What part of the Elder Scrolls universe interest you the most?

Grandchamp1989

As in what really fascinate you about the ESO universe?

I've made a poll but it is no way near enough so feel free to expand!

Danikat

Other (Specify in comments)

Many or most of the above. What interests me most is how different it is from other fantasy worlds I'm familiar with even when on the surface there's a lot of similarities.

My first TES game was Morrowind and I've mentioned on here before that when I started I was so confused by all the NPCs asking me about whether I follow the Aedrea or the Tribunal or the Imperial Cult or if I agreed with the distinction between 'good' and 'bad' Daedra or what I thought of the Divines and it took me a long time to make sense of it all, but that's also one of the things which made the game so interesting to me. Just having a fantasy world with more than one pantheon was pretty unusual to me at the time. I know DnD has lots of different groups and races who only worship one specific god or group of gods, but it's accepted fact they all exist and interact, it's just people picking the one/s they want to focus on.

It's the same with the races and cultures. At first glance you've got your basic humans, wood elves, high elves, dark elves and 'beast' races. (Although I always found the khajiit and argonians more interesting, because I'd only seen one other game with cat and lizard people and they were quite different.) But the names and general appearance is about where the similarity ends and I find learning about the different cultures in Tamriel and their history really interesting.

I also like the frequent use of in-universe sources and the unreliable narrator concept so that a lot of stuff isn't clear and doesn't have just one interpretation. A lot of other franchises rely on the 'word of god' where the writer or developer will state how things are and that's it. Even if people within the story say differently you know they're wrong. Sometimes that makes sense - in DnD for example Dungeon Masters need to know how things actually work in order to create and run campaigns. But when you don't need that level of clarity I think it makes it more interesting to leave things open to interpretation and to need to consider the source when reading lore books and things.

Sylvermynx

Other (Specify in comments)

Everything but meeting NPCs, combat, and conspiracy theories.

VaranisArano

For me, it's probably the complexities of characters and cultures, specifically the conflicts that characters have within their own culture and with other cultures. The Elder Scrolls universe has become increasingly factional as the series has added more games, and that conflict makes for very rich roleplaying and storytelling opportunities.

Inaya

Other (Specify in comments)

The entire game and everything it has to offer. There is so much to do and see from exploring, to trials and dungeons, to achievement hunting, crafting, housing......so much more than other games offer imo.

emilyhyoyeon

Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture

VaranisArano wrote: »

For me, it's probably the complexities of characters and cultures, specifically the conflicts that characters have within their own culture and with other cultures. The Elder Scrolls universe has become increasingly factional as the series has added more games, and that conflict makes for very rich roleplaying and storytelling opportunities.

This is exactly how I feel and my bias towards the TES world in particular amplifies my appreciation for what all that offers.
I voted for the race/culture option because it's what definitely increases the realness/authenticity/believability the most, for me at least, although I would argue it's also the objective best for that too.

Narvuntien

Magic! How does it work? Lets find out..

The inherent magical nature of the world.

As opposed to many fantasy settings this isn't a world with magical creatures or mages, it is a world fundamentally built on magic.

This makes effectively anything and everything possible just that you may cause great harm to others living in this magical world by doing it.

It makes using magical power into a moral question

vibeborn

Meeting new NPCs and building an *emotional bond* (even if it doesn't add much to the overall lore)

I think it all sounds fantastic, but I especially love meeting new NPCs

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

Other (Specify in comments)

Exploration

Kadraeus

Lost knowledge and cultures (Dwemer, Ayleids, Snow Elves, Nedes, Akavair)

I like learning about ancient cultures irl, so that's probably the reason why the ancient cultures interest me in these games. The Dwemer are the most interesting to me because they sort of bend the rules of "medieval fantasy" and dip into science fiction/science fantasy a little. I remember playing Skyrim for the first time and being super surprised when I saw a dwarven automaton in a loading screen. I was like, "Wtf? There are robots in this game?" Same with Clockwork City (I really want to know what happened to Clockwork City after Morrowind, whether it still exists in the 4th Era or not).

cyclonus11

Other (Specify in comments)

Other: Most of the above, plus: The Monomyth, the Creation, and the Dawn Era. I'd like to hear more about how the Aurbis came to be - perhaps from the likes of Hermaeus Mora or one of the other gods.

I'd also like to learn about the origins of Men and Mer. Since they are reproductively compatible, they must have a common ancestor! (It's blasphemy to the stuffy Altmer to suggest it, but it has to be true. All Men and Mer are the same species.)

