements in all the games combined could give.

[Ronald]

Hire some new people to write the dialogue. Recently I've played a lot of games that have believable and interesting dialogue, including The Witcher, Mass Effects and Dragon Age.

Then choices and consequences, as never seen in TES series before. Really different endings as in Dragon Age, and branching pathways to take as in Gothic3.

Yes! I want consequences of my actions. They did it a little in Fallout 3, like when you meet Moriarty, you ask him if he have seen your father and he wants 100 caps, and if you refuse to pay but later come back to ask again, he wants you to pay 300 caps.

[Imy Davies]

I don't think anyone would, as long as they don't get some of the stupid ridiculous voice actors from Oblivion. But, TESV will likely be a console game aswell, and consolers will be whining if they don't get all of what PC gamers get (Just look at how many complain due to the lack of a CS)


Aren't your stats a show of your skill? The fighter's guild is more likely to promote a large butch warrior than a skinny commoner. (Maybe everyone would have the same build, but only due to limitations)

Anyways, do you not count quests as tasks? The guild will know your skills once you've killed every bandit in a cave. Stat requirements makes sure they know you've got the awesomeness.

I don't mind the lack of a CS, but PC users would get far more angry than console users if they didn't have a CS. If any platform would have one game disk while the others have two, it would be the ps3. The ps3 uses blu-ray discs, and blu-ray discs can hold more information then DVDs. I wouldn't mind having two discs, but with the ps3 version, everything would be on one disc anyway.

Stat requirements are easy to reach in Morrowind. Also, in Oblivion:

1. The Fighter's Guild needs recruits, so I doubt they would be picky.

2. The Mages Guild may accept any character, but the Mages Guild requires you to several tasks and receive recommendations to obtain access to the Arcane University. The Arcane University is what offers the real benefits of the Mages Guild.

3. The Dark Brotherhood requires you to murder someone to contact them. Then, in order to join the Dark Brotherhood, you must kill a certain target and prove your commitment to the Dark Brotherhood, or you could kill Lucien and lose all hope of contacting the Dark Brotherhood again.

4. To join the Thieves Guild(which is basically made up of poor people trying to make a living), you must be caught for stealing or your must search a bit to find them. After finding them, you must prove you are a capable thief by completing a quest.

5. The Arena is just killing for entertainment. Owyn expects you to die from the beginning, but all the Arena is looking for is people to fight each other to the death. If you actually prove you are a capable fighter, you rise in rank and eventually gain some respect.

6. To join the Knights of the Nine, you must go on a pilgrimage.

7. To join the Court of Madness, you must find a way to get past the Gatekeeper.

Joining major factions in Oblivion may involve a quest in which you must prove your worth first. If one of those factions doesn't have such a quest, it may not allow you to get any actual benefits until you prove yourself, even though you joined them. If it doesn't have either of those(Fighter's Guild and the Arena), then the conditions of joining still makes sense.

[Nadia Nad]

I would like to see a faction where you can join a group of bandits/marauders. I just think it would be cool if there were quests where you wait along roads to ambush people, or go off with a group of marauders to loot an old fort.

[Alberto Aguilera]

I don't mind the lack of a CS, but PC users would get far more angry than console users if they didn't have a CS. If any platform would have one game disk while the others have two, it would be the ps3. The ps3 uses blu-ray discs, and blu-ray discs can hold more information then DVDs. I wouldn't mind having two discs, but with the ps3 version, everything would be on one disc anyway.

Just because you don't mind not having a CS, doesn't mean there isn't tons of people who do. I'm saying how people complain on consoles about not having what PC users have. And not being able to install a lot of information on a console, and the limit of one disc would mean that console users wouldn't get the full experience of two discs. When a console game is released, they will hardly edit anything other than the basic code for it to work on the different platform, so your blu-rray is pointless, also, I think you're underestimating the space taken by voice acting.

Stat requirements are easy to reach in Morrowind. Also, in Oblivion:
etc.

What the original suggestion was, was to have stat requirements to raise up ranks in guilds. You have just listed a bunch of quests?? They wheren't specially created as tasks necessary to rank up.

The stat requirements where easy to reach in Morrowind. It takes five minutes for them to raise the level requirements to join a faction. It svcks when my warrior can join the mages guild, even though he has no skill in any magic classes. If guild guides are implemented again (please) I would like it if only a mages guild member could use it. Having difficulty to join the guild would make the game all the more awesome (Ever played Morrowind with Wakim's gameplay mod?)

Personally, I don't actually mind having to do a quest to rank up (Not every rank though, that would just be plain annoying), I just want to be have to be competant in the Guild's specialisation.

1. The Fighter's Guild needs recruits, so I doubt they would be picky.

There's a difference between joining and getting a promotion.

[Chris Johnston]

Just because you don't mind not having a CS, doesn't mean there isn't tons of people who do. I'm saying how people complain on consoles about not having what PC users have. And not being able to install a lot of information on a console, and the limit of one disc would mean that console users wouldn't get the full experience of two discs. When a console game is released, they will hardly edit anything other than the basic code for it to work on the different platform, so your blu-rray is pointless, also, I think you're underestimating the space taken by voice acting.

