Is The Elder Scrolls setting actually regressing?

[Exterminas]

Quite frankly I think you valuated some of the points in your OP a little one-sided.

Yes, Balmora has canals, but most of Morrowind is covered in hostile deserts or farmlands. There are plenty of poor places there that consist of crummy shacks and small stone buildings. And while Vivec is separated into neat quarters, they are built from dried mud and Vivec itself is a temple city. Not exactly the pinnacle of technological evolution. There were even a lot of Nomads in Morrowind!

Yes, Oblivion has a more clear medieval look to it, but it is a very advanced version of that style! Every town in Tamriel has fortified, well-maintained walls. There are huge, sprawling keeps to secure the land along with well-maintained roads and a diverse network of infrastructure. This is obviously a more advanced place than Morrowind, where Civilization was mainly along the coast and the inlands were largely dangerous wildlands. (I am thinking of the Ashlands especially)

Finally Skyrim. Yes, Skyrim is a somewhat more backwards place than Tamriel in Oblivion. But you have to keep in mind: Skyrim was always a remote, hostile place and at the edge of the Empire. The Empire itself has been in decline for years by the time we play Skyrim. And lastly, Skyrim itself has been in a Civil War for quite a time now.

With these points in mind, I don't think that there is such a clear trend in the TES-Universe that you can confidently claim it is in decline. It is a nice thought, though.

 

[Mobax]

I agree to a certain extent. A lot of the differences in setting between the last 3 elder scrolls games can be attributed to the cultures inhabiting the lands in which the games are set.

But I think there is some merit to the OP's point, Morrowind is a frontier island, and a wide range of settlements, from Vivec to Sedya Need to Ashlander Camps. I know for myself I found it odd that in Oblivion, they have nice roads and legion patrols, but really no small towns, it's all walled cities and a handful of inn's and farms. And it was also strange to see all the abandoned forts, one would think that in the Imperial heartland the legion would man their forts along the roads...

Skyrim I felt was a small step up in development and technology from Oblivion. I say small step because it's almost lost in the cultural shift. I appreciate that the Nord's culture is a stark break from that of men and mer in the previous games, and in that there is a thriving Nord culture. I did find it odd again that so many of the forts were abandoned, in the midst of a civil war, both sides fought primarily out of camps... Also, I chalk this to culture, but what happened to book stores? Not even in Solitude?

So yes, I think there is something to be said for the settings regressing, but that's not necessarily an error. Look at our own human history, civilizations rise and fall, knowledge is gained and lost. It does seem that in the elder scrolls world the collapse of the Septim dynasty would be a dark age for men.

A little off topic: I hope the next ES game will be set in Summerset, I very much want to see the cultured lands of the Altmer, it would be a wonderful chance to see some really unique architecture and culture. And hopefully a more civilized and developed world.

 

[Mr F.]

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You don't understand. The TES games have always been billed as games that allow you to "Do what you want in whatever way you want". TES games were about freedom, which has what has always made these games so damn unique. But we've been losing features from game to game. Given a few more sequels, The Elder Scrolls will turn into a simplistic dungeon crawling game with no lore and no alternative gameplay in sight. It will have lost everything that made it interesting and unique in the first place.

I'm sure the people who only like exploring and stabbing shit will be just fine and not realize that anything has changed but they would have been happy playing Risen or Two Worlds or Diablo 3. I, for one, remember a time when TES wasn't solely exploring and stabbing shit.

The devs shouldn't allow themselves to rely on the community so much. I do love the mods but I shouldn't have to mod my game to pieces just so I can enjoy it. There aren't many other games that are given this kind of leeway when it comes to their final product. Why do we let Bethesda off the hook?

Finally, no there are no spears in the core game. If there are spears in your game then you modded them in and then forgot about modding them in.

