The Elder Scrolls
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The four main Elder Scrolls games, Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion are known for their open-ended gameplay and their huge environments. The newest part of the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion, was released in North America on March 20, 2006 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and soon to be released on the Playstation 3 (with the Knights of the Nine expansion included).
- The Elder Scrolls, Chapter I - Arena (1994)
- The Elder Scrolls, Chapter II - Daggerfall (1996)
- The Elder Scrolls, Chapter III - Morrowind (2002)
- The Elder Scrolls, Chapter IV - Oblivion (2006)
- One expansion pack for Oblivion: Knights of the Nine (2006)
In addition, there are some off-shoots that are not PC role-playing games, but employ the same game universe:
- The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire (1997)
- The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (1998)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Dawnstar (2003)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold (2004)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey (2004)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion Mobile (2006)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion (2007)
TES Travels games Dawnstar and Stormhold run only on Java-enabled cell phones. Shadowkey has been developed for the N-Gage. Morrowind was released for both the Microsoft Windows and Xbox platforms. Oblivion has been released for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
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[edit] The World of The Elder Scrolls
The world of TES is known for its attention to detail, realism, and the long, complex lists of names, dates, and places. They constitute its extensive history and the vast, interconnected structure of its various societies, cultures, and religions much more than what most players are familiar with.
Furthermore, there is no one compilation of all information pertaining to TES, and, within the games, historical references are often vague or unsure. Players are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about situations and events for which the records are few and incomplete or when competing viewpoints obscure the truth. This has spawned a subculture amongst TES players of history and philosophy affectionately called loremasters who frequently engage in long-winded and convoluted online debates as to the specifics of theological insights or economic patterns.
The Elder Scrolls games take place on the continent of Tamriel, and is a large landmass divided into nine provinces. An exception is The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire, which takes place between the realm of Oblivion, an alternate dimension ruled by the Daedra, and the mortal realm of Mundus. It is known that there are continents besides Tamriel in the Elder Scrolls universe, but there is yet to be an official game that takes place in one.
The nine provinces of Tamriel are:
- Cyrodiil, homeland of the Imperial
- Black Marsh, homeland of the Argonians
- Elsweyr, homeland of the Khajiit
- Hammerfell, homeland of the Redguards
- High Rock, homeland of the Bretons and the Orcs
- Morrowind, homeland of the Dunmer or Dark Elves
- Skyrim, homeland of the Nords
- Summerset Isles, homeland of the Altmer or High Elves
- Valenwood, homeland of the Bosmer or Wood Elves
While each of the ten playable races has a "home province" or province of origin, they are not limited to this province and can be found outside its borders, though they are a minority. It should also be noted that the home province of the Orcs is, in fact, a city-state called Orsinium, which lies within the borders of High Rock.
Other races included in TES lore are Ayleid, Chimer, Dwemer, Ehlnofey, Falmer, Hist, Imga, Kamal, Ka Po' Tun, Maormer, Sload, Tang Mo, and Tsaesci. The Dwemer were destroyed for unknown reasons before Arena, but this is explained in Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III).
The Elder Scrolls places great emphasis on the idea of the dualism and equality of opposites. This dualism is not the Abrahamic dualism of good and evil, but more closely resembles a fusion of Eastern and pre-Christian Western beliefs on the subject, being the duality of order and chaos. According to Elder Scrolls Lore, the concepts of order and chaos can be translated collectively into everything. These notions might be more exactly approximated using the words stasis (unchanging continuity) and force (unknowable energy). Almost all Tamrielic religions strongly feature the idea that the world was created through an intermingling of these two things, some saying that time is a synthesis of continuity and alteration, and most religious creation-theories deal with one or more mythological characters representing these absolutes either procreating or engaging in combat (or both, as the case may be). The thought experiment of the irresistible force is often invoked, and much of the Elder Scrolls theosophical lore is devoted to developing and examining hypotheses as to how such a thought experiment might actually play out on all levels, were (and if) it metaphysically possible.
As such, TES lore touches on a surprising amount of varied intellectual debate, and it's presentation in the context of a fantastical, metarealistic hypothetical world often blurs the lines between many subjects traditionally treated as mutually isolated for the purposes of examination.
[edit] Game Mechanics
The Elder Scrolls games can be broadly categorised as role-playing games. However, in contrast to other games of the genre, The Elder Scrolls maintains a unique, skill-based approach to character advancement. A multitude of skills can be raised through use, and once a character's skills have increased sufficiently, their level increases in reflection of those skills. Because of this, players are allowed immense flexibility and choice in character advancement. This is perceived as both a strength and a weakness in the series by gamers, although the flexibility of the games' engines has facilitated the release of game extensions (or mods) that change the skill and level mechanics.
