I've read and heard from various sources that you don't need to play the previous Elder Scrolls games to enjoy the current ones. I have heard that the storylines are not continuous and have little to nothing to do with one another outside of a few organizations/guilds and a few references to events. I figured the best place to find out was here, where someone or several someones may have played through all of them so far. So is it true? Is there no continuous storyline? Do the plots of each game really have nothing to do with one another? Are the Elder Scrolls games episodic rather than serial? I know, I know, same question, just worded differently, but I am really curious about this since I am looking at getting into the series and I don't want to start with 4 (which my wife already owns) and find out that there is an over-arching story throughout the series that I missed most of because of where I'm starting. Thanks for any information.

They all take place in the same continent known as Tamriel, but at different parts of it, at different times (for example 5 happens 200 years after 4) and is about different things involving different people. Sometimes people make some comment about the past or you find a book about the past, but that's kinda it.

So you can start with 4 just fine without playing 1, 2 and 3. 1 and 2 are free downloads from www.elderscrolls.com though, so feel free to give them a try if you want to.