Bethesda has consistently told us the world in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be "slightly smaller" in topographical acreage than the world in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but "feel larger" due to impassible (by a direct/straight rout) mountainous terrain. But, the following quote from CVG's recent hands-on impression of the game, "http://www.computerandvideogames.com/318715/previews/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-bigger-better-and-more-dynamic/", has me slightly worried:


As this is in conflict with what we've been told so far, my initial thought was it's some sort of misunderstanding or poor use of language. It could be that their word choice is poor. Or perhaps they are unaware of how much smaller The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's world (25 square kilometers) actually was in comparison to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's (41 square kilometers). Maybe they are ignorant to the fact that the world in each game is scaled and are assuming it's smaller because Skyrim itself, according to Elder Scrolls maps and lore, is supposed to be smaller than both Cyrodiil and Morrowind. However, I can't entirely rule out the prospect that they are indeed referring to "the game" in relation to the scaled worlds of previous Elder Scrolls games. And they have actually played the game, so some degree of credence is warranted.

Can someone make me feel better and prove my worrying is ridiculous. If the world in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is indeed smaller than the world in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, then The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will have the smallest play space of the series so far.

Skyrim will definitely be bigger than morrowind, maybe not oblivion, because oblivion is massive....

I think he means the size of the map like on an actual map. Skyrim is smaller I believe. But I think in-game, it will be roughly the same as Cyrodiil.

No worries, it will be much bigger than Morrowind and about the size of Oblivion, this has been confirmed many times by the guys att bethesda.

Honestly, I couldn't care less. I've never given a flip about the size of the game map. As long as there are several cities, lots of wilderness, varied quests, etc...I'm good. If they had cut a third of Cyrodiil's map off but still had the same # of quests, cities, and dungeons I don't think I'd have even noticed.

Both statements in the title are wrong. Skyrim will be bigger than Morrowind and as big as Cyrodiil, but it will feel bigger than Cyrodiil because of the rugged landscape and mountainous landscape. - Todd Himself.

I seriously doubt Bethesda would recede so far as to make a game smaller than Morrowind considering TES is a franchise that prides itself in big open worlds.

Don't worry, it'll be about the size of Cyrodil but have even more content.

why would you believe 1 article that says something contrary to 40 others?

Depends on the detail level.
Personally I thought Morrowind to be perfect in its running around/ finding cave ratio.
We cannnot possibly make any judgement on this until we play the game and see how everything works out.

By the sound of it, the writer is seriously looking at a Map of Tamriel and saying "Hey, Skyrim is Smaller than Morrowind and Cyrodiil here, so it is in the game itself."

In short, he's an idiot.

That's a good question. For the record, I didn't really believe it. Bethesda hasn't given hard numbers on the size of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and that quote just got me feeling a little paranoid.

Well, as long as Todd said it. No developers have ever been to twist the truth. I still can't figure how I finished the Shale DLC in only a half hour after feeling like I got stuck on that puzzle for hella long in DA:O when they said it was 2-3 hours of content.

I hope this is true and it probably is.

I want to know how impassable mountains make a world feel larger? They dont, if anything they make the world seem smaller. look at NV invisible walls for the proof. With that said, I dont care if its a little smaller than Ob. I just dont see how impassable areas make a world feel larger, when they dont.

Mountains don't necessarily equal NV's invisible walls. These mountains can be walked around, walked over through multiple paths, and walked directly to the opposite side via caves. Lots of gameplay opportunites here. Not straight invisible walls.

I'd be somewhat disappointed if it were to be the smallest province out of the other games geographically but as long as theres way more content to make up for it i would be fine.

Article writer means this
http://i.imgur.com/V96le.jpg

I live in mountains, and the same acreage as the bird flies feels much bigger than a flat field (it also is bigger due to the slopes and stuff). I can't really describe it but mountains most definitely make a place feel bigger than it really is.

Aye, my guess too. He's comparing Skyrim to the province of Morrowind rather than the island of Vvardenfel.

This.

Honestly I don't see why people are so bothered about the map size. Unless you plan on exploring every inch of the place just to see a bunch o' plants and a [censored] tree, what's the point?

I cant find the article again, but its supposed to be 16 sq. miles.
:shrug:

You're marrying princess Lookie. She's got HUUUGE...tracks of land!

Yeah people arent bothered about anything.
It doesnt matter if its forced third person or no armour degradation or no spellmaking or even less skills and even less spells or no atrributes or no birthsigns or merged greaves and cuirass.
Its not bothering, is it, its all good?

Seriously, blatant siding with the cool people no matter what they say is so high-school.

I'm not worried. Oblivion was big, sure. But much of it was automated. There was not much in the way of hand placed and personal touches. Much of it felt boring and meaningless. I would not mind a slightly smaller world, if the world itself had much more care and work put into it. You know, doing more with less?