Meh. The amount of books in game disagree with you. The amount of lore disagrees with you. The shit I have come across in dungeons disagrees with you. I, quite simply, disagree with you. The amount of random places with quest lines, blah. Yeah, its a bit fighty. But not too fighty in my eyes. The other games might have been different, true, but I fucking hated Oblivion with a passion and never beat it. So its better than Oblivion.

As for why we let Bethesda of the hook?

Because Skyrim was awesome without mods, was made more awesome with DLC and yeah, they actively support the modders. Thats a big thing in my eyes.

I guess this is all very, very subjective.

But in my eyes it has got the balance right. Lots of books to read, a game that is enriched by its lore yet not too infuriating, lots of quests and violence. Yeah, could have done with a lot more talking, I will agree there. Pickpocket, Lockpick and Speech are all fucking useless (To the point where I made the game unplayably hard by focusing on those traits.) but its still a fun game.

I guess I am saying I agree with you but respectively disagree with you. Its a good game.

 

[Vern5]

I guess I am saying I agree with you but respectively disagree with you. Its a good game.

Yeah... after everything is said and done I have to admit that Skyrim is a great Action RPG (but don't get me started on Oblivion). I'm just afraid that, in a few more sequels, TES won't be TES anymore. That would be a significant loss in gaming.

 

[Fifty-One]

Keep in mind that the Dwemer were the only civilization on Nirn that were truely devoted to technological advancement. And even that was achieved through a blending of magic and science. The only acception to this appears to be Sotha Sil and his Clockwork Tower, or any other mage that delves into researching the Dwemer.

That being the case, Nordic culture in Skyrim shuns magic, which is essentially a pursuit of knowledge. So it makes sense that any pursuit of knowledge is treated with fear and contempt.

Off Topic: I'd love to see Elsweyr or Black Marsh. Morrowind was easily my favorite Elder Scrolls game, though I didn't play Arena or Daggerfall. I loved the alien landscapes and I feel that Elsweyr and Black Marsh have more to offer in that regard. If they do run with Summerset Isles, I'd really like the art direction to make a leap and go for something otherworldly. Playing it safe (boring) might work for a bit, but you eventually will find yourself on the wrong side of the curve.

 

[Gatx]

I don't think technology is necessarily regressing so much as it is just at a standstill. My theory is that in a world with magic, no one really bothers to advance technology. So instead of creating steam engines and lightbulbs, you just do stuff with magic, like how Morrowind had a transportation system based around magic. That stuff isn't fleshed out as much though unfortunately since they've been focusing more on streamlining gameplay for gameplay's sake (which isn't a bad thing to do per se) rather than having gameplay reinforce the setting (instant fast travel as opposed to Silt Striders or carts).

So why are there no crossbows in Cyrodil? Why are there no spears? Surely there would be a need for spears in a place where horses and mounted knights are present?

Sometimes you have to step back and separate gameplay from the lore. According to the lore Imperial City has several thousand residents. In game there's more like a couple dozen. You don't see crossbows and spears but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.

 

[Darrosect]

I chalk it up to the decline of the empire mostly. When Morrowind was hit and the volcano eruppted that probably set Tamriel back a few centuries and then the death of the Septims would have caused a power vacuum which would have caused even greater chaos.

 

[RandV80]

How about magic?

Think about it. If a significant proportion of your population has the ability to create fire, levitate objects and so on, you don't have much of a reason to develop technologically. Hell, the reason it is often thought that the Romans didn't industrialise at least a bit is because they had access to such vast amounts of slave labour as to make civic labour-saving devices just not worth developing. Why design a complicated steam pressure-driven mining contraption if you can just send in a few more slaves, or, in Tamriel's case, just blast open the rock with fireballs?

Yes regardless of the medium when it's a fantasy settings some do a good job but there isn't always much thought about how the existence of magic could advance a society. Or even regress one, for example if you mages that can toss fireballs around on a field of battle then their may not be much incentive to invent/innovate on guns and cannons. Also a despotic magic regime would probably be better suited at crushing any dissent or rebellion which could prevent any sort of Renaissance era from occurring and stagnate a culture for centuries.