Line #32 YMMV/TheElderScrolls


1	!!Franchise YMMV Sub-Pages:
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation : See [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/TheElderScrolls here]].
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: See [[AwesomeMusic/TheElderScrolls here]].
4	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/TheElderScrolls here]].
5	* DemonicSpiders: See [[DemonicSpiders/TheElderScrolls here]].
6	* EnsembleDarkhorse: See [[EnsembleDarkhorse/TheElderScrolls here]].
7	* GameBreaker: See [[GameBreaker/TheElderScrolls here]].
8	* GoodBadBugs: See [[GoodBadBugs/TheElderScrolls here]].
9	* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/TheElderScrolls here]].
10	* MemeticMutation: See [[Memes/TheElderScrolls here]].
11	* ScrappyMechanic: See [[ScrappyMechanic/TheElderScrolls here]].
12	* ThatOneSidequest: See [[ThatOneSidequest/TheElderScrolls here]].
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15	!![[Franchise/TheElderScrolls The Games]]:
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17	%%Only place examples which apply to at least multiple games here. Specific game examples should go on the YMMV page for those games.
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19	* AltItis: Unsurprisingly common throughout the series with the sheer number of character creation options available. Fans have taken to calling it "Restartitus" on the official forums.
20	* AluminumChristmasTrees:
21	** [[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.
22	** Wherever they appear in the series', Tamriel's native Sabre Cats have large, stocky, bear-like bodies as opposed to the sleeker, more slender appearance of modern real-life big cats. This understandably gives players the impression that Sabre Cats are are fantastic hybrid animals, like a griffon or a manticore. They are actually pretty much one-to-one copies of the genus ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smilodon Smilodon]]''.
23	** Paying a monetary fine as punishment for murder might seem like a game contrivance, but historically this was practiced in many medieval European countries in the Iron Age and Middle Ages, especially in Iceland and Scandinavia. This was known as "weregild" (literally translated "man price") and while it isn't overwhelmingly high in the games, historically it could be very substantial - often enough to be very painful to a wealthy landowner and impoverishing a less wealthy person.
24	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: The Spell Absorption effect in ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'' has an odd habit of absorbing spells that would logically help you more, such as causing your summoning spells to fail, or causing the divine blessing you prayed for to be converted into Magicka, which is pretty easy to regain in these games. In ''Skyrim'', the effect applies to everything other than physical attacks, fall damage, and drowning.
25	* {{Anvilicious}}: Did you notice that the Thalmor 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.
26	* ArchiveBinge: Reading the series many, many in-game books is a popular pastime for players and can take hours.
27	* ArchivePanic: Five main series games, five spin-offs, two novels, countless more in-game books, dozens of developer-written supplementary items... getting into the series as a late-comer can be quite the challenge.
28	* AscendedFanon: One of the most intensely discussed elements in the series fandom regarding ''Online'' is how Cyrodiil appears as a temperate forest several centuries before Tiber Septim (upon [[DeityOfHumanOrigin his 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.
29	* AudienceAlienatingEra: The time between the releases of ''Daggerfall'' (1996) and ''Morrowind'' ([[SequelGap 2002]]), during which Bethesda tried and failed to expand the Elder Scrolls with a [[VideoGame/AnElderScrollsLegendBattlespire dungeon crawler]] and an [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsAdventuresRedguard action-adventure game]], where both of which the main complaint was the lack of the open world that ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'' both provided. This caused many fans to worry that Bethesda was too focused on expanding the games' brand instead of working ''Morrowind'', for which each passing year made it seem more and more like {{Vaporware}}. The critical and commercial failure of these two spinoffs caused Bethesda to re-think their goals for the series, cancel plans for a second ''Elder Scrolls Adventures'' game, and start working in earnest to make ''Morrowind'' a grander game.
30	* BrokenBase:
31	** As Creator/{{Bethesda}} has a tendency to rebuild each installment in the series from the ground up, fans of the series tend to judge each new game (as well as earlier installments) against whichever game they were introduced to the series with, sort of their own ''personal'' version of FirstInstallmentWins. As such, this leads to serious Broken Base issues and claims of {{Contested Sequel}}s. To them, any games newer than their favorite are dumbed down to appeal to casual gamers while using shiny graphics to cover up the lack of depth in the world/story. Meanwhile, any games older than their favorite are obtuse, not very player friendly, and look/sound poor due to using outdated graphics and technology.