It doesn't matter if only the basic code is changed, blu-ray discs can hold more information than DVDs. Also, ps3 games are installed on the ps3's hard drive. I know voice acting takes up a lot of space, but blu-ray can hold it, and if it can't hold it in one disk, I have no problem with more than one disc. Doesn't Oblivion or Fallout 3 for the PC require two discs? The ps3 version has all that information in one disk. Blu-ray could be very userful for containing information. If Bethesda wanted to, they could have as many dialogue topics as Morrowind, but all voiced, even if it takes up more than one disc. Consoles can have information on their hard drive, the ps3 even requires it. If Bethesda wants to fill up five blu-ray discs(good luck with that), I would be perfectly fine playing such a game on my ps3, assuming the ps3's hard drive grows to be able to hold so much information. All 5.4 GB of Oblivion are on my ps3 and I would have no problem with more than one disc per game. I remember Baldur's Gate II being on several discs and installing games to a console's hard drive could work to make up for several discs, or at least it can with a ps3. I wouldn't have a problem with such a thing, but can't blu-ray hold much more information than DVD anyway?

What the original suggestion was, was to have stat requirements to raise up ranks in guilds. You have just listed a bunch of quests?? They wheren't specially created as tasks necessary to rank up.

The stat requirements where easy to reach in Morrowind. It takes five minutes for them to raise the level requirements to join a faction. It svcks when my warrior can join the mages guild, even though he has no skill in any magic classes. If guild guides are implemented again (please) I would like it if only a mages guild member could use it. Having difficulty to join the guild would make the game all the more awesome (Ever played Morrowind with Wakim's gameplay mod?)


Personally, I don't actually mind having to do a quest to rank up (Not every rank though, that would just be plain annoying), I just want to be have to be competant in the Guild's specialisation.


There's a difference between joining and getting a promotion.


Completing those tests are requirements for progressing to a point in a faction where one actually receives benefit or even joining a faction in the first place. Gaining access to the Arcane University requires obtaining all recommendations. The Dark Brotherhood requires a murder for contact with the Dark Brotherhood and to join them, one must kill a specific target. To join the Thieves' Guild, one must find them and complete a quest first. To actually join the Court of Madness, one must find a way past the Gates of Madness. Joining the KotN requires a pilgrimage. Those stats requirements are easy to reach. These quests were a more fun way to join a faction. Instead of having someone magically look at your stats, you complete a quest, an action, or several quests to join a faction. Also, like I said, stat requirements are easy to reach. There is no cap on one's skill levels due to class or major skill choices and stat requirements in Morrowind aren't high. Joining factions in Daggerfall is also easy. At level 2, I joined a knightly faction. If magic skills in Morrowind are anything like they are in Oblivion(Oblivion's magic system was actually fun to use, but I never bothered trying to use magic in Morrowind), then they should be very easy to use. The same goes for sneaking(Morag Tong and Thieves'Guild, right), weapon skills(use of conjuration), and armor skills. Skills in TES games are easy to raise. Having quests to do instead in order to join factions is more fun than casting a spell repeatedly for 10 minutes to raise my skill level. Anyway, in TES games, I role-play. I don't join factions that my character shouldn't. Joining the ones I that make sense for my character provide no challenge because my character is already moderately skilled with the needed skills for those factions at low levels.

Answers are in bold.

[Jose ordaz]

• Fallout 3 had superb level design. Keep it up, and keep improving.
  
• Fallout 3 had attrocious fire effects. It also included an orange-saran wrap looking covering all over my character when on fire. Please fix that. Look at Bioshock 2's fire, it's pretty good.
  
• Don't waste voice-acting on disposition voice, such as when you choose to admire, tell a joke, etc. and a short line comes from the NPC giving the reaction. Don't give any dialogue either, just let the facial characteristics and disposition bar make up for it.

[sas]

A quick something i wanted to throw in is, what level of "Complexity" would you want the game to be?

I'm asking because a lot of the ideas I read are OK but they seem rather "shallow" and, I don't want to insult anyone here now but, they sometimes feel like they lack of creativity. They're pretty much just "redo the old", like when I read about "This weapon/spell should do a lot more damage" it's just about tweaking the damage number assigned to it, not about rethinking how weapons and damage should work and could work more fluently.

One example, take arrows. With just going by a hit and damage points system you can go 2 ways, toothpick tossing which mean you need hundreds of arrows to bring down anything (my dreaded example of trying to kill a mountain lion landing 50 shots right in it's head [thing looked like a pincushion] and it didn't even slow it down) OR you get a wooden nuke that by pure damage points assigned to it should be able to tear down a house.
What would I do here now, first of a locational damage/effects system where hitting different body parts has different effects, hitting someone in the leg makes them limp, hitting a certain zone on the chest has a chance of a heart shot etc (And locational damage actually looks better now, fewer people are against the idea nowadays than 5 years ago before Oblivion).
Then the damage done, a arrow would only make a minor sized wound but it would be deep blocking muscles and causing pain. And it's depth can make it dangerous as it can hurt organs like the heart, shoot deep in the skull or cause strong internal bleedings.


Anyway before rambling on too long I just want to "encourage" you people to try to think a bit "outside the box", sure TES had some good systems but you do have to see they are flawed here and there and could do with a COMPLETE overhaul.
When you have an idea and run into a corner because "Wait, System A would not work with system B", don't just stop, try thinking "in what way would system B have to be adapted to work with System A", simply because maybe System B could really use a overhaul anyway.

Well that's all, I hope my "criticism" is appropriate and constructive, though I really intend less as a criticism but more and encouragement to be "creative" and try not to shy off from thinking outside the box.

[Alexander Horton]

snip

It's a good suggestion.

I do think we think outside of the box when we say we want more interesting ways to do combat- like kicking, chopping off limbs, freezing people with magic, then breaking them to pieces. That's a bit outside the box and I like it.

[Erin S]

It's a good suggestion.

I do think we think outside of the box when we say we want more interesting ways to do combat- like kicking, chopping off limbs, freezing people with magic, then breaking them to pieces. That's a bit outside the box and I like it.

We can't have any of that. It will attract all the action gamers. It's better to keep the series as an RPG series, not an FPS series, right?

Guess who I'm pretending to be.

[Max Van Morrison]

We can't have any of that. It will attract all the action gamers. It's better to keep the series as an RPG series, not an FPS series, right?

Guess who I'm pretending to be.

I never said I wanted ESV not to be an RPG. Just have a some more variety in the combat and such, also including destructive telekinesis. It will add more depth to the game. Yes, it will add more action- but at the same time, combat will be less boring.

[Dean Brown]

I never said I wanted ESV not to be an RPG. Just have a some more variety in the combat and such, also including destructive telekinesis. It will add more depth to the game. Yes, it will add more action- but at the same time, combat will be less boring.

Yes, oblivions combat was plain, and adding effects to attacks and magic leaves more content in battles.

Also, I agree with Daniel_Kay. Instead of the old "Need more voice actors" debate, I think we better off with new ideas. Thats something TES needs, whole new ideas and content never seen in TES at before. (Or any game for that matter)

[Lavender Brown]

Yes, oblivions combat was plain, and adding effects to attacks and magic leaves more content in battles.

I guess that we might need a new physics engine for the game. If you can sever limbs (not as severely as Fallout 3), people will like combat a bit more with the sword. If magic leaves people with their heads blown off and lightning shimmering around their body, they will like it more :shocking: . I really don't want as much blood was Fallout 3 though...
:banghead:

[CArlos BArrera]

I really don't want as much blood was Fallout 3 though...

Neither do I.

[Killah Bee]

I never said I wanted ESV not to be an RPG. Just have a some more variety in the combat and such, also including destructive telekinesis. It will add more depth to the game. Yes, it will add more action- but at the same time, combat will be less boring.

I have no problem with better combat, but somehow, Oblivion is considered to be less of an RPG by some people because it has decent combat(better than previous Elder Scrolls games' combat). I was just pretending to be one of those people. I don't want to hear any action or FPS junkie accusations about TES V because it has fun combat. We have enough of that with some of Oblivion's critics.

[natalie mccormick]

A quick something i wanted to throw in is, what level of "Complexity" would you want the game to be?

I want the player to have to beat the computer at Tetris just to be able to start a new game! So much complexity that when the player acquires a journal they have to assemble it by hand, pages and covers and adhesive.

More seriously, I'm definitely in favor of complexity in terms of options. It's careful territory; when you try to streamline, it's easy to strip away options. If you try to add options, it's easy to create cumbersome and unnecessary gameplay steps. As often as people don't aim much for creativity, people who do have bigger ideas often fail to think about how they can be implemented. I think that's important too, rather than declaring "here's the giant and crazy feature I want, now make it happen."

As far as that balance goes, I lean toward options; I'm more willing to risk inconvenience for options than I am options for convenience. A sandbox RPG thrives and depends on options. Of course, I've choked this thread with dozens of full essay-sized suggestions in the past, so I guess my opinions on the matter are clear.

[daniel royle]

1 problem with Oblivions combat was that doing quests or even exploring the land endend in battle.

For an example:

The Mages guild could have revolve around actually study in magic. They could have made puzzles to solve with your magic powers. Maybe you need to move stones that block entrences with telekinessis, or you need to learn how to tame your summoned daedra. But no, instead a released prisoner with 9 recommendations is assumed of knowing how to peform magic, and are casted into dungeon dwelling.

The same with town quests. There was no quests where you are asked to throw drunk people out the tavern, or a task where you was to study the doomstones wich could have had an interesing lore.

1 last thing that gave a - to rollplaying was that every quest many thins was linaer. To get through a cave, you have to fight against monsters. Thats good for warriors, but for thieves they could have made the player able to trick bandits to think you are a member or even perssuade them if youre speechcraft is good enough.

I really hope that the next TES actually lets us play in different ways with different characters.