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.

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.

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

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).

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!

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.

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.

The Psijic Order, and the concept of CHIM.

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

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

Breton Nightblades.

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