They've copyrighted the name 'Starfield'.

They also copyrighted the name 'Redguard'.

A small correction: Zenimax copyrighted "Starfield." It doesn't necessarily mean that it's BGS that is working on it. It's been almost 3 years since they copyrighted it.

And Pip-Boy, and Fus Ro Dah. Point is, 'Starfield' doesn't have any relation to neither Fallout nor TES, as do the rest of the stuff they've copyrighted. And I seriously doubt they'd copyright something just to use it as a _working title_

Well, considering they copyrighted Starfield 3 years ago, you'd think we would have heard SOMETHING by now if it was a new bethesda RPG.

Maybe BGS is NOT working on a Starfield project, but some other group/studio under the Zenimax umbrella.

After all - why interfere with BGS? They already have FO and ES; throwing something else into the mix seems........dumb.

Good point. Personally, I think all of this talk of BGS doing a new IP may be to throw us off. Besides, Starfield kind of sounds like a TES expansion to be honest. Iliac Bay was called Starfall Bay at some point. Hammerfell and Alinor have some interaction with the Magna Ge. Imagine an expansion for Alinor exploring the more sci-fi elements of TES. Elsweyr has traveling to Masser and Secunda, Alinor could have something to do with the Sunbirds, exploring the mysteries of the Void. Though, I'm just grasping at straws at this point.

For each province, I think we can paint a probable picture of the setting's whole direction. Valenwood would be a very fantastical setting, with incredible beauty mirrored in visceral horror. A game that explores the balance of nature, dealing with things such as the Earth Bones and the Wild Hunt. Hammerfell would encompass the wanderer, be it a nomad of the Alik'r, or a pirate of the Abecean, or even a monk of the Ansei. A savage land, where civilisation only exists in the border and coastal cities. And then there is the Tamriel's Garbage Heap.

Despite its reputation as being Tamriel's most unexplored province, we do know quite a lot about Black Marsh. I'd highly suggest looking through Lady Nerevar's notes on The Infernal City and Lord of Souls in the Imperial Library. I'd imagine the city of Lilmoth - Argonia's unofficial capital, would be similar to Vivec in some ways. In place of cantons, a mixture of great stepped pyramids and small communities on stilts, along with rotting and sunken Imperial villas. After Lilmoth's destruction, the city would be rebuilt in old Argonian architecture.

The Old Imperial Quarter would remain of course.

We haven't had a proper Desert/Jungle setting yet have we?

Indeed. But the thing is, about 80% of the remaining provinces have at least some jungles or deserts. Alinor is supposedly partially tropical, Valenwood is a massive rainforest, Elsweyr is a combination of deserts, plains and jungles, Black Marsh is partially swamp, partially jungle and partially plains. Finally, there is Hammerfell, which has the Alik'r - the mother of all deserts, and some jungles on the northern coast. Valenwood, Black Marsh and Hammerfell, while somewhat more diverse, are the more dedicated provinces, and I'd really like to see what they do with say, Black Marsh. Underwater exploration, locations and even settlements. Fierce underwater battles with Dreugh, Sea Drakes and Swamp Leviathans. Elsweyr or Hammerfell, with a potential shifting sands mechanic, covering up certain ruins and landmarks, only to uncover them in a few days. Black Marsh and Valenwood could take advantage of the "special trees" element of the provinces, perhaps moving roots and branches, as seen in the Eldergleam Sanctuary, to navigate the world.

It's possible that Starfield is a trademark related to a BGS project, but another possibility is that it could be for something that was ultimately cancelled back when they took a more hardlined stance on the quality of of their games as well. Personally, I think that if BGS isn't using the Starfield mark, then chances are it's never going to be used because Zenimax's other studios generally don't file their trademarks so far in advance without an official announcement, and it seems possible that BGS might be going the trend of not trademarking projects that far before announcing them as well, if Fallout 4 is any indication.