32	** Playing on PC versus the console is another major fan divide. The series has a massive and industrious {{Game Mod}}ding community which, until ''Skyrim''[='s=] "Special Edition", was only accessible to PC players. PC players tend to consider console players to automatically be more "casual" fans, while they actively harm the series because Bethesda tries so hard to cater to them. Console players meanwhile point out that each game in the series tends to push the boundaries of PC gaming technology of its time, and that they simply want to be able to enjoy the series without having to spend a fortune on computer upgrades.
33	** The series is well known for its WorldBuilding, having some 4000+ years of backstory (and some events even earlier before linear time was ''established'') 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. ''Online'' got hit especially hard with this, made all the easier because it was written and developed by a different team than the core series of games.
34	** 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 (Bethesda is on record stating that the main quest and expansion main questlines are considered canon, however, it may not have happened exactly as it did in the game.[[note]]The most notable example being the MergingTheBranches of ''Daggerfall''[='s=] ending.[[/note]] The same is also true for most [[SidequestSidestory faction questlines]] and larger side quests, like the Daedric quests, where those with branching storylines are left unclear as to ''how'' they were completed in future games, with a couple of exceptions.[[note]]The most notable being that the Champion of Cyrodiil apparently gave [[DealWithTheDevil Clavicus Vile]] the sword Umbra in ''Oblivion'' given the events of the novels.[[/note]] That Bethesda included a canon means to ''change'' canon when they see fit ([[TimeCrash Dragon Breaks]]) and has used it fairly liberally[[note]]The noted ''Daggerfall'' endings example, TheRashomon surrounding the events of the Battle of Red Mountain, the [[MultipleChoicePast conflicting backstories]] of the Tribunal, turning Cyrodiil from a tropical jungle into a MedievalEuropeanFantasy land, etc.[[/note]] 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 can make the lore more 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).
35	* 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.
36	* ContestedSequel:
37	** Every time a new game in the main series comes out, expect claims of this from fans of the previous. Even further, past games often enter SacredCow status when a new one comes out depending on the forum in question, which can make this even more flagrant.
38	** The series' various spin-off {{Gaiden Game}}s often get hit with this. ''Battlespire'' and ''Redguard'' are old and obscure enough that many fans don't even realize they exist. This is much more prominent with ''Online'', in large part due to changing the beloved structure of the main series (MMO vs. Open-World single player WRPG), and later ''Blades'', due to coming out after the ''VideoGame/Fallout76'' debacle(s) when vitriol directed at Bethesda was at its hottest.
39	* CreatorWorship: Creator/MichaelKirkbride is perhaps the single most popular figure among the writers and developers of the series. He wrote for ''Redguard'', ''Morrowind'', and ''Oblivion'', wrote many of the in-game lore texts, and still does some freelance work for the series. Going on the [[https://www.imperial-library.info/ Imperial Library]] forum or the Lore subsection of the official Bethesda forum and saying anything even a little negative about any of his work will make you very unpopular there, very quickly.
40	* CriticalBacklash: The series has this happen with seemingly each new installment. Fans of the series tend to judge each new game against whichever game they were introduced to the series with, sort of their own personal version of FirstInstallmentWins. Given Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s tendency to build each installment from the ground up with wholesale changes from its predecessor, this leads to serious BrokenBase issues and claims of {{Contested Sequel}}s.
41	* CultClassic: To date, each new game in the series has eclipsed its predecessors in the popular consciousness. Previous games mostly wind up at Stage 6A in the FandomLifecycle, still played (and [[GameMod modded]]) by fiercely dedicated and very militant fandom cores. These games often experience a resurgence whenever a new game in the series is announced as fans replay them in anticipation.
42	* DefaultSettingSyndrome: According to available statistics and player polls, the "default" race (the one that is pre-selected when you enter the character creation screen) in each game tends to be the most popular. It also happens to be the native race to each game's setting as well as the primary race used in marketing for each game (so it's Dunmer (Dark Elf) for ''Morrowind'', Imperial for ''Oblivion'', and Nord for ''Skyrim'').
43	* FandomEnragingMisconception: Referring to the series based on a single game, and especially asking questions like "when is ''Skyrim II'' coming out?" is sure to draw ire from the fanbase.
44	* FandomHeresy: Going hand-in-hand with CreatorWorship, saying anything negative about Creator/MichaelKirkbride, particularly in more lore-focused forums. An exception may be made if you say that you prefer the work of one of the other franchise writers (such as Creator/JulianLeFay), as long as you ''also'' make sure to acknowledge Kirkbride.
