Why can't these soccer mom's leave the industry alone? Really, you should have the uncontested rights to put whatever you want in a game and all anyone should be able to do is put an AO rating on. Also, considering the uselessness of some of these quest rewards, I would trade in the "reward" for a minute of boobies anyday rather than keep the ring that's worth 50 gold and gives a sub par enchantment that you're never going to use. Also, picking breasts over a reward you're never going to use is not desperation. It can work.

It's not just the parents but that is a major deal. I don't think you realize what AO means socially and economically, it means major stores like Wal-Mart, Game-Stop, and everywhere except porn stores would refuse to sell it which means you could only buy it if you were 18 and from your mentality I severely you're anywhere close to that and countries like Australia would ban it completely. I'll admit that the rings they give are useless but I'd rather need to drop some useless junk than make the game next to impossible to find but this isn't really the place to debate things like this, let's stick to the topic. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about it more.

I would like to see better spell effects oblivion tried this with the fire spells enveloping the target in flames but when they fall over and i see there is not even a minor burn on the wolf I just roasted, make it so there is a charred corpse EVERY time, maybe frost could actually look like the target was frozen. Another thing was the fact I could shoot a deer in the leg with and iron arrow and a steel bow and see it die when I played a hunter but when I jacked up the difficulty I hit it then head and it ran away, I mean wtf?. also no matter how many times you slash at a citizen or whatever they have no cuts on them at all. They REALLY need to improve AI and they should make animals behave like animals and LOOK realistic, a wolf will not look the same as another and wolves dont hunt alone unless they were kicked out of a pack. Bears are more scared of you then you are of them. More voice actors and better beggars and citizens, they did try this by making them sleep and eat but some citizens stand in the street of the IC all day twiddling their thumbs. Rare armour should be rare, if you see bandits in an ayleid ruin and there is elven armour lying around they should be using it, merchants shouldnt scale with you they would sell you something regardless of level if you had the cash. Also bandit raids on towns would be welcome, also the possibility to be evil would be awesome, playing thieves feel like playing robin hood, the assassinations are always killing evil people or just some random guy who made someone mad by stealing their morning bagel.

I think the most important thing would be different kinds of AI.

Animal-something that will avoid you and only fight back if cornered.

Rabid Animal-will attack ferociously with no regard for it's own life. ((this is to keep people from getting too comfortable around the animals))

Basic Monster-Will actually sneak up on you. Attacks on sight but will run if you are out of it's class. Basically a lesser malicious intelligence.

Advanced Monster-Will command lesser monsters, use tactics, flanking, exploit cover, ranged weaponry, terrain and otherwise be a huge pain in the ass.

Civilian- Will run away if attacked and summon the guards. Instead of death charging you and then the guards automatically knowing you killd someone. So if you kill someone before they can alert the guards you don't get in trouble unless someone sees you with the body or something.

Guard- Will patrol, enforce the law and suchlike. Most importantly, if you take something by accident they will ask you to turn it over. And if you do you don't have to pay a fine or go to jail. I mean really. I took your jar. It was an accident please stop stabbing me.

I always hated the NPC tendency to berserker charge everyone. That seemed to be the limit of the AI. Allies are always throwing themselves into your attacks or jumping into lava pits or otherwise being a nuisance. Usually if I have to escort someone somewhere I tell them to stay put kill everything in my path and then come back for them.

Just though of something else they need. A new stealth skill. DISGUISE!!!

I've always thought that if you are wearing a featureless steel helm and go steal something, and then run away ditch the armor and whatever you stole and then walk calmly away the guards shouldn't realize it's you. I mean they could give real disguises like masks or something. But just the ability to get rid of a bounty by some other means than turning yourself in or paying the thieves guild to do it would be very welcome.

By the way, in Morrowind does anyone know how to actually pickpocket someone? I tried with a character with 100 stealth, and 135% constant effect chameleon. Still I could never successfully pickpocket anyone. Did they fix that in Oblivion? If not that is really something they need to fix.

