The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls series logo
Genres	Action role-playing, Open world
Developers	Bethesda Game Studios ZeniMax Online Studios Vir2L Studios
Publishers	Bethesda Softworks
Platforms	MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
First release	The Elder Scrolls: Arena 1994
Latest release	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim November 11, 2011
Official website	http://www.elderscrolls.com/

The Elder Scrolls (abbreviated as TES) is an action role-playing open world video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.

History[link]

The Elder Scrolls: Arena was released in 1994 for DOS PC systems. The game was intended for players to assume the role of an arena combatant, but development shifted the game into a role-playing game (RPG).^[1] This game began the tradition based on the principle of "[being] who you want and [doing] what you want"^[1] that persists throughout the series' history.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was published in 1996. Fueled by the modest success of The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was even more ambitious than its predecessor. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall featured one of the first true 3D worlds on a large scale, a game world claimed to be twice the size of Great Britain.^[2] Glitches were experienced commonly by players.^[3] Joe Blancato described the game as "notoriously buggy".^[3] Despite Daggerfall's commercial success, the game critic remarked, "the game still bears the mark of bad code".^[3]

Following the release of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Bethesda Softworks ceased development of the numbered title of the series until 2002 to develop in the interim An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, which were released in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Both games had a smaller focus than the numbered series titles: An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire limited itself to dungeon-romping and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was a linear third-person action-adventure game.

The release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in 2002 saw a return to the old-style expansive and non-linear gameplay, and a shift towards individually-detailed landscapes and items, with a smaller game-world than past titles. It was developed simultaneously for PC and Microsoft's Xbox console. The game achieved commercial success, and sold over four million units by mid-2005.^[4] Two expansions were released between late 2002 and early 2003: The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal and The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon. A Game of the Year Edition encompassing the original game plus both expansions packs, as well as the latest patch and modding tools was released later.

Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion began in 2002, and focused on artificial intelligence improvements that interact dynamically with the game-world, proprietary "radiant AI" (a way to randomize aspects of the game so that it would not be the same experience in another playthrough), implementation of Havok (physics) engine, and improved graphics. The game was released on PC and Xbox 360 in early 2006, and for PlayStation 3 in early 2007. Bethesda Softworks released one content collection and expansion pack in late 2006 and early 2007: The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine and The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, respectively. A Game of the Year Edition was later released, featuring the original game, plus all expansion packs and updates for all three platforms, with the PC version getting exclusive mod tools and other bonuses.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was announced on December 11, 2010, at the Spike Video Game Awards 2010.^[5] The game is not a direct sequel to its predecessor, Oblivion, but instead takes place 200 years later, in the land called Skyrim, in Tamriel. Skyrim also makes use of an updated graphics engine.^[6][7][8] It was released on November 11, 2011 to critical acclaim. Skyrim received Spike's Game of the Year award and IGN's Xbox 360 and PC Game of the Year Awards for 2011.^[9][10]

On May 3rd, 2012, The Elder Scrolls Online was revealed, to be released for PC and Mac in 2013.

Game mechanics[link]

The Elder Scrolls games can be safely categorized as role-playing games (RPG), although they do include elements taken from action and adventure games. In Arena, as in many RPGs, players advance by killing monsters (and thereby gaining experience points) until a preset value is met, whereupon they level-up. However, in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion the series took a skill-based approach to character advancement. Players develop their characters' skills by applying them, and only level-up when a certain set of skills have been developed. Skyrim took a new approach, where the more a skill is leveled, the more it helps to level the character. This shifted the focus away from character creation and more onto character development. The flexibility of the games' engines has facilitated the release of game extensions (or mods) through The Elder Scrolls Construction Set.

The Elder Scrolls main series of games emphasizes different aspects of the gaming experience than most computer role-playing games. A brief article by Joystiq in early November 2006 compared BioWare's creations to Bethesda's by noting a difference in emphasis. Bethesda's creations focused on "aesthetic presentation and open-ended adventuring"; BioWare's on a combat system and modular architecture.^[11] This overarching aim has been noted by their designers as well. Bethesda has described their motivations in creating the first series game, Arena, as those of any good pen-and-paper RPG: creating an environment in which the player could be what the player wants and do what the player wants.^[12] Daggerfall's manual begins with a sort of design manifesto, declaring the developers' intention to "create a book with blank pages", and "a game designed to encourage exploration and reward curiosity". Choices, in the form of paths taken by the player, to do good, to chase after evil, are left open to the player, "just like in real life".^[13] This design trend continued with Morrowind, following the hiatus of similarly epic games in the interim, though Joystiq's previously noted insistence on graphics came again to the fore. During the development of Morrowind, Bethesda tripled its staff, so as to perfectly color its newly hand-made world. In their own words, "We knew we had to exceed the visual polish of the other games on the market, and we made it our goal to put The Elder Scrolls back into the forefront of game innovation."^[14]

Setting[link]

The world of The Elder Scrolls is known by fans and critics for its attention to detail, attempted realism, and the vast number of names, dates, and places that constitute its history and the interconnected structure of its various societies, cultures, and religions. There is no one compilation of all information pertaining to the Elder Scrolls world, and, within the games, historical references are often vague or even contradictory, as players are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about situations and events.

