The Future of TES Games.
[BGS] †Nimble† (pedrobarroso1995)
@ 2009-08-06 7:42 AM PDT
The Elder Scrolls V
-----------------------------------------
Probable Locations
Skyrim
There is speculation that the next game could be based in Skyrim. The name has been trademarked by Bethesda, which could indicate that there is an upcoming game called Skyrim, as there was for Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. A simple search at the US Trademarks website reveals four applications for Skyrim as a Trademark, three from Bethesda, and one from a telecommunications company in Florida. Bethesda filed for the trademark in October 2006. It is interesting to note that Bethesda filed for Oblivion's trademark on June 21, 1995, but abandoned the trademark, only to refile for it on April 4, 2003 about 3 years before release (2006). Morrowind followed a similar 3 year pattern (1999 to 2002). It is unlikely that Skyrim will follow this same three year release, since it has yet to be announced. Also Michael Kirkbride, a contract developer for Bethesda, has been working on Nordic lore with text such as The Seven Fights of The Aldudagga.
Summerset Isle
There is some speculation that TES V will take place in Summerset Isle, due to various rumors about Daedra Worship increasing and a boycott of Imperial goods in Oblivion (although it is important to note that there are several equally 'significant' rumors about events in other provinces in Oblivion, namely Black Marsh, Morrowind, Orsinium, Elsweyr and, of course, Skyrim). It is possible this could follow the pattern set in Morrowind, which had rumors mentioning trouble in Cyrodiil. But of course, this logic also holds true for all the other provinces mentioned. (And again, it is worth noting that none of the events mentioned in rumors about Cyrodiil in Morrowind actually ocurred in Oblivion; only those prophecies which spoke of general plot events, namely a Daedric invasion, not specific to Cyrodiil)
In fact, it was rumored that TES IV would take place on Summerset Isle, due to developer comments from before Morrowind's release, but those proved to be untrue.
In terms of gameplay, Summerset Isle would be a convenient choice because it is surrounded by water, providing a natural boundary to the playable game-world, much like Morrowind had by taking place in Vvardenfell and not the mainland area of the province. In Oblivion, the invisible walls at the edges of the mostly land-locked Cyrodiil were a cause for complaints by some fans.
Production
It is speculated the Bethesda started full development of The Elder Scrolls V after the completion of Fallout 3. From previous quotes from Todd Howard, it is suspected that preproduction work for ESV took place during Fallout's development. The latest news is that it may be released in 2010. This date may be slightly optimistic, as Fallout 3 used the same basic Engine as Oblivion and still required 31 months of development time (The 2010 date is a maximum of 26 months). Additional work is still being done on Fallout 3, as downloadable content is expected. This is unlikely to cause a further delay of the next Bethesda game.
On April 27, 2009, Pete Hines was quoted by IGN as saying that no new Elder Scrolls title was expected to be announced "anytime soon." This was done along the announcement of the Elder Scrolls Novels to be penned by renowned fantasy author Greg Keyes. The announcement is ambiguous and no more specific details were given. The interview can be found here.
In a more recent interview for Gamasutra dated June 25th, Hines let slip that "On the flip side,Todd [Howard] and his team have their hands full with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout." This suggests that some Elder Scrolls title, be it Elder Scrolls V or a spin-off along the vein of Redguard and Battlespire, is in prodcution on some level. That interview can be found here.
--------------------------------------------
MMO Elder Scrolls
Speculation about a MMORPG that takes place in the TES universe has mainly been started by ZeniMax's press release that they had formed a new company, ZeniMax Online Studios. This rumor gained some credibility after ZeniMax bought the domain name elderscrollsonline.com. As of now, the site has no content.
Online Elder Scrolls?
Over the past few months, there have been quite a few rumors about the Elder Scrolls series going online. These were started when ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company formed a new division, ZeniMax Online Studios headed by Matt Firor, a developer with experience in the MMO field. Then, on October 25, Bethesda received a large $300 Million investment from an outside firm. Now it has come to light that ZeniMax Media registered ElderScrollsOnline.com back in mid August. Still, this is speculation, but it definitely appears that Bethesda and ZeniMax are cooking something. Here's the 'whois' lookup confirming the domain purchase.
