My short list:

1. Make the towns archetecturally different.
2. I'd like a better trading system -- why the heck does seafood cost the same in Bruma as in Anvil or Leyawiin? The cost should reflect the rarity of the item in that locality.
3. More puzzles in the dungeon. Not just find the hidden switch, but solve the puzzles -- rotate or move things on the walls to form a picture, passcodes, stuff like that.
4. Main bosses should be harder. Jyggalag fell in 3 hits -- a total letdown after the work of getting to him. I want epic battles where I fear death and limp through with almost no reserves.
5. I want my infamy to scare the [censored] out of the townsfolk, or my fame to raise disposition.
6. More dungeon types. 4 isn't enough.
7. Two modes chosen at startup -- arcade and simulation. I'd keep fast and handholding quest updates for the arcarde style, and take them out for simulation mode. Possibly add hunger, thirst, and sleepyness to simulation mode.

Actually the quest compass is needed example:you needed to search for a ring on a guy in anvil it sounds easy but in oblivion he can(unlike in the other tes games)can change between interiors and in the imperial city he can move districts so imagine checking every district and interior.And no there were way more villages(or 3 building areas but in oblivion they are counted as villages)than cities.

Oops double post

This thread is designed to just say your own ideas, short and to the point, without arguing about others' suggestions. But since you started it, I suppose I'll continue it.

Quest Compass: what's the point of the delivery quest if you just fast travel there, follow the green arrow, then fast travel back. I do quests for the fun of the hunt, rather than the reward. If you can't find someone, have a dialogue option with NPCs and have them give you directions to where he hangs out at certain points in the day.

Villages: I'm not quite sure why you felt the need to argue this. But let me reiterate. More cites, more villages, more people inhabiting those cites and villages. Is that 'correct' enough for you?

1: GOOD mounts, this includes mounted combat. Like how they did it in Red Dead Redemption, those were perfec. Horses don't go from standing still into a gallop in 1 second. Maybe even more options. Donkeys for poorer characters or one of those big cat mounts the Khajiit have (a rare mount to find maybe). Different types of horses, breed differences. Some horses have bigger hooves or smaller heads, don't let them all use the exact same mesh like in OB. I want to have a big Shire-type horse for my warrior and a lean Arabian for my noble mage.
2: More diversity in the world (Unique Landscapes, those mods shouldn't have been needed because OB should already HAVE HAD such landscapes!) OB was too bland, I didn't feel like taking the time to walk through it from point A to B because it all looked similar, that's why I always fast travelled.
3: Better guild rewards. If I'm the guildmaster, treat me as one in a decent manner! After playing through a guild once I never bothered to do it again with a new character, because the rewards of becoming guild master just weren't worth it.
4: Good digitigrade legs for the Khajiit and Argonians but WITHOUT a humiliating MW-esque walk/run animation and WITH fitted boots/legs for all armors. If I wanna play a beast race I want to have my beastly feet too without sacrificing my ability to wear boots and walk normally.
5: Werewolves and vampires, but make them good! I wanna be able to enslave people and make them my thralls as a vampire and join a vampire guild with their own quests and rules (and of course I still want to look pretty as a vampire). And I still wanna be able to open containers and such as a werewolf. I have claws man! A flimsy wooden box isn't going to stop me from looking inside and taking stuff! Werewolf clans, the chance of becoming the alpha, infect other people, etc. And I wanna be able to decide when I transform and when I don't. Only with full moon, as in ONE NIGHT A MONTH should I be forced to change for a night, but otherwise it should be my decision.

1) a spectacular engine. crysis did so many things so well and gamebryo failed on so many levels. physics was wonky, graphics looked outdated a year after its release. crysis is 4 years old now and is still hailed as one of the best looking games. i want the next TES game to have that longevity in the "eye candy" department. after all the next TES game, if there is one, will be at least 6 years away. and dont dumb it down for the consoles.

2) more animations. dual wielding more attacks etc. this is one of the more time consuming things for modders to add to games and most of the time they look a bit funky compared to the vanilla animations. some people keep talking about euphoria which i guess is the best system out there currently.

