Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-71.61.178.23-20130722105712/@comment-24180901-20131127182745

@tdwtg - it is essential, with a "t".

non-essential means everything that made the elder scrolls what they are - the myriad ways to get sidetracked, the sights to see and people to kill that are so completely unrelated to the main story being told, but make the world of Nirn come alive (or try to).

For example right now I am supposed to collect the elder scrolls for dawnguard, but my wife has gotten herself kidnapped - with Lydia as a steward, Rayya spending her off-days there, while I go out alone, with a bard and a carriage driver all at the estate. And none of them has seen anything. Am I supposed to believe that? So because Bethesda neglected to reality-check their side-plots even one bit, this non-essential part is a big letdown.

This illustrates another point:

Non-essential means "You don´t need it for the main story" but it still means "if you are going to do it - do it right."

That is why I want to split the two parts. The main story has to be done, and it has to work on its own - and ideally it is somewhere in between jaw-dropping and heart-stopping.

And once this is achieved, the extra parts can be fitted in. Those too have to work on their own, but additionally they have to fit with the main story. If they don´t, they can always be tagged onto another story.

Blatant example: Somebody comes up with a fantastic questline involving radiation-induced mutations. It would not find a place in TES VI, no matter how awesome, but it would be right at home in a Fallout game.

Because the extra content has to work on its own, it can be designed at the same time as the main thing.

I hope this about sums it up.

@all

I realized, that I am thinking about this TES VI - thread as a Skyrim-mod.

My personal goal is to do my part that this thing could see life on the Skyrim-engine, no matter what Bethesda ultimately does or does not.

If this runs contrary to the intentions of the original team I would like a short message so I can stop bugging you.