What I see happening is that M'aiq or a son of M'aiq, also named M'aiq, finally finds a set of calipers. Someone told the Aldmeri Dominion that he is a Talos worshipper, and the Thalmor are pursuing this rogue priest of Talos. M'aiq denies these charges emphatically, but since he is a liar no one believes him. So he uses the calipers to open an extra-dimensional portal to view several alternative parallel dimensions and choses one where his travels in Skyrim become safe from the Thalmor. This is the one that becomes canon. And this is found in a "Diary of M'aiq The Liar" that you find in TES VI. And this allows Bethesda to set any canon they like without any slight to any player.

You have not kept up with the lore between Oblivion and Skyrim, it seems.

I'm a medievalist, don't need a lecture on the theory of empires. And if you think there were no free alliances in the medieval period, think again.

Just to elaborate on my main complaint, when I say do one thing or the other "right".. I mean, if they are so intent on directing the player, then why not give me a rich experience of that kind of game NOW? When you have a specific story to tell, you're free to make more elaborate set pieces and scripting. Stuff like that. Instead, this game has all the makings of an open world. The scripting is not done in the same sense, of, say, God of War or Final Fantasy or whatever. So, in the end, if all I get in the end is a God of War type of story, then give it to me now. Don't just do it later in a 2 page lore book. That is beyond sh*tty.

The larger canon story is bigger than any one PC. When Sheogorath talks about the HoC's adventures, he's talking in meta terms. My particular HoC didn't do everything he talks about.

Miaq could also inform his Dragon King that the time to invade Tamriel is now, before the Cyrodillics are powerful enough to resist Akaviri conquest.

Actually, some Empires have crumbled after a handful of battles or clever political moves. Not that such historical events have any bearing on Nirn.

It's been 200 years since the Empire was last stable. 200 years since they last had a Dragonborn Emporer. 199 years since the Black Marsh and Elsweyr became independent. 195 years since the Ministry of Truth fell on Vivec and the Red Mountain Errupted. 171 since the Talmor took control of Valenwood and unified it with Summerset Isle to become the second Aldemeri Dominion. The Empire's has had problems for a while. And now, dragons. Oh, joy.

If there's a larger canon story, then all I'm saying is make people feel a part of it. This whole scooting the player under the table with "meta" stuff is pretty lame. Not even the worst kind of Columbian soap opera hack storywriters would dare write something so stupid.

edit: Actually, that's not true. Soap operas can be pretty bad.

exactly
an entire season of Dallas was declared to just be a dream
hopefully nothing that cheesy will occur in TES

Yeah, you read my mind. lol Dallas is what came to mind.

Ulfric Stormcloak is the new "J R Ewing".

Ulfric is the man because of many things.. but mainly because he is

Buliwyf From 13th Warrior

I like the idea of joining the Cloaks and then having a DLC with the moot for High King - and then suddenly finding yourself with half of Skyrim wanting you to be the king instead, not Ulfric. Then you can have an epic dual. Better than the one he had with Torryg. This would be a nice bit of irony for the man who, in his own words, thinks the high king should be one who can personally defend against all threats. Turn his own reasoning about Torryg against him - why exactly should he be king if you can kick his ass?

A couple of my characters have brutally murdered him due to his domestic negligence and racist policies.


To be fair, he'd probably agree with you and be content to leave Skyrim in the hands of its most capable warrior.

Of course, not all characters want to be High King of Skyrim and not all characters agree that Skyrim should be independent anyway. Some of my characters would much rather return to Hammerfell, High Rock, vacation in Akavir or become a God of Madness. The usual.

Well, yeah, it'd be cool if there were multiple options. Not everyone should be forced to be king. Not even sure why or how some could be written as such (like an Argonian character). But I'd like the option, instead of being positioned as some subordinate on either the Empire or Stormcloak side.

As long as we get the option to put Ulfric on the throne and have a female Nord Dovahkiin marry him and become queen, I'd be all for that option. :hearts: Or have it so that a male Nord could marry that milk drinker Elisif and become king.

What if they do a Mass Effect type of thing where you could load information from a Skyrim save in the next TES game? So if you crushed the Stormcloaks or the Imperials in your Skyrim then it changes how the next TES will be?

I don't think so though. Because so many people have played as so many characters. Plus, I leave the future lore in Bethesdas hands.

That's what Ive been mentioning myself. I don't think ME or DA are perfect, but it's a cool idea in theory. If someone actually took the time to cover a lot of bases, it'd be great. A fully digitized version of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books that I used to read as a kid.

its funny how u didn't quote why i think he is the man.