3) cities..........i mean real cities. big ones that you can get lost in. and open cities as well. that way levitation can be put back in. if the consoles cant hack it then give them the seperate cells but leave the pc version with the open cities. and on a related note if the next game is in skyrim then i want huge steep mountains (even if it means i cant climb them) deep cavernous caves, not just the barely widers than me ones. obviously there has to be fjords if its in skyrim. deep deep oceans or lakes. ive been in swimming pools deeper than the rivers and ocean in TES 4.

4) make choices actually have consequences. if you join a guild that is in opposition to another guild then you should not be able to join or at the very least rise very high in the other guild. i HATE were you can become the master of everything. at least morrowind you had to pick your house to the exclusion of the others. if you help one group against another i want to see actual ingame consequences. perhaps guild A loses a base that is taken over by guild B. or you see fewer and fewer of the guild you opposed and more numerous guild members of the guild you helped.

5) a magical virus that transforms khajit and argonians to some original races not inspired by a trip to the pet store. at the very least make them more bestial in nature. orcs should look like orcs, big mean and tough. even the kilrathi from wing commander would be an improvement over TES khajits.

thanks to the OP for this thread and no fishy sticks for any thread nazis that show up. :toughninja: you are insta denied. this is much more succinct and orderly than the suggestions thread where everything is buried.

1. Choices that have LASTING consequences.
2. Voice actors. Get at least 10 times as many as were used in Morrowind.
3. Make it possible to FAIL the MQ and not have a forced game reload.
4. Make it possible to join the opposing forces.
5. Put all the things that were in Daggerfall and removed in Morrowind back, and all the things that were in Morrowind and removed in Oblivion back.

Jenifur Charne

From a console point of view, these would be my concerns

1) That the existing things that make ES great are retained - i.e *NO* MMO rubbish, keep it single-player only; epic, detailed intricate game world; high degree of customisation; high level of polish etc

2) Combat should be more elegant and dynamic. For instance, magic should be more powerful and exciting to use, and melee combat should give access to moves that allow you to deal with various kinds of situation - a decent way to deal with multiple opponents is the biggie. A bit more like a 3D fighting game or something. Just a bit.

3) ***JEREMY SOULE*** I cannot stress this enough people. His brilliant music is in constant rotation on my playlists. I think a lot of folks are not really aware just how much atmos and beauty his work infuses the game(s) with. Morrowind OST is one of my fave records of all time.

4) More unique/one-off artefacts and locations

5) Don't put in place those silly things that prevent rpgs from becoming really fun, like low level caps and enemy scaling. One of the best things about rpgs is becoming that one-man army that blitzes all and sundry. Don't take that away.

Gameplay, Lighting, Graphics, AI, Sound, Theyre all jsut as important to me.

a romance option is something i really want. perhaps if you romance a npc they can follow you.

Hey guys, new to the forum.

Like many I've been sitting at home for what feels like a life time waiting for any confirmation at all that The Elder Scrolls V is on it's way.

Of course, we all know that it WILL arrive eventually, but just even the slightest news will have some of us dancing excitedly in our bedrooms to Rick Astley.

While I enjoyed Oblivion there's certainly a whole lot of stuff Bethesda can do to improve the game further. Here's 5 things that I myself would like to see;

1) Consequences - I want the game to have as many choices and consequences as possible. Join one guild and another might not respect you. I'd also like to have proper relationships with people in the way that you did in DA:Origins, where you had to earn their trust in order to get the best out of them. Going through the 76th Oblivion Gate you just felt so alone in your mission at times.

2) Weapons/Armor with a history - One reason I fell in love with the more recent Dragon Age: Origins was that a lot of items had some sort of back history to them, and they felt a little bit more special to use for it.

3) More Dungeon variation - After exploring one cave you'd pretty much explored them all, other than the different items you may find obviously.

4) Varied character shapes and sizes - I don't know about you but I think it would make things more interesting, and more real if you like, if you had say a fat Orc, and a not so fat Orc, and one that's much taller than another. One thing that's always bugged me about RPG's is the fact that the vast majority of are exactly the same height and shape.