45	* FandomRivalry:
46	** The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series. Both are HighFantasy RPG series. The debate usually boils down to JRPGS vs. WRPGS (despite ''Dark Souls'' being styled much like a WRPG) and old school challenge vs. open world fun. It doesn't help that various video game media sites and magazines keep fanning the flames of the "rivalry" between the two series, and that there are very vocal and very annoying haters of the opposing game on both sides of the spectrum. ''Dark Souls'' fans bash ''TES'' for being too "boring and cliché" while ''TES'' fans bash ''Dark Souls'' fans for being "too difficult and confusing". Fans who like both games are labelled "traitors" and are effectively stuck between a rock and a hard place.
47	** The ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series, as part of the larger Bethesda vs. Creator/BioWare rivalry. Both are HighFantasy WesternRPG series with tons of WorldBuilding. The main differences is that ''TES'' focuses more on open-world exploration while ''DA'' focuses on creating memorable characters and linear story-telling experiences. When one series borrows elements from the other, such as when ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' opted for an ''ES''-style WideOpenSandbox world, expect the flames of the rivalry to be fanned.
48	** ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series. This one is at least less due to the similarity of the games and more because their production schedules have been such that their installments are often facing off for various ''Game of the Year'' and other awards. ''Skyrim'' vs. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' was a particularly notable case, though it dates back even earlier (such as ''Morrowind'' vs. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' and ''Oblivion'' vs. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'').
49	** The first two installments of the ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' series. Both series are different takes on the WideOpenSandbox WesternRPG genre, leading to the rivalry. As DuelingGames, ''The Elder Scrolls'' won handily in each case (with ''Oblivion'' even including a blatant TakeThat at ''Fable'' in [[AuthorAvatar M'aiq the Liar]][='s=] dialogue). This rivalry has cooled significantly as ''Fable'' took on a different style direction as of ''VideoGame/FableIII'', taking them out of direct competition.
50	* FandomSpecificPlot: A very common element in fanfics and roleplays is to have the PlayerCharacter of one game be a relative or descendent of the PlayerCharacter in the previous. A particularly popular example is having the Dragonborn of ''Skyrim'' be the descendant of Martin Septim and a female Champion of Cyrodiil from ''Oblivion''. (This would make the Dragonborn the rightful heir of the Empire.)
51	* 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.
52	* FanNickname: Not a "nickname", per se, as the terms exist in-universe as well, but it's very rare to see an ''Elder Scrolls'' fan refer to High Elves, Wood Elves, Dark Elves, or Dwarves by those names, even though those are the ones that appear on the user interface. Instead, fans almost always refer to those races by the terms they use to refer to themselves - Altmer, Bosmer, Dunmer, and Dwemer.
53	* FirstInstallmentWins: The series has an interesting version of this trope at play. Fans of the series tend to judge each new game (as well as earlier installments) against whichever game they were introduced to the series with, sort of their own ''personal'' version of First Installment Wins. Given Bethesda's tendency to build each installment from the ground up with wholesale changes from its predecessor, this leads to serious BrokenBase issues and claims of {{Contested Sequel}}s.
54	* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''Oblivion'' is sometimes blamed for changing the unique and sometimes bizarre Tamriel into a standard MedievalEuropeanFantasy. Much of these complaints stem from the fact that previous descriptions of the elven provinces, as well as Cyrodiil, had quite a few non-European traits. While those complaints may be justified, some seem to think that all of Tamriel lacked traits from MedievalEuropeanFantasy - anyone who played ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'' would know that this is ''not'' the case, but many people at the time of ''Morrowind''[='s=] (easily the most alien and outright ''[[NewWeird weird]]'' setting in the series) heyday didn't, leading to the assumption that there was not supposed to be ''any'' medieval elements in the setting at all. People have cited ''the fact that the game has horses in it'' as a reason for the series being ruined, despite the fact that they were in the series from the beginning (though they wouldn't be usable until ''Daggerfall'').
55	* FriendlyFandoms:
56	** Following Bethesda's acquisition of the ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' franchise, a strong union has formed between fans of both series. One major reason is that Bethesda places a strong emphasis on WorldBuilding, which is one of the greatest strengths of each series. Another is the similar gameplay, with the Bethesda ''Fallout'' games adopting ''The Elder Scrolls'' trademark WideOpenSandbox worlds and WesternRPG elements. Heck, ''Fallout 3'' and ''Fallout: New Vegas'' were made using the same engine Bethesda used for ''Oblivion'', and ''Fallout 4'' used a modified version of ''Skyrim''[='s=] engine. This was made recursive when the Bethesda released the ''Skyrim Special Edition'', which was updated with the ''Fallout 4'' engine and graphics enhancements.
