Official Discussion Thread for "ESO Morrowind: Vvardenfell Flora and Fauna"

ZOS_JessicaFolsom

This is the official discussion thread for the blog article ESO Morrowind: Vvardenfell Flora and Fauna.

Vvardenfell is unlike anywhere else in Tamriel. In our first look at some of the wondrous creatures and dramatic environments you'll encounter in The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind, we introduce newcomers the Vvardvarks and Cliff Striders, and learn about a few of Vvardenfell's more verdant regions.

Faulgor

I have no idea what they look like, but I'd really like a Nix-Oxen mount ...

menedhyn

A fascinating article - love this kind of thing. Great artwork once again!

Rev Rielle

Insightful article, some of these sound quite interesting. I hope they have similarly interesting and unique mechanics (combat and/or otherwise) to go with them.

Llevndryn

This is so cool ! Thanks for this article.
I love to learn that kind of lore !

Elsonso

I am sensing a Vvardvark pet in the future.

deleted008293

Slit Striders?

Recremen

This is some really cool stuff! I love the new visual interpretation of the cliff racer, it looks exactly like what I'd expect a high-def version of the Morrowind model to look like, except this one is without feathers. Maybe there's a difference between a cliff racer and a cliff strider, the former having feathers and this variety not so much? Alternatively, I could be misinterpreting what a "racer plume" was, but no matter, still quite in the right direction. I also LOVE the new look for the Hunger. It's actually a fair bit different from the Morrowind model but I just plain like this one more.

The only thing I'm weirded out about is the "Vvardvark". I'm struggling to remember any hint of mammalian-style life on Vvardenfell and am only coming up with cave rats, which at least make some sense in that it's easy to see how they could be imported. Vvardvark seems like the wrong kind of weird for the wrong kind of region.

I love the attention being paid to the flora as well, btw! Totally nailing all the important biomes, and it seems like you're even improving/expanding on the lore for them. Bravo!

LMar

Recremen wrote: »

I love the new visual interpretation of the cliff racer, it looks exactly like what I'd expect a high-def version of the Morrowind model to look like, except this one is without feathers. Maybe there's a difference between a cliff racer and a cliff strider, the former having feathers and this variety not so much? Alternatively, I could be misinterpreting what a "racer plume" was, but no matter, still quite in the right direction. !

The plume probably refers to the top bit of the head. the protrusion, which kinda is present here and on the cliffracers in Morrowind!

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Glad to see they aren't just copy-pasting everything over from ES III Morrowind.

Concur with @Recremen that the Vvardvark looks weird. I'll wait to pass judgement though; there are hundreds of other things I'd rather worry about regarding the upcoming Chapter.

Enodoc

Balmora means "Stone Forest", y'know. I don't think its supposed to have deciduous woodland around it.

Elsonso

Enodoc wrote: »

Balmora means "Stone Forest", y'know. I don't think its supposed to have deciduous woodland around it.

Balmora predates ESO by quite a few years. Maybe there was a stone forest in that location 1000 years ago.

Heroeric1337

Now I have to know...Will cliff racers be a thing in Vvardenfell like in TES3??

Ariotar

OMG I already NEED a Vvardvark in my life!!! Really amazing article! It's nice to see Hungers returning because I thought they were a nice, albeit creepy, addition to Oblivion through The Shivering Isles. HYPED!!!!!

WhiteCoatSyndrome

@Heroeric1337 - I will note you can already see Cliffracers in Stonefalls, so there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be present in Vvardenfell too. The question is whether or not they'll be fight-able mobs.

Gan Xing

As an Ecologist, this was a joy to read

Enodoc

lordrichter wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

Balmora means "Stone Forest", y'know. I don't think its supposed to have deciduous woodland around it.

Balmora predates ESO by quite a few years. Maybe there was a stone forest in that location 1000 years ago.

True enough. I think Balmora is late First Era. What even is a "stone forest" anyway? At least Sadrith Mora (mushroom forest) actually makes sense.

SlayerSyrena

Needs moar Silt Striders!

Gilvoth

you have made it "look" and "appear" as if morrowind is lush with vegetation and forest like.
it is Not iether of those things.
Vvardenfell and morrowind's landscape is dusty and dry everywhere. ash, is constantly present, and it simply is not forest like, nor lush with vegetation.

