An imperial guard is not a character you play as though. This horned-helmet guy is, therefore, the reference to Commander Shepard having one look during advertising.

Low fantasy? TES is by definition High-fantasy, since it is set in another world.

In DND context low fantasy would mean more realism. Think about what happened immediately after/during the fall of Rome, the world de-evolved into the dark ages, knowledge, technology, art, scinece regressed, the size of armies was much smaller ...that kind of thing. That would definately explain the 200 year gap from Oblivion.

You're not serious though right? You think bethesda is going to force us to play as a nord and scrap the other nine races as playable? I've heard it all...

Compared to most JRPGs, TES is pretty much "low-fantasy."

So the setting is just 'less not-on-Earth'?

In DND context low fantasy would mean more realism, and less powerful magic and armor. Think about what happened immediately after/during the fall of Rome, the world de-evolved into the dark ages, knowledge, technology, art, scinece regressed, the size of armies was much smaller ...that kind of thing. That would definately explain the 200 year gap from Oblivion and would also be in context with the current state of the empire, and also the provinces as well (skyrim in civil war, morrowind destroyed and conquered by a less civilised race etc).

I assumed they meant low fantasy because the world is familiar, even if it's not Earth. For me, Oblivion would be low fantasy but Morrowind would be more high fantasy, just based on the look of the environment. Just my opinion though.

Yeah, pretty much.

Yes it has a different meaning for video games vs. literature.

Just think "the opposite of JRPG"

Interesting but I'll have to wait for confirmation from Bethesda before I can believe that the Dark Brotherhood is in Skyrim.

What's funny though is that Oblivion was frequently described as high fantasy. Ah the subjective use of language in different contexts and forms of logic.

NO! I am saying that Oblivion's advertising used an Imperial Guard and Skyrim's advertising is using the main hero.

Just leave it you guys for blowing little things out of proportion.

He's not talking about the character you will eventually create. He's talking about the promotional character used by Beth in trailers and cover art. In Morrowind it's a dark elf. In Oblivion it's an imperial guard. And in mass effect art and trailers they use the same sheppard in every screen. He's saying it's going to be the Nord with the Viking helmet used to hype Skyrim.

Evidently the post where I said:



Was overlooked. :sadvaultboy:

Its the same thing! Why are you comparing the nord with sheppard? You should be comparing the nord warrior with the imperial guard!

The main hero is US so if we choose a breton that's obviously not a nord.

Oblivion was high fantasy because it involved stuff like travelling to other dimensions/relams, world-altering magic and incredibly powerfull artifacts etc. The Witcher for example could be considered low fantasy. They either erred by calling Skyrim low fantasy or we are in for a big surprise.

Thanks for the news! That cover art is beastly.



From the http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/01/17/dragons-preparing-to-deliver-skyrim-details-worldwide/:

"low fantasy" can be a literal translation from dutch (google translation can't recognize regionalism expresions), that means that only have got sense in dutch, its a common problem, i know it because i speak spanish so i need to translate a lot.

Hopefully they meant it felt low fantasy because it felt more rugged and earthy, and they were unaware of or unconcerned with the more fantastical aspects of the lore. If that's the case, I'd be pleased. Or maybe as the poster above said, it's a translation issue.

Actually, every TES game is high fantasy. It's just that nobody actually seems to know what that means. Ever.

By that definition the works of Tolkien would be low fantasy, which they are, based on ancient European folklore. In no way is Lord of the Rings similar to JRPGs. Dungeons and Dragons is high fantasy.

Vegeta, what does the scouter say about Skyrim's fantasy level?

Luckily I'm dutch.

Lol at the people who couldn't read dutch!

But yeah you guys translated it already.

Awesome front cover on that magazine.

I think part of the problem is that things are subjective.

We can have a clearly defined definition for high fantasy, such as, "Otherworldly; not based on realistic or normal human, earthly characterization, setting, or premise; fantastical." But a thousand different people will have a thousand different subjective opinions with respect to what does and doesn't meet those criteria. To me, TES is high fantasy, given that it takes place on another planet, in a universe where the heavenly bodies are LITERALLY gods, and the heart of a god can fall to the Earth, creating a volcano, etc. etc. etc. To others, TES is at least relatively low fantasy, because it features fauna and terrain similar to that of Earth (in some provinces at least,) humans, knights, western-styled architecture (in some provinces, at least,) etc. etc. etc.

So I think the subjectivity is the issue.