Eso tamriel map inaccurate?

Violynne · October 2015

UTG_Zilla wrote: »

Anyone else notice this?

I haven't been in Cyrodiil long enough to notice.

I'm too busy wondering how the mountain ranges in Eastmarch and The Rift changed.

But the biggest mindboggler is wondering how Riften is a port city, given there's no way ships can make their way to it.

I don't fault things like this. I just find them enjoyable as I explore.

newtinmpls · October 2015

Forestd16b14_ESO wrote: »

You do know Zenimax owns Bethesda right? Thus they own The Elder Scrolls series and thus ESO is really a Elder Scrolls game.

It's a subsidiary, a separate company.

And more than a few hours of playing, or of watching (cringe) ESO live will tell you they don't care about either the game or the customers the way Zeni does.

elias.stormneb18_ESO · October 2015

OtarTheMad wrote: »

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

A lot of things are off about the map that I noticed.

- Fallowstone Hall is in an odd location because in Skyrim there is a mountain/rocky hills there. No room for the Hall or any of other things. (Simple explanation: Landslide/quake)

- Kynesgrove is pretty much a straight line from Windhelm versus on a big hill. (Simple explanation: Town was destroyed at some point but then rebuilt somewhere else)

- No Yngol Barrow to be found (Simple explanation: I got nothing, swing and a miss ZOS. Even if it was just a landmark you discovered, that'd be fine)

Just basically run around The Rift and Eastmarch in Skyrim and then do it in this game and you'll be like "what the *&^%"

Also what's up with the interiors of some places being completely different.

If you played Arena and then Skrim you would be like ''WTF happened to Skyrim!?''. The provinces change for each game, it's far from the first time this happens and hardly the last. If there is one game in this franchise that could be even remotely considered ''Non-Canon'' It would either be Arena or every single other game in the series as Arena completely and fundamentaly destroys the now established lore. For Skyrim in ESO they had to make Eastmarch and The Rift MUCH bigger than they were in Skyrim, otherwise those zones would be tiny. They also had to add locations so that the zones would just be an empty boring landscape because, to be honest, those holds were probably the most boring ones in Skyrim. I can describe Eastmarch and The Rift in Skyrim with one word each: Snow and Birch. In Skyrim it worked, because they were only two small holds out of nine, but in ESO they needed to be more than that. One would think that a Dragon Priest such as yourself would realise that, Skyrim is very different now from what it was in your time, is it not so?

Ahrk fin Kel lost prodah, do ved viing ko fin krah, tol fod zeymah win kein meyz fundein.
Alduin, feyn do jun, kruziik vokun staadnau, voth aan bahlok wah diivon fin lein.

(Sorry for my bad spelling.)

Very true however I am not stating that the places like Fallowstone Hall shouldn't have been in ESO, they should have just been in different places to line things up a bit more. And yes, Skyrim had a ton of empty space however the one space they decide to put a huge Companion Hall is, somehow, in a few thousand years a mountain. (landslide maybe? idk, doesn't matter)

And yes things were missing from Arena to Skyrim, mainly the small towns that were scattered about but thank Alduin for MODs. Some great modders added those towns which made it better for me. Skyrim also missed out on explaining the Nords pantheon, instead they went the lazy route and made them Imperialized... (boring)

I actually think the holds were bigger in Skyrim however maybe I am wrong. The overall look of Windhelm was a miss in my opinion but that's okay. Basically what I am saying is that between now and the Fourth Era Windhelm, in order to look as it did in Skyrim, had to have burned down to the ground and be rebuilt again (completely possible) however the Nords decided to use materials that were used in the Meretic Era vs what was available in whatever era it burned down?? What? Do you tear down a great skyscraper and in it's place lay out a log cabin?

In my opinion you can explain away just about every miss in this game except for a few: Yngol Barrow being missing, word walls at Forelhost, Bonestrewn Crest and Lost Tongue Overlook missing, the lore behind how Forelhost had two dragon priest masters (Vosis and Rahgot. Maybe Vosis died during the war and Rahgot got crowned... I don't know), interiors of ruins being completely different, lack of children... anywhere. I understand most of these are cosmetic and trivial (they don't keep me from playing, I usually just shake my head and laugh... then move on) but it hurts immersion a tad. Maybe not so important in an MMORPG however.

At the end of the day it's a game and all of this is trivial... still worth mentioning though.

I guess that's true and it is trivial, but doesen't that just make it all the more fun? Each game takes some freedom with the lore, somerimes it's for the better, sometimes it's for the worse, but in the end it rarely actually matters. In Skyrim they removed or replaced almost all the towns in Arena, and even some major settlements, like Dunpar and Snowhawk.

Ps. Bonestrewn Crest is in ESO, just to nitpick.

