Ratzkifal wrote: »

A good loremaster's archive, but I got a bit of a nitpick.

Some elders within the house claim that their observances predate the Battle of Red Mountain, and in fact are a pure distillation of Chimeric ancestor worship with only slight adaptations for this modern era.

Boy. My man Divayth, you were there. You predate the Battle of Red Mountain. I'm sure you could have given a better answer than "some scholars believe that..." You are a living record of the entirety of the Dunmer history since that time. Sure, you aren't an expert on funerary rites but in your time I am sure you've seen your fair share of funerals, being that old and outliving most other mortals and all that.
So, mister ex-Chimer Divayth Fyr, is this actually the case or is it not (according to your observations)?

It would have been interesting to get his unique perspective on the matter rather than just a second-hand account of someone less qualified to talk about it than him.

VaranisArano wrote: »

Divayth Fyr: "Shalidor, I've come to collect those favors."

Shalidor *hides behind the Vestige* "Say, you got me out of that deal with Sheogorath...help me?"

In reviewing the submitted questions, this issue of geography and politics seemed paramount in importance. It arose in several questions, in various ways. Let’s deal with this directly.

Maps are tools. Nothing more. Nothing less. Standing in the Ashlands, a wayfinding map is a tool of survival. Able to assist you in finding your way to safety. Similarly, a ship’s map may aid a sailor in finding a calm harbor far from home.

But political maps? Maps that claim to represent the truth of land claimed by force of blade and spell? These maps aren’t tools for the reader. They’re tools for the mapmakers.

They speak of great strength when perhaps none exists. They speak of boundaries and borders that may exist only in the minds of people burdened by over-heavy crowns. To offer a contemporary example, have you ever seen a map of “the front” in the war between the three alliances? Do you believe that map was accurate for more than a day? At most? And, as always, remember that every written thing you read is subjective. Even the words of Divath Fyr.

This is all context. With that in place, the historian’s question is easily answered. The Great Houses have skirmished to claim the length and breadth of the peninsula in the same way they have warred for control of Vvardenfell, or Stonefalls, or Deshaan. Any maps that claim to fully represent political control of a region as heavily contested as Morrowind are guidelines at best. Even today, as the Three Banners war rages, my people continue their great game of strike and counterstrike. Gloved hands grip gilded blades, as the strong vie to rule the weak.

All that said, I would be remiss in not issuing a firm and clear warning. Anyone claiming that the great House Telvanni is not master of its domain is sorely mistaken. It is called “the Telvanni Peninsula,” for the house controls the whole of the territory from its base to its tip, crowned by the island palace of Port Telvannis beyond. The city of Necrom, of course, is a somewhat complicated subject which I will address anon.

But if you have reason to fear the great house, do not sail for Firewatch. Stay far from Gorne. House Telvanni’s rule within these borders is undisputed. And its reach, its power, its vengeance is a terrible thing to behold.

APGaming wrote: »

In reviewing the submitted questions, this issue of geography and politics seemed paramount in importance. It arose in several questions, in various ways. Let’s deal with this directly.

Maps are tools. Nothing more. Nothing less. Standing in the Ashlands, a wayfinding map is a tool of survival. Able to assist you in finding your way to safety. Similarly, a ship’s map may aid a sailor in finding a calm harbor far from home.

But political maps? Maps that claim to represent the truth of land claimed by force of blade and spell? These maps aren’t tools for the reader. They’re tools for the mapmakers.

They speak of great strength when perhaps none exists. They speak of boundaries and borders that may exist only in the minds of people burdened by over-heavy crowns. To offer a contemporary example, have you ever seen a map of “the front” in the war between the three alliances? Do you believe that map was accurate for more than a day? At most? And, as always, remember that every written thing you read is subjective. Even the words of Divath Fyr.

This is all context. With that in place, the historian’s question is easily answered. The Great Houses have skirmished to claim the length and breadth of the peninsula in the same way they have warred for control of Vvardenfell, or Stonefalls, or Deshaan. Any maps that claim to fully represent political control of a region as heavily contested as Morrowind are guidelines at best. Even today, as the Three Banners war rages, my people continue their great game of strike and counterstrike. Gloved hands grip gilded blades, as the strong vie to rule the weak.

All that said, I would be remiss in not issuing a firm and clear warning. Anyone claiming that the great House Telvanni is not master of its domain is sorely mistaken. It is called “the Telvanni Peninsula,” for the house controls the whole of the territory from its base to its tip, crowned by the island palace of Port Telvannis beyond. The city of Necrom, of course, is a somewhat complicated subject which I will address anon.

But if you have reason to fear the great house, do not sail for Firewatch. Stay far from Gorne. House Telvanni’s rule within these borders is undisputed. And its reach, its power, its vengeance is a terrible thing to behold.

