WE NEED HOTTER TAKES! | The Elder Scrolls Podcast #81

[@idolhellisaplaceonearth]

By the time Elder Scrolls 6 comes out, the teaser will have a 10 year anniversary.

[@Mrjakokos]

This is the coldest of takes: The undeniable truth

[@idolhellisaplaceonearth]

@@Mrjakokos we're almost 4 years in. In other news, Morrowind will have its 20th in May, meaning it will legally be allowed to drink Sujamma in Japan.

[@gattzflappa6306]

ES6 will also most likely be a buggy mess riddled with micro transactions. So at least the wait won't have been worth it.

[@Kshthymyla]

Omg. You’re right...

[@thomasm8217]

Amen.

[@bodymuezik]

Hot take: Clavicus Vile regrets that he didn't help in the creation of Mundus thus isn't a revered Aedra. His plane being the "Fields of Regret" speaks to more than just his followers. He is lonely which is why he splits himself into multiple parts, like Barbas. He envies not only the Aedra but mortals as well. He is the most relatable Daedra to mortal men and mer.

[@seraphjohanson3402]

Ooo. I like this one.

[@GarbaggioGoblino]

It makes sense, given that he's the Daedra most directly involved in the affairs of mortals, besides maybe Azura.

[@sagedamage109]

ZAD 😥

[@cone4338]

And him making bad deals with mortals to trick them could be like Lorkhan tricking the aedra and giving them a bad deal of taking away their power

[@jackroxable]

this isn't a hot take just another theory

[@XPetabreadX]

HOT TAKE: I think Peryite is one of the coolest deadric princes. I find it badass how you have all the mortals looking for help from these gods, and vice versa you have these princes jockeying and elbowing each other out of the way to get the worship of the mortals so they can push through to the next Kalpa. And you just got Peryite over here big chillin like ," Whatever man you like me, you like me, you dont, you dont; I got my own shit im cooking over here".

[@badluck5647]

Peryite seems like the younger brother of Auri-El/Akatosh. They are both the dragon gods of order, but Peryite chose to sit out the creation of Mundus after his brother was chosen as leader of the gods instead of him.

[@XPetabreadX]

@@badluck5647 Wow, well said! Edit: What you said really made a lot of pieces fall into place in my head! Im gonna try and keep this deep speculation brief. But maybe the two had a fight, idk about what, just say maybe Peryite wanted to leave with Magnus but felt obligated to stay with his brother or forced, you get my point. And maybe this fallout led to him leaving his place as the god of life and death to carve out his space in oblivion our of spite from his brother or something. This could also be a reason why Arkay was said to be a man that mantled into being the god of life and death. Also Also LoL you can percieve Peryites natural order as time not just life. So maybe they worked on shaping time around Nirn together. Im gonna stop rambling but haha yeah to your point, a lot of about these two are similar, it makes you think.

[@tyrannosauruscock]

Yeah, and he’s a Fucking dragon.

[@jordanthompson2669]

Cool story bro, needs more hot takes.

[@XPetabreadX]

@@jordanthompson2669 That is a hot take. You could ask 100 people who is the coolest, most interesting daedric prince and I bet about 1% would say Peryite, so understand what a hot take is before you come into my comment thread acting like an ass, Cool comment bro.

[@stveloth694]

Also, ima need Drew to say "proper tiddies" on the podcast more often now 38:01

[@Tchnfrq]

i think it says something about these guys that drew can say that to absolutley no reaction

[@bluesight_]

the grinning nod from Michael was hilarious too

[@stveloth694]

@@bluesight_ Michael: "oh hell yea"

[@MrRaisinBran]

I like how 23+ minutes in and someone's hot take is poorly explained quantum theory.

[@badluck5647]

Peryite seems like the younger brother of Auri-El/Akatosh. They are both the dragon gods of order, but Peryite chose to sit out the creation of Mundus after his brother was chosen as leader of the gods instead of him.

[@fishhead961]

That’s not a hot take but that’s a great theory, also I love peryite so double great

[@chipremel8594]

Good take man, I've always seen him as a sort of shadow to akatosh. Like akatosh is time and peryite is effects of time on things.

[@ravenechoseven9726]

@FISH HEAD To an Altmer, that would be a VERY hot take! Imagine the audacity of claiming their glorious Auriel was kin to a Daedra!

[@fishhead961]

@@ravenechoseven9726 the thalmor like daedra. Typical thalmor behavior, the elegant bosmer would never make such a mistake

[@hazeltree7738]

@@ravenechoseven9726 Aren't all the Aedra kin to Daedra? Their titles come from helping/not helping with Mundus, they're the same "Species" right?

[@jordanalexander6935]

Lorkan's greatest trick was fooling the Aedra and Daedra alike that he was dead (Lorkan/shor isn't dead, he's playing a trick)

[@CentauriSphere]

Explain why then it could be really fire

[@jordanalexander6935]

@@CentauriSphere alright fine I'll give some bullet points but tbh all of these could be fudge muppet videos (some are) -the heart of lorkan still beats -Shor is still worshipped heavily -He has Avatars in lore and possibly canon - He has an entire afterlife of his own -Mundus could be his Daedric realm, the embodiment of a Daedra which couldn't really exist if it's prince is dead. -Lorkahn is often portrayed as a deceptive and sneaky god, less than a strong one like Trinimak or Molag Bal when spoken about in the Dawn Era. So it's not like it's against his character to pull something like that. -Sheogorath was formed before Lorkan was killed I believe, so Lorkan could've seen how God's could over power eachother with teamwork so he could've been prepared. (Not 100% on that one) But idk

[@rhett6946]

@@jordanalexander6935 I actually really like this take, but idk if it's that hot of a take. It's interesting, but not really controversial

[@CentauriSphere]

@@jordanalexander6935 alright makes sense now

[@rivetcrunch3830]

@@jordanalexander6935 Mundus absolutely is his own realm, but unlike the other Daedric Lords, he tricked everyone else into doing the work for him.

[@Aldhardt]

I'm late but here's a hot take: The Blades, at least Delphine and Esbern, are not longer blades by definition. They no longer protect the Emperor or even the Dragon born, they boss you around. Rather they have returned unknowingly to their Dragonguard days, in which their sole focus is hunting down and killing dragons. Bethesda could secretly be trying to bring the dragon guard back and have the Penintous oculatus take over the Blades job. They helped bring the Dragonguard into casuals minds and not just lore beards by having them heavily featured in the ESO elswheyre questline.

[@__Insanity_]

Not a hot take, that's just true

[@olliechambers3720]

Hot take: Sword singing would be a great and simple core mechanic for Elder Scrolls 6, by taking Fallout's VATS and dismemberment systems and giving them some modern polish you could easily get a system that is both satisfying and different enough from Skyrim's dragon shouts.

[@graylyhen9490]

Not every game needs to revolve around some new shiny epic mechanic i.e. Pokemon gens 6-9. It's ok to just be a dude sometimes

[@gavinmcniel1601]

This is a hot take

[@__Insanity_]

Correct usage of Hot Take. You've earned respect for that, but putting vats into Elder Scrolls subtracts from that respect

[@listenerfromthelights7863]

Scott continually discounts the other sides of Sheogorath, and seems to see him only as an Insanity God, really discounting that he is also a patron of artists, musicians, obsessives, and the general human condition as well as strength of will and mental fortitude as an adversarial deity, there's a lot more to him. That being said, I do agree that many people do just see him as the ha-ha funny cheese man, and that more focus should be put on his bi-polarity and his cruelty, a true mad god would be incredibly interesting, and having a quest that's somewhat reality-warping in TESVI would be truly spectacular.

[@johnnygyro2295]

Possible hot takes: 1. Magnus is an underrated god, and I want to learn more about him in future material. 2. If we ever get to the end of the Kalpa, I'd be interested to see it used for a reboot. I've got more where those came from.

[@badluck5647]

I like the Waking Flames' beliefs that Magnus created Dagon so the Magna Ge have a chance to redo their flawed creation of Mundus.

[@connorcunningham4192]

I wonder, if Magnus and the Magna Ge had stayed behind to finish Mundus would the other Aedra have been left so powerless or would the burden have been more equally distributed?

[@lumerarkenstone]

I would endorse a reboot ONLY in the event that the writing gets Fallout 4 bad. And even then, you gotta have a new writing team, otherwise what's the point?