The Elder Scrolls games take place on the fantasy world of Nirn, on the continent of Tamriel, a large landmass divided into nine provinces. The exceptions are The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire, and parts of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which take place between the realm of Oblivion (one of several alternate dimensions ruled by immortal god-like beings known as Daedric Princes) and the mortal realm of Mundus. There are other continents besides Tamriel on Nirn (such as Akavir or Yokuda),^[15] but there has yet to be an official game that takes place upon one of them.

Tamriel itself is an empire divided into nine provinces, each with its own native race. Those provinces are as follows: Cyrodiil, Morrowind, High Rock, the Summerset Isles, Hammerfell, Black Marsh, Skyrim, Valenwood, and Elsweyr. The native races of the provinces are as follows: Imperials in Cyrodiil, Dunmer (also known as Dark Elves) in Morrowind, Bretons and Orsimer (also known as Orcs) in High Rock, Altmer (also known as High Elves) in the Summerset Isles, Redguards in Hammerfell, Argonians in Black Marsh, Nords in Skyrim, Bosmer (also known as Wood Elves) in Valenwood, and Khajiit in Elsweyr.^[16] The emperor resides in the capital province of Cyrodiil. The ruling dynasty throughout the Third Era consisted entirely of the descendants of Tiber Septim. His line, frequently called the Septim Bloodline, ended at the conclusion of the Third Era, with the death of Martin Septim, the last living heir of Uriel Septim, during a failed invasion of Cyrodill by the forces of Oblivion.

Several years after the Oblivion Crisis, a Colovian warlord named Titus Mede assumed the throne of the Empire, reigning through at least the first forty years of the Fourth Era.^[17] During the Fourth Era, the Empire declines in power, leading to the secession of the provinces of Elsweyr, Black Marsh, Valenwood, and the Summerset Isles. The provinces of the Summerset Isles and Valenwood, home to the Altmer and Bosmer, respectively, create the Aldmeri Dominion, an Elven empire whose influence quickly eclipses the Old Empire, who faces another separatist movement in the province of Skyrim.

Elder Scrolls[link]

The actual Elder Scrolls play a very limited role in the storyline of the series, serving only as framing plot device (i.e., "[the events in this game] were foretold in the Elder Scrolls..."). The Elder Scrolls themselves are rarely referred to in-game, or even in the in-game literature. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion marked the first actual appearance of the scrolls, as a MacGuffin in the final quest of the Thieves Guild questline.^[18] The scroll itself appears as an incomprehensible chart, containing luminous glyphs.^[18]

Information about The Elder Scrolls is sparse, and often contradictory. They are thought to be relics from the Aedra (legendary beings similar to Daedra that sacrificed their immortality to create the world). Attempting to read the scrolls also proves contemptuous as the scrolls are protected by several layers of magical safeguards, this includes the blinding light that emanates from the scroll's text. Another safeguard exists independent of the light that makes the writing on the scrolls indecipherable. However, there exist a sect of monks, the Order of the Ancestor Moths, who devote their lives to the reading and interpreting of the Elder Scrolls.^[18] Bypassing the scrolls' safeguards, however, takes a huge toll on the monks' vision. Senior members who read the scrolls wear blindfolds at all times when they are not divining the scrolls' content and retired Moth Priests are always completely blind. Attempting to read the Elder Scrolls without training always results in failure and immediate blindness. However, cosmically-important individuals, or individuals that are the subject of prophecy, have been able to see the unencrypted writing on the Elder Scrolls without the associated rituals or resulting blindness. A book entitled "Lost Histories of Tamriel" provides further insight on the Elder Scrolls, stating that when any event has actually occurred, it sets itself unchangeably into the scrolls, and no action, magical or otherwise, can alter this.^[19]

In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the scrolls are described as "pieces of creation" (a reference to the creation-myth associated with the Aedra), and play a vital role in the main questline. They are said to be very descriptive works of writing and without vast knowledge of the arts, one may go insane trying to decipher them. The player is tasked with retrieving an Elder Scroll from an expansive Dwemer ruin known as Blackreach, located underground. During gameplay, if the player tries to read the Elder Scroll they will go temporarily blind. It is discovered that the Elder Scroll was used by the ancient Nords to battle Alduin, the ancient Dragon prophesied to destroy the world, inadvertently sending him forward in time. The player character uses the Scroll to travel back in time to gain the knowledge of how the Nords were able to combat Alduin. It is also described that the number of the Scrolls is unknown not because of their immense quantity, but because the number itself is unknowable, as the Scrolls "do not exist in countable form". The actual number and placement of elder scrolls fluctuates constantly as it is said that they technically exist and do not exist at the same time. This makes their predictions difficult to cite authoritatively because entire scrolls or entries can change or vanish as events transpire. This unpredictability has caused other ascetic groups, such as the Greybeards from Skyrim, to find the existence of the Elder Scrolls a blasphemy.

Books[link]

In 2009, science-fiction author Gregory Keyes released The Infernal City, a novel set approximately 40 years after the Oblivion crisis. Lord of Souls was released in 2011 as Keyes' second novel in his Elder Scrolls book series. Both The Infernal City and Lord of Souls were released as pre-order bonuses with some retail editions of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

	Book: The Elder Scrolls series
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Races of The Elder Scrolls
• Organizations of The Elder Scrolls
• Gameplay of The Elder Scrolls
• Bethesda Softworks

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

• The Elder Scrolls official site
• Bethesda Softworks official site
• Bethesda Blog
• Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages - Wiki
• The Holds of Skyrim
• The Elder Scrolls V blog