Introduce Yourself to The Elder Scrolls Online

[Mycroft Holmes]

Except in fantasy universes, all too often there is a method of near-instantaneous communication (and even if it takes a few days to deliver a message, it's usually very reliable). Characters in fantasy works of fiction are very aware of developments happening a long way away.

I'm not saying every piece of fiction is the same. But his example was Game of Thrones, where such communication definitely does not exist. The other more pertinent example is Elder Scrolls. And having played through both Oblivion and Skyrim, there does not seem to be any form of instantaneous communication there either.

Also, fantasy universes also have a common language and culture - something that, in the real world, contributed heavily to the development of science and philosophy in Medieval Europe.

Again not a universal thing. Qunari have their own language and culture. In Westeros they are pretty divided as well(does not take much to get the lords in the North to start chanting 'king in the north.') And the elder scrolls dudes were apparently divided enough to have an insane and on going civil war. So id say cooperation ain't their thing.

The gripe is that fantasy universes are not just "iron age Europe with some magic thrown in". Characters often exhibit modern sensibilities and beliefs, and there are often "scientist" characters with advanced knowledge. Fantasy societies have the capacity to develop scientifically at a faster pace than ancient/medieval real world societies, and yet they don't.

Presumably they could develop along different lines but still be developing. You'd have to give me examples of games/books/tv you're thinking of. But the way I see it they don't develop technology because its not relevant. They approach problems differently because they have different tools. In Neverwinter Nights the intelligent people tend to learn magic because it is the most obvious and powerful path apparent to someone who is smart. Thus they look for magic solutions and aren't likely to discover something like electricity. Something like electricity would help everyone in a city, but the ability to generate light and heat help the person who knows how to do that. Thus the intelligent person has no reason to spread their power. Unlike an inventor who needs to convince businessmen and citizens to support his idea and make a power plant before he can enjoy the fruits of his labor. The intelligent mage has no such need.

This would presumably be the same mechanism at work in the elder scrolls. Also elder scrolls seems to have different cultures and I'm pretty sure the elves have their own language or something?

and, much as they are a staple of pop-history, "lone geniuses with knowledge hundreds of years ahead of their peers" did not exist in history

I wouldn't say they are necessarily ahead of all their peers. But there are definitely people like Leonardo Da Vinci, who pioneered ideas on tanks, flight, and changed the way we view medicine by viewing the body as a complex machine. All long before those ideas became either accepted realities or were even though of as possible.

 

[Kahani]

both Morrowind and Oblivion had a class system.

Not in the sense the term is usually meant they didn't. What the vast majority of people understand "class" to mean is a definition of what your character can do. If you're a fighter, you wear armour and hit people with a pointy stick but can't do magic. If you're a rogue, you wear light armour and do stealth type stuff but can't take much damage, and so on. TES has none of that. All you do is choose which skills will be better when you first start the game. It has no effect on what you can actually do or how you have to play. In fact, due to the way levelling worked it was often better to pick completely different skills from the ones you actually wanted to use.

So yeah, they had a class system in the sense that the word class appeared at some point, but that's it. It had absolutely nothing to do with the kind of class system most MMOs and RPGs have, so it's really rather disingenuous to answer complaints about introducing that kind of class system by claiming there was already a class system.

Even 600 years ago people were developing the steam engine.

Much longer ago than that even. Steam engines existed 2000 years ago, and possibly even earlier than that. It just took a while for anyone to work out any practical use for them.

And having played through both Oblivion and Skyrim, there does not seem to be any form of instantaneous communication there either.

Morrowind had instantaneous teleportation and fast moving levitation. Removed for gameplay/engine reasons in Oblivion and Skyrim, but in the lore a very fast courier service would clearly be possible.

 

[TriGGeR_HaPPy]

I'm... Not sure what to think, to be honest. The universe which TES is set in intrigues me, but MMO's (or anything which needs a constant payment plan) has to be damn good for me to pay up for it (yay for being a poor uni student).
This video does look kinda good, at least. The usual MMORPG gameplay, with a few slightly small differences thrown in. No idea how this will end up, but I'll be keeping an eye on it. ^_^

 

[ShakerSilver]

9 races huh? Someones getting the cut and I didn't see any khajiit. I guess they are already planing ahead with expansion packs.

Actually it's the Imperial who are not playable in the game, since they are loyal to the evil empire and don't belong to any of the factions.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

Much longer ago than that even. Steam engines existed 2000 years ago, and possibly even earlier than that. It just took a while for anyone to work out any practical use for them.

True, but I was mostly talking about the modern steam engine in it's iteration that allowed for the industrial revolution.

Morrowind had instantaneous teleportation and fast moving levitation. Removed for gameplay/engine reasons in Oblivion and Skyrim, but in the lore a very fast courier service would clearly be possible.

Wouldn't that be for powerful mages though? The kind who I doubt would be very interested in carrying letters around for people? It would be like going to school for 10 years to get your PhD in engineering and then the job you get offered is carrying letters around for people.

 

[waj9876]

Oh hey. Actual gameplay. And not just the creators talking about what they were hoping to do, calling the videos of that "gameplay" is just so...I was worried they weren't actually showing anything because it was going to be fucking horrible.

This actually looks good. I'm surprised.

 

[The Funslinger]

It's always amazing with worlds like this, how a thousand years before armor and technology look exactly the same as they do in the current games that are apparently set far later.

Suspension of disbelief only gets you so far.

That's usually my one gripe with fantasy settings. Some of them (and in my head I'm thinking about the Game of Thrones Universe) have had civilized society for thousands of years, yet still rely on horses, fire, etc. No steam, no electricity, nada.

You would think they'd have more technology by then, if you juxtaposition it to the real world's timeline of events regarding human civilization and inventions.

Well there are still civilizations in certain areas of the world living a stone age lifestyle, completely unaware of modern technology.

Advancement is by chance.

 

[Kahani]

Wouldn't that be for powerful mages though? The kind who I doubt would be very interested in carrying letters around for people? It would be like going to school for 10 years to get your PhD in engineering and then the job you get offered is carrying letters around for people.

No, it was just one of the two fast travel options and was available to any member of the mage's guild (or House Telvanni I think) for a small fee. So while it wasn't easily available to everyone whenever they want, it's clearly common and easy enough to allow many people to engage in regular long-distance travel.

Importantly, remember we're not actually talking about something like a postal service, we're talking about how major technological advances might be able to spread across a fantasy world. A powerful mage might not want to spend their time delivering regular people's letters, but they may well be interested in carrying news of a working steam engine or gun to their fellow mages. The point is that you don't necessarily need widespread global communication like the internet for things to spread, you just need such communication to be possible at all, even if only to relatively few people.