I haven't seen a topic on this yet, so I start one. There's a new "Ask Us Anything" out, and this time it's about lore.

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2013/09/23/ask-us-anything-lore

I thought the Mane was born under a special alignment of Moons and only one could be alive at a time, so the selection part astonishes me, but maybe there's a choice to be made between the various individuals born under the Three Moons ?

...And Lore is again being corrupted by ESO.

Why do people even defend this game anymore?

Last time I saw a thread about this; it was locked after two answers...

I hope ESO doesn't corrupt the lore as we know it and it actually adds to it.

Nothing but complaints, have we? A shame. There are plenty positives in this.

One thing I note about this ask us anything is that there's no shortage of questions about Orcs, but not much about other subjects. Maybe they'll do another one soon? Or maybe people have stopped asking questions?

I like the first answer, about Lainlyn. I assume from the mention of Tava that this is well and truly a Redguard town at this point - makes sense for it to have such a name, and the association with Tava (a bird goddess, if I recall correctly) is, while obvious, about as suitable as it gets. And the Lainlyn family - might they be greedy Bretons seeking to expand to south of the Bjoulsae?

The less I say about their orc names, or the naming of the Wrothgarian mountains as "Wrothgar", the better. Likewise with not going back on their rather weak reasons for the Orcish assimilation into the Daggerfall Covenant.

I think that the depiction of the (vast majority of) Reachmen as similar to Forsworn is a big missed opportunity - but it at least gives them space to elaborate more on what Skyrim failed to develop. I'd prefer entirely original Reachmen though.

The thing about the Mane is a straightforward retcon, no two ways about it, and one in which I can't see much positive.

But on the plus side: Direnni Tower's in it. That's the biggest bait for glamorous graphics there can possibly be. I expect to be impressed.

As I said in a thread on the ESO side, this might not be in total contradiction with existing lore. In case more than one individual was born under the Three Moons, maybe there is a ritual aimed at determining which one is the "true" Mane. We actually do not know so much about the Mane ; the First Pocket Guide itself accounts for more than one hypothesis to explain its uniqueness.

Nevertheless, this is the thing which worries me the most in this AuA.

However, my general feeling about this one is more positive than it used to be - the cradle of harpies being originally associated to a Bird Goddess was a nice surprise, and one that makes potentially much sense. (I hope the "adventures with harpies" will not boil down to "there are harpies for you to kill and loot and that we'll actually learn something about them and their possible link with Noctyr-a/Nocturnal)

I suggest some of you reread the PGE: 1st Edition again. Under the section on the Mane, it basically says "we have no idea whether there could be multiple potential Manes." This is an example of a lore expansion, not a retcon.

That's what I thought as well. "The selection and accesion" may refer to the search for the new Mane and the process of deciding if he's the real one - perhaps some sort of a trial? There's no source stating that there can't be several candidates, only that there have never been two (self-)appointed Manes at the same time. I just hope the Khajiit have more interesting ideas than people who choose the Dalai Lama and won't end up using lottery to decide.

I agree. Actually, I think that this AuA is the most lorewise convincing article they published yet. I hope they'll keep heading to that direction.