Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls is a multi-platform action RPG video game created in 1994 by Bethesda Studios. Emphasizing visual appeal and realism, the Elder Scrolls series is famous for creating environments where the player can go and do nearly anything they want to[1].
Contents
History
As was expected given the heavy influence of previous first-person RPGs and Bethesda’s lack of genre experience, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, the first game in The Elder Scrolls series, didn’t bring much new to the table mechanically. The featured action-oriented combat that was only a modest advance. Computers at the time had trouble running the game’s then-demanding graphics and sound, and bugs slipped past the development team in the final build. Despite these many shortcomings, one element stood out as a major differentiator: the size of the game’s world. The Elder Scrolls: Arena set the precedent for all future games of the series, creating a massive game world for the player to explore. Additionally, players became enamored with the side quests, often ignoring the main storyline altogether. Though this would later come to define the series in a way, it caught the development team off guard. In the end, Arena‘s combination of action-based combat, a large game space, and player freedom became a cult hit.
Adult Mods
User created content, called a mod(short for modifier), first became a part of the Elder Scrolls games with the release of Daggerfall.[2] Players can make their own items, dungeons, cities, races, etc. with the use of official toolsets or their own software and add them into their games. Sharing mods over the internet is extremely popular as well, but this freedom has led to some controversy. The term TTP, or time to penis, is an unofficial term used by game developers to describe the length of time before a game that allows users to create content to represent male genitals [3]. The Elder Scrolls games, particularly Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim, are infamous for having low TTPs[4]. Adult content mods - featuring nudity, prostitution, animated sex, and the ability to kill children - quickly grew to be some of the most popular mods available [5].
The Elder Scrolls: Arena
The first game in the The Elder Scrolls history introduced a character that would make numerous appearances throughout all the following games, Uriel Septim VII. Uriel Septim is the Emperor of Tamriel, the 21st in a long line of Septims. The first game of the series shows Septim being kidnapped and imprisoned in another dimension while an Imperial Battlemage, Jagar Tharn, impersonates him on the throne. The player is tasked with gathering the eight pieces of the Staff of Chaos to force Tharn's exposure and save the Emperor.
Impact
The Elder Scrolls: arena was groundbreaking in that it became an action RPG that was more than just standard combat. There was a place to explore, skills to be learned in order to level up, and a story to experience. It was something new and exciting that gamers hadn't experienced.
The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall takes place in High Rock, the Breton homeland. The Emperor sends the players to High Rock to track a letter which holds the location of the Mantella, a gem created from the soul of the Underking. This gem is the key to awakening the Numidium, a massive, iron golem. Everybody wants the Numidium for their own selfish gain, but the player can choose from six possible endings to determine the fate of Tamriel, and The Elder Scrolls history.
Impact
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall's game world gave the player the ability to explore a world that would equate to about half the size of Great Britain. And While many other games have specific endings, the ending to "Daggerfall" was dependent only on how the player navigated the game.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind begins on a stormy night on a boat. The player character is jarred out of a dream by nightmarish visions. It is revealed the player is actually a prisoner freed by none other than Uriel Septim VII. The Emperor wants the player to rendezvous with one of his agents, who inducts the player into the Blades, a secret order dedicated to the extermination of the evil deity, Dagoth Ur. The player continues to have odd dreams, which are revealed to be agents of Dagoth Ur attempting to infiltrate the player's mind.
The nomadic Ashlanders prophesize the reincarnation of Nerevar, the only force strong enough to take down Dagoth Ur. The player is Nerevar incarnate. After traveling to Red Mountain, the player and Dagoth Ur do battle. After Dagoth Ur is defeated the player breaks the Heart of Lorkhan, destroying the source of Dagoth Ur's power and killing him in the process.
Expansion Packs
Two expansion packs were made for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls: Bloodmoon and The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal. They were both originally released as expansion packs and subsequently included in the release of the Game of the Year edition, which was released on October 31, 2003[6].
BloodMoon
The setting of Bloodmoon is an island called Solstheim, which is located Northwest of the mainland in Morrowind. It can be reached by:
- Crossing the water separating the island from the mainland using levitation, water walking, or swimming.
- Taking a boat across the water after speaking to the Khajiit S'virr in the town of Khuul.
Impact
This was the first game in the series to be on multiple platforms: PC and Xbox. Although it was not the first game to break ground with this The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is the first game in the series to feature character creation and the ability to swap between third- and first-person views. “Morrowind” also took their multiple story lines to a new level, allowing up to hundreds of different stories to play out. “Morrowind” was also the first game in the series to have legitimate commercial success, selling over 4 million copies.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls history is completely upset within the first few minutes of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The Emperor, Uriel Septim VII, entrusts the player with the task of finding Cyrodiil's lost heir, just as an assassin stabs and kills him. A covenant that kept the realm of Oblivion at bay was only in affect while a rightful heir wore the Amulet of Kings, which Septim gives the player with orders to find his long lost son. Players venture in and out of the realm of Oblivion, where hordes of demonic beasts are preparing to enter Cyrodiil, making sure to seal the gates, if only temporarily.
The Player finds Martin Septim, the rightful heir, and brings him back to the Imperial City only to find it under attack by the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon. In a final act of epic redemption, Martin shatters the Amulet of Kings and merges with the Dragon-God of Time, Akatosh. The player and Martin, now an avatar of Akatosh, destroy Dagon and seal the gates to Oblivion forever, killing Martin in the process. This leaves the throne open once again.
Impact
“Oblivion” offered much of the same style of gameplay as its predecessors. Its one big change was that now the characters that were the environment of the game actually had roles. They no longer stood still; they slept, work, ate, etc.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It has been 200 years since the Oblivion Crisis. The High King of Skyrim has been murdered by the leader of rebels of the Nord civil war, Ulfric Stormcloak. The murder is, however, unusual, as rumors that Stormcloak murdered the High King with just his voice. On top of the murder of the High King, a civil war amongst the Nord people and a Empire on the brink of destruction, Dragons have returned to the land of Skyrim. Some believe Alduin will rise to consume the world while others believe the legendary "Dragonborn" will rise to fulfill the prophecy of the Elder Scrolls.
Impact
Continuing in The Elder Scrolls fashion the creators developed much more area for the player to explore. The biggest additions to these areas were the dungeons. They reportedly added over 150 unique dungeons for the players to explore.
References
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls
- ↑ http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:AndyFall
- ↑ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ttp
- ↑ http://www.dualshockers.com/2011/09/19/sixteen-things-modders-will-bring-to-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/
- ↑ http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/topalltime/?adult=0
- ↑ http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q2-2003/051003b.html
