The Elder Scrolls

[Takatu]

At the Throat of the World or in Sovngarde? Either way, I hear the ideal level to be to fight him (at least in Sovngarde) is somewhere in your 20s, so he's not obscenely difficult, but still tough enough to be a challenge. As long as you've got the right gear, you may be able to pull it off. Just stock a lot of healing stuff for when you wade through the metric buttload of draugr in Skuldafn lol.I'd say Dawnguard is worth it, yes. Its main quest has a decent length for a DLC release less than a year after the main game, plus it's got some fun side quests, including a really cool Dwemer ruin one. And the ability to become a Vampire Lord, werewolves get a much-needed buff and perk tree, access to crossbows, new spells against undead on the Dawnguard side, the Soul Cairn and the Forgotten Vale are both great new places... I enjoyed it.

[King of the Madness Isles]

I would say yes, get Dawnguard. As Takatu said, there are enough new features that it is definitely worth getting. As for Alduin, the best part of Skyrim is early on. It's still a great game later, but the early parts are better (I'm in my 50s on both accounts and it's still good, but not nearly as fun as when you're a lower level). If I were you, I wouldn't beat Alduin quite yet. At Level 19 there's still plenty of cool stuff to go around doing (I've seen pretty much the whole game). That's why I plan on getting Oblivion soon.

[Wotz]

Plus DRAGONBONE WEAPONS WOOOOTTT

[Archer Vonn]

Bigger thought provoking question is Dawnguard sooo great I should buy Skyrim again on my Xbox for it?

[King of the Madness Isles]

No, probably not. But if you are a PS3 player, just for future DLC and patches buy it for PC or 360.

[Rausaro]

I think Patch 1.8 was announced. Also, does anyone have a suggestion for a Birthsign for my male Khajiit in Oblivion?

[King of the Madness Isles]

Always glad for more patches, just for general lag reduction and stability improvements (all of them help out overall), but at this point, the list of quest bugs they're fixing is pretty small.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