I already know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask it anyways:

Does the zone included in the Necrom expansion include everything all the way from the northern tip near Firewatch down to the border gates with Deshaan?

The answer is no, according to the global reveal map. Therefore, this new zone cannot be referred to as the Telvanni Peninsula because it is not all of the Telvanni Peninsula. Unless ZOS does an Upper Craglorn style zone expansion for free (they won't) we are being sold an incomplete landmass. What will they call the zone north of this one when the time comes to add it? Can't call it the Telvanni Peninsula, that's apparently already taken. We need clarification from ZOS as to what exactly the boundaries of the zone are and what the in-game name will be. I will not be pre-ordering until I know what I'm buying. If the entire Telvanni Peninsula is being marketed to us, when it's not actually the whole thing that's false advertising. The same thing happened when they tried to call Northern Elsweyr "Elsweyr" and they had to rename it on the map screen to rectify this and avoid false advertising.

This is an important issue you cannot ignore.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Bill @ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_Kevin

Araneae6537 wrote: »

APGaming wrote: »

In reviewing the submitted questions, this issue of geography and politics seemed paramount in importance. It arose in several questions, in various ways. Let’s deal with this directly.

Maps are tools. Nothing more. Nothing less. Standing in the Ashlands, a wayfinding map is a tool of survival. Able to assist you in finding your way to safety. Similarly, a ship’s map may aid a sailor in finding a calm harbor far from home.

But political maps? Maps that claim to represent the truth of land claimed by force of blade and spell? These maps aren’t tools for the reader. They’re tools for the mapmakers.

They speak of great strength when perhaps none exists. They speak of boundaries and borders that may exist only in the minds of people burdened by over-heavy crowns. To offer a contemporary example, have you ever seen a map of “the front” in the war between the three alliances? Do you believe that map was accurate for more than a day? At most? And, as always, remember that every written thing you read is subjective. Even the words of Divath Fyr.

This is all context. With that in place, the historian’s question is easily answered. The Great Houses have skirmished to claim the length and breadth of the peninsula in the same way they have warred for control of Vvardenfell, or Stonefalls, or Deshaan. Any maps that claim to fully represent political control of a region as heavily contested as Morrowind are guidelines at best. Even today, as the Three Banners war rages, my people continue their great game of strike and counterstrike. Gloved hands grip gilded blades, as the strong vie to rule the weak.

All that said, I would be remiss in not issuing a firm and clear warning. Anyone claiming that the great House Telvanni is not master of its domain is sorely mistaken. It is called “the Telvanni Peninsula,” for the house controls the whole of the territory from its base to its tip, crowned by the island palace of Port Telvannis beyond. The city of Necrom, of course, is a somewhat complicated subject which I will address anon.

But if you have reason to fear the great house, do not sail for Firewatch. Stay far from Gorne. House Telvanni’s rule within these borders is undisputed. And its reach, its power, its vengeance is a terrible thing to behold.

I already know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask it anyways:

Does the zone included in the Necrom expansion include everything all the way from the northern tip near Firewatch down to the border gates with Deshaan?

The answer is no, according to the global reveal map. Therefore, this new zone cannot be referred to as the Telvanni Peninsula because it is not all of the Telvanni Peninsula. Unless ZOS does an Upper Craglorn style zone expansion for free (they won't) we are being sold an incomplete landmass. What will they call the zone north of this one when the time comes to add it? Can't call it the Telvanni Peninsula, that's apparently already taken. We need clarification from ZOS as to what exactly the boundaries of the zone are and what the in-game name will be. I will not be pre-ordering until I know what I'm buying. If the entire Telvanni Peninsula is being marketed to us, when it's not actually the whole thing that's false advertising. The same thing happened when they tried to call Northern Elsweyr "Elsweyr" and they had to rename it on the map screen to rectify this and avoid false advertising.

This is an important issue you cannot ignore.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Bill @ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_Kevin

How is this a huge deal? It’s part of the Telvanni peninsula so it’s valid to call it that. If it was advertised that players would get to explore the entirety of the Telvanni peninsula, then I would agree that is false advertising, but that hasn’t been the case and indeed, the chapter is Necrom. I’d love to see more of the Telvanni peninsula eventually too; if that day comes then they can rename the zones if needed to northern and southern, upper and lower, or whatever makes sense.

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

APGaming wrote: »

In reviewing the submitted questions, this issue of geography and politics seemed paramount in importance. It arose in several questions, in various ways. Let’s deal with this directly.

Maps are tools. Nothing more. Nothing less. Standing in the Ashlands, a wayfinding map is a tool of survival. Able to assist you in finding your way to safety. Similarly, a ship’s map may aid a sailor in finding a calm harbor far from home.

