For me, ever since I played Arena, TES has mainly been a fantasy simulator for playing as a good/bad adventurer. It never really been a "traditional" RPG but is more towards the action RPG side due how the combat mechanics work, which is fine by me.

That said, when I say "simulator", I don't really talk about the possibility of rasing kids, getting married or whatever, because that's not the focus of being an adventurer. The simulator aspect is simply that the game world feels "alive", with the NPCs do their thing and so on. Because of this, Morrowind was a let down, cause the game didn't really feel more "alive" than Daggerfall that was released 6 years earlier. All NPCs just stood at the same spot 24/7 doing nothing which was pretty pale by 2002 (especially compared to Gothic which was released in 2001), while Daggerfall truly felt "alive" back in 1996 with it's huge world, many NPCs walking around, relatively deep lore and so on.

I'm hopeful in this regard when it comes to Skyrim. Bethesda added several nice things to make the game more "alive" in Fallout 3, like caravans and kids playing in the street and so on, so it will be nice to see those things in a TES game.

I voted "Something Inbetween". I certainly don't want to see things like Romance, Marriage, etc. Firstly they'd be extremely hard to do right, which takes lots of time and resources for a feature that worked well. That being said, simulator functions that aren't as emotionally complex are welcome. Things like becoming a count and setting taxes can be relatively easily replicated in the system. I like that kind of reward for a quet chain. Raven Rock were some of my favourite quests in Morrowind.

I think it's about striking a balance between believability and function. I'd rather have everything believable, but lacking options than have really badly implemented features for the sake of options. Emotional simulations are extremely hard, and even games like Mass Effect struggle to make them believable, and they're far more linear than an Elder Scrolls game.

Personally I don't care whether it's an RPG or straight Action game. As long as the immersion is there and the world feels like a real living world that could have been. I don't necessarily care about TES having a leveling system, but it most definitely always needs to retain the skill system. It makes the game more realistic, because you can pick up a hobby, train in it and become good at it. For me it's less about the tradition RPG elements and more of the immersion(not saying I don't like leveling or some of the traditional RPG elements, just meant that skill training is the only thing "tradition RPG" element that I require) I love the new combat systems, the semi-realistic lockpicking, and stuff that you'd associate more with an action game. But the character development of skills, and leveling are great too.

So basically my answer is: "simulator" with a smidgen of rpg(skills and levels)

Great poll.

Elder Scrolls is the RPG simulator. This is natural for an open world/sandbox game.

If you want a traditional RPG, go play something else.

Eventually I want to be able to do almost anything in Elder Scrolls. Skyrim seems to be staking a a nice step in that direction by adding mundane things such as woodcutting and mining. :celebration:

In a RPG I want a game that most of the time I cannot do in real life.

In real life I don't know how to make a potion or a poison. I leave that for a chemist.
I too much of a coward to go though one of those gate in Oblivion if it was in real life. So I leave some like the SAS to do that.

As long they write a good story for the game that looks good and have great game play and having fun at the same time. I'm for that.

Good points.

I also see TES as an evolving fantasy simulator, as Freddo stated, and that is why i`m looking forward to Skyrim. Immersion is a key thing for me in TES games, I like to feel the world is coming to life.
Traditional RPG`s are old news. Get Dosbox and relive your past glory if thats your thing..but if it meant that Skyrim had to be like Morrowind, then no i wouldn`t be interested. Much as it was great for it`s time, Morrowind, i find bores me now. It`s fans cling to it like a lifeline.

Some people are just stuck in their old school RPG views, while others want to see RPG`s evolve - and no that doesn`t mean it`s going to be fable :facepalm:

I think that when you edited your original post, it skewed the results. Most people had already put in their vote for the last option in the original poll, which made it seem like you were choosing between a medieval sim and a RPG.

They should make this so you can't modify the poll after someone has voted on it..

I'm right down the middle on this. Implementing a few new gameplay features that could count for a few more hours of fun or add a new dimension to the game or increase replayability even further or add more choices and possible diversity for shaping my character couldn't really hurt.

Deeper the better.

NO WE DON'T WANT THE SIMS.

TES games was never deep or traditional , what they did good was lore & free roam and i am expecting one of the same in Skyrim , maybe slightly worst to fit popamole/hackamole audiences. As some stated here they don't care if it is rpg or action game , i guess the developers share same feelings.

Something in between. I want the need to rest, eat, get water, manage hypothermia, as it have an impact on the gameplay as an adventurer in a way that just feels natural. Not once did I think FONVs hardcoe mode was tedious because of this mechanic. Maybe you should be able to eat and drink without using your inventory? But I don't want family and jobs mixed in, because it takes away the adventuring. I may have a *background* as a smith or baker, but when the game begins I am an adventurer. We played a lot of Role Master (dice system, fairly advanced with many rule books) which have a lot of profession background that you choose that dictate some of the skills you get. But never once did any of us sit around and roll how much income our store brought in. That would be just, sorry, boring, and have little purpose in the game.

Btw, it's not that I deny the possibility, I just think the dev time is better spent elsewhere, on things that matter more.

What constitutes a "traditional RPG" depends on who you ask.

I wouldn't mind seeing a few more simulation features in Skyrim, as long as it doesn't go the way of Fable.
RPG's aren't just about killing & questing, sometimes a hero has to take a break and hit the taverns.

