Someone raised this question in another thread:

I know it's not out yet. But lack of information has never stopped anyone from having an opinion.

So have-at-it! Will TES Online be considerd Elder Scrolls canon or not?

[my vote is: yes]

It's not an opinion, it's a fact. The events of TESO will be canon.

Please God no. I explained my fears in the thread of which you speak.

Unfortunately, yes. Almost definitely.
Zenimax Online cleverly chose the period between the Second and Third Empires to set the game. This period didn't have an Emperor, or an Empire - it's simply stated that many captured and lost the throne of Cyrodiil. Which is a perfect way to have the game's events become canon, without having to state that 'xX_I-Pwn_Teh_N00bs_Lol_Xx' captured the Imperial City and became Emperor.

Yeah, it's not an opinion.

Anything they came up with is canon.

*sigh*

You missed one crucial word in my OP: "considered" (ie. by people like you and me)

lololol!!!!!!! Rofl!!!


Edit: Like for instance George Lucas "considers" the prequels to be canon; whereas I "consider" them to be insulting filth.

I'm sure that it'll be barely mentioned if at all.

From the grossly out of place factions to the transcription errors to the absurdity of the story concept, here's hoping it's a negative. I don't want to see it so much as mentioned in the actual TES games. Make it an alternate universe, timeline or so on, but don't let it leak into the real product.

But it'll still be canon. And since it has already openly contradicted things that the lore community was fond of, well.

I mean, does it matter? It happened so long ago that it will have no effect on any future TES titles beyond the MMO and its expansions.

It makes the universe far more mundane and more of a Tolkien rip off. Yes it matters.


A TES:O developer described TES lore as "gritty and down to earth" And he was referring to the design of Alinor. There's much more to the lore than just the games.

yes, of course, why would they go through the whole trouble of making a game and then say none of it happened?

What are you referring to??? I think I've seen all of the interviews about it. Can't say I noticed anything that weird.

Cyrodill being a forest instead of a jungle. In all games pre-Oblivion it was described as a jungle. In Oblivion it was a temperate forest. Kirkbride fixed this by hypothesizing that Septim CHIM'd the country into a temperate forest. Pieces of the text that claims this are quoted by Heimskr in Skyrim.

The developers response to questions of why Cyrodill wasn't a jungle when it should've been? "Oh, well, uh, it was a transcription error!"

Now, you can write this off saying somethig like "Oh, well he CHIM'd it, and gods don't like time, so his doing it then made it so it was always a temperate forest." See, if the developers had given that answer there would've been much less of a backlash. They didn't.

There's also the improbability of some of the factions even uniting to begin with, Ayrenn managing to go against Altmer culture but somehow being Queen, etc.

What we consider makes no difference. Our opinions are irrelevant. If Bethesda says a thing is canon, it is canon.

Mainly the fact that, according to Zenimax Online, Mankar Camoran's Mythic Dawn Commentaries, the Pocket Guide to the Empire, Heimskr and former Loremaster Michael Kirkbride were all wrong. Cyrodiil was never a jungle, all of these sources were just 'transcription errors'. Because Zenimax Online wanted Cyrodiil to be a pretty but generic forest.

And then there's Alinor ...

The Dragon Broke...Everthing is canon.

Oh, come on. Don't give up the fight. I'm trying to stir the pot here. If you say it is bad, then say it loudly. Shout it from the forum-top for all to hear.

However, I'm going to need alot more than "Cyrodil is supposed to be a jungle"! I mean the Khajit were humanoid up until Morrowind (possibly Redguard?)! There's been plenty of changes within the series.

You mean Rivendell?


They also refused Kirkbride's help which is a pretty big slap in the face to the lore community in and of itself. Not to mention Kirkbride, who pretty much fathered weird TES lore along with Kuhlmann.

They didn't even use a Dragon Break, or say that when Tiber Septim CHIM'd Cyrodiil he removed the existence from the forest totally, from the present day and from history. Nope, they went with 'transcription error'.

It will most likely be mentioned in future titles but probably just in books so I am honestly not too worried about what Bethesda does with it. The only way it has a huge impact is if, for some reason, one the future titles happens before the events of Skyrim. I don't see that happening so it will just be in books.

Yes, it is.

And use http://www.gamesas.com/forum/190-elder-scrolls-online-general-discussion/ to discuss Elder Scrolls Online.