PC Gamer - March 2012

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5Revamp followers As much as we love them, Skyrim’s followers are useless. They repeat the same five lines of dialog throughout their brief lives, staring blankly as you request that they stop bumbling through your house knocking over your plates. Bethesda should give each follower Bio Ware-style backstories with attendant quests, conversations, and choices. Odds: 18: 1

6Group combat and squad commands The moments where Skyrim breaks out into open warfare are a sweet change of pace from dungeon-crawling. Make larger battles more frequent, and with a range of tactical options. These could work like Shouts—instant-cast special abilities that tell your AI buddies when to charge, what formation to adopt, and what abilities to use. The AI could scale up encounters based not only on your level, but how many friends you’ve brought with you. Odds: 14: 1

7Rethink stealth A high level of sneaking in Elder Scrolls is licence to do whatever you please. This reached its peak with Skyrim, where a late-game perk forces NPCs’ eye-line above waist level, rendering anyone canny enough to crouch invisible even in broad daylight. As much as we enjoy the sight of a guard who’s had all his clothes stolen, it’s time for a change. Throw out skill-based stealth in favor of a system based on light and noise. Rudimentary alarm systems should allow guards to alert others in the event of an emergency, but to compensate, dungeons should offer a greater array of possible approaches. Odds: 20: 1

deal, even as we’re summoning them to do our bidding. So how about this: restore spellcrafting in the form of customizable Daedric bargains with positive and negative effects. If we want to zap our foes with a ball of lightning, fine: but in order to make the spell in the first place, we need to sacrifice a companion, or have a random NPC die. Odds: 70: 1

8 Consequences for magic A major part of Elder Scrolls lore is concerned with the various Aedra and Daedra and their involvement with the living, particularly with regard to magic. As it happens, we rarely feel the effect of a Daedric

9Free-roaming? Try free-running The basics of running and jumping haven’t changed since Morrowind, and they’re well overdue for a tune-up. No more climbing mountains by strafing and hammering the jump key: let’s have first-person, Mirror’s Edge-style climbing. No more glitching your way on to a rooftop and raining fireballs and arrows down on hapless enemies below: we want Assassin’s Creed-style chases. These could be tied to skills and equipment to prevent heavily armored knights from suddenly turning into Ezio when cornered. It’d finally justify Acrobatics, at least. Odds: 150: 1

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YOu suggesT

Elder Scrolls VI should be set in France during World War II. @IanHarding ham

TES VI will be set in Rapture. @NemoNaemo

SPACE.

@jongreenall

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10 Online profiles, not co-op As they are, the Elder Scrolls games are far from single-player. Sure, you can’t play with your friends directly—but sharing stories is a huge and essential part of their appeal. We’d rather Bethesda focus its attention on building a game that creates those experiences than tack-on a multiplayer component. That said, why not build an online journal and character sheet that tracks and writes up your progress? No need for awkward social media integration: just let us throw our best friends a link to the time we beat a dragon to death with an enchanted pickaxe. While naked. Odds: 4: 1