Environments of Summerset, and "where are the snows of Eton Nir ?"

Ajaxandriel

So, the new chapter is arriving !...

The Summerset previews have had quite some controversies, and definitely, some disappointments. One may have imagined a fully different Summerset landscape, environment and architecture.

Well, to speak for myself, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I'm glad that Summerset is released and revealed, on the other hand I admit that some design choices lacks ambition.

I think that the choice of a mediterranean-californian overall setting, as a climate for Summerset isle, was the best option. I really disliked the tropical-hawaiian option as it fits better for Pyandonea to my eyes. And a cold-temperate climate would fit better for Balfiéra.

I have no huge problem against the disney-mario-zelda castle trope for altmeri architecture. In fact, I appreciate it more than the grey-and-a-bit-disproportionate Auridon architecture (that was grey at release, iirc).
Of course one could expect a crystalline design... or alien-organic seashell design... or byzantine-persian-warcraftian sin'dorei design (as it was intended to be in older games). It's a kind of a letdown and a retcon, but okay, that's it now. ...And I can agree that it makes some sense eventually.
The Cucumber Tower is not that bad in fact, it reminds me Brancusi shapes like his own tower (I also imagined a tower like in The Place Promised in Our Early Days but ofc it wasn't realistic enough)

The Artaeum architecture is way more organic so we didn't lost it all.

The pieces of story and lore that was leaked untill now let me expect something really nice and interesting.

But let's come back to the climate. I worry about the landscape being too uniform in spite of the relief...
Here I must confess I'm biased by my own expectations and headcanon (my characters Ajaxandriel and Altarya being from some fictional place called Skyfrost), but I'd rather see Eton Nir a really different way that it will appear actually.
"Nir" sounding like Nirn, I was expecting some kind of a "World's Roof" for the altmer, symbol of their own "high-ness".

To sum up, that's what we'll get :
A beheaded banal mountain, with a little grove on top



And that's what I expected :
An imposing peak covered in snows, a perfect metaphoric mirror of the Red Mountain of the Dark Elves.




One would argue that we can't have both a (seemingly expected by fans) tropical climate, and a snowy mountain... Then I would say "Kilimanjaro".

And anyway, the climate is mediterranean now.

Even the actual lore text of Cloudrest will tell about the "thin air" that is "chilled".


Now let's see how Summerset places were designed in the previous game... Arena.
Of course it was a mere draft, no one would expect the ugly papercraft buildings as canon haha, but there was already the basis of the lore.
I'm glad to see that the dev team has followed the Arena plan mainly

"Sil-Var-Woad" for Silver Wood
The "Dusk Keep" for Dusk
"Russafeld" (in french beta version at last, idk if it'll be the actual name) for Rosefield
and so on

I'm even identifying the Colossal Aldmeri Grotto (Homestead) to the Archen Grangrove

Snow can definitely fall in Summerset, at least I'd say on the higher refiefs of the north and the south, in winter. Fortunately, screenshots from Arena support this fact :
Riverfield

Holly Falls

Corgrad Wastes

Kings Haven

(compare with actual King's Haven Pass


So I'm wondering

How far we will be able to explore the northern mountains of Summerset (I've read about Crystal Tower during quests, King's Haven Pass instanced, Clourest raid, and a cave dungeon)...

Will we discover the grove at top of Eton Nir later ? an enchanted one, at least ! And could I even dream it as snowy, winter-themed place (like the Scalecaller Keep, mountain-designed in a temperate region like Stormhaven)
as a dungeon, but it seems too tiny, so, SO, dreamily, a homestead estate !!

… And how far we will be able to explore the southern mountains of Alinor (southwestern between Alinor and Sunhold, and southeastern near Dusk Keep)
Will they be the counterparts of Sheogorad island in Morrowind chapter...

P.S. some references of past and newer threads worrying about Summerset :

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/268416/make-summerset-great-again-a-thread-not-about-the-hacking-problem/p2
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/374620/summerset-dlc-hopes-and-speculation-thread/p1
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/402045/summerset-architecture/p1
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/404237/so-does-summerset-just-have-one-environment/p1
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/407887/mountains-mountains-and-more-mountains-vvardenfell-vol-2/p1

edit: typos, typos everywhere!

