Summerset architecture.

psychotrip

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Casowen wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Time for a little quiz! Can you guys pick the odd one out?

Jeez. This really sinks in how uninspired the art style is. At least Anor Londo felt like a sprawling metropolis. And even though it was abandoned, it looked better maintained.

Its funny since this is really actually german and scandinavian architecture, and guess what nord-esque thing we already have in game for the elder scrolls. You guessed it, SKYRIM! Same with the all to obvious gothic armor with is germanic in origin. Are ESO high elves just more evolved nords? Or is this skyrim the prequal?

The Nords are modeled after 10th century vikings.

The high elves seem to be modeled after 18th century Germany/France.

Yes, technically these are all "Germanic" cultures, but their architecture isn't even remotely similar.

Yeah. Even I wouldn't say this is anything like Skyrim. If anything, it's far more mundane and "normal" in terms of fantasy styles.

Casowen

Recremen wrote: »

The fact of the matter is that the in-game world is limited by the game engine and what computers (consoles in particular) can handle. Remember that nothing in game is a perfect representation of what the lore implies, and I don't mean that in an "unreliable author" kind of way. I mean things like how more than 90% of the population is violent and lives in an underground cave of some sort, and how the entire world is fed from the handful of tiny farms that exist in game. The tiny farms aren't meant to show the canonical agricultural prowess of Tamriel, but to evoke the idea that yes, farms exist, they're important in peoples' lives, here go save a handful of them for these quests we made.

So is Summerset filled with giant glass and crystal towers that look like insect wings or whatever? Well, the version of Summerset WE see won't be. It would be nice if there was at least one building like that to evoke, as best as possible, the general idea, but we might not even get that due to the game engine limitations. Doesn't mean the other description can't be better represented in some future game with a more powerful engine for more powerful computers, but this is what we have to deal with in the Now. Besides, I would absolutely believe that the light-refracting towers is at best a description of a small but important portion of Altmer cities. Most of the common buildings for the common folk would more than likely be made of stone and such, since we know that stratification of wealth is a real thing among Altmer.

The "in-game engines can't handle it" argument falls apart when you see what they did with Artaeum. Or what they did with Valenwood (which isn't perfect but a hell of a lot more interesting than anything in Summerset). It's not a matter of engine limitations, but creativity.

Either way, if ZOS couldn't handle it, they shouldn't have done it, because now this is canon. This is the supposedly super-advanced culture we've been waiting to see. It's a just a minor step above Cyrodiil.

It's laughable that Khajiit get more lavish, fancy architecture than we get. It's laughable that all the amazing things they were working on in the early datamines, with all the crazy advanced magic, is now just in the garbage can. So much for the Altmer being able to back up their snobbishness. Now they're just delusional hypocrites. I guess everyone hates them for a reason. [/quote]

Do you have links to those data mines? I really like the Khajiit architecture myself, and seeing the more gothic over used style of what is seen in the trailer was a disappointment. I made comment saying its skyrim evolved lol, since they are both nordic styles.

I just find it funny that both styles are basically nordic in general, while more organic elven aethetics seem to be only with the Wood Elves and Dunmer.

Someone posted a picture here, showing what they thought Summerset would look like, and that style is what is called organic, as opposed to the more gothic style we see in summerset architecture, and armor. I think a More Wuxia touch might offset the aggressive sharp angles of the gothic look with more curves and rounded shapes, like of like in Ice Fantasy. In short, I like what summerset is, I loves elves, its just the germanic gothic look is a little aggressive, particular in architecture IMO

Wuxia and traditional Elven aethetics meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86VphklkSE

psychotrip

Casowen wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Casowen wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Time for a little quiz! Can you guys pick the odd one out?

Jeez. This really sinks in how uninspired the art style is. At least Anor Londo felt like a sprawling metropolis. And even though it was abandoned, it looked better maintained.

Its funny since this is really actually german and scandinavian architecture, and guess what nord-esque thing we already have in game for the elder scrolls. You guessed it, SKYRIM! Same with the all to obvious gothic armor with is germanic in origin. Are ESO high elves just more evolved nords? Or is this skyrim the prequal?

