History YMMV / TheElderScrolls

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Looking back at earlier games in the series after playing the more recent games tends to cause this. ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'' seem to get the worst of it, with dated (even for the time they were released) graphics, unintuitive controls compared to more modern games, and boatloads of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'' still get a bit of it though, both being revolutionary games at the time of their release but looking dated compared to ''Skyrim'' and the Bethesda-era ''Fallout'' games. (''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'') Essentially, each new game in the series tends to cause this phenomenon with its predecessor games.

** Also relating to lore, the series' developers and a number of former developers contribute "Obscure Texts" which further flesh out parts of the series lore. Treated by the majority of fans as, at the very least, LooseCanon, bringing up these texts in a group of fans is certain to split them in various ways. Some consider them ''more'' {{Canon}} that what actually appears in-game, largely due to the (intentionally) UnreliableCanon nature of the series (depending on who you ask, as Bethesda has established plenty of undisputed canon). Others dismiss them as little more than educated fan fiction (especially given that a lot of Kirkbridian lore in the modern day tends to be weird for the sake of being weird, especially when it comes to c0da and KINMUNE introducing space and Sci-Fi elements), and that they only serve to make the series' lore pointlessly vague and confusing. In particular, former series writer (through ''Oblivion'') Michael Kirkbride is considered MyRealDaddy by the former group. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous lore, essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''Daggerfall'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]", [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status. However, his detractors will point out that just because some pieces are made canon it doesn't make *all* of his writing canon, and that it creates a tonal disconnect between his outside texts and what is actually seen in-game (and, as a result, a disconnect between average players and deep-dug lorebeards).

** Also relating to lore, the series' developers and a number of former developers contribute "Obscure Texts" which further flesh out parts of the series lore. Treated by the majority of fans as, at the very least, LooseCanon, bringing up these texts in a group of fans is certain to split them in various ways. Some consider them ''more'' {{Canon}} that what actually appears in-game, largely due to the (intentionally) UnreliableCanon nature of the series. Others dismiss them as little more than educated fan fiction (especially given that a lot of Kirkbridian lore in the modern day tends to be weird for the sake of being weird, especially when it comes to c0da and KINMUNE introducing space and Sci-Fi elements). In particular, former series writer (through ''Oblivion'') Michael Kirkbride is considered MyRealDaddy by the former group. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous lore, essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''Daggerfall'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]", [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status. However, his detractors will point out that just because some pieces are made canon it doesn't make *all* of his writing canon, and that it creates a tonal disconnect between his outside texts and what is actually seen in-game (and, as a result, a disconnect between average players and deep-dug lorebeards).

** Also relating to lore, the series' developers and a number of former developers contribute "Obscure Texts" which further flesh out parts of the series lore. Treated by the majority of fans as, at the very least, LooseCanon, bringing up these texts in a group of fans is certain to split them in various ways. Some consider them ''more'' {{Canon}} that what actually appears in-game, largely due to the (intentionally) UnreliableCanon nature of the series. Others dismiss them as little more than educated fan fiction (especially given that a lot of Kirkbridian lore in the modern day tends to be weird for the sake of being weird, especially when it comes to c0da and KINMUNE introducing space and Sci-Fi elements). In particular, former series writer (through ''Oblivion'') Michael Kirkbride is considered MyRealDaddy by the former group. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous lore, essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''Daggerfall'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]", [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status. However, his detractors will point out that just because some pieces are made canon it doesn't make *all* of his writing canon, and that it creates a tonal disconnect between his outside texts and what is actually seen in-game.

** Also relating to lore, the series' developers and a number of former developers contribute "Obscure Texts" which further flesh out parts of the series lore. Treated by the majority of fans as, at the very least, LooseCanon, bringing up these texts in a group of fans is certain to split them in various ways. Some consider them ''more'' {{Canon}} that what actually appears in-game, largely due to the (intentionally) UnreliableCanon nature of the series. Others dismiss them as little more than educated fan fiction. In particular, former series writer (through ''Oblivion'') Michael Kirkbride is considered MyRealDaddy by the former group. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous lore, essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''Daggerfall'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]", [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status.

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: The parts of the lore written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride[[note]]''The 36 Lessons of Vivec'', ''Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes'', ''The Song of Pelinal'', etc.[[/note]] are so ''[[NewWeird weird]]'' that it's a common joke within the fanbase to say he was on drugs while writing it all. Essentially, take the series HighFantasy elements, put them into a blender with every drug known to mankind, and the end result is things like a MagicGay {{Hermaphrodite}} PhysicalGod and a time-traveling {{Cyborg}} who houses the soul of [[GodIsDead a dead god]]. In a way, this makes them read quite a bit like real life ancient religious texts, most of which have been reinterpreted by various writers throughout history and have been translated multiple times leading to their unique styles.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The parts of the lore written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride[[note]]''The 36 Lessons of Vivec'', ''Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes'', ''The Song of Pelinal'', etc.[[/note]] are so ''[[NewWeird weird]]'' that it's a common joke within the fanbase to say he was on drugs while writing it all. In an interesting way, this makes them read quite a bit more like real life ancient religious texts, most of which have been reinterpreted by various writers throughout history and have been translated multiple times leading to their unique styles.