WhiteCoatSyndrome

Oh wow, I knew the architecture was off of what we should have gotten but I didn't realize how far off the climate we got was. Really, as far as lore, this whole Chapter has just been one giant, bitter disappointment.

TelvanniWizard

More disappointment...

Davor

Well what I am not understanding the complaint here is, 3 months ago, I had snow and it was really cold. The snow is gone now and we are having nice cool temperatures. In a few weeks from now we will have humidity and be really hot. Then it will be cool again and months after that the snow and freezing temperatures will come back again.

So do we really know how the seasons are? I mean the Arena pic could have been taken at winter and the ESO pic taken during spring or summer.

I know no Elder Scroll Game had seasons. If it was snow, it was always snow. If it was grassy, it was always grassy. While the dates may indicate different times and season, we never had actual seasons that change.

So that being said, maybe we have Summerset Ilse actually set in the summer by chance?

Ajaxandriel

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Kikke

As they have said before. Dont belive everything you read in story books, especially from other races.

Narvuntien

Its pretty clearly Summer.... on Summerset.

Well I think we wont get seasons... unless we get a Falinesti DLC at some point.

DanteYoda

Auridon is the most popular area in ESO, so obviously they will copy that as its seems to be what customers want..

I personally think the place looks great except that tower it kinda comes off very sex toyish...

psychotrip

Glad to see someone else talking about this. Summerset just feels so...generic and one-note in terms of its environment. I’m curious about what others think now that the expansion has been out for a while.

Narvuntien

There are the coral forests and there are rolling hills and some craggy area's.. its environments are not as varied as Vvaadenfel but it is also a lot less flat than Vvaadenfel so it is better in other ways.

I am still impressed with the area and I have been enjoying my time there.

psychotrip

Narvuntien wrote: »

There are the coral forests and there are rolling hills and some craggy area's.. its environments are not as varied as Vvaadenfel but it is also a lot less flat than Vvaadenfel so it is better in other ways.

I am still impressed with the area and I have been enjoying my time there.

There’s coral forests? Any pics? I thought all the coral was on the beach and it was just a few dead, gray pieces scattered around.

What about the cities? How easily can you tell them apart? Do they each have their own flavor and style? How would you compare them to Vvardenfell?

crjs1

I was very wary about Summerset’s environment before release and concerned about the architecture and lore. But I have to say it is beautiful and actually much more elven than I expected. The cities are not radically different from one another but are subtly so. The use of vertical space is great and there are many Altmer ‘motifs’ in the buildings such as the windows, doors etc - and sheer beauty of the place. I am really impressed with the amount of beautiful small details - the shrines, the greenhouses, alcoves etc.

The coral is impressive and certainly not dead grey scatterings.

I love it and my opinion is a 180 degree turnaround from pre release.

Narvuntien

Also I will note that there are a lot less locked doors than there was in vvaadenfel. Shimerene and Llandril have plenty of houses to break into feels a lot more lived in.

Alinor has quite a few more locked doors but nowhere the level of what we got in the cities in vvaadenfel.

I think its important to note that Vvaadenfel is kind of the backwaters of Morrowind (It was not that relevant until Vivec built his city there kind of like Canberra or Brasilia) where as Summerset is the heart and so it is a lot more urban and inhabited.

psychotrip

crjs1 wrote: »

I was very wary about Summerset’s environment before release and concerned about the architecture and lore. But I have to say it is beautiful and actually much more elven than I expected. The cities are not radically different from one another but are subtly so. The use of vertical space is great and there are many Altmer ‘motifs’ in the buildings such as the windows, doors etc - and sheer beauty of the place. I am really impressed with the amount of beautiful small details - the shrines, the greenhouses, alcoves etc.

The coral is impressive and certainly not dead grey scatterings.

