What the 10-year anniversary skin reminds me of

spartaxoxo · May 15

So, this is the 10-year anniversary skin for those that haven't seen it.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/66017

I hadn't seen it before. And another user linked it to me while stating that it was "Not my cup of tea."

When I saw that skin with this idea in my mind, suddenly it reminded me of a literal teacup. In particular, one that had been repaired using the art of Kintsugi. Japan has this art of repairing broken things using gold. Rather than cover up the flaws, it highlights them. It makes the object's flaws into part of its character and charm.

The idea is that the broken item can be made even more beautiful than it was before.

Let's return to the skin.

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

When you think about it, this ties in nicely to how these 10 years have felt for both the playerbase and the devs. This game almost failed right at launch. It's been through a global pandemic, performance issues, awesome chapters, and all kinds of ups and downs. But somehow, it's still here. And a better game than it was at launch when it was all shiny and new. In a way, this skin can be seen as a beautiful metaphor for ESO's journey. The game has come out more beautiful and stronger because of all the challenges the developers and players have faced.

In addition, there's the more literal interpretation of how those little lines look a bit like little golden roads. And there is a glass theme for the upcoming chapter. While it's traditionally for ceramics, Kintsugi can be done on some glassware.

So, if my interpretation of this art isn't totally off-base, then it makes sense both as a symbol for the player journey until now and as symbol for the upcoming chapter.

But maybe I'm way off base. What do you guys feel about this skin? @ZOS_Kevin could you guys perhaps share some of the inspiration that went into the making of this skin?

LunaFlora · May 15

Thought so too when i saw "unbroken" in the post about the achievement.

Though the Vestige might be more fitting than the game itself. with how their soul was taken and then put back in a different body than their original which looks the same anyways.

your interpretations make sense as well

SilverBride · May 15

I think your interpretation is spot on. If not then this would be quite a coincidence!

Theist_VII · May 15

While the sentiment is sound, it makes absolutely no sense being the penultimate achievement for questing.

This would have been a nice reward for logging in on the day of the tenth anniversary.

VisitHammerfell · May 15

I liked it bc I just assumed something something Ithelia glass something something Gold Road but your interpretation seems spot on with the Kintsugi. And I do agree with Luna above with the Vestige interpretation, with the Vestige being reassembled and having gone on this "10 year" journey growing as a person and mage/soldier/fighter throught all the questing they did.

ArchangelIsraphel · May 15

I'd say you are spot on with the metaphor. Especially since the technique is used deliberately on human-shaped sculptures to achieve a very similar dramatic effect. Even the texture on the skin itself looks similar to a glaze you'd see on pottery.

Djennku · May 15

Yup. They actually mentioned kintsugi in the skin's description in game which you can check out on pts, and iirc they mentioned it in a recent article. But yeah, its such a beautiful skin and the theme and inspiration fits perfectly.

spartaxoxo · May 15

Djennku wrote: »

Yup. They actually mentioned kintsugi in the skin's description in game which you can check out on pts, and iirc they mentioned it in a recent article. But yeah, its such a beautiful skin and the theme and inspiration fits perfectly.

I don't have access to the PTS (I'm on console) and didn't see it in the article, but that's cool to know! Could you or someone else screenshot it for me? (Edit: I just like to read it since I'm excited for the skin 🙂)That's really cool. Knowing that's the official reason for the skin makes me like it even more.

spartaxoxo · May 15

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

Oh. They are both pretty but this one is gorgeous. I kind of wish the skin was a bit more delicate looking now!

Danikat · May 15

This is the one thing I like about the new skin. As I said in another thread celebrating 10 years of ESO with a reference to a process for taking something broken beyond the ability to restore it to how it was supposed to be, so all you can do is celebrate the cracks and the repairs as part of it's new, unintended, form is a very honest approach.

I'd love to know how many people at ZOS, especially the more senior ones involved in signing this off, considered the implications.

ApoAlaia · May 15

Although I was vaguely aware of this artistic practice I did not make the connection myself.

You do make a compelling case for it though.

colossalvoids · May 15

Pretty sure it was the actual intention, first thing I've thought of also.

moderatelyfatman · May 15

Trejgon · May 15

Oh, that actually makes sense. Would have never guessed it on my own.

TaSheen · May 15

@spartaxoxo - very interesting! Thanks for the information, I'd never run across kintsugi before.

OgrimTitan · May 15

An intelligent, thoughtful post on the forums that appreciates the game rather than providing infantile complains? I must be dreaming.

Desiato · May 15

I think it's thematically appropriate.

In the base game main story, The Vestige is putting themselves back together after a catastrophic event, ending the story stronger than they were before the event.

And in general, the chapter main stories I've completed involve fixing something that is broken or corrupted.

I'm not into skins at all because I'm more of a classic NA high fantasy RPG fan which has a more subdued art style, but I think the concept behind the skin is thoughtful. I wouldn't be disappointed by this reward at all, even if I wouldn't use it.

But then, I wasn't disappointed by the useless rewards I received while completing the main stories back in 2014. The rewards were the quests themselves.

Nharimlur_Finor · May 16

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

Maybe it represents 10 years of fortnightly patches? If that were the case, it needs more gold lines...

I don't do PvP, so this is an unnecessary reward for me.

I do like the one from CWC. It blends in with most clothing.

colossalvoids · May 16

LaintalAy wrote: »

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

It can be named "unbroken" if wasn't just left sit broken but was repaired in some way. Just like people who are called "unbroken" are usually being broken by something previous to their recovery if it makes sense, or endure whilst being broken.

Dragonnord · May 16

colossalvoids wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

It can be named "unbroken" if wasn't just left sit broken but was repaired in some way. Just like people who are called "unbroken" are usually being broken by something previous to their recovery if it makes sense, or endure whilst being broken.

