I really wish devs would stop doing early reveals.
Rock and a hard place. They were 7ish years from their last elder scrolls release, and knew they had at least 7 (probably) for the next one. Their poor planning caused it, but the fans were so loud that they had to do something.
And what an underwhelming something. Studio could have started work on ES6 shortly after Skyrim and had another amazing game out by now, but dawdled. They were at their peak, they could have doubled the number of teams and pumped out fallout and es every other year. But they wasted their opportunity.
It’s okay. We’ll get Skyrim for the PS6.
For all the complaints over the years (from myself included), there are very few options for games like Elder Scrolls main games.
These kinds of games are extremly difficult to build. Skyrim still does things I haven’t seen any game other than Fallout 4 do since.
What things would that be? Im trying to think of something that hasnt been replicated / improved in another game, but I am drawing a blank personally.
One example: The way Bethesda games track an enormous number of physics enabled objects across their open worlds. I feel like most games in the last 10 years have made a point of simplifying their physics systems to a point of near-nonexistence.
Bethesda knows that when I dump 500 wheels of cheese on the floor of my house in Whiterun, I want it all to still be exactly where I left it when I come back 20 hours later.
Fair point. I can’t really think of any games that have done that, either. Interesting that there haven’t been more physics sandbox style open worlds, come to think of it…
good point. I still have daggers that refuse to stay in their display boxes and move around the house mysteriously, though 🙃
I prefer to suspect the radiant engine before Lydia or Ysolda (well, Serana maybe lol).
Valheim does a really great job with this. I think the closest I’ve seen in a game. The other part of this is that’s part of what makes their VR Ports so good.
I would like to have it explained to me by someone au fait with GameDev as to what’s stopping a smaller studio going after something with the scope of Morrowind or Oblivion.
Bethesda are so blessed to have their own unique niche that’s so stupidly popular.
That TES Online trailer trolled me so hard when I watched the showcase, I thought it was Elder Scrolls 6 and I just forgot that game existed.
And starfield hasn’t even released yet cry at this rate the trailer will be as old as skyrim was at the time of the announcement before we get a release
Bethesda really has no incentive to actually make TES6 so long as they have healthy subscribers for TES Online, I’m not surprised at all the game has likely been put on ice until the next generation.
Fortunately Starfield looks amazing and will hopefully fill that void for most of us who want a single player experience.
I don’t buy this. TES Online and actual TES games are so fundamentally different that they do not have the same audience. There are probably millions of people who will buy TES6 but have no interest in playing an MMORPG.
That’s me! I used to play Guild Wars 2 for a while, but haven’t touched an MMORPG in years. Me and my wife like to play single player games together, currently really late to subnautica.
ESO’s story arcs, despite being within an MMORPG, can be played single player if one is feeling particularly antisocial. There’s a ton of story quests since the game has been out for a decade now that you could probably fit the entirety (content hours wise) of the Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim quest lines into it. Probably why the game is like 100 GB lol.
Of course, as an MMO, the storyline is constrained a bit (your choices functionally don’t really matter too much) since the game world can’t change drastically, so you won’t have an Imperial/Stormcloak type showdown that forever altered the landscape.
Still, ESO scratches the Morrowind itch, especially their latest Necrom expansion.
There’s also Tamriel Rebuilt (Morrowind mod) that also has Necrom, but I haven’t had a chance to check what they’ve done recently. (Last time I installed it, Firewatch was the farthest east they’ve gone but that was a long time ago).
Lots of MMOs work that way. I’m not talking about the fact that the game is multiplayer, I’m talking about the fact that the core gameplay does not offer the same uniquely immersive experience currently only found in single player Bethesda games like Skyrim or Fallout 4.
You definitely haven’t played ESO
Talk about jumping the gun with that announcement. I’ll honestly be a bit surprised if we see the game this decade.
It’s the same situation as with Metroid Prime 4. It’s more to just confirm people that “yes we will make it at some point so stop f*ing asking. Buy Skyrim for the 5th time while you wait”
Five years, eh? Maybe I’ll make some room and re-install/re-mod Skyrim at some point in the summer. Haven’t touched it in, like, two years, but I’ve been kinda missing it. Or maybe I could try ESO again.
Maybe by the time my son is old enough to play with me, lol
Is he born yet?
I’m still in the “find a girlfriend” stage
That was such a weird thing to do, considering that Starfield isnt even out yet.
