What do -you- want in TES5?

[The Almighty dF]

We all know Bethesda's working on a fifth Elder Scrolls title (and apparently may have even been working on it alongside Fallout 3), but what is it you would like to see in the game?

My personal wishlist:

-Varied architecture/mixed cultures, like in Morrowind. I want towns to look entirely different from each other. It's also nice seeing the races act relatively different, or have different factions within the races.

-NPCs need personalities. Some of the only NPCs in Oblivion with unique personalities are the Dark Brotherhood,

Spoiler :

and then you have to kill them.

-10+ factions again. Morrowind had like what, 12? 2 religious factions, 3 houses, 3 vampire clans, Mage's, Thieve's, Fighter's, and Morag Tong? Whereas Oblivion had... Fighters, Mages, Thieves, Dark Brotherhood, and Arena.

-Maybe a new race, like the Maormer (sea-elves) or Falmer (snow-elves.)

-More skills. I miss spears, unarmored, having the blunt weapons split up, etc.

-Drop the leveled list set up, at least for monsters/enemies. It's really annoying when you're at a high level to end up fighting things that -shouldn't- be powerful, but are. At least add in more creatures. (Just please don't bring back spiders.)

-More armor. Also, how about not having the styles dictate the strength of the armor? I hate having to wear glass armor if I go light armor or daedric armor when I go heavy armor. Daedric makes me feel like I'm playing an evil character, and glass armor makes me feel like I need to throw Gwen Stacy off a bridge.

-Skill balancing. Do not make swords the best weapons. Do not make one armor type more powerful than the other (light armor at 100 in Oblivion is better than heavy armor at 100 in Oblivion.)

-Maybe instead of just setting it in one region, it could be set in a few. If the next game -is- TES: Skyrim, then the game could feature the lands the nords have taken over. It'd be nice to someday have a game that encompasses all of Tamriel as we know it.

-I want Bethesda to spend money on voice actors. Enough to get multiple VA's for each race. If they won't, then let's go back to Morrowind style dialogue. I hate having everyone sound exactly alike.

-Facial hair would be kind of nice. The beard options in Oblivion do nothing but make you look like a coal miner.

-Drop the tutorial from the start of the game. Morrowind had the best new game setup. Come to the world on a boat, fill out some paperwork, and go on your way. A small reference is made to the main quest, that is all.

 

[tycoonist]

all good suggestions. i would add that i would like an improved combat system including:
-horseback combat
-special attacks (i.e. not just slash-slash-slash)
-using shield offensively
-decapitation
-maybe some kind of critical hit system? it would have to be well done though.

oh and also, please stop the character from being able to get higher than say 50% reflect damage/resist magic etc. it was way too overpowered. oh and make invisibility really expensive to use.

 

[GVBN]

- Much better dialogue than in Oblivion
- Make races more distinct
- No level scaling
- Level up system that doesn't suck. Playing with 4 filler majors is bs
- Much better weapons system. Marksman and hand-to-hand were completely useless. Oh and axes aren't blunt weapons
- Many voice actors instead of Patrick Stewart and 3 other guys
- Fort ruins that are actually worth exploring

 

[GoodGame]

Hire Taleworlds (Mount and Blade) to design the combat system.

 

[Harbringer]

Get rid of the annoying diolougue system, and make the game more dynamic in general. Ive always thought it would be neat if when the game started, major things like towns are always in the same place, but all of the dungeons and forts are randomly placed at set points.

 

[Leonel]

Crossbows! Jerks that whined enough to Bethesda to take it out from TES4!

 

[GoodGame]

Get rid of the annoying diolougue system, and make the game more dynamic in general. Ive always thought it would be neat if when the game started, major things like towns are always in the same place, but all of the dungeons and forts are randomly placed at set points.

The original TES was like that wasn't it?

 

[The Almighty dF]

The original TES was like that wasn't it?

Daggerfall too, hence why Daggerfall allowed for a map that was, literally, larger than Great Britain. I don't think any game has ever beaten that record, except maybe SWG pre Sony destroying it, back before it was a crappy KotoResque MMO.

 

[GoodGame]

Crossbows! Jerks that whined enough to Bethesda to take it out from TES4!

They should be the way Taleworlds does them, or maybe the way they are in the Age of Chivalry mod for Half-Life 2.

 

[Harbringer]

Daggerfall too, hence why Daggerfall allowed for a map that was, literally, larger than Great Britain. I don't think any game has ever beaten that record, except maybe SWG pre Sony destroying it, back before it was a crappy KotoResque MMO.

Yes but I mean original dungeons, that are all unique, just placed at random set points, it would keep exploration somewhat fresh for subsequent playthroughs.

