Scouts? : The Elder Scrolls Series Discussion

» Mon May 07, 2012 6:49 pm

Wow guys we have just turned a discussion on racial stereotypes into one about if a race should exist or not.

I find this highly amusing

» Mon May 07, 2012 3:08 pm

That just doesn't follow.

Where would a unique Cyrodiilic culture, moths and facial tats and all that smooth jazz, have originated from if not from Cyrodils?

The same place the culture of any other province comes from - Years of "isolation"

Was it invented, wholesale? That's patently ridiculous and unbelievable.

No, it is born from the trials the inhabitants of the province faced in overcoming the challenges of taming and living in the environment, just like every other province's culture

Is is just a mash-up, a garden salad of all the others? Because that's hardly unique.

No, it's a unique culture, because Cyrodiil is a unique land, not a mashup of the environments of the other provinces.

Honestly, the old, pre-Redguard Cyrodilic Empire didn't make a lot of sense. Where did it originate? Certainly, not Cyrodiil, since there was no native population. Are we to believe that all the races just kind of got together and mutually decided to incorporate, with the capital in this vacant-lot-land in the center? Because that's entirely too silly.

The center of the Arena ended up becoming the "Eye of the Storm" - a place of calm surrounded in blood. Displaced people from all eight corners of Tamriel found themselves having to band together for survival, creating a new, distinct cosmopolitan culture in the process. It then became center of the Empire because of the strong racial blend - They made perfect ambassadors, and the "colorblind" culture allowed the army to work together smoothly, while bringing advanced Mixed Unit Tactics by tapping into the natural abilities of the component sub-races of the Cyrods.

I really think that the lore needed Cyrodils. The whole thing runs better as a result. Mind you, that's qua-olive-skinned-smooth-talking-men, not generic men that generic boring people can identify with, because then they do make the other races look caricaturish in comparison.
It needs the culture and race. But it doesn't need to be one defined by skin skin color/texture or lifespans of its component members. Cyrods had eight subraces before Redguard

» Mon May 07, 2012 9:16 pm

The same place the culture of any other province comes from - Years of "isolation"

Then it seems they didn't just come from nowhere afterall.

The center of the Arena ended up becoming the "Eye of the Storm" - a place of calm surrounded in blood. Displaced people from all eight corners of Tamriel found themselves having to band together for survival, creating a new, distinct cosmopolitan culture in the process. It then became center of the Empire because of the strong racial blend - They made perfect ambassadors, and the "colorblind" culture allowed the army to work together smoothly, while bringing advanced Mixed Unit Tactics by tapping into the natural abilities of the component sub-races of the Cyrods.

You realize that's precisely what our modern Cyrodils are: a fusion of Nedic, Nordic, Ayleidoon Merish, Kothri, and Akaviri peoples. Like I said, the good bones are there.

It needs the culture and race. But it doesn't need to be one defined by skin skin color/texture or lifespans of its component members. Cyrods had eight subraces before Redguard

Cyrodils aren't one color/texture. You're stereotyping them as all being swarthy Nibenese. Colovians, with their decidedly more Nordic blood, are quite pale.

» Tue May 08, 2012 5:20 am

I started the series with Daggerfall, but was never particularly bothered by the appearance of the Imperials. A little surprised ("Hey, I was never able to select a character from the Imperial Province before!"), but not bothered. In fact, I was more bothered when I started playing Daggerfall and wondered why one of the provinces was unselectable when choosing a race during character creation. <_<

And Bethesda seems to have, with the exception of Oblivion (with its own internal exception of Knights of the Nine), done fairly well with fitting them into the world.

» Tue May 08, 2012 4:53 am

They are a people split by bloodshed, and united by Tiber Septim and Reman and Allessia and Umaril. They claim dominion and demand fealty from other men and even bend the elves to their will and point of view. They are the Altmer of Men. That whole bit with their architecture getting you to look upwards in wonder and splendor, that's their unified culture bleeding through.

By your logic, the Bretons shouldn't exist because they are all in kingdoms vehemently opposed to each other. Instead there should be Daggerfallans, Wayrestians, etc.

» Mon May 07, 2012 7:58 pm

Which race would you think most needs a dispenser here? :tongue:

At least I am not the only one who thought about the TF2 scout

@Thread:
I think about Altmer. They are great mages and an illusion mage can infiltrate without much effort.

» Mon May 07, 2012 2:44 pm

You'll have to forgive me,for I started this series with Morrowind; but I loved the whole Imperials-are-damn-good-at-diplomacy-and-speaking thing they had going for them. I liked how that was going for them until Skyrim, where they lost their Speech(craft) bonus.

Did the Imperials lose their ability to speak well during the various warlord successions post-Septim Empire?

I just started an Imperial pure thief, and I seem to be winning every single Persuasion attempt. I may be just getting easy challenges, but it seems my Imperial has better speech,