But political maps? Maps that claim to represent the truth of land claimed by force of blade and spell? These maps aren’t tools for the reader. They’re tools for the mapmakers.

They speak of great strength when perhaps none exists. They speak of boundaries and borders that may exist only in the minds of people burdened by over-heavy crowns. To offer a contemporary example, have you ever seen a map of “the front” in the war between the three alliances? Do you believe that map was accurate for more than a day? At most? And, as always, remember that every written thing you read is subjective. Even the words of Divath Fyr.

This is all context. With that in place, the historian’s question is easily answered. The Great Houses have skirmished to claim the length and breadth of the peninsula in the same way they have warred for control of Vvardenfell, or Stonefalls, or Deshaan. Any maps that claim to fully represent political control of a region as heavily contested as Morrowind are guidelines at best. Even today, as the Three Banners war rages, my people continue their great game of strike and counterstrike. Gloved hands grip gilded blades, as the strong vie to rule the weak.

All that said, I would be remiss in not issuing a firm and clear warning. Anyone claiming that the great House Telvanni is not master of its domain is sorely mistaken. It is called “the Telvanni Peninsula,” for the house controls the whole of the territory from its base to its tip, crowned by the island palace of Port Telvannis beyond. The city of Necrom, of course, is a somewhat complicated subject which I will address anon.

But if you have reason to fear the great house, do not sail for Firewatch. Stay far from Gorne. House Telvanni’s rule within these borders is undisputed. And its reach, its power, its vengeance is a terrible thing to behold.

I already know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask it anyways:

Does the zone included in the Necrom expansion include everything all the way from the northern tip near Firewatch down to the border gates with Deshaan?

The answer is no, according to the global reveal map. Therefore, this new zone cannot be referred to as the Telvanni Peninsula because it is not all of the Telvanni Peninsula. Unless ZOS does an Upper Craglorn style zone expansion for free (they won't) we are being sold an incomplete landmass. What will they call the zone north of this one when the time comes to add it? Can't call it the Telvanni Peninsula, that's apparently already taken. We need clarification from ZOS as to what exactly the boundaries of the zone are and what the in-game name will be. I will not be pre-ordering until I know what I'm buying. If the entire Telvanni Peninsula is being marketed to us, when it's not actually the whole thing that's false advertising. The same thing happened when they tried to call Northern Elsweyr "Elsweyr" and they had to rename it on the map screen to rectify this and avoid false advertising.

This is an important issue you cannot ignore.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Bill @ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_Kevin

How is this a huge deal? It’s part of the Telvanni peninsula so it’s valid to call it that. If it was advertised that players would get to explore the entirety of the Telvanni peninsula, then I would agree that is false advertising, but that hasn’t been the case and indeed, the chapter is Necrom. I’d love to see more of the Telvanni peninsula eventually too; if that day comes then they can rename the zones if needed to northern and southern, upper and lower, or whatever makes sense.

Well, imagine how worked up people would get if they made a new "Skyrim" chapter. But, its only the western-most sliver and the vast majority of the zone is in High Rock.

That might not be important to you, that's fine.

But a lot of people familiar with the lore would be asking what the hell gives??

And yes, they can say whatever they want, in essence. There's a collective knowledge about the world that the largest part of their market is going to expect. In that instance, they wouldn't do it, because they know people care. So what's the difference? People still care.

You'd want to have some massive and intriguing narrative pay-off in order to do it, built into the story and the world for people to explore, and it would still be controversial.

But, what's more likely here? It has some fantastic narrative reason to rock the boat? Or its purely marketing.

They've made mistakes before. "Falkreath Hold" isn't Falkreath Hold/ Its factually wrong. Greymoor seems to have been clumsily named after a place that already existed, miles away.

If people didn't give a crap about the details, TES would not be the great franchise it is. But it is. People DO care about the details, and they want ZOS to care, too.

APGaming wrote: »

It's literally just a naming issue and unless we make a big deal out of it now, they're not gonna fix it down the line.

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

APGaming wrote: »

In reviewing the submitted questions, this issue of geography and politics seemed paramount in importance. It arose in several questions, in various ways. Let’s deal with this directly.

Maps are tools. Nothing more. Nothing less. Standing in the Ashlands, a wayfinding map is a tool of survival. Able to assist you in finding your way to safety. Similarly, a ship’s map may aid a sailor in finding a calm harbor far from home.

But political maps? Maps that claim to represent the truth of land claimed by force of blade and spell? These maps aren’t tools for the reader. They’re tools for the mapmakers.

They speak of great strength when perhaps none exists. They speak of boundaries and borders that may exist only in the minds of people burdened by over-heavy crowns. To offer a contemporary example, have you ever seen a map of “the front” in the war between the three alliances? Do you believe that map was accurate for more than a day? At most? And, as always, remember that every written thing you read is subjective. Even the words of Divath Fyr.