Darkstorne · October 2015

Yep, geography is way off in this game, but then it's an MMO so had to many make alterations to both the maps and the gameplay to make it (kind of) work. Definitely no sense trying to create "lore" explanations for the changes. Mountains form over millions of years, not hundreds. Us TES fans just have to look past some of these faults to glean what enjoyment we can.

My favourite fan theory is that we're playing through an exaggerated fictional story written in Tamriel, dramatizing past wars to pretend three factions emerged from nine races for a more engaging and balanced conflict, when we all know that's guar****. Argonians and Dunmer? Haha! Okay...

Casdha · October 2015

I've said it once I've said it a thousand times

Height map differences - Dark anchors changed the topography ( heck cloud ruler temple is floating in this game)

Sea to Sea the map is the same, it is the borders that have changed, cities do tend to move over a millennia or two as well.

Never understood the hang up on this stuff when you can see real life examples to some of it over thousands of years.

I wish I still had my comparison pics I made back in beta when folks talked about this. All of the ones on UESPWiki are taken from different angles and don't show you how close the outside of the structures are when you compare Oblivion to ESO.

Edit: at least for structures that were suppose to be standing since before either game like Ayleid Ruins

OtarTheMad · October 2015

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

elias.stormneb18_ESO wrote: »

OtarTheMad wrote: »

A lot of things are off about the map that I noticed.

- Fallowstone Hall is in an odd location because in Skyrim there is a mountain/rocky hills there. No room for the Hall or any of other things. (Simple explanation: Landslide/quake)

- Kynesgrove is pretty much a straight line from Windhelm versus on a big hill. (Simple explanation: Town was destroyed at some point but then rebuilt somewhere else)

- No Yngol Barrow to be found (Simple explanation: I got nothing, swing and a miss ZOS. Even if it was just a landmark you discovered, that'd be fine)

Just basically run around The Rift and Eastmarch in Skyrim and then do it in this game and you'll be like "what the *&^%"

Also what's up with the interiors of some places being completely different.

If you played Arena and then Skrim you would be like ''WTF happened to Skyrim!?''. The provinces change for each game, it's far from the first time this happens and hardly the last. If there is one game in this franchise that could be even remotely considered ''Non-Canon'' It would either be Arena or every single other game in the series as Arena completely and fundamentaly destroys the now established lore. For Skyrim in ESO they had to make Eastmarch and The Rift MUCH bigger than they were in Skyrim, otherwise those zones would be tiny. They also had to add locations so that the zones would just be an empty boring landscape because, to be honest, those holds were probably the most boring ones in Skyrim. I can describe Eastmarch and The Rift in Skyrim with one word each: Snow and Birch. In Skyrim it worked, because they were only two small holds out of nine, but in ESO they needed to be more than that. One would think that a Dragon Priest such as yourself would realise that, Skyrim is very different now from what it was in your time, is it not so?

Ahrk fin Kel lost prodah, do ved viing ko fin krah, tol fod zeymah win kein meyz fundein.
Alduin, feyn do jun, kruziik vokun staadnau, voth aan bahlok wah diivon fin lein.

(Sorry for my bad spelling.)

Very true however I am not stating that the places like Fallowstone Hall shouldn't have been in ESO, they should have just been in different places to line things up a bit more. And yes, Skyrim had a ton of empty space however the one space they decide to put a huge Companion Hall is, somehow, in a few thousand years a mountain. (landslide maybe? idk, doesn't matter)

And yes things were missing from Arena to Skyrim, mainly the small towns that were scattered about but thank Alduin for MODs. Some great modders added those towns which made it better for me. Skyrim also missed out on explaining the Nords pantheon, instead they went the lazy route and made them Imperialized... (boring)

I actually think the holds were bigger in Skyrim however maybe I am wrong. The overall look of Windhelm was a miss in my opinion but that's okay. Basically what I am saying is that between now and the Fourth Era Windhelm, in order to look as it did in Skyrim, had to have burned down to the ground and be rebuilt again (completely possible) however the Nords decided to use materials that were used in the Meretic Era vs what was available in whatever era it burned down?? What? Do you tear down a great skyscraper and in it's place lay out a log cabin?

In my opinion you can explain away just about every miss in this game except for a few: Yngol Barrow being missing, word walls at Forelhost, Bonestrewn Crest and Lost Tongue Overlook missing, the lore behind how Forelhost had two dragon priest masters (Vosis and Rahgot. Maybe Vosis died during the war and Rahgot got crowned... I don't know), interiors of ruins being completely different, lack of children... anywhere. I understand most of these are cosmetic and trivial (they don't keep me from playing, I usually just shake my head and laugh... then move on) but it hurts immersion a tad. Maybe not so important in an MMORPG however.

At the end of the day it's a game and all of this is trivial... still worth mentioning though.

I guess that's true and it is trivial, but doesen't that just make it all the more fun? Each game takes some freedom with the lore, somerimes it's for the better, sometimes it's for the worse, but in the end it rarely actually matters. In Skyrim they removed or replaced almost all the towns in Arena, and even some major settlements, like Dunpar and Snowhawk.