I love it and my opinion is a 180 degree turnaround from pre release.

Can you post any pics of the coral? Or show any screenshots? I’ve kind of given up on the series lately, so I haven’t played much of Summerset. Anything at all that makes it feel less generic would be welcome in my eyes.

Narvuntien wrote: »

Also I will note that there are a lot less locked doors than there was in vvaadenfel. Shimerene and Llandril have plenty of houses to break into feels a lot more lived in.

Alinor has quite a few more locked doors but nowhere the level of what we got in the cities in vvaadenfel.

I think its important to note that Vvaadenfel is kind of the backwaters of Morrowind (It was not that relevant until Vivec built his city there kind of like Canberra or Brasilia) where as Summerset is the heart and so it is a lot more urban and inhabited.

It’s always good to have less locked doors. I’ll always be disappointed by just how same-y Summerset looks though. Like I said, I haven’t played too much of it, but it still saddens me to see this mysterious land revealed to be just a bunch of forests with identical, breton-ish architecture (again, from what I’ve seen). Coming from Vvardenfell, with several unique art styles and environments, to Summerset is just jarring, and it feels like the devs put much less effort into Summerset’s design when they had so much more creative freedom to work with

Ajaxandriel

To be fair after having explored all the region...

Well obviously it lacks a bit more diversity, all the more comparing to Vvardenfell (grassland, woods, ashlands, lava) or Wrothgar (snow or not)

But eventually I could find different landscapes in Summerset and subtle nuances of climate according to altitude.


Normal coast : limestone shore and cliffs (here near Sunhold)


Coral forest : beach and reefs (here noth coast near the Direnni Geyser)


Flowering pastures (Russafield)


Vineyards (Russafield)


Gardens (road northeast from Alinor)


Scattered woods (here in Gryphon Aerie)


Resinous woods (mountains near Sunhold)


Dense temperate forest and "bocage" hedges (Ebon Stadmont, my favorite landscape in the whole region, so immersive!)


Montain rockeries (King's Heaven)


Windy summits (Cloudrest)
If one looks out from the ramparts, he'll see the hardly-textured ground of (mountain) pastures with some trees. This landscape should be expanded and open to access in the future - but here I speak for one as a fan X)

psychotrip

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

To be fair after having explored all the region...

Well obviously it lacks a bit more diversity, all the more comparing to Vvardenfell (grassland, woods, ashlands, lava) or Wrothgar (snow or not)

But eventually I could find different landscapes in Summerset and subtle nuances of climate according to altitude.


Normal coast : limestone shore and cliffs (here near Sunhold)


Coral forest : beach and reefs (here noth coast near the Direnni Geyser)


Flowering pastures (Russafield)


Vineyards (Russafield)


Gardens (road northeast from Alinor)


Scattered woods (here in Gryphon Aerie)


Resinous woods (mountains near Sunhold)


Dense temperate forest and "bocage" hedges (Ebon Stadmont, my favorite landscape in the whole region, so immersive!)


Montain rockeries (King's Heaven)


Windy summits (Cloudrest)
If one looks out from the ramparts, he'll see the hardly-textured ground of (mountain) pastures with some trees. This landscape should be expanded and open to access in the future - but here I speak for one as a fan X)

Man, I appreciate you for trying to find the subtle differences but jeez...they really did not do a lot to make Summerset a distinct place. It's just so same-y and bland to me. Even the coral just blends in to the rest of the muted colors.

SickleCider

@Ajaxandriel Thank you for the screenshots. I don't have Summerset yet. I really dig the vibe of that dense forest and would love to see more of that kind of thing in this game.

Ajaxandriel

Something disturbed me one step further regarding the "lost" snows of Summerset.

I was just checking the Indrik flavor texts datamined on this page https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Nascent_Indrik

Pure-Snow Indrik

Some find it strange that the Pure-Snow Indrik should exist in Summerset, where winter never comes, but as the Sapiarch of Elemental Arcana points out, "Frost magic works everywhere."

- ...Where winter never comes?
Really, so that's it?