Either way, I'd say there's a pretty decent chance of BGS doing TES VI and releasing it within the next 3-6 years or so anyway considering there are now two studios rather than just the one. The one thing that's been made clear is that Todd Howard wants his next game to be a complete surprise as to what it is to the point that Pete Hines stated that BGS' next game may or may not be TES VI. Of course, we don't know how quickly BGS Montreal is going to put out their first game, either. I still think it's possible that Starfield is related to something that BGS is doing (which could involve a current or a new IP of theirs) considering the timing of the filing and the lack of an announcement almost three years later, though the whole thing could still be a mere coincidence as well.

It is important to note that Pete Hines hasn't straight-up denied the possibility of TES VI happening, just that it won't be announced "for a very long time", whatever that means.

Regarding the various provinces, I think it's necessary to adress which kinds of dungeons would be present in the various dungeons. The Summerset Isles for example are mainly home to Aldme ruins, belonging to the ancestors of the Altmer, and Sloadic ruins, once belonging to the Isles' original inhabitants. Valenwood is home to Ayleid ruins, Khajiit ruins and various Groves, basically Bosmeri ruins, either abandoned or corrupted. Elsweyr would also have Ayleid ruins and Khajiit ruins, but also Akaviri Shrines, the remnants of the Akaviri settlers of the Rim, the forebears of the "Rim-Men". So far so good.

High Rock would have crumbling Breton castles, Nedic barrows and Direnni ruins, with possibly ruins left over from the various incarnations of Orsinium. Hammerfell would have Dwemer ruins, belonging to the Rourken, Yokudan ruins and Nedic ruins, with perhaps some secluded Elven ruins. Finally, Black Marsh would be home to Xanmeer, the ruins of the ancient Argonians, Daedric Shrines, belonging tothe Cantemiric Velothi, Ayleid ruins and the ruins of the Kothringi.

Also Dunmer and Imperial ruins as well for Black Marsh. If Alten Corimont is largely based on Dunmer architecture (though in this case there's also the huge beached Breton ship as well), then the other similarly-named settlements are likely of Dunmer origin as well, especially Port Dunmont (Portdun Mont in Arena) near Archon.

We would definetly see Dunmeri architecture in Black Marsh. I actually think that BGS should include part of southern Morrowind, namely the Dres District as part of Black Marsh, the region engulfed in a guerilla war between the remnants of House Dres and the Argonians. Daedric Shrines could essentially function as Dunmeri ruins, those in Black Marsh being built by the Cantemiric Velothi. The inclusion of say, Dunmer Strongholds would seem like overkill, considering there being decaying villas and plantations and Imperial Forts all over Black Marsh. Good catch with Port Dunmont. Didn't think of that.

I can't wait to explore some sunken dungeons in Argonia. Finding secret dungeons entrances underwater, or inside huge trees or volcanic cones. And then alternate swimming in flooded corridors with climbing and descending very deep shafts, and eventually locating the treasure room only to find it guarded by a huje Jabba-The-Hutt'esque boss and its dormant larvae... that moment when you realize the whole dungeon is actually inside a tree whose roots go way deep under the swamp, and those slimy enormous things that occasionally block the path are actually alive and some other creatures' means of transportation

A question that I think is of some genuine importance:

Why are the Akaviri who settled in Elsweyr known as "Rim Men"?

We know so little about these people..........

I assume its because that the majority of the "Akaviri" that settled the Rim were either mannish or man-like Akaviri or in fact Nibenese Imperials with Akaviri ancestry. It would explain the relative absense of Nibenese Imperials with Akaviri last names and traits, such as strange skin-coloration and serpentine eyes. Overall, I think Rimmen is probably one of the most interesting locations in Elsweyr. While the north has the nomadic and, depending on who you ask, barbaric Ne-Quin'al, and the south has the commerce-oriented Pa'alatiin, Rimmen really stand out as both the Imperial-influenced city-state and the eternal outsider.

