Morrowind says the smaller the team the better.

Thanks for this Aspro.

And now the second part of the Game Informer Magazine article covering the history of the Elder Scrolls.  SPOILERS abound in this post, so if you care about the story and intend to play the main story lines in any of the past Elder Scroll's games beware!

1. The Elder Scrolls: Arena 1994. "Emporer Uriel Septim VII [ASPRO: Picard from Oblivion] is betrayed by his battlemage, Jagar Tharn, and imprisoned in a realm of Oblivion.  The player travels across Tamriel searching for pieces of the Staff of Chaos in order to rescue the Emperor and defeat Jagar Tharn".

Impact? "During Jagar Tharn's reign, the Empire was weakened by a series of wars, one of which plays into the story of Daggerfall. More details of Jagar Tharn's plot against the Empire were revealed in Battlespire."

2. The Elder Scrolls Chapter II: Daggerfall 1996. "The player is sent to the city of Daggerfall by the Emporer where teh player recovers the Totem of Tiber Septim, the key to controlling the Numidium, a giant golem used by Tiber Septim to forge the empire hundreds of years before.  The game has six different endings depending on who the player chooses to give the totem to."

Impact? "The game ended with what became known as 'The Warp in the West', with six possible endings all happening or not happening simultaneously."

3. Battlespire: An Elder Scrolls Legend 1997. "Set during the same time as Arena, the player is an apprentice battlemage who gets caught up in Jagar Tharn's betrayal of the Battlespire to the daedra lord Mehrunes Dagon as an enemy of the Septim Empire, and his defeat provided him the motive of revenge in Oblivion's Story.

Impact? "Battlespire sets up Mehrunes Dagon as an enemy of the Septim Empire, and his defeat provided him the motive of revenge in Oblivion's story"

4. The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard 1998. "Unlike other Elder Scrolls games, in Redguard you play a particular character, Cyrus, who travels to Stros M'kai in search of his missing sister.  In the process, he gets caught up in Tiber Septim's attempted conquest of Hammerfell.  In the end, Cyrus rescues his sister and drives the Empire off of Stros M'kai.

Impact? "The Empire withdrew from Hammerfell after its defeat at Stros M'Kai. Later, Hammerfell joined the Empire voluntarily in the Treaty of Stros M'kai, negotiated by (now) Queen-Regent Iszara."

5. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 2002. "The player is a prisoner, sent to Morrowind by the emporer ostensibly to work as an Imperial agent, but in fact to help investigate and perhaps fulfil a prophecy and become the reincarnation of the Nerevarine, a long-dead hero.  You learn the origins of the Tribunal, the revered god-heroes of Morrowind and their struggle with the immortal Dagoth Ur.  Dagoth Ur and his Sixth House cult are the source of a supernatural blight that threatens to overwhelm Morrowind.  By fulfilling the prophecies, the player is finally able to confront and defeat Dagoth Ur in his fortress in the crater of Red Mountain."

Impact? "When the Heart of Lorkhan was released from the mortal plane, the power of the tribunal was broken forever, which indirectly led to the fall of the Ministry of truth and the devastation of Vvardenfell (as described in the novel The Infernal City)."

6. The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal 2002. "The player is put in the middle of a struggle between Almalexia, one of the members of the Tribunal, and the ruthless King Helseth.  The player is eventually sent to deal with the threat of the crazed Sotha Sil, but in fact it is Almexia who has gone insane and has to be destroyed."

Impact: "With the death of two of the members of the Tribunal, the authority of the Tribunal temple is unlikely to survive.  This may herald the return of the Dunmer to their ancient tradition of daedra-worship."

7. The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon 2006. "The player learns of the Bloodmoon Prophecy, in which the daedra lord Hircine stages a ritualistic hunt.  The player joins the Skaal tribe and eventualy becomes the prey of Hircine's great hunt, possibly becmoing a werewolf along the way."

Impact? "Nothing substantial changed, the story was more personal to the player"

8. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 2006. "The game opens with the assassination of Emporer Uriel Septim VII by unknown assassins.  The player has to find Martin Septim, the last heir to the Septim throne, and help him relight the Dragonfires in order to stop Dagon's invasion.  In the end, Martin is forced to use the Amulet to take the form of the god Akatosh in order to defeat Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon."

