Skyrim, Valenwood, Elsweyr and Black Marsh haven't been explored at all. They all have some interesting lore behind them that I would love to see fleshed out. You cannot say that they will make these provinces boring and make Akavir, of which we barely now anything, interesting. Akavir is interesting because we don't know much about it. Thos scarce news about the continet look very exciting and the feel of mystery is what makes it very attractive. I'd rather we have some clues and rumours about Akavir every game, but not see the continent as a whole. At least not for a while. Behtesda has already some really good foundation for Tamriel and it's provinces and I think they should go after them.

And how is Black Marsh not interesting? From what I've read about it, it's far more exciting than Akavir

It was very clear that Cyrodiil was meant to be Greco-Roman rather than medeival. Yes, Morrowind's environment is more diverse. However, Morrowind is a different place from Cyrodiil. The Greco-Roman style of Cyrodiil actually makes sense in the capital of the empire.

If you want to throw them into a culture of mystery, then why would you build up the lore further first? Introduce them to the setting as they explore it.

Also, for everyone else, I've gotta say again...

So basically, you build up the mystery and then... just kinda let it hang there and remain a mystery?

Then what was the point? It just sounds like a ****tease to me, and one that ultimately wouldn't serve any purpose other than to just fizzle out after the TES franchise ends.

What's the point in making a game without mystery in there?

:facepalm: I can see that you are not getting this. Yes, it is a tease that makes people more interested in lore. A sense of mystery is just a wonderful, inexplicable factor. When Akavir is actually manifested, it will only disappoint. Akavir sounds so great, that it is not currently possible. That is the point. It creates wonderful stories and myths within TES world itself.

Black Rock? I assume you mean High Rock or Black Marsh. And Yoku sounds a lot like Tamriel? Barbaric? I don't think its very Tamrielic or barbaric to be the most [censored] sword-wielders of whom Vehk was even a student, to possess the knowledge of the Barons of Move-Like-This. I don't think it's very Tamrielic or barbaric to have such skill as to literally cut the atomos, for all intents and purposes creating a nuclear-sword-bomb that destroyed all of Yoku. Barbarism implies military culture where the people beat the hell out of each other in an uncivilized manner, and education is a laughable concept. In Yoku culture, the sword is the civility, the education, and the harsh military climate all wrapped up in one.

But I digress.


No. Akavir has, best-case scenario, one dragon. Tosh Raka. And it is more than likely that that "dragon" is actually nothing more than one of the tiger-folk who is somehow attempting to mantle Akatosh. Which is to say, Tosh Raka is just as much a dragon as Aka is.


And that's all well and good, but here's the problem with "weird" in a display sense. These things sound fabulous and stimulating to the imagination in written form. But taking it out of that written form and applying the reality of mesh and texture to it automatically dilutes the "weird." One, because the subjective imagination no longer has an active role in filling in the blanks. Two, because the more weird a design concept is in abstract form, the more it ends up getting reined in when actually physically represented. And while problem number one can affect any place equally, problem number two affects Akavir specifically.


I doubt realistic communities have to deal with the very real presence of Greybeards and thu'um. Just one very unique aspect of Skyrim.


Also, there is still the problem that I mentioned involving the fact that Tamriel is the metaphysical heart of the world, and that because of that it doesn't make much sense to focus on areas outside of that.

Gotta admit, you pretty much hit the nail on the head there Guy.

Because suddenly dropping a game with Akavir in it would violently kill what Akvair is meant to be: a mystery! Again, it is a great hook!!!You talking about it serving no other purpose than to fizzle after the franchise ends means you fail to be pulled in by it, which is what it is meant to do. It is meant to draw you in!

To seti18,

I was making the defense that TES IV is a lot more heavily medieval than the prior installment and that the games are not as similar as was stated in your comment:



Yes, I'm glad you recognize the greco-roman influence, but I felt that you're saying that the Elder-Scrolls is its own unique Medieval setting was unfair.

All I know is that I want to play a vampiric naga...

But yeah, Beth should stick to Tamriel for the time being, they haven't explored the other 5 or so countries at all..

It is not completely unique, but much more so than other RPGs outside of TES series. I played Oblivion after only playing medieval type RPGs for a long time and never had a problem with Oblivion's setting. The Greco-Roman influence was very clear to me and perhaps made Oblivion seem more original. Still, I believe the Roman Empire-type setting of Cyrodiil is more fitting than Mayan/Aztec/Incan jungle.

I'd like to add that, from an in-world perspective where we assume a frontier in Akavir, we've http://www.imperial-library.info/obbooks/ionith.shtml. And it didn't end too well (read as: complete and utter military disaster).

Snake men and tree monkey people don't like having their land being taken away.

I'll stick to my opinion posted here.

And after reading the OP's belief that Argonians and Black Marsh are fairly uninteresting, may I suggest that these be read?
http://www.imperial-library.info/pge/wildregions.shtml
http://www.imperial-library.info/pge3/blackmarsh.shtml
http://www.imperial-library.info/obbooks/argonian_account.shtml
http://www.imperial-library.info/fsg/brendanarticle1.shtml

And best of all, a bit of Monkey Truth... http://www.monkeytruth.net/texts/histexploration.shtml.
Forgive me for the necessity of now stating Tam! RUGH!



Further, we don't know what Nordic culture looks like. We know what Skaal culture looks like thanks to Solstheim, but the Skaal and the Skyrim Nords are completely different things. Further, we know what Nords in Bruma act like. And that culture is a rather awkward mish-mash of some aspect of Nordic culture with Nibenean Heartland culture, where the Nordic contributor to that melting pot is more than likely just a small subculture of Nords represented by the harsh mountain communities in south-southwestern Skyrim.