That sounds pretty cool. Kind of like ditching cars in GTA4? Also, picking pockets is possible in Oblivion. I've stolen a guard's shoes before.

I think we established in the last thread about Oblivion that what we desire is English speaking lizards with jetpacks.

As long as they still have the hilarious Russian accents. In Soviet Argonia, water breathes you!

J'aen:
As long as they still have the hilarious Russian accents. In Soviet Argonia, water breathes you!

Da comrade.

J'aen:
As long as they still have the hilarious Russian accents. In Soviet Argonia, water breathes you!

Best post ever.

Decoy Doctorpus:

J'aen:
As long as they still have the hilarious Russian accents. In Soviet Argonia, water breathes you!

Best post ever.

Your Rorschach: The Game by Bioware pic is way better.

Limos:
Just though of something else they need. A new stealth skill. DISGUISE!!!

I've always thought that if you are wearing a featureless steel helm and go steal something, and then run away ditch the armor and whatever you stole and then walk calmly away the guards shouldn't realize it's you. I mean they could give real disguises like masks or something. But just the ability to get rid of a bounty by some other means than turning yourself in or paying the thieves guild to do it would be very welcome.

By the way, in Morrowind does anyone know how to actually pickpocket someone? I tried with a character with 100 stealth, and 135% constant effect chameleon. Still I could never successfully pickpocket anyone. Did they fix that in Oblivion? If not that is really something they need to fix.

You got the cowl of gray fox (or who ever it was) from the thieves guild missions. If you put that on your infamy was 100 and fame (or W/E it was) was 0 and you could do everything and not get busted. you were attacked on sight but they stopped even if you took it off infront of them. There was also a bug that made the 0 fame and 100 infamy permanent.

web cam chat with optional water sports

UsefulPlayer 1:
Oh i forgot...

mounted combat would be killer

duel wielding weapons

make the the night vision black and white or something the blue was annoying

the green light was also annoying

make potions or heals a bigger part of the game, disliked the idea of waiting or spamming heals after every battle saving my overly priced potions that I didn't come by enough. (though it allowed for a lot of auto saves that helped when I)

Hired allies? I filled this hole by doing escort mission with invincible allies, but not finishing the mission but bring them along on other missions

Ya that blue was really annoying. Especially with some of the vampire mods that made you have nighteye when you needed to feed.

Oh ya they need dual wielding definatly, I found a few mods for pc but it's just the weapon model used as a shield.

And better vampirism and more types of monsters like that.

J'aen:
As long as they still have the hilarious Russian accents. In Soviet Argonia, water breathes you!

I agree. All the way!!!

Oh and sorry for the double post.

I want the talking Mudcrab back, morrowind had a less serious approach to itself then oblivion which made it more fun to play

A lot of good suggestions in this thread, and only a few lousy ones. Well, time for me to throw in my two cents.

First of all, I'd like the return of human enemies that have only one life, like in Morrowind. The first time I killed a few bandits on an island just to return later and find they had returned to life with better weapons and armor, it really took me out of the experience.

I also agree heartily with Limos about the animals. If wolves and bears behaved in real life like they do in Oblivion, we would have wiped them off the face of the Earth 200 years ago.

Like the others who have stated it, I'd like more weapons and armor, or at least rarer higher-level stuff, so I don't get decked out in the best equipment in the game without some serious effort.

Gold being harder to come by would be a plus. In my two or three playings of Morrowind and my one playing of Oblivion, I was wealthy beyond any useful measure really early on. If you're going to give me that much cash, at least let me buy something cool or useful with it. I mean, what do I want with a house? I can play The Sims if I want that sort of thing.

Caves and ruins do feel very generic, and way too common in both Morrowind and Oblivion. I know you want to give the casual players plenty to do, but when I look out in a random direction and know that within a few minutes of traveling, I'm easily going to find some cave or ruin to investigate, I don't feel like an intrepid adventurer, I feel like I'm being handed things to explore.

