The Next Tes is the End of the Human Main Culture, how many TES Games

[jackalx137]

I wasn't saying the did time up only that that's one of the things I believed might of happened to them, being pulled to another realm was also another idea I had and few others.

 

but I see that besides what happen to the dwemer we are all kind of saying the same things about elder scrolls, that its looking visually better but not evolving much in game play. not talking about how much consumed time it takes but how much you really made a different in the world or not. I think that's really important for an rpg and its kind of been lacking.

these big game changing mods I think are really more important then better textures, meshes, enb's and so on.

[Lachdonin]

I am rather hesitant to put this here... Since this thread is more about the story direction and less about gameplay, but in many ways we've turned this into something of a hybrid thread, so i will take the plunge...

This list is taken from the Bethesday forum, and is not solely my work. SkyrimSniper was the one who started the idea, and a great many of my own thoughts on it have been inspired by his own insight into the matter. I highly recommend that anyone interested head over there and actually check out the thread (Beyond Skyrim #28).

Warning, this is long, and there is no way to have a TL/DR summary at the end.

1. Character skills, attributes, races etc.

1.1 Attributes;

I hated the old system. It was arbitrary, detached and actually broke immersion. I don't wake up one morning and think "hmm. well, i'm a more advanced, well rounded person today, i think i'm going to log 3 points into strength and go punch stupid people". Attributes increase naturally through use, the same as any skill. Strength intensive work (fighting, chopping lumber, farming) increases strength, intellectual work (reading, researching, casting magic) increases Intelligence. Almost every action in Skyrim, Oblivion or any other RPG can be linked to one of 6 stats.

Strength

Endurance

Intelligence

Willpower

Agility

Charisma

All of these attributes should increase naturally through use, and shouldn't be linked in any way to leveling. I am personally of the mind that they should be hidden modifiers, but really, i can go either way on the topic.

Where does that leave Luck? Well, luck is something you can't train. It is pure, random, dumb chance. But in the Elder Scrolls, it is also a tangible, divine force. It should be there, but it's ability to be increased should be tied to puzzles, quests and other tidbits scattered around the world.

1.2 Skills;

In terms of skills, i agree with SkyrimSniper that 9 would be an optimal for each 'paradigm' but i disagree in the skills themselves.

Magic (actually the same as SkyrimSniper's)

Alteration – Governs the level of alteration spells you can cast, as well their duration and how powerful they are.

Conjuration – Governs the level of conjuration spells you can cast, as well their duration and how powerful they are.

Destruction – Governs the level of destruction spells you can cast, as well their duration and how powerful they are.

Enchanting – Governs how powerful you can enchant items.

Illusion – Governs the level of illusion spells you can cast, as well their duration and how powerful they are.

Mysticism – Governs the level of mysticism spells you can cast, as well their duration and how powerful they are.

Restoration – Governs the level of restoration spells you can cast, as well their duration and how powerful they are.

Staffs – Governs how good you are with staffs, rods and wands.

Unarmoured – Governs how fast you are while wearing light armour and how much damage you take when wearing it.

Stealth

Alchemy – Governs the potency of your potions, the amount of ingredients you can collect and the effects of certain ingredients.

Archery – Governs your accuracy and power with longbows, shortbows, thrown weapons and crossbows.

Athletics – Governs how long you can sprint for, your speed on land and water, how good you are at dodging and parrying, and how high you can jump.

Light armour – Governs how fast you are while wearing light armour and how much damage you take when wearing it.

Lockpicking – Governs how easy it is to pick locks.

Pickpocket – Governs how easy it is to steal an item from an NPC.

Assassination - Governs how deadly you are while undetected

Sneak – Governs how good you are at sneaking.

Speech – Governs how good you are at persuading NPCs and getting discounts at stores.

Combat

1-Handed Weapon - Governs how good you are at using all single handed weapons

2-Handed Weapon - Governs how good you are at using all dual handed weapons

Bandaging – Governs how good you are at healing yourself with bandages and how good you are at removing arrows.

Block – Governs how good you are with shields and blocking.

Hand-to-hand – Governs how powerful your punches are.

Heavy armour – Governs how fast you are while wearing heavy armour and how much damage you take when wearing it.

Smithing – Governs what armour and weapons you can make and how strong it is.

Survival - Governs how well you resist the elements, recover from poisons and can survive away from civilization

You'll notice that i've removed the differing combat skills for Axes, Swords and 'Blunt' weapons. There is a reason behind this. While using a 2-handed weapon is significantly different than using a 1-handed, using an Axe instead of a Sword is not such a big jump. All 3 basic weapon classes (blades, axes and blunt) can be utilized in the same basic way and be effective. I will get to differentiating between them soon though.

Another thing i did was include 'Assassination' in the Stealth tree. This is largely because you don't become deadlier simply by being sneaky. Sneak Attacks do more damage because you can better hit vital areas, but even that is a learned art, something totally separate from sneaking its self.

Then there is Survival... This one was kind of iffy, but i needed something to fill the 9th combat slot. Not married to it in any way.

As far as progression goes, i think Skyrim has the right idea. Your skills should progress as you use them. When you hit something with your sword, your 1-handed skill should progress to its next level. The higher the level, the more practice needed. However, they should also progress based on your opponents. This may be rather complicated to figure out, but it shouldn't be overly difficult to add modifiers based on the 'skill' of your opponent to the increases per hit. That way, you would have a more invigorating 'lesson' dueling off with an experience Bandit Lord than you would flailing around at Wolves.

I also approve of the system in Skyrim in which EVERY skill contributes to your level progression. However, i feel that they didn't push the specialization enough to make it worth wile. At low levels it shouldn't matter much, but around level 10 it should be come a rather serious grind to level while keeping your skills all the same. Focus into a few skills should allow for the quickest and most natural leveling progression.

Which brings me to races and backgrounds.

1.3 Races;

I don't think the overly generic races of Skyrim were the right way to go. The Races of Tamriel are all rather distinctly different, and should FEEL different. Bringing back racial modifiers would be the best decision, but i'd even take it a step further. If, for instance, an Orc has +5 Smithing skill, make that number carry over to the maximum. So, at max level, the Orc's Smithing skill is 105, and gainst all the benefits of that scaling. Similarly, a Dunmer with +5 Destruction who invests himself in that school of magic should be more proficient than an Imperial with the same investment at the end of the day. This would go along way to creating not only focus in the races, but also in making each race feel different, no matter what leg of the game they are in. However, ones race does not strictly dictate what an individual is capable of, and the effects should be relatively minor... say no more than +5 to 3 skills.

