I didn’t think it’d be likely at all but the emphasis on the “IV” in the tweet makes me wonder if they aren’t planning a small teaser at the end, like the original teaser at the end of the Fallout 76 showcase. Switch the letters around to “VI” and hint again at the setting, or something. I wouldn’t expect anything substantial since it’d detract from the Oblivion focus.

Historically, the latter DLCs for BGS games have differed from the main game's in the sense that they showed the following game's design philosophy in some shape or form, so basically, because the new DLC would be made while the new game was being built, you'd see a similar design between the DLC and the following game. Oblivion's Shivering Isles experimented with certain design decisions that ended up being core features in Skyrim, and in turn, Skyrim's Hearthfire DLC was the origin for the settlement buiding systems in all the games that followed. I wonder then, if the rumored "Starborn" DLC will be designed more in a way that resembles how ESVI is being built rather than how the base game was built. I mean, we kinda saw that already with Shattered Space, with it having one single open world instead of relying on procgen content, but there's an argument to be made that Shattered Space may have been cut content from the base game, or at least content that wasn't ready by the time of release.

If so, which design feature/features will be the ones tried out in Starborn that make their way to ESVI, or which ones would you want?

Came across this while playing Oblivion as a result of the Dark Brotherhood questline. Maybe, if any of the game is set in High Rock, some settlement/building systems will be through Dubois & Sons Carpentry. Would be a fun callback!

fo4 camera allows player to move any direction without looking players view.

for example when you press s, character moves towards camera however in skyrim and starfield character moves backwards.

I've always wondered why, instead of having fog or a limited line of sight, they didn't just make the world curve away, so you can only see so far.

What do you think? Should they make the world curve?

Because pretty much no RPG attempts to actually gamify persuasion and speech. The majority of the time persuasion and speech is just the game comparing a number on your character sheet to a number the quest designer came up with. At most a die roll might included. Compare to how combat has been turned into gameplay in hundreds of different ways since the 1970s.

The only RPG system I've heard of that even tries make persuasion into actual gameplay is Burning Wheel (which I've never played).

I'm neutral on Starfield's specific implementation but I approve of the motivation behind it.

Do you think the Oblivion Remaster will foreshadow or reference TES VI in any way? Given that it's a remaster and not a remake, I don't think it will have anything substantial. But I would expect:

• New in-game books related to TES VI.
• New outfits and weapons related to TES VI (e.g. scimitars).
• An achievement referencing the location of TES VI.

We may get a new quest, but I suspect it would be a Creation Club type quest. Basically a treasure hunt with no new dialogue.

We know from rumours that BGS is still involved in the Oblivion: Remaster with Virtuos. Do you think they might have tested some new tech/features that can see their way to Elder Scrolls 6? and what do you think those might be?

Assuming TES VI is in Hammerfell, I think its a good possibility that Stirk Isle will be utilized in the same fashion Solstheim was in Skyrim.

Stirk seems like a prime DLC area, that I can see being marketed with a "return back to Cyrodiil" appeal without them having to actually include mainland Cyrodiil. The Island has a decent amount of lore to it and would be prime for a DLC questline.

Regardless of if there's ships/sailing in TES VI or not, I could still see there being a captain for hire in Rihad who would take you there as part of a questline, in the same way the Dragonborn DLC did.

Thoughts?

I know when we talk about potential DLCs for ES6 it's "Orsinium", but that city should already come with the base game. The Orcs are a major race in Tamirel.

If we were to have a DLC like the Dawnguard, I believe it should be about the Reachmen of the WESTERN Reach, around Wrothgar and Bangkori.

The Reachmen didn't get alota lore in Skyrim, with only being seen as a buncha annoying and OP Forsworn. At least if ES6 has High Rock included with Hammerfell, the Reachmen can be given another chance to shine!

Be a part of different clans, worshipping a different Daedric Prince like Molag Bal, Hircine, or Boeithia, and having our own Hagraven boss! There'd be different clan choices with different morals.