That's not the definition of Unbroken.

Unbroken means that never broke before. If it got broken, then it's called Repaired.

I have checked several dictionaries, so not trying to be picky, but really, unbroken means that it never got broken, not that it broke and got fixed with glue or whatever means.

colossalvoids · May 16

Dragonnord wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

It can be named "unbroken" if wasn't just left sit broken but was repaired in some way. Just like people who are called "unbroken" are usually being broken by something previous to their recovery if it makes sense, or endure whilst being broken.

That's not the definition of Unbroken.

Unbroken means that never broke before. If it got broken, then it's called Repaired.

I have checked several dictionaries, so not trying to be picky, but really, unbroken means that it never got broken, not that it broke and got fixed with glue or whatever means.

Seems English is way less flexible than I thought compare to other languages j speak/know,l. Still heard people use it that way somehow, but won't insist.

RaddlemanNumber7 · May 16

colossalvoids wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

It can be named "unbroken" if wasn't just left sit broken but was repaired in some way. Just like people who are called "unbroken" are usually being broken by something previous to their recovery if it makes sense, or endure whilst being broken.

That's not the definition of Unbroken.

Unbroken means that never broke before. If it got broken, then it's called Repaired.

I have checked several dictionaries, so not trying to be picky, but really, unbroken means that it never got broken, not that it broke and got fixed with glue or whatever means.

Seems English is way less flexible than I thought compare to other languages j speak/know,l. Still heard people use it that way somehow, but won't insist.

"Unbroken" is a fine piece of English. It's a perfectly acceptable example of artistic license - the adjectival form of the transitive verb "to unbrake", which goes beyond repair, not only fixing something someone else broke but making it better than it was before, as an expression of defiance

UGotBenched91 · May 16

Ugh these skins look bad on most races outside the beast race. I wish instead of these shiny skins we got…I know….dare I say…look shiny cosmetic skins for armors or weapons as rewards.

TaSheen · May 16

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

It can be named "unbroken" if wasn't just left sit broken but was repaired in some way. Just like people who are called "unbroken" are usually being broken by something previous to their recovery if it makes sense, or endure whilst being broken.

That's not the definition of Unbroken.

Unbroken means that never broke before. If it got broken, then it's called Repaired.

I have checked several dictionaries, so not trying to be picky, but really, unbroken means that it never got broken, not that it broke and got fixed with glue or whatever means.

Seems English is way less flexible than I thought compare to other languages j speak/know,l. Still heard people use it that way somehow, but won't insist.

"Unbroken" is a fine piece of English. It's a perfectly acceptable example of artistic license - the adjectival form of the transitive verb "to unbrake", which goes beyond repair, not only fixing something someone else broke but making it better than it was before, as an expression of defiance

I think I've only ever used the word "unbroken" in regard to horses....

ESO_player123 · May 16

TaSheen wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Dragonnord wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

LaintalAy wrote: »

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

Yet the skin represents something that has been broken and is now repaired. Is that what I read?
Where does the 'unbroken' bit come in?

It can be named "unbroken" if wasn't just left sit broken but was repaired in some way. Just like people who are called "unbroken" are usually being broken by something previous to their recovery if it makes sense, or endure whilst being broken.

That's not the definition of Unbroken.

Unbroken means that never broke before. If it got broken, then it's called Repaired.

I have checked several dictionaries, so not trying to be picky, but really, unbroken means that it never got broken, not that it broke and got fixed with glue or whatever means.

Seems English is way less flexible than I thought compare to other languages j speak/know,l. Still heard people use it that way somehow, but won't insist.

"Unbroken" is a fine piece of English. It's a perfectly acceptable example of artistic license - the adjectival form of the transitive verb "to unbrake", which goes beyond repair, not only fixing something someone else broke but making it better than it was before, as an expression of defiance

I think I've only ever used the word "unbroken" in regard to horses....

Unbroken chain of custody? (I watched too many crime movies). Not something you want to be broken and repaired.

Aelorin · May 17

Maybe they should hire you to do some extra communication once in a while!

Love the skin more now with this explanation :-)

duagloth · November 10

Another theory, the games broken but held together with dumping cash into the crown crates. 😆

moderatelyfatman · November 10

duagloth wrote: »

Another theory, the games broken but held together with dumping cash into the crown crates. 😆

Nharimlur_Finor · November 10

spartaxoxo wrote: »

So, this is the 10-year anniversary skin for those that haven't seen it.

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/66017

The idea is that the broken item can be made even more beautiful than it was before.

Let's return to the skin.

"10 years unbroken" is how it's captioned.

When you think about it, this ties in nicely to how these 10 years have felt for both the playerbase and the devs. This game almost failed right at launch. It's been through a global pandemic, performance issues, awesome chapters, and all kinds of ups and downs. But somehow, it's still here. And a better game than it was at launch when it was all shiny and new. In a way, this skin can be seen as a beautiful metaphor for ESO's journey. The game has come out more beautiful and stronger because of all the challenges the developers and players have faced.

In addition, there's the more literal interpretation of how those little lines look a bit like little golden roads. And there is a glass theme for the upcoming chapter. While it's traditionally for ceramics, Kintsugi can be done on some glassware.

So, if my interpretation of this art isn't totally off-base, then it makes sense both as a symbol for the player journey until now and as symbol for the upcoming chapter.

But maybe I'm way off base. What do you guys feel about this skin? @ZOS_Kevin could you guys perhaps share some of the inspiration that went into the making of this skin?

I sort of missed the idea of this as a metaphor.

So ESO is more beautiful than it was, after it was broken and repaired?

Sure. Let's celebrate that.

I refuse to drink tea from anything other than an unbrakened cup.

Do not expect tea: that is for friends...