Alaska is a frozen wasteland!(said seti in stubborn tone ) Why compare Skyrim to Alaska if it isn't a frozen wasteland, though? We know(for a fact) that Skyrim is frozen. That has been strongly implied in an Elder Scrolls game before.

Bethesda still made Solstheim(a respresentation of Skyrim) covered in snow. The same is true for Northern Cyrodiil. Bethesda definitely thinks of Skyrim as frozen and it seems very likely that Bethesda thinks of (mostly)snow when they think of Skyrim. Expecting Skyrim to be a frozen wasteland covered in snow shouldn't be a shocking expectation. After seeing so much snow and so many failed attempts at portraying what you claim is Skyrim, why continue to see more of it? I would be fine with any province being TES V's setting and I am fine with Skyrim being TES V's setting, but I'm not overly excited about it. Bethesda hasn't shown us anything to make us believe they don't think of Skyrim as a frozen, mostly snow-covered wasteland.

I'm not able to picture Skyrim as anything more than the usual attempts of portraying Skyrim(which have made me sick of anything related to Skyrim and don't make me believe in that Skyrim is going to be any different). I'm not able to picture Skyrim not because I lack imagination, but because Bethesda hasn't indicated that Skyrim will be anything more than a frozen wasteland full of stereotypical, Viking culture(along with worship of the Nine).

how is solsthiem a representation of Skyrim..?
And anyway, Morrowind was a complete ashland in previous TES games before morrowind came out, and they changed it.
Skyrim will be diverse. Do you really think Beth would just plant our characters on a huge, stagnant, non changing frozen wasteland? no, they wouldn't.

I think they will just place on an endless glacier that goes on forever. Just like the one you find if you escape the invisble walls in oblivion.

Once again: "So?"

Nowhere in Tamriel is "unique" in the sense of having an environment not found on Earth. We have gray, http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200809/r293282_1257146.jpg lands. We have http://scraqetv.com/News/News%20Pages/usa/images-3/forest-1.jpg and http://sassyjaxx.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/jungle-river-cruise-best.jpg and http://thisrecording.com/storage/swamps1.jpg. The only deciding factor on what will make them interesting is how Bethesda decides to design it. There is zero, absolutely zero, reason to think that Skyrim is somehow doomed to fall on the low end of this spectrum. Northern Cyrodiil is not an indication of Skyrim, any more than its other borders accurately depict other provinces. Do you really think Black Marsh, a deep swamp where humans can't even survive other than the far edges, looks exactly the same as the "brown forest" we have in southeastern Cyrodiil?

Culturally Skyrim is just as interesting as any other province and no, we have not seen any decent examples of it. The developers themselves have mentioned regretting that they weren't able to put the shades of culture into Oblivion that they wanted to. Why would you think that Bruma, a place NOT in Skyrim in a game lacking cultural detail for the actual citizens of the country, is at all an accurate depiction of an entire other province? Or the architecture? We've already seen Skyrim architecture? Even though we've never been there and past two games had several different types of architecture for their various cities just within that one province? Morrowind's forts, ostensibly "examples" of Imperial architecture, look nothing like the Imperial City. Heck, one of the major complaints in Oblivion was the changing of jungle to forest and Vvardenfell was nothing but ash before we went there, so even the things we DO know aren't guaranteed.

From Arena, of course Vvardenfell changed. However, in Morrowind and Oblivion, Bethesda continued to indicate that Skyrim will be a frozen wasteland. All of this changing of provinces came after Bethesda distinctly separated TES series from its generic origins in between Daggerfall and Morrowind's release. Skyrim, however, doesn't seem to have changed in Bethesda eyes. Something about Solstheim seems distinctly Nordic to me.

But what does that have to do with Skyrim? Just because two places host the same race of people, what in Gods name does that have to do with the weather/terrain of the two places??
We have not seen a representation of Skyrim, at all. Skyrim is as alien as the Akavir to us. We don't know anything about it. At all. Solstheim is a frozen island off the northern coast of Vvardenfell. That =/= Skyrim?
No, no it does not.

Bethesda hasn't indicated that Skyrim will be different from the Nordic areas we have seen so far(Solstheim, for example). My major concern with Skyrim is that it will be a copy of Solstheim or a failure like northern Cyrodiil. I've seen enough of these attempts at showing Nordic culture and examples of Skyrim.