** The removal of [[BladeOnAStick polearms]] as a weapon type following ''Morrowind''. Cries of "bring back spears!" have been prominent in each game since. This is, somewhat ironically, despite the fact that polearms were very much a ScrappyWeapon in ''Morrowind''. They do damage akin to one-handed long blades of the same material, but are two-handed weapons, meaning that you cannot use a shield or light source in the off-hand.

ComeForTheGameStayForTheMods: The series has an extensive modding community, and many players of the games will have at least a few mods installed simply to fix the [[ObviousBeta numerous bugs that invariably plague Bethesda products]]. This is aided by the fact that Bethesda releases the same LevelEditor they use for creating the games (Construction Set) for modders to use.

** The series is well known for its WorldBuilding, having some 4000+ years of backstory before any game in the series takes place as well as deep universal metaphysics. Known to the fandom as "Lore", any game (or part of a game) that conflicts with or alters previously established lore is certain to break the fanbase in any number of ways.

** [[MascotMook Mud Crabs]] are an [[GiantEnemyCrab aggressive, roughly tortoise-sized crab species]] found in many varieties throughout Tamriel. You'd be easily forgiven for thinking they're fictional, but [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scylla_serrata you'd be wrong]]. (The ''Oblivion'' variety even looks somewhat like the real thing.)

** The series' "Lore" is very serious business. If you go into lore-heavy forums with only a marginal understanding of it, you can expect to be attacked. Many of these forums have actually identified this is a serious issue to their forum's growth and have taken steps to remediate it.

* FanonDiscontinuity: To say that ''The Elder Scrolls Online'' is rather divisive within ''The Elder Scrolls'' lore community is a polite understatement. It is far from uncommon to find members cherry picking elements of ''Online'' which support their already held beliefs while dismissing anything that goes against them. This is made all the easier by the fact ''Online'' was written and developed by a different team than the core series of games. One of the most prominent specific examples is Cyrodiil appearing as a temperate forest several centuries before Tiber Septim (upon his [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascension as the god Talos]]) canonically converted it from a {{Mayincatec}}-style tropical rainforest. Lore sources in ''Online'' dismiss the idea that Cyrodiil was ''ever'' a tropical rainforest, blaming that idea on a "transcription error". The lore community acted quickly and came to settle on the idea that Talos' changes were retroactive, making it so that Cyrodiil had ''always been'' a temperate forest, to explain the discrepancy. (Zenimax later added a book to the game, ''Subtropical Cyrodiil'', which both mocked the previous explanation and provided a much more reasonable one.)

** After some 20 years of the series being a single-player WesternRPG[=/=]WideOpenSandbox blend (with a few GaidenGame style spin-offs), ''The Elder Scrolls Online'' brought the series into the {{MMORPG}} sphere. Main series fans seeking ''The Elder Scrolls VI'' were outraged. Complaints range from ''Online'' being a blatant cash-in, to radically changing the series' formula, to just plain not being a very good video game in general.

** Ebony is a series' staple of a high-tier {{Fantasy Metal|s}}, functioning somewhat like Obsidian and theorized to be the petrified blood of the mortal world's [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]]. Ebony does exist in real life, however, it is not a stone. It is actually a dense black wood taken from ebony trees found in India and parts of Africa. It's so dense it sinks in water, and is mainly used for ornamental stuff like chess pieces and piano keys.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Did you notice that The High Elves are a lot like Nazis? It's not at all subtle and it crops up in the story of the games and in the lore constantly. The writers lay it on extremely thick and individual Altmer are rarely characterized any other way.

** Reading the many, many, ''many'' in-game books. Many hours can be spent this way.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven:
** While most of the developers are doing these games for the money, the enormous and detailed world and back story show that at least someone put a lot more effort in to the games than they had to. Several ex-developers and writers for the series continue to write LooseCanon "obscure texts" to expand the series' lore.
** There are in-game readable books, and they're not just one or two pages long but usually in the 10s. In fact, every book you pick up in that game almost always has a unique story/information in it. All the [[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/zephs-tes-treasury in-game-books and notes]] of ''Morrowind'' alone put together amount to 1241 pages!

* {{Anvilicious}}: Did you notice that The High Elves are a lot like Nazis? It's not at all subtle and it crops up in the story if the games and the lore constantly. The writers lay it on extremely thick and individual Altmer NPCs are rarely characterized any other way.

** Ever since id Software was acquired by Bethesda's parent company [=ZeniMax=] Media, these fandoms have even overlapped with those of id's franchises, including ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Rage}}'', all of which Bethesda has since had some sort of involvement in. The same goes for ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' after Bethesda acquired it.