The Elder Scrolls 6has a big legacy to live up to if it’s going to meet fan expectations after the huge success ofSkyrim. As such, there are a few ways Bethesda could expand onThe Elder Scrollsformula to add more options and roleplaying opportunities in the game without compromising the freedom of the player by pigeonholing them into certain narratives.
The Dark Brotherhood questline inThe Elder Scrolls 6could provide a great opportunity to experiment with creating a more dynamic world and more immersive questlines for a few key reasons that Bethesda should explore in the upcoming game.
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A Dynamic Dark Brotherhood
InSkyrim,there is only one way to activate the Dark Brotherhood questline, which is by visiting Aventus Aretino in Windhelm and taking up his contract for him.Oblivionwent a more dynamic but less narratively interesting route, where the player would be visited byLucien Lachancein their sleep if they ever murdered an innocent and got away with it.
The Elder Scrolls 6should explore some alternate possibilities for triggering main questlines like the Dark Brotherhood’s. There should be different narrative-driven options in the game for finding out about the Brotherhood. For example, not only could there be someone who was trying to summon the assassins personally like Aventus Arentino in theInnocence Lost quest, but the game could include texts that players can find that might lead them through performing the Black Sacrament themselves. Perhaps they could also find a half-completed sacrament like the one in Maven Blackbriar’s house in Riften and use that instead.
It also seems odd inSkyrimthat the player can haveDark Brotherhood assassinssent after them, yet no mention of this or theSkyrimDark Brotherhood member they killed is ever made during the main questline if this event took place. If players can have hits taken out on them like inSkyrim, they should be able to trace the mystery back to its origins via the contract looted from the assassin. Perhaps they could interrogate the person who took out the hit, and perhaps join the Brotherhood that way if their tenacity impresses the other members.
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Dynamic Factions
This doesn’t only apply to the Dark Brotherhood either, though it provides a good example. Players should be able to hire and fight alongside members ofThe Elder Scrolls 6’s other mercenary guilds, like the Thieves Guild, the Fighters Guild, andSkyrim’s Companions(though it’s doubtful the Companions would appear inTES6). This could allow them to meet some main characters more naturally in the game, without it feeling like they’re being railroaded onto a specific questline which will likely end in the death of the guild master and the players instatement as their replacement.
Overall,The Elder Scrolls 6faces a lot of challenges among itsnext-gen RPG competition. The game will need to balance implementing the freedom of theElder Scrollsformula that fans have come to expect while also improving on the series’ writing. Making the world more dynamic could be a great way to do that, with players having more ways to make their own stories and forge their own paths through the game rather than having a specific story imposed on them.
IfThe Elder Scrolls 6can do that then it might have the same replayability, and possibly the samelongevity asSkyrim. The Dark Brotherhood, among other factions, should feel like an actual presence in the world, not just a series of quests to be completed. They should be able to be discovered, hired, and even destroyed through more than just one entryway, improving the game design in a way that helps players make their own stories rather than improving the writing by railroading players onto more linear narratives.
The Elder Scrolls 6is currently in development.
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