The Elder Scrolls main series of games emphasizes different aspects of the gaming experience than most computer role-playing games. A brief monograph by Joystiq in early November 2006 compared BioWare's creations to Bethesda's by noting a difference in emphasis. Bethesda's creations focused on "aesthetic presentation and open-ended adventuring"; BioWare's on a combat system and modular architecture.<ref>Rose, Alan (Nov. 3, 2006). Neverwinter Nights 2, Metareview. Joystiq.</ref> The series' overarching aim has been noted by their designers as well. Bethesda has described their motivations in creating the first series game, Arena, as those of any good pen-and-paper RPG: creating an environment in which the player could be what the player wants and do what the player wants.<ref>Arena, Behind the Scenes. The Elder Scrolls Tenth Anniversary. Bethesda Softworks (2004).</ref> Daggerfall's manual begins with a sort of design manifesto, declaring the developers' intention to "create a book with blank pages", and "a game designed to encourage exploration and reward curiosity". Choices, in the form of paths taken by the player, to do good, to chase after evil, are left open to the player, "just like in real life".<ref>(1996) Bethesda Softworks Daggerfall instruction manual Bethesda Softworks, 1-2.</ref> This design trend continued through into Morrowind, following the hiatus of similarly epic games in the interim, though Joystiq's previously noted insistence on graphics came again to the fore. During the development of Morrowind, Bethesda tripled her staff, so as to perfectly colour her newly hand-made world. In their own words, "We knew we had to exceed the visual polish of the other games on the market, and we made it our goal to put The Elder Scrolls back into the forefront of game innovation."<ref>Morrowind, Behind the Scenes. The Elder Scrolls Tenth Anniversary. Bethesda Softworks (2004).</ref> The Elder Scrolls series' emphasis on freedom remained. In the words of Bethesda's Morrowind Prophecies, "Experience it as you wish."<ref>Into to Morrowind. Game Introductions. Bethesda Softworks. The Imperial Library (2002).</ref>
The series' grand ambitions have put some members of the gaming press into an apparent position of subdued skepticism prior to the release of each new game, incredulous as to Bethesda's capacity to surmount her obstacles. Nonetheless, whether this be a grab for reader interest or a true senitment on behalf of the game press, such feelings evaporate by the end of each unvaryingly warm review the series' games receive.<ref>Klett, Steve (Jul., 2002). "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind". PC Gamer US, p. 76-7.</ref>
These mechanics exist in contrast to most RPGs, where experience points are the sole measure of a character's advancement, and levelling up drives skill increases.
[edit] The Elder Scrolls themselves
The Elder Scrolls themselves are arguably MacGuffins in the series. These scrolls are said to be scrolls of both prophecy and history. It is hinted that most of the events of the series have been inspired by those who have read one (or more) of the Elder Scrolls. In TES lore, it takes a powerful mystic to read the Scrolls, and interpretations are never absolute. They are used much like an over-complex and difficult Tarot set. One "tunes" them to a specific time and place through a mystical ritual, and then interprets the assorted symbology and iconography which appear on the otherwise blank parchment. It has been hinted that reading the Elder Scrolls too much actually causes literal blindness. In Oblivion, there is a sect of monks, known as the Blind Moth monks, that devote their lives to the reading and interpretation of the Scrolls. The more advanced members who actually read the scrolls wear blindfolds at all times when they are not divining the Elder Scrolls, and are instructed to use their eyes for this purpose only. Retired Blind Moth monks are completely blind and continue to wear the blindfold, apparently for ceremonial purposes. At times, however, cosmically important individuals, or individuals the subject of prophecy have been able to see writing on the Scrolls, without the associated rituals.
In Oblivion, the Elder Scrolls themselves are the object of the final Thieves Guild quest, "The Ultimate Heist". The player is tasked to steal an Elder Scroll from the Imperial Palace, located in Imperial City, Cyrodiil. Though the player can pick it up in his/her inventory, and is told that it contains prophecy, he/she cannot read it: the scroll appears as an incomprehensible chart vaguely resembling a star chart.
The Gray Fox utilizes the scroll to remove the negative effects of his Gray Cowl, allowing him to live in a way he was previously unable to. The power of the Elder Scroll is so great that the curse on the Gray Cowl is completely erased from history all the way back to the cowl's first original (mortal) owner. Once the curse is gone, only the Player and the previous Gray Fox know of the now-nonexistent curse of the Gray Cowl. The fate of the stolen scroll, once given to the Gray Fox, is left unresolved.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
[edit] Official Website links
[edit] Game Archive and Review sites
[edit] Fan Sites
- The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages – Classic Elder Scrolls wiki page featuring a lot of info on all the games.
- The Imperial Library – Library of lore and legends of the series, news and forums.
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