I do find strange that winter would never come to Eton Nir summits, and that some find it strange that the Pure-Snow Indrik should exist, to begin with!

xclassgaming

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Someone should make a post about this, a season system, that would be pretty cool!

WeerW3ir

Since

xclassgaming wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Someone should make a post about this, a season system, that would be pretty cool!

Since Towers controlling weather, (check lore) you cannot really make winter in Summerset. Also as would be in reality. Maximum 3 season would be there. Cold, warm, and something between it. Beside check the Nirn map. Summerset is nearly at the planetary equator.

Ajaxandriel

WeerW3ir wrote: »

Since

xclassgaming wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Someone should make a post about this, a season system, that would be pretty cool!

Since Towers controlling weather, (check lore) you cannot really make winter in Summerset. Also as would be in reality. Maximum 3 season would be there. Cold, warm, and something between it. Beside check the Nirn map. Summerset is nearly at the planetary equator.

Fan theory statements... So it can be otherwise.
And the weather controlling Towers part is more backed but still, in-universe theory (Cinnabar's and so on), therefore debatable

WeerW3ir

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

WeerW3ir wrote: »

Since

xclassgaming wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Someone should make a post about this, a season system, that would be pretty cool!

Since Towers controlling weather, (check lore) you cannot really make winter in Summerset. Also as would be in reality. Maximum 3 season would be there. Cold, warm, and something between it. Beside check the Nirn map. Summerset is nearly at the planetary equator.

Fan theory statements... So it can be otherwise.
And the weather controlling Towers part is more backed but still, in-universe theory (Cinnabar's and so on), therefore debatable

just look at this map. there is no fan theory in this my boy. the map ofc is not real. but it is exactly as it is. history dont lie. there are more continents rather than just simply tamriel.

And the towers description also on uespwiki. look after it. and anyway even summerset story tells it to. summerset was owned by sloads before. sloads had different world. aldmeris came. summerset become to their best vision. (tower made it). Anyway still the equator is still there. grahtwood, lizardland and summersets are all warm areas. at north. you have orc wonderland with skyrim and morrowind. mind is where everything. even desert. but desert because of the mountains.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

WeerW3ir wrote: »

just look at this map. there is no fan theory in this my boy. the map ofc is not real.

You're contradicting yourself rather badly here. When you know the map is fake then by definition it can't be taken as fact.

WeerW3ir wrote: »

And the towers description also on uespwiki.

While a lot of the wiki's content is text copied from the games the Tower Lore page isn't one of them, it's someone's write-up of multiple sources, some of which are specifically noted as not necessarily being canon. There's even a little note at the bottom warning about this:

Note: the following references are not from official sources. They are included to provide a rounder background to this article, but may not reflect established lore.

Take a look.

Tigerseye

WeerW3ir wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

WeerW3ir wrote: »

Since

xclassgaming wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Someone should make a post about this, a season system, that would be pretty cool!

Since Towers controlling weather, (check lore) you cannot really make winter in Summerset. Also as would be in reality. Maximum 3 season would be there. Cold, warm, and something between it. Beside check the Nirn map. Summerset is nearly at the planetary equator.

Fan theory statements... So it can be otherwise.
And the weather controlling Towers part is more backed but still, in-universe theory (Cinnabar's and so on), therefore debatable

just look at this map. there is no fan theory in this my boy. the map ofc is not real. but it is exactly as it is. history dont lie. there are more continents rather than just simply tamriel.

And the towers description also on uespwiki. look after it. and anyway even summerset story tells it to. summerset was owned by sloads before. sloads had different world. aldmeris came. summerset become to their best vision. (tower made it). Anyway still the equator is still there. grahtwood, lizardland and summersets are all warm areas. at north. you have orc wonderland with skyrim and morrowind. mind is where everything. even desert. but desert because of the mountains.

Right, so (left to its own devices) Summerset would actually be more tropical, or deserty, than it is.

I like Summerset as it is, but I agree that seasons in games like this would be nice, in general.

Could switch them out every few months.