57	** 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/Rage2011'', all of which Bethesda has since had some sort of involvement in. The same goes for ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' after Bethesda acquired it.
58	* GatewaySeries: The series pulls double duty as a gateway for both the WesternRPG and WideOpenSandbox genres.
59	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
60	** The series has obviously been a major critical and financial success across Europe and North America, but it is also one of the very few WRPG series to experience great success in Japan, where traditional [=WRPGs=] struggle. ''Morrowind'' seemed to start the trend, even though it was never even officially ''released'' in Japan. (One of the game's more popular {{Game Mod}}s is an unofficial Japanese translation.) This trend continued through ''Oblivion'' (though without dub and published by Spike Chunsoft) to ''Skyrim'' (which was published in-house by Bethesda's Japanese branch, featuring Japanese dubbing), which holds the honor of being the first Western game to ever receive a perfect score in Famitsu. ''Skyrim'' is so popular in Japan that a significant percentage of the {{Game Mod}}s created for it come from Japan.
61	** Among fans in Poland there's a rather unhealthy obsession with Hist, a relatively obscure race of [[WiseTree sentient trees]]. Reasons are unclear, [[FridgeHorror probably for the best]].
62	* GodDamnedBats: Water based enemies, especially Slaughterfish, tend to draw a lot of fan ire throughout the series. They aren't particularly challenging enemies, but they tend to swarm you as soon as you set foot in nearly any body of water. As being in water reduces your combat options significantly, you sometimes aren't able to kill them at all.
63	* GoodBadBugs: Prominent enough throughout the series that it has its own sub-folder on the trope RPG page. Bethesda executives even invoke it by stating that they intentionally leave "fun" bugs in the game as long as they aren't too [[GameBreakingBug Game Breaking]].
64	* GrowingTheBeard: ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'' were generally well received and both developed strong [[CultClassic Cult Fanbases]]. However, they were mere drops in the bucket of the massive [=1990s=] WesternRPG market. Further, they were rather generic [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy Medieval European Fantasies]] that retained a lot of elements from their [[Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]] basis. Finally, ''Daggerfall'' was a prime example of an ObviousBeta, with the main quest being literally unwinnable upon release (though later patched). That all changed with the release of ''Morrowind'', being the BreakthroughHit for the series and for Creator/{{Bethesda}} itself while introducing a massive NewbieBoom. ''Morrowind'' was the first major Western RPG in a long time to receive a MultiPlatform release, adding to its popularity. It also marked the point where the series' setting became a truly unique ConstructedWorld with highly memorable cultures, history, creatures, landscapes, mythopoeia, and characters. The series' "beard" kept right on growing with the massively successful releases of ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'', to the point where the series is now firmly established as one of the pillars of western gaming.
65	* HilariousInHindsight:
66	** The Dremora are a grey-skinned, yellow-eyed, horned, shaggy-haired ProudWarriorRace with a complex multi-level FantasticCasteSystem who come from AnotherDimension and use the Daedric alphabet. [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} They wouldn't be the last.]]
67	** Quagmire, the realm of Vaermina, is described as a nightmare realm that constantly changes its appearance in a matter of minutes, each time becoming more horrifying than before. And then Bethesda published [[VideoGame/TheEvilWithin a video game]] with a setting that fits the same description.
68	** At the time ''Skyrim'' was released, a nation/alliance called the Aldmeri Dominion had only two known incarnations; one that was conquered by Tiber Septim at the end of the Second Era, and the one that exists in ''Skyrim''[='s=] timeframe, under the rule of the Thalmor. When ''The Elder Scrolls Online'' came out, it added a new one that existed earlier than the others, an alliance that consisted of the Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit nations. It retroactively made the ''Skyrim''-era Dominion the third incarnation. [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany What other known (quasi)-fascist state has existed that claimed to be the 'Third' version?]] Given that ''ESO'' was under development at the same time as ''Skyrim'' (by a different Zenimax subsidiary), this might not have been a coincidence.
