There were unmistakably Black Imperial guards in Anvil.

I intend for my first Dovahkiin to be a thoroughly Nordified Redguard named Elvíss Early-Crow.

Nevertheless, a default "Black Nord" is just silly. Nords developed their burly physiques and cold-weather-resistance from quite literal eons of hard-scrabble living in the frozen tundra. I hate to be so 'oh-oh-oh-oh' with physiology that might not even apply to Nirn, but very dark skin is actually detrimental in colder climes because of the potential for fatal vitamin D deficiencies. Humans naturally produce endogenous vitamin-D when exposed to direct sunlight, but more northerly lands receive much less starshine, so the people living there naturally develop (over time) pale skin so as to absorb every last available photon. Assuming this is true of Tamriel, you simply wouldn't see natural populations of melanin-dense Nords. Skyrim is dim country.

Now I just have to ask: What isn't there to like about Redguards? I mean besides the horrible female VA? They're fast, strong, and even discovered nuclear-fission-swords!

Even it that little write up it said you can sometimes see characteristic of both. I think there def should be some multi racial npc's in the game, were you can cleary tell by looking at them, a darker skin Nord, a human with pointy ears,etc. Its more realistic and conforms with that bit of lore anyway. Esp now that there are kids in the game, you can have the kids parents be diff races for example and the kid to have characteristic of both.

Sure, why not. Then we can chew up tons of dev time getting all the little details right (look around these forums...a thread on http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1179942-visible-lunula-on-thumbnail-in-screenshot/, and not as in "small versions of larger pictures?" No detail is too small for this crowd.) for every possible racial mix.

"Oh noes, my half-Argonian half-Altmer doesn't look right!"

"OMG why can't I get the right skin tone on my half-Dunmer half-Orc?"

The big problem with this idea? "TES VI, coming fall 2048...if we're lucky, we're still trying to get half-Khajiit half-Imperials just right."

10 races is plenty says I.

just a question though, why is it such a big deal to play as a black character? i mean i play redguard everytime i want to play a combat race, but i cant remember the last time i asked if i could make a white one..

i guess i understand how you think it could be done.. like an albino, except the complete opposite, i just dont think it needs to be done. a black nord is no different from a white one, same goes for imperial, breton, and redguard... except maybe in a small number of people's heads.

real question is, does Bethesda take dev. time away from the game to please such a tiny minority of people who would like brown nords? i highly doubt it. sorry bud.




you can also make dunmer and altmer red... just saying =]




but black people have specific traits that white people do not. you gunna have a black nord with blue eyes and long, straight blond hair?? black people and white people aesthetically have different traits, so just changing the skin tone of an Imperial does not make him look black, just funny.

You can also click "Edit" on your first post at any time to add comments, rather than posting 3 times a row...just saying.

Thats what I was trying to explain. OP isnt really listening.

Sounds like he just wants the ability to tan. :shrug:

:rofl: i guess so.

@ Alois Hammer - i knew that.... :facepalm: lol

Exactly. No matter what the explanations offered, the OP replies "La la la la can't hear you, want to roleplay Al Jolson la la la la!!"

I thought the dude in Kavatch with the guard tower key was a black Imperial, the only problem was they had the standard issue imperial voice on him, so it makes you go "lolwut?" when you listen to him talk (kinda like how Liam Neeson wound up voicing a black guy if you chose that as your FO3 character).

tl'dr: We need moar voice actors with Skyrim than Oblivion.

I'm sure we can play around with the color tone. hopefully as much and maybe even getter than Oblivion.

flag that does not apply at all. the races in the elder scrolls are practically different species entirely. you cant be a black white guy in real life becuz we are all the same. we are human. thats it. we aren't redguards or nords. im not born with a plus 10 speed advantage over a nord and a natural gift to be a warrior. it doesnt work like that. which is y there shuld be different colors within races or at least the option to have ur charcter appear to be black but be a nord. redguards shuld not be the only black people.

its not a default. wuts up with u people. i just want to be able to tweak my color to make it beleivable if i ever wanted. everyone complains about lore breaking. this wuld take no time out of the making to do this. and it doenst matter if i turn out to be the only black colored nord in the game. thats okay. cuz u wont be playing my game. everyones experience is experienced seperately.

he doenst hav eto have striaght blond hair. he can have straight long black hair. a broad nose and a big muscular body like a nord. u culd make him look as wacky as u want becuz its a single player experience. everyones acting like its a big deal when they wont experience it only i will. and its not just going for nords its going for all races and the development time it would take is a very very very veyr veyr short amount of time to make a slight change to the race customizations. i hate how if i want to increase immersion by being a character who is of similiar appearance of me im stuck with one option. and there are more than aesthetic differences in race than elder scrolls which is y its not fair. their are differences in stats such as levels of strength, speed, intelligence. they wont have attributes this time but the differences will still be there. so just becuz i wanted to immerse doesnt mean i shuld lose teh advantages of being a nord.

im giong to pretend u did not just say that....

no that guy was an redguard. redguards work in the imperial army as well.

Any why is that?

there are 1000 reasons i want to play as a different race. yeah i love appearing black but not everytime i play the game do i want to be the jack of all trades warrior type. Wut if i want to be a strong hardy nord. or wut if i want to be a silver tongued imperial. what if i want to be a breton and be known for my magic. there are 100 reasons y as a black person i dont want to be JUST a redguard.

Yeah, and I want to be an Argonian Warrior. Scales for Nords please. :rolleyes:
Redguards are black, the other races are not... It's quite simple really.

