random comments:
-they keep saying they want to get better on the technical aspect of their games, and making them more stable. then they specifically speak of animations being better.
-not gamebryo, and they just acquired id, so tech5 maybe? would that help with animations? (don't know anything about animations and engines) "brand new engine" could mean anything from something that hasn't been used fully in a "real game" (no ipad mess) yet, such as tech5, or something completely new they made themselves. if they DID make it themselves, hopefully they took into consideration all of the gamebryo shortcomings and limitations. i would hate to see them model it closely for familiarity.
-as far as loading per town.... i guess i was the only one that played Oblivion? it loaded every town i entered. small loading time, sure, but it loaded. i don't remember morrowind doing that, in the small 20 minutes i played of it. but either way, i wasn't annoyed by Oblivion doing it. and there were still small 2-6 cottage "towns" that didn't need loading, as they had no walls etc. i'm sure it will be fine!
-DO WE KNOW IF THIS IS SINGLEPLAYER YET? not seeing any mention in the thread. if there's co-op, fine, but don't force me to have AI companions or in certain parts of the game (ie: forcing it to be so tough that you have no choice but to recruit someone). ES was highly regarded recently when us loners were defending SP gaming.