Hey!
I know that you are probably well into the development, but i simply must share a mod which i found for New Vegas, and i absolutely adore it and would like to see implemented in every game from now to forever! (well, the idea of it anyway

. You can read it here
http://arwenevecom.ipage.com/FalloutNV/FNV-mods04.htm
Its called One Life and basically what it does is that it introduces a whole new concept of dying: Not dying at all < yes i know how it sounds, but keep with me ok?:)
Here is how it works: In the moment just before death, you pass out and are left for dead. Then some time passes, and you found yourself in an "safe location" (nearest village, doctors house etc, under the rock) beaten up, with broken bones, robbed of all your money, and most of your items gone.
What i like about it so much is that it introduces an actual penalty for "dying", and dying is no longer just an inconvenience due to load time...but actual threat with dire consequences. I would like to play a game which flow is not interrupted and chunks of gameplay are not lost just because i had forgotten to press a button once every 5 minutes or random CTD...
the Sense of urgency and immersion which comes from playing a single game, with all the learning experience happening in the actual playthrough, without the need to save and load your progress every time something doesnt go exactly as planned, would be greatest addition of them all.
Tell me, if you can just save before entering casino, and load when you loose all your money, of what point is the casino? And how is that
NOT considered a cheating? I think that save/load system is one of the mostly embraced, laziest, and most damaging thing that rpg like elder scrolls, fallout, or gothic can have. And if developers would put some real thoughts into gameflow of death and save/load mechanics, than death could be immensely enriching experience, instead it is most of the time just a device for the least skilled/not very investive players to help ensure that they will get to the end credits.
Few games have already implemented some ideas which promote more natural flow of gameplay (i.e., not a time machine jumps

. The finishing moves in Gothic were sweet, or crematorium koncept of Planescape: Torment, or Dark souls (doesnt really count because of its online nature, but you know what i am talking about), or even Far Cry 2, with its buddy rescue system. I would really love to see an idea like this to be fully implemented in some games (especially open world rpgs), but judging by the nature of "improvements" in games like Skyrim or Fallout, and the way in which they are moving, i dont see an"integration of gameplay" like this to be prevailing trend in gaming development anytime soon (sadly, quite opposite).
ok, i just had to get this off my chest in some place where i think that i wont be shouted down by skyrim fans, thank you for reading, and if something sticks to the back of the brain it would be a great bonus
