Which dev created the lore for Cyrodiil in Oblivion? : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:28 pm

Hi there I was wondering if it was known which developer first created the lore for Cyrodiil about the Dragons fires, Amulet of Kings, and the Humans there being enslaved to the Ayleids before they were overthrown. Is it the same person who wrote the books on them in Oblivion?

If they are known, do you know if they are a fan of Transformers(the changing robots)? It's pretty out there but I find some striking similarities between the two, so I'm just asking to sate my curiosity.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:51 am

Doubt there is just a single person behind the lore. It would be my guess that most everyone working under BGS has some sort of input.

As for similarities. Coincidence. Nothing more.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:12 am

If they are known, do you know if they are a fan of Transformers(the changing robots)? It's pretty out there but I find some striking similarities between the two, so I'm just asking to sate my curiosity.

Well, both had fairly unoriginal plotlines. Not sure what similarity there is besides that.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:06 am

A lot of the original lore was made by a group of about 4 people. Ted Peterson and Ken Rolston are two of them. Michael Kirkbride had a lot of input too and I think Kurt Kuhlmann did as well and he is the only person I've mentioned who still works for the company.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:57 pm

Well, the only employee. I hear Kirkbride is available like a contract killer. Except he doesn't kill contracts, he kills monotony.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:55 am

The similarities I noticed were.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Matrix_of_Leadership = Amulet of Kings
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Matrix_Flame = Dragon fire
2 factions(Autobots and Decpeticons) = Nibenese and Colivian
Cyrodiilic humans overthrew Ayleids who enslaved them, Transformers overthrew http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Quintesson who enslaved them.

But I guess its a big coincidence.

Maybe they both drew on the same source for these things?

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:05 pm

Those are more like universal themes or huge generalities than coincidences or borrowed sources. TES and Transformers are hardly the only two places where you find a race overthrowing its oppressors.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:44 am

Those are more like universal themes or huge generalities than coincidences or borrowed sources. TES and Transformers are hardly the only two places where you find a race overthrowing its oppressors.

Let's see what else I can think of.

Controversial retcons.
Broken fanbase.
Evil, immensely powerful being who gets struck down with his own spear.
Frequent usage of Macguffin-activated Deus Ex Machina.
Lots of identical flying foes.

OK, so it's still not that similar. But I like to find similarities in things. I could link everything to UESP and TFWiki to better elaborate on everything, but I just don't feel up to it.

Disclaimer: By "broken" I means "sharply divided".

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:13 am

All those things apply to the American government just as well as they do to TES and to Transformers.

Similarities would be if Optimus Prime (who is really the head of the Decepticons) gave away his engine to some chick to bind her to him eternally.

...except maybe the spear part, but I'll come up with something.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:28 pm

All I know is MK designed that bit with Pelinal and the Adabal-a, hence he is my favorite lore-creator.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:40 pm

You have two fandoms you keep up with? That's impressive. I barely have time for one.

And yeah, I'm going with Lady N here and say you can draw the same similarities with a bunch of other places. And my perception is that TES hasn't had nearly as many (controversial) retcons as other settings have had.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:16 pm

The similarities I noticed were.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Matrix_of_Leadership = Amulet of Kings
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Matrix_Flame = Dragon fire
2 factions(Autobots and Decpeticons) = Nibenese and Colivian
Cyrodiilic humans overthrew Ayleids who enslaved them, Transformers overthrew http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Quintesson who enslaved them.

But I guess its a big coincidence.

Maybe they both drew on the same source for these things?

So basically you noticed the most cliche' possible tropes from all of fantasy and somehow made a connection between TES and Transformers based on those similarities alone?

Because seriously..the whole "sacred item to be wielded by the king" thing is as old as balls. Same with "the holy fire behind it.". And the whole "two warring factions thing" probably predates written language as a story element.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:55 pm

The whole thing used to be a Homebrew D&D campaign.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:20 pm

I get conflicting reports on that. Because it certainly seemed like the way Arena evolved from a Roman-Gladiator type game to an open RPG, it felt like the setting adapted to the changing of the game. Which meant the setting was being written for Arena.

But then again, some of the names certainly seem like "I've got this place I need a name for that'll never be important later on, give me something, quick!" Abecean Ocean anyone?

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:14 am

Could be that they based the original Gladiator-type game's design on their custom D&D campaign's setting (it was still a fantasy game, after all), but as the game developed, they made it more of a real RPG and brought in more elements from it. Though it's impossible to say without hearing from the original designers.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:09 am

Because seriously..the whole "sacred item to be wielded by the king" thing is as old as balls. Same with "the holy fire behind it.". And the whole "two warring factions thing" probably predates written language as a story element.

So you know some mythology or legends with sacred items passed on, with fires that go out if they are lost? Can you please name it, I'm interested in reading it!

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:25 am

But then again, some of the names certainly seem like "I've got this place I need a name for that'll never be important later on, give me something, quick!" Abecean Ocean anyone?

Nice point. I always took it to represent a deep sea. Sort of like abyss but spelled slightly different.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:09 am

That's what it became attached to.

» Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:55 pm

Of all the things that TES could be compared to I never exspected Transformers :teehee: