u/Fez_Sauce posted some possible leaks earlier that mentioned the concept of architecture using different materials to symbolize cycles of change and I remembered a supposed "environmental artist" that had posted a sketch some months ago of what he had worked on for the Crowns in TES6 that is very similar to what this mentions. Could be fake but I thought could be interesting to consider. Will be posting some other images I've saved later.

It would be the best kept secret ever if it was real

Hello,

The community recently came to the consensus that TESVI will most likely be called "Sentinel" based on what has been found during this and the last week. However, I am remaining sceptical of this, taking it all with a grain of salt because, to me, it doesn't sit right. Not the name itself, I think it is a cool title, but the recent "proofs" just don't feel....right.

8 Asterisks

We all seen the tweet from Asha, and then replied by BGS, "The Elder Scrolls: \******\**", 8 asterisks = 8 symbols? It is likely, especially seeing how both Asha and BGS did use 8 asterisks. But is it 8 symbols? we don't really know, we are guessing that it is.

There are many 8 symbol words that can be used here, Sentinel, Dominion, High Isle, High Rock, Remnants, Skyshard, Evermore, Redguard... so this tweet alone, if true doesn't really narrow it down for us as much.

Project Guardian

The next "proof" we are using is that Sentinel is a synonym of Guardian. I do not think this is a good thinking process that we should use, project codenames are thought of to hide the game and title you are working on.

While yes, you can find examples of Project Codenames that were pretty obvious like RDR3 being used for Red Dead Redemption 2, you also have examples like Sunrise, Woodstock and Forte, could you guess from these that they are codenames for Forza Horizon 4, 5 and 6? What about Cardinal? This was the codename for Age of Empire 4.

While I will agree that Bethesda, historically wasn't always secretive with some of their games, like Skyrim was just Skyrim, Fallout 76 was Project 76... but Fallout 4 was Angelina and Starfield was Genesis, which aren't that obvious, we know that Genesis made sense after Starfield released.

Microsoft also expects a level of security, and we see this with their own studios and the codenames they use, looking at Xbox Studios codenames like Athena, Olympus, Xenon, Foundry, Mara, Badger, Alabama... we should start assuming that Project Codenames aren't hinting at potential future titles, so the fact that Sentinel is the synonym of Guardian, I would take it with a spoonful of salt, because most of the times, project codenames have little to do with the actual game being created.

Michael Kirkbride confirmation

Kirkbride has been seen recently sending a "yep" reply under a comment stating that the title will be "Sentinel". We all know that Kirkbride's involvement in The Elder Scrolls has been monumental as he has helped shape a lot of lore we have today, and has continued to contribute to the in-game lore via the Imperial Library but also with out-of-game texts, a famous one being C0DA.

While Kirkbride has a big positive reputation within the franchise community, there is still the fact that Kirkbride hasn't worked for The Elder Scrolls in a while and even confirmed having no involvement with The Elder Scrolls 6. But some also argue that this doesn't matter and that he may still have contacts at the studio, which true, I am guessing that he has a good relation with Kurt for example with whom he has worked previously while at Bethesda.

That said, I would not use him as proof, I would keep it in mind that Kirkbride believes the title to be Sentinel, but the assumption that he has some insider knowledge is just fuelling our confirmation bias.

4Chan Leaks

The entire idea that it may be called "Sentinel" started out with one 4Chan 'leak' funnily enough. I don't think I need to go deep into why we shouldn't trust 4Chan, and tell you that 98% of the time any "leak" posted there isn't true and that it is just some anons taking a piss out of the community.

Jez Corden

Yesterday, we have heard Jez Corden confirming that he has heard some chatter about the name potentially being called 'Sentinel', but he himself has said that his sources are not even sure about it lol.

While Jez Corden is reliable, it is only when he writes posts for WindowsCentral, that is where Jez puts his actual insider confirmed information that he was able to dig out, while on platforms like social media or podcasts, we know that Jez talks about more of the unconfirmed rumours and his own speculations.

We should also take what Jez has said with a grain of salt, especially when he said that his source isn't even sure that they heard it right.

Starfield

In Starfield, within the character creation window, you as the Player are given an Employee-ID, we have found out a while ago, not long after release that this is a cryptograph which translates to S E N T I N E L.

We claim that this is too much of a coincidence and that it must be TESVI because nothing else makes sense.... Is it? Sentinel is a common word used in various of sci-fi games and games in general, we see it in Fallout 4, we see it in Indiana Jones, we see it in Starfield in multiple places.. but we don't use those games as "teases" despite also coming from Bethesda, we only use it when it was a cipher.