69	* HypeAversion: Pops up frequently. The series is a critical dynamo with a large and very rabid fanbase, but people find reasons to avoid it. More casual gamers have been known to feel overwhelmed by the openness and depth of the series, where one can easily play for hundreds of hours.
70	* HypeBacklash: Another frequent occurrence. Despite the popularity, critical success, and foaming-at-the-mouth rabid fandom, the series draws quite a bit of ire from the gaming community. Reasons range from the fact that the games tend to sweep awards despite critical bugs to the belief that the focus on an open-world detracts from the story and character development which other games do better. This can also happen to fans of different games ''within the series'', as noted under BrokenBase, ContestedSequel, and ItsPopularNowItSucks.
71	* ItsPopularNowItSucks:
72	** The series has its own twist on the FirstInstallmentWins trope that comes into play here, as well. {{Creator/Bethesda}} has a propensity for building each new game in the series from the ground up, so most players end up comparing every new game to whichever game in the series they played first, their own personal version of "first installment wins". And given that each new game in the series tends to exponentially increase in popularity (for better or worse) over previous games, it naturally matches up with this trope as well. BrokenBase tends to ensue, with fans of the previous installments declaring the newest installment to be inferior.
73	** The first two games in the series, ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'', were solid games (despite ''Daggerfall''[='s=] ObviousBeta issues), but were mere drops in the massive bucket that was the late-90s PC WesternRPG scene. Still, they developed a fairly strong [[CultClassic Cult Fanbase]] which kept the series alive and, after a six-year SequelGap, led to the release of ''Morrowind''. ''Morrowind'' was a massive critical ''and'' commercial hit, being the BreakthroughHit for both the series and for Bethesda in general. Owing to both the sequel gap and its MultiPlatform release (PC and X-Box), ''Morrowind'' introduced a massive NewbieBoom, contributing to its success. All of this added up to ''Morrowind''[='s=] "Game of the Year" edition still being available in stores even ''eight years after its release''. However, until about 2006, a [[VocalMinority small but vocal group]] of older, "hardcore" ''Elder Scrolls'' fans derided ''Morrowind'' as derivative and dumbed down compared to ''Daggerfall'', which was "TrueArt" and was granted "[[SacredCow Immunity to Criticism]]", and considered ''Morrowind'' to be the symbol of everything that was wrong with the gaming industry. What happened in 2006? ''Oblivion'' was released. Despite its own "Game of the Year" level successes and popularity, ''Oblivion'' was now the symbol of everything wrong with the gaming industry, while ''Morrowind'' became the SacredCow. In 2011, when ''Skyrim'' came out? Ditto. Rinse and repeat.
74	** Another angle to the situation for the series is that there seems to be a loose "odd-even" configuration to the fandom. It's not uncommon to find fans of both ''Daggerfall'' (the 2nd ''ES'' game) and ''Oblivion'' (the 4th), who enjoy that those games are closer to classic HighFantasy while disliking ''Morrowind'' (the 3rd) and ''Skyrim'' (the 5th) for being too "alien". Meanwhile, fans of these odd-numbered titles favor them over the even-numbered titles for the ''exact same reason''.
75	** Yet ''another'' angle to the debate is the perception that the series has been getting "dumbed down" as it has grown more popular. Ask a fan, and they'll tell you that ''their'' favorite game was the one that struck the right balance of openness and accessibility. For example, ''Daggerfall'' has a ''gigantic'' world map, roughly 161,600 km in size (similar to the size of Great Britain), while every subsequent game has gone with a much, much smaller world map. However, these games use SpaceCompression and drop most of the {{random\|lyGeneratedLevels}} and [[ProceduralGeneration procedural]] generation that ''Daggerfall'' used to fill out its huge world, instead greatly increasing content density and variety within the smaller worlds. Other changes of the course of the series include: armors and outfits becoming less and less modular and customizable, spells and enchantments dwindling in numbers and variety, abandonment of mechanics like birthsigns (which granted passive bonuses and railroaded the status growths into a class archetype).
76	* MoralEventHorizon: If you summon Molag Bal at any point in the series, expect to do something horrific.
77	* MyRealDaddy: Former series writer Creator/MichaelKirkbride is considered this. Kirkbride wrote for both ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'', as well as for the ActionAdventure [[GaidenGame spin-off]] ''Redguard''. In addition, Kirkbride wrote dozens of the series' [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe books]]. 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. He still contributes "[[LooseCanon Obscure Texts]]" to the series, essentially [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary items]] treated as canonical by most of the fanbase (or at least the equivalent of the series' famous in-universe UnreliableCanon). 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. Kirkbride's elevation to this status largely came at the expense of the lead developer for ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'', Creator/JulianLeFay, who is now something of ThePeteBest for the series.
