I remember a mention of a Civil War. Wouldn't surprise me if you could pick which warring faction you want to support.

Dragonheart much? XD

I agree 100%

I would love for there to be an option to tell the main quest people "Dude wtf i don't wanna save anyone, get off my staff", and then just go do side quests and things like that. Just so you can make the game what you want it to be. Honestly in Oblivion i wanted to just do side quests and explore a lot. It sounds like in Skyrim there will be a lot more of that to do! :celebration:

I have thought of this too and I really hope so, it would be great to pick a side.
Especially if the sides in the civil war are not a good team and an evil one, but both convinced they are doing the right thing, and both willing to do immoral things to achieve it.
Shades of grey please.

I dont think there will be a generic ''Good Vs Bad'' story to the civil war seeing as one is just pro-empire and one isn't.

I was hoping that their wouldn't be an actual end to the main quest. More like they would have to make a sequel to Skyrim.

Actually at first I was against it, but considering we are actually fighting Akatosh. I would think a dragon break occurring is not that improbable.

Lore is scetchy at best around us main characters anyway. All that's really known is that we did whatever it was that we were suppose to do. Its not really breaking anything when there isn't anything there in the first place. As long as the task is completed, anything could happen.

As long as they can maintain coherent lore, multiple endings could work. The events of Daggerfall are recorded as a "nobody knows what really happened" sort of historical event, which allows the ambiguous ending to work in the story. The same could potentially happen here. At the same time, I really do prefer the MW/OB approach, where there is one hard-coded ending. Ambiguity puts limits on the long-term consequences of the events.

It does not have to be like that. It would be more like how your character stops Alduin, and I do not mean do you kill him with a sword or magic. It could be like Dragon Age: Origins *minor spoiler* you always kill the archdemon, but they way you kill him can vary and drastically change the ending * end spoiler*

This is an Elder Scrolls game, so expect Oblivion: One and only one possible ending to the Main Quest, which gets you a single "Quest Completed, World Saved" video then you continue from exactly where you were standing in the same "almost-fully-unchanged" game world and continue on as if nothing happened. Aside from being greeted as Hero or Savior or somesuch before being asked to get someone's cat out of a tree.

i didn't say multiple endings? what i was portraying was a single main quest with variables that would not cause it to stray from the intended storyline path. like when you choose who lives and who dies at certain points, as long as they still provide the same quests(minor differences maybe), it can essentially still lead to the same ending. it's a matter of which npc you like more?

and we know how vague bethesda is when it concerns the lore about our characters. in the next installment, they would just make a book highlighting certain key points of the main quest we followed, giving absolutely NO other details what about we did except the start, some key parts of the MQ(that would not change) and the result of the final battle.

and when you mention the concern of time, there's the radiant storytelling now. if the npc you choose to let die is part of a quest chain, just set the path to go on with another npc like the one you let live?

and once more, quoting several others, TES is a RPG. What is an RPG is we can't shape our stories?

I concur. I'd much rather Bethesda add more guilds/better faction quests than have multiple main quest endings. I would support options as to how you complete the MQ, but the ending should be mostly the same. After all, it really doesn't matter if you're a noble Fighter's Guild Crusader or a srlf-serving Dark Brotherhood Assassin, its in your best interest to stop the world from ending. And there will be plenty of replay factor from factions and side-quests (and mods if your on PC).

please...no.

Has anyone played Metroid Prime? why not try something like that? it had different endings, but nothing too complicated...

If you completed the game at 50%, then at the end, the hero (after killing the bad alien) boards her ship, and leaves. And that's it.
If you completed the game at 100%, she takes her helmet off, and you see her face for the first time in the game (that was pretty cool ) then boards her ship and leaves.

In Skyrim, maybe you could see a scene of your friends on the mages guild, saying "you saved us! yay!" and maybe "take this super-secret staff "
Maybe if you have a house, your hero will go there and relax and.. idk. Maybe some special ceremony in town to name you "The Hero of Skyrim" if people gets to like you enough.

Something like this could work, and it's not too complicated for Bethesda to do.

No because unlike fallout which has no defined linear story, The Elder Scrolls actually has large events prophesised long ago (haha) but if there were different endings these could change pre destined history! (haha again) but really though no.

This is my guess that I came up with in 5 seconds
Ending one (good): You slay the dragons and save Skyrim.
Ending two (neutral): You learn to live with dragons in peace.
Ending three (bad): You team up with dragons to devastate skyrim.

It sounds like the plot to dragon heart. Lol

What ending? I'd be shocked.

Honestly? I don't really play Beth games for the MQ. I've played (made a new character, and spent 50+ hours in game) Oblivion and Fallout 3 up to a dozen times each. (more times for Oblivion, obviously) And I've only done the Oblivion MQ once, and the Fallout 3 MQ twice (had to do it the second time for a Broken Steel playthrough). Exploring the world and seeing different things is what I do the most. Follow the MQ, and clutter up the countryside with Oblivion gates? Meh, why do that?

(Meanwhile, Fallout:NV, which has a very detailed and varied multi-path/multi-ending MQ? Only played that one once. Couldn't force myself to get very far in a second playthrough. The world is much less interesting and varied than the one in Fallout 3, and - for all the MQ variation - the game is much too "linear". The need to follow the "one true path" for the first large section of the game takes out the "wander and explore the world" aspect that I love so much in FO3.)

This!

Exactly what I was trying to say. Put it in better words then I could

I doubt Skyrim will have this. TES games focus on exploration and immersion, not divergent plot lines like Mass Effect or Dragon Age.

I think that Skyrim will have the same MQ ending for everyone, but maybe you get to choose sides in the civil war.

Idk, I still think that after you defeat Alduin you get to become KING of Skyrim. :celebration:

They tried multiple endings in Daggerfall. But I think consider the trouble they went through in order to make THAT mess fit into history, I think Bethesda decided it isn't worth the mess it makes to the lore any more.

Your main quest is determined by the Elder Scrolls. You either make the story happen or you die trying. Every other quest can be messed with, but the main quest is the main quest.

Multiple endings also give a game replay value like we saw in Dragon Age and Fallout. I also like how it allows the player to individuals the storyline so the game is not a carbon copy of every other game.