Culture/Geography?

Morgha_Kul

As a matter of curiosity, I've been pondering the various peoples and places in ESO, and been trying to decide what the real world inspiration is for the cultures and geography we see in the game. I'm curious to know what people think.

Breton = Medieval Europe; the people, architecture and environment.
Nord = Norway; Old Norse culture and architecture, and the environment.
Redguard = North Africa; the people seem to draw on Arab culture and architecture, but the environment is more like North Africa.
Khajit = Thailand; I'm not sure about the culture, but the architecture is distinctly Thai... the environment seems a bit dry for Thailand, but in southern areas is very like it.
Argonian = Aztecs; their culture seems to be more druidic, but the architecture and clothing is distinctly drawn from Aztec and Inca culture. The environment is more swampy than Mexico though, perhaps more like Florida?
Dunmer = ??? Darned if I know...
Bosmer = Very wild, my first thought was that they were something like the more primitive peoples in the rainforests of Brazil... but I'm not sure.
Altmer = Again, not sure... they seem rather "civilized," so I was thinking something more like renaissance Europe, but I'm not sure...
Orc = Very tribal, not sure. The architecture is very elaborate... not sure what realworld style it resembles, though. Wrothgar is very nordic too...

Just my first take on things... I just wondered what other people thought.

myskyrim26

Check this awesome post on Morrowind https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/491529/morrowind-irl-the-revelation-list-of-the-30-resemblances/p1

SammyKhajit

Inspirations are drawn from this planet, for sure,, but this one like to think Nirn and Tamriel are unique

nukk3r

Great video on the topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAYObr7bkjs

Tethilia

Altmer, Bosmer, Orsimer, Dunmer, Khajiit, and Argonians all have origins in traditional fantasy which their races were expanded on. Altmer are probably the least deviated race from the standard fantasy High Elf, whereas Dunmer were taken from Drow and put through so much lore and discovery that they aren't even recognizable. There are still references to the Drow however such as worshiping a dark spider goddess (Mephala and Llolth) and the fact that they took slaves. I am pretty sure house Dres was meant to remain an omage to that fantasy origin.

With Khajiit remember they were waaaay different when ES originally appeared and got a lore-overhaul with Morrowind.

Many of these races draw inspiration from multiple cultures so there isn't a way to pinpoint them down, and ES does a great job at inventing culture for all their races. Nords are very clearly inspired by the Norse, however when you dig into it, they are WAY different.

Elsonso

Morgha_Kul wrote: »

Breton = Medieval Europe; the people, architecture and environment.
Nord = Norway; Old Norse culture and architecture, and the environment.
Redguard = North Africa; the people seem to draw on Arab culture and architecture, but the environment is more like North Africa.
Khajit = Thailand; I'm not sure about the culture, but the architecture is distinctly Thai... the environment seems a bit dry for Thailand, but in southern areas is very like it.
Argonian = Aztecs; their culture seems to be more druidic, but the architecture and clothing is distinctly drawn from Aztec and Inca culture. The environment is more swampy than Mexico though, perhaps more like Florida?
Dunmer = ??? Darned if I know...
Bosmer = Very wild, my first thought was that they were something like the more primitive peoples in the rainforests of Brazil... but I'm not sure.
Altmer = Again, not sure... they seem rather "civilized," so I was thinking something more like renaissance Europe, but I'm not sure...
Orc = Very tribal, not sure. The architecture is very elaborate... not sure what realworld style it resembles, though. Wrothgar is very nordic too...

Just my first take on things... I just wondered what other people thought.

You missed Imperials, which are Roman, which includes Greek from the same period.

Athan1

Unfortunately we aren't allowed to talk about this, it's a super cool topic and I've made threads about it but everytime they were locked. So while TES lore is based or copying real history we aren't allowed to acknowledge it.

RedMuse

Redguard = North Africa; the people seem to draw on Arab culture and architecture, but the environment is more like North Africa.

Um you do know that the culture and language in North Africa is heavily influenced by Islamic culture and hence by Arabic culture, right? Like this is what North Africa would have looked like in the Middle Ages and parts of it still looks like, just like you'll find Gothic cathedrals and Medieval churches in Europe.

zaria

nukk3r wrote: »

Great video on the topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAYObr7bkjs

Yes, I say its sums it up well

Ratzkifal

Adding to what that video said Vivec City is clearly inspired by Tenochtitlan - an Aztec city with pyramids built on water.
I feel the Sumerian influence is much heavier with the Dwemer and Velothi Chimer than with the modern Dunmer, but the Hlaalu style does bare remarkable resemblence to the pictures shown in the video. However these sort of mud/clay huds can be found independently in many different places of the world so I find it hard to attribute them to just to mesopotamia when similar houses can be found in Africa and native American settlements.
I think comparing it to Tattoine from Star Wars is the most fair comparison made because by the time Morrowind was made Star Wars was probably the most popular and most recent depiction of such architecture in popculture.

As for the High Elves the greek influence in their ruins is undeniable so while that video says they aren't that Greek, I would say they are very much a mix of Greek and Chinese, especially considering their relationship to the Roman Imperials. The Elven language is said to be the basis for the common/Imperial language of Tamriel.
Everything else they build looks very much like Neuschwanstein (the Disney castle) with some Gothic church influences.