The Great War was a large event that involved four nations. Imperials, Altmer, Nords and Redguards.

All of Tamriel certainly knows about it. Even if the Dragonborn was only a baby when it happened, one is bound to hear about such major events at some point unless s/he was living in a cave.

It even ruins the idea of roleplaying that s/he comes from Cyrodiil. How can you grow up in the Imperial Province and not be aware of the White-Gold Concordat or the destruction of an important faction like the Blades?

Amnesia is all that comes to mind.

Its true, you dont know what happened, would you rather everyone treats you like you know everything? that way you wouldnt know [censored], you are meant to explore and ask questions. sure sometimes after playing multiple playthrough it can a little bit silly. but at the first time its a good mechanic. its just one of those things where gameplay has a bigger priority than lore or RP.

Just for making conversation. Excessive inquiry on a particular topic is necessary to get all possible facts from as many sources as you possibly can, thus repeating a question you have already asked someone else. Especially for such a large and traumatic event. Just because people in Cyrodiil know of the Great War, does not mean they know the Great War. Nor would they know how Skyrim fared from the Emperor's politics.

It's possible that we don't remember, because we didn't even know how we got arrested.

Yes, I'm aware of its purpose gameplay wise. But it simply [censored]s roleplay.

They may not know the details, but they're certainly aware of the aftermath. The banning of Talos worship and the end of the Blades.

I've known people older than me who don't remember what happened on December 7th 1941. The White Gold Concordat wasn't enforced for a long time, until Ulfric and his people stirred things up. [according to Alvor in Riverwood] The Blades *weren't* an important faction. Once they no longer guarded the emperor they faded from sight. The fact that some were already living in the shadows as much as possible because they were the intelligence unit for the emperor made it easy to not know about them. And the Thalmor probably didn't broadcast their executions.

What do you mean it wasn't enforced. I doubt that the Talos Plaza at the Imperial city or the temple of Talos in Bruma were left alone all these years.

It's as simple as having a line for the player to choose along the lines of "You mean the war between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion?" or "That thing that banned the worship of Talos, right?"

I roleplay that my characters want to know the NPCs views on stuff. Just like the way you can ask each of the companions "what does it mean to be a companion."

You realize you don't have to choose that dialogue option if your character already knows the answer? As for discussing this topic with Delphine, she has actual first-hand experience in the war, so you'll want her viewpoint regardless of how much your character may know.

Just don't choose the dialogue option. I have characters where I never pick a certain question if my character actually genuinely knows the answer, or is simply not interested in conversation. There are many times where depending on the roleplay, I do not exhaust all dialogue options. Especially if the particular question breaks character.

Exactly. I'm in the habit of constantly ignoring dialog options, or making up my own responses.

Not every character would know about that. The chapel could have been changed to one of the 8. Or did I miss something about it being destroyed by the Thalmor? That would be possible.

I didn't notice any religious items in Talos plaza; Talos was Emperor before he became Talos the deity. The statue in the plaza is a dragon, not Talos. The Thalmor shouldn't get worked up about Akatosh.

Alvor said that when he was growing up, every family had their shrine to Talos. The authorities turned a blind eye.

"It's from that treaty that ended the Great War, remember, when the Emperor was forced by the Thalmor to outlaw Talos worship. We didn't pay much attention to it when I was a boy - everyone still had their little shrine to Talos. But then Ulfric and his "Sons of Skyrim" started agitating about it, and sure enough the Emperor had to crack down. Dragging people off in the middle of the night... one of the main causes of this war, if you ask me."

That is true, it can be avoided altogether.

Come to think of it, when Ralof tells you about Ulfric you can even pick the option "That's right, Ulfric Stormcloak..."

Despite having played several characters in the past, I still tend to have my character ask those questons simply because they are technically important.

I just don't know what to do with my Nord guy anymore after I messed that up. My idea was that he was raised in Bruma, but that isn't possible anymore since I had him ask about the WGC some time ago. And now I have to decide where in the world was he living.

Simple. The dragonborn is a dumb drunk ignorant nord. He nods his head whenever someone tells him to do something and it never occurs to him to say something about it. Plus the gameplay mechanics. The player doesn't know about this stuff.

Your overlooking the story of the game. That would not be known by the player, so there has to be some mechanism to convey what is going on to the player of the game. What else can you have but NPC dialog or in game books to convey that?

So, while true, a citizen of the land should or could know about what happened in the recent, or deep past, we don't know if the Player's Character is even from Skyrim. Or Tamriel for that matter. That is for you the player to decide. It is also up to the player to decide just how much the Player Character does know, and hence, how much investigation your character does into the back story.

That is how Roleplay explains that level of ignorance, or not, of the player character.

The Great War involved four nations. This is about more than Skyrim.

Even the Dunmer must have heard of a large scale event like that.

Alternatively, if you go back to a time that best depicts that of Skyrim, many people were illiterate, didn't have access to 24 hour news, lived a more secluded lifestyle and were just generally poorly educated. I think it's more reasonable to implement an RP that you seem to be discrediting than the one you're arguing for .

The game should be role-played surely, as being ignorant of all that has happened in previous versions, to be explored from total ignorance of everything before the player entered the game. The player through interactions and dialogue then becomes aware of everything that has happened in the past, and the present. The game is a totally complete package.

This reminds me of when I play a Khajitt and Ysolda feels the need to explain to me what a Khajiit is and where they are from.

I get it that my character should already know that ... however the Player-Character may not. I really can't think of a better system to tell of the events of the Great War other than maybe putting them in a book and expecting the player to find the book and read it if they want to know what's going on.

You'r not listing, the NPCs along with books are your source of information. its simply a gameplay mechanic, or like Hevnoraak said a way to make conversation. you cant just run into an NPC and tell him " Hey i already know about the banning of Talos, but please, tell me more"

It's just an extra option for RP.

If you want to RP that your character is fully aware about such events, then you just don't ask other NPC's about it, unless you want to hear their opinion.

Then here is an idea

"Kinsmen greetings, I haven't seen another Khajit in a while. Are you from our homeland? [insert name] Were you too lost due to [insert event]? Why am I reminding you of such times?"

Player Dialogue

-Aye it was tragice

-No, I am from [insert Cyrodil?] what has happened to our homeland?

-I am aware of most of the story, but not all

etc.

I think you just put more thought and more options into that tiny bit of dialog than Bethesda put into all of Ysolda's dialog.

Most likely a sellsword from Hammerfell, realistically.

Thats what hadvar asked me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2l7HGRjsPM