My guess it that TES6 won’t be out for a good 6-7 years more.
So glad that other developers like Obsidian have stepped in to filled the Elder Scrolls and Fallout shaped holes in my chest
When it actually releases I’m sure there will be tons of articles and news that it was rushed and is unfinished
Tbf that’s because it’ll be rushed and unfinished.
Not really that surprising that we haven’t gotten much (if anything) new since. It was pretty clear that the trailer was basically just a statement of “we plan on this being a thing that exists at some point”. IIRC, we knew that it was extremely early in development and that Starfield would come first.
As a side note: I remember people theorising that it would be subtitled Redfall, since Bethesda had trademarked the name around the same time.
As a side note: I remember people theorising that it would be subtitled Redfall, since Bethesda had trademarked the name around the same time.
I also remember Todd later saying in an interview, after lot’s of speculation, that they had no idea yet for the game, basically debunking any speculation as just that.
I also thought the rumor was on trademarking “The Elder Scrolls: Redguard” or something along those lines, which is easily explained as that’s the name of an old spin-off from 1998 that they likely had to settle some stuff for. Timing spe ifically could be chance, or them figuring the announcement would bring more attention to the franchise. Besides, all game titles have been prime location. I think the word “Redfall” was a different rumour than the trademark one.
An old Twitter post suggested Highrock which also matched the trailers look. However, the next ESO chapter became Highrock and they never went back in a main game before, obviously ignoring Arena (Daggerfall was in that High Rock and Hammerfell) So it may have just been about that. An apperantly leaked internal note spoke of project Greenwood, possibly setting it in Valenwood (second most rumoured place) but that is alleged.
But then, it’s late night and it’s been quite a while since I looked into it. So I might renember it wrong as well.
In the end, Bethesda still has us talking and speculating, and has me writing 4 paragraphs, with just releasing one shitty 5 year old trailer. And that while, as I said at the start, pretty all rumours where debunked as “we don’t know yet”. Damn they got me. They still got me…
Honestly with how shit Bethesda has been, and my low opinion of Skyrim compared to the earlier Elder Scrolls games, i’m not that excited. Like all AAA games nowadays its gonna be a buggy and unplayable mess. And once it gets fixed, people will realize it wasnt even a good game in the first place.
I came in on Oblivion and loved it. For as much of a mess as Skyrim was, I enjoyed it. I’ve found it very, very hard to go back and play Morrowind (or earlier games) as a newcomer without a pair nostalgia goggles. I agree, like all Bethesda releases, it will be a buggy mess. But I’m still looking forward to it. I just want another entry in the series to get lost in, but that’s probably just my depression and me looking back at more than a decade ago with my own nostalgia goggles.
I never cared for RPGs growing up but when KotOR came out when I was in college I was immediately hooked! My next serious dip into the RPG pool was Oblivion and I loved it!
Skyrim, for how much it improved on Oblivion didn’t capture me the same way. Despite it red-ringing my 360 the seemingly endless random dragon attacks made me outright quit the game. It wasn’t until last year I gave it another shot on XBone with the anniversary edition and even then it wasn’t as enthralling as everyone makes it out to be
KOTOR is one I’ve wanted to try, but worry it’ll be a Morrowind experience for me. I was excited to hear about the remake, but that seems like it could be in limbo at the moment.
Oblivion was far more vibrant and fantasical-feeling while out and exploring. Skyrim felt very dull and depressing, but that was also the vibe they were going for. I don’t fault anyone for not liking something. Hell, Witcher 3 should be right up my alley on paper, and I just didn’t end up enjoying it, even after giving it several hours at a friend’s recommendation.
The color palette in Oblivion alone is more vibrant and saturated than the one in Skyrim. Skyrim is a lot cooler (white balancing wise) and greyer in tone, making it feel a little drab compared to the lush greens of Cyrodiil.
At it’s release though, Oblivion was the prettiest in-game forest around.
Edit: Cheydinhal in particular. Such a pretty city. Sadly it’s super fugly in ESO, but it’s absolutely gorgeous in Oblivion.
It was just an announcement. It is quite normal for huge AAA games to take more than 5 years to develop. Bethesda was and probably is not in full time production for TES 6. But sure time flies very fast and feel old now…
Let’s be honest here, it’s not even in full production yet, not until Bethesda releases Starfield.
