***NB: There will be spoilers of Elder Scrolls games here. Please go no further if you haven't yet played them and wish to do so spoiler free***
Skyrim came out on 11th Nov 2011 and since then I've played thru it three times. The first time, shortly after release, had been years since I had last played Morrowind. I remembered TES3 in 2011 as a fantastic, alien landscape, the Dunmer and inhospitable climate. I remember spears, medium armour and being able to fly. I remembered dwemer ruins and their constructs, animated machines that clinked, hissed and groaned like rusty metal. I remember equipping a gazillion bits of clothing, armour and jewellery. But I'd forgotten so much else. The specifics were mostly forgotten and I'd never even played Bloodmoon.
Until now. After a post in these very forums I was inspired to have another go and have just earlier today finished Bloodmoon, before which I finished Tribunal (have yet to do the main quests or any guilds/houses). And doing so has given me a massive, massive, massive amount more admiration for Skyrim than I had before.
Oblivion was a big departure from Morrowind, perhaps since it was designed to be played on consoles from the start. Armour went from seven separate pieces down to five, clothing was now instead of (not additional too) and many skills and weapon types were removed. No medium armour or spears, but they kept athletics and major/minor skills. There were no dwemer ruins to speak of, but there plenty of daedra.
But it's the little things in Morrowind that make what came after so much more special. One thing I thought was amazing was in Tribunal where Almalexia has you investigating the "End of Times" cult. Their so called "prophet" preached the end of days for Vvardenfell and that Oblivion gates would open everywhere. A crazy prophet we dismissed in TES3 prophesises all the events of TES4 and the eruption that led to the Dunmer fleeing to Skyrim in TES5.
And in TES3: Bloodmoon, like in TES5: Dragonborn, I got to go to Solstheim! Replete with Skaal, stahlrim, reiklings, Raven's Rock (looked a little different back then!), Castle Karstaag and Hrothmund's Axe! How great then in Skyrim to go to this place as the Dragonborn where years ago we'd walked as the Nerevarine!?
Being around Vivec and Almalexia, the story of Nerevar, Dagoth Ur and the dwemer is brilliant. In Skyrim, the dwemer have been gone for more than a millenia. In the time of TES3, there are still piles of ash where they'd been standing or sitting.
Seeing the dwemer ruins again in TES3 makes you appreciate the updated ones in TES5. There are so many elements that carried across to the art design of TES5 from 3. Many of the books we find in Skyrim are all over Morrowind too. The continuity and lore carried between the titles is really a work of amazing attention and dedication and something I missed almost entirely.
From the way Morrowind led to Cyrodil, and Cyrodil to Skyrim, with easter eggs, hints and references, I think I can make a very good guess where TES6 will be. TES3 was about the Chimer who became the Dunmer, the mortals who became Gods and the folly of the dwemer. TES4 was about the daedra and the Empire, the death of the Septim line. TES5 was about the dragons returning, the nords' culture being assailed in the wake of the events in TES4 (and the eruption).
All of that leads me to think that TES6 will be in the High Elves/Altermi home of Summerset Isles. As the driving force behind the Aldmeri Dominion, I think their home province is the logical next step considering the prevalence of the Thalmor to everything happening on Tamriel post-Oblivion. We've already been to High Rock and Hammerfell (pre-TES3), Morrowind, Cyrodil and Skyrim. There are still many other interesting provinces such as Black Marsh (my second guess) and Elswyr but Summerset Isles seems to be where a post-Skyrim story would lead. Whichever side won the civil war, taking the fight to the Thalmor strikes me as the next logical step.
Skyrim came out on 11th Nov 2011 and since then I've played thru it three times. The first time, shortly after release, had been years since I had last played Morrowind. I remembered TES3 in 2011 as a fantastic, alien landscape, the Dunmer and inhospitable climate. I remember spears, medium armour and being able to fly. I remembered dwemer ruins and their constructs, animated machines that clinked, hissed and groaned like rusty metal. I remember equipping a gazillion bits of clothing, armour and jewellery. But I'd forgotten so much else. The specifics were mostly forgotten and I'd never even played Bloodmoon.
Until now. After a post in these very forums I was inspired to have another go and have just earlier today finished Bloodmoon, before which I finished Tribunal (have yet to do the main quests or any guilds/houses). And doing so has given me a massive, massive, massive amount more admiration for Skyrim than I had before.
Oblivion was a big departure from Morrowind, perhaps since it was designed to be played on consoles from the start. Armour went from seven separate pieces down to five, clothing was now instead of (not additional too) and many skills and weapon types were removed. No medium armour or spears, but they kept athletics and major/minor skills. There were no dwemer ruins to speak of, but there plenty of daedra.
But it's the little things in Morrowind that make what came after so much more special. One thing I thought was amazing was in Tribunal where Almalexia has you investigating the "End of Times" cult. Their so called "prophet" preached the end of days for Vvardenfell and that Oblivion gates would open everywhere. A crazy prophet we dismissed in TES3 prophesises all the events of TES4 and the eruption that led to the Dunmer fleeing to Skyrim in TES5.
And in TES3: Bloodmoon, like in TES5: Dragonborn, I got to go to Solstheim! Replete with Skaal, stahlrim, reiklings, Raven's Rock (looked a little different back then!), Castle Karstaag and Hrothmund's Axe! How great then in Skyrim to go to this place as the Dragonborn where years ago we'd walked as the Nerevarine!?
Being around Vivec and Almalexia, the story of Nerevar, Dagoth Ur and the dwemer is brilliant. In Skyrim, the dwemer have been gone for more than a millenia. In the time of TES3, there are still piles of ash where they'd been standing or sitting.
Seeing the dwemer ruins again in TES3 makes you appreciate the updated ones in TES5. There are so many elements that carried across to the art design of TES5 from 3. Many of the books we find in Skyrim are all over Morrowind too. The continuity and lore carried between the titles is really a work of amazing attention and dedication and something I missed almost entirely.
From the way Morrowind led to Cyrodil, and Cyrodil to Skyrim, with easter eggs, hints and references, I think I can make a very good guess where TES6 will be. TES3 was about the Chimer who became the Dunmer, the mortals who became Gods and the folly of the dwemer. TES4 was about the daedra and the Empire, the death of the Septim line. TES5 was about the dragons returning, the nords' culture being assailed in the wake of the events in TES4 (and the eruption).
All of that leads me to think that TES6 will be in the High Elves/Altermi home of Summerset Isles. As the driving force behind the Aldmeri Dominion, I think their home province is the logical next step considering the prevalence of the Thalmor to everything happening on Tamriel post-Oblivion. We've already been to High Rock and Hammerfell (pre-TES3), Morrowind, Cyrodil and Skyrim. There are still many other interesting provinces such as Black Marsh (my second guess) and Elswyr but Summerset Isles seems to be where a post-Skyrim story would lead. Whichever side won the civil war, taking the fight to the Thalmor strikes me as the next logical step.
Also, you have a scary dad!
