The mystery surrounding what stories Elder Scrolls 6 will eventually explore has been a subject on many fans' minds. With how long it's been without any major update, fans have been left to speculate about where the next adventure in Tamriel will go. One thing that's likely is that it will move forward in time, as each Elder Scrolls game has taken time jumps of several hundred years. It could be interesting to see Elder Scrolls 6 updates its world's technology to match such an advance in time.
Skyrim is still one of the most popular games ever made, despite some longtime Elder Scrolls fans' backlash against design changes and other factors. Despite that, excitement about the still-nebulous Elder Scrolls 6 remains high. If Bethesda is looking to take more risks with the next game the way it did with Skyrim, looking into moving the technology of Tamriel forward could make for some engaging changes to the formula. There's also plenty of ways to make such technological advancements make sense in the classically pure fantasy world.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Fitting Technological Advancement into The Elder Scrolls 6
With such big leaps in time between each game, it's strange from a narrative perspective that there hasn't been much change in the world of Elder Scrolls. From a design standpoint though, it's made sense to keep the series' medieval-style fantasy settings. But Elder Scrolls has brought in more and more elements outside the bounds of its at-first-glance simple fantasy world. Branching out into some higher technology like flintlock weapons, steam-powered ships, or even rudimentary electricity could both help reinvigorate the setting and involve some of its lore that is already present.
Many longtime fans are likely to scoff at the idea of seeing gunpowder or steam power make its way into Elder Scrolls, and for good reason. It would be easy to implement them in a way that felt shoehorned or out of place. Elder Scrolls' Dwemer civilization could hold keys to advancing the overall society forward technologically. With players having explored many of the ruins from the ancient Dwemer to find steam-powered machinery and a form of basic electricity blended with magic, it wouldn't be too far a leap to see those adapted for use by the rest of Tamriel.
As per its own lore, the Dwemer ruins have been being explored for centuries now within the history of Tamriel. While Elder Scrolls creator Todd Howard is reticent to explore the Dwemer fully, using the Dwemer as justification for why new technology has been develope4d wouldn't really have to do so. And from a pure gameplay standpoint, adding in simple flintlock weapons could be highly interesting. Either creating a separate skill category called Marksmanship (or something along those lines) or combining proficiency with bows and firearms into the same category could make for a fun gameplay system. The running joke that every Skyrim player can't help but create another archery sneak thief could be fun to see expanded into different flintlock weapons like rifles and pistols.
Elder Scrolls takes a lot of inspiration from real history and blends it with more fantastical elements. Doing the same with a higher level of technology could be done so with great effect and without losing the spirit of the series. Overall, the Elder Scrolls games like Skyrim have many iconic elements that will likely change in the next title, but it could be a great opportunity to do something the franchise hasn't done yet by advancing technology in Tamriel.
Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.
Gloss