TES was never about story arcs, but about the world. And there really wasn't much change during the thirty years between Arena and Oblivion. The way it is with Skyrim now, we can see a somewhat fresher Tamriel (and maybe beyond), while Beth cancels out lots of concerns the players might have about changes they make to the world. 200 years after Arena, I would not have had problem with Cyrodiil having been converted into mostly lush farmland.

Being that TES is about your character more than anything else, I can't even imagine them doing something like that.

I don't want to nitpick, but in Arena, Cyrodiil was a lush farmland...

I'm hoping for the 200 years to be filled with history and lore.

Only the Nibenay Valley, with the Imperial City as a huge metropolis and the only big settlement around. I can check out the manual to Redguard and confirm this lore-wise. Or just look at http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Pocket_Guide_to_the_Empire,_1st_Edition/Cyrodiil. I faintly remember Morrowind (either a character or some book) also referring to it as a jungle at some point.

At any rate, the problem here is not how much detail we were given, but how fast Beth decides to change the lore. Much more time between Morrowind and Oblivion, and I would have been satisfied.

Not sure if this is known, but is the Dovakhiin the same person that Baurus and Jauffre reference? Just wondering if reclaiming the throne could factor into the story at all...

I don't see how the 200 years really matters. It gives them a chance to add new lore about the Infernal City and such, the fall and rise of the Empire. Titus... ect. It may also be to distance itself from the events of Morrowind and Oblivion. Give Tamriel a little rest, it can only handle so many epic tales within so few years.

Nothing will have really changed too much since TES is kind of Tolkien-ish. 200 years can pass and nearly nothing will change technology wise.

You know what excites me about it? One of my favorite parts of TES is the in-game books. They reveal quite a bit about the lore, and are really well written. They have 200 more years of history to describe to us via books, and I'll bet we get a whole lot of new ones this time around. :celebration:

The civil war plot appears to be influenced by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mMNZ7G0cBI of Redgaurd's.


Cyrodiil's always been a lush farmland, even when it was jungle.

Also, the entirety of Cyrod was jungle. Not rain forest. Not only Nibenay. The entire province. Marukh the Prophet was from one such Colovian, coastal jungle.

Nerd Out