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  • Sorry. Note that I say this because I consider all the popular fantasy worlds pretty much the same, just hodge-podges of this, that, and the other, e.g. Morrowind and its mixture of steam punk, cod-Roman, and bizarre Elven civilisations.

    I should say that I think there are original ideas in Morrowind, and many aspects of the game mechanics work well, with the caveat that if you know what to go for, you can unbalance the game in your favour in no time at all. There's a lot of stuff in it that just isn't thought through in that respect. I also enjoy the ongoing world-building efforts, slow though they are, by the Tamriel Rebuilt volunteers. It's not all bad. :)

    I've been interested in the issue of what constitutes fantasy and what makes for a good fantasy world for a long time. Key in this is the falling-out between J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis over the 'Space Trilogy' and later Narnia, but of course the problem long predates them--Tolkien's work had many influences and partial antecedents, as did Lewis's, although in their conflict the debate probably reached its apotheosis.

    Have you read 'On Fairy-Stories', 'The Monsters and the Critics', and 'Leaf by Niggle' by Tolkien? If you haven't, I'd recommend them (they're all short). The two best books on Tolkien's work that I've read also touch on it, namely 'The Road to Middle-earth' by Tom Shippey and 'Defending Middle-earth' by Patrick Curry. I can lend you all of them, if you want, but do tell me to sod off if not. :)

  • No need to be sorry. As far as lore and world building goes I think the Elder Scrolls leaves much to be desired. It just has a very large spot in my heart as a game I played a lot as a kid and one of the games that had the largest steer on the games that I like most today, alongside Fable and KOTOR as probably the others.

    I’ve got quite a long reading list at the moment so won’t take them just yet but interested in future so will let you know. Sure we can have an interesting chat about it over a pint in future as well.

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