The Elder Scrolls Online How to Make Face of the Hum From Cover Art

From the volcanic plains of Morrowind to the lurching fjords of Skyrim, to the sprawling sands of Elsweyr and the towering sierras of Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls Online has become a vast and varied version of Tamriel that is unprecedentedly immense in scope. In fact, the designers at ZeniMax Online Studios are actually running out of space on the continent — that's why the next location coming to the game, High Isle , has never been visited before in this universe.

That's not the just affair being added to the game in the upcoming Legacy of the Bretons expansion, though. Evidently, a story about Bretons requires, well… Bretons. Nosotros sat down with The Elder Scrolls Online lead writer Nib Slavicsek and loremaster Leamon Tuttle to talk over all things Bretonic and beyond.

"We chose the Bretons considering we haven't done much with them since the launch game," Slavicsek tells GLHF. "We've been looking for 'What haven't we done still?' and they were an obvious choice. They deserve more of a spotlight than they've had earlier, and we're going to give them one with the Legacy of the Bretons."

For those of you lot who bask The Elder Scrolls but are more than well-versed on races like Nords, Dark Elves, and Khajiit, the Bretons — according to the folks at ZeniMax Online Studios — are significantly more intriguing than people have been led to believe. Their order is a Thronesian one, where abrasiveness is eschewed for subterfuge and petty political squabbles are quickly elevated to total-fledged coups d'état.

"Nosotros did a lot of research on the actual medieval period in Europe — how that played out and how the various noble houses dealt with and around each other," Tuttle explains. "In that location'due south a ton of intrigue and conflict between various noble houses — that's gonna definitely have a spotlight put on it. In that location are several noble houses, two in particular that the player is going to exist well acquainted with over time. At that place'south the whole neo-feudalism side of it, but there's as well the magical side of it. I of the things that oft gets lost in the shuffle is that Bretons are 1 of the most magically good races in Tamriel, from the king all the fashion down to the serfs.

"Every Breton can avowal some resistance to magic and some bones aptitude for learning information technology if given the opportunity. I hateful, some of the greatest mages in Tamrielic history were Breton. Another aspect of order that nosotros're dealing with is Druidism. Early on in the Elder Scrolls releases, there was a reference to the Druids of Galen. It was kind of dropped and never really talked about that much. Merely nosotros're really getting into the history of the Bretons in terms of their relationship with the Direnni elves and how that all started, these basic kinds of early religion aspects with druids."

Information technology's worth lingering on that signal for a moment. As Tuttle says above, part of preparing for this expansion involved going back to old lore in lodge to maintain consistency with the Elder Scrolls universe. This is pretty standard in unique sci-fi and fantasy worlds with their own inherent rules and rituals, although Slavicsek jokes that, "Nosotros're fantasy, nosotros arrive up" when we mention the fact that Mass Effect's loremaster would oftentimes crunch the numbers for concepts like using mass relays to attain FTL speeds.

"The challenges that we face are different from the challenges that you'd see in a game similar Mass Effect ," Tuttle says. "We're not crunching numbers on mass relays and stuff, but I do a ton of inquiry on a bunch of different stuff, including all the lore that'south taken place up until now. It'due south a lot of reading, but one matter I always try to consider is that as loremaster, our chore is not to treat all the lore as totally inviolate. We're the stewards of what is the best version of ourselves. Nosotros're trying to safeguard the all-time aspects of the franchise and brand sure that they go a chance to smooth.

"In that location's this idea that the loremaster gig is just kind of smacking people's hands with big books and being like, 'No, yous can't practice that!' or whatever. But really, it'due south nigh trying to find a way to achieve what we're trying to achieve while protecting the best aspects of the franchise."

Slavicsek builds on this point, stating that Tuttle's office isn't necessarily to say 'no' and smack the writers with a dusty old text from The Elder Scrolls: Loonshit . It's to turn effectually and say, "How tin we make that work?" when faced with a new idea that could potentially exist at odds with a previous or futurity one. Slavicsek, meanwhile, focuses on ensuring that these stories are all consequent with every three-month gap between releases. Compared to single-histrion games — and even a lot of online ones — the amount of quality content The Elder Scrolls Online produces on the regular is pretty wild.

That's a fascinating point to muse on, too. Obviously, The Elder Scrolls Online is massively popular now, which makes the decade it's been since a single-player Elder Scrolls game all the more than ostensible. Some fans of the serial are of the opinion that ESO has usurped its unmarried-role player predecessors, although the folks at ZeniMax Online Studios don't similar to think of it that manner.

"We're not in competition with our brethren at BGS," Slavicsek says. "I just attempt to put out good stuff and hope the audition likes it."

