Transcribe the past and map the future

The best techniques are passed on by the survivors - Gaiden Shinji: 1E no one can agree

2021 is already off a lightning start, eh? After a year of absolutely nothing useful spilling out of Bethesda studios in regards to it's many high profile, and as of yet, unreleased projects, we are greeted in the new year by an entire graphic on Twitter with a cryptic message. And why- it's an Elder Scrolls themed graphic to boot, which is amazing considering that Pete Hines and the team have been very clear that Starfield is due out years before The Elder Scrolls 6, so what's all this about then? I mean, I'm still happy; but maybe that's because the more I hear about it, the less interested I become in the promise of 'Starfield' and it's somewhat unenthusiastically conventional take on science fiction. (Give me aliens or give me death!) So let me return to quite possibly my favou- you know what? No. My actual favourite fantasy world of all time, The world of Nirn. And interacting with the audience through hints? Why- that's also been my marketing dream! I love this sort of meta "What could they mean?" sort of posts and I just can't wait to dive into this graphic and see everything that I- Wait, why is it a map of Skyrim? Oh god no... not again...

Nah, I'm just fooling. This isn't another re-release of Skyrim. If it were trust me, they wouldn't bother hit up the graphics team to make a teaser for it, they'd just slap that on whatever new system they wanted and be done with it. No, this is something brand new that's using the asset of Skyrim's map (Which I am intimately familiar with at this point; having a burlap version of it hanging above my desk for the past decade) to hint at something deeper. Whatsmore we have a tagline to interpret with this image that was tweeted alongside it; "Transcribe the past and map the future", which is pretty implicit in saying that wherever the series is to go next, the past is certain to be of import. Now I believe this to be rather obvious, given that Skyrim left the state of the world as under a rather new anti-religious dictatorship with hints of rebellion sparking in some of the more hardy provinces. Could we be looking at a game which finally takes the fight to free Tamriel? We can but wait and see. 

Wait, tell a lie. We can also speculate incessantly. Because as you can see from the picture above, what we have here is a map with 3 candles on it, a couple of Septims to the north and what looks like a mini Christmas tree lying in one corner. I assume that the tree is irrelevant, unless Christianity is looking to make a big crossover into the Nirn universe. Now of the three candles (which I think are easily the biggest standouts from the image) we have three highlighted locations, and decoding their significance is the key here. To the north we have one above the Morthal Swamp and another situated directly in the Sea of Ghosts, theories and speculations have already run wild with these two but I'll touch on those later. To the south, however, we have a candle right on where Hammerfell would be, seemingly confirming that which we had assumed for a good long while now, that the Redguards would be the heroes of the next game.

Now for context, Hammerfell is the only region that we are told has maintained significant and long lasting resistance to the occupation of the Thalmor, so if this next game is going to be tied into that arc there's no way that we can't visit the land of sands and swords. That couples with the rumors which were abuzz during the winddown of Skyrim's DLC, that a trademark had been filed for "Redfall" (an amalgamation of 'Redgaurd' and 'Daggerfall') although what ever became of that is anyone's guess. Perhaps we are looking at a the first dual region Elder Scrolls Game (at least since the original) but I get the feeling that if that does end up being the case, then it would be much smarter for Bethesda to take the Rockstar route and have Skyrim be the other playable region. Afterall, it's a home that a lot of us are endeared to, Bethesda have touched up three separate times now, maybe it's time for Skyrim to become a constant in the Elder Scrolls universe? (But I'm just spitballing right now.)

What makes matters more confusing are those aforementioned coins sitting in the Ghost Sea, because as people have mentioned; that marks the separation between the lands of Skyrim and Atmora. Now Atmora is known as 'the birthplace of man', and so it would make sense that if we need to 'transcribe the past' we would touch upon the progenitors of society, but the Redgaurds actually have their own progenitor mythos. That's right, the Redgaurd people actually find themselves descended from the western continent of Yokuda, which is why so many of their gods and traditions differ from the rest of the Tamrielan pantheons; they didn't inherit their gods from the places that everyone else did. So why would the Atmorans be important in a story about Hammerfell? It just doesn't make any sense. And then there is the fact that if any far away continent is finally going to be bought into the story; it has to be Akavir. I mean, we've been talking about 'Akaviri this' and 'Akavir descended techniques that' for seemingly ever now; isn't it high time that became something?

