Hey guys, I was just looking at the interactive map of tamriel during the second era when I noticed something odd: a few towns that weren't built until the third era somehow exist in TESO.

http://www.elder-scrolls-online.de/karte/

The first one I noticed was Ald'ruhn. You know, the redoran capitol of vvardenfell? Now, being someone who plays morrowind regularly, I remember some of the lore behind this place. Vvardenfell itself wasn't open to the great houses until relatively (from an elven standard) recently. Bolvyn Venim, the leader of redoran, secured the land himself and helped build the town. So....how does it exist hundreds of years before his parents were even born?

I must have my lore wrong somewhere here. Maybe Bolvyn is a wizard and he lives as long as the telvanni? Maybe the temple opened Vvardenfell in the second era? Are there any other towns you see in this map that shouldn't exist? Let me know

Hey, you're right.

Lore-wise, Morrowind was open for settlement in 3E 414; while the Temple supported limited development of Vvardenfell, but the ban was lifted in 414. Hell, even the Arena map lacks most of the settlements on Vvardenfell that we see in Morrowind.

However, the lifespan of an elf seems to last between 500-1000 years, before magic comes into play. Barenziah was a dark elf, and she knew Tiber Septum... personally. Still, if that map dates from 2E582... Venim would have to be ancient to have built Ald-ruhn. Ran the numbers, and it's about 1,010 years before the events of Morrowind...

Dammit! I though gamesas was preventing ZeniMax Online from stomping on lore!

Oh my God this is hilarious, and embarassing. Should we send an email to zenimax telling them about this? Do you notice any other cities that shouldn't exist?

Well get ready I got the feeling it is now all about profit. They don't give a crap about lore but I do care about. Send an email they will not change it. Like discontinuing Skyrim DLC because Xbox exclusive ended or making ESO a subscription. Hopefully they will not change that much of the lore for profits.

Just come up with you own non nonsensical cop out answer like they made a mistake in the history books lol, turns out it has been there a long time and nobody noticed it, It was brought back through time in a worm hole after someone misplaced it.

Honestly the more I read on this the more insane it becomes. It took me under 30 seconds and a trip to uesp to learn that vvardenfell was a temple preserve until the late third era. What happened to their supposed lore-master? What is his job exactly?

Could someone tell me how to email zenimax? I can't find their email address. Does anyone have a twitter? We could tweet to them about this as well.

No. No, I wont. As you said, that makes absolutely no sense. What about Bolvyn Venim? The warrior who founded Al'druhn? Dunmer only live around 200 years without magical aid. Bolvyn Venim can't be thousands of years old. Only the telvanni and altmer can pull that

Is it not possible for it to be destroyed and rebuilt?

It's not possible. Vvardenfell was a temple preserve until 3E 414. Most of the settlements, if any, were directly controlled by the temple. Ald'ruhn specifically was only built recently by the current (by the time of morrowind) archmaster of redoran. He secured the territory himself. The houses had NO official territory until 3E 414. Ald'ruhn did not exist back then.

Side note: I sent an email to them. Do you think they'll respond? Someone should tweet them as well.

Hm, how can you exactly know if is the Zenimax that made this wrong or the guys behind the interactive map? Dont forget the interactive map is made by fans, probably they couldnt know that town wouldnt exist in that ERA. But still, is better inform Zenimax for good or for bad.