[@thepoetoffall7820]

Nah, the second is just a good idea for when the reboot inevitably hits

[@Kucoz]

The oceans of Nirn are pathetically underused. theres like token mer-elves and some sea monsters but the dregs being a sentient race down there is a crazy awesome idea. Id play the hell out of exploring the niben with Topal or just more to do in the empty sections of map in existing games.

[@__Insanity_]

Not a hot take, that's just something a lot of people would agree with

[@kyleellis1825]

@@__Insanity_ I'd say this one is a hot take to the right people. Lots of people have thallasaphobia or just hate water levels.

[@colt9836]

Look, I love water, I love deep ends, and that's because I'm a fairly good swimmer. But in the context of the Elder Scrolls, where magic and actual supernatural beings are just vibing, going into the ocean seems like a, UM, not very good idea. If that's does happen, it better be fuckin scary and you need to be a high level.

[@kirbylover37]

​@@__Insanity_ To be fair they didn't say it was a hot take

[@williams100292]

Here's mine: -Even if Ulfric is killed and the rebellion put down, another rebellion will soon start. So long as the Empire allows the Thalmor to run roughshod over it's citizens, people will rebel against them. -The Empire will never go back to war with the Dominion. While people like Tullius say that they will, he's not calling the shots. Too many of them are profiting from the Dominion, corruption is rampant, they can't even protect their Emperor, and they allow a foreign power to torture their citizens and dictate policy. The "Empire" is dead.

[@oreo-postraphe]

Additional hot take Ulfrics the prejudiced man, not Galmar Should be able to install grampa as lead

[@RexForger]

I disagree,for a rebellion like the stormcloaks to work they need a strong leader. If Ulfric is killed then there is no one else in Skyrim who even comes close to his level of charisma and leadership potential. And with a people who have already been broken by war and had their spirits crushed another rebellion would never work.

[@rhecht8651]

Also the Dominion will war with the Empire whether they like it or not, the thalmor even call the Great War the ‘first war against the empire’

[@komiks42]

I really get the vibe that the war will broke out. Right now, the Thalmor is runing rampant through the Empire. Peopel will eventually get feed up, and kinda force the empire to go onto another war. Or, the Thalmor will simply atack again. They hate humans, want to destroy them.

[@kirbylover37]

​@@RexForgerMaybe Aventus Aretino will grow up to be charismatic

[@strawberrygirl2294]

Hot Take: The Maormer are the truest descendants of the Aldmer. They left Aldmeris first, and Pyandonea is most likely geographically closer to Aldmeris than Summerset is, probably having an at least similar climate, as compared to Summerset, which I would presume is pretty far to the north of it. The Maormer would have changed less. And I mean, just look at them. They have transparent skin, and seem almost transformative. Doesn't that seem like the proto-mer to you?

[@sephiroticempires]

if mer are elves, what are mermaids?

[@deifiedtitan]

Wouldn’t separating your gene pool from the species increase your divergence rather than reduce it? You’ve had more time removed from the population in question so you’re more genetically dissimilar to that common ancestor than a group that only left it recently (provided that population also didn’t change much)

[@__Insanity_]

This is a theory, not a hot take

[@LSDireWolf]

I’ve got an idea that I’m pretty sure most people would be opposed to. I truly believe there should be more massive areas of wilderness in TES6. I want to be able to wander do in game days without the slightest trace of civilization. But add more small environmental story’s to the world. That way when you do come across a town or the like you actually feel a sense of relief at being out of the harsh world.

[@lumerarkenstone]

That's actually not a bad idea at all. Especially if TES6 has some sort of survival mode.

[@gavindavis1082]

I think that will lead to people always fast traveling to the main areas and ignoring large swaths of the map.

[@conmereth]

@@gavindavis1082 True but people do that anyways

[@isthatwhatemptymeans8222]

I agree with ya, I remember wandering nearly aimlessly thru Morrowind and being frustrated by it at the time, and now looking back is absolutely how things should be.

[@lumerarkenstone]

@@gavindavis1082 Perhaps, but what if there's a survival mode where fast travel is disabled?

[@md9090]

hot take: Azura is the best daedric prince lore wise over any other, she has multiple mortal races that worship her which no other daedra can claim, her spheres are mysterious and interesting, her past influences and feats are insane when you consider it like creating a prophecy by her own power that affected the fate of nirn, cursing a whole race, creating a whole race. Her realm Moonshadow is probably one of the best places to spend your afterlife in, her followers are granted warnings about bad events and are rewarded with compassion and her enemies never get away with the bad shit they do...

[@badluck5647]

Azura's values seem to align more with the Aedra than the daedra, so it makes one wonder why she didn't take part in the creation of Mundus.

[@md9090]

@@badluck5647 she’s vainglorious which is prolly why she didn’t take part

[@Ila-W]

@@badluck5647 if khajiit myths are are to believed, she was in the great darkness mourning death of Padomay timeless ages, and when did she return, all shit had already went by, and forexample, Lorkhan's heart was already ripped out.

[@aran.m977]

Hot take: The pantheon of the High Elves isn't known by anyone, there's little information you get while playing (not including ESO) unless you read books or inform your self. They need to show a bit more of the High Elve side since everyone knows much of the Imperial pantheon .

[@badluck5647]

The High Elves act like their traditions are unchanged since the beginning, but then you find out that the Psijic Order split off from the High Elves after the High Elves made changes to their religion. ESO is the best.

[@darrenlopez108]

Fiery Take: Mannimarco did nothing wrong [after the Planemeld]. He was humbled by the Vestige and Bal, and with his knowledge obtained during the Middle Dawn, he saw how fragile reality was. He wanted to show "as above so below", meaning, mortals can achieve permanence, just like the gods. Necromancy was his way of extending a mortal's place in the world. During Daggerfall, he is not villainous, and during Oblivion his cult only targets members of the Mages Guild, which are out to exterminate Necromancers with force.

[@morgand820]

I agree with this except I refuse to believe the lame Mannimarco from Oblivion is the same one we got in Daggerfall and the rest of the lore

[@deadseven3474]

@@morgand820 Yea that's 100% a poser, or maybe a very weak aspect of his.

[@viewer829]

Hot Take: Daggerfall did exploration the best. Having to take days to ride out way to some middle of nowhere cave that almost nobody would have ever heard of (allowing actually dangerous things to propagate there) is way more immersive than walking 5 minutes to the local Necromancer hangout. Dungeons being far more rare and out of the way makes being an adventurer more a more crazy and admirable job. Most civilians in the later games should actually be adventurers since their cities are literally surrounded by caves and ancient ruins, letting bandits, skeletons , daedra, falmer, and whatever else just hang out in their backyard. Coming across some podunk town on the way to the far off dungeon and having to stop and rest before you collapse from exhaustion is really neat world building and the more slapdash way it was built makes it feel a little more down-to-earth whereas in the later games you know the city will be much more important since it was all lovingly handcrafted with scheduled NPCs just ready to hand out fetch quests. But the greatest thing of all about Daggerfall's exploration is that you can fly around on a horse. Morrowind had levitate and Skyim had vertical walking horses but they just couldn't quite capture the magic that Daggerfall had.

[@dandoll4405]

I mean in Skyrim almost every guard was an adventurer before they took an arrow to the knee. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

[@Xolcm]

Hot take: Azura is an objectivelty terrible god who no one should worship. She is someone, who, you can do everything right and she will still punish you. With the Tribunal, three people betrayed her, so she responded by punishing the entire race, and the she couldn't even affect the three people she was actually punishing unless they allowed her. With Aranea, the Dunmer devoted her entire centuries long life to Azura and sacrificed everything to appease her, and if the player sides with Azura in her quest in Skyrim, she straight up tells Aranea that she will not give her any more visions and abandons her. Azura is all take and no give, who demands your absolute love and devotion, yet will abandon and punish you at any time for no reason, so why would you ever want to worship her?

[@abyrd329]

Hot take: Lydia isn't even that hot, you just simp for her because she's the first female in the game to show you interest/loyalty.

[@Subject_Keter]

Ultra Ice Cold Take: Serena is good due to them putting effort into her and most of the characters dont have + a good voice = I really like her. Also doesnt hurt she is a powerful witch. Seriously like Eola, The spellsword and the college followers are only able to fling spells

[@CentauriSphere]

No

[@FreshwaterSquid77]

I think she's pretty hot, bit she's a boring, shallow character as written. But she can become interesting with a little head cannon.