1.4 Backgrounds;

Backgrounds are what i think should replace all this 'Class' nonsense. They show that you had a past, but don't restrict you along arbitrary lines. Each background should affect no more than 5 skills and 2 statistics. They represent your life before becoming the bearer of prophesy. From Knights, more proficient in swordsmanship and heavy armour, to farmers, Adept at speech (trading at market) and bandaging (farm life is hard work) nothing should be ruled out. Not everyone would be an adventurer before becoming a savior, so we shouldn't instantly fall back on old RPG tropes, but neither should we begin with an entirely blank slate. Backgrounds should have some more impact than your race, but not so much as to make you overpowered from the start... Say +10 to 5 skills. Customized backgrounds accepted, of course.

The minor changes to skills, in this way, would allow you to shape your character from the onset. Combined with the aforementioned level scaling, this would allow you to pick more proficient skills at the start, focusing into particular avenues of progression while at the same time maintaining the range of choice which Skyrim, rightly, fostered. With the above limitations, that would set you to a max of +15 for 3 skills, and +10 for a remaining 2 skills, with the others starting off at base. Assuming you really want to focus.

1.5 Perks;

perks are, in a word, fantastic. The system never realized it's potential in Skyrim, but it opens so many doors that it boggles the mind. It allows for a degree depiction of the gradual and conscious comprehension of skills and techniques, while offering a huge range of repayable options. So long as it is balanced properly.

Begone with the whole 'Constellation' nonsense. Bring in a spiders web of possibility, representative of the weave of cause and effect of the Elder Scrolls themselves. Each choice opens new choices, new specializations, new ways to develop a unique fighting style for your character. Rather than one tree for each skill, one tree for each paradigm, starting with 9 options.

This is where the differing weapon types return, and with gusto. Remember i said that a Mace and a Sword are not particularly different? Well that is very true, to the unspecialised brawler. Moving down the 1-handed Branch of the Combat weave opens up opportunity to focus on particular types of weapons, be they Axe or Maces. Each then allows you to focus more on techniques, such as crippling limbs with heavy mace strikes, or stripping away your opponents shield with your axe (it's an actual fighting technique). In the Stealth tree, you can focus on alchemy, then branching off to become a consummate poison maker or an expert herbalist. The options are nearly limitless and open for constant expansion.

Some special 'perks' can even be made as rewards for quests, assuming the character has the comprehension to understand them. The problem, of course, lies in balance. Among the biggest problems with Skyrim's perks were that the vast majority of them were either irrelevant or nearly useless. There should certainly be more perks than there are possible levels, but each perk should serve a purpose.

1.6 Birthsigns;

a lot of people didn't like how, in Skyrim, you got to pick and choose your sign as you went. Switching back and forth as you saw fit. Honestly? I agree with the complaint. However, i also think that the old system of Birthsigns was out dated and it certainly wouldn't fit in with the newer leveling system i've proposed above (too much modification too early). Thinking off the top of my head... The Signs are alreay attached to months (with the exception of the Serpent). What if, during their ascendant month, a character born under a certain sign gained bonuses to health, stamina and magicka regeneration? It's subtle, but still has impact for all characters regardless of which paradigm you decide to build on. For those born under the serpent, they could gain similar bonuses, but only at night, encouraging a more nocturnal play style.

2 Equipment

2.1 Durability;

I like the idea of durability, but at the same time, things in Oblivion and Morrowind degraded way, WAY too fast. After a good battle a sword should require sharpening, at most, not a full on reforging. Armour is the same thing. Unless you get smashed in the chest by a heavy mace, most blows against heavy armour cause superficial damage. Because of this, i think ONLY power attacks should do any durability damage. Otherwise, it's all made to withstand the general wear and tear of combat.

2.2 Stat-impact;

This is a common misconception, and one which i dont expect to die soon, but armour doesn't impact your mobility as much as people think. A well made, fitted suit of armour should not restrict your range of movement or your speed by a large degree. There are stories of French Chevaliers doing backflips (BACKFLIPS!) in full plate. Most cases where armour seriously affects movement are more environmental (IE bogs) than due to the armour its self. Even heavy armour should have minimal impact on agility and mobility, though it should have some impact on stamina (they aren't as heavy as people think, but they are still heavy).

At the same time, i'd like to see a distinction between fitted and un-fitted armour. Anything you make yourself would be fitted, and Smiths could fit your armour for you, but random junk you find off Bandits, or buy from general merchants, would be of a more One-size-fits-all model. Unless fitted, Armour IS as cumbersome, awkward and heavy as portrayed in most RPG's.

2.3 Weapons

All weapons consist of 4 parts. Each part has different possible modifications, where each modification changes something about the weapon. As an example, Swords.

Grip

Standard

Reinforced - Weapon takes less durability loss when power attacking

Double - If not using a shield, weapon is weilded with 2 hands for increased damage (putting it between a 1 handed weapon of that type, and a 2handed)

Chained - Cannot be disarmed, but attack recovery is slower because weapon is awkward

Guard

Standard

Heavy - Decreases damage received from parrying

Fencers - More forgiving timing when parrying

Winged - When parrying, enemy suffers from slower attack recovery

Blade

Standard

Curved - Weapon does more damage when slashing and chopping, less when thrusting

Weighted - Weapon does more damage, but is slower

Jagged - Weapon causes bleed damage over time, but has slower attack recovery

Embellishment

Standard

Mounted Soul Gems - Weapon's enchantment capacity is increased (based on what kind of gems)

Gilded - Weapon is worth more gold (depending on quality of gilding -silver or gold- and gems)

Silver Laced - Weapon does more damage against unnatural creatures

When a weapon is randomly generated, it picks from these options at random, assembles them and places the item. If we have 9 weapon types (Daggers; 1 handed Swords, Axes and Maces; 2 handed Swords, Axes and Maces; Bows; Spears) and the same material qualities (Iron, Steel, Orichalum, Elven, Dwemer, Glass, Ebony and Daedric) that would give us almost 16,500 different types of weapons. Not including enchantments. Considerably more if the metal qualities weren't just colours/textures.

We KNOW this type of system works and can be done, because it's used in Borderlands, with considerably more possible combinations than the above (last count i saw was over 200,000 possible combinations).

2.4 Armour

I for one would like to see a return of some more customizable armour. Nothing like Morrowind and Daggerfall, but something more than just Helmet, Armour, Gloves and Boots. My happy medium would be...

