Many of the older The Elder Scrolls games have features that are no longer present in the newer installments. The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall is the biggest example of this, having a plethora of features specific to that game. However, one of them may be the perfect fit for The Elder Scrolls 6.
In The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, many players found the speech skill to be somewhat less than useful. But in Daggerfall, there is a feature that allows the player to go to trial and utilize their speech skills in order to get out. The court system should be brought back in The Elder Scrolls 6, and it should be better than ever.
Making Use of Daggerfall’s Forgotten Feature
Despite its age, Daggerfall's criminal system was incredibly detailed for its time. Like the modern games, the player could face jail time for committing crimes such as murder, smuggling, and theft. But many of these crimes also had different punishments, such as jail time, banishment, and even death. The player can plead "guilty" or "not guilty," with a guilty plea resulting in a lesser sentence and a "not guilty" plea allowing the player to utilize some of their speech skills in order to get away scot-free. But even if a not guilty plea is successful, the player's reputation will not go back up in that part of the world. The Elder Scrolls 6 could explore this idea, breathing new life into it.
Part of what would make this such as interesting concept to explore is its realism. The idea of being able to plead guilty or not guilty and then build a case from there allows the player a certain amount of control when it comes to getting caught for their crimes. It's no longer just a matter of sleeping in a bed until their sentence is over. The fact the player's reputation will not rise back up after getting away with a crime also makes the world feel like it's full of real people who have opinions and gossip about them, which adds a layer of storytelling found in few other games and makes the immersion of The Elder Scrolls more potent than ever.
One of the biggest reasons this feature should come to The Elder Scrolls 6 is to help flesh out the speech skills in the game. In Skyrim, players would rarely find themselves making use of the speech skill, as there were so few opportunities to ever use it. There were far more skill trees that provided more utility in the game. The trial system would allow the player not only the chance to practice their speech skills to level them up, but also give a legitimate use for them. The Elder Scrolls 6 could rework this system in a way like never before depending on its region, too.
By looking at Daggerfall's trial system, it becomes somewhat apparent that it is based on the United States' legal system. Considering The Elder Scrolls 6 could have a setting like Hammerfell rather than the Daggerfall region, how the court system would be approached could widely differ. The cultural norms of a place like Hammerfell could take part in how the player pleads their case. There is much interpretation to be had in how The Elder Scrolls 6 would handle a court system in a different region of Tamriel.
There are few features that have the potential to bring the same amount of depth to the world as the trial system found in Daggerfall. The Elder Scrolls 6 should learn from other games in that regard, potentially creating a grand infusion of all their features, both from the past and present.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.