78	* NewerThanTheyThink: The Daedric Princes are a very popular and rather unique set of characters who have become synonymous with the series. It's easy to forget that they were first introduced in ''Daggerfall'', and even then had copious amounts of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with their depictions and personalities. ''Morrowind'' is where they started to become what they are recognized as today... but only for about 8 of the 16, as half were PutOnABus following ''Daggerfall''. All 16 (plus a 17th) finally became established as of ''Oblivion'', four games into the main series.
79	* NostalgiaFilter: A major factor in the [[FirstInstallmentWins Personal First Installment Wins]]. Any changes made in newer games are compared to the one a player entered the series with and often decried as "my first game did it better!"
80	* ObviousBeta: An unfortunately common occurrence throughout the series, in large part due to the sheer scale of the games. Each game has its fair share of {{Game Breaking Bug}}s and exploitative bugs when released, but Bethesda is generally quick to get them patched fairly quickly. For the PC versions of the games, modders will usually put out {{Game Mod}}s as unofficial patches until Bethesda is able to release official ones. Typically, the GameOfTheYearEdition (or similarly re-releases) of most games resolve the majority of these issues, but not all. Specific examples by game are listed on the trope page.
81	* OlderThanTheyThink: Many fans would be forgiven for thinking that Jyggalag, the Daedric Prince of Order, was a new creation for ''Oblivion''[='s=] ''Shivering Isles'' expansion. However, he was first mentioned in an in-game book in ''Daggerfall''.
82	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: 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.
83	* PlayerPunch: The Dark Brotherhood questline in any game where they are joinable tends to deliver at least one of these. [[spoiler:Don't become too attached to ''any'' of your fellow members, ''especially'' superiors...]]
84	* PopularWithFurries: The ability to play as [[BeastMan beast races]] like the [[LizardFolk Argonians]] and the [[CatFolk Khajiit]], later installments introducing the potential to contract lycanthropy for [[CursedWithAwesome no glaring downside]], and ''Skyrim''[='s=] [[VideoGamePerversityPotential near limitless modding ability]] is appealing to the furry fandom.
85	* QuicksandBox: Common throughout the series, in large part because of how early the games [[OpeningTheSandbox Open The Sandbox]] for you. Typically, after a brief tutorial and a tip on where to go next for the main quest, you're free to go wherever you want and do whatever you want. There are LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests, as well as full blown [[SidequestSidestory Sidequest Sidestories]] (some of which are nearly as expansive as the main quest).
86	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Happens to a couple of entire ''races'' as the series goes on. To note:
87	** Through ''Oblivion'', the Bosmer (Wood Elves) comprise some of the most annoying characters in the series, drawing significant hatred from the fandom. Male Bosmer in particular are [[TinyGuyHugeGirl diminutive]], [[UglyGuyHotWife ugly]], and, from a gameplay perspective, are best used in ForestRanger-type builds but are even outclassed there by much "cooler" races who can function just as well in that role, such as the Dunmer (Dark Elves) and CatFolk Khajiit. Fargoth, Gaenor, Glarthir, Maglir, the Adoring Fan... the list of Scrappy Bosmer goes on. That changed significantly in ''Skyrim'', where the entire race [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] and become a WoobieSpecies due to their [[FantasticRacism genocidally racist]] Altmer cousins occupying their homeland (Valenwood), and Bosmer go from being hands-down the least popular race to one of the fandom's favorites.
88	** While ''Skyrim'' did an admirable job at rescuing the Bosmer, it also made the Altmer (High Elves) ''into'' one. Between the events of ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'', under the fascistic and genocidally racist leadership of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]], the Altmer broke away from the Cyrodiilic Empire and re-formed the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] of old. As mentioned, they forcefully annexed Valenwood and got the Khajiit of Elsweyr to join as vassals using some BlatantLies. They launched the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great War]] with the [[VestigialEmpire vestigial]] Empire and, though the Empire fended them off, were able to secure a peace treaty (the White-Gold Concordat) with exceptionally favorable terms to the Dominion. Throughout ''Skyrim'', ''everyone'' comes to hate the Thalmor, [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch even Altmer players]], with "ScrewYouElves" practically becoming a rallying cry for the fandom. The developers, perhaps realizing that players were associating ''[[AllGermansAreNAzis all]]'' Altmer with the Thalmor, acted quickly to rescue them in ''The Elder Scrolls Online''. The Altmer win back a great deal of their respect from many fans by credit of the sheer lengths they go to win the trust of their allies (including one quest where they pull a race-wide BigDamnHeroes on a besieged city) and counting a good number of likable and badass [=NPC=]s on their side.