[@ebonking5486]

not a hot take truth

[@stevenclark1662]

The hell you talking about? Everyone hates Lydia

[@nyxx5357]

This isn't a hot take, but I only like Shivering Isles Sheogorath. He gets toned down to Tumblr style "quirkiness" in Skyrim. He doesn't seem insane at that point, just weird and pompous.

[@isthatwhatemptymeans8222]

Blasphemy... I bet you order pizza without cheese. 😉

[@luchaluchalucha]

Oh yeah in that one mission he's in in Skyrim where he doesn't even really do anything but sit there and say one or two things wah quirky

[@Badgerwatching]

I think with skyrims quest there was also less chance to flesh him out, whereas in Oblivion you spent a shit ton of time in his domain!

[@mattyD92992]

Hot Take: Homogenizing all Man races to worship the Divines is super boring, and Skyrim should’ve kept the Nordic Pantheon instead of pushing Talos so hard. Yokudan deities are infinitely more interesting than the Divines.

[@alphasword5541]

Cold take here.

[@callmecalvin7297]

Duh. Just facts

[@ComicAcolyte]

This is a glacial take

[@vizari9570]

Artic take

[@janbelcher1896]

sub zero take

[@Jordan-zk2wd]

Hot take: the female bandit gang from Anvil was pretty based and I genuinely wanted my character to join them when I played it this time around. I could have done a whole guild storyline with Faustina showing my scaly Argonian skin and doing some robbin'. Honestly though, a couple gender-locked factions and more noticeably gendered treatment would be interesting in future Elder Scrolls games. There are some strongly pervasive ideas about gender that reach into daily life and vary from culture to culture, just like IRL. It doesn't have feel super forced, I'm not saying I want every person from one race or culture to be super sexist all the time for example. I'm just saying that gender is an important part of most cultures that affects daily life, and seeing that come through in the play experience in direct and indirect ways would make the world feel more realized. That would really do something for the Argonian flavor for example, where sex and gender are life stages and they have ceremonies to change them with the Hist tree sometimes. If you could actually properly roleplay that, that would be a win all around IMO.

[@tatwood93]

Did not know that about the Argonians but the Orc strongholds with their marriage system is the closest we really get to this in Skyrim, maybe the Ashlander wise women in Morrowind, weird that gender and things aren't mentioned more

[@badluck5647]

*Hot take: The Reachmen and Orcs deserve their own provinces.* Orsinium: Many orc were loyal soldiers to Imperial Legions and have been a repressed diaspora for too long. With the loyalty of Hammerfell and Skyrim to the Empire in question, it may be wise to have a united orc kingdom as an ally. The Reach: The Reachmen deserve to rule their own country. The Bretons and Nords claim that the Reachmen are too "uncivilized" to rule, but that just seems like a excuse for the colonizers to take possession of the Reach's silver mines. The Forsworn ruled a Reach city-state for two years peacefully, and then the Nords came in and massacred Reachmen civilians and "disloyal" Nords. Clearly, the Reachmen were the more civilized rulers during this time. (I also wouldn't characterize the local Nord cannibals as "civilized" either.)

[@finleycanniff1113]

What about Orsinium?

[@jordanthompson2669]

Let's be honest, skyrim is for the reachmen!

[@badluck5647]

@@finleycanniff1113 The races of men keep destroying it.

[@dstinnettmusic]

Woah woah woah. There are hot takes but this is just trolling. You can’t be serious, man.

[@finleycanniff1113]

@@badluck5647 and it keeps getting rebuilt

[@cyzicwave8513]

The best sound byte from Skyrim is “Legends don’t burn down villages”-Ulfric

[@RedSpade37]

Hot-Take: M'aiq the Liar is Lorkhan

[@sevionmelidan1682]

Ooh, I like that one.

[@ShiningLion]

More like some aspect of Vivec. :)

[@kathrynm6088]

Hot take: ESO has introduced a lot of great lore, characters, dialogue, and quests, and, despite it's flaws, is a good game. Edit: I just watched the first spicy take video and realized somebody already proposed this, and in a spicier way, no less! Lol

[@ObossRocks]

It may be a good game but its not an *Elder Scrolls* game

[@rohhsand3044]

@@ObossRocks Thats just your opinion, but it IS a elder scrolls game. It does not matter if you agree or not

[@mattg6106]

I agree with this take. I'm not sure how hot I would consider it though.

[@ravenechoseven9726]

A good take, but not exactly a hot take. Even the FM team has been explicit about liking the newer lore. As for the game, I don't know that they've argued that it's bad but more that it doesn't have the same feeling as the SP games.

[@PinkWytchBytch]

As a 4000 hour player of eso, I agree, the additions to the lore are usually very interesting or solid. Don’t get me wrong there’s a small handful of things I recall making me shake my head and say, “Dropped the ball on that one. ZOS” But even with those few bits of lore that don’t seem to fit, this has ended up being my favorite elder scrolls game simply because of the freedom of choice you get, plus I love how it lets you adjust your characters appearance

[@chuckchuckerson5364]

Lol, Scott's hatred of cheese jokes is strong. I understand what he's saying, but it's never bothered me. It was funny the first time, and less funny now, but man, don't get Scott going on cheese jokes. As always, loved the pod, thanks!

[@DistrustfulAtom]

“The whole birth of like all of the uh, like you know the Chimer, but each of the Elven, like dude the Nords…Humans are like actually not.” - Scott’s Brain doing the Fishstick 2022

[@uppitypeasant9781]

Hot take: Michael Kirkbride made really good contributions to the lore and I like his weirder things. BUT he got way too out there sometimes and it was more nonsense than cool weird ideas, and in the end it’s a good thing he didn’t get to take the elder scrolls where he wanted even if he still had good ideas left

[@jt2749]

Very cold take

[@erricro3198]

i think a lot of us think that man.

[@uppitypeasant9781]

@@jt2749 cold like your moms cooking

[@johnnygyro2295]

Out of curiosity, which ideas did you consider "good and bad?"

[@michaela2634]

Colder than a witch's tit

[@Darkxanderpresents]

Hot Take 1: They should go deeper into the political lore of Tamriel. I want a Disco Elysium style detective/political thriller set in the Romano-Japanese Venice version of the Imperial City, with Thalmor spies, competition for the now vacant Ruby Throne, a look more into how the world works for non-adventurers, blackjack, and hookers. Hot Take 2: Wacky Human lore doesn’t get developed as much as wacky Elven lore. Where’s the 36 sermons of Juergen Wondcaller, or Saint Alesia? Hot Take 3: I wouldn’t be too bothered by having generic NPCs to fill out larger cities, or having some shops and houses be unenterable background dressing.

[@breathofdifferentair1950]

Hot take, make daggerfall but with modern textures and bug fixes. Legit, you could just climb walls! It was a true rpg

[@kingclint2382]

I think everyone would want that, it is only a hot take if we're saying that Bethesda should work on it which would delay TES6

[@sagedamage109]

Get Daggerfall Unity, then you can mod the hell out of it.

[@Dorgpoop]

It's definitely a genre of game that doesn't exist anymore but would be great to see revived now we have better tech. Hopefully the wayward realms manages it

[@ashtonbecher1818]

Is this really a hot take? Seems like a widely asked for thing

[@NamelessKing1597]

That take is as cold as Skyrim (in lore)

[@bugenjoyer2187]

Hot take: it’s fine if lore gets retconned as long as the new lore is better. It was an abjectly a good thing when Morrowind rewrote pretty much all established Daggerfall lore. TES:V overwriting the pre-established skyrim lore is dumb and bad because they made it worse than it was before, however, I like the dragons and the dragon cult. They definitely could’ve done better, but that’s one lore retconn that I feel added some value. I’ll be okay if TES:VI rewrites redguard/breton lore as long as the new lore is better than the old lore because at this point, we might as well take a page out of Todd Howard’s book and say: it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

[@jacemiller9017]

People complain a lot about how the nords are represented in skyrim but i think the Dragon Cult is an extremely good introduction that makes their culture more coherent. It even helps flesh out the Alessian creation of Akatosh by combining the dragon representation of him used by nords with the elven Auriel. Dragons (the personification of time) being feared and revered also makes a lot of sense for a human race, building a contrast with the long lived elves.