This is all context. With that in place, the historian’s question is easily answered. The Great Houses have skirmished to claim the length and breadth of the peninsula in the same way they have warred for control of Vvardenfell, or Stonefalls, or Deshaan. Any maps that claim to fully represent political control of a region as heavily contested as Morrowind are guidelines at best. Even today, as the Three Banners war rages, my people continue their great game of strike and counterstrike. Gloved hands grip gilded blades, as the strong vie to rule the weak.

All that said, I would be remiss in not issuing a firm and clear warning. Anyone claiming that the great House Telvanni is not master of its domain is sorely mistaken. It is called “the Telvanni Peninsula,” for the house controls the whole of the territory from its base to its tip, crowned by the island palace of Port Telvannis beyond. The city of Necrom, of course, is a somewhat complicated subject which I will address anon.

But if you have reason to fear the great house, do not sail for Firewatch. Stay far from Gorne. House Telvanni’s rule within these borders is undisputed. And its reach, its power, its vengeance is a terrible thing to behold.

I already know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask it anyways:

Does the zone included in the Necrom expansion include everything all the way from the northern tip near Firewatch down to the border gates with Deshaan?

The answer is no, according to the global reveal map. Therefore, this new zone cannot be referred to as the Telvanni Peninsula because it is not all of the Telvanni Peninsula. Unless ZOS does an Upper Craglorn style zone expansion for free (they won't) we are being sold an incomplete landmass. What will they call the zone north of this one when the time comes to add it? Can't call it the Telvanni Peninsula, that's apparently already taken. We need clarification from ZOS as to what exactly the boundaries of the zone are and what the in-game name will be. I will not be pre-ordering until I know what I'm buying. If the entire Telvanni Peninsula is being marketed to us, when it's not actually the whole thing that's false advertising. The same thing happened when they tried to call Northern Elsweyr "Elsweyr" and they had to rename it on the map screen to rectify this and avoid false advertising.

This is an important issue you cannot ignore.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Bill @ZOS_RichLambert @ZOS_Kevin

How is this a huge deal? It’s part of the Telvanni peninsula so it’s valid to call it that. If it was advertised that players would get to explore the entirety of the Telvanni peninsula, then I would agree that is false advertising, but that hasn’t been the case and indeed, the chapter is Necrom. I’d love to see more of the Telvanni peninsula eventually too; if that day comes then they can rename the zones if needed to northern and southern, upper and lower, or whatever makes sense.

Well, imagine how worked up people would get if they made a new "Skyrim" chapter. But, its only the western-most sliver and the vast majority of the zone is in High Rock.

That might not be important to you, that's fine.

But a lot of people familiar with the lore would be asking what the hell gives??

And yes, they can say whatever they want, in essence. There's a collective knowledge about the world that the largest part of their market is going to expect. In that instance, they wouldn't do it, because they know people care. So what's the difference? People still care.

You'd want to have some massive and intriguing narrative pay-off in order to do it, built into the story and the world for people to explore, and it would still be controversial.

But, what's more likely here? It has some fantastic narrative reason to rock the boat? Or its purely marketing.

They've made mistakes before. "Falkreath Hold" isn't Falkreath Hold/ Its factually wrong. Greymoor seems to have been clumsily named after a place that already existed, miles away.

If people didn't give a crap about the details, TES would not be the great franchise it is. But it is. People DO care about the details, and they want ZOS to care, too.

That’s true. I didn’t mean to imply I don’t care about the details, especially where Morrowind is concerned. I just hadn’t hadn’t thought it contradictory, even as TES III itself was called Morrowind but was in fact the island of Vvardenfell, so I thought this was a similar situation. Otherwise, I’m not sure what the region should be called that would not be completely unwieldy.

I certainly hope that the lore regarding the city and Dunmer cultures, and the writing of the story and characters are well done.

No worries! TES geography is an aspect I'm particularly passionate about . Tamriel is the main character, as Mr. Howard once said. Every part tells a story. My characters are all inspired by some intriguing place, and if I didn't feel like they cared about detail, I wouldn't have anything to engage me- making characters and stories supported by a world that is cohesive and coherent, and is true to the lore we know. At the end of the day they have to produce and deliver a game that's fun to play, I just hope that decisions are not based on carelessness, or thinking detail is expendable. I'm aware that that level of passion might alienate me a bit, buuuuut I think plenty of people feel the same, and RPGs are about immersion, and MMOs are about investment.

I am optimistic about Necrom chapter, though. If the writing in the LM Archive is anything to go by, I think the chapter will be fantastic. The city looks awesome, and I'm really pumped for June!