I firmly believe that the TES series needs more cut scenes. I can see 2 reasons why they would be left out:

1. It takes up a lot of disc space (for console gamers, specifically Xbox players.)
2. People would complain that it "ruins the immersion."

Now, I understand the first reason, but I just can't wrap my head around the second part. Yes, I love that the game is in "real time," but cut scenes can be an amazing tool to convey emotions or simply the level of the task that is at hand. Cut scenes can be used to develop the personality of characters, which is something I strongly believe that TES needs more of. Cut scenes took my breath away in other RPGs, and they have sparked emotions in me that TES just hasn't been able to do. Yeah, by having a predetermined cut scene, it chooses the outcome of the situation before you make any choice. But how does any choice effect the outcome of the current questlines? Plus, there can always be multiple outcomes, just look at DA:O. When done well, cut scenes develop everything in a game that an RPG should have.

That's just my 2 cents.

The thing with cutscenes is, you get the feeling that you are watching someone else's story, not your own.

Stuff like dreams for werewolves and vampires and returning the ending cutscenes that somehow disappeared after the Oblivion Crisis would be nice. Nothing major is needed, though. Morrowind had just enough cutscenes and they didn't feel unneeded or thrown in. The main series TES games do not require more cutscenes than the ones in Morrowind. The main series TES games are open world RPGs, so cutscenes are hardly needed for much other than what I've mentioned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0yBgM8Y0k8.

3. so far for open world gameplay.

Yeah I think that a few cutscenes would be nice, like maybe at the start of the game describing a bit of what has happened since oblivion, a cutscene for the end of the civil war questline, maybe one for each major guild and one after you defeat alduin, cutscenes really made origins one of my favourite games, the emotion they can evoke is incredible so done right in an ES game it would be epic imo.

Reason 1 is more than enough reason. I'd rather have more gameplay than a bunch of badly animated cutscenes. Reason 2 is perfectly valid. I hate it when games stop me from playing just so characters can talk at each other. The NPCs who rope me into a dialog tree without me even clicking them are frustrating as it is.

Games shouldn't be emulating movies. In a game that otherwise lets you always control your character and forces you to travel on your own, cutscenes should be very minimal. There are basically two excuses: out-of body moments, and cuts where time passes (eg. travelling, sleeping, etc.). Cutscenes only help with emotional impact in games where you can't normally see the characters. These are generally things like isometric RPGs and RTS.

Exactly.

Ugh. No, no, no. NO. Cutscenes in very small doses can be effective, but being forced to sit through someone else's grade B cinema clip is not why I play video games.

Why would you emphasize no, but then say it can be effective?

Cut scenes could enhance things if they're done right in order to fit in with the ideas behind TES.

But it is someone else's story? You don't decide jack in any quest line of TES, it just happens. You just happen to be the person with the controller.

What kinds of cutscenes are you talking about. The kind people probably are referring to(the ones that make up 50% of most PS2 JRPGs) or ones that only happen during specific events like going into werewolf form?

Yes, this is a problem, but cutscenes are a step in the wrong direction.

The ones that only happen during specific events. Whether it be werewolf form, or an entrance into a city you haven't been in before. I'm not talking 10-15 min cut scenes like Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

I had a feeling you meant the kind that are typical for most TES games. I can understand why people are getting the wrong idea, though.

I should have elaborated a bit.

Because I don't want to see any more than they already have. I was already impatient with a few of them in Skyrim. I hate when the game takes over for me. The fewer times that happens, the better.

10-15 minutes? That's lightweight. Ever heard of Metal Gear?

10-15 minutes is too long for most TES games, though.

It's still your story, even if there isn't as much choice in TES games as there used to be. You play the game and exist in the world from the viewpoint of your character, and you create your own story based on what you do with your character.

In an RPG like DA:O, you follow the same storyline every time you play the game, your character and sometimes your desicions just change. In Skyrim you create your own story however you want to. You can do whatever you want.

I see your point that cutscenes help develop characters, but like MetalGod said, I think it would be a step in the wrong direction.

Lol, SO:TLH had one that was 45 mins+. Let's just say I read a description of it online then went to get lunch.

Didn't the Xenosaga games end up being more cutscene than gameplay? Heavy Rain doesn't count in my case because, well, someone might hate me for saying anything technical about it and I have never played it. Never played the Xenosaga games, but have heard they were cutscene heavy.

MGS not only has that, but 45+ minute cutscenes are actually quite common. The final cutscene for MGS 4 lasted over an hour. They even let you save your game in the middle of cutscenes so you can take a break

The ending to Kingdom Hearts 2 still invokes rage in me and I have hated it for too long. The freaking thing was almost an hour long and I didn't feel like I saved any world thanks to my soul being destroyed by that monster of a cutscene. It was mostly two guys... On a beach. Talking!

Hell, at least you understood what was going on in your game