Re-Discovering Tamriel

So, as a forewarning, this is one of my nerd posts. Chances are, only about two of you will understand what I'm talking about. Most of you won't be able to follow anything I say. But, at this point, I can't really care about that. You know why?

BECAUSE THE FIFTH ELDER SCROLLS GAME IS COMING OUT THIS YEAR!!!


Now, this is kinda sad that I'm just realizing this, 'cause they announced  Skyrim (the name of Elder Scrolls V) back in December. But, for some reason, I only watched the preview trailer last night...

And now I'm psyched.

For those of you who know nothing about video games, the Elder Scroll series (and, in fact, most everything made by Bethesdia Softworks) are all massive sandbox games. That means that you can go anywhere and do (almost) anything anytime you want to. You're not confined to a single level that you have to beat to progress - you're thrown into a massive world full of cities and people and quests and weapons and junk and told "Alright, we'll give you a main quest to give to some semblance of direction, but other than that you're on your own."

The Elder Scrolls games are all set within the world of Tamriel. I'd say that it's roughly a Roman Empire-aged world, except the existence of magic and alchemy and multiple races can really distance another world's timeline from ours. Anyway, each game thus far has taken part in a different realm of Tamriel - Daggerfall, Morrowind, Cyrodill. Except, you know, Oblivion took part in Cyrodill and the daedric plane of Oblivion... which is not technically in Tamriel...

Anyway, I got started with the fourth game, Oblivion. And, well, it's one of my favorite games ever. I can't count how many hours I plugged away at that game... Well, I could, except all my old save files got deleted, so I can't go back and look at the little "Time Played" thingy.

One of the best parts about this game is that you can be anything you freaking want to be. You wanna be a vampire paladin who steals things for a living while practicing magic? Go ahead. You want to be a lizard man who runs a brotherhood of assassins, but also works as the Emperor-to-be's helper? Yep, got that too. You wanna be a lion-man who is the most powerful magician in all the land as well as the commander of the Fighter's Guild and a master thief who also runs a brotherhood of assassins while being the Emperor-to-be's helper who is also a vampire and kills people just for the heck of it while also being the chosen of the gods to slay an ancient evil and become a freaking daedric GOD? 


Yeah. Yeah, you can do that, too.

The only problem I had with Oblivion was that, while you could be the Champion of the Fighter's Guild, the Archmage of the Mage's Guild, the Grey Fox of the Thieve's Guild, and the Listener for the Dark Brotherhood... nobody would recognize you for it.

I mean, if I'm the most powerful magician in the land, and the strongest fighter in the land, and the best thief in the land, and the greatest assassin in the land, I'd expect people would be pretty freakin' impressed with me. I'd think they'd know my name. I'd think they'd show me a little respect. I'd think they'd freakin' turn around and run for their pathetic lives whenever they saw my dark-robed figure bringing upon them the harbinger of death.

But instead, as you walk down the streets, people just say, "Good day," or "Move," or, "You look suspicious.."

Hopefully they'll change that in Skyrim. But until then, I plan to invest an inordinate amount of time in Morrowind and Oblivion, stealing the world's riches, killing the scum of the land, and generally being awesome.

So, until then...

James
Daedric Lord of Madness, Grey Fox of the Thieve's Guild, Listener for the Dark Brotherhood, etc., etc.