The Nords are modeled after 10th century vikings.

The high elves seem to be modeled after 18th century Germany/France.

Yes, technically these are all "Germanic" cultures, but their architecture isn't even remotely similar.

I just find it funny that both styles are basically nordic in general, while more organic elven aethetics seem to be only with the Wood Elves and Dunmer.

Someone posted a picture here, showing what they thought Summerset would look like, and that style is what is called organic, as opposed to the more gothic style we see in summerset architecture, and armor. I think a More Wuxia touch might offset the aggressive sharp angles of the gothic look with more curves and rounded shapes, like of like in Ice Fantasy. In short, I like what summerset is, I loves elves, its just the germanic gothic look is a little aggressive, particular in architecture IMO

Wuxia and traditional Elven aethetics meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86VphklkSE

psychotrip wrote: »

Recremen wrote: »

The fact of the matter is that the in-game world is limited by the game engine and what computers (consoles in particular) can handle. Remember that nothing in game is a perfect representation of what the lore implies, and I don't mean that in an "unreliable author" kind of way. I mean things like how more than 90% of the population is violent and lives in an underground cave of some sort, and how the entire world is fed from the handful of tiny farms that exist in game. The tiny farms aren't meant to show the canonical agricultural prowess of Tamriel, but to evoke the idea that yes, farms exist, they're important in peoples' lives, here go save a handful of them for these quests we made.

So is Summerset filled with giant glass and crystal towers that look like insect wings or whatever? Well, the version of Summerset WE see won't be. It would be nice if there was at least one building like that to evoke, as best as possible, the general idea, but we might not even get that due to the game engine limitations. Doesn't mean the other description can't be better represented in some future game with a more powerful engine for more powerful computers, but this is what we have to deal with in the Now. Besides, I would absolutely believe that the light-refracting towers is at best a description of a small but important portion of Altmer cities. Most of the common buildings for the common folk would more than likely be made of stone and such, since we know that stratification of wealth is a real thing among Altmer.

The "in-game engines can't handle it" argument falls apart when you see what they did with Artaeum. Or what they did with Valenwood (which isn't perfect but a hell of a lot more interesting than anything in Summerset). It's not a matter of engine limitations, but creativity.

Either way, if ZOS couldn't handle it, they shouldn't have done it, because now this is canon. This is the supposedly super-advanced culture we've been waiting to see. It's a just a minor step above Cyrodiil.

It's laughable that Khajiit get more lavish, fancy architecture than we get. It's laughable that all the amazing things they were working on in the early datamines, with all the crazy advanced magic, is now just in the garbage can. So much for the Altmer being able to back up their snobbishness. Now they're just delusional hypocrites. I guess everyone hates them for a reason.

Do you have links to those data mines? I really like the Khajiit architecture myself, and seeing the more gothic over used style of what is seen in the trailer was a disappointment. I made comment saying its skyrim evolved lol, since they are both nordic styles.

I just find it funny that both styles are basically nordic in general, while more organic elven aethetics seem to be only with the Wood Elves and Dunmer.

Someone posted a picture here, showing what they thought Summerset would look like, and that style is what is called organic, as opposed to the more gothic style we see in summerset architecture, and armor. I think a More Wuxia touch might offset the aggressive sharp angles of the gothic look with more curves and rounded shapes, like of like in Ice Fantasy. In short, I like what summerset is, I loves elves, its just the germanic gothic look is a little aggressive, particular in architecture IMO

Wuxia and traditional Elven aethetics meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86VphklkSE

I made a thread about the datamine, as well as other bits of Altmer lore, back in like October. It was pretty popular (Top result on google under "ESO Summerset" until a few days ago), and everyone got real excited over what we thought Summerset was going to look like: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/374620/summerset-dlc-hopes-and-speculation-thread/p1

All useless now though. Thrown in the trash with the transcription errors.

MLGProPlayer

Casowen wrote: »

Either way, if ZOS couldn't handle it, they shouldn't have done it, because now this is canon. This is the supposedly super-advanced culture we've been waiting to see. It's a just a minor step above Cyrodiil.