Helmet

Armour

Pauldrons (pair)

Gloves/Gauntlets (pair)

Greaves

Boots (pair)

Cloak

Then, of course, your shield, which could be modified in a similar way as above...

Anywho, when you MAKE your own gear, you can choose from the modifications and materials you are familiar with. I'm uncertain about each modification requiring a perk, or if there should be some way to learn them otherwise, but knowledge in working with a specific material should definitely be a perk, as it is in Skyrim.

2.5 Crafting and Daedric Gear

Crafting should be something far more involved and resource intensive than slapping some bars together with Leather. Armour is far more complicated than all that. Nothing so complicated as making rivets and plates, but something more than just slapping out a full suit of Plate armour from 12 barrs and a handfull of leather.

And Daedric... Daedric items are half smithing, half enchanting, and all hard work. At minimum, they should require a soul-trapped Daedra, Ebony, Daedra Blood and both the nessessary enchanting and Smithing skills to work with the above.

3 Economy

3.1 Living Economy

Fluctuating and adaptive economy which reacts to dead shop-keeps, farmers etc (we know the Creation Engine can handle this already, it's just been locked out for Skyrim)

3.2 Lower inflation

More realistic costs and funding. Handing over 12,000 gold coins is absurd for just about anything save an estate. Costs should be lower, but at the same time so should rewards.

3.3 Trade Good and goods-value

Throughout most of history, transactions haven't taken place with money, but rather goods. With the clear push back towards property ownership (In Morrowind you had entire estates and towns, in Oblivion your house was just a place to stash gear, in Skyrim you own and develop land, livestock and crops) the idea of trade goods should come back. Put a value on cattle, sheep and chickens, along with bushels of wheat ect and allow players to accumulate wealth in property rather than just straight coin.

4 Speech

4.1 Voice Acting

More care needs to be taken in the voice acting. Skyrim was an improvement over Oblivion, but that improvement needs to continue.

4.2 Random musings

Bring back some of the 'lore' options from Morrowind's conversation. These don't even have to be voiced, as we've seen from using texts, emails, notes etc. in other games that players are still willing to read through some text for information and insight into the world.

4.3 Bartering

Bartering should still be an option, similar to how it was in Morrowind, but linked to the speech skill.

4.4 Options

The conversation options in Skyrim were, admittedly, abysmal. Worse, the Speech skill had no impact on them. It was great in Fallout and New Vegas, because a higher skill gave you more options. TES needs that kind of speech system.

5 Crime

5.1 Variable Sentences;

The idea of paying 1000 gold for a murder is absurd. It should be jail, no questions asked. However, the severity of the crime should influence both the cost of the fine (if there is one) and the length of the sentence. Murder should be at least a year in Jain (encouraging you not to get caught) whereas petty theft should be a few days at most.

5.2 Bribing officials

For those who do get caught, serving time shouldn't be the only option. Being able to sneak into cities at night and either threatening or bribing the town magistrate of judge should give another option on how to get away with murder, as it were.

5.3 Serving Time;

There are some rather hard-core RP-ers out there who want everything to happen in real time. Which is fine. They should have that option. Simply make an option when you sleep which allows you to wake up the next morning in the same cell, or skip ahead to the end of your sentence.

6 Containers

6.1 Variety

First, bring back the Crates. Why Bethesda would create a crate model and texture, but not let you put things in it, is totally beyond me.

6.2 Weight

Bring back the limited capacity of storage from Morrowind. A barrel should not be able to hold 20 different suits of armour and 1000 cabbages all at once.

6.3 Contents

Particularly, coins. You should never be finding 200 gold coins in a barrel. If people drop coins in that volume, they'd notice. At most, have 2-3 coins, but even that should be rare.

7 Guards

7.1 Omniscient Guards

Guards should not know everything, everywhere. Make it so, if there are witnesses to a crime, the word spreads. Guards in teh same city should know almost immediately, but those in a town on the far side of the region/Hold/Dukedom shouldn't know for several days. Your crimes should also spread beyond the borders of the particular region/Hold/Dukedom given time.

7.2 Random Crime

Pickpockets, muggers, rapists and the like should be present in the world, and a target for the Guards. Having Guards responding to crimes (maybe ones you've reported) would add new options to stealth missions and such.

8 Followers

8.1 Limit;

A single follower limit is way too low. At the same time, removing it altogether is absurd (can you imagine the 20+ followers in Skyrim trying to cram into a dungeon?). A limit to 3-4 would be optimal, in my mind.

8.2 Essential

I don't think Essential NPC's should be a thing. However, i do think that Protected should remain. It allows for a degree of danger in combat, but prevents NPC's from simply falling off balconies while you're not around. In terms of Followers, you should be able to revive a 'bleeding out' ally with a quick Healing spell and get them back in the fight.

8.3 Personalities

Followers in particular need personalities. More developed personalities, at least, since Skyrim does a far better job of giving people character than Morrowind did (to the majority of NPC's, anyway). Most importantly, Followers shouldn't just agree with everything you do. Sometimes they should need convincing, others they should outright reject your crooked morals.

9 The Player

9.1 Customization;

Based on what i have seen of Character Customization in TES:O i think it would be a rather pleasent thing to have in the main series. It seems to combine the customization of Oblivion with the interesting (IE not putty faced) characters of Skyrim. They need to keep the look of the Mer, though. There are plenty of sketches out there which show you can create rather fetching individuals with the facial characteristics of Skyrim's Mer, so the problem stems more from the fact that everyone in Skyrim is haggard and filthy.

9.2 Journal;

Frankly, i think they should make the decision to either have a Journal, or a Questlog. In Skyrim, you had one but it was called the other. If you're going to call something a journal, at least make it seem slightly like the comments are in character, and don't put it in bulleted form for gods sake

9.3 The body;

Being able to look down and see your barrel chest or bouncing bosum (as some people seem to think befits a heroine...) is the norm these days. Time to toss out the phantom body and let us see our toes.

9.4 Carrying capacity;

Being able to carry over 1000lbs of junk is absurd. However, we shouldn't also be penalised and have to nessessarily pick and choose our sellables after raiding a Bandit Lair. Easy solution... Give me my wagon back. I've missed the rickety, noisy cart laden with my ill-gotten gains.

10 Combat

10.1 Normal;

With normal combat, things are pretty much the same as in Skyrim and Oblivion. Click the attack button, your character goes through a standard sequence of slashes and chops. Don't attack for long enough, or interrupt your attacks with a block, and the sequence resets. Bring back Morrowind's different types of attacks (Chop, Slash and Thrust) to allow for differentiation between weapons, with the Sword being the most versatile, the Mace being the least.

