How is Elder Scrolls lore created?

moleculardrugs

Who decides? Is there a special writer or does a committee agree on specific changes or additional things being added to the lore?

I’m assuming that is the job of “Loremaster,” but this is the first time I’ve heard that term and would like to know more or be corrected if I am wrong.

Is this what the job is or do you also have to be a game developer to create or add to the lore?

Thank you!

DMuehlhausen

They have a team of writers and the Loremaster.

Yes it goes a little deeper than that. That have to answer the Bethesda for some things cause it has to stay "consistent" with the TES single player games, but other than that they have free reign to write the stores of Tamriel.

Danikat

Yes videos games have writers. How many work on each game and whether they do other jobs as well or just focus on the writing depends on the game (game size, studio size, budget etc.) for a game the size of ESO made by a major studio they will almost certainly have a team of writers.

There are people who specialise in writing for video games and don't do other jobs like creating the art or animations or programming skills and things, but I've heard it helps a lot to have an understanding of the whole process of making games and how studios typically work in order to write for them.

dem0n1k

AFAIK, Loremaster was Lawrence Schick up until U21, from then it is Leamon Tuttle.

WraithCaller88

To my understanding, the writers create the stories & content, whereas the Loremaster keeps everything consistent.

Prior to ESO, Bethesda encouraged conflicting stories & content in their games - ideas of rumors, legends, unreliable narrators and all that. Because ESO has become the most complex TES game in terms of story breadth, they need to have a Loremaster because you can't write certain things off as 'conflicting historical accounts' or whatever. Like, it's one thing to question what really happened to Nerevar at Red Mountain, and another thing entirely to say that Sai Sahan sacrificed himself to the Amulet of Kings yet also refounded the Dragonguard...

barney2525

Huh. I thought it was done late night in Colorado where recreational stuff is legal.

renne

Throwing a dart at a dartboard with various ideas on it that are more and more outlandish.

wenchmore420b14_ESO

barney2525 wrote: »

Huh. I thought it was done late night in Colorado where recreational stuff is legal.

I live in Colorado! I would help with that!! Lol

moleculardrugs wrote: »

Who decides? Is there a special writer or does a committee agree on specific changes or additional things being added to the lore?

I’m assuming that is the job of “Loremaster,” but this is the first time I’ve heard that term and would like to know more or be corrected if I am wrong.

Is this what the job is or do you also have to be a game developer to create or add to the lore?

Thank you!

As to OP title:
TES history started with TES1~Arena.
The "Godfather" of Elder Scrolls Lore is Julian LaFey, along with Ted Petterson.
They continued to add to the Base Lore and World Creation in TES2 ~ Daggerfall.
With TES3~ Morrowind, Michael Kirkbride created most of the "metaphysical and deep parts of the lore in conjunction with Todd Howard and a few others.
But with each new writer, they made sure it went with previous games and other games, like Battlespire and Dawnstar to Legends to insure lore stayed consistent.

This is how Elder Scrolls Lore and History was created.
In the present, Bethesda Game Studios still is the "Final Say" in lore.
The writers and Loremaster are in almost daily contact with BGS to make sure lore ties in.
(I think ESO has stretched it too far with glowy and fantastical skins and mounts and stuff that doesn't fit canon lore, but oh well, they do a pretty good job. Bosmers and argonians aside, just my opinion).

Hope this helps a little.
Just my two drakes..
Huzzah!

MaleAmazon

This takes me back to the 'Cyrodiil rainforest' debacle in TES IV Oblivion...

For those of you who weren´t around, Cyrodiil was described as being a rainforest, taken to mean jungle, before TES IV: Oblivion. However, and I would think mostly because there was no way computers could render massive jungles in an open world game at the time, this was switched to a temperate climate with trees more sparse. IIRC Todd Howard tried to justify it by pointing out that 'rainforest' doesn´t technically mean jungle but refers to the nature of the trees and moist climate, but this was a bit ridiculous and anyway it doesn´t fit with lorebooks. Oh Todd, just admit you sometimes you guys had ideas that don´t work as well years later (TES: Arena cover art...).

There is a kind of easter egg lorebook in ESO, 'The Heartland of Cyrodiil, by Phrastus of Elinhir', which explains that it was all due to a transcription error and scribe shenanigans. And another book with a different explanation, by Lady Cinnabar of Taneth.

wenchmore420b14_ESO

MaleAmazon wrote: »

This takes me back to the 'Cyrodiil rainforest' debacle in TES IV Oblivion...

For those of you who weren´t around, Cyrodiil was described as being a rainforest, taken to mean jungle, before TES IV: Oblivion. However, and I would think mostly because there was no way computers could render massive jungles in an open world game at the time, this was switched to a temperate climate with trees more sparse. IIRC Todd Howard tried to justify it by pointing out that 'rainforest' doesn´t technically mean jungle but refers to the nature of the trees and moist climate, but this was a bit ridiculous and anyway it doesn´t fit with lorebooks. Oh Todd, just admit you sometimes you guys had ideas that don´t work as well years later (TES: Arena cover art...).

There is a kind of easter egg lorebook in ESO, 'The Heartland of Cyrodiil, by Phrastus of Elinhir', which explains that it was all due to a transcription error and scribe shenanigans. And another book with a different explanation, by Lady Cinnabar of Taneth.

Another "theory" was when Talos achieved "Chim", he caused Cyrodiil tp change in past and present.
Hmmm.... Lol!

MaleAmazon

Another "theory" was when Talos achieved "Chim", he caused Cyrodiil tp change in past and present.
Hmmm.... Lol!

Indeed. This was also the event that removed levitation, proposed as a countermeasure to the flying thief that robbed the vaults of the Great Houses in Vivec, as well as turning staves into magic submachine guns, and banning the art of fighting with spears.

zaria

MaleAmazon wrote: »

This takes me back to the 'Cyrodiil rainforest' debacle in TES IV Oblivion...

For those of you who weren´t around, Cyrodiil was described as being a rainforest, taken to mean jungle, before TES IV: Oblivion. However, and I would think mostly because there was no way computers could render massive jungles in an open world game at the time, this was switched to a temperate climate with trees more sparse. IIRC Todd Howard tried to justify it by pointing out that 'rainforest' doesn´t technically mean jungle but refers to the nature of the trees and moist climate, but this was a bit ridiculous and anyway it doesn´t fit with lorebooks. Oh Todd, just admit you sometimes you guys had ideas that don´t work as well years later (TES: Arena cover art...).

There is a kind of easter egg lorebook in ESO, 'The Heartland of Cyrodiil, by Phrastus of Elinhir', which explains that it was all due to a transcription error and scribe shenanigans. And another book with a different explanation, by Lady Cinnabar of Taneth.

Well because Cyrodil in Oblivion contained placed like Bruma having rainforest there would be stupid. The southern parts as in border to blackmach was tropical.
Question is where to put the biome border and north of IC would leave an to small temperate zone.