» Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:59 pm
Stop suggesting little changes like "Falmer raids" and "Thalmor scouts tracking you" and "Fix my journal." These are not the things worthy of a DLC. To quote Howards' various meat-related quips about the DLCs, they will be 'beefy' expansions rather than small additions. Think Shimmering Isles; not horse armor.
My ideas are as follows:
Hammerfell Expansion (or Dawnguard)
Morrowind Expansion
Cyrodiil Expansion.
Why? Well, first of all, the Oblivion Gates are closed forever. We can still go to Oblivion, but I don't see us going to a realm, necessarily, as a whole expansion. That is, unless it involves this rumor about Dawnguard, in which case I could see perhaps a DLC involving the Dunmer of Morrowind and one of their Daedra like Azura (queen of dawn and dusk and predicting the future) or maybe something to do with Meridia (perhaps armor as a counterpart to Dawnbreaker if you become her champion).
However, with the increased depth that was lent to most Daedric Quests, I don't see this being the route they take. We got to step into most of the realms during their respective quests. Instead, I see the following DLC-Expansion Packs as a means of expanding our experience on Nirn and continuing the story.
Hammerfell Expansion: We know from Whiterun of the Alik'r and the ongoing war with the Aldmeri Dominion. If you read the in-game book "The Great War," you also know that Hammerfell broke with the Empire because it wished to continue the war against the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion. This is ripe for questing and story progression, as the interaction we got with the Thalmor was very little, and the Civil War (ultimately the result of the Thalmor conflict) was something of an unrewarding side-quest. The Hammerfell Expansion would continue exploring the problems resulting from the Thalmor and give us an environment remarkably different from Skyrim in its beaches and deserts.
Morrowind Expansion: Plentiful information is given to us regarding the state of the Dunmer. They're almost extinct, their largest population center located in Windhelm. The Argonians largely destroyed Morrowind, and Vvardenfell exploded. The Dragonborn could be enlisted to join a group of pilgrims or colonizers re-settling Morrowind. It would also show love for the sizeable population of Dunmer-lovers. Furthermore, if you really need more Daedra material, the Dunmer are the way to go, as they worship them. Finally, we could see conflict resulting from the independence of the Argonians and their will to control Morrowind versus the people (former slave-masters) trying to reclaim their homeland, all because of the machinations of the Aldmeri Dominion.
Cyrodiil Expansion: While the previous two ideas are simply spit-balling, I think this is the most likely option. We know that some parts of Nirn are already in the game, including the Imperial City. This is because from certain mountain-ranges, you can see out of Skyrim and the developers wanted to offer you sights of famous places in Nirn. However, Cyrodiil is important for another reason. Whether or not you SPOILERS killed the emperor SPOILERS, the Aldmeri Dominion is still trying to take control of the Empire, despite the peace. In this final expansion, the Dragonborn (ultimate enemy of the Thalmor) would lead either his Stormcloaks or Imperials to aid the Empire against a new war with the Dominion. The final conclusion of this war would result in the Dragonborn victorious and a resurgent Empire (Stormcloaks signing a peace treaty as there's no more banning of Talos, or the Imperials simply bringing in the peaceful Skyrim to help the Empire). The Dragonborn could be made King/Queen of Skyrim or maybe even Emperor, mirroring Talos/Tiber Septim, a previous Dragonborn.
Though I fear this might not happen, as the Champion/Nerevarine were mythical figures where it could be assumed their identity was forgotten for future games, but a Dragonborn Emperor would be harder to believe that we forgot he was a Dark Brotherhood Argonian in the in-game books of Elder Scrolls VI.