Bethesda had to sign off on everything in the expansion since it has implications on the broader TES canon. I'm sure there was considerable input and consultation from designers and lore experts on the main Bethesda development team.

This wasn't ZOS working in a vacuum. This version of Summerset reflects Bethesda's vision for the island as well.

MLGProPlayer

To everyone crying about not having enough "crystalline" structures:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_wM46a-sOM

psychotrip

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

To everyone crying about not having enough "crystalline" structures:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_wM46a-sOM

If you insult us by saying we're "crying" you're just gonna get your posts removed.

Also I've addressed this numerous times in numerous threads: Artaeum is awesome. If anything, it disproves everyone's arguments that Zenimax simply "couldn't" do anything more creative with the Altmer of Summerset.

All this does is show how incongruous the style of the mainland is. Even the ancient aldmer ruins look mundane and generic compared to this. Artaeum is meant to be even stranger and more advanced than the rest of Summerset, but that doesn't mean Summerset should look like a generic medieval kingdom, like I've seen in dozens of other games.

hmsdragonfly

This is indeed a HUGE letdown.

There's no other way to spin it.

Summerset could have been something foreign, beautiful, and creative, like this:



But instead of that we have generic human medieval architecture. Guess all the "glass buildings" and "insect wings" are "transcription errors" again. Their culture is based on glass, even their armour is made of glass, yet their architecture has nothing to do with glass, it's just generic Disneyland architecture. This is pathetic.

How the hell did Bethesda greenlight this?

Faulgor

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

Vehlir

Alright that one actually made me laugh lol

All jokes aside it's really the start of an alarming trend. You're seeing all of the magnificent, wondrous, unique & mind blowing aspects of TES lore get simplified and stripped of their unique character, with nothing more then a "Transcription Error" level excuse to justify it.

It all tends to revolves around how much effort they are willing to put in, and they adjust the established lore around that after the fact. Sometimes they will adhere to the lore, and other times disregard it. And it usually can be tied into how much effort it will require to do something. A good example is this last Morrowind Chapter.

Seyda Neen, while we all love it, had no business existing, it shouldn't have even be close to existing. But it was a MAJOR nostalgia hit that was sure to sell copies when shown in trailers, and VERY easy to recreate, so exceptions are made for that in the lore. OK fine, it probably shouldn't exist, but w/e we can look the other way. BUT, having said that, we now absolutely HAVE to stick to the part of the lore where they can't put forth the effort for a full sized, amazing Vivec City. Oh no, NOW we suddenly HAVE to adhre to the lore so we can only have 2 half assed Cantons. They selectively pick and choose the parts to "adhere" to, and then opt to adjust and bypass other parts when it'd otherwise prove difficult.

It's the ultimate "Shield" they can use to excuse design choices. When they don't have the confidence to go all the way on something they can dig up a part of the lore that'll justify it. And conversly, when they want to do something that is different then said lore, they take advantage of the "Unreliable Narrator" nature of the lore, and bring in the adjustments and retcons.

At the end of the day, they can get away with another super lame "Transcription Error" but we're still stuck with a super generic Summerset. It used to be a place TES fans dreamt about seeing one day and now it's really nothing discernible from any other high fantasy, Elf oriented city. Yes, quests and writing can and probably will be good (They've been really good since ESO:Morrowind imo) but art style, architecture and culture used to be really huge parts of the series. Parts that separated it from every other franchise. Now it's slowly starting to look like nearly every other franchise.

And with ESO's relatively quick pace of adding content as compared to the much slower singeplayer counterparts it makes you fear for the future a little bit. How long till the miraculous "Moving Forest Cities" of Valenwood also get reduced to "Sorry unreliable narrators! But hey enjoy this big ass basic forest!". Or the deep Blackmarsh underground insect networks also get let down as "Sorry must have been disillusioned foreigners!"?