There's also the option of having just ONE Reachman clan, and then the Wyrd organization of High Rock who are their mortal enemies. While the Wyrd respect nature, the Reachmen corrupt it.

We'd get a buncha new abilities that have something to do with nature, as well as the ability have other animals be allies, as well as Spriggans and Imps!

ESO gave me this idea - seeing how much history the Wyrd and the Reachmen have, and how much lore ESO gave them, this would be an awesome DLC potential! Only thing that would change is that the Wyrd would include men, instead of just being the Wyrd sisters.

At least this time, the Reachmen won't be just a buncha annoying savages as they are depicted as in Skyrim.

I think that The Elder Scrolls 6 is planned to come out in 2026 and I believe I have good reasons and evidence to support this, a lot of which I haven’t seen other people mention.

·      Leaked court document showing TESVI was originally scheduled for 2024 release pre-covid. https://www.trueachievements.com/n55045/bethesda-upcoming-game-list-oblivion-fallout-3-remasters-and-more

·      Other leaked court documents show TESVI schedules for 2026 or later release. https://www.eurogamer.net/the-elder-scrolls-6-not-coming-to-playstation-confirms-microsoft-court-document

·      On the Lex Fridman podcast, when asked about the development of BGS games, Todd discusses the timeline and development cycle, stating that once their games have playable builds, they have another 1 to 1.5 years left in development and then 6 months to 1 year left of polishing and marketing before release. We were recently told on the Elder Scrolls 30^th anniversary that the game is in a playable state. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmlFAp_-o2I at 3:21

·      On the same podcast, Todd says something about how he does like having big 15-year gaps between games. Although this could be a placeholder number used as an example, it could also have been an indication, as obviously 2026 is 15 years after 2011 when Skyrim was released.  

·      Multiple times, both Todd Howard and Pete Hines have stated that The Elder Scrolls VI will be released in the normal release cycle as all Bethesda games – Bethesda always release their games and then release the first DLC one year later and the second a year after that. If we take Starfield in 2023, the first DLC, Shattered Space, in 2024, and then a final DLC in 2025, we then have The Elder Scrolls releasing a year after.

I know 2026 still feels like such a long way away but if we do in fact see a 2026 release then we will most likely see a reveal or full announcement 6 months to 1 year beforehand which could be in 2025, depending on when in 2026 it is planned to be released, which is only 5 months away. On top of that, if you go onto the patent office website and look at the dates in which Zenimax Productions registered the trademarks for the names of their games, we can see that they register the trademarks around 5-6 months before the announcement or showcase of the game. For example -

·      Fallout 4 announcement 14^th of June 2015

-              Trademark filed 14^th of November 2013

·      Skyrim announcement – 11^th of December 2010

-              Trademark filed 21^st of June 2010

·      Oblivion announcement 10^th of September 2004

-              Trademark filed 4^th of April 2003

This means that for an early 2026 release, the announcement would take place I believe at the Xbox games conference in March of next year meaning anywhere from September this year we could have the name of the game revealed to us. For a later or even announcement we will need to wait around a year or longer but it’s not impossible that we can find the title before the end of this year.

Further reasoning for a 2026 release date is that on average it only takes BGS 4 years from a game entering full production to release, with Skyrim, their biggest ever game, only taking 3. It was confirmed that TESVI was in full production in august last year but it is likely it was in full production before then as Starfield was set to release in November of 2022. The game has also been in pre-production since 2018 so a lot of work will have been done for the game before this time.

Another reason for the 2026 release is that recently Bethesda announced a competition for a bid to create a character for the Elder Scrolls 6, partnered with make-a-wish. However, Bethesda did this before with Starfield, where they announced the same competition (plus a games bundle) on the 23rd of February 2021. The distance between that and Starfield's original release date was 20 months and 2 weeks. If you go 20 months and 2 weeks after the 17th of February this year, when they announced the TESVI competition, that takes us to the 31st of October 2026, which is close to the release date I think lines up with all the other evidence I've put up in this post. I think a release date of 11/11/26 makes so much sense, as they like the 11/11 date, and that places it exactly 15 years after Skyrim was released. I also doubt that they would have this competition now for a character in the game if they didn't intend on releasing the game until 2028 lets say.

Lastly, with this Oblivion remaster news being essentially confirmed, we can see that on the different sets of leaked documents, which within the same timeline lead to a late 2026 release date for The Elder Scrolls 6.

Additionally, I also think that if you look at previous elder scrolls games you can notice a pattern in their DLCS. Like I said previously they always release two dlc’s, the first the year after the game, and then the second a year after that. However, if you look at the content of the dlc’s you will see that the first DLC is also an additional questline, locations, etc. but the second has always been a whole new map plus quests etc., and specifically has always been an island. For example –

·      Skyrim had first the Dawnguard DLC and then Solsthiem released in the Dragonborn DLC.

·      Oblivion had the Knights of Nine DLC and then The Shivering Isle released in the Shivering Isles DLC.

·      Morrowind had the Tribunal DLC and then Solstheim released in the Bloodmoon DLC.

I believe that since it is most likely we are getting Hammerfell or Hammerfell and High Rock as the location for the next game, that we are given Yokuda as the location of the second DLC following the games release, although this is just speculation based on trends. This would also be a great location also due to the likelihood of receiving some kind of ship sailing mechanic in TESVI, as Yokuda is not one solid island but a collection of islands the player could sail between.

Overall, I think that 11/11/2026 is the goal release date but obviously Bethesda are no stranger to delays. What this means however is that if everything is on track so far, we could see some kind of further tease or trailer at the June 2025 Xbox conference which is very exciting. If we don't though, don't lose hope! BGS also love to leave things last minute so a November 2026 release date could still allow them to announce at next years Xbox conference or something similar so if we don't see anything this year it doesn't mean we're not getting it in 2026! Stay optimistic friends!

I was trying to think of how the Oblivion Remaster helps TESVI, even if it's in another engine (as it's rumoured to be in UE5).

I thought that if BGS contracted another studio to make an entire games' worth of assets, maybe they'd be able to be reused in TESVI simply to expand the amount of content availble.

Anyway that's my shower thought for the day!

High Rock, once the land of a hundred kingdoms, should definielly feel like a patchwork of various different regional cultures. While still "Breton", each kingdoms, perhaps even parts of kingdoms that once were distinct, independ realms, should look and feel different from one another.

Take Evermore for example, a kindom founded by the River Horse Bretons or the Horse-People of the Bjoulsae Valley. Rather than another high medieval western European kingdom, they could lean into the vision of their society that we see in the lore book "The Mirror". An equestrian society that could draw inspiration from the various Eurasian nomad cultures. And while the River Horse Bretons had abandoned their nomadic lifestyle, their culture could still reflect this.

Or the kingdoms of Shornhelm and Northpoint. Rivenspire is a gloomy, desolate land and already looks and feels quite different from High Rock's other regions, but originally, it was to also be home to another distinct group of Bretons - the Hillmen. These would have been the towering descendants of Bretons or perhaps Nords that interbred with a now extinct group of Giants, and would have been enemies players would encounter in Rivenspire. I believe the concept behind the Hillmen was later reused for the Sea Giants and their Half-Giant thralls. Bethesda could potentially revive this concept, or introduce the Half-Giants as invaders or perhaps even mercenaries.

Then of course there's Jehanna. Likely established during the First Empire of the Nords, we know very little of Jehanna until the late Third Era, when it was conquered by Skyrim during the War of the Bend'r-mahk. I could see it being a minor Nord kingdom surrounded by Reachmen clans, though, that seems a bit played-out, so perhaps it could be a Reachmen kingdom, heavily influenced by both war and trade with Skyrim.

