So it looks like the next dlc pack is taking us to Solstheim. While this, and the trailer, look awesome, I hesitate just a little bit. For many of us who played through Morrowind's expansion, Bloodmoon, Solstheim was a diverse, interesting and dynamic island. There was a lot to do, the quests were interesting and it had storylines to pursue that went beyond the main quest. While it was an expansion, and not a full game, it was one of the few expansions I've purchased where I felt I got my money's worth.

That being said, I really hope the Solstheim we get in Dragonbord provides a similar experience. My biggest fear is that we'll get to Solstheim, the only locations will be the 5-6 icons we saw in the leaked material, we'll complete the main quest and get out with nothing else to do and no reason to stay. On the other hand, the more optimistic side of myself sees this DLC as something that, like Shivering Isles for Oblivion, will try to appeal to fans of the previous elderscrolls games. I hope that hypothesis is incorrect and that there's plenty of interesting places to explore, difficult battles to fight.

Here are some things (beyond what we were able to pick up from the new trailer) that I really hope will be in the game

1) New Spells. I'm guessing if Hermaeus Mora is involved in this DLC, and it looks like he is, we might end up with a couple of them. It's probably going to far to hope that we'll be able to create our own spells like in previous games, however.

2) Dungeons to explore beyond those required for the main quest. If we get the diverse series of ice caves, barrows and stone circles that Bloodmoon had, I couldn't be happier

3) Challnging Monsters and battles. Here, I'm fairly optimistic. We already have fan-made mods that have pulled this off well, and know that Bethesda has been experimenting with more intricate scripted boss battles (like a particularly AWESOME boss battle toward the end of Dawnguard). I'm hoping that we'll see more of that here. Personally I'm excited to see the Rieklings and whatever that ascended sleeper/mindflayer-looking monster in the trailer was.

4) References to Morrowind that AREN'T overly saturated. I won't lie, Morrowind to this day is my favorite elderscrolls game, and I can't wait to see the Telvanni tower, what looks like a Redoran village, and how the Dark Elves are adapting since the eruption of Red Mountain. That being said, I hope these references and shout-outs are well-executed and believable and not just thrown in as a shoutout to fans. I have some particular reservations about what look like corprus beasts (in the trailer) being present on Solstheim. Hopefully, they will be there for a believable reason, an not just there because of an attempt to pack references to anything awesome in Morrowind into a much smaller package for the hell of it (if that makes any sense). I'd rather have an interesting quest to learn how to craft a cool armor set, gather materials for it, and craft it, than several pieces of Morrowind-related armor thrown in just to be found.

5) A villain who's actually developed and given personality. Dawnguard was interesting and entertaining but it's villain, while looking cool, wasn't very well-developed at all. Yeah, he seemed like an evil dude, but throughout Dawnguard I never really felt he posed an imminent threat and was worth devoting a lot of time to thwarting. This contrasts sharply with other characters in Dawguard who WERE very well-developed and interesting to interact with (Isran, Gelebor and, of course, Serana).

6) More bug-testing. While I was lucky during my playthroughs of Hearthfire and never ran into any significant bugs, many players had their experience with the DLC marred by bugs and glitches. Hopefully that won't be the case with Dragonborn. Personally, for an expansion this big, I would be willing to wait a month or so longer to make sure they get all the bugs ironed out. However, the realist in me knows that, unfortunately, this dlc might be rushed in time for the holiday season, so I'll probably be saving every 5 seconds as I play through.

7) Fewer dragon fights. I understand that dragons are a big part of skyrim. I enjoyed fighting them during the main quest. At the same time, I realize that dragons are a big part of Skyrim and that many villains must also be dragon-related. However, let's face it: there's an extent to which one can go to far. Personally, I am sick and tired of fighting dragons. The new legendary and revered dragon fights, apart from a cool effect where dragons could jump into and out of a frozen lake, didn't really bring anything new to the table. While Durnehviir was cool for awhile, I eventually lost interest in using him. I'm not saying that I don't want dragons in Dragonborn, I feel that given the title it's too much to ask. However, Id raher see Dragonborn be much more about fighting the new antagonist (Konahrik??) than about fighting dragons (which we already get in the main quest).

8) Something that enhances the high-level player experience. I have to say that my favorite part of Dawnguard was exploring the soul cairn. It wasn't necessarily about the scenery (it could have been a little les bland) as much as it was about the exprience of traveling through a unique realm of oblivion. It reminded me of traveling the planes in D&D campaigns I've had characters in, where you're actions do not only affect your immediate world but the multi-verse as well. I'm really excited about what looks like the inclusion of Hermaeus Mora in this campaign, and I hope we get to travel to another realm oblivion in Dragonborn.

On a side note, I've noticed one interesting ramification of this dlc: much of Morrowind's architecture is being "translated" to Skyrim (certainly the Telvanni and Redoran architecture, which you can see in the trailer). Assuming we don't already go back to Morrowind in this DLC, this will assuredly open the door to mods that will, which I'm tentatively excited about (tentatively because for me nothing can capture the full experience of the game Morrowind and its modding community).

Anyway, that's my 10 cents. For those of you who had nothing better to read this morning I hope you enjoyed it

You do bring up some good points here. I hope to see some changes to Solstheim, especially since I've only just started playing Morrowind and have explored the island.

My guess is that unless Dragonborn takes you to parts of Morrowind too (which is still a possibility), the Morrowind architecture we saw was in the southeastern part of Solstheim (which will very much resemble a small "chunk" of Morrowind), while the rest will still be very much undeveloped. If Raven Rock went bust (which is mentioned in Oblivion), it looks like the island never really saw full-scale development take off. It's been 200 years though, so who knows?

The Speculation/discussion thread said that out of the 2 confirmed achievements one is for discovering 30 locations.

My optimism leveled up at this.

My hopes and expectations for the DLC seem to fall in line with yours.

Side Note: If you side with the "villains" in Dawnguard, the big bad feels a little more nuanced. Not a lot, but a little.