Araneae6537

Danikat wrote: »

Many or most of the above. What interests me most is how different it is from other fantasy worlds I'm familiar with even when on the surface there's a lot of similarities.

My first TES game was Morrowind and I've mentioned on here before that when I started I was so confused by all the NPCs asking me about whether I follow the Aedrea or the Tribunal or the Imperial Cult or if I agreed with the distinction between 'good' and 'bad' Daedra or what I thought of the Divines and it took me a long time to make sense of it all, but that's also one of the things which made the game so interesting to me. Just having a fantasy world with more than one pantheon was pretty unusual to me at the time. I know DnD has lots of different groups and races who only worship one specific god or group of gods, but it's accepted fact they all exist and interact, it's just people picking the one/s they want to focus on.

It's the same with the races and cultures. At first glance you've got your basic humans, wood elves, high elves, dark elves and 'beast' races. (Although I always found the khajiit and argonians more interesting, because I'd only seen one other game with cat and lizard people and they were quite different.) But the names and general appearance is about where the similarity ends and I find learning about the different cultures in Tamriel and their history really interesting.

I also like the frequent use of in-universe sources and the unreliable narrator concept so that a lot of stuff isn't clear and doesn't have just one interpretation. A lot of other franchises rely on the 'word of god' where the writer or developer will state how things are and that's it. Even if people within the story say differently you know they're wrong. Sometimes that makes sense - in DnD for example Dungeon Masters need to know how things actually work in order to create and run campaigns. But when you don't need that level of clarity I think it makes it more interesting to leave things open to interpretation and to need to consider the source when reading lore books and things.

Well said and I couldn’t agree more!

Locnaar

Other (Specify in comments)

most of the choices above are very similar , if not identical, (theme : learning about races - lore).
Makes it very difficult to pick one.

Exploration is the priority for me; I enjoy being in places that very few have discovered ( base game or DLC).

Perhaps there should have been a multiple choices option for those of us who just can't decide ...

Alurria

Other (Specify in comments)

All of the above, the possibilities for development. Sea elves snow elves, other races. Maybe another world linked to Nirn etc. The history and the future of the expanding world of Nirn.

Nightowl_74

The Daedra

I've always been interested in the Daedric Princes and their followers. Elder Scrolls was the first game to offer my character anything but altruistic options when completing quests or let me play someone who wasn't a hero, and it was nearly all thanks to the Daedra. Their stories are invariably dark and often twisted; qualities that appeal to me as a fan of both the horror and psychological thriller genres. While I'm (generally - I occasionally make a character for rp) not concerned with morality in my interaction with npc's, only completing objectives, I very much enjoy having the idea put forth to contemplate - If I were role-playing this character, or writing it myself, how would she reconcile these actions?

I haven't completed all the quests in ESO but with the exception of the DB content, to me it has a more generic hero "good behavior = rewards" feeling. Sometimes I miss having to choose between the moral high ground or something shiny.

Overall, the Daedra appeal to my fascination with tales of madness, the macabre and the darker side of human nature.

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

For me, it's probably the complexities of characters and cultures, specifically the conflicts that characters have within their own culture and with other cultures. The Elder Scrolls universe has become increasingly factional as the series has added more games, and that conflict makes for very rich roleplaying and storytelling opportunities.

This is exactly how I feel and my bias towards the TES world in particular amplifies my appreciation for what all that offers.
I voted for the race/culture option because it's what definitely increases the realness/authenticity/believability the most, for me at least, although I would argue it's also the objective best for that too.

I second this. The culture and life of the various people and individuals of Elder Scrolls is very fascinating. It's what helps the roleplaying and storytelling the most to me.

I like many of the other things on the poll as well, but this stuff is what really gets me giddy. I always read new treasure/contraband items I find, because these are usually filled with minor stuff that adds to this.

Vevvev

Magic! How does it work? Lets find out..

The magic!

In the beginning I thought it just your regular fantasy till I found out just how engrained it was in the world. It's more than some bolted on addition to check a box but the literal fabric of that universe's reality and sets up everything. Heck, the sun is a literal hole in the sky with pure magic pouring through it because an entity named Magnus noped right on out of the creation of Nirn. Had he stayed and set up his Eye of Magnus Nirn would have looked very different from what it does now.

orion_1981usub17_ESO

Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture

I feel a lot of these are interconnected.

