The Elder Scrolls Online lore interview we won’t step anywhere near the Dwemer – For The Win

From the volcanic plains of Morrowind to the lurching fjords of Skyrim, to the sprawling sands of Elsweyr and the towering sierras of Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls Online has become a vast and varied version of Tamriel that is unprecedentedly immense in scope. In fact, the designers at ZeniMax Online Studios are actually running out of space on the continent thats why the next location coming to the game, High Isle, has never been visited before in this universe.

Thats not the only thing being added to the game in the upcoming Legacy of the Bretons expansion, though. Obviously, a story about Bretons requires, well Bretons. We sat down with The Elder Scrolls Online lead writer Bill Slavicsek and loremaster Leamon Tuttle to discuss all things Bretonic and beyond.

We chose the Bretons because we havent done much with them since the launch game, Slavicsek tells GLHF. Weve been looking for What havent we done yet? and they were an obvious choice. They deserve more of a spotlight than theyve had before, and were going to give them one with the Legacy of the Bretons.

For those of you who enjoy The Elder Scrolls but are more well-versed on races like Nords, Dark Elves, and Khajiit, the Bretons according to the folks at ZeniMax Online Studios are significantly more intriguing than people have been led to believe. Their society is a Thronesian one, where abrasiveness is eschewed for subterfuge and petty political squabbles are quickly elevated to full-fledged coups dtat.

We did a lot of research on the actual medieval period in Europe how that played out and how the various noble houses dealt with and around each other, Tuttle explains. Theres a ton of intrigue and conflict between various noble houses thats gonna definitely have a spotlight put on it. There are several noble houses, two in particular that the player is going to be well acquainted with over time. Theres the whole neo-feudalism side of it, but theres also the magical side of it. One of the things that often gets lost in the shuffle is that Bretons are one of the most magically adept races in Tamriel, from the king all the way down to the serfs.

Every Breton can boast some resistance to magic and some basic aptitude for learning it if given the opportunity. I mean, some of the greatest mages in Tamrielic history were Breton. Another aspect of society that were dealing with is Druidism. Early on in theElder Scrolls releases, there was a reference to the Druids of Galen. It was kind of dropped and never really talked about that much. But were really getting into the history of the Bretons in terms of their relationship with the Direnni elves and how that all started, these basic kinds of early religion aspects with druids.

Its worth lingering on that point for a moment. As Tuttle says above, part of preparing for this expansion involved going back to old lore in order to maintain consistency with the Elder Scrolls universe. This is pretty standard in unique sci-fi and fantasy worlds with their own inherent rules and rituals, although Slavicsek jokes that, Were fantasy, we make it up when we mention the fact that Mass Effects loremaster would often crunch the numbers for concepts like using mass relays to achieve FTL speeds.

The challenges that we face are different from the challenges that youd see in a game like Mass Effect, Tuttle says. Were not crunching numbers on mass relays and stuff, but I do a ton of research on a bunch of different stuff, including all the lore thats taken place up until now. Its a lot of reading, but one thing I always try to consider is that as loremaster, our job is not to treat all the lore as totally inviolate. Were the stewards of what is the best version of ourselves. Were trying to safeguard the best aspects of the franchise and make sure that they get a chance to shine.

Theres this idea that the loremaster gig is just kind of smacking peoples hands with big books and being like, No, you cant do that! or whatever. But really, its about trying to find a way to achieve what were trying to achieve while protecting the best aspects of the franchise.

Slavicsek builds on this point, stating that Tuttles role isnt necessarily to say no and smack the writers with a dusty old text from The Elder Scrolls: Arena. Its to turn around and say, How can we make that work? when faced with a new idea that could potentially be at odds with a previous or future one. Slavicsek, meanwhile, focuses on ensuring that these stories are all consistent with every three-month gap between releases. Compared to single-player games and even a lot of online ones the amount of quality content The Elder Scrolls Online produces on the regular is pretty wild.

Thats a fascinating point to muse on, too. Obviously, The Elder Scrolls Online is massively popular now, which makes the decade its been since a single-player Elder Scrolls game all the more ostensible. Some fans of the series are of the opinion that ESO has usurped its single-player predecessors, although the folks at ZeniMax Online Studios dont like to think of it that way.

Were not in competition with our brethren at BGS, Slavicsek says. I just try to put out good stuff and hope the audience likes it.