And finally, to weigh in on the fast travel debate. Personally, I'm not a fan of Oblivion's ridiculously easy travel scheme. Yes, many people just want to be there and get the job done, and I can respect that. But when you can zip anywhere you want, you sacrifice a lot of the immersion you might experience otherwise. Yes, you don't have to use it, but I don't think a game should make you think "I'd like to get there traveling overland, but I have to be up at 8:00 tomorrow for work, I'd might as well just be there instantly."

I actually thought the travel system in Morrowind was pretty perfect. Between silt striders, mage's guild teleportation, boats, Mark/Recall, Divine/Almsivi Intervention, and the Boots of Blinding Speed, I never found it very difficult to get around. Replace the Boots with horses and you have a perfect system that also seems realistic.

I also toyed around with having the fast travel system have the character set out toward the goal, following what roads took you there. The screen could black out and then come back if you were attacked on the way, arrived at your destination, or weren't able to reach it because it was off of a road, making the rest of the journey necessary to physically travel yourself. I think this might be a decent compromise.

Oh, almost forgot - of course the leveling system in Oblivion was ridiculous, and needs major work. I want to be heavily outclassed by some enemies and take down others with ease. Maybe have different colors/physical appearances for what level a certain type enemy is.

For it not to be a MMORPG

so basically Oblivion but improved, possibly the ability to continue your oblivion character as well

Fudj:
For it not to be a MMORPG

so basically Oblivion but improved, possibly the ability to continue your oblivion character as well

Ya I agree I like the fact that Oblivion isn't MMO because those are always so competitive. But I think having an option to play LAN or direct IP multiplayer with 2-4 people would kind of fun for whenever you have friends over.

Co-op it would be awesome to have a little gang of 4-8 just going about killing then have 2 or so players take care of the guards and keep your murder streak going.

Uglulyx:

J'aen:
As long as they still have the hilarious Russian accents. In Soviet Argonia, water breathes you!

I agree. All the way!!!

Oh and sorry for the double post.

I can forgive anything so long as it involves praising me.

I would like to see some dual wielding as well, but only with daggers and short swords. maybe you could mix and match. maybe have a dagger and a short sword, but the speed would suffer a penalty when you dual wield.

I like that disguise idea, but it should only work if it is a closed face helm or mask and no one can see you change. if they do then you get a bounty on your head. and if the crime is bad enough they will actively send out search parties to find you.

I also liked the if you give it back then you get off the hook, or if you escape they make you pay the price of the good and a little bit more for the state. and if you murder a ton of people then you may get the death sentence and HAVE to escape and if you are part of the theives guild they will break you out of the prison, if you have joined (for those who read my other post) a bandit faction they will attack at the gallows or guillotine and allow you to escape. the fighters guild will not help you personally but they will leave some weapons and armor lying around for you to use for your escape. the mages guild will just teleport you away and talk to the law to get you off the hook, i forgot to mention that the fighters guild will also talk to the law to get you off the hook. the dark brotherhood/ morag tong will kill the guards guarding your cell and give you some weapons and armor along with the keys to your cell.

for that tho you would have had to have killed like an entire settlement and all the guards that tried to arrest you. and you just had too low of health to fight another guard so you gave yourself up which would be highly unlikely. but a cool idea nonetheless.

Would it be so much to ask, that when I am standing in the dark, with black clothes on, no torch lit, making no noise at all crouched down, that enemies not see me no matter how bad my sneak skill is?

I totally agree on that disguise thing. That's a really cool idea.

Let's take away the telepathic link that immediately informs every guard on the continent that you lock picked in some crappy village to the south and someone vaguely saw you.

I know, also let's make it so guards inform you of what crime you committed, I can't name all the times I had to pay a 5 gold fine for something and never found out what it is.