Nordic culture is shown in Solstheim. We know what Nordic culture is like. We know that Skyrim is frozen(from a certain Nord in Oblivion who claimed Nords are sick of freezing their butts off in Skyrim). Skyrim sounds like another Solstheim to me.

But it isn't a frozen wasteland, for god sakes. The only thing we know for a fact is that Skyrim is very cold. Alaska is, for the most part, also very cold. Yet it isn't a frozen wasteland, as you are (now) aware.



Did it ever occur to you that Bethesda didn't change it because they had no reason to?

No province since Arena has been changed except for the provinces in the games. Morrowind was a volcanic ashland, and it wasn't in Morrowind. Cyrodiil was always a jungle, and it wasn't in Oblivion. Elsweyr has been a desert, Skyrim has been frozen, and Black Marsh has been a swamp. That has never changed, and they had no reason to. So what makes you think Bethesda will not make Skyrim unlike what we've seen in lore like they did with Oblivion and Morrowind? Has Bethesda, in your mind, somehow grown incapable of making a game that is different than what they've said in previous lore?

Lol dude. You are using circular reasoning with yourself now. Jesus.
We know what Solstheimic nordic culture looks like.
Saying that Skyrim has to be the same as Solstheim is like. Saying that Japanese culture and American culture are the same.
THEY'RE BOTH HUMANS RIGHT??!!
Yeah, but the two cultures are completely and utterly different. You know "nothing" of skyrim. I know nothing. No one does.

http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_3rd_Edition/Skyrim



As always, Bethesda is a step ahead of the critics. This one line allows for a great deal of diversity in Skyrim's environments, meaning that while there will undoubtedly be snowy fields, there will also likely be temperate forests and deserts in the west and southwest of Skyrim. Think of the snowy parts as being like the Ashlands of Vvardenfell.

EDIT: Edited for word choice and grammar.

Wow, is that all the evidence you have?

I'm from New Jersey. I complain about the pollution and graffiti. Does that mean that no matter where you go in New Jersey, the air will be brown, the walls will be covered in gang names, and the water will have the consistency of sludge? Yes, but that's because New Jersey svcks.

(And yes, when I said yes, I was being sarcastic).

In the winter, even when it isn't snowing, I complain about the cold. A common saying is that the cold is making you "freezing your butt off." Does that mean that my entire state is covered in nothing but glaciers and snow? No it does not.

You seem to think that Nords complaining about the cold means OMG SKYRIM IZ A POPSICLE. I mean, come on Seti, that's ridiculous and you know it.

C'mon, dude. If you're gonna use arguments against Skyrim, then try not to use arguments that have all by and large been addressed in this very thread many months ago.

Solstheim is not a representation of Skyrim. Solstheim is a representation of Solstheim.
The Jerall Mountains are not a representation of Skyrim. The Jerall Mountains are a representation of the Jerall Mountains.
Saying that either Solstheim or the Jerall Mountains is indicative of what Skyrim will look like in its entirety is just as much a foolish endeavor as taking a screenshot of the Gold Coast and assuming that all of Cyrodiil looks more or less exactly like it. Or looking at the depictions of Morrowind in the Redguard Comic Book and assuming that the whole province looks like that.

The Nords of Solstheim are not a representation of Skyrim's Nords. The Nords of Solstheim are a representation of the Skaal, a distinct and separate entity from Skyrim's culture.
The Nords of Bruma are not a representation of Skyrim's Nords. The Nords of Bruma are a hybridization between watered-down Highland Nord and string Nibenean influence.
Saying that the Nords of Solstheim and Bruma are indicative of Skyrim's Nords is just as much a foolish endeavor as saying that Cyrodiil's Redguards are pristine examples of Redguard culture in Sentinel and Stros M'kai. Or saying that Altmer on Vvardenfell are accurate models of Altmer of Summurset.

The western half of Skyrim, known as the reach, is temperate. Wheat, amongst other things, is more than capable of growing there. Look up some pictures of Norway's glacial valleys and fjords, and you'll get an idea. The coastal regions are similarly habitable. The east-southeastern chunk is that snowy deathtrap you're envisioning, and that by no means translates the whole province into "Snow, ice, frozen plants, snow, ice..."

Oh, did you know the Nords founded a Bard's College in Solitude? Yep, such manly endeavors are truly the work of stereotypical Vikings. Never mind that no Viking I ever heard of had thu'um.


