Though The Elder Scrolls VI is still years away, fans may finally have a clue about one of the game’s core mechanics thanks to former Bethesda game designer Bruce Nesmith.
Nesmith, the former lead designer for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, spoke with MinnMax in an interview about his time at the studio and dropped some hints about how leveling might work in the next game. According to him, The Elder Scrolls VI is likely to have the same experience system as Skyrim, which required players to do a task corresponding to a specific skill tree repeatedly to gain experience. “That’s absolutely going to continue,” Nesmith said. “A lot of the concepts dealing with how you level and things like that, there’ll be a bunch of new ideas thrown in, but I’m betting some of the stuff that I worked on will still survive to the new one.”
Until Skyrim released and overhauled the majority of The Elder Scrolls series’ core mechanics, players had to level their characters by choosing a base number for each stat at character creation gradually increasing them manually with each level-up in a system, similar to traditional tabletop RPGs. With Skyrim, however, leveling came from player actions, leading to a system where a character’s play style could adapt naturally to the gamer’s personal preferences.
Starting at the RPG studio in 1995, Nesmith has lent his skills to some of Bethesda’s most legendary titles as a design director for the company, culminating in the release ofStarfield this year to critical acclaim. However, near the end of the game’s development, Nesmith announced his resignation from the studio, citing issues with the workload and a desire to take on less mentally strenuous work.
Nesmith was reportedly in charge of many of Starfield‘s core functions, from the astronomical data that makes up planets to spaceship combat mechanics and the individual aspects of the RPG’s several skill trees. He also served similar roles on many of the studio’s most famous titles, such as Fallout 3 and 4 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, all of which left him “drained,” as he told MinnMax during the interview.
Bethesda revealed The Elder Scrolls VI at E3 2018, though it has remained mostly silent on the project, citing that it would begin development following the release of Starfield. With that title now available on Xbox Series X|S and PC, time will tell what new information comes to light.
Source: MinnMax via YouTube