Yes, we get "Word of mouth" and unreliable narrators are a thing but when they are starting to get used frequently to peel back the once fascinating, mysterious skin we all loved with TES, to reveal a generic, SAFE and indiscernible center, that kind of sucks.


I'll say this, It doesn't look persay "Bad", just it's not what Summerset could or realistically should have been. And while disappointed like so many, I'll still probably enjoy the the DLC.

With that being said, things like this make me hope that whenever TES does choose to tackle Akavir, ESO should NOT be the ones to get the first go at it. They may be able to "Get away" with continuously letting down with "Transcription Errors" but it's still nonetheless sad to see the once mysterious and mind boggling aspects of TES lore get whisked away.

The reality is this will now be the "Canon" and the flair, character and marvel that used to surround Summerset has died with it.

Welcome to the "Pretty, but we took no risks here" Isles.

Dracane

^ I agree with the above text wall. They can try to shorten things as much as they like, BUT Summerset is not the right place for this ! Summerset is the most unique and magnificent place on Tamriel or perhaps all of Nirn. At least here, they should have put their best effort in it, instead of bringing us The Elder Scrolls Online: Tales of Micky Mouse.

datgladiatah

I think the biggest problem with the Chapter release set-up is it basically leaves almost nothing open to the players until it's obviously too late. Players don't get to see the game until a month before the release and none of their feedback on the zone can be implemented and they know this, don't care.

I really don't mind it for what it is because ZOS completely *** Valenwood for me physically, but storytelling and lore was spot on enough to make up for it. I think the side quests in the last two DLCs made up for the main quest blunders. I think the improvements going forward were positive and i'm glad to see they're not releasing another class, aware they need to focus on making the Warden more balanced between pvp and pve, and that open skill lines is what ESO fun to begin with (access to many tools rather than class restrictions). Generally it's going a positive direction. And generally the varlines and other technologies might be more subtle or just not shown, but at least the architecture as it is pretty, not impressive, but pretty. I just wish I could understand why they didn't just read the available lore in the game? Would it have been that hard to make the arcitecture more sheen, as if it were glass, and added more technology since they're used to doing that in CWC?

LMar

Hey even Arena had the Crystal Tower be just



I hope the textures we see for the buildings so far change to be more crystalline/rainbowish/ more organic crystal!

aedra

I hope next time player feedback is considered a little earlier and more in future Chapters. You can't please everybody naturally just feels like this could've been fixed.

I don't consider myself very picky and the architecture we have seen so far has let me down a little, you can't help but expect something alot more exotic and distinguished from the one of the oldest and the most sophisticated races on Tamriel. I still will refrain from fully judging until I play it for myself. I'm sure the story and general exploration will be enjoyable.

red_emu

Faulgor wrote: »

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

That actually looks better! The bright colours are great! Altmer are very eccentric people. If they would have roof tiles, they would make them shimmer in a rainbow of colours.

Okiir

Faulgor wrote: »

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

Makes it look even more like a generic Disney castle honestly

In terms of Altmer style and architecture, even Elder Scrolls: Legends did a better job:

Dracane

Okiir wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

Makes it look even more like a generic Disney castle honestly

In terms of Altmer style and architecture, even Elder Scrolls: Legends did a better job:

Elder Scrolls legends is a direct copy of ESO's art. So if Legends has a card like this, you can expect the orrery to look like that in game. Can't wait.

Okiir

Dracane wrote: »

Okiir wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

Makes it look even more like a generic Disney castle honestly

In terms of Altmer style and architecture, even Elder Scrolls: Legends did a better job:

Elder Scrolls legends is a direct copy of ESO's art. So if Legends has a card like this, you can expect the orrery to look like that in game. Can't wait.

Some of the artwork is from ESO, but I would say most of ESL's art is original. So I wouldn't get my hope up.

Ratzkifal

I love the way the architecture looks. I think it is amazing and suiting the theme well. If you consider that the people who built the white gold tower were closely related culturally to the people who laid the foundry for Altmeri architecture, it makes sense that they have similar styles. However I am a bit disappointed that there are no exceptional buildings. What I can tell from what we saw is that everything on there looks like a disney castle. I would have loved to see that architecture with one or two important buildings or monuments made out of crystal that look similar to insect wings. Afterall it makes sense that no commoner lives in a house made of poetry, but there is no reason that there shouldn't be one or two nobles who do.