*Area-local Creatures -i.e Creatures only found in one area on the map.
*Creatures and Armour which don't level up as you do.
*More diverse areas.
*More then two voices per race.
*Better walking animation, it ruins the illusion when everyone minces everywhere.
*Clever friendly npc AI, I'm sick of them getting in my way during fights.
*Better character models (including animation).
*And most importantly, no more bloody fight music when a mudcrab spots me.. crabs aren't generally that violent :D

They need a serious overhaul on the run, walk and jump animations. Especially jump.

On the subject of disguise, I did have it in mind that whatever disguise you were wearing would have to obscure your face. But also that if you were wearing the same armor or clothes that the guards would search you for the stolen item. So that you would have to obscure your armor as well, or just leave it somewhere.

Another thing we need. Thieves. I don't mean the faction. I mean ones who will try to break into houses (including yours!!) and steal things. Which would finally give a purpose for the lock spell from Morrowind. ((Did they sill have that in Oblivion?)) Anyway, I think if a thief breaks into your house you should be able to ask the thieves guild about it and they will direct you to the thief who stole your stuff. Nice little spontaneous quest right there. Of course they would differ in skill according to location. So a small town thief wouldn't be as good as one in the big cities.

On the subject of locations for ES5 I would like to see Black Marsh, or wherever it is Khajit are from. The lore on Khajit always says there are different varieties ranging from catlike elves to full on animals. I want to see some of that culture. There could also be lots of quests either for or against the slave traders from Morrowind.

Limos:
Another thing we need. Thieves. I don't mean the faction. I mean ones who will try to break into houses (including yours!!) and steal things. Which would finally give a purpose for the lock spell from Morrowind. ((Did they sill have that in Oblivion?)) Anyway, I think if a thief breaks into your house you should be able to ask the thieves guild about it and they will direct you to the thief who stole your stuff. Nice little spontaneous quest right there. Of course they would differ in skill according to location. So a small town thief wouldn't be as good as one in the big cities.

Technically, the lock spell does still exist in Oblivion, but you'll never find it. It is in the coding, it does work, but you'd need a PC version to ever bring it out and use it. I have, because it was suggest I not use it, therefore I had to. You can use the console to directly lock something, or give yourself the spell, both of which work.

As for other thieves, that is something I'd like to see. My characters, as I said before, are packrats. I probably have a quarter million gold in just... stuff lying around my Imperial City house. I could be robbed and never notice, but if others know who that thief is, and I track the bastard down, he/she is done for. Basically, I like it. Why should be the only one having all the fun nicking things?

Also, when I'm approached by highwaymen, and I throw in the Gray Cowl, they should realize I am the superior thief and leave me the hell alone.

And so long as I'm down to minor complains, Bethesda, I never want to see another cliff racer as long as I live. Period.

Buzz3092:

yourkie1921:

Also, nudity. I want my reward for saving a town to involve vaginas and breasts instead of a ring I'll never use and can't enchant since it's already enchanted with the most useless property in the game.

If they add nudity it'll start another Hot Coffee Controversy and the game industry would take another major hit to it's reputation. Also, nudity wouldn't really work with the ability to chose the player's gender and that isn't much of a reward for quests unless you're desperately perverted. And call me gay or whatever you want but I believe nudity would ruin the game.

Regarding "hot coffee" and "Oblivion"...

Escapist told me that Boobies did not break the game! (potentially not work safe image in there)

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had a relatively good world emphasis, but then I went and spoiled myself:

I played Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

Now, clearly that wasn't a virtual world game. It actually was pretty dang buggy and had a balance that was downright masochistic on anything higher than the default difficulty.

However, the really nice thing about Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is that really presented the player as the hero. Best FPS melee combat I've ever played. Spells that felt like spells, rather than glowing balls of arbitrarily custom designed crap. Physics so good you could throw something at enemies from sufficient height to break the boards in the floor underneath them.

