Elder Scrolls V: Oblivion Part 2?

[PeteAtoms]

I'm pretty sure that beyond all of the rumors and speculation, it has been officially stated that ES:V will take place 200 or so years after the end of the Oblivion crisis.

The novel(s) that have been and will be released reveal two further bits of information:

1) The plot of ES:V is truly up in the air. The scope and history of the in-game world has drastically changed since the fourth game, and speculating about the plot of the fourth game is pretty much that, all guesses.

(it has been confirmed that the novels are canon in the Elder Scrolls universe)

2) The next game won't be a direct sequel to Oblivion. Just the next game in the series. As Oblivion was to Morrowind.

 

[Maniacal]

There are novels? Can I mod them?

 

[PeteAtoms]

I've only read through it once, and I won't point out lots of spoilers, but I will say that the Empire itself collapses (but does not fall, it loses a few provinces).

The novel is called The Infernal City.

The novel (and the 2nd one which is supposed to be released soon) take place 4 or so decades after the end of Oblivion, and are meant to 'bridge the gap' between Oblvion and the 5th game. And the 5th game takes place 200 or so years after the 4th (so 150 or so years after the novel even). So it is really hard to even guess at what the plot of the 5th game will be....

 

[GoodGame]

Moderator Action: Thread renamed.

Actually It'd be Elderscrolls Part IV part Deux, at least in plot. Though in terms of engine, you're right (Fallout 3 engine upgrade).

 

[serek000]

Please, please, please no voice acting in this one.

 

[Leonel]

Please, please, please no voice acting in this one.

I would not mind if it was like it was in Morrowind with just a little "Greetings, traveler." at the beginning and then all text after. Maybe even positive and negative reaction voice samples for when you select an option that might reflect positively or negatively.

I'm just looking forward to playing with my "adventurous" Argonian slave girl again.

 

[Volum]

Please, please, please no voice acting in this one.

I wouldn't mind voice acting, but i will give you that the voice "acting" in Oblivion wasn't that great.

 

[Rub'Rum]

I wouldn't mind voice acting, but i will give you that the voice "acting" in Oblivion wasn't that great.

Really it's not so much about its quality than it is about how it sort of becomes a limiting factor in the creative process of the company (and it also makes voiceless mods a little more jarring, in a way).

 

[Clement]

I'm not sure how they do it but i find the atmosphere in bethesda games to be simply amazing, i still remember the first time i walked into the mages guild in chorrol to see everyone in there practicing magic, it just looked so real.

Oblivion is one of those milestone games you just look at and think wow, and of course you imagine a million ways it could be made better, i'm a little worried nothing has been said about the next elder scrolls, i really hope the current malaise sweeping the game industry has'nt gotten to them too, they're about the last game company i still believe in.

 

[Volum]

Really it's not so much about its quality than it is about how it sort of becomes a limiting factor in the creative process of the company (and it also makes voiceless mods a little more jarring, in a way).

From the article in the OP:

The studio will purportedly be recording voice acting for the game’s characters in the coming weeks

I don't really see how it limits the creative process? As i understand it the voice acting is something they do towards the end. And i think text only is going out of date.

 

[Mustakrakish]

I would not mind if it was like it was in Morrowind with just a little "Greetings, traveler." at the beginning and then all text after. Maybe even positive and negative reaction voice samples for when you select an option that might reflect positively or negatively.

I'm just looking forward to playing with my "adventurous" Argonian slave girl again.

Really it's not so much about its quality than it is about how it sort of becomes a limiting factor in the creative process of the company (and it also makes voiceless mods a little more jarring, in a way).

Hmm... good points, I never thought of it that way...

The worst thing they (devs) can do when supposedly creating "RPG" is do it Mass Effect style. Now that is limiting...

 

[illram]

I always skip past the voice acting, because it takes too long to listen when I can read their lines in like half a second.

In fact after a while you don't even have to read all of it, just pay attention to the new speech options that are presented after you ask certain questions.

 

[PeteAtoms]

I think it would be interesting if the universe didn't pause when you go into dialogue mode.

 

[PeteAtoms]

Also, i've been skimming the speculation thread at the official forums, and lots of excitement has been circulating over a potential announcement/reveal at Spike TV's VGA's and in an upcoming GI magazine.

 

[Mustakrakish]

Regarding dialogs, I wouldn't want it to be New Vegas style. The fact that I have to ask the available questions in certain order... I mean in many cases if you don't, some questions disappear and you have to "exit" and start conversation again for them to appear. In some cases quest related questions got blocked out and I couldn't even advance in the quest. I had to go through the conversation all over again searching for the question or quickload... and go through the conversation all over again.

And it's not about when you have to choose one. Obviously I'm not talking about "yes", "no" kind of answers/choices, but those that shouldn't at all negate each other. I guess it's a little problem in design?

I don't know if you people understand what I'm talking about, I hope you do.

 

[illram]

Yeah I know what you are talking about. It's what I was alluding to as well. Once you get how all the conversations work and how things are "triggered," it's less about reading or listening to what they are actually saying, as much as it is about making sure you "trigger" the right responses or questions or, sometimes, beginnings of quests and/or map markers.

 

[Rub'Rum]

A lot of the time it sort of prevents "real" role-play. You know that if you answer in a cold or slightly annoyed way you're not going to get that quest... Wouldn't be that much of a problem if 90% of sidequests in game didn't sort of become available only if you were friendly.

 

[Mustakrakish]

Yeah I know what you are talking about. It's what I was alluding to as well. Once you get how all the conversations work and how things are "triggered," it's less about reading or listening to what they are actually saying, as much as it is about making sure you "trigger" the right responses or questions or, sometimes, beginnings of quests and/or map markers.

A lot of the time it sort of prevents "real" role-play. You know that if you answer in a cold or slightly annoyed way you're not going to get that quest... Wouldn't be that much of a problem if 90% of sidequests in game didn't sort of become available only if you were friendly.

Exactly!!!

 

[serek000]

It also really limits how much you can talk about - one of the things I liked (loved) about Morrowind was that you could ask almost anyone about almost anything, and get relatively varied and different responses, depending on their social standing, house, organization affiliations, etc. You just can't do that in Oblivion, because there would be waaaay too much voice acting required, so they just dropped it. Which is a shame.

 

[generalstaff]

It also really limits how much you can talk about - one of the things I liked (loved) about Morrowind was that you could ask almost anyone about almost anything, and get relatively varied and different responses, depending on their social standing, house, organization affiliations, etc. You just can't do that in Oblivion, because there would be waaaay too much voice acting required, so they just dropped it. Which is a shame.

I too like the choices of dialogue in Morrowind, although it took LGNPC for Morrowind dialogue to be more than a random response (latest rumors, little advice) or a canned response (my trade, services). Also, Oblivion, being fully voiced, prevented the creation of a LGNPC-type mod for it. Of course, I cannot blame Oblivion for having a less interesting faction assortment since Cyrodiil does not have the same factionalism as Morrowind, namely the Great Houses, East Empire Company, Tribunal Temple, and Morag Tong, which shouldn't/couldn't be player joinable factions in Oblivion without someone adding a "Morrowind landmass mod."