As you unlock special moves with the Perk system, have them function the same. Left-Attack does one thing. Backpeddle-Attack does another. As i touched on earlier, each type of weapon should have it's own tree for special moves so there is minimal repetition and more variety in playstyles. For instance, Backpeddle-Attack for an Axe can be a shield grab, where you use the hook of the Axe to pull your enemies shield away.

10.2 Analogue;

When you hold the attack button, you ready your attack. Then, however you move your mouse/joystick determines the attack. Left and right slashes left or right. Down, whether straight or angled, causes a chop (there could even be angled chops, which would mesh well with locational damage). Up is a thrust. By holding the attack button, you can ready yourself, and having control over the specific attack allows you to time and adapt your fighting strategies more naturally. Once you get used to it, anyway.

In terms of slashing, left then right quickly (or right then left if wielding a weapon in your left hand) causes a backhand slash. This, in turn, triggers special attacks like the shield-trap i mentioned above.

In terms of dual weilding, holding the attack buttons and moving in a direction triggers a double stroke, but if you alternate between buttons you can chain together several attacks rapidly.

Haven't figured out how power attacks would work though... Maybe pressing sprint as you attack?

10.3 Blocking;

You should only be able to block with a Shield. You simply don't block with a weapon, you try to diflect the attack or get out of the way otherwise. That sould be a totally different dynamic from blocking.

10.4 Clashing and parries;

Which brings us to weapon clashes. A timed attack against an opponent, which strikes at the same time as their attack, should parry, causing a stagger. The higher the skill, the less the stagger. This would allow skilled fighters to parry, recover, and counter before their opponent can recover. There should also be a recovery bonus for dual weilding, as you have a second weapon to attack with. This is something else what would mesh well with the analogue combat system. However, parrying is not nearly as reliable as blocking (or dodging) and you should always take minor damage for it.

10.5 Stealth;

Stealth... Stealth i think belongs here because it tends to be as much a part of combat as not. I remember fondly the days of Thief (the original) when i could creep around a manor house, snuffing out torches and lurking in the shadows, sprinting soft-foot around corners and evading guards. Once you get caught, though, that's it. They will hound you until you make your escape. The same should be in TES. The instant you get caught, once, everyone should be on guard (or at least everyone in earshot). Even if they lose track of you, they should be far more likely to detect you in the future, forcing you to be more cautious.

And if you shoot someone, the person next to him shouldn't just return to their idle status. Even if they lose track of you, make them run to the nearest 'ally' forcing a heightened alterness for all they encounter as well.

As technology progresses, so does the ability to make NPC percpetions more beleivable, but TES games (including Fallout) have been stuck since Oblivion. With 100 sneak, i can be standing in broad daylight, so long as i'm 20 feet away no one can see me. NPC's should have a visual arch, and if you are caught in that, without the benefit of darkness, they should see you instantly. This would also add some interesting possibilities for camoflauge, allowing you to 'simulate' the effects of darkness based on the environment you are in.

11 Towns

11.1 Open Towns;

This is something which has been back and forth for awhile... We're really to the point where, once again, this is becomming the norm, and TES should go back to it. With the ability to render larger worlds with more assets at a time, we don't need to sequester all this stuff behind closed cells anymore. Whats more, having an open city gives you some interesting options, such as scaling the walls in the dead of night, or heroically shooting an arrow from the walls and slaying the leader of the encroaching bandits.

11.2 Backdrop;

I'm all for everyone having a personality, but that only really works in smaller worlds. Most citizens in a city would pay you next to no mind, maybe offering a hello as they went about their busness. Shoppers and beggars, travelers and labourers, we need them all. Give cities some life with mindless, characterless filler.

12 Magic

12.1 Vocal Spells;

Vocal spells can be activated by hotkey at any time, and represent spell-words and dweomers which don't require complex runes and generally only affect the Player. Nighteye, Waterbreathing, Levitate and such.

12.2 Gesture Spells;

Gesture spells, on the other hand, are ones which require either the direct collection of magical energies, rune-scrawling or physical maintenance. Attack spells, Wards and rune-traps are examples of these. They should still have to be bound to a hand to use.

Either way, we need more range of spells, and spell crafting.

13 NPC's

13.1Essential NPC's;

Again, no essential NPC's. The Protected system in Skyrim (once it was fixed) works great to keep NPC's from randomly dieing to the world without your involvement.

13.2 Ambiance;

As with cities, the world is alive. We should see more wagons on the trails, more people out working the fields and more hunters in the woods. And Children! More hand a dozen children should be found throughout the world! The hells with knowing where everyone sleeps, let them despawn when out of sight for long enough.

14 Dungeons

14.1 Darker dungeons;

Even a natural cave with no light beyond that seeping through the entrance is fully lit and easy to navigate in Skyrim. Pish posh. Bring back the days where you needed to carry a torch and risk being discovered, or constantly maintian Night Eye in order to be sneaky.

14.2 Less awesome loot;

There should be, at most, one scaled item in each Dungeon, as the final reward. Most of its contents should be the same generic crap you offload to the Merchants in town.

14.3 Puzzles;

Some of the puzzles in Skyrim were, admitedly, a vast improvement over Oblivions... well... Lack there of (wasn't there like... one... in the Ayelid ruin under the Imperial City?). But they still aren't remotely challenging. Add some interesting puzzles, we've seen them done in Mods, we know it's possible.

15 Quests

15.1 Quest Items;

I don't think we should be totally without quest items. But at the same time, i don't think we should have to lug them around endlessly. Just giving us a prompt saying "This seems like it may be important, do i really want to drop it" would suffice.

15.2 Quest Markers;

Quest Markers, i think, have to stay. After a fassion. They should not be as absurdly obvious as they are in Skyrim, but neither should things be as painfully vague as they were in Daggerfall and Morrowind. When you are told to go somewhere, you should have a marker on your map that tells you where to go. But it shoulnd't lead you straight to the item you want. And there should definately be an off button.

15.3 Quest Endings;

I like the idea of multiple endings, but you can't go overboard. The big stories should have set endings, the Guilds and the main story, for instance. This is because these are the things most likely to carry over in the story. No more of this Civil War nonsense, where the only possible answers are picking a canon and totally invalidating half or more of the players experiences, a Dragonbreak or ambiguity. I do like the idea of multiple endings, but make them for side missions, Daedric quests, odd jobs and so forth, not the story-driving questlines.

