It was a fantasy RPG game where you could go anywhere when you wanted there was no set path. The game was really hard to there were tough guys mixed in with bad guys and at low levels you had to run away from a lot of stuff you had to eat to going into dungeons without enough food would lead to a quick end. . Here are some screen shots and information for those that don't remember. I had this game on the Commodore 64 I believe.


http://www.insert-disk.com/index.php/sega-mega-drive/21-sega-mega-drive-faery-tale-adventure

some screenshots

http://www.mobygames.com/game/faery-tale-adventure-book-i/screenshots

Maybe indirectly? I'd say we have the Ultima games to thank for some of the inspiration that made The Elder Scrolls. Ultima may have been inspired by that.

As far as I know, the Elder Scrolls world came to be from a D&D pnp campaign. Those tend to be unlimited in their possibilities by default. Arena is still pretty close to a standard D&D world.