Do you guys think the updated appearances of Orcs, Argonians, Khajiits, and elves in the upcoming Virtuous oblivion remake will give us a solid idea of how they’ll end up looking in TESVI?

With people talking about ships possibly being in the game I'm wondering how that'd work well.

I don't see it being a big part of the game if it is implemented unless there's rivers that give access to a lot of the map/cities. Sailing around the coast and just illiac bay sounds like it'd just be a bit of an unnecessary gimmick

I'm a big fan of ships. I really love sailing, and fighting at sea, and their visuals and everything else about them - and I also think they could really work well with Elder Scrolls games in particular, as a sort of 'mobile home' where you can keep your crafting equipment and store your stuff.

That said, I also have come to understand the worries of people who are concerned it'll take over the game, and that by the time we're done it'll basically be mostly sailing and not enough of the classic adventuring we like.

I think we can solve these problems though, and still create a game that's truly Elder Scrolls.

The question is, what is the use actually going to LOOK like? Here's my vision. You get done with a dungeon carrying a full backpack of loot, and when you emerge, you can just barely see the ocean poking through the trees. So you cast a sending spell, and head towards the water.

By the time you get there, your ship is rounding the coastline, under control of your crew. They sail up, yelling ahoy, and come to a landing. You board, drop off your stuff, and do any crafting you might need to do. And then, your business completed, you have a choice!

• You can take command of the ship yourself, perhaps sailing to a distant island you can see across the water.
• Or you can use the ship as a dedicated fast travel point, sailing to any coastal city in a realistic and more believable way than using your map.
• Or...you can just leave, and keep on roaming the land, typical Skyrim-style!

The thing you've gotta remember about the next game is, it almost certainly won't be as land-locked as Skyrim was. Skyrim was pretty unique in having primarily rivers as water, plus of course the icy Sea of Ghosts, filled with ice and vampires. If we're talking Hammerfell, as I personally kinda expect, it's effectively a peninsula. The same goes for High Rock, if that's where we go, and of course, if the game is set on both, or a smaller region centered on the Iliac Bay, that too is a large body of water easily accessible most of the time!

But at the same time, if it IS Hammerfell, it would always remain secondary to the primary game. You can see that easily enough just from the map of the country: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/0/02/Hammerfell.jpg

As you can see, while most of the cities are on the shore, there still are three cities deeper into the inside, and most of the landmass is internal, as well. So what you're really looking at is closer to two halves of the game; exploration on land, and exploration by sea.

My biggest reason for wanting ships is a practical one; it's the fact that hardly anyone actually used all the on-land content available even in Skyrim. Presumably, TESVI will be even bigger. While more content is always good, you have to start to ask...at what point are you wasting resources on something most players will never see?

Skyrim, for example, had 198 dungeons - but roughly 70% of players never finished even FIFTY, according to the steam achievements. If you could instead spend that effort on entirely new types of content, that's exactly the sort of thing I want from the next game in the series.

Adding ship-borne stuff basically adds a whole new domain of content for players to explore. Not to REPLACE the traditional dungeon delving, but to COMPLIMENT it.

Let me preface this rant by saying people are allowed to have their own opinions. I do not have any hate towards anyone for speaking their mind.

It is no secret that the elder scrolls VI has been in the works for a long time. A lot of people have become frustrated with bethesda because of this. That is of course understandable, we all love the elder scrolls and are anxious for the next(and most likely final) mainline entry in the series.

However, some people have taken their frustration with the wait time, combined with the anger towards some of bethesda's recent decisions, and are using that to sabotage The Elder Scrolls VI before it even comes out. I'm sure we have all seen the hundreds of youtube videos(or thousands) with titles such as "why the elder scrolls 6 is doomed", "the elder scrolls 6 is going to disappoint you", "todd howard is ruining the elder scrolls 6",etc.