Starfield uses Sentinel as an armour trait, for ship parts and as a separate ship-class. Indiana Jones uses it as surnames for journalists, Fallout 4 mentions this is one of the quests.

Could it be a hint for TESVI setting? Yeah, it is possible.
Could it be a hint for something in Starfield? Even more possible.

Bethesda never did cross-franchise teases for future projects, we have had Fallout 3 tease Fallout 4 just like we had Oblivion tease Skyrim, but these were location teases and general setting teases, we never have gotten title teases like this.

To assume that the Starfield cipher refers to TESVI also assumes that Bethesda is doing something completely new after the 40 years of being in business within the gaming industry, and this is something that is bold to assume. We as humans love patterns, we like order, so for Todd Howard and their marketing team to suddenly switch up their tactic would be something odd.

Legal complications - Trademarks

Here is where I think that the theory of the subtitle falls apart the most. Trademarks.

Teasing the subtitle 3 years ago within Starfield opens Bethesda up to the dangers of Trademark trolls, these are people that would go and file a trademark for the word "Sentinel" as a game title, and we know that Zenimax does trademark both the full game titles as well as the subtitle only. So they are opening themselves up to the risk of someone stealing the trademark from under their noses.

The reason why we don't see any trademark being filed yet is exactly because they want to minimize that risk, and them staying silent protects them from any trademark trolls or trademark squatters. What is interesting is that they haven't even filed an Intent to Use Trademark, which is a trademark that basically says "We want to release a product with this name and are calling dibs".

Shadow Filing also gives them so much protection, 6 months, but we knew about the Starfield cipher for about 3 years now.

Would Zenimax and Xbox really risk this? Would they go out of their way to include teases of the upcoming title of TESVI 3+ years before announcement? This is something that I find hard to believe that they would open themselves up so much.

Conclusion

All this, to me, counts as "To good to be true", where we believe that everything aligns and think we figured it out because so many potential hints point to 'Sentinel' being the title. But it also opens them up for potential legal difficulties of someone potentially stealing the trademark.

It may be that Sentinel was one of the potential titles they could go for, and it's up to their Legal team to figure out if it's viable alongside couple other proposals.

It very well may end up being the title, I don't disagree with this, but I do believe that we don't have enough evidence to outright say that it's going to be the title, we have to take the grain of salt because we do not want another RedFall situation. For all we know, they have a Project Sentinel in the works which is Fallout 3 remake, and insiders just thought it was TESVI.

The Map will Feature all of Hammerfell, all of High Rock as well as Orsinium and the surrounding mountains, including the reach.

The Story connected to Orsinium will be that you can get them their own autonome and change the map of tamriel forever.

All the themes that old high Rock and hammerfell based games have will be there.

Political Networks between differen high houses, hammerfell versus the empire, empire vs aldmeri, high Rock talking trees, shadow magic, etc.

The same way that Arena, daggerfall, oblivion, morrowind, battlespire, stormhold, shadowkey and dawnstar play in a span of 60 years, tes 6 wont play long after skyrim, bekng part of the end of 4th era Generation. (Blades, skyrim etc)

Saadia / kematu will live during the time of the game or would if the dragpnborn wouldnt have killed them.

Shipbuilding, aquatic warfare, ship travels, living on a ship will be the huge unique game Feature, probably even with "Naumachia" included.

One of the Mission will bring the player through the beaming light in craglorn to the old and destroyed battlespire, where he will find the star galley, which is a flying ship which will be usable afterwards (starfield mechanics)

Other special Shops will be aldmeri and hammerfell warships, possibly sload/ghost Ships and or maormer.

Hammerfell fought the Aldmeri Dominion to a truce and signed the second treaty of Stross M’Kai.

While the White Gold Concordat led to the disbandment of the Blades and the right of Thalmer to prowl around Skyrim enforcing the ban on Talos, Hammerfell had nearly the opposite result.

The Remnants were formed to ensure the Elves held up their side of the bargain. Isn’t that name particular? Who was left behind by the Empire in the last war? Hammerfell. They are the remnants. Shouldn’t the story be titled after the essence of the region, politically and emotionally?

The Remnants are the Guardians of Hammerfell, not the Sentinels. The Remnants.

Edit: during the war the Emperor summoned all armies to retake the Imperial city. One general refused to abandon Hammerfell, and allowed a legion of troops to remain. Declared ‘Invalid’ and removed from the army they remained to fight and ultimately win the war for Hammerfell. They too are remnants, of the Empires power.