[@deadseven3474]

I like this take. I actually really like the dragon cult stuff, I just wish it didn't overshadow a lot of the preestablished stuff. Also the dragon priest masks are objectively cool and they were a nice twist on Lichdom that fit the setting fairly well.

[@Lucky13Ravens]

@@deadseven3474 technically I'm pretty sure it doesn't mess up old lore. The dragon is shown to only be part of proto Nordic religion and the supremacy of the dragon cult is supposed to have appeared after. I see it as the blurry but between the stories that were there being filled.

[@MrSinjoy]

> It even helps flesh out the Alessian creation of Akatosh by combining the dragon representation of him used by nords with the elven Auriel. Not sure it was needed though. I think Alduin was already a part of the lore as a dragon god in the Nordic pantheon prior to Skyrim adding its lore.

[@doodlemix4824]

Hot take: The Tsaesci are definitely not snake-people, just men adorned in scaly armor/clothing. Would NEVER have become emperors otherwise.

[@ChrisVillagomez]

Perhaps they are a half-blood human race like the Bretons, except it's some kind of snake beings they crossbred with instead of the Direnni Elves

[@iwonakaplon3399]

If it matters, were they ever technically emperors? I always thought that the potentates were more akin to a regency

[@killinspecialist1965]

id say its probably like how Elder Kings 2 handled them with them normally being regular humans from Akavir but thru their own flavor of magic called Tsaesence they can consume people and take on certain traits from them and as you consume more people you become more powerful and snake like. This imho is the best try at tying up all their loose ends neatly because according to some lore their either vampiric snake men samurai or entirely normal humans from akavir which is what we see in the games mostly. Tsaesence really seems to be the best way to fix all the inconsistencies while keeping both old and new lore accurate to each other.

[@defeatstatistics7413]

Elder Scrolls is heavily based off AD&D, so Tsaesci being the Yuan-Ti equivalent is my take. But the whole thing is a huge homebrew.

[@killinspecialist1965]

@@defeatstatistics7413 i agree and i never said any of it was cannon just think its a clean way to keep the lore consistent without having to retcon anything in case they want to take any info from it in the future

[@zachcheung9906]

Hot take: Michael is the Daedric prince of interrupting people

[@AaaaaaaHelp]

Hot take: Akivir would be a terrible main title elder scrolls game, I feel like the only thing that makes it cool and interesting is the mystery behind it and that we only know so much about it. It would also be very different to previous games and would have to make complete new playable races because the main ones wont really fit the setting very well. It could possibly work as an adventure game with little impact on the whole lore and world motives

[@rileygoddard7181]

This is the most lukewarm take I've literally ever read.

[@blaize2638]

Hot Take: The dragonborn can just spam storm call over and over and completely destroy every province and city over time. The constant rain would destroy all the plants and the lightning could set cities on fire. If he just chilled out on a beach he could stop any thalmor naval invasion. If he got bored he could just walk around tamriel destroying stuff with Storm call. He could go to any desert and just spawn an intense lightning storm and completely destroy that environment. There's not a single province that wouldn't be destroyed by constant rain and lightning spamming. Even morrowind would get messed up with intense clouds of steam created by the rain that would just roast everything and everyone. It could easily get to the point where God's would have to step in. And it's not like armies would mess with the dragonborn. You think a bunch of guys in conductive metal armor are gonna attack a guy that can spawn lightning storms?

[@jordanalexander6935]

That's when an army of thalmar battle mages cast a ward across their fleet and start making parts with Daedra etc. Even River Septim and the other Dragonborn Emperors needed armies

[@Subject_Keter]

Only if it convience for the princes to come in will they stop a rogue dragonborn, since they get free followers when mortals point to the path of ruin you made.

[@rohhsand3044]

You underestimate the other provinces a LOT

[@ravenechoseven9726]

Hot Take: The Ebonheart Pact makes complete sense from a deep lore perspective as all three races are products of Sithis.

[@iansavard4489]

They should have made the pact revolve around Sithis then, instead of A R G O N I AN. S H E L L B A C K S.

[@ravenechoseven9726]

@Ian Savard Ah, but you assume Sithis had no hand in it. The Nords and Dunmer likely would not have accepted had it been based on the will or guidance of Sithis, but if the Hist, who are likely connected to Sithis, may have helped engineer the circumstances.

[@isawedu]

Here's my hot take: Not being given a choice when Delphine asks you to kill Paarthurnax makes sense. You're warned that learning the Dragonrend shout would mean taking its meaning- the hatred, desperation, and "evil" of the shout-into your very being. Your character deciding to kill Paarthurnax at Delphine's insistence, while frustrating from a series about player choice, does represent a meaningful and significant narrative consequence to you acquiring a shout the Greybeards tell you not to.

[@Subject_Keter]

I think it would of been better if the ancient heros felt you and told you "You must end it hero, there is no way to make sure and you must prevent all possible failings"

[@Subject_Keter]

Also imo but you never "take in the meaning" of the other words so why would Dragonrend basically make you a toxic twitch girl? You dont understand the worda that make Whirlwind sprint... you just yeet yourself. If you had to do a trail for a bonus effect I could see but really it just "I can do this now"

[@hazeltree7738]

@@Subject_Keter You can't shout without understanding a concept as the dragons do. You're not only understanding the word, you're understanding how the dragons perceive that very concept So... Yeah, you do sorta learn what it means

[@ShiningLion]

@@Subject_Keter this is super interesting! It's like Greybeards are teaching their own belief system to some fellow, "sacred" colleague, not realizing the DB is most likely just some Mary Sue that goes hurr durr me likey shout gibberish. That makes Dragonrend's unfathomable reputation a trivial subject to some common Dragonborn person. Ignorance is a bliss? What's a Devil or hell to an atheist? Same thing happens here. DB just crushes old belief systems as he goes brrrr. Also Hazel Tree: the Greybeards acknowledge it doesn't take years of reflection for DB, that DB is a special case. Maybe so special they don't even have to understand a thing. They just hear the shout and then they can use it themselves (as is evident while learning Dragonrend in the past... No "master's understanding" (=just a free dragon soul for DB) needed.

[@dawi4ever]

Hot Take: Sheogorath is uplifted by his performance the other gods besides Hermaeus Mora and Clavicus Vile all sound similar and do similar enough things. (In game)

[@HickoryDickory86]

Precisely. There's no real, substantive difference between most of the other Princes in my ways, at least in how one interacts with them in the games. It's why Sheogorath is so beloved for most TES fans, thanks not just to his lore but also the Shivering Isles. Then, for me, there are Meridia and Azura, who are decidedly different from all the other Princes in that they are arguably good, they are more often beneficent than not, and they seem to have a charitable and protective view of and stance toward Mundus and its denizens.

[@citizen_wayne]

I personally think Sheogorath is interesting to some people because we don't understand his motives at all. I agree with what you both said about divines being overlapping and similar. Especially when you consider all aedra and daedra's domains. But most divines and mortals have motivations that are either simple, clear, or explained with time and Sheogorath is just totally unpredictable. I do mean *totally*. Which makes him unique not just among gods but among every single character in TES.

[@deadseven3474]

@@HickoryDickory86 Azura, yea sure. Meridia? She's a total bitch, perhaps maybe even a Glisterbitch. Her idea of salvation is turning you into a soulless golem of light to eternally fight undeath.

[@nothingnobody1454]

Y'all need to spend more time with deadra worshippers...

[@lordyeezy840]

Spicy Take: Serena is the best companion in Skyrim. People find her annoying, but every follower in Skyrim has the personality spectrum of a stunted rock. Even Rocky from Spongebob has more personality then the likes of Lydia (How can I be of service, My Thane? You want me to what? Just stand there as a dragon breathes fire on me?), Aela (Even Ysgramor doesn't have the patience for this rabble. What? You don't care for the rabble?), and that one forgettable Dark Elf in the Drunken Huntsman (Like seriously, 50% of all followers in Skyrim are mercs. At least do something to make me NOT want to sacrifice her to Boethiah). The undeniable proof that Serena is better then any other follower in the game; she has a character arc! As you go through Dawnguard, more dialogue opens up. The questline is having an impact on what she says! A breakthrough! Finally, companions don't need to be static anymore! Wait, you say Vilkas and Farkas have character arcs? They cleanse their lycanthropy after the Companions questline? Who tf cares! Yet again, emotional spectrum of a sociopathic donkey! At least Serena obviously has more emotions then the default "How can I be of service to you?" Even if her character makes zero sense! She has character! She has a argument with her mother in the the Soul Cairm! She says she doesn't like talking about her vampirism because of the Coldharbour ritual. If you suggest curing her vampirism without going through the necessary checks, she'll just shut you down. Her dialogue is expansive compared to every other optional follower in the game. The events of the Dawnguard questline change her! How many other followers can take credit to that? In conclusion, TES6 needs to limit the amount of companions in the game. I'd be more happy with less diversity in the companion roster if the developers could fully flush out the roster with engaging, dynamic characters with companion questline and character arcs. Just make them likeable. Serena isn't perfect, but she is the closest thing in recent memory to an evolving side character.