Dracane

Okiir wrote: »

Dracane wrote: »

Okiir wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

Makes it look even more like a generic Disney castle honestly

In terms of Altmer style and architecture, even Elder Scrolls: Legends did a better job:

Elder Scrolls legends is a direct copy of ESO's art. So if Legends has a card like this, you can expect the orrery to look like that in game. Can't wait.

Some of the artwork is from ESO, but I would say most of ESL's art is original. So I wouldn't get my hope up.

All the armor, appearance of creatures etc. is taken directly from ESO. I think, we have realistic chances provided there is an orrery in Alinor and it was not just a "transcription error"

psychotrip

Vehlir wrote: »

Alright that one actually made me laugh lol

All jokes aside it's really the start of an alarming trend. You're seeing all of the magnificent, wondrous, unique & mind blowing aspects of TES lore get simplified and stripped of their unique character, with nothing more then a "Transcription Error" level excuse to justify it.

It all tends to revolves around how much effort they are willing to put in, and they adjust the established lore around that after the fact. Sometimes they will adhere to the lore, and other times disregard it. And it usually can be tied into how much effort it will require to do something. A good example is this last Morrowind Chapter.

Seyda Neen, while we all love it, had no business existing, it shouldn't have even be close to existing. But it was a MAJOR nostalgia hit that was sure to sell copies when shown in trailers, and VERY easy to recreate, so exceptions are made for that in the lore. OK fine, it probably shouldn't exist, but w/e we can look the other way. BUT, having said that, we now absolutely HAVE to stick to the part of the lore where they can't put forth the effort for a full sized, amazing Vivec City. Oh no, NOW we suddenly HAVE to adhre to the lore so we can only have 2 half assed Cantons. They selectively pick and choose the parts to "adhere" to, and then opt to adjust and bypass other parts when it'd otherwise prove difficult.

It's the ultimate "Shield" they can use to excuse design choices. When they don't have the confidence to go all the way on something they can dig up a part of the lore that'll justify it. And conversly, when they want to do something that is different then said lore, they take advantage of the "Unreliable Narrator" nature of the lore, and bring in the adjustments and retcons.

At the end of the day, they can get away with another super lame "Transcription Error" but we're still stuck with a super generic Summerset. It used to be a place TES fans dreamt about seeing one day and now it's really nothing discernible from any other high fantasy, Elf oriented city. Yes, quests and writing can and probably will be good (They've been really good since ESO:Morrowind imo) but art style, architecture and culture used to be really huge parts of the series. Parts that separated it from every other franchise. Now it's slowly starting to look like nearly every other franchise.

And with ESO's relatively quick pace of adding content as compared to the much slower singeplayer counterparts it makes you fear for the future a little bit. How long till the miraculous "Moving Forest Cities" of Valenwood also get reduced to "Sorry unreliable narrators! But hey enjoy this big ass basic forest!". Or the deep Blackmarsh underground insect networks also get let down as "Sorry must have been disillusioned foreigners!"?

Yes, we get "Word of mouth" and unreliable narrators are a thing but when they are starting to get used frequently to peel back the once fascinating, mysterious skin we all loved with TES, to reveal a generic, SAFE and indiscernible center, that kind of sucks.


I'll say this, It doesn't look persay "Bad", just it's not what Summerset could or realistically should have been. And while disappointed like so many, I'll still probably enjoy the the DLC.

With that being said, things like this make me hope that whenever TES does choose to tackle Akavir, ESO should NOT be the ones to get the first go at it. They may be able to "Get away" with continuously letting down with "Transcription Errors" but it's still nonetheless sad to see the once mysterious and mind boggling aspects of TES lore get whisked away.

The reality is this will now be the "Canon" and the flair, character and marvel that used to surround Summerset has died with it.

Welcome to the "Pretty, but we took no risks here" Isles.

