The Elder Scrolls is renowned for having incredible player freedom. From allowing players to break away from the main quest line to featuring a class-less system for skill progression, the games are an example of open-world RPGs striving for free will. Curiously enough, many modern RPGs developed alongside Skyrim have extensive morality systems, a mechanic that Bethesda has avoided. While certain choices, quests, and factions can be flavored good or bad - for instance, joining the Dark Brotherhood over the Companions - there are no real moral consequences. TheElder Scrolls 6 could add a morality system for the first time in franchise history.
There are a few reasons why Bethesda could have avoided a morality system in the past. While several open-world RPGs on the market today have some morality system, they can force linear storytelling and a focus on punishment over exploration. Skyrim's non-linear quest system prioritizes exploration, allowing the Last Dragonborn to evolve countless times throughout the game. However, the Elder Scrolls franchise has sometimes suffered from a lack of solid storytelling elements, so a morality system could assist with creating a sense of continuity and causality throughout The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Lack of Morality In Previous Elder Scrolls Games
While The Elder Scrolls: Arena and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim are radically different games despite being in the same franchise, they both focus more on player choice versus impactful consequences. Given that most of the Skyrim side quests are self-contained within the game world, many quasi-moral decisions come down to making a "good" choice versus a "bad" choice. A morality system built this way is often simplistic, needing more depth to make choices matter. For instance, the Dark Brotherhood is touted as one of the most devious organizations in Skyrim, but there's no consequence for joining.
Openly assassinating Emperor Titus Mede the Second has no ramifications on Skyrim. This is a world-altering decision that the Last Dragonborn made and could feasibly spell the end of the empire as players know it. Quests holding this much narrative weight deserve to be factored into a morality system, but the same goes for decisions made that are smaller. Saving a merchant from wolves and defeating Daedric Prince Molag Bal should both be rewarded with story outcomes, as it shows the player that the game is tracking their decisions. While a sandbox-type gameplay structure has worked for The Elder Scrolls franchise in the past, The Elder Scrolls 6 needs to raise the bar.
How A Morality System Could Work In The Elder Scrolls 6
To see how morality could factor into The Elder Scrolls 6, one can look at a BioWare franchise like Mass Effect. BioWare is famous for focusing on morality in its games, putting more weight on dynamic storytelling versus player choice. Still, the Paragon and Renegade system in Mass Effect was successful because it appeared binary but actually had far-reaching consequences for Mass Effect 3. For instance, Commander Shepard's physical appearance in Mass Effect 2 changes based on player choices, creating a physical indication that moral choices have weight -- not to mention that NPC companions frequently comment on player choices, and can even die because of them.
While The Elder Scrolls 6 might not be able to create a morality system based on such severe consequences, some changes would be simple. For example, the game could invent a morality system based on Daedra and Aedra, with good choices bringing the player closer to The Elder Scrolls' Nine Divines and bad choices bringing the player closer to the Daedric Princes of Oblivion. This morality system could unlock different conversations and spell options,while being dictated by which factions the player chooses to join. Some of these mechanics belonged in earlier games, but now Bethesda has the chance to experiment with them.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.