16 Traveling

16.1 Fast Travel;

I totally disagree with removing Fast Travel. It's always been part of the Elder Scrolls, and for a very good reason. Having to run back and forth, all the time, becomes laborious. They tried just the transit lines in Morrowind, and it got incredibly frustrating, especially having to constantly walk back and forth from your estate. There is only so many times you can see the same hill before you use the CK to put in a Silt Strider. No one forces you to use Fast Travel, but at the same time, if it's removed, then everyone is forced to suffer from the agonizing and repetitive walks.

16.2Real Time carriage rides;

I like this, but like most things, it should be skipable. if you don't want to sit there and watch the landscape slowly roll by, you should have the option of 'taking a nap'. Likewise, if you see something interesting you, should be able to stop the carriage.

17 Misc.

17.1 Vampires;

Vampires are a tricky thing in TES. They are not your typical Dracula trope, but something different, with distinct variation based on province. It is a divine disease, similar to Lycanthropy and the Corprus and i don't think should follow 'normal' rules. Overall, i think that Dawnguard had the right idea, with well fed vampires being little different, and your abilities manifesting more and more as you went without. It's very Molag Bal that, in order to gain power from vamparism, you have to submit to HIS preference, not yours.

17.2 Timescale;

The Timescale exists because the world is scaled down. You aren't hiking across hundreds of kilometers of Tundra and forest to get from Whiterun to Solitude, a journey which should take a week, even if you follow the road. A 1:1 scale breaks any sembilance of the enomity of the area you are actually covering.

17.3 Lighting;

You can see at night. In fact, it's something you can adjust to rather easily. However, i agree, Skyrim allows for too much night vision, even without the spell. Still, you shouldn't be totally blind without a torch, most underground caves and tombs are far darker than the over-world at night, so if you couldn't see anything above ground, how are you supposed to sneak around in a crypt?

Edited October 31, 2013 by Lachdonin

[jackalx137]

I 2nd most of that posted by lachdonin. not all things :x like in gear durability, that was a real pain in the ***.. however it would be more realistic.. as long as it doesn't get trashed as fast.

as for the economy, that I think needed some more work done in skyrim.. I know not everyone cares about such things but I think like farms towns should sell crops and such for a set price, places far from farms should sell them for more as they don't grow the corps there selves meaning they would need some profit. same thing with fishing places, smithing, hunting, magic. this way you play the market game. not for everyone I know, however it will just make things more realistic. making some people that pay mind and plan things out turning out to making a lot of money and others almost never having much money.

as for the fast travel.. im one of those people whom don't like it. the problem is I don't want to use it, but sometimes will just because its there. I really liked morrowinds ways where I had to take a bug, boat or port. it just felt right, rather then clicking on a gps map and just being there... lets not talk about the map x_x

I say this all the time about the quests, that I don't feel like I effected the world, and my game play is really no different then the next person. maybe I expect to much from games these days after playing kotor 1 & 2 for so long but I really wish elder scrolls would take the same path in giving us real choices that matter to the world. which will lead my game to looking far different then someone whos made different choices, kind of like fables, mass effects and so on (though I never played those games my brother tells me these games will help others understand my point.)

I think elder scroll should stay freerome and open world, it dose make a big different when you can run into a town or out of, rather then needing to go to a gate.. mostly if youre a trouble maker like me and need to make a quick exit or surprise enteres. also the people.. has the plague just went by or something? every town is always so empty, do whatever it takes to fill these up. not everyone needs to be somebody. like said before in a real town or city not many if anyone cares about you and will even talk to you, I live in nyc I know this because I am one of those people.

I wont talk about stats or up ranking, as that really doesn't bug me. however the magic of the game has always bugged me. I always want the magic to be atlest believable, what I mean is if I was to cast a spell it wouldn't be with my hands or a scroll nor a staff, it would be with my words among the settings.. im not asking to set up for a spell before hand like would be needed in the real world. but how about this, next game there will not be dragon shouts, as dragon may be all gone and you will not be the dragon born any longer right, so can we please cast the normal magic's with our voice like a shout but without screaming. I think that would be most useful to everyone and just feel right.

as for loot I do miss morrowinds ways yet again where I really had to work to get a full set of anything good without cheating which I don't do. I know with blacksmithing we can just make things and not have to like find one of the only 3 gloves of this type in the world, how you can keep both of these things (being able to craft it and making it rare) is by having to find the schematics for it.

I know I point out a lot of things I wish were changed about skyrim or added to the next game however that doesn't mean I hate skyrim, I feel they did a lot of things right. which shows that they pay a lot of mind to us, what mods we all must have and which ones we don't care about. I like getting married, having a house, I like that no matter what class I am the game is trying to give me a good game play for it. and so on, I just think there even more room to grow.

[calfurius]

I agree with a lot that was posted by Lachdonin, but I do have some critcism to both what you said and what Jackax137 has said.

For one, spoken words? I don't really care much about that, to me using magic using only your hands is more cool. Shouting "fireball" everytime you cast a fireball spells is just egregiously narmy. Maybe back then in the old rpg days that would of been fine and dandy, but times have changed and saying words with your magic is pretty cliche now. Also screaming the spell before you cast it, just sounds pretty stupid to me. I mean why the hell would I need to say the word? Why the hell would I WANT to say the word? If i'm speaking in some ancient tongue (not English) and the words are the ones that are conjuring up the ability to do the magic, then I can live with that. But that would be completely against the established lore of the game. I didn't say the words in Oblivion or Skyrim, so why the hell am I saying in TES6 and what language am I saying it in? That wouldn't feel comfortable too me at all.

 

Also I agree that the side quests should have multiple endings, but that the main storyline should stay relatively the same. I say relatively because they can add variations in HOW you complete the main storyline (torturing/interrogating a guy for information, or breaking into a guarded location instead to get the info) just as long as the overall ending is the same. That way they wouldn't shaft people who chose something different from the canon ending when they release the next game nor do they have to do some ass pull like a "Dragon Break" to explain what happened. This would also have it so that people feel that their playthrough is unique. because they can do the main storyline in different ways which could lead to slight variations that don't seriously detract from the ending.

 

I think the differences in the races should be less on minor skill changes and more on their racial passives/power and how the world reacts to different races. Imperials should be great for people who want to play the Party Leader type of character because Imperials could special powers/perks that involve followers (which should be more then one, I'm thinking maybe starting off at 2 and allowing to have a third once you get a perk in Speech). For example Imperials could increase the power of their followers, can hire mercenaries at a lower cost, etc. Their strongest bonus should be in Speechcraft, not restoration like it was in Skyrim. Orcs can keep their berserker rage and they also get a damage bonus in using melee weapons. They can do things like that to all the races so that every race is more then just "this race gets X more skill points" because truth be told, that's not all that interesting and it really doesn't give that much personality or uniqueness to that race.

 

I think you have to many skill tree's that are redundant. For example Survival and Bandaging could just be combined. Having them separate is more padding then actual variety. Same thing with sneak and assassination, and having a separate tree for staves and mysticism. Unarmed should just be combined with one handed, and unarmored shouldn't even be a skill tree. Having 9/9/9 for the sake of having 9/9/9 is just really annoying padding that really doesn't add anything to the game.

 

I think Birthsigns should be like in Reqiuem. Where you could pick the Warrior, Mage, and Thief signs and while you can't choose change from those 3, you can change and switch between the ones that follow your birthsign. For example A person under the sign of the Thief can switch to the Thief, Shadow, Lover, and Tower birthsigns, but he can't choose any of the Warrior or Mage birthsigns nor the birthsigns under them. They can allow you to do this change via standing stones or something like that.

 

 

Other then I agree with what you said, I do think that in order to stop the extra NPCs (ones that don't have unique personalities and dialogue) from just being useless blank faces, they should make it so that these NPCs only exist in large cities (villages and small towns should stay with the unique and varied NPCs) and they should be doing things with their lives. A random merchant bartering at a stall, a servant scrubbing the floors of a castle, children running around and playing, etc. I also think those NPc's should be able to be pick pocketed and react to the actions of the player.

 

That's my two cents :wink:

[MidevalGuy]

The most significant change that may be coming is a true open world with no cells, or loading screens.

 

GTA and countless other games do this already, so it's time TES does, too. The new consoles should have more than enough power (let alone gaming PCs), so the old cell-system should be a thing of the past (the Gamebryo engine is over 11-years old now!). Even games like "The Sims" now have open world game play that span entire towns with upwards of 50+ AI residents, so this element alone should raise immersion 10 fold and bring TES into the 21st century.

 

Now, this might sound odd and like a step backwards, but I would love it if Bethesda went back to how RPGs used to be played and that is similar to Bioware and Obsidian RPGs that use the distribution of numerical points at level up to increase different attributes (along with perks).

 

Bethesda has taken that away in favor of "using a skill raises that skill", but this method is very limiting, ironically. The only real thing that gives you any customization options are the perks... Whereas with the old D&D system, you can specialize as you go. FNV is the most recent example of this kind of RPG, and it's one the reasons it has so much replayablity compared to others. If I want to be a "Diplomat" and pump points into speech and use non-violent means to solve potentially volatile situations, the old system allowed for this kind of character build as long as the writers put those speech options in. We don't have any of this in Skyrim, or any Bethesda games, for that matter. Conversely, if I want to specialize in certain weapon types, or types of combat I can do that, too. I can't do that in Bethesda games. For all the freedom they give you in exploration, they limit player character development by taking away specialization and choice, the very reason to play an RPG in the first place.

 

They should also have attributes similar to the standing stones, but not as superfluous as the star signs in Oblivion, IMO.

 

If I want to play a survivalist character, then I should be able to pick traits/attributes that this kind of character would have e.g. resistance to extreme weather, can live off the land (harvests more ingredients) better, has better hunting instincts (can spot dangerous animals from farther), etc... And then I should be able to develop those starting traits further with numerical skill distribution and perks.

 

This is what the Sims 3 actually does.

 

If I want to create an optimal Sim who specializes in being an underwater treasure hunter, I give him/her traits like "loves being in the water", "athletic", "loves the outdoors", "at home in the tropics". etc. It's simple logic, but the system put in place in The Sims allows me to actually improve and benefit from those core traits as well as unlock hidden ones as well. If I master them all, the game allows me to pick a bonus trait, too. This is where I can actually enhance my build further, or deviate a little bit... Like adding the "Logic" trait that allows my Sim to better figure out a tombs traps easier than a Sim who does not have this trait. This is the basis of role playing and character customization and it strikes me how shallow Bethesda games are in comparision even though I like them and play them to this day.

[Lachdonin]

@ MidevalGuy

 

In terms of the skill progression, this is something we've talked about extensively over on the Bethesda Forums, and wile i like the current direction (being very GURPS like and less the D&D Standard) there are a lot of people who do think as you do. In truth, i cannot actually claim there is anything inherently wrong with the model, but it has become the standard, and i feel that TES games were, and remain, fully justified in pushing another direction. Yes it's a jumbled mess, but that doesn't mean it's unrecoverable. I think the key difference in these styles of RPG revolve around whether or not you want your character to grow as you go, or be already grown when you start.

 

Realistically, there is nothing preventing anyone from mastering everything, given sufficient time and effort. The same should (IMO) apply to any RPG, and that is what the TES model is based around. The fact that your characters are special and learn far quicker than normal Mortals is something else entirely.

 

 

Anywho... One reason i initially considered posting that list here instead of just keeping it to the Bethesda Forum (where it can be seen) is for a broader input, and i am rather glad that i did now, as once again we've got the wheels turning...

 

In terms of skills, you are quite correct Calfurius, some of those skills are rather redundant. Bandaging in particular should be a subset of Survival. Assassination, i maintain, is something totally separate from Sneak though. Some of the greatest thieves in history were horrible fighters, and wouldn't know how to quietly kill an opponent if their life depended on it. The ability to quietly and quickly dispatch enemies is a totally different skill set from sneaking, though they have a tendency to facilitate each other. Pick pocketing, however, is linked very much to sneaking and stealth, and could probably be rolled into Stealth to bring the tree down to 8. Similarly, i think Staffs could be cut out and simply linked to the particular spell-tree that the staff/rod/wand holds. IE high Destruction influences a Fireball Staff.

 

Now, with the Vocal Spells... I feel the intent here was missed. I'm not talking about things like Shouts, but rather spells which make no sense linked to a 'casting hand' like we see in Skyrim. Rather, these are spells which could be activated by hotkey similar to in Oblivion, and represent spells which don't require the same type of directional focus. Night Eye, for instance, is seen being used with barely a whisper in the Novels. Things which affect the player in similar ways, such as Water Breathing and Clairvoyance shouldn't have to be linked to a hand, but neither should we be able to toss out Fireballs while laden down with weapons. That is why i feel the spells need to be divided.