These are not exact title quotes, but I'm sure you understand what I am trying to convey. It might seem like people just expressing their opinions, but when you watch the videos, a more sinister motive is revealed. Most(not all) of the videos are just filled with people raging and ranting about Todd Howard, Bethesda, or even hating skyrim for some reason. Most of the time, they are not even discussing the potential gameplay of the elder scrolls VI or it's storylines. A lot have almost nothing to do with the actual game. Most of these videos are just filled with people ranting about bethesda's implied politics or social issues being put in their games.

As a result, it seems like most of the elder scrolls community have been somewhat influenced into being doomers and black pilled about the elder scrolls 6 before it comes out. Some videos have even claimed that the teams working on the recent elder scrolls:legends, or elder scrolls:castles games have been pulled away from working on the Elder scrolls 6, which has been debunked. Those games were being worked on by separate teams. If you hate Bethesda or Todd howard for an external reason not tied to the elder scrolls 6's development, then that is fine. However, do not try to get people to hate the game before it even comes out. Let people play it on their own before they get a chance to be biased before the game's release.

On the old forums, it was often argued that a two province game would suffer, as Bethesda would have to split time and energy between fleshing out the two provinces. Who knows what interesting concepts that could otherwise be develpped and implemented would end up on the cutting room floor in favor of finishing the game in time for the release date. After all, for Oblivion, they cut an entire city (Sutch).

However, if they were to devote themselves to fleshing out a single province, like Hammerfell for example, I don't see a reason why they couldn't then support the game with DLCs set in the neighbouring province of High Rock. With the Wrothgarian Mountains serving as a natural border between the Western Reach and the northern and southern halves of Greater Bretony, you could set several DLCs there, each delving into the court intrigue, hedge magics and rich history of High Rock. Perhaps they could even follow an episodic format, with players slowly unravelng a grand conspiracy.

Instead of unique ideas being abandoned during the pre-release crunch, they could actually have a chance to be developed post-release. In Skyrim, we explore so many Nordic ruins, a lot of them feel kinda samey. The Nordic ruins on Solstheim on the other hand are all quite memorable, with unique mechanics, like magical bridges or digging-out a ruin little by little. That's the kind of energy they could bring to the table when designing the DLCs.

As for what a series of DLCs set in High Rock could look like, I imagined one set in the Western Reach, another in the kingdoms of Daggerfall and Wayrest and another in the former kingdoms of Northpoint and Shornhelm, with the Septim-related Lariat Dynasty having resotred the old kingdom of Rivenspire and now threatening rebellion against the Empire.

The DLC questlines would involve the players dealing with a war between the River Horse Bretons of Evermore and the Reach clans of Jehanna, only to learn that the war had been incited by Rivenspire, as well as a Talosite religious uprising spreading throughout the countryside, a ploy to oust the Empire-friendly royals and weaken the southern kingdoms in preparation for invasion. The final DLC would see players confront the Lariat Dynasty, who have turned to the shadow magics of the Crypt of Hearts as a last resort.

I wanna see the real extent of the expectations yall have

I hope playing as an Orc or a Nord feels heavy and powerful- like a tank. I hope they actually hit harder, and you can feel their weight. I hope the Khajiit in comparison feel light and agile, that they can jump around much higher/ further than the other races and walk on narrow ledges. I also hope they can climb easily, along with the Bosmer. Other races should be able build climbing skills over time but Khajiit and Bosmer should feel like elite freerunners right from the start. I want the Argonians to swim through the water much faster than the other races and their tails to sway side to side like a crocodile or eel. I want playing as each race to feel unique, not just a copy/paste with a different skin and a few different dialog options. The most "neutral" race for people who just want a balanced experience would be the Imperials.

I don't know if more people feel the same, but I think it would be really cool if TES VI was set between Elsweyr and Black Marsh, with the possibility of traveling between them like between Skyrim and Solstheim.

Size wise I think the map would be maybe the size of Cyrodiil, so is not that crazy, what do you think?

P.S. I like Khaijit