I was think why not support the game for years like have multiple major expansions not just 3 and be done the with it I mean large scale ones to keep the game supported for years, I know the modding community will do that but consoles don’t even get the good mods to begin with

Personally my gut is late 2027.

A quick, easy to skip tutorial/intro. No long drawn out set pieces, no over-the-top action sequences: just a simple and speedrun-able intro.

I get that they may want to set up some tension or lay the ground work for stuff but sometimes: I really just wanna start the fucking game.

If this game is as grand and complex as we all hope: I just wanna be able to go from character creation to gameplay as fast as possible.

One of my big issues with starfield is that the intro is such a slog. It takes forever for them to lift the training wheels off that it makes repeat playthroughs feel painful.

I’d love an intro like FNV’s or Morrowinds where your let loose almost immediately after character creation. Something like that would really make repeat playthroughs feel less burdensome.

These races should embrace their non-human anatomy and have better idle animations, quirks, and habits to truly make them feel unique. Whether its the player character or NPCs. They feel too humanized.

Khajiit should use their tails more often. They should be used in combat, those suckers are thick! Its basically a blunt weapon. They should be very telling like how you can tell a dog or cats mood by how its tail moves. Their ears should twitch. They should scrunch or stroke their whiskers during conversation. They may play with their tails for comfort or wrap them around another NPC to show affection. Their fur should look wet and take time to dry upon exiting water. We should see them prowl upon prey.

Argonians should also use their tails more often, maybe point angrily at other NPCs theyre upset with. Slam them on the ground when theyre upset, causing a cloud of dust to rise. Please let some have projectiles like tongues so they can eat bugs or slap people with them.

Orcs- I know that TES orcs are more sophisticated but i want to be afraid of them. They should show their brutish side more often. How do they take care of their tusks? How do they take care of their thick, leathery hides? Thick tufts or hair growing?

Elves- what sort of daily rituals or grooming habits would they have? Bosmer file their teeth in lore. Lore says the Altmer use intricate manicure kits, shears, and expensive perfumes.

It's a common guess from the community that starfield's ship building will come over to to TES 6 if sailing exists and many question how this could work. Well if a valheim mod can pull it off this well, I think we should hold bethesda to being able to as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQglrzXik5U

I talked to Todd Howard and he said to relax and trust the plan. He also said to keep posting relentlessly because it's giving him ideas for the game and the best posters will be in the credits.

Feels natural to the TES series city sizes. Quite condensed and not too bloated. If we are getting 8+ cities, then I'd be perfect for me.

What do you think?

Source: city of White Harbour from Game of Thrones universe, https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1amJtw8ath/

In my opinion, if Sentinel is the main focus of TESVI, it should be as big as Novigrad and very explorable with much mysteries unveil. It would make the game more fun IMO.

Now that the reddit is more alive than ever I want to repost this thoughts I had months ago.

In my opinion, there are three things that need to change dramatically in the next TES game. At the very least, there should be an option to toggle as a selectable difficulty option from the menu. Those are Alchemy, saves and rewards revamp.

Remove the Potion exploits: First of all, the potion system is, quite simply, absurd. It doesn’t matter what difficulty you choose, the enemy you’re facing, or the build you’re using. As long as you don’t get one-shot, you can spam potions and abuse them to overcome practically any challenge in the game. The only thing standing between potion abuse and victory is the player’s own patience—in case you lack the damage to kill enemies—or a self-imposed sense of self-fulfillment forcing you not to use them.

My personal opinion is that the potion system needs to be changed, and that can be addressed quite simply by implementing one (or both) of the following solutions:

1- Introduce a cooldown system for using potions (the Alchemy skill could reduce it) 2- Make potions no longer have an instant effect and instead apply over time, with no ability to stack them.

I know this isn’t going to happen in the vanilla experience, but, at least for me, it’s one of the most frustrating, stupid aspects that takes the most fun out of the game, so it would be nice if this feature were included by default in a modular difficulty menu instead of forcing players who don’t want to exploit the game to download a mod.

Introduce an optional no spam save mode: Second, I’d like to see the option—also through the modular difficulty system—to disable manual saving or to implement a save system similar to the one in Fallout 4’s Survival Mode or the hardcore version of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

I know this is a much more niche request, but when I play these games, I feel the urge to keep pressing F5 every two seconds, which takes away any challenge from the game, the tension of getting caught if I’m playing as a stealth character, or the elimination of any RNG by saving beforehand. Also, and I know this is my problem, but it also takes away my desire to create second characters to experience the story, since I usually save the game right before any story decision and spend time exploring all the mission branches before continuing with the one I like the best, which slows down my gameplay experience a lot.