I don't see him as that much of a racism tbh... and dark elfs, well the khajiit get treated worser then them as they aren't allowed in any citys. not even the " i love every race " imperial run citys like solitude.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-wrEf8uAxw

I think Bioware itself is beginning to regret the import mechanic. It creates a lot of problems, like Zombie Leliana and the import bugs to DA2 which even now have not been fixed. Mass Effect has done better, but only by limiting the tracks you can run on- simple-minded, binary choices like renegade/paragon which don't even make sense. I'm not in favor of that for TES, which is more mythic anyway, so it works to have the myth rise above any one individual. It also reminds you that no matter how godlike your PC is, you're not all that important in the larger scheme of things. There were heroes before, there will be heroes again, you're lucky if anyone even sings a song about you. I'm fine with that sort of anonymity.

They have a slightly plausible excuse for Leliana.. The only time you can kill her is at the Urn of Sacred Ashes. Which has magically regenerative properties. I'm pretty sure that's their reasoning. Retcon with Anders is not easily excused. But then, even that is somewhat plausible if Justice is around his body. Even if Justice dies, his last words are kind of mysterious.. like he indicates he's going to do something drastic. "Now I know what to do."

As for regretting the import mechanic, maybe they do. I don't know. All I know is that any good idea, no matter how difficult, is worth trying. Games in general evolve this way. If people just give up, we'd still be stuck playing Pong. Or if stories were meant to be brushed aside, we'd still have crap dialogue on the level of "All your base belong to us." Someone needs to take this idea and roll with it.

And like I've said before, I'm all for "larger scheme of things" type of stories. Most games are written this way. They have no player agency whatsoever. But they can be entertaining. The thing is, TES is not written this way. A hundred developers spent days and nights and months working and writing different quests and characters... and if it's all for nothing, where in the end, people are just directed towards one ultimate path, then what's the point of wasting all that time. And decieving players like me, and rewarding other players not like me. That svcks. If I'm meant to be a Stormcloak, then put more effort to that instead.. write a [censored] epic rebel story, railroad me to death, and make it cool. But as long as I have choices, then make them matter instead. You can't do both type of stories.

What about a male nord marrying Ulfric and being... also King and a female nord marrying Elisif and being also Queen. Options for all! xD

What empire? Its down to 2 provinces now. Not a lot left to "slowly" crumble. The centuries of constant weakening already happened.

Three provinces, which equals that of the Thalmor, in its current state. Cyrodiil, Skyrim and High Rock. The Empire has been greatly weakened over the last 200 years though. I can't disagree with that. I don't see an alliance of man being on the horizon without the Empire though. There's too much distrust and not enough manpower.

Actually AD has 2 and a half plus a protectorate state. Summerset, Valenwood, Half of Hammerfell, the other half being an independent state of their own and Elsweyr as a protectorate state.

It would be nice to see it written in lore that Stormcloaks has won the war. Anyway because the Thalmor is strong and player can choose the side where he fights I believe it will be written that the civil war of Skyrim weakened men so much that Thalmor was able to conquer them.

I think they are regretting their decision as well. While you can do it for minor stuff. The major stuff isn't going to make any difference anyway, but you have the challenge of making it seem like it does. You have like in DA2 one stupid encounter with a drunk Alister if you took one action in DAO. You have issues with stuff like making sure the variables pass properly so the proper choices get reflected.

Take Mass Effect. The first game felt more open "world". The second ran a much tighter rail with fewer meaningful choices. The third can be more open since it's the finale of the series. However what I'm also seeing as a negative is the option to turn the game into a shooter. Yes you'll be able to play it like Gears with no dialog choices and just Bioware's canon playthrough, Cutscenes will replace the dialog. You can opt into that mode if you want.

I cannot imagine how it would be with a game like TES. I think Bethesda is walking on thin ice here. I think with the choice of Stormcloaks vs Imperials it turns into a can of worms unless you're going to have a collapse of the empire anyway. And with a collapse like that comes chaos and a dark age with little written. Maybe 100 yrs pass. Maybe 200 yrs. Maybe the account we see is from M'aiq The Liar who will be about as vague as you can get about what happened since he's more about saving his own skin. Bottom line is that the Empire story line is done otherwise they wouldn't have done this. Maybe now we're going to be dealing with the Aldmeri Dominion as the major player, but Skyrim won't be involved in the next game.