[@luchaluchalucha]

This is not a hot take at all that's everyones favorite vanilla companion Frea exists too btw

[@SCSAsJorts]

There’s people in the elder scrolls fandom that find Serena annyoyinf?!

[@natelax1367]

The only two characters in Skyrim I had any attachment to were Serena and Katria. Katrias quest was actually satisfying and really felt like you helped someone move on

[@vivecthepoet36]

You spelled Teldryn Sero wrong.

[@hermonymusofsparta]

@@SCSAsJorts Me

[@melanora]

HOT TAKE: I don't hate Nazeem at all. He's a snob but he's harmless. He's a minor disturbance compared to characters like Delphine or Maven. He's like the Regina George of Whiterun. Absolute icon 💫

[@tonys9397]

I never kill him adds to the ambiance. Everyone has annoying neighbors it makes the world more lively same for heimskr

[@melanora]

@@tonys9397 EXACTLY

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Hot Take: Lorkhan is the only god that is still carrying out Anu's goal of continued self reflection. By creating Mundus and Nirn, he created a place where the spirit of Anu can continue to divide and reveal different aspects of himself, because the spirits of the Gods, Mortals, and Beasts are all the spirit of Anu since everything has its origins in Anu splitting himself to better know himself. The gods that are still loyal to Lorkhan are the only true followers of Anu. The other gods and daedra are all fighting against Anu's will, hence why they all continue to fail regardless of how close the come to succeeding.

[@iansavard4489]

Hot take : people always feel the urge to rank races in elder scrolls, because if you do the same with real life races you get arrested

[@vivecthepoet36]

Weird take: there's no coincidence that Sheor/Shor and Sheogorath have superficially similar names.

[@kabalofthebloodyspoon]

Sheogorath was named after a guy on the development team:( I do really like this take!

[@kabalofthebloodyspoon]

Sheogorath does have some weirdness when written in Hebrew tho

[@avedominusnox7344]

@@kabalofthebloodyspoon wait what's it written like

[@MrSinjoy]

Isn't it said somewhere that they both fill out a "Sithis-shaped hole" in the cosmos or something like that?

[@kabalofthebloodyspoon]

@@avedominusnox7344 shin gimmel chet. I'm not an expert just like you play around with random apps

[@yomamma.ismydaddy216]

Potential hot take: Acrobatics is an extremely important skill and needs to be brought back. what I want brought back most out of the many things we’ve lost over the past couple games is acrobatics, even more then attributes being brought back. People say acrobatics is useless but I loved being able to jump super high and whatnot in Morrowind. It makes you feel like you can escape the binds of real world physics- and that makes sense in a magical world. No acrobatics will cause me great disappointment. I’m not a super nerd I play on the console not a computer so I can’t mod jump height and stuff so it better be in the base game

[@KonoGufo]

Thief builds where you eventually become able to jump from building to building were the best. Skyrim doesn't really provide anything quite the same

[@matejkalebic112]

Acrobatics and Jump (Spell) were some of the best things in TES. I really would like them back.

[@musicmancp]

Lizard boobs make sense. Knowing that Argonians consistently use their connection to the Hist to evolve their bodies to be the best equipped to flourish in their environments. They already persecuted for their alien looks, so the females developed something to make them seem less alien.

[@badluck5647]

Many are just a fans of 🌰 🌰.

[@MaskedMothIX]

personally, i feel like the idea of having to be conventionally attractive to be less persecuted is equally xenophobic, it just adds sexism to the mix :/ nice take tho

[@silverstrider2046]

I abide to the theory that Argonian Mothers outside of Blackmarsh pass on some Histsap from their breasts to their offsprings so they can have a connection to the Hist.

[@BorealGames]

Hot take: Dagoth Ur took on some of the consciousness of the Dwemer race when he 'became a god'. After becoming a god he refers to the Nerevarine as a traitor, which is likely how the Dwemer would feel after the battle of red mountain. He also obsessively continues their work to manufacture a god.

[@Rossdaniel30]

HOT TAKE: Akatosh is Sheogorath, Alduin is Jyggalag they are just different aspects of these Et'Ada; the return of Jyggalag is the return of Alduin which is why all the deadra are willing to assist the avatar of shor (the dovakiin) to defeat Alduin (after all all of the daedra have a whole web of motivations) much like how they 'joined forces' to defeat him in the past. Akatosh is Sheogorath because of their willingness to interfere in the third era and had been referred to as a mad god of time in the 2nd era (see ESO). Alduin is Jyggalag because the wheel of time is meant to turn; bringing about the next kalpa is the natural order of things which Alduin would have brought if he wasn't sent forward in time.

[@jackroxable]

This is not a hot take just another theory

[@Rossdaniel30]

@@jackroxable sorta; I suppose it's more of a counter theory to the reflection one that already exists but vice versa where Akatosh is Jyggalag instead

[@__Insanity_]

@@Rossdaniel30 What do you mean "sorta"? It's just a theory

[@Rossdaniel30]

@@__Insanity_ the only 'sorta' part is that it's a different theory but also a hot take in my opinion to suggest the daedra are the aedra and vice versa

[@__Insanity_]

@@Rossdaniel30 What is your definition of a Hot Take?

[@WhiteNegative]

Sheogorath is both amazing and terrifying. Imagine meeting someone who seems whimsical and funny but at a moments notice they could turn on you and torture you with unimaginable horrors and its essentially just the flip of a coin whether meeting him will result in your insanity, death, or to your benefit.

[@badluck5647]

He makes me think of the Joker if he was given godlike powers.

[@_Mr420man]

Hot take: ESO is a pretty solid solo experience and has some of the best questing out of most mmo’s

[@Mooinator3000]

@Prey R You may just have a shit build mate, you can effortlessly solo any dungeon on normal and with a decent build you can solo veteran dungeons pretty easily

[@firespur]

Hot Take: I hate Baalgruf with a passion. I don’t see why people like him. His inability to choice a side prolonged the civil war, the fact he has a daedric artifact in his basement, has a bastard (we never see the wife or the mistress, hmm maybe the artifact from the Prince of Betrayal has something to do with that) I don’t get the hype, maybe I hate because of the meme but I wish I could thrown him off Dragonsreach’s peak

[@samuelrobillard905]

Hot take: the player character having an innate ability (like being a Dragonborn) is better for the franchise. The majority of players aren’t going to go through the trouble of role playing a lore-friendly character, and having some sort of ability/prophecy encourages the player to associate with some lore. Also on most initial/main playthroughs, people like working their way towards having some god like power, which can be eased with these special abilities

[@thalmoragent9344]

Yeah but people still love the Hero of Kvatch and Nerevarine even though they're not some Demigod born with the soul of a Dragon that also just so happens to be nerfed and overdone with the stupidly wide array of shouts....

[@darthdragonborn1552]

@@thalmoragent9344 I never got this, the HoK literally does almost everything all on his own, was prophesied to be in that cell and was dreamt about by the emperor and then canonically becomes motherfucking sheogorath, who then cameos in Skyrim as one of the daedric quests. They literally become a daedra.

[@thalmoragent9344]

@@darthdragonborn1552 The Hero of Kvatch wasn't a Demigod or an Avatar or anything though. We have special mortals on Tamriel, yes, but him becoming Sheogorath via mantling him is an Endgame situation, and isn't due to his own power, but due to being the one to accept the position of what was, for a small moment, an unclaimed/held Daedric Realm and Sphere of Influence

[@crookedankle7138]

Hot take the empire needs to go for the good of Tamrielic wars being interesting. Seriously every war in TES is just empire v random elves or beastfolk. It would also just be interesting to see how the world changes and reacts to say cyrodiil being split into 3 with colovia nibenay and the imperial city being the empire's Constantinople.