-Nimble
-----------------------------------------
Probable Locations
Skyrim
There is speculation that the next game could be based in Skyrim. The name has been trademarked by Bethesda, which could indicate that there is an upcoming game called Skyrim, as there was for Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. A simple search at the US Trademarks website reveals four applications for Skyrim as a Trademark, three from Bethesda, and one from a telecommunications company in Florida. Bethesda filed for the trademark in October 2006. It is interesting to note that Bethesda filed for Oblivion's trademark on June 21, 1995, but abandoned the trademark, only to refile for it on April 4, 2003 about 3 years before release (2006). Morrowind followed a similar 3 year pattern (1999 to 2002). It is unlikely that Skyrim will follow this same three year release, since it has yet to be announced. Also Michael Kirkbride, a contract developer for Bethesda, has been working on Nordic lore with text such as The Seven Fights of The Aldudagga.
Summerset Isle
There is some speculation that TES V will take place in Summerset Isle, due to various rumors about Daedra Worship increasing and a boycott of Imperial goods in Oblivion (although it is important to note that there are several equally 'significant' rumors about events in other provinces in Oblivion, namely Black Marsh, Morrowind, Orsinium, Elsweyr and, of course, Skyrim). It is possible this could follow the pattern set in Morrowind, which had rumors mentioning trouble in Cyrodiil. But of course, this logic also holds true for all the other provinces mentioned. (And again, it is worth noting that none of the events mentioned in rumors about Cyrodiil in Morrowind actually ocurred in Oblivion; only those prophecies which spoke of general plot events, namely a Daedric invasion, not specific to Cyrodiil)
In fact, it was rumored that TES IV would take place on Summerset Isle, due to developer comments from before Morrowind's release, but those proved to be untrue.
In terms of gameplay, Summerset Isle would be a convenient choice because it is surrounded by water, providing a natural boundary to the playable game-world, much like Morrowind had by taking place in Vvardenfell and not the mainland area of the province. In Oblivion, the invisible walls at the edges of the mostly land-locked Cyrodiil were a cause for complaints by some fans.
Production
It is speculated the Bethesda started full development of The Elder Scrolls V after the completion of Fallout 3. From previous quotes from Todd Howard, it is suspected that preproduction work for ESV took place during Fallout's development. The latest news is that it may be released in 2010. This date may be slightly optimistic, as Fallout 3 used the same basic Engine as Oblivion and still required 31 months of development time (The 2010 date is a maximum of 26 months). Additional work is still being done on Fallout 3, as downloadable content is expected. This is unlikely to cause a further delay of the next Bethesda game.
On April 27, 2009, Pete Hines was quoted by IGN as saying that no new Elder Scrolls title was expected to be announced "anytime soon." This was done along the announcement of the Elder Scrolls Novels to be penned by renowned fantasy author Greg Keyes. The announcement is ambiguous and no more specific details were given. The interview can be found here.
In a more recent interview for Gamasutra dated June 25th, Hines let slip that "On the flip side,Todd [Howard] and his team have their hands full with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout." This suggests that some Elder Scrolls title, be it Elder Scrolls V or a spin-off along the vein of Redguard and Battlespire, is in prodcution on some level. That interview can be found here.
--------------------------------------------
MMO Elder Scrolls
Speculation about a MMORPG that takes place in the TES universe has mainly been started by ZeniMax's press release that they had formed a new company, ZeniMax Online Studios. This rumor gained some credibility after ZeniMax bought the domain name elderscrollsonline.com. As of now, the site has no content.
Online Elder Scrolls?
Over the past few months, there have been quite a few rumors about the Elder Scrolls series going online. These were started when ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company formed a new division, ZeniMax Online Studios headed by Matt Firor, a developer with experience in the MMO field. Then, on October 25, Bethesda received a large $300 Million investment from an outside firm. Now it has come to light that ZeniMax Media registered ElderScrollsOnline.com back in mid August. Still, this is speculation, but it definitely appears that Bethesda and ZeniMax are cooking something. Here's the 'whois' lookup confirming the domain purchase.
-Nimble
)---i hope they dont make a clone of oblivion, and i dont want to play in snowy cold s*it like skyrim). And summerset isle s*cks, cuz its surrounded by water, too many games have this surrounding, water water and more water, its s*cks).And TES online is a very, very, very idiot idea.I dont want to play a WoW clone. When Bethesda make an online game, they loose many, many, many, ma.. fans. Bethesda is not idiot, and Todd Howard is not idiot, so TH will make a singleplayer game, with a bigger map, better env., more npc, etc.(and i hope they make WARS (like morrowind vs. skyrim+dremora or something) There are no upcoming events scheduled.