 

In terms of Fast Travel... I also am rather partial to Morrowind's system, but at the same time i am loathe to take the option away from people. It's easy enough to simply not use the fast travel in Skyrim. If it were to revert to a Morrowind state, there would need to be far, far more travel options than just the capitals.

 

There is an ongoing conversation on the Beth Forums about choice and consequence in quests... And the opinion seems to be divided. I am personally of the mind that you should be able to be locked out of quests based on your choices, have to meet minimum requirements and even be able to fail them. Others don't seem to want to have any limits put on them, but at the same time want the world to 'react' to what they do. I personally think that the latter is total rubbish, but it is what it is. Skyrim DOES react to what you've accomplished. People mention it. It's rather dry and robotic, mind you. I'd like to see improvement on this reactivity, but at the same time i'm not entirely sure how to go about it without restricting further choices.

 

Now... Races... birthsigns... etc... This really is a tough one for me. As i've said, i like the fact that Bethesda has moved away from the D&D Model and tried to be different. At the same time, the whole 'blank slate' thing is kinda (ok, it's really) boring. While i'm not entirely sold on the idea of the world reacting to you differently in any extreme way depending on your race, i do feel that each race should PLAY different. Maybe, in light of Calfurius' arguments, 2 powers and a minor skill increase for each Race. Or perks! Your race could open up an entirely unique Perk tree, ensuring that there is potential for each Race to be truly different. Perks solve almost all our problems, provided the system is built on properly...

 

Backgrounds and Birthsigns are both things which i feel should be rather minor in influence, but start you off with some kind of direction. Having not played Requiem, i cannot make any judgement on it's system or offer any insight there-of... but what if the Stones gave you a power, which became stronger during that Sign's Month? I really feel like they should somehow be linked to the month in which the Sign is foremost.

[calfurius]

 

@ MidevalGuy

 

In terms of the skill progression, this is something we've talked about extensively over on the Bethesda Forums, and wile i like the current direction (being very GURPS like and less the D&D Standard) there are a lot of people who do think as you do. In truth, i cannot actually claim there is anything inherently wrong with the model, but it has become the standard, and i feel that TES games were, and remain, fully justified in pushing another direction. Yes it's a jumbled mess, but that doesn't mean it's unrecoverable. I think the key difference in these styles of RPG revolve around whether or not you want your character to grow as you go, or be already grown when you start.

 

Realistically, there is nothing preventing anyone from mastering everything, given sufficient time and effort. The same should (IMO) apply to any RPG, and that is what the TES model is based around. The fact that your characters are special and learn far quicker than normal Mortals is something else entirely.

 

 

Anywho... One reason i initially considered posting that list here instead of just keeping it to the Bethesda Forum (where it can be seen) is for a broader input, and i am rather glad that i did now, as once again we've got the wheels turning...

 

In terms of skills, you are quite correct Calfurius, some of those skills are rather redundant. Bandaging in particular should be a subset of Survival. Assassination, i maintain, is something totally separate from Sneak though. Some of the greatest thieves in history were horrible fighters, and wouldn't know how to quietly kill an opponent if their life depended on it. The ability to quietly and quickly dispatch enemies is a totally different skill set from sneaking, though they have a tendency to facilitate each other. Pick pocketing, however, is linked very much to sneaking and stealth, and could probably be rolled into Stealth to bring the tree down to 8. Similarly, i think Staffs could be cut out and simply linked to the particular spell-tree that the staff/rod/wand holds. IE high Destruction influences a Fireball Staff.

 

Now, with the Vocal Spells... I feel the intent here was missed. I'm not talking about things like Shouts, but rather spells which make no sense linked to a 'casting hand' like we see in Skyrim. Rather, these are spells which could be activated by hotkey similar to in Oblivion, and represent spells which don't require the same type of directional focus. Night Eye, for instance, is seen being used with barely a whisper in the Novels. Things which affect the player in similar ways, such as Water Breathing and Clairvoyance shouldn't have to be linked to a hand, but neither should we be able to toss out Fireballs while laden down with weapons. That is why i feel the spells need to be divided.

 

In terms of Fast Travel... I also am rather partial to Morrowind's system, but at the same time i am loathe to take the option away from people. It's easy enough to simply not use the fast travel in Skyrim. If it were to revert to a Morrowind state, there would need to be far, far more travel options than just the capitals.

 

There is an ongoing conversation on the Beth Forums about choice and consequence in quests... And the opinion seems to be divided. I am personally of the mind that you should be able to be locked out of quests based on your choices, have to meet minimum requirements and even be able to fail them. Others don't seem to want to have any limits put on them, but at the same time want the world to 'react' to what they do. I personally think that the latter is total rubbish, but it is what it is. Skyrim DOES react to what you've accomplished. People mention it. It's rather dry and robotic, mind you. I'd like to see improvement on this reactivity, but at the same time i'm not entirely sure how to go about it without restricting further choices.

 

Now... Races... birthsigns... etc... This really is a tough one for me. As i've said, i like the fact that Bethesda has moved away from the D&D Model and tried to be different. At the same time, the whole 'blank slate' thing is kinda (ok, it's really) boring. While i'm not entirely sold on the idea of the world reacting to you differently in any extreme way depending on your race, i do feel that each race should PLAY different. Maybe, in light of Calfurius' arguments, 2 powers and a minor skill increase for each Race. Or perks! Your race could open up an entirely unique Perk tree, ensuring that there is potential for each Race to be truly different. Perks solve almost all our problems, provided the system is built on properly...

 

Backgrounds and Birthsigns are both things which i feel should be rather minor in influence, but start you off with some kind of direction. Having not played Requiem, i cannot make any judgement on it's system or offer any insight there-of... but what if the Stones gave you a power, which became stronger during that Sign's Month? I really feel like they should somehow be linked to the month in which the Sign is foremost.

 

The Perk tree's don't need to be boring and linear. For example the sneak tree could have the left side of the perks devoted to sneaky, non-violent thieves and the right side to deadly assassins. Having a skill tree for Assassination would not only be hard to level up, but you couldn't put in enough unique perks in the tree without making it feel repetitive and stale.

 

Also I don't think the game should RADICALLY change because of your race, I think their should be just slight variations. For example an High Elf buying goods from a racist Nord would get charged slightly higher prices. Walking past a bunch of Thalmor as a high elf and they will be more respectful to you. Getting a bonus in intimidation when you're an Orc, etc. Stuff like that reminds you that you're playing a unique race. Skyrim added stuff like this in the game, I just want it expanded. The races of Tamriel are known for their intolerance of each other. It was only thanks to the Imperial Empire that they've been (barely) stopping themselves from going to war with each other. (Until the Oblivion Crisis started the decline of the Empire and the races went back to trying to kill each other, Thalmor and Argonians being the biggest examples.)