Jesus Christ you took the words right out of my mouth. They so clearly use the unreliable narrator trope as a selective crutch to retroactively justify their decisions. Then we’re stuck with the most boring interpretations possible.

LMar wrote: »

Hey even Arena had the Crystal Tower be just



I hope the textures we see for the buildings so far change to be more crystalline/rainbowish/ more organic crystal!

I put this in another part of the thread, but it fits here too. If I sound annoyed it’s not with yoy, buf the guy I was arguing with earlier lol:

You understand that when that game was made, khajiit and argonians were humans, right? That elves weren't called "mer". They were called moriche, boiche, and salache.

You understand that, when that game was made, Imperials didn't even exist? The Imperial city was full of what looked like redguards with a totally different naming scheme (Yagarath, Sakirphang etc).

Arena and Daggerfall were made before The Elder Scrolls lore had officially solidified. Even the devs admit the pre-Redguard/Morrowind days were just generic DnD stand-ins. The lore wasn't fully conceived until 1998 with the release of the first "pocket guide to the empire and its environs" book.

And, for the last time, no one is saying there aren't multiple interpretations of the lore, and we're not arguing that ESO did it "wrong".

We're arguing that they decided to go for the most boring, mundane, seen-before interpretation possible. Like they almost always do, unless they're forced to do otherwise (like with Morrowind).

czar

As soon as they said "high fantasy", I thought yep, they've got it all wrong. What I want, and what it seems a lot of people in this thread wants, is not more fantasy, but more sci-fi. I never expected glass architecture or anything, but European architecture? Yawn.

Faulgor wrote: »

Maybe we were never TES fans, just Morrowind fans. I mean, by now this blandness defines most of the TES releases, and every single time we try to defend the boring aspects with unreliable narrator excuses.
By now, I can't think of anything that sets TES apart from other fantasy universes in the public eye.
TES is just generic fantasy with cat people.

Personally I'm just an MK fan.

psychotrip

schip wrote: »

As soon as Rich said "high fantasy", I thought yep, they've got it all wrong. What I want, and what it seems a lot of people in this thread wants, is not more fantasy, but more sci-fi. I never expected glass architecture or anything, but European architecture? Yawn.

Faulgor wrote: »

Maybe we were never TES fans, just Morrowind fans. I mean, by now this blandness defines most of the TES releases, and every single time we try to defend the boring aspects with unreliable narrator excuses.
By now, I can't think of anything that sets TES apart from other fantasy universes in the public eye.
TES is just generic fantasy with cat people.

Personally I'm just an MK fan.

They don’t even know what high fantasy means:

“High fantasy is defined as fantasy set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world, rather than "the real", or "primary" world. ... By contrast, low fantasy is characterized by being set in the primary, or "real" world, or a rational and familiar fictional world, with the inclusion of magical elements.”

Most fantasy worlds are somewhere on a spectrum between high and low, but typically, the more high fantasy the world is, the more detached it is from our own reality.

The Elder Scrolls lore was an example of pretty extreme high fantasy. What ZOS showcased with Summerset was literally the opposite of what they described, closer to the low fantasy end of the scale.

At this point, the only “high fantasy” aspect of this world is the fact that it’s not set on earth and not everyone is human.

Apherius

Faulgor wrote: »

Wintergreen wrote: »

^ Pretty! I hope they take your advice! Maybe even add in a rainbow or three.

Did somebody say rainbow?

XomRhoK wrote: »

There is no chance that 3D models of the building will be redone, but ZOS can change some textures. For example they can make roof tiles made of glass, that used in armor.
It can be only on major buildings:

Or at all buildings:

I think it's pretty easy to do, and it will add uniqueness to the Summerset towns and will fit lore: "made from glass or insect wings" and "a hypnotic swirl of ramparts and impossibly high towers, designed to catch the light of the sun and break it to its component colors, which lies draped across its stones until you are thankful for nightfall".

Your ideas are awesome guys ...