Gilvoth

Enodoc wrote: »

Balmora means "Stone Forest", y'know. I don't think its supposed to have deciduous woodland around it.

this ^

Recremen

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

you have made it "look" and "appear" as if morrowind is lush with vegetation and forest like.
it is Not iether of those things.
Vvardenfell and morrowind's landscape is dusty and dry everywhere. ash, is constantly present, and it simply is not forest like, nor lush with vegetation.

Several areas such as the swamplands of Bitter Coast were easily identifiable as lush and forested, given all the trees and swamps that were present. Then we have the grazelands, which were, you know, grassy as heck. The area around Vivec City had a boatload of green, as I recall, plus a bunch of giant mushrooms to jump on if you were acrobatic or had a decently-powered jump spell. It was not all dusty and dry everywhere, but had a range of biomes. Further, Red Mountain and the Blight, it can be assumed, were not omnipresent issues in every era. I see no reason to not explore how those areas may have looked before Dagoth Ur's rise and the increased activity of Red Mountain.

It is perfectly within the right of the storytellers to give us a lush forested landscape around Balmora since it already supported a decent amount of plantlife, all things considered. Remember the bittergreen and scathecraw around the gates of Balmora? Those hardier species are likely all that's left of the once-great forests, decimated by the third era due to blight and ash. And let's not forget the chokeweed, the roobrush, the fire fern, the comberry, and actually you know what just have this giant list of Vvardenfell flora still growing as of the 3rd Era.

Gilvoth

Recremen wrote: »

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

you have made it "look" and "appear" as if morrowind is lush with vegetation and forest like.
it is Not iether of those things.
Vvardenfell and morrowind's landscape is dusty and dry everywhere. ash, is constantly present, and it simply is not forest like, nor lush with vegetation.

Several areas such as the swamplands of Bitter Coast were easily identifiable as lush and forested, given all the trees and swamps that were present. Then we have the grazelands, which were, you know, grassy as heck. The area around Vivec City had a boatload of green, as I recall, plus a bunch of giant mushrooms to jump on if you were acrobatic or had a decently-powered jump spell. It was not all dusty and dry everywhere, but had a range of biomes. Further, Red Mountain and the Blight, it can be assumed, were not omnipresent issues in every era. I see no reason to not explore how those areas may have looked before Dagoth Ur's rise and the increased activity of Red Mountain.

It is perfectly within the right of the storytellers to give us a lush forested landscape around Balmora since it already supported a decent amount of plantlife, all things considered. Remember the bittergreen and scathecraw around the gates of Balmora? Those hardier species are likely all that's left of the once-great forests, decimated by the third era due to blight and ash. And let's not forget the chokeweed, the roobrush, the fire fern, the comberry, and actually you know what just have this giant list of Vvardenfell flora still growing as of the 3rd Era.

here is the graze lands
all dry and dead

/460px-Morrowind1.jpg[/img]

dry and ash

dry and barren, no lush areas of vegitation.
swamp lands, dry and barren

Vvardenfell, Dry and Ash!

Gilvoth

those screen shots are the Vvardenfell original build, not tainted by horrible modds and addons.
i think alot of people remember morrowind with the modds they had and not what came with the original game.

BACONCHEESEBURGER

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

those screen shots are the Vvardenfell original build, not tainted by horrible modds and addons.
i think alot of people remember morrowind with the modds they had and not what came with the original game.

"Balmora, in the southwest and inland from the Bitter Coast, is still forested, though ash from Red Mountain eruptions threatens to denude the slopes."

de·nude
dəˈn(y)o͞od/
verb
strip (something) of its covering, possessions, or assets; make bare.


This was hundreds of years before TESIII...

And i can clearly see a few trees, small flora, and grass in your "dry and barren" pictures.
And calling a swampland dry and barren is like calling Alaska humid and tropical...Its a SWAMP; i can see dozens of trees and water in that picture.

Gilvoth

dont hurt morrowind, Vvadrenfell ...

Recremen

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

Recremen wrote: »

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

you have made it "look" and "appear" as if morrowind is lush with vegetation and forest like.
it is Not iether of those things.
Vvardenfell and morrowind's landscape is dusty and dry everywhere. ash, is constantly present, and it simply is not forest like, nor lush with vegetation.