@ Rausaro; I personally go for the Lady on most of my goings. Extra health each level, plus increased magicka resistance? Dibs.@ Kanye West; I cannot endorse buying a second copy of Skyrim for anything other than the PC.@ PurpleBouncy; What would I like to see in ES6?--- Climbing. They had climbing in Daggerfall, and I think they should bring it back. That would be cool. My reasoning? It would allow you to explore new areas in the game world and make things like, say, climbing mountains a bit more impressive than just standing vertically along the edges and hopping up slowly. I believe it would make third person gaming a lot more interesting.--- New Alteration/Mysticism Spells. Specifically, Jump, Slowfall, and a short range Teleport. These shouldn't be too hard for the game engine to handle, and not break the game, unlike levitation. My reasoning? Think about this - the biggest complaint some people have for Skyrim is that its combat is less exciting than other games on the market can be. Imagine how much more exciting playing as a mage or a spellsword would be if you could just phase from one point to the other occasionally, or make use of long distance jumps and surviving the fall.--- Spears. Especially if the game is in Black Marsh. My reasoning? Just because it would be nifty to have, really.--- More, More Interesting Dynamic Events. Imagine if, say, you entered a bandit lair and found a note saying an attack was coming to the nearest village in 8 hours. You have 8 hours to get there and you can't be late; otherwise, the bandits may be more than the village can handle. My reasoning? To make the game more real, and feel more alive. Heck, in the above case, you might also be pointed to their camp as well - you could have a thief go in before the battle and slit their throats, or poison their food, or set fire to their tents.--- More Interactive Environments. Not everything mind you, just minor things - tents that can be set on fire with preparation and oil and the like, for example. Maybe there are more dungeons where you find pieces of the rock wall crumbling, and you can use a hammer or explosive spell to just blast it open. My reasoning? It would make dungeons and certain areas more interesting and able to be changed as you go across the game.--- Advanced Dungeon Refills. When you clear dungeons, things don't just spawn back as before - instead of bandits replacing bandits, it might be a necromancer and skeletons. In addition, the time between respawning would be greater, and this would be concluded with things getting worse as time goes on, until eventually NPC monsters come from that place and start attacking villages and stuff after two or three months in-game time. Each time you clear the dungeon, the longer it takes to be repopulated. To help compensate the meetings, I would like to see, say, two rival bandit clans meeting near a village and you would find them killing each other off. My reasoning? To make the world feel more alive, and the way dungeons are brought back more realistic.--- High-Level Content. What I mean by this is having areas that you cannot access until high-level, or you're highly skilled at the game. Like, say, a bridge to a huge castle that's guarded by two Dremora Lords and has a dungeon of Level 45+ (comparatively, to Skyrim) content with more advanced traps, unique monsters, and the like. My reasoning? I get bored at high level when I'm still fighting weaker monsters or just overpowered versions of them, like Bandit Marauders. This would provide areas that are completely unique in their set up and all very challenging to one or more playstyles.--- Dungeon Achievements. Look at the two above. Maybe the five or six high-level dungeons, one or two being linked to the story, could have achievements for them. There could also be one for 'clearing out every major dungeon permanently'. I personally dislike achievements in general, but these are two ideas to give the above things more purpose outside of the game.--- Bring Back Attributes, Classes, and Birthsigns. This is just my personal desire. I got used to Skyrim, but I still believe this is superior. At the very least, just go 0-10 like in Fallout if you won't go 0-100.--- Karma. Fallout 3 had it, and the KotOR games had something like it. I believe Neverwinter Nights did as well. I would like to see some kind of karma like system added to the game.--- High Rock or Hammerfell. I really want to see Hammerfell, just because I love the Redguard lore and the like. But High Rock might be the best choice in continuation with the idea of the towers across Tamriel and the problems the Thalmor have caused in their attempts to destroy them. To be honest, though, I would like to see High Rock as a DLC to Skyrim, and have the Dragonborn be the end of the Thalmor. But I'm not picky.--- Cast When Used Items, and most Staves not shooting spells. In my mind, the staff should be a two handed melee weapon that can also be used to charge spells. Each staff should allow you to fire a dual-cast spell, basically, at no extra cost, and other benefits. They could be used with no magic. Some would also have other benefits, and only a few would have a target effect; others would buff the user when cast. I would also like to see shields that can heal you when activated, swords that can fire lightning bolts, and the like. We can do this. We have the technology.--- More Pieces on the Body. In my opinion, Bethesda should stop letting the X-Box and PS3 hinder them and go back to building the game up on the PC, then releasing it on other systems. The game should be designed to allow more objects per person on the screen at a time - thus allowing more character customization.What I wouldn't want to see ---- Black Marsh or Valenwood. I have no interest in these provinces. Summerset Isle and Eleswyr could at least provide interesting settings with more varied environments.--- Whole Continent. This would not be something I would like to see. It may sound cool on paper, but not in actual working. Skyrim already stretches your belief with only a few hundred NPCs in a place of tens of thousands of people, if not more. I would rather having a smaller area with incredible detail and a lot more work put into it than having a huge area with less detail. And a huge area with a lot of detail.... too much time to make. I want an Elder Scrolls came in 5-6 years, not 25. Sorry. Plus, imagine the bugs!--- Co-Op. Just don't waste the time on this. Now, you might include some kind of two-player mode outside the main game, but that is, again, just a waste of time in my mind. It's a single player game about a singular hero.And honestly, PurpleBouncy, I'm not so hot on new races either. We have more than enough. -Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Rausaro]

The only new races that would be truly new would be the Akivari races, since they are so alien compared to Tamriel. Snow Demons? Snake Men? Tiger Dragons? Which reminds me... I'm curious what happened to the Lilmothiit, and if they really were a khajiit sub-species.As for two player, I think they could somehow figure out a way where you could play as a secondary character that had no influence on the main plot. It would mix things up a bit. If they did it with Skyrim, I could see players playing a non-dragonborn character with maybe half of the total stat gain?

[Phovos]

Isn't Black Marsh where the Argonians are from? I like them. My character is a female Argonian. Called Phovos of course.Well, I kinda don't have much choice now. I'm just following that person through the mist (Clear Sky Clear? Is that the shout? Either way, it looks cool) in The Throat Of The World. I only actually have a few shouts unlocked. I'm not even sure Dragonrend does anything...

