As The Elder Scrolls Online approaches its tenth year since launch, it's gearing up to release a particularly compelling Chapter that brings game-changing new systems like scribing, while also delving into some major pieces of lore. Set to arrive on June 3 for PC players and June 18 for those on consoles, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road takes players to a familiar Oblivion locale, The West Weald region.
As The Elder Scrolls Online continues to develop a comprehensive playable Tamriel with unprecedented detail, it inevitably runs into areas that have already been depicted throughout the series. ESO takes place roughly 1000 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and 1200 years before The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, but many of the regions and even a large portion of towns and cities from those titles still have a presence in the MMORPG prequel. Following our hands-on preview of the new Gold Road Chapter, The Best War Games spoke with ESO creative director Rich Lambert about how the team depicted this classic Oblivion region.
Skingrad Was A Perfect Hub City For the New Elder Scrolls Online Chapter
On the one hand, it would be a missed opportunity not to include Oblivion references in ESO content that touches on the same locales. On the other hand, the team needs to strike a balance between being referential and expressing their unique vision. After all, ESO is a 1000-year prequel, so the events of those games don't entirely confine the team's choices. When looking at Oblivion's rendition of the West Weald, its central city Skingrad was a perfect opportunity for some self-referential Easter eggs. As Lambert explained, players may want to pay close attention to lore specifically.
Skingrad is one of those because that's the hub city. We spent a long time going through that stuff and looking at what it could be. I'm really interested to see what players start to think about and postulate in terms of some of the lore that we put in here.
Skingrad is centrally located and is a familiar name to Elder Scrolls fans, so it turned out to be an ideal hub location for the Chapter's players. ESO's Skingrad indeed bears some resemblance to its Oblivion counterpart: the almost gothic stone architecture with pointed rooftops and stained glass, rows of vineyards on the city's outskirts, and the presence of Castle Skingrad are familiar Oblivion elements that benefit from the skill of ESO's art team and the game's more modern technology. The most significant difference is regarding the surrounding terrain, with ESO's West Weald exhibiting warm fall colors instead of the ubiquitous greenery that covered nearly all of Oblivion.
Gold Road Hides Some Curious Details For Elder Scrolls Lore Buffs
One area in the Gold Road chapter addresses some long-held questions by Elder Scrolls lore buffs: the jungle region of Ostumir. In lore books like Mythic Dawn Commentaries 3 from Oblivion, it was mentioned that Cyrodiil was once a jungle before Tiber Septim used his powers to transform it into the more habitable plains and forests fans see today. With a jungle's sudden appearance as part of Gold Road's plot, Lambert hopes lore fans will have something new to sink their teeth into.
Obviously, this jungle has kind of sprung up overnight. If you're into the lore side of things, there are books that say Cyrodiil was a jungle at some point. There are lots of neat, interesting tidbits that we've put into there that we want players to explore and interpret on their own.
Of course, Gold Road's most significant lore element is the introduction of an all-new Daedric Prince, Ithelia the Unseen. The pantheon of Daedric Princes hasn't been expanded upon since Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion, but Oblivion may have unwittingly planted a seed for Ithelia's introduction nearly 20 years ago with the NPC Bruscius Longus and his line, "Between the seen and unseen." Unsurprisingly, a game series that traditionally features libraries of books within its games has some seriously deep lore, and it's always interesting to see how the ESO team expands on small references in long-forgotten lore books.
The Elder Scrolls Online
- Released
- April 4, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
Experience an ever-expanding story across all of Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online, an award-winning fantasy RPG. Explore a rich, living world with friends or embark upon a solo adventure. Ultimate freedom—Create your ultimate RPG character, play solo or adventure with friends, and determine your fate in an ever-expanding world. With no level restrictions, go anywhere at any time in a truly open world.
Choose your adventure—Begin your adventure where you like: emerge from Coldharbour in the Base Game, battle Dragons in the Elsweyr Chapter, or get ready to face the Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, in Blackwood. All content is accessible for new players, and you can switch adventures whenever you like.
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- ZeniMax Online Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Number of Players
- 1-4 (Co-Op)
- Platform(s)
- Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
- How Long To Beat
- 160+ Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