89	* RootingForTheEmpire: Fans often clamor for a means to join the BigBad. To date, it is only possible to do this in ''Daggerfall'' and even that comes with the caveat of there being no "true" big bad (simply siding with the darkest gray option of the GreyAndGrayMorality main quest). {{Game Mod}}s which make this an option are unsurprisingly popular.
90	* SacredCow: Related to the ItsPopularNowItSucks above, ''Daggerfall'' as well as ''Morrowind'' are this in some areas.
91	* SavedByTheFans: Jiub, a fellow prisoner of the [[PlayerCharacter Nerevarine]] aboard the prison ship at the beginning of ''Morrowind'', delivers a few lines of dialogue before disappearing from the game. His friendliness combined with his badass appearance (a [[EyeScream one-eyed]] WalkingShirtlessScene) made him quite the EnsembleDarkhorse. He became a popular character in fan fiction and was added back into the game as a companion by quite a few {{Game Mod}}s. Bethesda took notice and gave him a shout out in ''Oblivion'' as having driven the much-reviled [[GodDamnedBats Cliff Racers]] to extinction. He then makes an on-screen appearance in ''Skyrim''[='s=] ''Dawnguard'' DLC as a spirit in the Soul Cairn and gives you a notable side quest.
92	* SelfImposedChallenge: The series is prime for these, particularly give its open-world nature and plentiful character creation options. To note some of the more popular:
93	** An extremely common challenge for any of the games in the series is to role-play; writing a character and then playing as that character, flaws and all. For example, a noble paladin who cannot loot corpses and must leave them to rest in peace, or a warrior who refuses to use any form of magic, including enchanted items.
94	** The "Live Off the Land" challenge. It requires leaving ''all'' possessions and gold in town, traveling on foot, and surviving missions only with what the player comes across. A [[BarefistedMonk monk]][=/=][[AlchemyIsMagic alchemist]] build has the most success at making the use of any possible scavenge and loot. It's only permissible to use alchemy equipment if left where it's found; looting it means that it has to be left in town, and inaccessible for future adventures. While this is possible in any of the games, ''Morrowind''[='s=] barren setting lends to it quite well.
95	** The "Chuck Norris Challenge". You play as a bare-fisted fighter with no weapons or armor throughout the whole game. Though not without its inconveniences, it can be a surprisingly strong GlassCannon character build.
96	* SequelDisplacement: Each new game does this to the previous games in the series. ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'' definitely have it worst. Most gamers still remember ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'', but the first two games are practically invisible now (even though they are ironically the easiest to find, having long since been released as {{Freeware}}, and can be easily downloaded from a number of websites, along with emulators to run them).
97	* SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer: The ability to go wherever you want and do whatever you want is the main selling point of the series for most people. A few specific examples:
98	** Reading the many, many, ''many'' in-game books. Many ''hours'' can be spent this way. In fact, every book you pick up in-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! That's more than both the standard [[Literature/TheBible King James Bible]] (around 1200 pages) and the entire ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' set (1178 pages).
99	** Decorating your home. You can spend hours setting up your questing treasures ''juuust right''. Mods to make decorating your home even better and easier are always amongst the most popular of a given game in the series.
100	** LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests plays into this as well. It is possible to spend countless hours just wandering around and stumbling into new sidequests without ever touching the main quest.
101	* StopHavingFunGuys:
102	** Go into a popular series' forum and say that you play a pre-made class in any game prior to ''Skyrim''. Count how many people jump on you and call you a noob, insult your intelligence, or criticize you for being "lazy".
103	** 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.
104	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Bethesda's tendency to build each new game from the ground up with wholesale changes from its predecessors tends to cause a pretty significant BrokenBase. However, even much more minor changes between games can leave fans irked. To note:
105	** The removal of 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.