WeerW3ir

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

WeerW3ir wrote: »

just look at this map. there is no fan theory in this my boy. the map ofc is not real.

You're contradicting yourself rather badly here. When you know the map is fake then by definition it can't be taken as fact.

WeerW3ir wrote: »

And the towers description also on uespwiki.

While a lot of the wiki's content is text copied from the games the Tower Lore page isn't one of them, it's someone's write-up of multiple sources, some of which are specifically noted as not necessarily being canon. There's even a little note at the bottom warning about this:

Note: the following references are not from official sources. They are included to provide a rounder background to this article, but may not reflect established lore.

Take a look.

until somebody not deleting that. that is the 'truth'. mah boy. and anyway. rly. you have no better stuff to do than destroying someones vision? lol. im here to help them. not to destroy immersion like you do ...

Rake

Its SUMMERset. Come back during winter.

Ajaxandriel

WeerW3ir wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

WeerW3ir wrote: »

Since

xclassgaming wrote: »

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Yes definitely the Summerset ESO chapter is set during spring-summer, like the real life date of release

So we can imagine the same place in winter, with the higher parts with snow and thus a different landscape

Ah... a season system would be nice indeed ... But let's be realistic, they should work for the actual weather system of Homestead and fix it first!

That's why I thought that some instanced place(s) - like an estate released this winter by chance - may be fit for a snowy landscape in Summerset

Someone should make a post about this, a season system, that would be pretty cool!

Since Towers controlling weather, (check lore) you cannot really make winter in Summerset. Also as would be in reality. Maximum 3 season would be there. Cold, warm, and something between it. Beside check the Nirn map. Summerset is nearly at the planetary equator.

Fan theory statements... So it can be otherwise.
And the weather controlling Towers part is more backed but still, in-universe theory (Cinnabar's and so on), therefore debatable

just look at this map. there is no fan theory in this my boy. the map ofc is not real. but it is exactly as it is. history dont lie. there are more continents rather than just simply tamriel.

Huh... History might not lie, even when recorded by the victors, but you blatantly do, muh boi. Well...thanks for the fine trolling!
But just in case it was not so, (which I doubt, hopefully) you may have been mislead by some unscrupulous fan-theorists. Then you'd have to learn the difference between the concepts of "lore" / "canon" / "fanon" and last but not least, "in-universe or diegetic folklore" versus "real-life knowledge about a fictionnal universe". Let's see how far this map is fan-made:
- actual canon does not describe the actual shape of Akavir
- actual canon does not describe the actual shape of Atmora
- actual canon does not describe the actual shape of Pyandonea
- actual canon does not state the actual location of Pyandonea, which is south-west of Summerset more seemingly (?)
- actual canon does not describe the actual shape - or even the actual existence - of the mythic continent of Aldmeris
- indeed actual canon does not locate the equator of Nirn (nor state if there is any! iirc ... Maybe Nirn is a flat or a non-Euclidean realm)
- Muh boy.

WeerW3ir wrote: »

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

WeerW3ir wrote: »

just look at this map. there is no fan theory in this my boy. the map ofc is not real.

You're contradicting yourself rather badly here. When you know the map is fake then by definition it can't be taken as fact.

WeerW3ir wrote: »

And the towers description also on uespwiki.

While a lot of the wiki's content is text copied from the games the Tower Lore page isn't one of them, it's someone's write-up of multiple sources, some of which are specifically noted as not necessarily being canon. There's even a little note at the bottom warning about this:

Note: the following references are not from official sources. They are included to provide a rounder background to this article, but may not reflect established lore.

Take a look.

until somebody not deleting that. that is the 'truth'. mah boy. and anyway. rly. you have no better stuff to do than destroying someones vision? lol. im here to help them. not to destroy immersion like you do ...

Definitely not sure if obvious trolling or genuine whining in front of the collapse of one's previous fan-certainties...