Ps. Bonestrewn Crest is in ESO, just to nitpick.

Yes Bonestrewn Crest is but the Word Wall isn't. I can understand them wanting to distance themselves from the Skyrim game but adding these small things would be awesome.

dodgehopper_ESO · October 2015

I'm sure the maps are inaccurate to a bit, but you should consider the fact that all the game maps were meant as approximations of Tamriel. It just needs to be Tamriel-like enough to do the job each game is trying to do. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about it, and I'm sure if they add the new cities to the game they'll find a way to cram it all in.

CrazedAssassin · October 2015

The city of Windhelm didn't move a bit. It moved A LOT. Enough to wipe another city off the map.
As for cities moving over time....They are just starting to rebuild Windhelm now after the attack. ESO bragging about accurate the city looks. It is the oldest constantly inhabited Human settled city in Tamriel.

purple-magicb16_ESO · December 2015

Wrothgar is persisting this inaccuracy. Take a look at Friendship and Merchant Gates and where they go. They don't line up with the map of Tamriel. It would be interesting to see TESOTU publish a full (showing everything) map. I'm only noticing how bad it is now b/c I'm doing Wrothgar Relic Hunter and one item is the long lost Map of Orc Clan Strongholds. Doing my due dilligence wrt research (I don't like "Googling" for my answers, sorry kids I'm old school), Orsimer House of Glories archives says that the last known location was in transit via courier from a Breton Museum (from the south right?) enroute to King Kurog at Orsinium. I then checked several maps and got very confused. Help me Google, your my only hope!

Edit: most maps of Tamriel can't even agree where to put the Wrothgar Mountains.

Prarion · May 2016

I donno if this is covered under border changes.

But in Oblivion there is definitely a west coast, with it's own lighthouse and ever, and now it's landlocked. Even border wise, I don't think Cyrodil was that big, or Tamril is that small.

I don't think all the cities are accounted for either, are they? Wasn't Bravil just under Oblivion. There was more water than what's seen in ESO. I donno, maybe easier to design land rather than water. But it feels like a major continuity issue.

Gidorick · May 2016

Prarion wrote: »

I donno if this is covered under border changes.

But in Oblivion there is definitely a west coast, with it's own lighthouse and ever, and now it's landlocked. Even border wise, I don't think Cyrodil was that big, or Tamril is that small.

I don't think all the cities are accounted for either, are they? Wasn't Bravil just under Oblivion. There was more water than what's seen in ESO. I donno, maybe easier to design land rather than water. But it feels like a major continuity issue.

It's because we are REALLY in Lyg and not Tamriel.

Pirsius · May 2016

I think everything is mostly correct

Firstly, Kvatch and Anvil are correctly placed. There is a river that separates Cryodiil and Valenwood. The Gold Coast (Anvil/Kvatch) is north of that river, Malabal Tor is south of it.

Also, as far as Leyawiin is concerned, there is a enormous amount of land east of Reaper's March. The farthest east we go into Elsweyr is the city of Dune, which is near the country's western border. Also, the Eastern Elsweyr Gate in the Dominion area of Cryodill is right next to Bravil. If you want a guage of where Leyawiin is, draw a line from Bravil straight down and a line from Elden Root going east, where they meet is roughly where Leyawiin is.

The entire continent is downsized to help with walking distance. I especially see the scaling when it comes to rivers which are thinner, especially those in Cyrodiil. But from a geographical standpoint, ZOS is keeping up with were locations are meant to be.

This site help with mapping: http://esomap.uesp.net/

Lysette · May 2016

UTG_Zilla wrote: »

Big_Boss_77 wrote: »

If you look at old satellite photos through today, you'll notice that towns (especially smaller towns) tend to creep around a little bit. Over the course of the ages, is it not possible that Town X was sacked/burned/pillaged/plundered so the remaining residents said "Hey, let's move down the hill aways... I always hated walking up here into the mountains" or something? My chronology of the exact amount of time between Molag Bal's incursion and Mehrunes Dagon's is rusty to say the least, but I believe it's a substantial number of years apart.

I think someone made a thread on here about the time line between games and it's like 700-800 years between eso and oblivion. And yea people move hills but whole mountains? And not just a small amount, like entire acres of straight mountain. According to where riften is and where northern mountain range ends in northern cyrodil leaves almost no room to remove that much mountain for Bruma and still have the mountain range as wide as represented in past games

Bruma was actually quite high up in the pre-mountainous area of the Jerall mountains in Oblivion, even higher than the orange road, between Bruma and Chorrol, which is as well high up and offers beautiful views to the south. Bruma is so high up, that the climate there is cold and frosty, whereas the orange road has still a quite lush and snow-free scenery.

notimetocare · May 2016

Bruma is an interesting one, you can notice ingame the city is small and mostly destroyed. Who is to say the city is not refounded north?