As for Black Marsh, I think the main quest would likely be sort of a treasure hunt for the Eye of Argonia. Something is happening to the Hist, making spore trees at random go "rogue". The player character, being either an outsider or a lukiul, is chosen by the Hist as their "instrument". By drinking Hist sap, they gain a degree of understanding of the Hist hivemind, allowing them to understand Jel and fight-off some of Black Marsh's diseases. With every tree they "purify", they drink its sap, further advancing their abilities, allowing them to breathe fleshflies, conjure thorny vines and barriers, essentially become a powerful Sap-Speaker.

They cross paths of with various factions, such as the Expeditionary Force, an Imperial-led army of auxiliaries and conscripts, trying to restore Imperial authority in Black Marsh, and the An-Xileel, an isolationist, nativist revolutionary junta, seeking to guide Black Marsh to the glory days of the distant past. In the end, their investigations lead them to discover that a cult of Sithis from the interior is behind the corruption, and to stop what they have wrought, they must venture to Helstrom, the Lost City of Argonia, deep in the heart of Black Marsh. But first they must recover the Eye of Argonia, so they can navigate the Murkwood.

This is personally how I would spread out the cities and towns of Black Marsh:

• Gideon, Slough Point, Hixinoag, Mir Corrup


• Soulrest, Umphogo, Stonewastes


• Lilmoth, Ald Meirhall, Branchgrove


• Archon, Dunmont


• Thorn, Riverwalk


• Stormhold, Ald Corimont, Stillrise, Hissmir


• Tear, Kithendis Falls, Silnim Dale


• Blackrose, Longmont


• Helstrom, Murkmont

Overall, 25 settlements is penty. The major five settlements would be Gideon, Lilmoth, Stormhold, Tear and Soulrest. Some of the names may need to be Jel-ified, such as the ones found in ESO and Arena. Though, the same could be said of some ruins. Stillrise would be an Imperialised town, built over the ruins of the old Kothringi village, said to be haunted. Mir Corrup would be another Imperialised town, once a Nibenese resort city in the southern Valus mountains, famous for its bathhouses. The city fell into ruin and was abandoned, later absorbed into Black Marsh. Tear, Silnim and Kithendis would essentially be located in an explorable no man's land, bordered to the north by the Thirr River and the southern Valus Mountains. The region would be engulfed in a guerilla war between the Argonians and the Arnesian Velothi, led by the remnants of House Dres.

I wonder if what's happening is that BGS are going to postpone working on a new TES for a while until they are confident they can bring something quite new to the series. I know that we in these forums often make out that things like removing attributes, removing spears, dual wielding, perks, etc. are a big deal. But if you take a step back and look at the big picture, you can see that all of these things are pretty subtle tweaks on the same formula, and TES II to V are overwhelmingly similar games.

Maybe Todd doesn't just want to do another subtly tweaked version of TES (ie. Skyrim, but the perk trees have been tinkered with, or crafting is a little more flexible, or whatever). Perhaps there are a group of designers, big picture thinkers, who are working on how they can implement an open world RPG in a really novel way. Something that brings some quite different game mechanics and opens up a wide range of different gameplay possibilities, rather than just being slightly refined versions of what is already being done. Once they have that, then the development can start on writing, creating assets, programming, all the nuts and bolts stuff.

Just speculation, but I wonder if that's what's behind Pete's comments.

Would the Clockwork City belong in a Black Marsh game as part of the vanilla game, or as a DLC?

srk,

They wouldn't change the core of the games--what makes TES what it is. And truth be told, they don't need to. There were plenty of changes from Daggerfall to Morrowind to Oblivion to Skyrim gameplay-wise, changes many fans were still unhappy about. But despite the changes, TES games remained recognizable, and rebranding the series and doing something completely new would be a huge mistake. The TES formula of "do whatever you want, be whoever you want, explore to your heart's content and save the world" works. New, interesting gameplay mechanics are always welcome as long as the core of the game remains the same.

Is there anything in FO4 which lends itself to this concept?