And besides, each game's representation of out-of-province culture is therefore a bastardization and complete simplification of that race's culture.

The appeal of mystery is the excitement of getting to see what's behind the curtain. A mystery without the reveal just fizzles out with no real payload. TES ends, and Akavir is nothing but an unused concept: a "could have been".

I will agree that, more often than not, the reveal leads to disappointment, though. Building up something ambitious is much easier than living up to said ambition. Often times, in things more story driven, the reveal is the point where the quality of the story sharply drops. (Indigo Prophecy, Higurashi, Code Geass, etc.)

However, if you look at the flaws that tend to cause mysteries to fail, you can work around them. You don't want the thing behind the mystery to be too mundane, weak, or ridiculous. They have to avoid making Akavir into Tamriel with dragons, snakes, and monkeys, while also providing them with a civilization that doesn't seem too loose. (I think that that's the biggest problem here: it'd be easy to either make them into generic cave-dwelling dragons and lamia, to resort to generic RPG "evil towns", or to make them into your usual TES-fare) Looking at the Oblivion realms, I believe that the TES devs can pull it off.

Most of this is a matter of taste, but you still have yet to address the following:
1) Tamriel is the metaphysical heart of the world, meaning that Tamriel is the focal point for where eventful things happen (and why the Devs focus exclusively on Tamriel, as well as why the Tsaesci are all too eager to take it over).
2) The basic premise for the idea, an establishment of a colony or frontier on Akavir, has been http://www.imperial-library.info/obbooks/ionith.shtml in the lore and was an utter disaster, indicating that future attempts would also result in said utter disasters.

You'rs still not understanding why mystery is so great. Someone, please explain it because I need to go to sleep now.

I'll give it a shot.

Mystery is a sense of wonderment that is best left unknown. It kinda like Christmas. You know you are gonna get gifts. But what it is you don't know. You can pick up hints here and there but you still can't have it until it Christmas arrives. Then you get your gift and it's nothing at all how you expected.
That's what we're trying to say.

Ya do realize ya talking about a land that involve mainly of Beast Races. I would doubt that removal of both the Mers (They never exist there and the previous invasion by the Emperor) and the Men (all eaten up and again, the previous invasion by the Emperor) of the game just would to make Akavir playable would make many players happy.

1. ...And this means that the other continents with their different histories and culture don't have things to offer?

2. Because when two parties clash multiple times the outcome is always the same, right? Look at the ultimate fall of Rome. You don't think that barbarian parties tried to dismantle their rule prior to that? ****, the Romans had to mow over them in order to get where they were. Different environment, different leaders, different tools, different knowledge, different tactics, all around different circumstances, possibly a different outcome.



Okay, that's something that I already addressed. I agree that there's every possibility of it turning out to be lame if handled incorrectly.

But suppose this: You wake up on Christmas morning and find nothing under the tree. Your parents tell you that they forgot the gift back at Aunt Sally's and they'll have her mail it. Weeks and months pass and it becomes clear that you're never getting your present. How long does that wonderful appeal hold?

That's what I'm getting at. This kind of mystery without a payload is pointless, and is doomed to become nothing but a "could have been". At least there's a possibility that you'll enjoy the present, even if it wasn't what you expected. That's better than guaranteed fizzling out.

Truthfully, I'd rather Akavir fizzle out instead of going to the other provinces like black marsh where the swamp is so deadly that only the outer most regions are habitable.
Or valenwood where the trees walk around and the land is one giant magic pool.
Or skyrim where a nord could scream at me and kill me with that scream.
Or the summerset isles where daedric culture is becoming more prominent.
Or hammerfell where the orc and redguards are fighting over territory.

Oh boy, swamp land and primal villages.



Could be interesting.



Yeah, a setting where a Nord screams at you sounds pretty cool.



Daedric worshippers = totally new

I do want to see Summerset, though.



That says about as much about the geography and architecture as being screamed at by Nords.

Alright then I'll set up Akavir for you:
the other two races hiding from the snake people because they are on a homicidal rampage to become the one and only race there.

Sounds like a great setting.

Akavir is mysterious for the sake of mysteriousness. You either buy into it or you don't. You apparently don't. Too many people are bought into the idea that Akavir is supposed to be the land of mysteriousness and that it is supposed to remain that way. Though impossible, it is an idea, and often ideas are not supposed to become realities. If it does, the idea is often breaks and is no longer appealing. Akavir is a fantasy. This means that Akavir loosing its mysteriousness is like having a man lose what defines him as a man (the same goes for a woman). Mysteriousness is what makes Akavir Akavir.

However, if Akavir's mysteriousness were to be laid out like many great a many mystery novels have been done, with all the plot mechanics done accordingly, both well and correctly, then Akavir can finally reveal itself. The mystery will die, but it will have died at a rippened age, and from it, a great story will have been made.

BUT...Those things take a hell of a lot of time and require excellent transition, and having Akavir be the continent of focus for the next installment will not have been enough time or have made enough of a transition.

EDIT:



Now you're just stomping on all the lore. Listen, I'm not killing the possibility of Akavir becoming a reality, but if it happens too soon (next game is too soon), then all the Akavir's grandeur will be murdered, graphically.

But they're snake people with a civilization, which is unusual. You do see lore where Naga have a culture, but you basically never see it, or when you do, its a generic "dark city".

And there are 3 other forces at work, which are all also unusual-sounding.