Since the ass end of 2011, there has been one game that I find myself continuously going back to play. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. For well over the course of two years I've created at least five characters, mastered nearly all skill trees, and in all honesty wasted hundreds of hours of my life in Nord country. Though the last statement sounds pathetic and sad, it's all true. It's a great experience to venture through tombs and ancient ruins, so what can I say? Oh.. fuck you, I'm Dragonborn!
So the big question on the minds of Elder Scrolls fans is what's next? Oh, that pay to play Elder Scrolls Online? Fuck you, I'm Dragonborn! Lets leave that MMORPGDICKTWATS to the byrds and discuss Elder Scrolls VI.
What improvements do you want to see? There are many elements surrounding gameplay mechanics and combat that need to be refined, but it's a double edged sword. You can spend your skill points on sneak and archery in order to become almost completely invisible to an enemy, but in doing so, you're not getting the full experience that the Elder Scrolls is encouraging you to achieve. On many websites this topic is exhausted, but really, it's your game and you should play it however you want. Plus it's fun to sneak up on a bandit and shoot him in the dick. As far as combat is concerned, perhaps there should be more options to enhance the action. Not to bite off Dark Souls (fuck that game) maybe they should add rolling as a function or a race specific power attack. Combat has never been a strong point in the Elder Scrolls series, but I'm sure that the next installment will feature more moves than the current whack-a-mole system.
Where will the next location be? That is the biggest question of all. The continent of Tamriel is quite a large one, but most places have been featured in previous games. It's likely that Bethesda will set the next game where it hasn't been before, so lets try to narrow down the options.
The Summerset Isles are home to the powerful magic honed Altmer, also known as the High Elves. While they're a prominent part of the history of Tamriel, there's so much of their culture and native land that's shrouded in mystery. While this would be a great province to explore, there would be some issues to basing an Elder Scrolls setting here. For one, it's nowhere near as large and expansive as Skyrim is, and two, it's not a place where many outsiders are welcome to. Assuming the next game is set after the events of Skyrim, there would have to be a serious change in political events between the Thalmor and the Imperials for this to become a place where all races could visit. Next is Valenwood, home to the Bosmer or as most know as the Wood Elves. Valenwood is a tropical locale full of large migratory trees where the Wood Elves have built their sprawling cities. This could be a very interesting prospect, because it could add a much more rich and vibrant palette of color with lush quantities of vegetation, in contrast to the grey jagged landscape found in Skyrim. Next is Black Marsh, which is ruled by the reptilian humanoids known as the Argonians. Black Marsh is more or less a humongous swamp full of mangroves and thickets of vegetation in brackish waters. The areas within the perimeter of Black Marsh are virtually inhospitable to all other races other than the Argonians. With this being said, Black Marsh isn't really an ideal setting to base the next Elder Scrolls. On the other hand, there is so little known about the Argonians throughout the history of Tamriel, that it would be a great opportunity to open the floodgates of lore that has surrounded this enigmatic race. Finally we're left with Elsweyr, land of the cat people known as the khajit. This is an ideal setting for an Elder Scrolls game in regard to the variety of mountain, desert, and tropical landscapes. Much like the Argonians, there is plenty of things unknown to the other citizens of Tamriel that would be interesting to learn through dialogue and lore. Although I like the idea of basing a game in a province inhabited by beast folk, I recognize it may be a bit of a strain to solely focus on one particular race.
Given that Skyrim was such a large land to traverse, it seems only appropriate that the next game is even bigger. Since none of these areas are close to the size of Skyrim, I feel the best option would be to combine Valenwood, Elsweyr, and Black Marsh in order to make the setting larger and also create a sort of balance between races. It's almost a guarantee Bethesda will pick one or more of these provinces, so why not combine them to create one of the biggest open world fantasy games ever? The Elder Scrolls world (Nirn) isn't without other continents, but Tamriel has been the focus for the series from the very beginning. Akavir is as big (if not bigger) than Tamriel, and is inhabited by some very different races. I'd Much rather see this come to light, but I don't believe this will happen until at least the following entry to the series.
When will the game be released? Who the fuck knows... Really! Bethesda is most likely working on Fallout 4. So if Fallout is released (guessing) 2015, and a core team is in pre-production for the Elder Scrolls 6 right now, it could be released anywhere from 2016-2018. That may seem like a long time to wait, but it's a realistic guesstimate. I hope it's sooner than later though.
I think that's the longest post I've ever written! If you read the whole thing and enjoyed my thoughts on this topic, congratulations! You're probably just as sad and awesome as yours truly! As the saying goes, "Everything's true. God's an astronaut. Oz is over the rainbow. And Midian is where the monsters live."
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