Now backing up to that image which sparked everything, some have noted how the map in question is actually dated; 4E 182. Now seeing as how Skyrim is set in 4E 201, this has led people to speculate that this must be evidence at how this is a prequel to Skyrim, I mean; why else would the map say that? Well, I hate to be the barer of bad news but it's high time that I pour water on those there embers. Do you want to know why the map said that? Because this isn't a composite image like I implied, that's an actual map with real mock Septims which has been photographed. And that map? It's the exact same burlap map that I have had hanging on my wall since 11/11/11. Yeah, my map too is dated 4E 182, and is signed by Nataly Dravarol. (Clearly a Dark Elf name) No, I'm pretty sure this was just a map they had to hand, the game is going to be set further down the line.

Now that we've analysed all there is, what do I want to see from Elder Scrolls 6? Well it's pretty much what I've said in this blog; I'd like the next game to go multi regional. Now the reason that I say this isn't because I think Skyrim was stifling at all, I just think we've reached a point where setting an entire game in one environment is antiquated. Yes, Hammerfell is known to have some green alongside it's deserts, but that's the exception over the rule; Hammerfell is mostly a desert-filled land built atop the ruins of the Yokundans; so why not have us change things up by visiting Daggerfall as well, and Skyrim on top of that? Ideally, I'd like ESO 6 to be the start of a tradition; more regions each game until all of Tamriel is playable, (Which will likely happen after we're all long dead) not for the sheer size of the thing, but because the scope of the story is destined to swell to such a size.

I love talking about this sort of stuff, speculating is my life. One might tut in the sage old voice of Master Yoda and warn how expectation leads to hype which lead to disappointment which lead to suffering; but I can't help playing with fire and I'm sure a lot of you can't either. Unfortunately, we're not going to get a chance to compare the results of our wild guess until several years down the line, Starfield is due first, but that just leaves more time for clues to be dropped and sights to narrow. In the meantime I'll keep whittling down my vision for the perfect Elder Scrolls game (I literally know exactly what the story would be from beginning to end) and setting myself for a fall when the final game is just alright. Oh Bethesda, never change.

The Elder Scrolls: Redfall?

Hey you, you're finally awake.

Yeah, there's a recent game announcement that was just made but we still need to wait a while for the trailer (because apparently Ubisoft don't operate in the 'announcement by trailer' model that literally everyone else does) but instead I want to take a time to latch onto a particularly delicious rumour I heard regarding the future Elder Scrolls Six. Now of course, literally nothing concrete is known about this upcoming title beside the fact it's likely set in Hammerfell and that Jeremy Soule probably won't be offering his talents to the soundtrack. (Nuts. I live for the Skyrim soundtrack.) But that just means there's ripe room for rampant speculation and assumptions; my favourite two words!

Now whispers regarding the next Elder Scrolls is hardly new, they really started blowing up a couple years back after that teaser trailer, but today I heard an interesting development in that regard as claims of an interesting leak have hit the Internet. Now, I know that I've said how I'm no fan of 'leak culture' but let me be frank; this doesn't really come across as a leak. No, these details are too vague and 'hype-inducing' that this just sounds like one of those unofficial press releases in efforts of driving up interest in a certain story or start up that hype train. It's conceited, and yet I'm completely buying into that whole cycle with no regrets because, damn it, I want to talk about TES for a hot minute. (God knows Bethesda isn't going to...)

This particular leak was posted on Elder Scroll Fandom (the most reliable of sources) and was offered by a presumed contractor who apparently flashed his NDA as proof to a moderator. (So that's smart; flaunting the legal document that you are currently breaking. "Look ma, I'm about to get me ass sued off!") The details themselves claim that this will be the first dual province game taking place both in High Rock and Hammerfell and is currently slated for Q4 2024. Factually this seems to tally as we all currently know that there needs to be the announcement and release of Bethesda's Starfield before hand. However, if this date is accurate then this does mean something interesting; that Starfield will likely be set for dropping this year. (Quite the surprise considering we haven't seen anything more than an incredibly light teaser trailer for this title.) But that's just the appetiser, the real meat is in the gameplay details...