EDIT: Where the hell'd that [censored] awesome Skyrim write-up by Lady N go? Excuse me whilst I go diving for it.

Most provinces haven't been changed, but information about their terrain has not been mentioned in Morrowind and Oblivion aside from already existing books. Skyrim has been mentioned as frozen in Oblivion, though. I haven't heard anything in Oblivion about the terrain of other non-visited provinces, but Bethesda still mentions(not just leaves alone) the part of lore involving Skyrim and its frozen terrain. Also, again, I point to Northern Cyrodiil. Having snow in northern Cyrodiil could be due to mountains, but only fans have said that, not Bethesda. They continue to show that they think of Skyrim as frozen and covered in snow, even when there is a reason to change such things. Nobody in Oblivion mentions the climate or terrain of other provinces, but Skyrim is still mentioned an thought of as frozen. Even if Bethesda decides to change things, they still haven't Nordic architecture is designed to conserve heat and northern Cyrodiil is frozen without an official mountain explanation.

So, we either know nothing about Skyrim(because Bethesda will change it) or we know that Skyrim is frozen. With either theory, nothing makes expecting Skyrim to be frozen and the same of what we have already seen unlikely. We don't know what Bethesda is planning, but from the established lore that we do know, expecting Skyrim to be frozen is still a logical expectation. All that we know about Skyrim leads to it being frozen and more of the same stuff we have already seen. People have some good theories, but like those waiting for Morrowind and Oblivion, I'm expecting current lore to be followed. If it isn't, like those waiting for Morrowind and Oblivion, I will be surprised.

Wow, this is getting intense here. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I have faith in Bethseda that they can take a "frozen wasteland" and turn into something great. Skyrim has potential for a great story, a fun setting, and tons of cool monsters.

Plus, who doesn't think it would be cool to have a life-or-death swordfight on top of a glacier?

Are you even reading our post? The ones that prove to you that Solstheim is in no way a representation of Skyrim? Read the last post I made.

Yes, Antibody, that is all the evidence I have. It's not much to go by, but still, nothing says Skyrim will be like this and that, but from what we actually know(which isn't very much), I'm expecting snow, snow, and more snow with an occasional grassland, much in the same way that I still expect Valenwood to be a forest or Black Marsh to be a swamp.

"Skyrim is the northern province of Tamriel, a land of breathtaking beauty and lethal winters. It is one of the ancient seats of power in the Empire and well-populated by the Nords. As if to compensate for their freezing environment"

Quoted from the Pocket guide to empire.

I just wanted to point out that the lore implies Skyrim IS a frozen wasteland, but it is also beautiful.

Really, I could care less that the game takes place in Skyrim. I'm sure Bethesda could make the most beautiful frozen wasteland ever seen, and I would love the game to death. BUT, and this is a very big but, I would RATHER the game take place in an environment much more interesting to myself; Elyswer, Valenwood, Argonia, or Summerset, are all more interesting than Skyrim.

EDIT: Removed quote, couldn't find the one I actually wanted.

I just want to say, I agree with Seti that Solstheim and Bruma were more or less representative of Skyrim. I don't want to get too into semantics, but technically, representation is an overall mixture of the many parts of something. Just as a congress man represents 40000 in congress (Depends on house), the frozen north of Cyrodiil represents what the majority of Skyrim probably looks like. Solstheim is also meant to represent much of Skyrim; so it is entirely reasonable to assume MOST of Skyrim will be a frozen wasteland, albeit a beautiful, dangerous, and breath taking one.

It's all about Bethesda's decisions. They can make Skyrim as jungles, as desert or as California. But they should stick to the Lore. And heres one thing. They've created this Lore. So they can change it in the way they need it. As it was in Oblivion, as it was in Morr.

Please give me an example of when Beth has given us a gameworld that is completely un diverse, boring, and jam packed full of nothing but the same boring thing.
Why would they start now?

Actually, comparing a Nordic province to a Nordic island is like comparing two Nordic states to each other. There are differences, but still many similarities. Comparing Redguards to Nords and saying they are the same because they are both human fits your anology.

Play TES I: Arena and TES II: Daggerfall and tell me what you think about Bethesda and un-diversive, boring, and repetitive gameworlds.

Can't change the mind of someone who absolutely refuses to be logical, sensible, and reasonable.
So cheers, I guess. I'm done with this.

Once more.