We both get to play in the same universe, but we play in different ways, Tuttle adds. Thats one of the cool things about games generally is that theres variations on the theme, and different studios do different things in different ways. People clearly love our game, and they definitely clearly love the mainline titles in The Elder Scrolls. I think with all of our studios, were making people happy in different ways.

ESO, however, has had to experiment with said ways in abnormally rapid succession. As mentioned at the beginning of the piece, the size of Tamriel has already been established. The races who inhabit the continent their histories, mythologies, and cultures are known to fans the world over. How can ZeniMax Online Studios continue to put out new hefty chunks of new material on a quarterly basis while ensuring its world doesnt outgrow the shell that keeps it contained, but focused?

I mean, wed like to go to new places, Slavicsek explains. Were running out of room on Tamriel thats one of the reasons were going to the archipelago in this next package. Weve covered most of the main continent at this point. But we also believe in the rules of the universe and there are certain mysteries that will never be answered. The Dwemer are one of those we are not going to step anywhere near that.

We may do some hints here and there, we may tease you a little bit. But there are things that they say we should never touch, and thats one. We will never touch those things. But were creating new stuff all the time we have to or wed never put out any content. The Ascendant Order is new, High Isle is new. Last time we showed parts of the Deadlands that were never seen before. Thats become second nature for us and its exciting. We love doing it.

For those who are curious about the upcoming material referenced above, the Ascendant Order is an all-new antagonistic faction that is opposed to the Three Banners War. Their quest for a crownless utopia marks them as the kind of villainous organization that isnt just armed to the teeth with twirly mustaches and dastardly laughs though. Its staffed by people with real conviction in a lofty goal they see as just, and which other people concur with due to the fact they market themselves as people who are anti-violence in Tamriel.

Thats actually a good thing, right? We want to end the war, Slavicsek says. Its a matter of how they go about doing it that becomes the driving force of the story. And their leaders weve got a few of them that youll meet across the length of the story are these individuals that at least on the surface have noble goals and believe in things that most of the common folk of Tamriel would probably support until people start dying.

The studios confidence in terms of introducing whole new factions in large, year-long expansion stories has bred ambition, conviction, and a kind of self-awareness in the MMO space that maybe not all companies are capable of recognizing. The people at ZeniMax Online Studios know that what theyre doing is good. They can identify why it resonates with so many people, and can clearly see a future for ESO that isnt affected by rivals or future Elder Scrolls games developed elsewhere.

Were telling good stories, Slavicsek says. I think our storytelling is some of the strongest happening in the industry. We approach the storytelling for an MMO much differently than most other MMOs and Im very proud of that. Were doing good stuff and people are noticing.

I think its important to give props to the community itself, as well, Tuttle continues. I mean, a game like this does not exist in the way that it exists now without a really awesome, thriving community of players that are contributing in different ways writing articles, doing fan art, or writing fanfics. One of the cool things about doing this is theres this kind of communication between us and people who really love this game. I think thats a huge part of its success.

Speaking of which, ESOs community surpassed 20 million players just last year. As was the case with many games, people all over the world found solace in video games throughout the pandemic particularly in highly sociable ones like MMOs. While the team has been working from home for almost two years, they havent missed a single deadline throughout that time. They know just how important its been for players to be able to inhabit this world.

Personally, what Ive been doing when Im not writing for the game and working is playing video games, because I cant leave my house, Slavicsek explains. I think video games have given people a way to get through this unique situation were all in, at least if youre fans of that particular medium. Im glad weve been able to provide people with something that could get them through this. Were gonna continue to do that.

Both Slavicsek and Tuttle have words for those people, too which includes you if youre reading this. Thank you, Tuttle opens with. Thats first.

Our game is unique, Slavicsek says. You can start anywhere you want. If you decide you want to start with Legacy of the Bretons, its a perfectly good jumping-in point. Its a political story. Its a down-to-earth story. Its a people story. Youre gonna learn a lot about the Bretons and their history and their lore. But youre also going to deal with the current problems of the day in Tamriel. Be ready to run in and have some fun.

I would say from the lore perspective, if you really wanted to get some more lore from the Bretons, you will not be disappointed, Tuttle says. Theres plenty of it to go around. And if youre one of these people who thinks that the Bretons are really boring you should play too, because well prove you wrong.

Written by Cian Maher on behalf of GLHF.

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The Elder Scrolls Online lore interview we won't step anywhere near the Dwemer - For The Win