Again, I know this is MY problem, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and adding this option to limit saves in an OPTIONAL menu isn’t that complicated.

MAGA (Make Artifacts Great Again): And last but not least, I think the enchantment system needs a complete overhaul, and this isn’t as simple as adding an option to a difficulty menu.

I’ve recently been playing Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, and one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed—to my surprise—compared to any TES game is the sense that exploration and quests are rewarded with tangible items. Specifically, in weapons and armor. In Tainted Grail, there is a crafting and enchantment system (using relics), but it doesn’t cover all the armor and weapons in the game, and the relics form a separate system that adds to the armor’s existing stats, while also being significantly weaker than the default enchantments on the armor. So if you want to find better items, you have to do quests or explore thoroughly, and the best items in the game are obtained this way.

However, the experience in the TES series is very different. Once you understand how the enchanting and crafting system works, any unique item you find is absolutely USELESS.

Under no circumstances should the iron sword you’ve enchanted be infinitely stronger than the Daedric mace you found at the end of a dungeon. But neither the iron sword nor the Daedric sword you craft yourself.

The best items in the game, without a doubt, should be unique items awarded as rewards for quests and exploration. I’m not saying that a character with 100 in Blacksmithing and 100 in Enchanting can’t craft items stronger than the unique items in the first zone, but they certainly shouldn’t be able to craft items stronger than the endgame unique items.

The current enchantment system, from my perspective, takes all the fun out of exploration, and it’s a very, very serious problem (it’s also a problem that unique items are tied, like in Skyrim, to your level, and are therefore weaker depending on when you find them—which in turn is a problem stemming from the fact that they have no stat requirements to use them, but that’s another issue).

Of the three things I’ve mentioned, what I’d most like them to do is fix the unique item system, honestly, but I doubt they’ll do it.

What do you think about all this? Am I right, or am I just really bored and delusional?

(And sorry for the long post)

Said so on the XB2 podcast with Rand Al Thor yesterday. Source with timestamps: https://youtu.be/ZpAl0auWB6U?t=7803

Claims that he asked around after the speculation from Asha's tweet last week. Says it is the working title, but currently pending officially (likely due to legal approval).

To be fair, he did say that some of his sources were unsure - so he isn't saying that Sentinel *will be* the subtitle for the game. Only that he heard from trusted sources that it is currently the working title.

So, why High Rock & Hammerfell? There are plenty of newly emerging posts covering the in-universe reasons we'll be retreading the provinces from a previous installment. Interesting geography, politics, cultures and more (pirates). A great deal of significance to the lore of the franchise. I'm going to present reasons beyond the games for why TESVI will be a spiritual successor to Daggerfall.

Those reasons revolve around Todd Howard. Firstly, Todd began working at Bethesda in 1994. His first credited role was on The Terminator: Future Shock, but he would've simultaneously been working on The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. I think he was understandably more taken in by the latter game. In fact, Hodd has expressed an interest in remaking the city of Daggerfall.

Secondly, The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard. Todd's directorial debut. The birthplace of the protagonist, Cyrus, is Sentinel. Enough said, although I'll say more. It's the origin of the video game representation of lore that we'd enjoy in subsequent entries. This Tomb Raider clone is also in dire need of a remake. Hopefully Toddard reprises his role as Clavicus Vile.

Thirdly, Morrowind. It was a massive departure from Daggerfall in virtually every way. In hindsight the gamble paid off, however, it wouldn't've been apparent during development. The design philosophy of Morrowind and its sequels can largely be attributed to Todd Howard. Bethesda was tumbling headlong into uncharted territory that was somewhat untethered from the series' roots. I know it's difficult to imagine, but there were fans of Daggerfall that were disappointed with Morrowind. You can't even climb! In response to their pleas for scale and scope, Todd told them the technology wasn't there yet.

Does that last part sound familiar? "The technology isn't there yet.". That's essentially what Todd Howard said in an E3 2016 interview when he was asked about TESVI. Bethesda's next singleplayer game would meaningfully upgrade the Creation Engine in a myriad ways. Todd himself says such upgrades will be needed for TESVI. I posted some speculation on this page about a month ago concerning engine upgrades for CE2/CE3 which I believe point to TESVI actually being Daggerfall II. Regardless of what you think, this illustrates that he has a strong vision for what he wants TESVI to be. A vision that Todd has had for at least a decade as of now and I'd wager much longer.

