If you were in charge of Zelda, how would things work?

There are already three timelines, all based on "what-if" principles mixed occasionally with time travel. What you're proposing is just unnecessary. Just ignore the AT entirely and make your games on another timeline.

i just totally ignore the timeline, like i know its there kind of but as long as its got the basic 'Link saves someone then gets dragged on a quest mostly by Zelda to get some things and restore master sword to beat Ganon' thing going on then thats OK for me!

and got Epona to ride, or warp points cause it is annoying walking to the place on the other side of the map!

Voo_Bopo: Try not to double post.

I've started to kinda ignore the timeline too, honestly. I feel like, overall, the mythology is a little out of whack.

@dizzi earler -

The implementation of more rupees and items to buy could work if Nintendo planned to further the series into full-on RPG territory - taking SS and boosting it up to a Diablo-level collect-a-thon.

I'm glad the timeline was revealed. That way, we don't have to talk about it any more.
It was interesting at first, but it eventually got to where I was like "OK, shut up" every time it was brought up.

in twilight princess they did have the lil cutscene saying 'youve got too many rupees lets put it back' after opening a chest, and i have no idea what diablo is..

Have you been living under a rock the past few weeks?

Enlighten yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_III

so kinda like elder scrolls is it? and my house is made of bricks so yea living under several rocks! haha

Nice try, and I applaud the sentiment, but bricks aren't rocks... Slate roof tiles, maybe.

ok blah oh well nice try me!!

Well, since this topic is mainly about how you'd change the timeline, honestly, I would likely remove PH and ST. They are both good games for what they are, but I think they slightly hurt WW's perfect ending.

Now...How would I do things? I am not going to talk about how I would change the timeline as that is not how I take the title of this discussion.

First off I would make there be far less high-value rupees. In Twilight Princess...no matter how much I enjoy the game ruppees worth 100 rupees are too common. And unless you are terrible at the game there are enough of them throughout the game by the time you reach the end of Twilight Princess you will still have plenty left to find. With nothing to spend it on. I suppose I would lean more towards the statistics for A Link to the Past for how common hearts, magic bottles, and rupees were. Yes, magic would return. Though I would keep the Stamina from Skyward Sword. Rupees in ALttP were also pretty common...well at least there were plenty of caves and such with a decent amount of rupees as well as the dungeons. Though I would have more things in the game to spend it on and not just by the end of the the game two blue or green potions for Ganon. I would also still have the SS motion controls as it was good. Perfect it even more so. Increase the difficulty of each enemy not just the dungeon. Where they will block more easily and attack more fiercely. Make the bosses epic. When I say that I mean not only impressive looking, but difficult. Truly so. Like Moldorm from ALttP. Everyone who has played the game knows how annoying the boss can get, correct? Heck maybe if their weaknesses are obvious maybe have them block attacks to it until you do something to daze them for long enough to get a few strikes in. Something like that.

Have awesome side quests with good rewards. Good character development. Have side quests that has the characters going through hard times. Getting development and making the players have a connection to them. Maybe one where Link is to go out and get something to cure a person from an illness, but for once while he succeeds he still fails. He arrives to late and the person has already died. Have the players feel like what trouble they just went through was all for nothing. Heck. Make the ill person someone who had a big part in Links life and was continually in the game in such a way to make the gamers get attached. Have character development not only in side characters but also main ones Link included. That kind of thing. I would also keep in the item upgrades from SS, but also make them more useful. And maybe orchestrate more in-game music. One more thing to add...well I have more, but I could go on. So one more it is. Even if the boss is Ganon/Ganondorf. Make the journey to complete the game not an easy one. Have the journey up to his room where he is be an even tougher journey. And just when you think it can't get tougher make him the toughest boss in the game. (After having several other tough bosses and maybe even some extremely tough optional bosses. For certain optional perks.) Make the players work to beat the game and also have it be a real journey. Make it have sad times, happy times, times where you want to punch a character in the face. Make it feel like you ARE Link.

Nearly every Zelda game since ALTTP was based around some central gimmick.
Anyways.
-I'd get rid of most handholding.
Fi is the worst example of it in the entire series.

-I'd also put more emphasis on sidequests, exploration, and secrets.

-I'd make boss battles less reliant on the items you get in dungeons.

-I'd get rid of huge empty fields with nothing to find or anything happening in them.

-I'd get rid of any future notions of adding in Ganon or any other "greater power" where they don't belong (Twilight Princess,

-Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword are examples). Especially when the villians serving them make much better villians.

-I'd make overall dungeon progression less linear. Now, while lately Zelda games seem to depend on linearity for plot reasons, this could easily be done with non-linearity by having story elements not based on specific dungeons, and would progress the same, no matter what dungeon order you went in. For instance in Skyward Sword, let's say you could go to any of the first three dungeons. Let's say you go to Eldin Volcano first. You'd basically get the cutscene you'd normally get at the end of Skyview temple. It's simple, honestly.

-Groose and Linebeck in every Zelda game.

Yes. Plus the fishdude from tWW.

In all honesty, they could replaced both with the untold story of what happened when Link, Tetra, and the gang arrive at the shores of future New Hyrule.

Let's not make it easy for them either. They should use the People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau as a template.