Apparently this will one of the first times in a Bethesda game where we actually take an active role in nation-wide politics with the Orcs going to war against the Bretons in one instance. Ultimately they claim that the game will support large scale conflicts that mimic the sorts of battles you'd see from Lord of the Rings; and this is where I start furrowing my brow a bit. We already know that Bethesda insist upon recycling their outdated engine once again for Starfield and TES IV and I have to say I don't think such an engine is capable of this feat. Of course, they intend to upgrade and improve upon these resources but come on: Fallout 4's iteration of the engine couldn't even reliably load static objects in close proximity to one another; how the heck is it supposed to run thousands of AI packages simultaneously? Because of the way the Elder Scrolls games work, with each actor being granted some degree of autonomy even if they are just a background scene filler, it's unfeasible for too many to exist in the same spot. (Windhelm's docks used to straight CTD folk; and that only had about 20 people.) Unless the next generation is going to push processing power to ungodly heights, I have to call bull on this entire leak based on that fact alone; it just does not reconcile with reality yet.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the part where I contradict everything I just said about how real this 'leak' might be; because it ain't. (At least I think it's not.) Don't get me wrong, everything that was just said seems like it exists within the realm of reality but there's just these little nuggets of untruth that ring me wrong. Take the whole 'Daggerfall' aspect of the game, which the leak says is set to be 'the biggest city that Bethesda have ever made', with those folk taking a que off of CDPR in creating a dense feeling cityscape. Wait, what? Bethesda taking ques from CDPR? Why, because of The Witcher 3's Novigrad? Novigrad was the first time that CDPR tried to create a large cityscape to be an explorable area and whilst it may have remained pretty to look at; the experiment was an overall failure compared to the wilder environments from the rest of the game. The city felt needlessly big and it's inhabitants were little more than window dressing, which is something that CDPR have acknowledged and want to improve on for Cyberpunk 2077. Or are we meant to believe that Bethesda are latching onto CDPR because of their work with Cyberpunk, a game that isn't released yet. Firstly, they have no idea what that game will shape up looking, no more than the rest of us at least; and secondly, that's a freakin' Sci-fi city whereas TES is a fantasy franchise. That's just too stupid of a jump in logic for us to overlook.

Then there's the assertion of there being ship travel in this game in order to justify the many claims that "the technology to make this game doesn't exist yet" from our old pal Todd. According to mr leaker this is meant to be an evolution upon the spaceship travel which is said to feature prominently in Starfield therefore establishing a feasible chain of development to make this more believable. But here's the rub; why? High Rock and Hammerfell may be two separate provinces but they are literally right next to each other and boast very few large water masses within their boundaries. Now if this game took place in a location wherein there were significant stretches of sea that could be filled with content; like Auridon (Or 'Summerset Isles' as it's been known in previous games) this would make a lot more sense. This would also make a more sensible staging area for the conflict against the Aldmeri Dominion which all of Skyrim, and the majority of this leak, has been spent building up. (You know, seeing as how Auridon would sit the seat of the Dominion's power?)

Then there is the little taster quest that was offered as a way of showcasing how the quests in the game will be more unique and varied. The scenario we were described involved a Khajiiti mother who was going to the market to buy milk and thus asked the Dragonbor- I mean the Hero of Kva- I mean The Hero Nereva- Whatever this dude is, to watch over her litter of kittens. What would proceed would be the classic 'babysitter hell' scenario wherein a bunch of cute little cat children would cause havoc and be rude all night long until the mother comes home and gets all irate. At this point our Hero(?) can either speech check to calm the crazy cat lady down or goad her into combat, after which the kittens can be found in the city's orphanage. Now, I'll admit that this is a pretty creative sounding quest, but I'm kind of curious why this is the example that's been offered to showcase the ability of this new game. I mean, this could have been coded into Skyrim, probably even Oblivion, maybe even Morrowind with a stretch. Conceptually it's unique but we've never been worried about Bethesda's ability to come up with ideas, it's their lack of the tech to execute these ideas which has been up for debate. Why not regale us with a story about that 'sailing' mechanic you introduced or maybe even the 'spell crafting' mechanic that was dropped in there somewhere? Why, oh why? (Also, the quest features Khajiit and not a single reference to Skooma. There's no way this isn't bull.)

Now a lot of news sites have already picked up on reporting this as a verifiably true leak but I've yet to see any actual evidence of these assertions so I'm willing to claim 'confirmation bias' on this one. And the nail in the coffin for that particular theory lies in one simple question; how the hell has a contractor got ahold of all these variously unrelated details for a game which, in his own words, is still in the conceptual stages right now? It just does not make sense. Now that isn't to say that I don't wish this were true, a lot of the things here do sound pretty cool, but the whole 'Redfall' rumour was killed at the end of Skyrim's life cycle and I refuse to jump onto this song and dance once again, come back when you've pictured some concept art, then we'll talk. Although this does provide ripe ground to think about the things we want from TES 6 when it does release; you know, when we're all freakin' pensioners. So maybe that's something...