 

[Shylock]

They need more voice actors or better yet don't use voice at all like in Morrowind.

Radiant AI should have a more varied schedule than: Wake up, walk around house, walk around town, go to tavern, go home.

 

[Yeekim]

-Drop the leveled list set up.

This!

- Level up system that doesn't suck.

This!!

Hire Taleworlds (Mount and Blade) to design the combat system.

This!!!

 

[Harbringer]

You know, the leveling system was is a brilliant concept, it just needs to implemented better. I always thought that the whole process of leveling in Oblivion was arbitrary anyway, why not just make attributes increase per two gains on related skills? And why go through all the level up screen shenanigans with wasted points and such.

 

[The Almighty dF]

Biggie I forgot.
Have it so that if an NPC is battling a monster, they won't take any accidental attacks from you as purposeful.

That's the big reason why I avoid companions and the like. They always get in the way of my attack.

Also, I was wrong. Morrowind has -13- factions, I forgot the Imperial Legion. And that's without expansions or counting the fake factions the main quest gives you (IE Blades.)

 

[Yeekim]

Why not just make attributes increase per two [or any other balanced number] gains on related skills?
And why go through all the level up screen shenanigans with wasted points and such.

Ex-friggin-actly!
One can say you could just ignore it - but the game won't let you; it upgrades every other damn creature based your level, so if you don't micromanage your character so s/he "levels efficiently", you'll get to the point where even lousiest critters start raping you.
These two design flaws are cumulative. I got to the point I became so obsessed I kept an Excel chart in the background to monitor my progress and Alt-Tabbed out every time I learned a skill... and then forgot something with each character and become frustrated about wasted points. Sounds like silly powergaming, I know - but the damn game damn near forces you to engage in it.

 

[Munch]

The most important thing for me is the character development. There were several things in Fallout 3 which I hope they don't take on thinking "oh Fallout 3 was popular let's translate these things into TES5". For example:

1. I want my skills to go up when I use them, not when I level up and dump 15 skill points into whatever I goddamn please. Idiots!

2. Attributes should be as meaningful as skills. This is done quite nicely in Oblivion: my strength attribute governs how much damage I deal when I hit you with my mace, and my blunt skill governs how adept I am at mace-wielding.

Other than those game-ruining mind-guffs, I'd like to also see:

3. A cleverly balanced enemy-levelling system. I don't want to always feel like I am at a constant strength relative to the enemies, but I also don't want to just be able to urinate on everyone once I reach a moderate level.

4. Like The Almighty dF said, don't make any one skill the best or worst in its group. Hand to hand combat was a bit of a joke in Oblivion, and Blade could arguably be the best of the three strength-governed skills. Balance it please!

5. Similar to the previous point, don't make certain classes of magic or enchantment overpowered. For example in Oblivion invisibility is game-breaking, and stacking things like chameleon or resist damage up to 100% or near that is also game-breaking.

6. Horseback combat would be nice. How hard would it be to allow you to fire your bow from a horse? Just make it a bit less accurate if there are worries about that being exploitable somehow.

7. Get rid of the stupid speechcraft game. At least that was one thing Fallout 3 did quite well. You get one chance to convince that NPC that he shouldn't cut you to pieces, I hope you practiced your speechcraft.

8. Random dungeons would be BRILLIANT. Perhaps unlikely though.

9. Don't make me "powerlevel" just to enjoy the game.

 

[GoodGame]

6. Horseback combat would be nice. How hard would it be to allow you to fire your bow from a horse? Just make it a bit less accurate if there are worries about that being exploitable somehow.

It is pretty hard, but the mongols developed a shorter, stronger bow to do the job. Incidentally, Taleworlds did a good job of that in Mount & Blade.

 

[Munch]

It is pretty hard, but the mongols developed a shorter, stronger bow to do the job. Incidentally, Taleworlds did a good job of that in Mount & Blade.

Haha good knowledge, but I meant 'how hard could it be' with respect to implementing the concept in-game! The realistic difficulty of shooting a bow from horseback would also have to be a factor though, like you say it isn't easy without specialised equipment.

 

[Harbringer]

I dont want the fallout 3 speech system though.....because you get one opportunity, and its either all fail or all pass, with nothing in between.

 

[GoodGame]

I dont want the fallout 3 speech system though.....because you get one opportunity, and its either all fail or all pass, with nothing in between.

The earlier Fallouts had a pretty good branching quest system though, didn't they? Haven't really gotten into Oblivion, so I can't judge, but a well-integrated, well-consequenced story like Fallout's 1 & 2 would be good. Anything resembling a Kill 10 Foozles and return, should be not included except as an easter egg.