Dark_Lord_Kuro

psychotrip wrote: »

inespeloazul wrote: »

You can clearly see what looks like a huge constellation in the sky above Artaeum, and at first I was hopeful about it but the main island is missing anything that points toward the old concept. There's a good chance we get a downscaled version of it though, at the very least within Artaeum.

Anyways, I agree with @Recremen
I wouldn't be worried about this being what any future TES game set in Alinor follows. One need look no further than Windhelm to realize that what we see in this game will definitely not be what we see in another. For a main game example, see Bloodmoon's Solstheim vs Dragonborn's. Of course, this is assuming Bethesda would want to bother trying anything more interesting with it lol

I want to believe this, I really do. But I honestly can't see Zenimax creating this whole-cloth without any coordination from Bethesda. At the very least, if this Summerset is completely non-canon, then that will just confuse things even more. Imagine what'll happen when a singleplayer game is set in Alinor, and people complain that it looks nothing like the "real" Summerset in ESO.

I honestly think this is canon now, but I hope I'm wrong.

They may just say it suffured heavy dammage durring oblivion crisis

psychotrip

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

inespeloazul wrote: »

You can clearly see what looks like a huge constellation in the sky above Artaeum, and at first I was hopeful about it but the main island is missing anything that points toward the old concept. There's a good chance we get a downscaled version of it though, at the very least within Artaeum.

Anyways, I agree with @Recremen
I wouldn't be worried about this being what any future TES game set in Alinor follows. One need look no further than Windhelm to realize that what we see in this game will definitely not be what we see in another. For a main game example, see Bloodmoon's Solstheim vs Dragonborn's. Of course, this is assuming Bethesda would want to bother trying anything more interesting with it lol

I want to believe this, I really do. But I honestly can't see Zenimax creating this whole-cloth without any coordination from Bethesda. At the very least, if this Summerset is completely non-canon, then that will just confuse things even more. Imagine what'll happen when a singleplayer game is set in Alinor, and people complain that it looks nothing like the "real" Summerset in ESO.

I honestly think this is canon now, but I hope I'm wrong.

They may just say it suffured heavy dammage durring oblivion crisis

So tired of contrived excuses.

psychotrip

hmsdragonfly wrote: »

This is indeed a HUGE letdown.

There's no other way to spin it.

Summerset could have been something foreign, beautiful, and creative, like this:



But instead of that we have generic human medieval architecture. Guess all the "glass buildings" and "insect wings" are "transcription errors" again. Their culture is based on glass, even their armour is made of glass, yet their architecture has nothing to do with glass, it's just generic Disneyland architecture. This is pathetic.

How the hell did Bethesda greenlight this?

Because they’re creatively bankrupt and ran out of ideas years ago.

They have no intention on following through with most of the lore they created years ago, so they’re using the “unreliable narrator” trope as a crutch whenever it suits them.

Vanthras79

psychotrip wrote: »

hmsdragonfly wrote: »

This is indeed a HUGE letdown.

There's no other way to spin it.

Summerset could have been something foreign, beautiful, and creative, like this:



But instead of that we have generic human medieval architecture. Guess all the "glass buildings" and "insect wings" are "transcription errors" again. Their culture is based on glass, even their armour is made of glass, yet their architecture has nothing to do with glass, it's just generic Disneyland architecture. This is pathetic.

How the hell did Bethesda greenlight this?

Because they’re creatively bankrupt and ran out of ideas years ago.

They have no intention on following through with most of the lore they created years ago, so they’re using the “unreliable narrator” trope as a crutch whenever it suits them.

They do love their excuses.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Dark_Lord_Kuro wrote: »

psychotrip wrote: »

inespeloazul wrote: »

You can clearly see what looks like a huge constellation in the sky above Artaeum, and at first I was hopeful about it but the main island is missing anything that points toward the old concept. There's a good chance we get a downscaled version of it though, at the very least within Artaeum.