"We both get to play in the same universe, but we play in different ways," Tuttle adds. "That's one of the cool things about games generally is that there'south variations on the theme, and different studios do different things in different means. People conspicuously dearest our game, and they definitely clearly love the mainline titles in The Elderberry Scrolls . I think with all of our studios, we're making people happy in different ways."

ESO , however, has had to experiment with said ways in abnormally rapid succession. As mentioned at the beginning of the piece, the size of Tamriel has already been established. The races who inhabit the continent — their histories, mythologies, and cultures — are known to fans the world over. How can ZeniMax Online Studios proceed to put out new hefty chunks of new material on a quarterly basis while ensuring its world doesn't outgrow the shell that keeps it contained, just focused?

"I mean, we'd like to go to new places," Slavicsek explains. "Nosotros're running out of room on Tamriel — that's ane of the reasons we're going to the archipelago in this adjacent package. We've covered well-nigh of the primary continent at this point. But we likewise believe in the rules of the universe and there are certain mysteries that volition never be answered. The Dwemer are one of those — we are not going to step anywhere nearly that.

"We may practice some hints here and there, we may tease you a petty bit. Only there are things that they say we should never touch, and that's one. We volition never touch those things. Merely we're creating new stuff all the time — we accept to or we'd never put out any content. The Ascendant Social club is new, High Isle is new. Last time we showed parts of the Deadlands that were never seen earlier. That'due south become second nature for us and it'south exciting. Nosotros love doing information technology."

For those who are curious about the upcoming material referenced above, the Ascendant Order is an all-new combative faction that is opposed to the Three Banners War. Their quest for a crownless utopia marks them as the kind of villainous organization that isn't just armed to the teeth with twirly mustaches and dastardly laughs though. It's staffed past people with real confidence in a lofty goal they run across as simply, and which other people concur with due to the fact they marketplace themselves as people who are anti-violence in Tamriel.

"That's really a practiced thing, right? We want to cease the war," Slavicsek says. "Information technology'south a affair of how they get about doing it that becomes the driving force of the story. And their leaders — we've got a few of them that yous'll encounter across the length of the story — are these individuals that at least on the surface take noble goals and believe in things that most of the mutual folk of Tamriel would probably support until people start dying."

The studio'south confidence in terms of introducing whole new factions in large, year-long expansion stories has bred ambition, confidence, and a kind of self-sensation in the MMO space that maybe not all companies are capable of recognizing. The people at ZeniMax Online Studios know that what they're doing is good. They tin can identify why it resonates with so many people, and tin can clearly see a futurity for ESO that isn't affected by rivals or future Elder Scrolls games adult elsewhere.

"We're telling skillful stories," Slavicsek says. "I call up our storytelling is some of the strongest happening in the industry. Nosotros approach the storytelling for an MMO much differently than about other MMOs and I'yard very proud of that. We're doing skillful stuff and people are noticing.

"I remember information technology'south of import to give props to the community itself, likewise," Tuttle continues. "I mean, a game like this does non exist in the way that information technology exists at present without a really awesome, thriving community of players that are contributing in different ways — writing manufactures, doing fan fine art, or writing fanfics. One of the cool things near doing this is at that place's this kind of communication between us and people who really beloved this game. I think that'southward a huge part of its success."

Speaking of which, ESO's community surpassed 20 million players but terminal yr. Equally was the case with many games, people all over the world found solace in video games throughout the pandemic — particularly in highly sociable ones like MMOs. While the team has been working from home for almost two years, they haven't missed a unmarried borderline throughout that time. They know just how of import it's been for players to be able to inhabit this world.

"Personally, what I've been doing when I'm not writing for the game and working is playing video games, because I tin't leave my house," Slavicsek explains. "I think video games have given people a way to become through this unique situation we're all in, at least if you're fans of that detail medium. I'yard glad we've been able to provide people with something that could get them through this. We're gonna go along to do that."

Both Slavicsek and Tuttle accept words for those people, too — which includes you lot if y'all're reading this. "Thank you," Tuttle opens with. "That'due south first."

"Our game is unique," Slavicsek says. "You tin can offset anywhere you desire. If you decide you lot want to get-go with Legacy of the Bretons, it's a perfectly good jumping-in betoken. It's a political story. It'southward a downwardly-to-world story. It's a people story. Y'all're gonna learn a lot about the Bretons and their history and their lore. But y'all're also going to deal with the current issues of the twenty-four hours in Tamriel. Be fix to run in and have some fun."

"I would say from the lore perspective, if you really wanted to become some more lore from the Bretons, y'all will not be disappointed," Tuttle says. "In that location's plenty of it to go around. And if you're one of these people who thinks that the Bretons are really boring — you should play too, considering nosotros'll prove you incorrect."

Written by Cian Maher on behalf of GLHF .

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Source: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/01/elder-scrolls-online-lore-interview

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