I am assuming then, that Lord Dunsany doesn't count?

We need a Mordor and Saurons armor DLC.

Isn't LotR ther basis for most or all fantasy settings of this nature?

Wouldn't that mean that everyone copies it?

Please understand that I might not share your religious ideals, but that's perfectly fine and that's not something we should fight over.

But, I don't see how that's WORSE. Rather, that seems to make it BETTER. The more reference to older societies that once existed the more grounding this virtual world has in the real world. Referencing from other stories and history is not a BAD thing at all. I don't personally understand how one could hope to build a believeable world from scratch.

There are no promotions of any religion in this game at all, let's not blow this out of the water. EVEN if there were, you still have the right to worship those older deities.

As I understand it the pentagram, the sign of the devil, all behold and tremble in fear- is actually a symbol used in Wiccan rituals (just keep reading). Originally the five points of the star were to represent the five elements they worshiped in their Earth-based religion. The symbol was then literally turned upside-down and branded as an evil pagan symbol for their devil worshiping ways- blah blah blah. It was like Christian propaganda. For good or for bad, I am not to say.

Jesus was likely born in the summer, as historians tell us. The reason Christmas is in December was to attract the attention of the pagans during their Winter Solstice festival.

Either way the worshipping of "dark and ancient gods" is something that we see in history- usually as a people's way of understanding and coping with hardships. Superstition is something inherently human, so throwing that into a game is a plus, if you ask me. It's all about creating a believable world. The whole thing with Talos is awesome, because it starts to play on the idea of religious branding and religious persecution.

Plus- it's really metal.

And didn't Lord of the Rings copy old germanic and celtic folklore and even from some tales of the arthurian cycle?

Not everyone. Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A9kumelhttp:// or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorantha for examples of fantasy gameworlds that owe little or nothing to Tolkien.

The similarity is that both Tolkien-orcs and Falmer were once elves, but they were twisted into malicious monsters by somebody. There is essentially only one way to make a pancake, no matter who does it. The pancakes will resemble each other. I wouldn't call that borrowing. Especially if you remember the fact that most people aren't that fanatic about TLOTR lore to know that little tidbit of information. Not to mention that Tolkien himself used to teach mythology and linguistics, and borrowed from ancient myths a lot. So anything even remotely viking (and I think we'll agree that the Nord are a lot like vikings) will read like Tolkien, because that's where most of his stuff comes from. And yeah, I used to be quite the rabid fan

Lol first time I entered witherun , in my mind I say "hey its edoras"
But also Edoras is like a viking city, and well.. skyrim its a complete "like-viking" land, so....
There are references yes, cause LotR is universal , the basis.

By that logic you are promoting the use of nuclear weaponry you evil person.

Definitely copied more from The Descent for the Falmer

Actually.... now that you state that... I noticed that MANY (if not all) Daedric ruines bear names that, for me sounds like Asirian/Sumerian/babylonian

If I say Asurbanipal... does it sound like a daedric ruin right? But it was a mesopotamic king... hum hum!

Just like Elder Scrolls copies things from LotR, LotR copied things from previous fantasy stories.

copied no, but like others have said LOTR has heavily inspired the western fantasy genre.

Dragon Age is way more similar. And the Dwemer aren't dwarves, the only reason they're called "dwarves" is because giants thought they were small, IIRC. TES is VERY different from LOTR, compared to other fantasy universes. The "dwarves" are steampunk, many of the elves are filthy, evil e.g. cannibals.

Really? Like what? These fantasy stories must have been around before 1916 then - because that's when Tolkien started to build his world. In the trenches of WW I.

"Alinor" in Skyrim is a capital city of High Elves.
Compare to Tolkien's "Valinor".


Not a simple copy? Oh I'm sorry, one letter is different.
And that's just one example.


But for some reason Bethesda likes to demonize the elves. And the gods. Gods in this game are the worst gods of any mythology I knew. I'd kill 90% of them right away and think long and hard for the remaining 10%.

I had the same initial reaction, because Tolkien literally "wrote the book" on what constitutes fantasy and all that has come after... but let's not forget all the myths and histories that were in place before that. They may not have been books or stories of the type we're familiar with, but they existed.

since falmer armor seems to be made if crab shells i disagree. dwarves also seem difernt in this game, in LOTR they are [censored]s who care only for them selves and dig for loot, in this they are a highly advanced society searching for some under ground power source or something

Tolkien was creating a false English Mythology - lots of it is based on the same lines as Old English and Norse mythology, which isn't surprising given what he was a professor of..

But yes, he was hugely influential - coining terms like 'elves' and 'orcs' even if they were based a little on some previous mythologies like the fey people, most western fantasy uses Tolkien invented things.

He is not talking about Uruk Hai. He is talking about the goblins of Moria from the Fellowship of the Ring.

http://di1-4.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/20/00/e8/95802306-260x260-0-0_The+Lord+of+the+Rings+The+Fellowship+of+the+Rings+.jpg
http://images.uesp.net/thumb/1/17/SR-creature-Falmer.jpg/180px-SR-creature-Falmer.jpg

The modern medieval fantasy genre probably owes its existence to LOTR's publication in the fifties. Till then it was fringe stuff like Robert E Howard's Conan. Even the earlier book, The Hobbit was considered kid's stuff. LOTR is when it went mainstream. It was the direct inspiration for Dungeons and Dragons, and by extension every computer RPG (and fantasy-action games and platformers) since then. It would be a challenge to find something that hasn't been done before, somewhere.

You're a [censored] lonely man aren't you?

Whats the point of being like that?

Are you a knowledge bully or something?

The belief that gods should be good and helpful to humanity is a very Christian thing. In most polytheistic religions gods are neither good nor evil - they just are. Sure, some are more popular than others, but essentially gods are embodiments of forces of nature, or parts of our psychological makeup. Both things are neither good nor evil, and both have a nurturing and a destructive element. Most gods in TES lore have a dual nature (Nocturnal and Azura come to mind) - like, for example, most Hindu gods. Kali being a prime example. So no, I actually find the TES gods pleasantly normal

Let's just say ALL fantasy borrows from LOTR and be done with this silly silly topic.

[censored] it's this thread again.