Except that black Nords aren't believable. Bethesda's world, Bethesda's game, Bethesda's creation, thus Bethesda gets to make the rules- and the rules are the only black people in Tamriel are Redguards, and Nords are white. You do realize the character isn't you, yes? I'm white (hell, pasty- let's be honest here) and I play as a Redguard. Doesn't bother me in the least. Nor does playing as a lizard or a cat. Or a woman, which I'm also not. Female Khajiit or Redguard? No problem. Been there, played that.



Uh, yes it does. The way to get the advantages of being a Nord is to be a Nord. Nords are white. So take your pick...be black (Redguard) or be a Nord. Or...should I be able to make a Dunmer who can breathe underwater permanently? I mean y'know, why should I lose the advantages of being an Argonian just because I want to play an elf, right? I want to be a Khajiit with the racial ability to summon an Ancestor Ghost- why should I give up the advantage of being a Dunmer just because I want to play a Khajiit, right?

because an argonian is an animal that does not even translate. an argonian is a completely diffenret kind of creature all together. im talking about color inside of a race. im not asking to have a redguard to have nord abilities. im asking for a nord who looks black. not a nord that looks redguard. becuz i dont go around in real life and fill out applications telling people im redguard. obviously being white didnt stop imperials from being different from nords. so im not asking for one race to be another. im asking for there to deviations of skin color. i want to play as a nord who looks black. he will not look like a redguard just like imperials dont look like nords. u shuldnt even be making a big deal like this just becuz u disagree its something that i want and ur free to disagree but u r not free to annoy the crap out of me and tell me that im wrong and i cant have wut i want. i seriously do not liek u after that line about the "black face" actor so i would appreciate it if u just left my thread entirely.

thats a completely different thing altogether. thats not even a human trait period. thats a lizard. Argonians already have deviations in color. just like humans in real life have deviations in color and slight apperance but we are all the same on the inside. difference between real life and elder scrolls is that all the races ARE NOT THE SAME ON THE INSIDE. they have big advantages or disadvantags over each other. i do not beleive every single imperial or nord has to be black ujust to be a nord. a black nord will look different from a black redguard. and to be honest i just want my character to appear that way for immerision purposes. im not asking for npc's walking around as black nords. they shuldnt even notice that im different looking. im just asking for a better range of customization to allow me to do so if i ever wanted to. i would still be working with features they alread have. a nord already has hair. they already have a nose. they already have 2 arms 2 legs and a head. so y not let me customize those features to my liking. in oblivion u culdnt really do that and even when u tried u got really gooffy characters. comparing this to having a nord with scales does not translate. becauses nords dont come with scales. everyone comes with melatonin and a nose. u cant customize a nords skin into scales. it doesnt work like that. im asking to be able to use already present features to make a character who appears to my liking. considering that skyrim is a single player game u shuldnt even care and u suld want the better customization im asking for whether u want him to be black or not becuz i twould allow u to make better characters for urself.

Animal? They walk upright, they're intelligent, they use tools...by what criteria are they animals? The only thing missing from them being human is how they look...

Okay, you can get into the whole cold-blooded thing. No problem. Khajiit: warm-blooded, mammal, intelligent, tool users, society, etc...



Only problem is, Nords aren't black.



Bethesda's lore, not mine. :shrug:

You can make your character however you want, I'm just saying Redguards are black, the other races are not.

I'm only asking to be able to customize what a character already has. a nord doesnt have scales. but a nord does have skin and melatonin. and a nose and hair. a nord does have those things. im just asking for a better free form type of customization that would make it possible for me to have a black nord. all the nords in game owuld be white and all the nords in game would think that i was just like them. nobody would even notice because i made a customized character. it would not break lore because no body would perceive my character as a black nord. im only asking for customization. im just saying in real life between me and a white person thats pretty much all it is. customization. we look different but we r the exact same type of person. but in this case with a game they wuld not even notice the difference. its a single player experience all i ask for is a customization option that wuld allow me to make a character who at least appears to be black. its not asking to give anyone scales or anything crazy. simply to work with wut a nord already has and to be able to make changes to it like we've already been able to but better. u culd make a tanned nord in oblivion but u werent complaining than i bet. u didnt cry "it breaks the lore" like a baby than so y do it now. the only differenc ein oblivion is that u wuld look like a complete joke. BTW maybe u didn't realize but i totally told you i did not want you here anymore after comparing what i wanted to some racist early 1900's "black face" actor. so u can seriously just leave.

yes but y not allow me customziation so my character can at least appear ot be black. it would not break the lore because my one version of the draogn born is not considered part of the lore because everyone will have their own version. nobody will even notice he's black because it will just be his apperance. i will only be workin gwith wut the character already has and this skin color. i just want a more versatile way to customize so i can make him appear to be black. They dont need to come out and say " we have black nords now" im not asking for that. in oblivion u culd make brown [censored] looking nords if u wanted but it was not beleive becuz the race customization was completley sorry. i want bethesda to keep this in mind so that next time i make a "black" nord he doesnt come out looking like he's made out of reddish brown cheese. its not lore breaking becuz its simple customization. nobody cried "lore break" when they realized u culd make imperials green. so y do it now. speaking of green...they broke lore themselves when half of the redguards in the game had green lips and green tints on their faces. now u see how this is all face value stuff and it really doesnt matter. so at face value i want a black nord but nobody is going to perceive that nords can be black now just like we all dont think redguards have green lips. but they can appear that way. thats all i want. the ability to appear a certain way.