5) NO SCALING! - One things I find fun in some RPG's is the fact that you can stumble across something and somebody while exploring and get Jackie Chan'ed, so to speak, before returning a bit later on in the game with a better weapon/armor and gaining some sweet revenge.

1) Don't make it an MMORPG. Part of the draw of TES is specifically that it's not an online game.
2) Keep some form of construction kit around so people can mod the game and keep the community active.
3) More varied NPC dialog - go back to text-based dialog rather than voice acting if the costs are prohibitive. VA can be used for important moments.
4) Overhaul the leveling system - its a huge buzzkill to try and figure out what sorts of attribute multipliers you'll get at level-up and many people use mods specifically to change this aspect of the games.
5) Use little or no level-scaling, Fallout 3 took a step in the right direction. Oblivion was terrible in that respect.

1.Good dialogue (ala planescape : torment)

2. Character development (less npc's , more depth)

3. Solid Story

4.Real choices and real consequences

5. A more harsh and dark game world.

Bigger world
Spears
Consequences
Werewolves and Vampires
More cities/towns/villages

Well i was generally very happy with Oblivion but i would like:

1. More guilds and quests.
2. More weapons and a lot more types of armor.
3. More things to do besides combat(for example, add more use for the houses)
4. More unique npcs, npcs with relationships/bonds etc. to make them seem more real and not just clones with diffrent outfits and schedules and homes.
5. More towns and bigger towns, and more uniqueness to towns.

1. Jeremy Soule - He captures all the enviroments at genius level. One of the best composers in the world in my opinion and essental to the fabric of the game
2. Deep Political system - We must have events that change the way the game develops
3. More varied quests rather than dungeons and caves etc - I want to fish, build, buy land etc
4. Improved combat system - there must be a different way to slay vampires to mages etc
5. More downloadable content for our console friends - this will keep everyone happy whilest the mods get their hands dirty over on the PC
6. More easter eggs/undocumented quests more stuff that will be found like the MACE OF DOOM! - by years of playing the game we find more weird and wonderful surprises by insane toothcomb gaming.

1. Morrowind style fast travel, with mark and recall reinstated.
2. Longer main quest that actually focuses on the main character. Oblivion was just too short and too anticlimactic. Morrowind had the best focus/time.
3. Keep magic and stealth the way it was in Oblivion. Fantastic.
4. A more robust crafting system. Instead of just alchemy, how about cooking for stat food? Why can't we make our own weapons/armor/clothes?
5. More in terms of RP opportunities. This means more everyday clothes, being able to sell items to NPCs at a personal store/house, real scripted events every week (like a church/political service or something).

This is all assuming it's an offline single player game.

1) Smarter AI
2) Bigger & more detailed map
3) As a console gamer I have always wanted some form of construction set.....so that would be nice. Even as DLC or something.
4) More Guilds (I completed them all easily and in a pretty short time frame)
5) Dull down the guidance system. It took so much play time away since the thing constantly told me where to go. I want to explore and find it myself which cannot be done if the thing is always there.

1.having the construction set be like (or better than) the one for fallout
2.shadows
3.more types of weapons like in morrowind
4.wereboar (I just want that with better graphics)
5.more types of magic

1. Combat system needs to be totally redone. There should be dismemberment and swords should act like swords, not like bats. Also, if you hit someone in the face with your weapon, that should do more damage than hitting them in the leg. Also, arrows should slow characters down if they are shot. Maybe something like FO3's cripple system.

2. New magic system. You should buy a spell like flare, that progressively gets larger and more powerful as your skill increases. Also, add more spells that can be used stealthily. Like, be able to slowly poison someone and if they don't see you touch them or shoot them with the spell, they don't know about it.

3. New leveling system. FO3's system was much better. Attributes don't change much and skill points are rewarded when leveling up instead of when repeatedly casting spells.