[@biggie_bacon]

Hot take: Lore revolving around criminal syndicates should be explored more heavily, after playing Morrowind recently I adored the lore they created for the cammona tong and wished more thought was put into other crime syndicates around Tamriel (blood horkers, black water brigands, etc.) Although the Thieves Guild has taken that role, in later depictions they act like Robin Hood figures in TES IV and a mafia in TES V, there should be more cartel like crime syndicates that make it feel like a real world instead of multiple nameless bandit groups.

[@papiohare5447]

Hot Take: All the wacky metaphysics stuff should really just stay in the lore and obscure one off mentions. It is such a rewarding experience to hear snippets of those concepts in the games and then learn about the really crazy stuff through further digging. Players should have to work for this info, not just have it all explained in a main quest.

[@KitsuneShapeShifter]

Ooo that's hot. I disagree, but it's very spicy

[@bunnyhunter77]

Hot take: That guy was right about the human races lore being incredibly interesting. In fact it's so striking similar to our own human history and religious stories that it hits too close to home in regards to the fantasy front. It's in fact so strikingly accurate in regards to the colonisation of other areas and genocide of the natives, and ultimate conquest and eventually assimilation with people deemed close enough not to be killed that it feels bad to say it's good lore. Skyrim builds this lore incredibly well. The Thalmor attempt to tear Talos down is quite literally stripping the Nord's of their ability not just to choose what they worship but their power to make gods themselves. Either Talos as a God is real or he isn't, by attempting to end his worship either eradicates him because his power requires him to be worshipped or his lack of intervening proves his actual lack of power. Refusing to intervenevout of principle or sentiment would mean that the he is in effect powerless in affecting the mortal world and thus the goal they seek is void. Talos' existence therefore is in a paradox that forces his intervention which either proves to the thalmor that they themselves can become gods like Talos did or wipe out all other Aedra or Deadra and tear down the world so that nothing can be worshipped and that they are the only ones who can have any influence on mundus and make themselves the equivalent of gods as nothing has power over them. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[@majesticed9329]

The Thalmor trying to erase Talos is Skyrim is lauguable, as a God Talos is beyond time and if we take the theory that Tiber Septim mantled Lorkhan then he literally is Nirn, and makes their efforts even more fruitless

[@Alex_Barbosa]

@@majesticed9329 I always kind of sided with the Thalmor somewhat because Talos as a God is inherently dangerous to worship. Seeing as his history is about xenophobia, imperialism, and genocide. And the fact that he "ascended" to Godhood gives legitimacy to the ambitions of greedy tyrants. Aside from the moral standpoint, his worship will always stand as an existential threat to every society outside of the empire.

[@majesticed9329]

@@Alex_Barbosa Wut?Have you never heard of the elvens societys?The Ayleida, The Altmer, The Snow Elfs, The Chimer/Dark Elfs and etc, all of them are genocidal and xenophobic,we can't really look at Tamriel with our morals, since we aren't the only sapient species.

[@Alex_Barbosa]

@@majesticed9329 I don't see why them having a fictional culture invalidates any moral outlook or argument. The implications and consequences don't change either way. Whether your a part of the culture or not you can still judge it as you see it. I wasn't a Knight's templar but I can see what they did and confirm it was bad. And besides, more than one thing can be bad at the same time. Just because the Aylied enslaved humans and it was bad, doesn't mean the humans cant also do bad. Every culture in the games have their positives and their negatives, I was just pointing out one imperial negative and one Thalmor positive. Less Talos worship in the context of the Elder Scrolls reality would only be a good thing for most of the world.

[@majesticed9329]

@@Alex_Barbosa It wouldn't be,not for humans, as for the elfs, let them die, their has passed.

[@adamxei9073]

I would say the only thing that the thieves guild is missing is a way to oppose it or change it in a new image. I desperately wanted to turn the thieves guild into a Robin Hood like organization but it Just kind of stayed the same even after everything that happens in the questline.

[@JH-fb3mp]

Sheogorath should be used more to explore mental health and absurdist philosophy instead of just being comic relief

[@lumerarkenstone]

Why not a bit of both? A tragic comedy if you will.

[@luchaluchalucha]

We definitely don't need Sheogarth to be a mental health psa

[@badluck5647]

I wish Sheogorath's sphere of mental illness wasn't always schizophonia. There are other interesting mental illnesses like multiple personalities, phobias, OCD, est.

[@luchaluchalucha]

@@badluck5647 you never played shivering isles i take it

[@JH-fb3mp]

@@luchaluchalucha ? I mean like in quests. Like Pelagius and shit. Not a psa lol

[@jamesmcmillin796]

In terms of the known races who could manipulate vibrations to affect the world of mundus I rate 1. Dwemer - didn’t need mediation or sword practice but made machines to do it for them, the true masters of tonal architecture were able to shape their underground dwells precision and ingenuity as well as build a mother flippin God to nuke time itself. 2. Nords - we’ve all played Skyrim and know the vast amounts of diverse effects a shout has, and if you take the lore into consideration, you have thu’um users being able to blow fort wall down without the need for siege engines and the demon chieftains of Skyrim like the one ( can’t mind his name) eating mouthfuls of mud to create thralls from the earth, And even the able to ground and tame dragon’s. 3. Redguards - I live the idea of being able to create vibrations/ music through singing your sword in a specific way to create affects. When we get ES hammerfell and if this is a game function I would love to see the full extent of this ability.

[@_TheGoob]

Hot take: Morrowind had the best combat and magic system because it was the hardest, and it would be better if it was even harder. Ex: casting powerful spells at low level has a chance of backfiring. Your fireball blows up in your face, summon something too powerful and it turns on you. Also with alchemy, if you make a healing potion with low lvl alchemy skill it should have a chance of making a bad potion, but the name should still be "healing potion" so you can only tell if your skill is high enough to read the effects.

[@lonewolf-re2fg]

I never played Morrowind for more than like 10 hours so I didn't know that but that actually seems pretty sweet. As long as they kept out the dice rolls for hit chance that would be cool and very immersive

[@_TheGoob]

@@lonewolf-re2fg I wish it was like that. Those were my suggestions to make those systems even harder than they were in morrowind.

[@lonewolf-re2fg]

Oh, well still an awesome idea nonetheless

[@jerrybierman9047]

Hot take: The order of the waking flame was the inspiration for the Mythic dawn. Menkar Cameron saw what they did and decided to try it himself.

[@Scotttjt]

Hot Take: The Argonians joining the Nords and Dark Elves is the most believable part of the Ebonheart Pact backstory. From what we've heard about the Kamal's raids against Skyrim and Morrowind, it seems to me that they were some tough bastards: They cut their way through eastern Skyrim with little effort, and were able to hold out against the combined forces of the Nords and Dunmer. That said, I think they could have pushed their way into Black Marsh if they so desired. Perhaps the Hist knew what the Kamal were after, and knew that it was either within Black Marsh's borders, or that it would eventually make its way there. So, the Hist insured the Kamal would be fought and snuffed out *away* from Black Marsh to limit their own losses, and possibly retain custody of the "Ordained Receptacle", whatever it might have been. Granted, there's a lot of theory-crafting here, but I still say the Argonians joining in was more believable than Ysmir willingly allying himself with the Dark Elves again.

[@IshtarNike]

Ultimately there is no such thing as an alliance that "would never happen." Such things are said by people who don't know history. The alliance between the USSR and Nazi Germany was an alliance that flew in the face of lore (Fascist and communists hate eachother), but it still happened for temporary strategic reasons. The same thing can happen in the Elder Scrolls with enough justification.

[@doomguy19931]

"Real men marry Borgakh the Steel Heart" Here, you dropped this 👑 🤲

[@madgeologist495]

Hot Take: for somebody who seems to value honour and integrity, Ulfric Stormcloak has surprisingly little of both, e.g. abandoning the way of the voice.

[@badluck5647]

Ulfric's flaws is what makes him interesting. Ulfric is brave warrior who cares deeply for his people and was even willing to suffer Thalmor torture for a long time to protect the Empire However, Ulfric is also unscrupulously ambitious and willing to overlook the mistreatment of non Nords. These morally gray characters are missing from ESO where everyone is either a noble King or cartoonishly evil.