Several areas such as the swamplands of Bitter Coast were easily identifiable as lush and forested, given all the trees and swamps that were present. Then we have the grazelands, which were, you know, grassy as heck. The area around Vivec City had a boatload of green, as I recall, plus a bunch of giant mushrooms to jump on if you were acrobatic or had a decently-powered jump spell. It was not all dusty and dry everywhere, but had a range of biomes. Further, Red Mountain and the Blight, it can be assumed, were not omnipresent issues in every era. I see no reason to not explore how those areas may have looked before Dagoth Ur's rise and the increased activity of Red Mountain.

It is perfectly within the right of the storytellers to give us a lush forested landscape around Balmora since it already supported a decent amount of plantlife, all things considered. Remember the bittergreen and scathecraw around the gates of Balmora? Those hardier species are likely all that's left of the once-great forests, decimated by the third era due to blight and ash. And let's not forget the chokeweed, the roobrush, the fire fern, the comberry, and actually you know what just have this giant list of Vvardenfell flora still growing as of the 3rd Era.

here is the graze lands
all dry and dead

/460px-Morrowind1.jpg[/img]

dry and ash

dry and barren, no lush areas of vegitation.
swamp lands, dry and barren

Vvardenfell, Dry and Ash!

@dwemer_paleologist

Honey if you don't see all the green in those pictures then I just don't know what to tell you, you are literally looking at a place with vibrant plant life and calling it dry and ashy.

Cinbri

we didn't see Hungers for so long..

Enodoc

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

/460px-Morrowind1.jpg[/img]

Wherever those are, they all have trees in. They look a bid dead, and dead trees can stick around for a long time, but not a very long time. 50-100 years or so ago those would all have been alive. Particularly that last one could easily have been a thriving forest 700 years beforehand. I just don't think it should be near somewhere specifically named after the stone.

Turelus

Enodoc wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

Balmora means "Stone Forest", y'know. I don't think its supposed to have deciduous woodland around it.

Balmora predates ESO by quite a few years. Maybe there was a stone forest in that location 1000 years ago.

True enough. I think Balmora is late First Era. What even is a "stone forest" anyway? At least Sadrith Mora (mushroom forest) actually makes sense.

Maybe long ago before it was settle all the vegetation was covered in ash, so those who first arrived saw it as a forest of grey stone, and as such named their new city "Stone Forest".

Enodoc

Turelus wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

Balmora means "Stone Forest", y'know. I don't think its supposed to have deciduous woodland around it.

Balmora predates ESO by quite a few years. Maybe there was a stone forest in that location 1000 years ago.

True enough. I think Balmora is late First Era. What even is a "stone forest" anyway? At least Sadrith Mora (mushroom forest) actually makes sense.

Maybe long ago before it was settle all the vegetation was covered in ash, so those who first arrived saw it as a forest of grey stone, and as such named their new city "Stone Forest".

I was thinking about this a bit more, and maybe Balmora was built on the site of a petrified forest. Still though, that would imply that there's no forest there now.

Darkonflare15

Enodoc wrote: »

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

/460px-Morrowind1.jpg[/img]

Wherever those are, they all have trees in. They look a bid dead, and dead trees can stick around for a long time, but not a very long time. 50-100 years or so ago those would all have been alive. Particularly that last one could easily have been a thriving forest 700 years beforehand. I just don't think it should be near somewhere specifically named after the stone.

Here is real life place called a stone forest.

Enodoc wrote: »

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

/460px-Morrowind1.jpg[/img]

Wherever those are, they all have trees in. They look a bid dead, and dead trees can stick around for a long time, but not a very long time. 50-100 years or so ago those would all have been alive. Particularly that last one could easily have been a thriving forest 700 years beforehand. I just don't think it should be near somewhere specifically named after the stone.

Here is the real life place called a stone forest.

A stone forest is just really a bunch of rock formations surround by a actual forest. So my hunch is either Balmora is called stone forest because there used to be stone formations there and now they use that stone to build the buildings there. It could be called a stone forest because the buildings are made out of stone and they are surrounded by a forest. Last thing in the past, the forest area could of been covered in ash which end up petrified it thus being called a stone forest because it became a petrified forest.