Edited October 16, 2012 by Phovos the Raptor

[Rausaro]

Apparently, someone has discovered the name and the location of the next Skyrim DLC.

It's called "Dragonborn" and it takes place on Solstheim. Supposedly, location related materials discovered in the 1.8 update include Telvanni Tower, Raven rock, Castle Karstaag, Standing Stones, and Miraak temple. It seems that this will be a whole new region, not just a bunch of add- ons like Dawnguard (with the exception of Soul Cairn) Also, apparently, Bonemold, Chitin, and Stalhrim armor types have been confirmed. Oh, and DRAGON RIDING!

Edited October 16, 2012 by Rausaro

[Takatu]

Well, Solstheim was where the Bloodmoon expansion for Morrowind took place, so it's not completely new. Not sure how I feel about that, much as I loved Morrowind, I would like to see more new stuff and locations, rather than revisit places we've been to before.

[Rausaro]

Well, Solstheim was where the Bloodmoon expansion for Morrowind took place, so it's not completely new. Not sure how I feel about that, much as I loved Morrowind, I would like to see more new stuff and locations, rather than revisit places we've been to before.

True, but the island is definitely connected to the region of Skyrim, as it once once a territory of the Nords. I hope it's massive.

[Archer Vonn]

--- Karma. Fallout 3 had it, and the KotOR games had something like it. I believe Neverwinter Nights did as well. I would like to see some kind of karma like system added to the game.

Karma in Fallout 3 had like two interesting points and no Megaton wasn't one of them. It was just bad.

[Havelock Vetinari]

I agree. It made little to no sense and didn't account for people...you know...having opinions on morality.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Basilisk

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

I never said that it was a good system, I just said that it had a system. I never said to use the Fallout 3 system, I simply said that there should be some kind of system. As for peoples opinions, Baslisk, it's pretty easy - save a person from a dragon, good. Kill them immediately afterwards? Not good.Solstheim, huh? Well, that would mean a combination of Nords and the Dunmer of House Redoran in major numbers, most likely. I wonder how big it would be compared to the Morrowind version...-Toa Levacius Zehvor

Edited October 17, 2012 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Havelock Vetinari]

True, but the island is definitely connected to the region of Skyrim, as it once once a territory of the Nords. I hope it's massive.

I wouldn't get my hopes up personally. It's smaller then Skyrim according to the maps so....eh.

[Archer Vonn]

Yeah alright I dunno I think the bounty system works just as well. Nobody will think any less of you if you murder somebody and nobody ever finds out. Like it could be fleshed out, maybe intertwined with a type of New Vegas style reputation, but it'd very much outdo any type of karma system they could cook up.

[BenLuke]

Karma system are awful and annoying and should burn in fire.A reputation system, on the other hand, might work.

[Havelock Vetinari]

I always liked the New Vegas system. It just made much more sense. But yes, fire is the only proper response to Karma systems. Fire and swarms of flesh eating spiders.

[Phovos]

I thought the Bounty system in Skyrim works quite well...

[Rausaro]

I thought the Bounty system in Skyrim works quite well...

Cows can put bounties on you. Don't forget the incredibly obnoxious bounty addition if you accidentally hit someone while trying to hit a vampire in town.

[Archer Vonn]

Like I said it should be fleshed out- it's far from perfect but it's a better concept than Fallout 3's Karma. The reason they put Karma in New Vegas was to show just how irrelevant it is.

[Katuko]

Yes, in New Vegas you can kill just about everything from the starting town till you reach The Strip, and if I'm not mistaken that will net you positive karma in the end. Sure, it goes down from the innocent townspeople, but since Powder Gangers, Ghouls and (I think) Legion soldiers all give you karma for killing them it means next to nothing. The faction rep is more important, and even that can be somewhat circumvented by wearing faction armor to disguise yourself.

[Chols]

Cows can put bounties on you. Don't forget the incredibly obnoxious bounty addition if you accidentally hit someone while trying to hit a vampire in town.

Cows and other domestic animals are owned property of persons in a hold, so it makes sense to be given bounty points if you're witnessed killing one.Getting bounty for a mishit is always a pain though. :cThen again I once accidentally shot a passerby, but no one noticed me so the group started fighting until the shot guy was killed, and then they gave me some mead.Good times.