[@luchaluchalucha]

Terrible example get a better one

[@ShiningLion]

@@badluck5647 He is like many resistance leaders or populist leaders irl. Maybe meaning well and meaning to liberate from the start, but tripped by their own conviction, principles, and limited understanding of things in the lack of education/experience in the political field, in thr end becoming a tyrant himself, or tyrant for anything other than "his people".

[@JH-fb3mp]

Hot take: since seasons exist in canon but NOT in gameplay, the reason Skyrim isn't all frozen wasteland is bc we're seeing it in Summer (the game also begins in Last Seed / August, which is peak Summer in North America)

[@ewanmcdonald5905]

The dark brotherhood is cringe. The Morag Tong is McDonalds and the Dark brotherhood is hungry jacks

[@tepi2462]

Hot take:I don't give a fuck about the lore that doesn't affect the games. I care about the motives of the different factions in the 4th era and such, but shit like 1st era lore or characters like Barenziah who dont have a major role in the games are boring.

[@S3D77]

When you think of it, the warp in the west (The first dragonbreak), is simultaneously the best and worst thing that has ever happened to the elder scrolls lore.

[@morgand820]

Imagine doing insane mental acrobatics to explain how your previous game's endings are all canon and you accidentally create one of the most interesting fictional universes in gaming

[@OldManMcLoyf]

Hot take: Health potions and quick saving remove all tension in combat. You should only be able to save at towns, camps, or when you leave the game (and that save should be deleted when you open it back up). Meanwhile health potions should purely be slow regeneration akin to stimpacks in NV’s hardcore mode, or be removed. Another alternative for it, is to remove pausing for healing and making it a mechanic such as an animation for them.

[@mohawkmeteor7189]

I see this mainly as a hot take because of how buggy these games are. I save every minute lol

[@Subject_Keter]

Given how buggy skyrim is and how dogshit the combat is, make the game fluid, make more sense with combat before embrace hell shoes and nerfing everything to fit through a prison cell door.

[@headgames3115]

Could limit eating or potion drinking to one every few seconds, with an animation.

[@chriscormac231]

@@headgames3115 or add the witcher's toxicity mechanic

[@__Insanity_]

Thank the divines! Someone knows what a hot take is!

[@RKGrizz]

Hot take: ES6 should end with the Thalmor forcing a new kalpa cycle in an attempt to stop Lorkhan at the start of the cycle. ES7 would be a reboot.

[@eggsarny]

Bro is that a Stone Ocean reference?

[@joshuatayloe8616]

Skyrim should have ended in dragon break and the player should have been given the option to spare Alduin as long as he agreed to fulfill his purpose of ending the kalpa rather than trying to take over and bring back the dragon cult. Also the DLCs should have ended with options to spare their main antagonist to further convolute the dragon break. All of which culminates in the CW storyline with all 3 options being true.

[@NieroshaiTheSable]

Hot take: We need a Battlespire 2.

[@hyasynth9206]

(Not so) Hot take: The Bard's college had so much potential. Being able to write books, poems, tales, and being able to actually play instruments. But if they weren't going to make it interesting, they just shouldn't have added it at all

[@tama943]

HOT TAKE: Tribunal Edition ™ I hate every single Daedra completely, mainly from a moral standpoint, even the one that kills undead and will never understand how people defend them, they are beings who could give less a shit about their followers and toy with them constantly or throw a hissy fit like a toddler if they aren't given what they want. (looking at you Azura) They are cruel and again morally evil or amoral things who only care about what they get from their followers rather than wanting to truly be of help. Yet many see them as the better choice than the Tribunal gods (which I will admit that i am very bias and adore the Tribunal and their lore, especially Almalexia and Sotha Sil, though I will be honest and say i hate Vivec just as much as the Daedra because of all the degenerate gross stuff around him.) The Tribunal may or may not have taken power by wrongful means, but since it was a dragon break moment i side more with the theory that Nerevar died from Dagoth Ur murdering him instead, either way after they ascended to godhood they have helped Morrowind and the Dunmer because they actually gave a damn and while yes they were flawed overall i feel as though they were a much better influence for the Dunmer than the 3 "good Daedra". I mean Mephala main thing is lust and deceit, Boethiah trickery and destruction and Azura out of jealous rage cursed ALL DUNMER, not exactly very compassionate for a prince who was see as the nicest. Not sure if its in the lore but i read somewhere she had a bet with Sheogorath to see if her priestess could not go mad if Sheogorath mess with her, that is just straight messed up to use a loyal follower just for some stupid bet. After the Tribunal fell nothing good has happened for the Dunmer, not in the same way at least when the Tribunal were in power and in my opinion Sotha Sil was 100% right in wanting to destroy them. Small thing to add is Almalexia is a good character and the hate she gets is undeserved, to put it in context, imagine being a literal deity for 3000+ years who cares deeply about her people to the point where she wanted to be the one solving their problems to then slowly loosing that ability to defend both her people and land from invasion and similar things. I think would drive anyone mad since I feel her madness was less a power grab thing rather she didn't want to loose that ability to be relied upon by her people and still wanted to remain as their "Mother Of Mercy" and in her madness misunderstood her actions as good rather than desperate and wrong.

[@ajcabanas5760]

Last Dragonborn chose to become a vampire lord to forever prevent the return of alduin

[@AshleyIsArtsy]

Ok, here's my best attempt at a lore hot take: Kirkbrides out of lore texts are awful. Not just that they're unintelligible and off the wall but they just don't feel cohesive with the universe at all. Choosing the most insane thing you can think of doesn't mean it's inherently good. It just means you're insane, and I think a lot of lore enthusiasts take his stuff way too seriously. Half the time it reads like a shitpost.

[@humperdinckfangboner9749]

100% agree on this. I love his off the wall theories, and they provide plenty of content fodder for KZbin videos. But very often they don't "fit" the overall tone of the series and people have a tendency to take them way too seriously

[@tarunyadav6808]

A Hot take : ESO is essentially a true successor to Daggerfall the game. Ignore all the things it did poorly. If you get used to the gameplay of it. It's the most roleplayable TES game so far. With its Races, provinces, people, customisations, professions. It can be played like a life simulator in the TES universe like how Daggerfall was. And I really love that about it

[@sdFreerey]

That’s considered a hot take? Pls…

[@luchaluchalucha]

Until you try to go to the PvP zone and there's an entire Reddit explaining the exploits and gear you need to last longer than 5 seconds in a battle

[@raiden6428]

That's fascinating that the Chinese suffered from vision issues longer than others bc of a reliance on porcelain, leading to a late discovery of glass. It makes me wonder what tech we rely on now that prevents us from discovering better things. Kinda like how a reliance on fossil fuels prevented a discovery of clean energy for awhile

[@raiden6428]

@Incapacitating Strike k

[@TheCreatureCorner]

Hot take: Morrowboomers never shut up about how Vvardenefell is better because it feels so alien and then hate Blackreach

[@robtravis6977]

Here's a hot take. Bethesda has not even started ES6. They have been working on Starfield and once that is done they will start working on ES6. Soooo 2030?

[@morgand820]

Hot take: the way the Numidium is portrayed by the TES lore community as a time breaking nihilism god is not based on anything concrete in game. The only thing we know for sure about it is that its a powerful golem that is powered by a unique soul gem. It making Talos a god or being made out of the Dwemer collective consciousness are just theories, when most of the confusion about its use and powers can be attributed to no one in Tamriel really being able to grasp something so destructive (especially with all the secrecy around the Dwemer and Tiber Septim).