You know, muh boi, everyone got his headcanon broken at some point here. Take courage.
Each fan of the Summerset concept had to face the recently built "actual Summerset" in ESO.
Just read OP, just read Psychotrip's reply and numerous threads, and so on. One's strenght is to admit the facts in the under-construction universe and consider what is - and what isn't known - and what could have been.

Ajaxandriel

OMG - fellow loreseekers, some flavour text just did my day.

Look at this piece of pure refined awesomeness:

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/55465

On the highest pinnacles of Eton Nir, where the snow never melts, live the pale Snowcap Gryphons. Perfectly camouflaged for a life in the clouds, for most of the First Era they were considered to be a myth. No longer!

The Snowcap Fledgling Gryphon was a reward for participating in the December gift-giving event. Qualifying players received this pet earlier in January. It will be available for all players to purchase from the Crown Store on all platforms for a limited time, from January 31 to February 4 at 10am EST.

Seems like someone in the lore dpt. may have read this thread eventually haha (or it's a fine coincidence)

(I can't wait for getting this pet after-tomorrow, maybe it was the best invested 1000 crowns in my whole game )

So, we definitely did not see the whole of the Eton Nir massif. So the underwhelming beheaded peak that is behind the raid instance is not "Eton Nir" in full.
So Summerset lands still retains parts of mystery to be seen...

To anyone who wrote or reviewed this flavor text : thank you so much!

RaddlemanNumber7

That made me laugh too

psychotrip

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

Something disturbed me one step further regarding the "lost" snows of Summerset.

I was just checking the Indrik flavor texts datamined on this page https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Nascent_Indrik

Pure-Snow Indrik

Some find it strange that the Pure-Snow Indrik should exist in Summerset, where winter never comes, but as the Sapiarch of Elemental Arcana points out, "Frost magic works everywhere."

- ...Where winter never comes?
Really, so that's it?

I do find strange that winter would never come to Eton Nir summits, and that some find it strange that the Pure-Snow Indrik should exist, to begin with!

Ajaxandriel wrote: »

OMG - fellow loreseekers, some flavour text just did my day.

Look at this piece of pure refined awesomeness:

https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/55465

On the highest pinnacles of Eton Nir, where the snow never melts, live the pale Snowcap Gryphons. Perfectly camouflaged for a life in the clouds, for most of the First Era they were considered to be a myth. No longer!

The Snowcap Fledgling Gryphon was a reward for participating in the December gift-giving event. Qualifying players received this pet earlier in January. It will be available for all players to purchase from the Crown Store on all platforms for a limited time, from January 31 to February 4 at 10am EST.

Seems like someone in the lore dpt. may have read this thread eventually haha (or it's a fine coincidence)

(I can't wait for getting this pet after-tomorrow, maybe it was the best invested 1000 crowns in my whole game )

So, we definitely did not see the whole of the Eton Nir massif. So the underwhelming beheaded peak that is behind the raid instance is not "Eton Nir" in full.
So Summerset lands still retains parts of mystery to be seen...

To anyone who wrote or reviewed this flavor text : thank you so much!

Wait...so in-game descriptions contradict themselves now? And even if we didn't reach the top of Eton Nir ourselves, can't we just look at it and see that there's no snow?

Jeez, either way we're still left with a rather bland, uniform environment as far as I'm concerned.

I mean come on. We just came down from Morrowind, which was full of different environments and architectural styles over what is (lore-wise) a much smaller area of land. Is this really the best they could come up with for Summerset?

I mean, even if they did want to make Summerset more "grounded" then that doesn't mean they had to make it so uniform. It just feels like they put in a lot less effort. Or maybe, without a previous game to piggyback off of, they have trouble coming up with new ideas.

I also find it funny that some try to rationalize the weather on Summerset with "tower magic" when ZOS themselves claim that if magic disappeared from Tamriel nothing would change.

Seems like the world is only allowed to be magical when it explains away ZOS's generic worldbuilding.

I mean really ask yourself this guys: is there anything distinct about Summerset? What sets it apart from the rest of Tamriel's medieval european forests? What sets it apart from any generic fantasy environment? Some dead, grey coral on the beaches?