Guest Blog Writer: Dalton Irwin on the Elder Scrolls

One game series which has been referenced a few times in this blog, that provides an excellent look at the change in game’s focus over the past twenty years, is The Elder Scrolls, developed by Bethesda Softworks. This role-playing experience, which has expanded from a simple dungeon-crawler with pixelated graphics to one of the most beloved action role-playing sandboxes of modern times, has five entries, stretching back to 1994. Each of these entries is reflective of the role-playing desires of the time.

The first entry, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, had a simple premise; the player, after being freed from prison, must put the eight scattered pieces of the Staff of Chaos back together to defeat the evil mage posing as the Emperor. Each piece is located at the bottom of a large dungeon, the location of which is only found by finding a special item in another dungeon at the location-giver’s behest. Other than these dungeons, any other dungeons the player explored were randomly generated, similarly to the miscellaneous quests the player could receive. Arena had no tutorial, so players had to discover their abilities through exploration of the interface and random button-pressing. After its release, Arena became a cult classic, which allowed Bethesda to create the second entry, Daggerfall.

Daggerfall, released two years after Arena, had a similar feel to its predecessor, but with certain key differences. First, the graphics received a much-needed overhaul. Second, the storyline became much more player-driven: there were multiple endings which varied based on which faction the player supported during the game (this variation in endings was explained in later entries as “The Warp in the West”, in which all of the endings mysteriously occurred simultaneously). Factions were a new addition to the game, and each had a reputation system, allowing the player to be loved or hated by various organizations. After Daggerfall, Bethesda released its third entry in 2002: Morrowind.

Morrowind’s release marks the Elder Scrolls’ transformation to what it is today. The third entry in the series made many changes, not the least of which was to the graphics. The aesthetics were astounding at the time, and the music, written by the same composure who would write Oblivion’s and later Skyrim’s soundtrack (Jeremy Soule), denoted the style that later game’s background music would take (although songs tended to replay too often). Perhaps the most notable change in Morrowind, however, was its environmental consistency. Previous entries had randomized dungeons, but all of Morrowind’s dungeons were predetermined; human enemies even had the same unique names.

Four years after Morrowind, Oblivion was released, with Skyrim releasing five years after that. Oblivion and Skyrim followed Morrowind’s example, with established dungeons and quests (although Skyrim’s Radiant Quest system allowed for some randomization through quest type and location).

The Elder Scrolls’ graphics have seen an overhaul with every release, but the gameplay has evolved each time as well. These changes reflect not only the series’ change in focus, but the design of role-playing games in general.

*Dalton Irwin also maintains his own blog, Preparation for College Play Auditions, covering many of the necessities and tips for upcoming performers. If you have interest in the subject, I highly recommend checking out his blog here.