[Katuko]

Cows can put bounties on you. Don't forget the incredibly obnoxious bounty addition if you accidentally hit someone while trying to hit a vampire in town.

Cows and other domestic animals are owned property of persons in a hold, so it makes sense to be given bounty points if you're witnessed killing one.

The cow itself is the witness, though. If you kill someone with absolutely no witness except the cow, then the cow may still be the trigger that sends thugs after you. If they haven't patched it, at least. Your own horse could once be a witness to you breaking and entering/stealing/killing, so it's a bit hard to say. It's all because mechanically, the animals are a part of the faction and thus has the same way of checking for crimes done to them as people.

[Chols]

Well then.Moral of the story: don't mess with cows. They've got mercs.

[King of the Madness Isles]

Lev, you put my ideas to shame. Thank you for using the word dynamic, that's what I've always used to describe to people where I think Skyrim's combat is weakest. Some of those ideas I wanted to, but when I wrote my post I was in a bit of a hurry. Environmental destruction would be amazing, and better climbing as well. As for an entire continent, I suppose that is a bad idea. I just want a really big game. As for the system you guys are discussing, the technical term is a morality system, and the first major game to have one was Mega Man Legends for PlayStation. Odd, right? Of course, the system only involved your armor growing gradually darker.But a reputation system would be much better. About the cow, they could change it so guards DON'T draw weapons, but they come up to you (or maybe they have their weapons at the ready but are not attacking) and ask about it. Based on what they think of the NPC, and what they think of you, you could receive no-excessive punishment, and the owner of the cow would like you less. Then NPCs can be heard talking about it around town, and the owner of the cow's rival gets wind of it, and likes you more, or leaves you a thankful note with some gold. I recall only one instance of this in Skyrim-I got a thank you note from Sven after murdering Faendal. The things like eight hours to get to a town sound great. I don't like the concept of "meet me here at 6:00 PM-in one year, if you want". I don't think quests should be missed out on because of that, but I think they should change slightly, if only with dialogue. Again, there might be one or two instances of minor dialogue changes from this in Skyrim, but I'm not sure. I've also always wanted quests available for one day in the games, and you can only make progress in that quest on one certain day. For example, maybe a quest around a ghost is available only on the Elder Scrolls equivalent of October 31st (last day of the tenth month). Just to check for easter eggs, I plan on exploring every inch of every town on the TES equivalent of October 31st in Skyrim, with the sliver of hope that something is hidden on that day only.Which brings me to something else I want,-Holidays: There was one in Arena, look it up on the wiki. I don't know if any quests were tied to that day, but having that holiday return, along with others, would be great. Definitely they should be talked about a lot in game, so that players know when they are (or maybe one of those messages in the upper left that says "It is now [insert holiday name here]."I also agree with bringing back some of those features from Oblivion, like classes, and custom classes.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

-Holidays: There was one in Arena, look it up on the wiki. I don't know if any quests were tied to that day, but having that holiday return, along with others, would be great. Definitely they should be talked about a lot in game, so that players know when they are (or maybe one of those messages in the upper left that says "It is now [insert holiday name here]."

Arena? Pfft. Look at Daggerfall - a massive number of holidays there.I'll go ahead and agree with the majority that a reputation system would be more sensible and easily implemented.The thing I don't get is saying you want a bigger game. I honestly don't understand how you can want a game that has more area to explore. Skyrim is already large enough to take hundreds of hours to complete its full exploration.As I read your post, I did come to realize another thing that I think might be cool - weapon placement. Just as a side thing. It would be nice if you were allowed to dictate where you put your characters sheathed weapons, or how you held them - for example, you could carry your sword back and to the side. Or you could have guards carrying them in a certain manner when approaching you for an arrest and the like.Just something that would be visually appealing.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[TakunuvaC01]

Well, Solstheim was where the Bloodmoon expansion for Morrowind took place, so it's not completely new. Not sure how I feel about that, much as I loved Morrowind, I would like to see more new stuff and locations, rather than revisit places we've been to before.

Based on some of the patch files, it seems we may also visit Apocrypha- the realm of Hermaeus Mora.So there may be a new location that is actually new as well.