 

 

Also dividing the spells just because it doesn't seem as if you need to do so (for example night eyes), is just a petty thing tbh. Betheseda would have to go through the trouble of making an entirely new magic slot, making it that's it has smooth gameplay with the rest of the hand magic, just so people don't have to wave their hand for a second in order to use a few spells from different schools that they will barely use..? To me that sounds like a waste of time. I seriously don't care that i have to click on my left/right hand to cast Night Eye or Clairvoyance, hell i've played Skyrim for 2000+ hours and I never even noticed that until you mentioned it lol.

 

 

Signs that become stronger during a sign's month would be bad idea because...time works pretty slowly in TES. Somebody can beat the main storyline, and do half or even all the faction quests in around a month in a half of game time. Hell a player would literally run out of things to do (unless they had a lot of quest mods) in around 3 months of game time. That type of bonus would be worthless because a normal player would rarely see it.

 

I for one say keep fast travel for those who like it, but add optional carts and boats, etc, for those who prefer not to use it. If the very option of fast travel is to powerful for you too resist, then deep inside you want it there. I rarely fast travel, and the times I do fast I do it because I want too, not because "it's there".

[Lachdonin]

I do see your point on the Assassination thing. And i do in fact agree, having it as a branching line down the Stealth Perk-tree would solve both problems. The problem then would be what to replace the slot with. I think it's important that all 3 trees have the same number of skills associated with it, but i can't think of anything to fill in the 8th Stealth Skill.

 

I also do agree that your race should have SOME impact. More remarks about your heritage, the occasional (it shouldn't be everyone) racist merchant or starting modifications to dispositions etc. However, there has been talk elsewhere about having some NPC's which flat our refuse to talk to particular races, which i don't approve of at all.

 

For Birthsigns... I've always felt they were a pretty minor influence from the get-go. Having a minor power that gets empowered, which some players may not ever get to use the Empowered version, doesn't bother me much conceptually.

 

I can also see your stance on the spells, and admittedly it is something of a personal taste. I didn't really have anything AGAINST the way Skyrim did it, i just felt that, in universe, some of it didn't make sense.

 

I'm kinda surprised that these are what people are noticing though, the whole analogue combat system and the randomized weapons are by far the most radical things i have in that list, and it doesn't seem anyone has even taken note of them.

[MidevalGuy]

In my opinion, Bethesda's approach to perks is the exact opposite of what they should be used for when leveling up.

 

All the Skyrim perks currently refine a single skill/trait and raise it to the level of what the developers feel it's maximum potential should be. That's not choice. That's predetermination.

 

For example, the Archery skill tree. It's focused on making players a better archer, obviously, but that's all the perks do. They don't allow players to DIVERSIFY what KIND of Archer/Ranger they want to be. This applies to almost all the other skill trees, too. The worst of them is the two-handed tree that mashes up different weapons and even combat styles. I know there were complaints of too many in Oblivion, but they could have diversified a bit more with Skyrim at the same time, IMO. That desirable middle-ground is there, but they were either rushed, or thought the majority of casual gamers wouldn't understand/use a slightly more diverse model, perhaps?

 

A perk should be something that not only benefits my character, but that makes my character DIFFERENT from other characters... Even characters in the same class/build.

 

This is what I liked about the perks in New Vegas, and especially the Mods for NV that added tons and tons of perks that went further in differentiating your character from everybody else in the world. Perks can also just be plain silly, too. A perk that gives your character enhanced brawling (unarmed damage) if they drink some ale would be great for some of the brawl challenges you have to partake in, but at the same time hilarious if moments after the brawl ended your character puked up the ale, too. It sounds disgusting, but it would actually be realistic in a lot ways as well, but... The main emphasis on this perk is makes your character different and rewards you with a bit of humor for choosing it. Another variation might be you pass out for one game hour after the brawl and then wake up with different NPCs staring down at you until you stand up. Again, it rewards you for choosing it, but it also makes your character "diverse" because he/she can't hold their liquor.

[Lachdonin]

I agree entirely. Perks are an amazing addition, but they were handled terribly. I'd like to see something like...

 

Perks

1-handed Weapons

Critical Strike

15/35/50% chance to inflict double damage

Crippling Blow

+10/20/30% locational Damage

Decapitate

Criticals on enemes below 20/30/50% health kill the enemy instantly

Blade

+10/15/20% damage with 1-handed Blades

Skirmisher

Quick-Draw

Opportunistic Strike

Hit-and-Run

Assassin

+10/20/30% damage with Daggers

Concealment

Faster attack speed after drawing a weapon

Viscious

+5/10/15% damage when not power attacking

Cobra Strike

double thrust automatically crits if it hits

Duelist

+10/20/30% damage when weilding 2 swords

Reposte

Faster attack speed after parrying

Parry Master

Decreases damage when parrying by 10/20/30%

Disarm

Double Parry disarms opponent

Bulwark

Defensive Thrust

Can thrust while still blocking

Following Slash

Slash speed increased after blocking

Rapid Recovery

Stagger recovery increased by 10/20/30%

Athletics

Beast of Burden

Increases carry weight by 100/200/300lbs

Long-Winded

Stamina drain during sprinting 15/30/50% less

Deep Breath

Increases breath capacity when swimming by 10/20/30%

Explorer

When resting outdoors, reveived 15/30/50% Well Rested Bonus

On the go

Effects of food doubled

Careful footing

Fall damaged decreased by 10/20/30%

Tolerance

Effects of Poison diminished by 20%

Soldier

Not encumbered by armour

The Long March

Stamina drain while sprinting in Armour decreased 20%

Take it with you

Resting on Bedrolls increases resting bonus 15/30/50%

Battle-Fortitude

Health Regeneration increased by 20%

Trader

Basic movement speed increased out of combat

Heavy Load

Carry weight increased by 20/40/60 lbs

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Now, don't criticize the actual perks here, but rather the idea. I made the perks up mostly as i went. The intent, however, is that each tree has basic assets which just increase it's efficiency, but at the same time offers splitting trees which allow you to hone and refine your particular play style. The combat tree, in particular, would allow you to narrow down not only the specific weapon you wanted to use, but HOW you wanted to use it. That Blade tree alone has 43 possible points in it, so it would be very clear that you couldn't do everything, but each tree should be relatively balanced.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Lachdonin