Also, I'm curious how the dialogue system will be implemented since most major RPG now provide a list of possible responses. To be honest, Oblivion didn't really have many conversation options.

I hope not as it would be a terrible decision to add in a Karma type system.

I think the fame/infamy system does a well enough job of this. It's one of the few things I liked about Oblivion over Morrowind. Having fame vs infamy seemed a lot more descriptive than just having a reputation counter.

Nothings confirmed, but I think the MQ will feature an alignment of sorts.

I hope not. Actions aren't black and white, and often the good or evil of them is largely determined by motive, which is something a game can't judge.

You're right, actions aren't black and white, but morality has never been a concrete, "black and white" scale of goodness. What is black and white is how people perceive your actions, and I think that's what in-game karma meters imply. They imply that you're considered "evil" or "good". Killing this one dude (while morally questionable) might lead to a better outcome than not killing him, but most people aren't going to understand that. They're going to judge you for the killing act. You're still morally questionable for doing it, but that doesn't mean the act is right or wrong. Your "karma" declines, regardless of the goodness that your act brings.

Hmm... So there were any conversation options at all in Oblibian? While I'm rather indifferent about the alignment thing, improving the dialogue system adding a dialogue system would be quite lovely.

I say have fame and infamy, used to see how ruthless one is or not, and faction points to see if a factions like you or not.

example: the FG tasks you to get payment from someone. If you bully him into giving money, you'll gain infamy and faction points for the FG, with a loss of whatever faction the guy you bullied. If you convince him to pay up, no gain in fame or infamy, FG faction points rise, and no faction loss or gain from the guy. If you cover for him, you gain fame, FG faction, and maybe the guy's faction (if you talked to him before forking over your own money).

I really hope not. I'd rather not mod the game before I play the game, but an alignment system would get nuked in the Creation Kit within 5 minutes of me installing Skyrim.

I transcribed an OXM interview with Todd a while back, in which he talked some about how dialogue works. I can't find the thread, so I'll just re-post the relevant bit here in case it's of interest. (Note that I was unnecessarily precise, so it reads a lot less fluidly than Todd actually spoke.)

---
OXM: One of the things you've solved is the old, zoom into characters' faces when they start talking to you-

Todd: Solved as in took it out. Yeah. [laughs] Solved!

OXM: Tell me what's there instead.

Todd: Well now we wanted to treat dialogue, not- not as another mode. So before we would always treat it as, well this is a mode you're in, talking to somebody, but we want it to be sort of just, smooth in the same way, fighting a guy isn't another mode; it's just something you're doing, you know, the buttons are doing at the time. So now, the game doesn't stop, it's all real time - you press a button on a guy and like a trim(?) thing comes up, where the topics you can ask come out, on the edge of the screen, and you can select them with the thing, you can press the button and just continue on.
You can actually... it's almost like displaying the menu and closing the menu? What we've actually found is a guy will be giving you a quest, and traditionally you'd click him and you're listening to the quest, and you jam the button to like, listen to it all and get the quest, well now he starts talking and you just press B to close it. He keeps... he just keeps talking; and then you just walk away and you're like "yeah I got it," and you just wander off, and, you know you can kind of back up and, talk to someone else and he's still- but he might stop, if you get far enough he just says, "okay I get it." But you can re-engage him right away without ever breaking the flow of that?
It even allows us to have, sometimes we can have conversations with multiple people, so we just kind of viewed it as... not a whole 'nother mode it's like a trim(?) thing, like okay, how do you respond to somebody, as opposed to entering a mode where there's a back and forth.
---

True, but how different people perceive your actions can be vastly different as well. Take Tenpenny Tower from FO3. You could either let the ghouls take it over, kill the ghouls, or convince everyone to live together. Getting them to live together made everyone somewhat happy. But if you sided one way or another you would be a hero to some and a villain to the others.

lol I also want there to be a better dialogue system. But that isn't exactly related to this topic.

Definitely improving the conversations would be good. A change, at least, has already been confirmed of course. Hopefully it will work well.

About morality... Meh... I like the fame/infamy system. Would be cool if it actually mattered a little more than it did in Oblivion, so that people would actually recognize you as either a killer or a hero once you went far enough in either direction, but I don't think any more than that is needed.

I'm fine with them adding this in as long as I don't gain any bad karma EVERY time I happen to steal an item. That just got annoying...

And as others have already said, fame and infamy should suffice. I do think these should have more effect than in the previous games, and I think should do things such as add/change diologue options, bring up new quests (radiant story?), and maybe people in towns would notice you more.

You and me both. I like the idea of your actions having repercussions, be they good or bad, but not in such a black and white way, especially when you're gaining or losing karma/fame/infamy for EVERY little thing. I deactivated a nuclear bomb and saved countless people and properties, but then I stole a couple of beers so I clearly can't be trusted? I don't think so.

I would rather have a system of answers. For example. "Idiot! You will pay with your blood for this." [EVIL] That way you can have normal responses, but have that occasional evil or good response. A "Moral system" is something that would fit in a star wars game, not TES.

I would hate this as well, especially if it had any implications for dialogue. There's nothing worse than robbing my character of free will and locking me out of dialogue choices because I haven't leveled up my goodness or evilness high enough.

Real choices don't work like that. Good people can choose to do bad things and visa-versa. Morality meters are always a fail.

I like the sound of that

What do you mean like Fallout 3?


last I checked Oblivion had Infamy/Fame and was much better than Fallout 3's crap take on Karma-


Karma is Do good get good, do Bad get bad right?

and yet I was an angelic wastelander being chased down by Hitmen, that doest follow Karmaic do good get good Do Bad Get bad.

I'd rather keep the fame/infamy system, but not exactly the way it was in Oblivion. In Morrowind, if you belonged to one House, the other two didn't like you much, which made sense in the "Great Houses are pitted against each other and fighting" sense of things. Start making a name for yourself in House Redoran and the Redorans liked you more while the Hlaalu liked you less. Didn't matter how many smugglers you killed; being "infamous" was relative.

Does it mean that Skyrim will not feature conversation options at all, even less that Oblivion?

They may add a system where factions react to your actions differently.

God I hope they do not add a morality system like Karma... Factions demonstrate moral subjectivity, morality bars make morals appear objective.

Moral choices in games is a good thing but they rarely pull it off well and keeping track one one bar having it say "This is telling you you're a good guy or a bad guy" svcks. Keep it out of TES unless they make an effort.

I hope they don't have one

Universal karma indicator over your head? No thanks.

Reputation should be local / NPC personal.

The old lady you helped walk the street didn't see you kill all those babies in the housefire you started and thinks your a pretty nice guy (Whether you are nice or not is totally subjective), but did you ask the babies what they thought of you? (If they had time to think that is, they would have probably run away from you when you asked that)

Did he try to someone? Run away / Kill him

Did he give me money? Build friendship with him for more monies.

NPCs should think on their own ;p.

Nope it wont have one, can promise you that. Fallout does, because the series does. The Elder Scrolls is about playing you, you can do good and bad, but its not about doing good and bad. Then EVERYTHING falls down to "good choice" "bad choice" "middle choice".

The Karma system in Fallout 3 is really something else, something badly mutated and really really insane. Honestly. You kill some people and then you just donate a bunch of money to the church? omfg, sign me up for that.

Karma is generally about "what goes around, comes around". If you kill a guy, his brother might come to avenge him etc etc. I seriously doubt that the brother gives a [censored] about any money you've invested in a church that he might not even believe in. xD

So totally suitable for Fallout 3, though. But by the same logic, so totally unsuited for Skyrim.