Anyways, I agree with @Recremen
I wouldn't be worried about this being what any future TES game set in Alinor follows. One need look no further than Windhelm to realize that what we see in this game will definitely not be what we see in another. For a main game example, see Bloodmoon's Solstheim vs Dragonborn's. Of course, this is assuming Bethesda would want to bother trying anything more interesting with it lol

I want to believe this, I really do. But I honestly can't see Zenimax creating this whole-cloth without any coordination from Bethesda. At the very least, if this Summerset is completely non-canon, then that will just confuse things even more. Imagine what'll happen when a singleplayer game is set in Alinor, and people complain that it looks nothing like the "real" Summerset in ESO.

I honestly think this is canon now, but I hope I'm wrong.

They may just say it suffured heavy dammage durring oblivion crisis

Not going to lie: if they use the Oblivion Crisis as an excuse to give us Aldmeri architecture that actually LOOKS like Aldmeri architecture in any future games, I will happily swallow it, excuse or no.

Korah_Eaglecry

XomRhoK wrote: »

There is no chance that 3D models of the building will be redone, but ZOS can change some textures. For example they can make roof tiles made of glass, that used in armor.
It can be only on major buildings:

Or at all buildings:

I think it's pretty easy to do, and it will add uniqueness to the Summerset towns and will fit lore: "made from glass or insect wings" and "a hypnotic swirl of ramparts and impossibly high towers, designed to catch the light of the sun and break it to its component colors, which lies draped across its stones until you are thankful for nightfall".

I actually like those changes. And Im someone thats absolutely okay with the Disneyfied Altmer architecture.


Whats funny to me is people are claiming the architecture is bland and boring but in regards to Elven architecture from other IPs....I cant think of a single one of them that actually took a more traditional approach to an elven race. Which is the complete opposite of bland and boring to me. They are always over the top and alien rather than grounded and traditional. The architecture is still whimsical and grand compared to every other architecture type in game. But somehow because its not literal insect wings and made of glass or crystal its just "boring and bland".

I guess we're all entitled to our opinions. Maybe its just that with this Chapter I dont see anything inherently upsetting or concerning about what theyve done. With Morrowind we had a class locked behind a paywall and numerous upsetting choices between the announcement and release of the game including a Early Access that wasnt announced til right before release and half the pre-order population being left out of it. Maybe I just see this as a silly topic to be upset over. We've never seen Summerset before on this level and we have vague lore referencing it. The actual appearance was completely up to personal interpretation, which Bethesda and ZOS have all the right to decide on. And its quite apparent that those most upset simply had overly hyped themselves up with their personal hopes and imagination. This whole thing reminds me of the complaints about Morrowinds Mushroom Towers. Something that really doesnt break anything lore-wise and could easily be explained way on some level.

Vehlir

psychotrip wrote: »

Jesus Christ you took the words right out of my mouth. They so clearly use the unreliable narrator trope as a selective crutch to retroactively justify their decisions. Then we’re stuck with the most boring interpretations possible.

What saddens me is that the more things they release, the more I feel that magic will get stripped away a little bit. That NOT how it should be. Long ago if I heard they were releasing real tangible games about this miraculous lore I've read about I'd be over the moon.

Now I can't help but feel as anxious as I do excited. I still get excitement because I know what TES was and what TES can be, but I get equal amounts of anxiety because I know what will probably happen.

I actually kind of fear what my beloved Elder Scrolls will be in 10 years time. Something I never would have expected all those years ago staying up till 3 am reading lore wide eyed about a world that was unlike anything I've ever imagined.

When you apologised to that guy for him having to have his first impression with Summerset be this DLC, it kind of resonated with me. This guy missed out on something unique because he wasn't there for a time BEFORE the game. That's so upside down from what it should be, but exactly right.

I REALLY don't want to see this become the reality for the rest of the things I've marveled at, where they are on a countdown clock basically until their release and inevitable "Transcription Error, sorry it's just like every other game!" whisks it all aways. I don't want TES to be one of those things to reminisce about what it used to be, I want to be excited for what it will be.

But with TES (Really tbh both ESO and Singeplayer) definitely getting dictated more and more by commercial, rather then creative standpoint, I don't see us getting off this path anytime soon. Familiar, safe and relatable are definitely the go-to's when they have freedom the express themselves now.