So, in short, the first thing I'd consider tweaking in Elder Scrolls V would be a much more immersive-feeling GUI.

Then, yeah, definately look into making a lot more dynamic content in the virtual worldly emphasis. Like, cities that can be captured by monster populations left unchecked. Maybe even randomly generated constent ala Daggerfall, provided you can prevent it from feeling too copy/paste.

geldonyetich:
So, in short, the first thing I'd consider tweaking in Elder Scrolls V would be a much more immersive-feeling GUI.

A GUI? What does that have to do with what you described at all?

Something I want is the ability to layer your clothing like you could in Daggerfall, including how you could wear your hood up/down and throw your cape over one shoulder, the other or both...

I've only played Morrowind, so I'm going to base my suggestions on my experiences of that game:

1) Re-jig the skills system. I'm going to get crucified for saying this, but hear me out. This isn't a pen-and-paper RPG where pages and pages of stats are a necessity. It's a 3D, fully presented, technicolour videogame. Why not try to present various skills in a more immersive way. Rather than having to keep manually throwing numbers at my Longblade skill, why not have my character's skill with a Longsword improve the more he uses it? I know Morrowind kind-of did this, but how about instead of simply raising the amount of damage I do, getting better opens up new moves and combos for my character to use. Instead of simply wasting lock-picks until a lock opens, why not implement lock-picking in a manner similar to Thief or Splinter Cell? I'm not a pen and paper kind of guy. Looking over stats sheets is not my idea of fun, as it just reduces my character into some sort of maths-driven robot. "Oh no, you can't persaude this character because your Speechcraft Skill is only at 59, not the 63 required." It's not immersive, it's just tedious. Put less focus on the numbers, and more focus on how to make skills interesting and fun to use and level up.

2) Sort out the third-person camera. I'm one of those people who thinks melee combat in a video-game never works in first-person. Even on a huge widescreen telly, you have no-way near the same field-of-view as you would in real life. You can't flick your head from side to side to see who's coming at you in the same manner as in real life. Too much waving of swords, and you get motion sickness. Too little, and it feels stilted. Third-person gives you the chance to see everyone around you, a much-needed advantage when you're being ambushed by a group of thugs. It also means the camera doesn't lurch with every swing. So Bethesda, try and make the third-person camera actually useful in the game. In Morrowind, it was actually painful trying to control my character from behind.

3) Sort out the combat. Clicking my mouse frantically while my character waves his sword like some sort of possessed windmill is not fun. Where are the combos? Where's the fluidity? I'm not asking for Ninja Gaiden, but some sort of smoothness would be nice. Rip off Fable if needs be. It's only fair, considering how much Mr Molyneux tried (and failed) to rip off from TES. Just make it fun.

All excellent points.

Another thing I would like to see in the game is an increase affect of fatigue. In Oblivion I could run for hours without losing a single fatigue so long as my skill in athletics was high enough. It should be that after every fight you need to eat or you get over-fatigue. Being over fatigued causes your character to lose health with ZERO chance to restore it with healing spells and potions. You have to eat to stop the loss of health, another thing I want to see is more sleeping without the whole crap about falling to sleep and worrying the time you wake up everyone would have got their mail ordered Deadric amour.

I think disguises will be a good idea. Like the mission in Morrowind where wearing a simple helmet was sufficient enough to sneak into the compound. It should be that if you are not wearing a helmet guards notice you right away, if your wearing a helmet it takes them a second, if you are wearing a different helmet it takes 3 seconds to recongize you. If you are wearing a complete new outfit with new helemet the guards won't recongized you at all.

On the point of helmets a really good idea is penalties for certain acts in public. In Oblivion the person you are talking to doesn't like it when you are talking to him with a sword in his face. The same should be for helmet, people are much slower to welcome you is you are masked or helmeted. In addition to unnecessary jumping, running.

Lastly if you are dropping items to lighten your bags I think the nearby villagers would leap on that to steal the goods. I would...