106	** The decline in the variety and power of magical spells in the series since its ''Daggerfall''[=/=]''Morrowind'' peak has irked fans of spell slingers. The sheer variety of spells combined with the customizations of Spellmaking services made for some extreme ExponentialPotential. ''Oblivion'' cut down the number of available spells significantly while also placing skill level restrictions on them. ''Skyrim'' reduced the number of spells even further while removing the Spellmaking mechanic outright. The highest-level "Master" spells are AwesomeButImpractical due to long casting animations coupled with the fact that each requires both hands. Mages also hit a ParabolicPowerCurve as spell damage is capped, but enemy health is not. Fans of magic in the series desperately hope to see this trend reversed with ''TES:VI''.
107	* 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 MagicalQueer {{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.
108	* UnderusedGameMechanic: The series has long struggled to sate fan interest in [[AHomeOwnerIsYou Player Housing]]. First introduced in ''Daggerfall'', player houses were simply a [[MoneySink very expensive]] place where you could safely sleep for free and, due to a glitch, weren't even safe for storing loot. Nonetheless, they proved popular and were expanded upon in ''Morrowind'', where you could build your own estate complete with a mansion, at least one shop, and a guard tower as part of the [[SidequestSidestory Great House sidequest lines]]. (Another was added for the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion.) Again, these proved extremely popular but fans demanded more options and more freedom with them, leading to countless {{Game Mod}}s relating to player housing. ''Oblivion'' offered even more options, allowing the purchase of a home in each major city ranging from a one-room shack to a full-blown (albeit haunted) mansion. [=DLCs=] then added additional options for each of the FighterMageThief molds. Again, it wasn't enough for the fanbase, who churned out countless more mods with additional places to live and more freedom in decorating them. For ''Skyrim'', Bethesda hired the creator of one of the most popular ''Oblivion'' housing mods and gave the largest assortment of options to date including the ''Hearthfire'' DLC, which allows the player to build a new house from scratch with immense freedom in designing its layout, storage options, and more. This ''still'' wasn't enough, as one again, a plethora of housing mods exists to expand upon these options even further. Ironically, Bethesda may have found the answer in their ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' sister-series, introducing a very popular, full-blown ''settlement'' building mechanic in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}''. ''ES'' fans can only hope that something similar is added into ''The Elder Scrolls VI''.
109	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Since the jump to 3D, each game has put out some of the best graphics of its generation. This holds especially true for skies and landscapes.
110	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The ''36 Lessons of Vivec'' from ''Morrowind''. They are a series of 36 books, supposedly penned by the man-god himself (the real life author is Michael Kirkbride). In them, he uses oodles of biblical imagery to make sure that, if you take it seriously, there is ''no way'' a person could see Vivec as anything less than the absolute god of ''The Elder Scrolls'' universe (which, of course, isn't necessarily true but is also exactly what UnreliableNarrator Vivec wants the reader to think). Doubles with {{Anvilicious}}. Also with Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. Finally, there's a dose of InJoke too, with glitches in the ''Redguard'' engine fictionalized as natural wonders. And it's meant to be a "How-to be the Nerevarine" guidebook, and a "How-to kill me" guidebook. Basically, the 36 Lessons of Vivec are a lot of things to a lot of people.
111	!! [[Literature/TheElderScrolls The Novels]]:
112
113	* BaseBreakingCharacter: Annaïg: a struggling heroine wannabe who tragically struggles against the shattering of her romantic delusions, or a meaningless empty shell designed solely to show us Umbriel while Glim, Attrebus, Sul and Colin all get real work done.
114	* HoYay: In one scene Slyr mentions that "nobody is watching" and Annaig blushes. To which Slyr replies "don't flatter yourself."
115	* IKnewIt: Yup, [[spoiler:Lord Vivec is gone and the Ministry of Truth crashes into Vivec City at a thousands of miles per hour velocity.]]
116	* MisBlamed: People think that Keyes destroyed Vvardenfell in this book. In fact, it was Michael Kirkbride, who had been with the series since the nineties, who made the decision and heavily foreshadowed it in ''Morrowind.''
117	* {{Wangst}}: Subverted. [[spoiler:Attebus]] starts to, but Sul injects some cold hard reason into the situation to set him straight by quite reasonably telling him that there are more important (and far more painful) things than his realizing he isn't as badass as he think he is, and that dwelling on it when the world is in danger is both selfish and stupid.
118	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: In ''The Infernal City'', the island of Solstheim is spelled "Soulstheim," causing many EpilepticTrees to sprout up among the ''Elder Scrolls'' fandom. WordOfGod has it that this was just a typo.

Context YMMV / TheElderScrolls