It definitely could. There are many speculated locations for the Clockwork City, or rather, its surface entrance. Some claim it to be under Old Ebonheart, others claim it to be in Morrowind's southern marshes. The very same southern marshes that were supposedly conquered by the Argonians during the Accession War. And looking at ESO's future DLC and the map of ESO, there is speculation that the Clockwork City in ESO will be released as part of a DLC revolving around Thornmarsh - a new zone essentially encompassing the Dres District. Definitely would fit with the whole "southern marshes" description, and the region, and judging by the various maps, I think including the Dres District wouldn't seem out of place. It would also set a natural barrier with the Thirr River and various hills and mountains, cutting off the Dres District from the rest of Morrowind, while also introducing elements to the game that would invoke nostalgia and the possible return of slavery, to the game.

As for the Clockwork City itself, it would certainly work as a Blackreach-style dungeon, one that could be expanded upon in DLC. Perhaps a questline revolving around the Synod Conclave could lead to some great revelation, such as, say, Sotha Sill still being alive. As in, a consciousness that controls the Clockwork City. This could then be expanded upon in a DLC set in one of Morrowind's regions, perhaps around the Scathing Bay, a place supposedly sacred to the Argonians. As for Black Marsh's dungeons, in the end, it comes down to functionality. The way I see it, Black Marsh has the sunken ruins of the Barsaebic Ayleids, the Daedric Shrines constructed by the Canimitic Velothi and the Xanmeer ziggurats, shrines and necropoli, constructed by the Ancient Argonians. According to the lore, there are also the ruins of the Kothringi Capitals, which are descripted as "vast and complicated". Some Velothi Towers/Ancestral Tombs would also fit quite well into the province.

Veloth Towers/Ancestral Tombs use the same tileset and essentially fall under the banner of Velothi Dungeons, something that would be almost more fitting in Black Marsh than Daedric Shrines, considering the fact that Black Marsh, even before the Accession War, still held on to what Dunmer considered to be their ancestral holdings, most likely Archon, Thorn and Stormhold. Velothi Dungeons could also be used a strongholds by the remnants of House Dres, aside from likely Bonewalkers and Ancestral Undead, skeletal or spectral. Kothringi Capitals would likely be largely occupied by either pirates or hostile tribes, aside from some that would be occupied by "Thin Ones" - undead Kothringi. Ayleid Ruins would likely be also inhabited by Ayleid Revenants and Ayleid Wraiths, bringing the need for Velothi Ruins into question. Finally, Argonian Ruins would be populated by anything, from hostile tribes, to Hist-created abominations, to undead animated by parasitic vegetation.

There are also other landmarks, such as various plantations, Kwama Egg Mines, Naga Camps, Velothi Camps, Imperial Forts, Skyrender Hives, Caves, Grottoes and so on. Basically, I think Daedric Ruins would be less fitting, but more functional. In the end, Velothi Towers could be incorporated into House Dres's architecture, while Ancestral Tombs would be occupied by the same "Ancestral Wraiths" and Skeletons as the Wild Elven Ruins. Though, that would be pushing it in terms of sheer variety.

I don't necessarily agree.. we see far to little innovation in gaming these days.. people are happy with "ohh, i liked that, give me more of that please" and i think thats hurting the industry in the long run..



trying new things, and trying things a bit outside your comfort zone is what drives the industry forward in the long run, and resulted in what is considered some of the all time gaming classics.. what is viewed as AAA games these days only exist the way they do because 20 years ago studios were willing to go and try new things, to push the envelope forward by driving innovation.. this just doesn't happen very often anymore, devs instead stay with what they consider "safe", and players are happy with going "ohh yeah.. that was fun, just give me more of that and i'll be happy"..


if this continues, it will be very difficult to truly redefine what a game can be as has been done in the past (ever play the original Zelda? that was a major risk at the time, trying something that had never really been done before, and yet it played a crucial role in defining what could be done in a game).. I personally support innovation in the industry over constant "more of the same", cause no matter how much i love that same, I realize for the industry to truly evolve we need studios to be willing to go out there and try new things others haven't thought of yet..


and even if the result of that attempt at innovation leads to a somewhat lackluster product, I will still respect the studio more for it because they at least put effort into creating something that hadn't been thought of before, over a studio who constantly goes "remember that game you liked 4 years back? well hey, heres a sequel that has a slightly tweaked combat system!"..