Uh, No.

I voted for the latter.

Enough already with the increased realism/simulation stuff. More game, less simulator

I see TES as first and foremost a RPG. Adding a few elements of action/adventure and a few elements of simulation can enhance the experience after you've already played it 3 or 4 times (and can even be the main reason you still play it after 8 long years). As long as the "optional" expanded content doesn't detract from the basic RPG experience, I'm for it.

In my option, doing marriage, close relationships, families and full-time jobs really goes way outside the scope of the basic concept, and would take far too much resources to do WELL. Doing them badly would be counter-immersive, and I don't want to see that happen. On the other hand, giving you the option to do some "side work", or get friendlier with the NPCs you deal with constantly, would be an "enhancement" that might be worth considering, based on what could be done with how much time and effort.

The poll is HEAVILY biased, and even though I chose option #2 (slightly more "sim" with mostly the traditional TES approach), I know that there are a fair number of players who are in it almost strictly for the combat, and want LESS of the traditional TES gameplay and NO sim options to get in the way of hacking and slashing their way across a continent.

Hm. I vote... 'other' !

I loved Morrowind, and I enjoyed Oblivion, but neither were examples of my (personal) ideal RPG. I think what I would want is something between Bethesda's RPGs and Bioware's.

Bethesda's games (and I'm thinking of Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 here) are tending toward expansive sandbox worlds, with a fair degree of choice about how you approach quests and what kind of person your character is. However, the impact of what kind of character you're running is blunted by the lack of interaction with NPCs in the gameworld. NPCs are the givers or objects of quests - nostly of short quests, Once the quest is done, there's very little consequence for how you resolved the quest. You may have killed off all the slavers in Paradise Falls, or you may have slipped in, done the job and slipped out without getting caught... but so what? In the end, you lose a few possible quests, a place to buy and sell, but that's it. With Oblivion you might have killed all the inhabitants of Water's Edge, or realised something was off and got out of there, but either way they all die. And you rarely care what happens to any NPC in the world, because frankly few or none of the NPCs care either.

Also, Bethesda's games tend to lack a sense of purpose. So much of the game is sandbox that there is little driving you on to tell a really epic story with your character. 'Ho hum, another dungeon, another mass of loot to collect. Oh well, another day, another dollar...'

Bioware's games are much more story driven, with far more interaction with well fleshed out NPCs, especially companion NPCs. You don't play a Bioware game for the loot, or the atmosphere - you play it so your character can save the world, make their mark, flirt, romance, dismiss with cold disdain, betray, pledge loyalty - change the lives of the characters Bioware have so carefully crafted (or to have the well crafted illusion of change ). You play it for your character to be a hero!

And you're on rails. The decisions you make on behalf of your character, and the personality you're investing them with, can have real impacts on the course of the story; but you're always being pushed on. If you don't do the next quest... then nothing will happen. Ever. The gameworld will go into limbo.

I want something between the two. I want the purpose of Bioware's games with the freedoms of Bethesda's. I want epic adventure, with the option to go off on random dungeon crawls. I want NPCs with proper, individually written characters which, whose interactions with my character's choices actually have an impact on the quests - and on my character's choices. I don't want a life sim because frankly life is too complicated, messy, difficult, wonderful, exciting, tedious and horrible to simulate. But I do want heroism with freedom.

And while I'm wishing, I'd quite like real-world wealth, health and the adulation of millions - but I 'aint getting those either .

Implying that an RPG with simulation can't be deep. Deep RPG is not contrary to simulation/RPG.
Bad and biased poll, pointless thread.
What is with the obsession with defining "RPG" so strictly on these boards anyway?

TES has always been a mongrel of a game since day one.

Kinda silly because all mentioned in the 2nd paragraph is nothing unusual for an RPG game.

All I can say is that I want more quest and atmosphere depth like there was in Morrowind, instead of Oblivion that was more of an action game and "find/kill and bring" with only a couple of good side quests.

What does Deeper means to you OP?
Because if it's having to poo and wee wee everyday, being obligated to take care of the son you just had otherwise he dies, having to bring presents to your wife because she whine all day long about not having jewelery a brand new jewel every day, ignoring the fact that you actually have a world to save from destruction, no thanks, I'm ok without.

Being able to have friends that will accompany you, being able to have a shelter, house, ship, having a really rewarding after end game when people really recognize you, being able to... hell, have a shop when NPC come to buy stuff from you, yes prease.
But for tons of people in the forum, deeper RP stuff is actually just having six with virtual girls.

I like "deeper" immersion stuff, as my life isnt exactly anything to enjoy, but not quite like say... Fable or the Sims. I would like something closer to Dragon Age or a good book, where a romance is more about story than it is about simulating life. While I liked having a family in Fable games It always bothered me that I couldnt marry another hero, and was unable to go off adventuring with a wife or train my child to be a hero. But thats kind of offtopic.

As to family and relationships in general, I think Red Dead Redemption and many GTA games handle that really well.

Take what the masses think thay wont and do the opposite.ES should remain ES and should at no point become a twisted hybrid.Innovation and creativity yes complete makover hell no. :poke:

Classic Elder Scrolls game.
For the last couple of days so many topics have been created about a simulation (fishing,cooking,creating a family ,etc... ) and this worries me. :facepalm: