May 19, 2013 by

Hello guys! So here it is, another blog. This time I will talk about what I want to see in the next game of the Elder Scrolls franchise. Prepare for a huge blog. I will talk about the current installment, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and then I'll proceed to the next one. Let's get started!

First of all, some of you must be asking: "Why are you writing this blog? The latest Elder Scrolls only came out in 2011 and Bethesda releases one game every 4, 5 or 6 years. Don't you think that it is too early to talk about Elder Scrolls VI?" Well, it is true, it might be a bit early, but I had to write this because I became a "lore master" of the Elder Scrolls franchise and I'm really, let's say, "obsessed" with it.

I bought Skyrim in February 2012, and let me tell you, I regret nothing. My first character was a Nord, and I already putted 250+ hours into it. I have another 100+ hours on my High Elf, 50+ on my Breton and 30+ with my latest character, a Khajiit. That is like 430 hours that I spent playing this awesome game. I created the Khajiit some weeks ago, I stopped playing Skyrim for like 4 months, but I got back to it. That's why I wanted to write this blog so badly and share my opinions with you :)

Lore time!

Time for a history lesson of The Elder Scrolls world. But don't worry, the story starts in the 4th Era, where Skyrim takes place. I will mention the 3rd Era and probably the 2nd, the 1st, the Mythic (or Merethic) and the Dawn Era, but it doesn't goes past those mentions.

Here it is a map of Tamriel (the continent where the Elder Scrolls franchise takes place)

High Rock - Home to Bretons. There is also a city called Orsinium where the Orcs live.

Skyrim - Home to the Nords.

Hammerfell - A desert where the Redguards live.

Cyrodill - The home of the Empire. Imperials live in there.

Morrowind - Home to the Dunmer (Dark Elves)

Black Marsh - Home to a beast race - The Argonians (they look like lizards).

Elsweyr (pronounced "Elsewhere") - Home to another beast race - The Khajiit (they have a feline look). Also known as "The Cat People)

Valenwood - A Tropical area that is home to the Bosmer (Wood Elves)

Summerset Isles - Home to the powerful Altmer (High Elves)

The 3th Era ended in the year of 433 (of the 3th Era), when Mehrunes Dagon, Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Ambition and Energy. The Daedra are immortal beings that like to mess up with mortals. They live in the Planes of Oblivion, and each one of them has their own realm. During the 3th Era, there was an event called "The Oblivion Crisis". During this Crisis, the Daedra invaded Nirn, the world of the mortals. It was leaded by Mehrunes Dagon, he wanted to rule Nirn and then proceed to conquer whole Mundus (the Universe). He was defeated by the last Emperor of the Septim Dynasty, Martin, who used the Amulet of Kings and took the form of Akatosh to defeat him.

Akatosh is one of the Nine Divines. He is the chief deity and he has the form of a Dragon. With this said, he's the father of the Dragons. The other Divines are Talos, Dibella, Julianus, Zenithar, Arkay, Kynareth, Mara and Stendarr.

When Mehrunes Dagon was defeated, the Oblivion gates (they were used by the Daedra to enter Nirn) were closed. Martin Septim sacrificed himself when using the Amulet of Kings to take the form of Akatosh to defeat the Daedric Prince. He didn't had any descendants, thus leaving the Empire with no Emperor.

The 4th Era

With no Emperor, the Blades (military force that protect the Emperor) tried to maintain the order until a new Emperor was elected. Anyway, the Empire started to get weaker. The Aldmeri Dominion, a very powerful order created by the Altmer, who call themselves the Thalmor started to rise. They have only one goal: To rule all of Tamriel. They think that they are a superior race, and that the other races should become their slaves. The Altmer are the best race when it comes to Magic. They also took the credit for driving out the Daedra, even though it was Martin Septim who did it.

The Argonians of Black Marsh decided to become independent after the Oblivion Crisis, because they believed that the Empire was too weak to rule them. The Empire can't ask for the help of the Argonians anymore.

In the 5th year of the 4th Era, the Red Moutain of Vvanrdenfell (a province from Morrowind) erupted, destroying a large part of Morrowind. The Dark Elves that survived ran away to Skyrim. With this, Morrowind weakens, and because it is ruled by the Empire, the Empire also gets even weaker.

One year after the eruption, the Argonians invaded southern Morrowind because the Dunmer used to enslave them. In the year of 16, the High King of Skyrim gives the island of Solstheim to Morrowind to help the Dunmer refugees after the Red Mountain eruption.

6 years later, the Thalmor take over the Summert Isle. In the same year, Titus Mede is crowned Emperor after taking Cyrodill. The Thalmor also took over Valenwood shortly after.

In 4E 98, the two moons of Nirn, Masser and Secunda disappeared. This leaved Elsweyr in a state of chaos, because when Khajiit are born, their appearance and physiology is based on the Lunar Lattice of Masser and Secunda. The moons vanished for 2 years. They eventually appeared once again, but the Thalmor took credit of it once again. The Khajiits believed on them (very weird, because Khajiits are not easily fooled) and they sided with the Aldmeri Dominion, leaving the Empire.

In 4E 168, Titus Mede II succeeded his father. The Empire is now a shadow of its former self. They lost Valenwood and Elsweyr to the Thalmor, the Argonians were now independent, Morrowind was still recovering from the eruption of the Red Mountain and in Hammerfell there was a war between the Crown and Forebear factions.

In 4E 171, the Great War begins. The Aldmeri Dominion invades Cyrodill and Hammerfell. 4 years after, the Empire destroyed the Aldmeri army that was in Cyrodill, with the help of the warriors from Skyrim. Anyway, the Empire is exhausted and they can't continue the war. Titus Mede II tries to negotiate a truce with the Thalmor to end the war.

In the same year (4E 175), the White Gold Concordat is signed. But this wasn't a peace treaty, it was just a set of rules made by the Thalmor to weaken the Empire so they could take over it when they had the chance. The Thalmor demanded the Empire the following:

The worship of Talos was banned and free reign was given to the Thalmor to move throughout the Empire to hunt down any worshipers of Talos.

Disbandment and slaughtering of the Blades.

This caused resentment in the Nordic population of Skyrim. Tiber Septim, a Nord and also Dragonborn, was the first Emperor and he became a god when he died. It was given him the name of Talos. Because of this, he became the "preferred" deity of the Nords.

Titus II renounces Hammerfell as a province of the Empire to preserve the treaty after the Redguards oppose ceding their lands. The Redguards see this as a betrayal, and a lasting bitterness between Hammerfell and the Empire is sown to the delight of the Thalmor. Hammerfell continues to war with the Aldmeri Dominion for the next five years. The Redguards all ALONE defeated the Aldmeri Dominion. Hammerfell is now a free province. The Second Treaty of Stros M'kai was signed. It was a peace treaty between Hammerfell and the Aldmeri Dominion. But this time it was really a peace treaty, and not a set of rules made by the Thalmor.

High Elves, high as fuck... Trying to conquer all of Tamriel and shit.

The Third Century of the 4th Era

In 4E 201, the High King of Skyrim, Torygg, is killed by Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm (a hold of Skyrim) in a duel. This began the Civil War of Skyrim. The Stormcloaks, an army of Nords leaded by Ulfric wanted Skyrim to be a free province like Hammerfell. As mentioned before, they were really mad by the Empire signing the White Gold Concordat.

In the same year, Ulfric and some of his men are captured and taken to Helgen to be executed. This is when the new Dragonborn, main character of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim enters in the story. He was also caught when trying to cross the border to Hammerfell. After one of the Stormcloaks is executed, it is time to kill the Dragonborn (note: At this time, no one knows who is the Dragonborn, not even the Dragonborn himself). But then a Dragon appears. No dragons were seen since the Dragon War that took place in the Merethic Era (even before the 1st Era).

The Dragonborn, Ulfric and his men escape Helgen. The Dragonborn goes to Riverwood, a little village in Skyrim. He reports the attack of the Dragon to the people in there, and they advise him to tell the Jarl of Whiterun what happened. He goes to Whiterun, speaks with the Jarl and a guard appears that a Dragon was seen flying nearby the city. Anyway, this dragon isn't the same as the one the attacked Helgen. The Dragonborn defeats this dragon and then he absorbs his soul. He then realizes that he is the Dragonborn and that he has to defeat the Dragons.

The dragon that attacked Helgen was, in fact, Alduin. First-born of Akatosh, and the Nordic God of Destruction. He is the leader of the dragons and he was defeated in the Dragon War by the Ancient Nords. They used an Elder Scroll to banish him from Mundus. Anyway, he returned in 4E 201, thus beginning the Dragon Crisis.

Zu'ur Alduin, First-Born of Akatosh

The Elder Scrolls VI - What I want to see on it

Now that you know what happened in the 4th Era of The Elder Scrolls world, you will understand what I'm going to talk about.

First of all, I think that this game should take place in the various provinces of Tamriel. I believe that the next gen consoles have enough power for that huge virtual world. But why do I want this?

So, as you may have noticed, the Thalmor are greedy motherfuckers. And because this is a RPG, you would have 2 options: Side with them to take over the Empire or destroy them and elect a new strong Emperor to restore the Empire to its former glory.

If it is not possible to have such a big virtual world, then I would like it to be set either on Elsweyr or Hammerfell. But the main questline would still be the same: Destroy the Thalmor or join them. And instead of being free to explore all of Tamriel, you only would be free to explore Elsweyr or Hammerfell and some of the quests take place, for example, in Cyrodill to kick the asses of the Aldmeri Dominion from there. After the quest(s) is(are) completed, the game takes you back to Elsweyr/Hammerfell.

If you decide to join the Thalmor (if you do that, I hate you), one of the quest(s) should take place, for example, in Black Marsh, to take take it away from the Argonians.

One thing that might be kinda confusing, but I would like to see that implemented. Before you start the game, you should have two options that would affect the main storyline, and you have to choose one of them: "The Imperials defeated the Stormcloaks and Skyrim belongs to the empire" or "The Stormcloaks won the civil war, and Skyrim is now a free province trying to defeat the Thalmor and create a new empire".

If you choose the first option and then you side with the Thalmor, then you don't need to go to Skyrim to defeat the Nords. But if you decide to destroy the Thalmor, then you have to go in there to defeat the Thalmor in Skyrim and defeat the Imperials that are in there as well.

This game would also take place during the 4th Era, in an undetermined year. When you destroy the Aldmeri Dominion or join with them and take over all of Tamriel, the 4th Era would end, thus beginning the 5th Era. If you destroyed the Aldmeri Dominion, a new Emperor would be elected and all the provinces of Tamriel would join the Empire and create the United Provinces of Tamriel (maybe it sounded a bit cheesy? I don't have another name for that). The 5th Era would be an Era of peace and it would end when something or someone troubles that peace.

If you joined with the Aldmeri Dominion and took over Tamriel, the Mer (a.k.a elves: Altmer, Bosmer and Dunmer. Not including Orsimer because they are considered the Cursed Elves or the Barbarian Elves, and because of that the Thalmor hate them) would enslave the Men/Human races (Nords, Imperials, Redguards and Bretons), the Argonians and the Orcs. They would also betray the Khajiit and enslave them as well. This 5h Era would end when Men, the Beast races and the Orsimer would form a rebellion to to destroy the Aldmeri Dominion.

Left: Redguards, people from Hammerfell and great warriors. Right: Khajiit, the feline people of Tamriel.

What I want to see new in gameplay, graphics and soundtrack

The gameplay of Skyrim was awesome. Loads of fun that I'm still having with this game after 430+ hours. It's simply almost perfect. I want the character builds be the same in TES VI - You don't have to stick with certain skills for each class. In the TES games prior to Skyrim, you would have to choose a race and a class. Because of that, if you choose for example a Nord, you would have to be a warrior and you couldn't be a good mage. If you choose an Altmer you would have to stick with magic because you couldn't be a good warrior. That doesn't happens in Skyrim. Even though that you don't get skills bonuses for magic with races that get skill bonuses for melee combat, you can become a great mage and vice versa. That is what makes Skyrim so unique. And that's why I want that character building and Skills choice to come back in TES VI.

Another thing that gives even more freedom in Skyrim than in any other TES games about - The Standing Stones. They work like the Birthsigns of the previous TES games, but you can change them as many times as you want. They give you special abilities/faster skill leveling/etc. With the Birthsigns, you would have to choose them at the beginning of the game and you couldn't change it later. But that is not the case with the Standing Stones. You choose the blessing that you want, and if it is your wish to change it later in the game, then you can do it. But you can have only 1 blessing active at a time to prevent overpoweredness.

Now, one thing that every TES player wants: BETTER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE! It's so fucking bad. Seriously man, dafuq is up with Skyrim's AI? It's funny at times and annoying at other's. You see a group of enemies, you kill one of them stealthily, they try to find you but after like 15 seconds they say: "Probably just my imagination". WTF DUDE??? A FUCKING CORPSE IS LAYING RIGHT NEXT TO YOU! THERE'S SOMEONE IN THE ROOM WHO WANTS TO KILL YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS! Still, Skyrim is difficult in Legendary just because enemies attacks deal a lot of damage in that difficulty. But they are so fucking dumb...

Followers were a good add on, but again, terrible AI. If you are an assassin that works on the shadows they will give you away your position. If you see a group of enemies and kill one of them, when the enemies start searching for you, your followers acts like that they have already spotted you and charges into them, giving away your position. They also walk into obvious traps getting them killed most of the time.

Another thing that is annoying: The NPC's dialogues. They are too repetitive and sometimes I get sick of them because they just say the same thing over and over and over and over again. Lydia, stop saying "I'm sworn to carry your burdens", I know that it is your job to carry my babies... I'm sorry, my burdens! You don't have to say it all the time. And stop saying "I've got your back" so fucking loud when I'm sneaking. Everyone spots us because of that.

Lydia, the Skyrim NPC that we love to hate.

Marriage needs to be implemented in TES VI too. It makes Role Playing much more complete and enjoyable. But seriously, make almost every woman in the game marriable. The best girls in Skyrim, the ones that were most loved by the community weren't marriable. Also, there were no Khajiit to marry. What's up with that? That kinda ruined a Role Playing aspect for my Khajiit. And I'm sick of my spouse always saying: "Yes dear. What is it my love? I'll be here my dear". So fucking annoying. Add some more and better dialogue for spouses (and for every NPC like I mentioned before).

If possible, consoles should have console commands like the PC version. They solve lots of bugs and give you more freedom.

Also, Dragons should also come back in this game. But not the evil ones that are still loyal to Alduin, even after his defeat. Those were all killed by the Dovahkiin of TES V. There were lots of Dragons that sided with the Dragonborn and Paarthunax (leader of the Greybeards) and followed the Way of The Voice like the Greybeards and their leader. You should encounter some of them. They would be against the Thalmor. With this said, if you side with the Thalmor you have to fight them, but if you decide to destroy them, you will have the Dragons on your side.

If you want to know what is the Way of The Voice click here. Possible SPOILERS for TES V: Skyrim on that link.

Something that has to be improved is the graphics. The animations are cool but most of them have severe problems. When you are brawling or fighting with someone, the fists/weapons don't even hit the target (visually) and your arrow quiver floats in the air. The animations are very buggy, some of them look very unrealistic.

Of course, modders want these imperfections, but consoles do not have access to the mods and I hope that Bethesda does some more effort to fix these stuff. Still, visually, Skyrim is beautiful.

Every TES game had awesome soundtrack. And I hope that they make an epic job with TES VI's. Keep up with the good work in that part of the game!

That's it guys. If you're still here reading this, then I must say: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this huge blog. You're awesome! Now back to Skyrim...

Word count: 3217

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