I often see people complain about CoD or AC, how its usually just the same game with a few tweaks, well its this mindset of "naah, series is fine the way it is.. they don't need to try new things" that leads to that.. it doesn't matter if its 1 year, or 12 between releases, if your unwilling to push the envelope and just "play it safe" it is no different..

I don't disagree, but I don't support change for the sake of change. Changes to the gameplay of an established series are fine as long as they actually improve the game.

I like Civ 4 more than Civ 5, because I liked its gameplay better, and some changes in Civ 5 were clearly just made to make it more different from the previous game.

My stance on the issue: keep what works, and change what can be improved, and add new interesting features.

I'm not interested in playing a TES game that retained only a semblance to Morrowind or Skyrim. I like some continuity. Also, argument about the game being the same doesn't really work with TES, because each new game is set in a different province with different races, culture and lore.

yet people complain of AC being the same, even though each takes place in entirely different countries, in vastly different cultures, and time periods

which is the exact stance that caused each CoD release to be so similar

its not change just for change though.. its change that may result in long term gain for the industry and the series.. if we want games to truly become more than they are right now, we need innovation, we need studios to stop going "well, our last 2 games were like that and people bought them.. lets keep it up i guess, people seem to like it" or else we will never get truly new experiences, just augmented versions of past ones..


even if the attempt at innovation leads to a slightly inferior product, it still pushes the industry forward more than just tweaking whats already there, even if just as an example of what doesn't work (remember what Thomas Edison "supposedly" said about his many failures trying to invent the lightbulb? "I have not failed, I have simply found 10,000 ways it will not work")..





there is nothing wrong with loving the past products, but they will always be there for you to go back to.. if they go out and try new things, that will benefit both the franchise and the entire industry in the long term.. however, the more you stick to your status quo, the less options and potential the future holds, and the quicker the strongest of supporters will even get tired of it, this is not true just within the gaming industry but the world itself (many of histories biggest social, technological, and political innovations came from people thinking "you know.. what we have now isn't necessarily bad, but if we go try this, maybe it could be even better")..

Ehh, are you seriously saying that all TES games are similar to each other the way CoD games are? I can see that argument being made about Bethesda's Fallout (FO4 feels like FO3 with some improvements), but it's not true for TES at all.

Oblivion's atmosphere was vastly different from Morrowind's, and Skyrim's is vastly different from Oblivion's. The games feel nothing alike. Each game has a unique atmosphere that wasn't simply copypasted into the next game.

please do not put words in my mouth (although CoD does have variety in settings as well.. some take place in middle eastern deserts in modern day, others in the frozen forests of WWII's eastern front)..



a new environment each game is not innovation, its still the same thing with a tile swap, true innovation comes from a much deeper level than mere aesthetics.. and eventually, people will call it out on it, just as those who were once games like CoD or AC's strongest supporters now call those games out on it, because a different setting alone does not make an entirely new experience (I am sure your first time entering Seyda Neen back in Morrowind, or exiting the Sewers in Oblivion was quite a bit more memorable than when you exit that cave in Skyrim)..





now are they necessarily going to have to change things in the next game specifically? not really.. I suspect they can get another 2, possibly 3 games by with the current formula as things currently stand (probably until the end of the Thalmor arc to be honest), but if you look at the specific part of your post i quoted, the "they don't need to" thats the issue i have with your statement.. they may not need to at this very moment, but at some point they are going to need to, because history shows with any form of entertainment (games, TV shows, movies, music) sticking to the same formula to long will eventually just sour even the most devoted of fans due to repetition.. but changing up that formula from time to time? that can give fans that extra dose of adrenaline to keep them interested in the franchise, and will actually be what gives them the closest feeling to booting up the game for the first time and falling in love with a new type of experience they had when they first got Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim..




so basically sticking to a formula for awhile can be a good thing, but sticking to it for to long to devotedly not only hurts the franchise due to repetition, but the industry because it means nobody's out there willing to try new things to push the medium forward..