The elder scrolls series has spanned quite a bit of time, however within that time the world, in terms of technology and things within it hasn't really changed.

Would you like to see the series go forward a bit in terms of what technology is available within the world? This could be things from the technology of cities, power sources (IE use of Steam,e tc) to weapons , means of travel, etc.

Keep in mind, with TES their technology doesn't HAVE to be like our world, it doesn't have to mean they discover/use guns or have cars or anything of the start. The world can evolve and develop their own unique technology along the way with whatever the develops decided would fit/be right for the world.


Personally, after playing the games while I enjoy them, the worlds themselves have a bit of the "been here done that" feeling, which isn't a bad thing but I think it'd be nice if we saw the world starting to evolve in it's own way. Perhaps not in Skyrim, but in the future.

No.

Nooooo....
What do the hell do you think Fallout is for?

Nope, I don't want there to be technological advances. Besides, it's been the same for thousands of years already, anyway. I doubt any significant changes in tech will happen.

No. They've got magic to solve their problems.

magical advances however would be cool.

Rather like how technology stalled with the Romans. Why build machines when you can use slaves?

Nirn makes things better with magic.

Would be an interesting idea, if done well. I'd imagine something akin to D&D's Eberron campaign setting- where instead of simple technology driven by steam, we'll have magic-driven technology- that "train" doesn't use steam, it's using a bound Storm Atronarch!

However, it would need to be introduced slowly into the series (probably in the span of 2-3 games) or we run the risk of shocking fans of TES.

Yes! I never thought it would work with Fable and it did. Of course TES has a much, much deeper world that's more strongly rooted in its current timeline, and I'm not advocating a permanent shift forward in timeline for the franchise. I do think that a couple of spinoffs from the main series that are either set in slightly more modern settings (ever so slightly) or actually look at how Nirn and its inhabitants deal with the advance of technology could be really cool though.

Lots of people are going to say no though. Thank goodness they're not game designers, or we'd never see any innovation.

And again - I am not advocating a permanent shift forward for the franchise. Nor am I advocating a major TES instalment that takes place in a drastically different technology age. I just think that it would be good subject matter for spinoffs (could even be non canon. Could even be made by someone other than BGS).

Devolve, though... I know OP didn't mention it but a prequel to Arena would be fascinating lore wise. Perhaps a game set during the founding of the Empire by Alessia :ahhh: the possibilities are endless, and BGS could really throw some political intrigue on the heroes of Tamriel. Seeing what really happened to Cuhlecain, for instance, would be a dream come true for so many nerds.

Edit: also, if TES is going to evolve, it has to go the steampunk route. Nothing else blends properly with high fantasy.

If you have magic to fix your problems why invent guns? Why invent cranes when yu can just levitate something?

Considering how The Infernal City is set roughly 200 years after Oblivion and there doesn't see to have been any major technological advancements I doubt we'll ever end up seeing anything too significant.

Yes. Although there are books, I've never seen a movable type printing press.

Not sure how advanced metallurgy is in TES, especially since there are fantasy materials. There's steel, which is quite advanced. Any tech for alloys?

What about the mathematics? Geometry? All these are important for building construction and navigation.

Irrigation? Crop rotation? Record keeping and bureaucracy? Mirrors?


We take a lot of things for granted. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_historic_inventions. Can you imagine a world without currency? Sewers? Candles? Ink?

However, this requires the developers really make more details in their world and the various civilizations. Who has what tech and when did they acquire it? Is the progression going to be similar to that on earth, or is there going to be quite a different tech progression in Nirn's history? Has tech knowledge been lost over the years? A lot of advancements are made possible only by previous advancements, so having one thing without the prerequisite tech doesn't make much sense.

No,

In each game the main quests don’t span more than a year, in canon. And the gaps between each game arnt more than a few years.

I think Skyrim will either be based between Oblivion and Infernal City, or just after Infernal City. Either way it’s only a few decades at most. Not enough time for there to be a noticeable change in technology.

Remember than fantasy settings are thematically based in the middle ages, a time when technology didn’t noticeably change over about 600 years.

So no, a thousand times no!

EDIT:


The infernal City is based 40 years after the Oblivion crisis.

Yes.No one want's to play in a never changing universe.
Enough said.

In our world technology destroyed the idea of magic... Id hate to see in future tes them explaining how a fireball is just light refracting off swamp gas or whatever.

Just because the technology doesn't improve doesn't mean the world never changes.

I wouldn't mind some simple pulley/lever or whatever you call those cogs with wooden things sticking out that slaves turn.

I also wouldn't mind some Dwemer blueprints for stuff that never gets made...

But most technology was supposed to have died with the Dwemer.

They were by FAR the most technologically advanced and everyone saw what happened to them, thus I suspect their story would be a cautionary tale to the rest of the races of Tamriel.

Someone-or-other made a good point about Telekinesis supplanting an awful lot of technology too. Perhaps only Nords or the Redguards would have use for pulley/lever systems or that slave cog thing.

I wouldn't mind trebuchets either...although they should be rare...and maybe just not existent anyway.

The only "realistic" scenario in a magic-rich environment is that somewhere down the line, magic is - for one reason or another - no longer employed. It could be that it has been outlawed and its practitioners killed off, nobody is teaching new magic-users, or people just get collectively less receptive (or dumber!) when it comes to learning to use magic. Technology would replace magic out of necessity.

That opens all kinds of doors for future storylines, but as previously stated, would need to take place over the course of a couple more games.

While much of what you said is true.... his question was about ADVANCING the tech - not representing it in all it's manifestations. It would be absurd to expect Beth to include things like printing presses just because they should exist. Ask yourself... would you truly like the majority of technology needed to build a world like Tamriel to be truly represented(naturally you may be inclined to say yes, but Beth does not have infinite time or money)? Or would you just like to see a beautiful world and enjoy some immersive gameplay? Not everything has to have an explanation for it. Not everything has to have a tangible reason for being there. Unless you like to knit pick things like that...

Someone brought up the Dark Ages, 600 years of no technological advancement, and that was when there was no real particular reason to abandon technology.

Tamriel has the example of the Dwemer. They abandoned (for the most part) magic to embrace technology and look where it got them.

Cautionary tale with real world proof to prevent the abandonment of magic and the embrace of technology.

Noone wants to be uncreated/burnt up/sent to a realm of Oblivion along with the rest of their race.

NO NO NO NO

Just because the technology improves doesn't mean that the people of Tamriel should have tanks or air plains.It could be anything, from new armors/artifacts/spells/flying dwemer ships and stuff like that.You are Humanizing the world of Elder Scrolls too quickly.The game is fantasy, and it could be anything BUT made by Human.

I have absolutely no idea where you suddenly went with this.

He was saying technology doesn't have to advance along the same lines as it did in our world.

They could have "new armors/artifacts/spells/flying dwemer ships and stuff like that" rather than what we have come to know as emergent technology just after the Dark Ages/Renaissance/etc.

Although I do not agree with Sky's point of view (look at my previous post)... that is not what Sky was saying at all. Sky was talking about all the technology ALREADY NECESSARY to create a world like Tamriel. Which of course in our world is a [censored] ton.

TIC takes place roughly 40 years after the Oblivion Crisis.

Which has something to do with my post, how?