The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Interview

Wired gets some comments from Todd Howard on the Radiant Quest system, and how Skyrim’s procedurally generated quests means there’s technically “infinite” quests.

(The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever,) Howard said.

The game’s Radiant quest system randomly generates new tasks based on your progress in the game. An innkeeper might ask you to hunt for bandits in a place you haven’t found yet, or an aspiring alchemist could request that you collect 10 undiscovered flowers for his work. Howard claims that the options are endless.

In addition to these minor tasks, Howard says you’ll be able to do extra work for each of the game’s factions, like the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild. Once you complete the scripted quest lines for each group, you can go to their respective hubs and pick up randomly generated missions to steal gems or assassinate shopkeepers across Skyrim’s massive world.

This kind of language is usually used in PR for procedurally generated content, for example in Borderlands’ “thousands and thousands” of guns.