[@morgand820]

Like it would be cool if the Dwemer created a machine that's more powerful than most of the Gods, but neither the way it's talked about in the Daggerfall main quest nor the way Dagoth Ur speaks about Akulahnan indicates that it's anything more then a big robot

[@lolihitler4198]

@@morgand820 I would argue that considering turning it on seems to reliably create dragon breaks, it was originally supposed to be powered by the heart of a god and the totem was only a simulacrum, the fact that it’s literally one of the structures holding the fabric of reality together, and that the dwemer from what has been scarcely said seemed to have seen it more as a god in its own right rather than just a big robot (which conceptually wouldn’t have been too crazy to them) it seems like Numidium is pretty heavily implied to be more than just a big golem though the whole shouting no at the ground and unexisting Alinor thing is a bit of a stretch but it’s called the Brass God for a reason

[@morgand820]

@@lolihitler4198 "Dragon Breaks" are just Blades psyops

[@morgand820]

@@lolihitler4198 sorry you fell for the lies of the divinity stealing Tribunal and Septims :)

[@randomclankitties]

My hot take is Vivec topped his demon "husband" and that's why his demon children would just show up absent of him. Vivec put the P in Moleg Bal's V

[@eggsarny]

Hot Take: there are no hot takes anymore because we've all become grizzled old men and women who try to really hard to find more stuff to argue about a game series that had its start in the nineties but all we end up doing is rebranding old stuff to fit the latest game ie. Skyrim is just watered down Oblivion which is just watered down Morrowind. Take your meds and go to bed, I'll wake you when ESVI comes out in the next kalpa

[@tatwood93]

Honestly, the discussion that ends with Scott and Michael describing achieving Chim IRL was super inspirational.

[@WilfulFox]

I love it whenever Michael (usually him) tells a nostalgic memory of a particular character or quest line, and I’d love for you all to occasionally throw them in!

[@virginiastatesman4672]

TRUE take: the stormcloaks are objectively the good guys. Imperials say that the Empire is keeping the thalmor out of skyrim. This is obviously false, the empire has literally allowed the thalmor into Skyrim with the justiciars. Skyrim would also be impossible to invade for the elves if they couldnt even take hammerfell.

[@hermonymusofsparta]

True takes are the hottest takes. In RL too.

[@crazycats3390]

but if the Empire lost to the thalmor with Skyrim and hammerfell how do you expect Skyrim alone to be able to fight the thalmor. I do agree with you the empire has failed but there is no correct answer to the civil war.

[@virginiastatesman4672]

@@crazycats3390 Do you understand supply lines? Cyrodil’s entire underbelly is facing the summerset isle. The Dominion would have to fully occupy Cyrodil or invade by sea, and they’re going to have to march through the Jerralls if they fully occupy Cyrodil which is impossible.

[@Therealsds1000]

Hot take: I feel like most beast are to suicidal to be real creatures. It would be cooler if teretorial where more realistic protected their cubs. It would also be fun if there where creatures that used fear spells to keep intruders out of their territory. These same creatures would flee themselfs if their spells fail.

[@jesushcringe]

Hot take: Mage mechanics need an overhaul. There should be more to learning magic than just reading a spell tome and suddenly being able to throw lighting, charm people, or heal wounds. I'd like to see a system where you could learn a basic spell type either from a trainer, doing some sort of independent study/experimentation, or going through trials the way shouts were learned by completing various dungeons. From there you could discover different applications such apply to other/apply to self versions, AOE modifiers, duration/intensity, etc. Additions like these would make investing in mage builds far more rewarding and individualized.

[@aramondehasashi3324]

That's not a hot take

[@Deaglan753]

1:25:37 for the best witty take

[@antweeff1037]

1:27:22 drew and michael have a synchronized shy head nod at the marriage comment and it made me laugh really hard

[@jondawson7911]

Right I'm going to get skewered for this but... Astrid is an interesting character. Think about it, the DB was without a Listener for years, of course she was going to do things differently while the Night Mother had effectively abandoned them (due to her not choosing a Listener in what was the Brotherhood's most dire time of need). Naturally if you've been doing things your way for a long time, how are you going to feel when some random new guy is suddenly named the leader of your group? You're going to be pissed off. Given that even members who were open to the old ways thought Cicero needed to die, so Astrid couldn't have been that bad of a leader previously. Keep in mind, Maro already knew the password to the Falkreath sanctuary (as shown in Destroy the Dark Brotherhood) he only went after the DB when they killed his son. If Skyrim had given the choice, I think Astrid and maybe Arnbjorn or Festus should have died and then used the remaining members (potentially including Cicero) to re create the Black Hand.

[@EJDubbz]

11:19 The Experience mod separates skill leveling and perk/level gain. It just works.

[@masonpeck5252]

Unpopular Opinion: Morthal is great (not the best, but great) and you’re all wrong. Morthal is easily in the top 3 for the best holds. “Laid to Rest” is an awesome quest. The swamps of Hjaalmarch are super spooky. Idgrod Ravencrone is one of the most interesting Jarls in all of Skyrim. And, Falion is dope. You’re all just haters.

[@m.khalid334]

i'd be pro stormcloak if it weren't for the thalmor threat, the empire has outlived it's purpose and it's existance is unnecessary, provinces can still maintain trade and friendly relations without all of them being under the control of some old dude in a big tower

[@isthatwhatemptymeans8222]

I think of Nords as Starks from GOT. So I'm always Pro-Stormcloak role-playing sending home the Imperials/Lannisters

[@virginiastatesman4672]

The Empire has lost to the thalmor, and have invited thalmor officers to all of the provinces. The empire isn’t protecting anyone from the thalmor, they are inviting them in to all the areas they control. There’s no thalmor in morrowind or hammerfell.

[@OgieSifter]

The nords needed to be more a potential threat to the thalmor not like nuke level but ulfric should've been teaching single word thu'umers in the stormcloaks at least

[@Subject_Keter]

Clear out the bandits in your own hold? Nation? Then we can talk. Beside that joke I think they are both equally worthless beside stormcloaks having the ultimate dropout who will cry when the elves prank him

[@mehphala9184]

and the majority of the supply caravans are freelance khajiit caravans as well

[@ALDS-zk9ko]

The hist is the most BASED thing in the entire lore. Who else can just yeet a floating island from another realm into existence? And that's just one of their more recent shenanigans Welcome Scott-and-Drew Come to me through Hist Sap and swamp Ooh, ooh Come, Micheal Come and look upon the Hist, upon the Hist Ooh Lay down your dunmer biases It is not too late for my mercy Ooh, ooh Come and look upon the Hist, upon the Hist Ooh, ooh, ooh The Hist are BASED How can you kill whats BASED? What a grand and intoxicating innocence The Hist are BASED How can you kill whats BASED? Shame on you, sweet FudgeMuppet The Hist are BASED The Hist are BASED The Hist are BASED, BASED The Hist are BASED The Hist are BASED The Hist are BASED

[@deansheppard1104]

Histwave 😂😂

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

The abs on armor are like fluting. That doesnt inhibit the function of the Harness. Making "boobarmor" changes the shape of the entire harness and makes it much less effective. You want weapons to glance off, for that one big dome is the best shape.

[@SupahTrunks7]

If you really want to have boob armor it should be one dome for both boobs rather than individually so that incoming blades are still being directed away from the body instead of directly into your sternum. Unfortunately that defeats the purpose of male gaze tiddy armor for some people so we don't see that compromise much either. And as a female who plays these games I hate being forced to wear boob armor without the option of wearing normal armor instead. There are certain armor sets in skyrim that I straight up refuse to wear regardless of stats bc they annoy me to look at. It's hard to feel immersed in the setting when impractical female armor means your studded armor has a boob window (I miss morrowind where if I didn't like the look of an armor set I could hide it under some cool enchanted robes)

[@heyscotty8052]

If you haven't already done so I think it would be really fun to look at the elder scrolls from a map/continent perspective and have explained the cultures, native people and noted history of the countries and where TES 6 will be best set in and why. Bit of a TES noob and want to learn more 👄

[@ebonking5486]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXvKXp5_h9Jnpa8 this is a good video for tes lore for noobs

[@King-David8]

Imperial Orrery shows the solar system of mundus. All of the planets in the system are named after the elves ancestors My hypothesis is that the Mer came from other planets in the system (Aldmer) this could explain why all of the elves are so different considering they have extremely long lifespans. and the time it would take for them to evolve separately, would be significant. Altmer, falmer, dwemer, seaelfs, left hand elf. If each race of elf came from a different planet in the system it would make more sense for them to settle a different area on Nirn. Then to come from some distant continent spread out to each area on tamriel and then evolve separately in such a short amount of time.

[@King-David8]

It appears that the elven society starts out with advanced technology and slowly degrades over time. All of the ancient Nords ruins also seem to have stolen Mer technology, particularly dwemer. Including their doors, traps, secret passageways and enchanting. Once the nords got rid of the snow elves they had a golden age and from then on their society started to degrade into the fourth era where technology is less advanced. And magic is shunned.