[Takatu]

Now THAT would be cool. Not sure what you'd do there, considering the lore on it, but I always thought it'd be neat to walk around in. Heck, I'd love to go visit pretty much all the Daedric realms we haven't seen yet, Coldharbour, Moonshadow, the Scuttling Void, Quagmire, Evergloam... Although that last one was technically touched on in the Thieves Guild questline.

[Axonn's Fury]

--- Karma. Fallout 3 had it, and the KotOR games had something like it. I believe Neverwinter Nights did as well. I would like to see some kind of karma like system added to the game.

Karma in Fallout 3 had like two interesting points and no Megaton wasn't one of them. It was just bad.

Agreed. One of the few parts of Fallout 3 I didn't care for. KOTOR did it decently. As does Mass Effect.Anywho, a few posts above with the spoiler about the new DLC: Actually exactly why I came to this topic.I feel like Dawnguard, while good, is such a small DLC in comparison to Oblivions. Bethesda are planning on large, 20+ hour DLC, aren't they? I would be a tad disapointed if they weren't.Also: Starting my second character (about time..). Probably magic/range based, any suggestions on Race?- Taka

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

Also: Starting my second character (about time..). Probably magic/range based, any suggestions on Race?- Taka

Elves ( all but Wood Elves ) and Bretons are best choices for magic-based characters, while Wood Elves are seemingly great at a distance. Because range is often associated to sneaking, Khajits are good as well.

[Ektris]

So I downloaded Hearthfire last week and started playing it during my 24-hour gaming marathon this weekend.You need so many Iron Ingots I think I may just give up on making the interiors look decent and let my kids live in empty houses. Would still probably be an improvement over that orphanage.Really most of the time I spent playing was at the loading screen while fast traveling to buy iron. Why did they think we'd like this?? o.o~|ET|~

[BenLuke]

Just hack ina bunch of iron with the console.Unless you're crazy not playing on PC, I guess.

[Takatu]

Quite a few people requested the ability to adopt kids and such. I wasn't one of them, I was perfectly happy on my dungeon-delving/serial killing dark elf, but eh, whatever floats people's boats.Also, Axonn's Fury -- if we're talking strictly about DLCs, I think Dawnguard is actually fairly bigger than most if not all of Oblivion's DLCs (horse armor, Vile Lair, even Knights of the Nine). Unless you're talking about full expansions a la Shivering Isles, in which case yes, wholeheartedly agree, Bethesda needs to get on that. I will be supremely upset if we don't get at lease one full-sized expansion for Skyrim.

[Axonn's Fury]

Just hack ina bunch of iron with the console.Unless you're crazy not playing on PC, I guess.

*raises and* ohai Xbox.Yeah, I downloaded it a week ago, and just haven't gotten 'round to playing it. Is it really that bad, Turahk? I feel like I should start super-hoarding all the iron I can...- TakaEDIT: Takatu - Yes, that is more of what I meant. I'd love a full expansion, and not just little DLC. I mean, I just feel like the game is too near-perfect to let die so quickly. Even 150 hours in I don't feel complete yet. Edited October 22, 2012 by Axonn's Fury

[Ektris]

Yes, you need a lot of iron, and for really not a whole lot of satisfaction. You just stand at your bench clicking through a whole list of build options and when you turn around you magically have a mansion. Or a fully furnished and stocked kitchen. Or bed room. Or grand hall. Or what have you. It seems rather boring to me... At least it was cheap. I haven't adopted any kids yet, actually, but I guess I can see why people would want it? More Fable-like, but whatever. But building your house(s) is so disappointing and tedious.~|ET|~

[Axonn's Fury]

... Yep, I see what you guys are talking about. Just finished one house (only three wings, barely any additions internally or externally), and attempted another, and realized "wow. I am wasting my time." so I stopped.I'll work on it later. And honestly, I had no trouble with the Iron Ingots, using the Thieves Guild shops in Riften was nifty. My problem was getting Sawn Logs to Heljarchen Hall.. Anyone else have problems with this, or am I just ignorant to where the Sawmill is?- Taka

[Ektris]

You can use any mill. I go to Solitude's, and at only 200 gold for 20 you can build up a lot fast. And you don't carry those around so it's not a big deal. ~|ET|~