» Tue May 17, 2011 1:43 am EDIT: Alright, I feel like composing a thoughtful post now:
I have absolutely nothing against Skyrim's environment and I think people have to get the preposterous, "it's just snow" assumptions out of their heads. If you want to use the real world for reference, there certainly are some impressive natural formations throughout Scotland and Norway. Yet at the same time, lots of people seem to take these real-world locations far too seriously as a possibility as to what the province would resemble. Think of it this way. Vvardenfell started out as a volcanic wasteland. We have those in real life. They're surprisingly devoid of mushroom towers and giant insects, but they're there. Did Bethesda decide to take inspiration from them? Thankfully no - irrespective of the setting, Bethesda does not have to comply with what's seen as "normal" and "familiar". If anything, I feel that Skyrim's the earthlike province with the greatest potential to be interesting. Frozen lakes, glaciers, springs, chasms, the works. But as stated, they don't even have to follow these rules - they could do something completely outlandish if they want to!
In some regards, yes, I hope that TES V takes place in a more exotic locale such as Black Marsh or Summerset, just so that Bethesda can redeem themselves immediately and be done with it - prove to us that they haven't lost their creativity, their dreamy inspiration that stems from the days of the traditional RPG and the niche market. However, at this point I could practically imagine Bethesda scrapping an entire concept and wanting to unleash some amazing rendition of the province, just to put all the dissonance on the forum to rest.
The first complaint about Skyrim is the environment itself - not just the snow, but even the temperate regions could prove to be boring and uninspired if they're anything like Oblivion's. People in these threads tend to overemphasize the projected natural environment of the game. Maybe this is just me, but Morrowind's environment wasn't particularly unique. Visually spectacular and diverse, yes - but I've seen giant mushrooms in videogames before, as well as volcanoes. No, I'm not bashing Morrowind. Read on.
Try this. Remove all the buildings from Morrowind. Just think of the natural, untamed landscape. Again, aside from some mushrooms and other exotic foliage, it still lacks a fair bit of purpose. When you add in everything else, however - from the ancient canols of Vivec to the great Skaar, they form a complete and whole sense of culture and the world becomes absolutely amazing. Don't forget the creatures! The game deserves credit for delivering a lot of variety with its regions and integrating the flora/fauna into the culture. Have you ever noticed that Silt Striders, Guar, and Netches actually have a purpose in Dunmer living? Not like the beasties in Oblivion, which could occasionally be found on the floor or mounted over a fireplace but otherwise were just there so you could kill them.
It doesn't come down to climate one bit - everything counts in the design of a province, and certainly the real world could not possibly be considered a limit to the uniqueness of these elements. So please, don't just complain about Skyrim because you fear it may be a frosted wasteland. Don't forget about the buildings, the people, the culture. More importantly, don't forget that real world comparisons - whether used in favor of or against the actual game world - aren't the only things that matter.
(http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1109484-why-skyrim/)