4. Better stealth system. For the most part I don't mind sneaking around, but things like pickpocketing should have some sort of mini game. Also, people should notice if you steal everything from their store while they're gone. Maybe they will have guards posted in the stores if they are repeatedly robbed. Also, more type of assassination. Attacking a sleeping person should kill them instantly and you should be able to poison them in some other way than poison apples.

5. Visuals. Animations should be less stiff and more fluid. Textures and lighting should be improved. Dungeons need to all look differently. I'd rather have a world half as large but with more detail and less repetition.

I would like the lock picking system from THEIF to come back. Picking the lock was easy, but you had to try and be sneaky. Cause the game doesnt pause when you lock pick so you have to watch out for guards all the time. And even if you get seen picking a door by a normal NPC, they will run and get a guard. So you gotta be sneaky about it, and be quick.

1. More quests definitely
2. More character depth and development
3. Introduce more and better trading to the game. It would be nice to sell some of my items to obtain something else.
4. More interaction with NPC's
5. A reason to keep playing, even after I've finished the quests, like let me do my guild-leader tasks, or just live in a village (without making it too Sims-like)

I'm hard-pressed to think of something that hasn't already been mentioned, but my choices would be:

1. Fix the level scaling. Something similar to Morrowind or FO3, but better.
2. No more skill or level caps. Also, do away with the stat multiplier.
3. A working economy. Merchant's inventory should 'rotate' to simulate things being bought and sold. Prices should reflect supply and demand. No more set amounts for gold for merchants that resets every three days (similar to FO3). Also, bring back bartering a la Morrowind, but with improvements.
4. Better NPC AI. Not only should they NOT get in your way when fighting enemies, but you should be able to develop relationships with NPCs throughout the game. Also, enemies should have the opportunity to yield in battle.
5. Larger cities. If I'm in the middle of a major city, it should feel a little overwhelming until I get to know my way around. Oblivion failed at this, as did Morrowind to a lesser degree.

I didn't include a CS in my list as I kind of think it is a given. However, this would also be high on my list.

Just so we don't misunderstand the purpose of the thread, don't worry if others have mentioned your preferences. The aim (as stated in the OP) is to list YOUR top 5 preferences in descending order of importance. It's not intended to be another ideas & suggestions thread.

I'm new to the forum, but I've been a fan of the series for 6-7 years, so I thought I'd add my two cents.

1. Consequences - the way you play the game affects the outcome of quests, the way the world looks, and the way people react to you. I found both Morrowind and Oblivion to be a little flat in that the only consequence for doing bad deeds was a bounty.

2. A bigger, more unique world - I loved the game world in Morrowind, but it seemed very static. Oblivion seemed like a step back to being more of a LotR/D&D inspired world, and while it was very beautiful it didn't feel unique enough. It was also too compact and as someone has already said, there was rarely a time you were just surrounded by wilderness. So long as the landscaping doesn't suffer I'd like it to be a lot more spread out.

3. AI - Morrowind's NPCs were almost completely static, and while Oblivion took a step forward in this department I would love the next game to go even further.

4. More realism - time should have meaning and it should feel like traveling is taking a long time rather than a couple of minutes journey. It should be more dangerous to go out at night. Festivals and holidays should happen on specific days. You should have to eat/heal bleeding wounds/etc to stop yourself from dying. You should be able to build relationships that are more than just a number that can be influenced by bribery (I'm not talking about love/marriage type relationships, although that would be nice too). I just think that although Bethesda are always saying their games aren't realism sims, they could make the experience more enjoyable by adding at least a few of these things. They're being done in quite a few games now, but they are yet to be done well (in my opinion, at least). Maybe Bethesda could change that? I have faith in them and believe they could.

5. Beautiful music - I adored the music in the last two games and think it is a very important part of the experience.

Another thing that is quite important to me but not quite high enough to be in my top 5 is the horses. They should feel more natural, as they felt too much like vehicles in Oblivion. I like the ones from RDR, they felt like intelligent AIs, rather than something the player had to control. As you are likely to spend an awful lot of time traversing wilderness in an Elder Scrolls game putting a little additional effort into the horses would just be the icing on the gaming experience cake.

This is still pretty much a wall of text, haha. Sorry.