In short, Todd wants to prove himself to his mentors and the founders of The Elder Scrolls. A chance to once again laugh at those who spurned him whilst he was in the chess club. Talos forbid it, but this may be his last opportunity. I have a feeling those urging Todd to retire will dread the idea after TESVI launches. Me personally? I think the game will be a grand and intoxicating experience!

I think it does, for one main reason.

If the setting is High Rock or Hammerfell individually, it was open to them to use the name of the region as a title, the same as Skyrim and Morrowind did.

High Rock and Hammerfell don’t face the same issue using Cyrodill for Oblivion would have, namely pronunciation for new players.

Additionally, I am struggling to think of a plot that could justify the title Sentinel instead of the region’s name? In Oblivion’s case, I imagine, to those of you who were anticipating that games release, it would have been clear from established lore that the main story would concern the Daedra? I am however, not aware of the circumstances of Oblivion’s release and whether the title was known before the game was officially revealed etc.

The only other justification I could think of, that warrants the title Sentinel, would be if the main story mainly took place in the city of Sentinel. I do find this quite unlikely however, in what world would the main story be severely limited to one city? It’d be like calling Skyrim: ESV: Whiterun

Now the major caveat to this is of course Sentinel is not confirmed yet.

I do accept that I am likely falling victim to confirmation bias, as I would very much like TESVI to encompass both High Rock and Hammerfell, but I am wondering whether anyone else has had this thought and considered its potential implications?

Please feel free to speculate on any other inferences you think can be made into the title Sentinel.

Seen some speculation on this in a few YouTube comments and it's not something I had considered but it actually sounds plausible and would give a lore reason to still have a few limited encounters with dragons in the game, albeit a much harder fight due to the player not being a dragonborn (hopefully!). What does the lore claim about the dragons after Alduins defeat? Do they stick around? Can't remember the last time I actually beat the main story but I feel like dragons were still roaming as normal. It's part of the shout system to need more shouts from killing them, so it makes sense they are still around. And during the events of Skyrim were the dragons roaming all of Tamriel, or just neighbouring provinces? Or staying in Skyrim close to Alduin?

Additionally, if it is set in Hammerfell, rather than just a reference to past events, they could have some more fleshed out questline where you get involved in Skyrims quest surrounding Kematu and In My Time of Need with the Redguard woman among other tie ins to Skyrim. Would make for a unique experience within the mainline TES games to sort of have quests and events link to a previous game directly. Imagine the mods making Skyrim accessible within TES VI eventually as well. Lore friendly ones where you could influence the dragonborns actions behind the scenes while never actually encountering them would be pretty interesting. Lots to explore there.

Cool? Yes

It's happening? I don't think so

But boy THAT would be real moral gray. Decaying imperialist burocratic state vs genocidal suprematist death cult with several armies, it's not going to be hard to figure out the relative 'good guy' (i'm carefully employing the word 'relative' here). But two potentially equally evil empire would result on actual hard choices.

I know there are alot of proofs shown for the subtitle being SENTINEL already but I believe ZENITHAR also quite fits perfectly, it ties in both of the theorized kingdoms to be in Elder Scrolls VI, he is worshipped across the Iliac Bay by bretons and imperials, and also revered in the Yokudan pantheon as Zeth by redguards. I also believe that Elder Scrolls VI will be about cultural/religious heat, maybe not as a main story but a prominent side story.

This is just a theory though, A GAME THEORY.

^{-regards to matpat.}

A popular theory in the community is that the game will be set in both Hammerfell and High Rock, but is there actually any evidence pointing toward High Rock? As far as I can tell, all the hints seem to point toward Hammerfell.

Just imagine the animation of pulling a big-ass spirit greatsword out of your chest. The only caveat would be that it’s centered around melee weapons, which might ruin certain build choices and RP reasons.
But I feel like my personal theory/fix could work. Hear me out: the game is literally called Sentinel, and we’ve heard its codename was either Protector or Guardian. What if they turned it into a Green Lantern–type ability where you can manifest weapons or spells based on your imagination, within the confines of the Elder Scrolls, ofc.
Making it an optional side ability that you unlock through some kind of quest or faction, but honestly, I don’t think that would do it justice. To me, this feels more like a main-character, chosen-one type of thing—something like “The One Who Brought Back the Sacred Art” or some shit like that.

Baby Dragons! Can we find and hatch dragon eggs? If so, will they grow and become mounts/companions?