So first of all, I’m sharing my info here for a number of reasons. Months ago, I leaked an unrelated game (which I was later exactly right about) on Reddit and got several media inquiries and completely shit on for the leak in the comments. Fandom communities are smaller and less toxic than Reddit, so I trust you guys not to put me through that again, lol. This is a great forum for TES fans, and you guys are exactly the reason I’m sharing my information, so it only makes sense to do it here.
As the title suggests, I have found out credible information about the setting, stories, and a little bit about the mechanics of TES VI. I won’t be saying who/what my source is or how I nor the source got the information, but I will say that my acquisition of the info is a direct result of the pandemic/work from home situation. With that out of the way, on go the good stuff:
The Elder Scrolls VI: Redfall will take place in High Rock and Hammerfell six years after the events of Skyrim. The general political scene will be that Hammerfell is very well off and in a relatively stable state (by Tamrielic standards) while High Rock is much more fractured among the many nobles and their territories - a bit similar to Skyrim in the sense that there will be very clearly defined subregions, but most of these regions will be warring against each other. This is because Bethesda wants to use this generation’s hardware to create some huge, epic battle scenes with dozens, if not hundreds of characters battling on screen in real time.
The Orcs, who add another dimension to the conflict in High Rock, were another major reason Bethesda wanted to create this scene. One of the main story missions features literally hundreds of Orcs charging down a mountain and pillaging/burning down a city called Jehanna. From what I’m hearing, think the siege on Whiterun from Skyrim times 10.
Direnni Tower will play a major role in the main questline and will be visible from many places on the map, much like the White-Gold Tower in Oblivion, or downtown Boston in Fallout 4. The climax of the story takes place on the Isle Of Balfiera, and as such, ship travel will be in the game.
Bethesda intend to build off of vehicle mechanics developed for Starfield to allow players to traverse the Iliac Bay in ships. The current plan is that there will be several different ships to buy and some very light customization for them. They’ll range from a rowboat to a big four-sail pirate ship. They all can be crewed by NPC’s in the same way that the player can assign NPC’s to different jobs at settlements in Fallout 4. (By the way, speaking of mechanics, spell crafting is back. Don’t know much about it.)
The game world is not being sacrificed for this new mechanic. Based on what I’ve heard and seen, Daggerfall will be the biggest city Bethesda has ever built. They’re taking notes from CD Projekt Red for creating the feeling of a dense, bustling city, but are also trying to maintain their motif where every character truly lives there and has a schedule and will do activities as they see fit.
More unique and interesting quests is also a priority. I only know of one specific example but it sounds pretty cool: A lighthearted sidequest is planned in one of the cities where the player is asked to babysit a trio of Khajiit children (kittens?) because the mother needs to go to the market and get more fish for them. This, like most of the game, is still in conceptual stages, but at the moment the Khajiit kittens are intended to look extremely adorable and innocent. They proceed to wreck the house, give the player rude dialogue, and one of them will kill and eat a skeever. It’s generally supposed to be a very chaotic minute or two. Upon the mother’s return, she’ll be furious with the player. A speech check can calm her down, or the player can antagonize her to the point of combat, in which case the kittens can later be found in the town’s orphanage.
I also know that it will release in Q4 2024 and one of the DLC’s will be on Stros M’Kai, which will cater a lot to the ship mechanic. So yeah, its gonna be a long wait still but I think they’re really going all out with this one. Oh, and Starfield is coming next year, not this year as some believe. That’s pretty much everything I know, but I’ll try to answer any good-faith questions. Thanks everyone :)