Impact? "Martin's apotheosis permanently sealed the barriors between Oblivion and the mortal world, forever preventing the kind of invasion attempted by Mehrunes Dagon.  The end of the Spetim Dynasty heralded the end of the Third Era.  The fate of the Tamriel and the Empire in the Fourth Era remains to be seen."

9. The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles 2007. "A mysterious gate opens on an island of the Niben Bay.  It leads to the realm of the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath, who is looking for a mortal champion to help fight the onset of his nemesis, Jyggalag, who is the Daedric Prince of Order.  In the end, Jyggalag and Sheogorath turn out to be one and the same - Jyggalag was cursed long ago by the other daedric princes to be Sheogorath.  By defeating Jyggalag, the player breaks the curse and assumes the mantle of the Prince of Madness."

Impact? "Jyggalag is now freed from his curse of madness. Although defeated, he will eventually resume him place as the Prince of Order, with unknown ramifications for the complicated and opaque balance of power within Oblivion"

So is the game set mostly in Skyrim? Is this mostly a snow world?

aspro said:

Skyrim is a mountainous snowy region, but nothing is known about the game other what was revealed in the announcement teaser.  Basically a hero is needed to fight some dragons.

I wonder if this is going to have monster hunter like extended dragon battles? Could be a turn off.

Game informer has 14 page feature on Skyrim coming. New cover below: (Oh Bethesda commented on their site "Oh, and about that mysterious text on the back cover. If you’re Dragonborn, you should be able to figure it out. Otherwise, GameInformer.com hints you’ll have more to work with very soon…"

A new era is dawning in the world of Tamriel, and we've got 14 pages of screens and details straight from Bethesda.



The February issue of Game Informer is about to hit subscribers, and you can now see a first look at the new cover image. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the next huge role-playing game from Bethesda, the makers of Oblivion and Fallout 3. Bethesda was kind enough to walk us though the new game a few weeks ago, and we can't wait to share what we experienced with all of you.

The cover features a first for Game Informer. While this digital version of the image shows off the stark, black styling, the real treat comes in the print version. There you'll see a special ultraviolet coating that accentuates the symbol in the center, giving a striking, 3-dimensional texture to the image.

What's that on the back cover? The strange language seen there offers the first hints of Skyrim's story, along with a unique tie to the singing in the recent teaser trailer. What does it say? The answer lies in translating the stanzas into English. Check back later today to solve the puzzle. It's the first installment of our month-long extravaganza of online Skyrim stories, all of which will be found on the game's hub page as they release, linked from the image below.

We hope you enjoy the mysterious cover. And don't worry. The inside of the magazine has over 20 screenshots that show off Skyrim in all its glory, along with a 14-page article on the new gameplay, engine, story and setting for this latest Elder Scrolls epic.



Also in this issue, we reveal our top 50 games of 2010, including your reader picks for game of the year. What did we choose? What did you choose? And were they the same?



In addition, the February issue includes our first look at Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, our blowout on the new Mortal Kombat game (including two new characters), and our frightening look at the newest Silent Hill. Also watch for our final review of Dead Space 2.



As always, thanks to all of our readers for checking out the magazine and website. Let us know what you think about the new cover in the comments below, and don't forget to come back later today to learn more about its mysteries.

I feel like this:

Okay, the runes on the Gameinformer cover have been translated. (the ones on the back cover).  Here is what they say:

Dragonborn Dragonborn

By his honor is sworn

To keep evil forever at bay

And the fiercest foes rout

When they hear triumph's shout

Dragonborn for hunger blessing we pray

And the scrolls have fortold

Of black wings in the cold

That when brothers wage war come unfurled

Alduin, bane of kings

Ancient shadow unbound

With a hunger to swallow the world

Story

Yup.  That's what I got out of it.  I mean, look at that shit.  Do you think someone spent more than 10 minutes on that?

I shudder to think that that was the output of a meeting and hours of discussion and editing.

Yeah. Very true on reflection.  I just hope that when whomever wrote that was done, they said "Well that was easy, these suckers will eat up anything -- I'm off to lunch" and not, "It is done, I shall forever honor this moment".