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture

orion_1981usub17_ESO wrote: »

I feel a lot of these are interconnected.

Yup.

If we look at the "Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture" option. Magic is big part of a lot of the races, their way of life, history and culture. Same goes for Lost Knowledge, and the Aedra/Daedra. The former has a big part in their faith, so of course that is connected. I also wonder why "Aedra and other deities" and "Daedra" are seperate polls. Would make more sense to be Aedra/Daedra and other deities.

menedhyn

Other (Specify in comments)

Lots of things from the list, but learning about existing cultures fascinates me just as much as those relatively unknown. It's the little things I enjoy. Watching and listening to NPCs never gets boring. I tend to prefer them to the more prominent characters.

Starlight_Whisper

The combat, meta builds and being as strong as possible

I just like battles! It's like making own action movie.

Still others aren't wrong. It's all those little things that add up that make eso so wonderful.

milesrodneymcneely2_ESO

Other (Specify in comments)

The Psijic Order, and the concept of CHIM.

PS: Vivec is - hands down - my favorite character in all of human literature.

Tandor

Other (Specify in comments)

The game.

Despite having played all TES games since Arena, I don't take any of it so seriously as to rank the aspects of the game in the way that the OP has. The whole is better than the sum of its parts !

LadyLethalla

Other (Specify in comments)

All the lore. So not just about lost races but about current ones too.

ArchMikem

Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture

I'm pretty obsessed with the Khajiit and the Elsweyr Confederacy.

Slyclone

Learning more about the races, their way of life, history and culture

Breton Nightblades.

TwinLamps

Other (Specify in comments)

Well, multiple things, really.
I am interested in ancient races, daedra, aedra, but also to have meta build and be 50k proctato like majority of ppl in PvP

TheImperfect

I can't choose, it's all part of the whole experience.

Miragent

The Daedra

Nightowl_74 wrote: »

I've always been interested in the Daedric Princes and their followers. Elder Scrolls was the first game to offer my character anything but altruistic options when completing quests or let me play someone who wasn't a hero, and it was nearly all thanks to the Daedra. Their stories are invariably dark and often twisted; qualities that appeal to me as a fan of both the horror and psychological thriller genres. While I'm (generally - I occasionally make a character for rp) not concerned with morality in my interaction with npc's, only completing objectives, I very much enjoy having the idea put forth to contemplate - If I were role-playing this character, or writing it myself, how would she reconcile these actions?

I haven't completed all the quests in ESO but with the exception of the DB content, to me it has a more generic hero "good behavior = rewards" feeling. Sometimes I miss having to choose between the moral high ground or something shiny.

Overall, the Daedra appeal to my fascination with tales of madness, the macabre and the darker side of human nature.

This.

I love how TES with Daedra, Daedric realms and domains and Daedric cults acknowledge all the dark things that exist in human society and in human relationships, the things we don't like to talk about and acknowledge, the things that are all around us. You'd think: but who and why would join a cult of, say, Molag Bal or make pacts with him IRL. IRL people wouldn't join a cult, they'd join a reddit and tear apart someone or a group of people there. IRL they wouldn't summon a Prince of domination and torture, they'd just dominate and torture mentally and physically their significant other. But is Molag Bal purely evil? He is, but is his domain purely evil? Anyone who had to lead or manage something, would tell you otherwise.

Or Sanguine. Who and why wouldn't join a cult of Prince of Debauchery and all things fun? Sanguine is the patron of all gamers, we know everything about indulging and overindulging ourselves.

Or Meridia, the Lady of Infinite Energies, the *** of Light, Self-righteousness and Lack of Compassion.

Or Vaermina, my personal favorite, all the trips and mazes of human mind, dreams, daydreams and nightmares.

Sangwyne

Lost knowledge and cultures (Dwemer, Ayleids, Snow Elves, Nedes, Akavair)

We've already been introduced to every other aspect of the Elder Scrolls Universe on that list, ancient cultures like the Akaviri, Atmorans and Snow Elves and their homelands are pretty much the only avenue the game or one of its precursors HASN'T already explored, and I'd personally love if a DLC were implemented showcasing even just a little bit of what kind of alien flora, fauna and contributions to culture their homelands had to offer.

Xargas13

The Daedra

Even though I'm good guy, dark things always fascinated me, from serial killers to the demons. So it's no wonder Daedra fascinate me, I really like Dunmer for the reason that they are so close with Daedra, so excited for Lyranth in the next xpack.