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Hello all,

I'm completely new to the Elder Scrolls world and I just pre ordered Skyrim. I'm just wondering if i will be completely out to lunch(such as playing style, environment, NPCs and such) when i first start, having played none of the previous games, or relatively fine? I've just started reading most of the wiki pages and such trying to get a sense of the lore/world i will find myself in.

Hopefully you folks could help a new (yet excited!) player out??

Familiarize yourself with types of characters you want.
It's fun to see what you like most and allows you to have multiple characters as well.
For me a Breton is a great starter for Magic you don't get the weaknesses of the Altmer and resistance to magic which is always useful.
Plus Bretons have resistance to shock damage.
If you want a bit of Sword and Magic Dark elves or Dunmer are a good option.

You should be fine.

The previous characters would be mostly deceased and any refrence to previous games wouldn't have an effect on your experience.

I will say this, be prepared to lose large amounts of time.

I envy you, your first experience is the best in my opinion.

If your concerned about being completely unfamiliar to TES games, I'd suggest picking up the official strategy guide. It really helped me when I was in your position with Oblivion ^_^

Don't worry, friend. The games can be played as stand alones, so your not having any other experience with them is perfectly fine! And you've already got a head start: we're used to playing with old gaming styles and interfaces that are phased out. Besides, the best way to play is with an open mind and a fresh plate for the experience.

You're in for a good time. I hope you're excited!

Also, welcome to the forums!

Skyrim looks so different from the previous games that you will probably be better off starting fresh instead of trying to get used to new controls and such.

Yes. And i guarantee you'll enjoy yourself. If not, i'll let you come to my house, and punch out my teeth. But that's not gonna happen, because you'll love every second of it.

I love it when I hear that Skyrim is creating interest amongst new fans.. I have a few friends who've only Bethesda experiences were Fallout, and they aren't into fantasy games.. But Skyrim has totally piqued their interest and curiosity.

I'll write a friendly introductory to some basic ES concepts.
Races:

• Imperials - Native to Cyrodiil, home of the once-Empire. Generally charismatic and physically adept, for eras they connected the entire continent of Tamriel with the Empire and Imperial Legion. They appeared originate from the Proto-Nords who came from a continent north of Skyrim, called Atmora.
• Nords - Sharing the same roots as the Imperials, they branched off from the Proto-Nords who came from Atmora. They settled in Skyrim, and generally fill the 'northern barbarian' stereotype. Strong, not to bright, tribal.
• Redguard - The odd egg of the bunch. They descend from a western continent, Yokuda, that sank into the ocean long ago. They're generally swift and make for great, swash-buckling pirates.
  
  Mer - Races of the Mer are elves. Altmer, Bosmer, Dunmer, Orsimer. They are not native to Tamriel, but they all descended from the Aldmer. The most powerful of these ancient mer were the Ayleids, or the "Heart-land Elves." They established an Empire in Cyrodil and enslaved the races of men. Others were the Chimeri, the "Changed Ones," who settled in Vvardenfell. Next to the Chimeri were the Dwemer, or the "Deep Ones." They are effectively dwarves, and are called as such. You'll see Dwemer ruins in Skyrim and they are responsible for the mechanized abominations called Centurions, which ran on Steam-power. The Dwemer mysteriously disappeared where the Ayleids died out, and the Aldmer were made into new races while the Chimeri were forced out by divine intervention.
• Altmer - Altmer, or the "High Ones," are the classic high elves. They are aristocratic, and powerful. They hail from the Summerset Isles, southwest of Tamriel, and are moreover the direct descendants of the Aldmer. They are adept magic users, and their homeland tines with magic.
• Bosmer - Called the "Green Ones," Bosmer are the more 'primitive' races. They hail from the jungles of Valenwood, and are adept thieves and archers. They are the shortest of the races (And their altmer cousins are the one of the tallest.)
• Dunmer - Their name translates into the "Dark Ones." The Dunmer directly came from the Chimer from a tale of Divine Intervention. In angering the Daedric prince, Azura, she, in a fit of rage, warped the golden skin of the Aldmer into the color of ash and the eyes to the color of blood. Dunmer generally have become resented for this, though they maintained a strong holding in Morrowind and once menaced the Empire. They follow the Tribunal, which is a triangle of mortal-gods, vestiges of the Chimeri. They were Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil. Through a complex tale of treachery, the Tribunal gained immortality and god status. However, the hero of Morrowind, called the Nerevarine, killed Almalexia who killed Sotha Sil. Vivec also lost his immortality, and disappeared with the invasion of the Daedra by the Oblivion Crisis. The Dunmer, according to the most reviled Keyes, author of the Infernal City, homeland was obliterated after the Argonians force a moon, suspended by Vivec's magic, into the ground of Vvardenfell and obliterated the entire island.
• Orsimer - Originally from the area around Hammerfell, Orsimer have a sad history. The Daedric prince, prince of corruption, corrupted the Orsimer into the orcs today. Their name means "Corrupted Ones."
• Bretons - Bretons are off from men and mer because they are a mix. They hail from Hammerfell, and hold mer blood and the blood of men. They are adept magic users and hold a slight resistance to it.
  
  The Beast Races - The beast races are native to Tamriel, and, like the men races, were enslaved by the mer. Most notably the Dunmer in later times.
• Khajiit - The Khajiit hail from the arid lands of Elseweyr, and are cat-like. They are quick as they are agile, and were enslaved by the Dunmer before King Hlaalu Helseth forbade slavery after the events of Morrowind.
• Argonians - The Argonians are lizard people from the swamp lands of Black Marsh. They are tribal in the greatest sense, and their tribal attitudes contrasts with that of the Nords which is clan-like. They hold resentment to the Dunmer after years of slavery, and somehow destroyed the entirety of Vvardenfell in a war after the events of Oblivion.

Daedra & Aedra
Daedra and Aedra are the most well-known gods of Tamriel. The Aedra are 9, and are worshiped by the Imperial Cult. The most prominent of them is Akatosh, who is actually in the Imperial sigil, as seen on the covert art of Skyrim. Akatosh is a dragon, and the god of time. They are 8 other Aedra: Zenithar, Dibella, Talos (Tiber Septim), Julianos, Kynareth, Stendarr, Mara.

The Daedric princes are different from the Aedra. The Daedric princes, like the Aedra, have their own spheres of influence, but are mostly worshiped by fringe cults away from cities. Daedra worship is not necessarily devil worship, but it is not popular. Dunmer are the most prominent Daedra worships, but even they only held shrines underneath their cities, where the majority of them worshiped their ancestors. Daedra worship is generally looked down upon, as the Daedra have chaotic nature, and have angendas of their which often conflict with mortals and eachother. The term 'prince' is a near-misnomer, as the Daedra appear as either male or female, though they actually hold no gender and can appear whatever they like. Each prince has a their own plane, called a plane of Oblivion. This planes differ from Azura's palace of roses to Dagon's hellish environ to Malacath's quagmire. They are:
Azura, Boethiah, Clavicus Vile, Hermaeus Mora, Hircine, Malacath, Jyggalag, Mehrunes Dagon,, Mephala, Meridia, Nocturnal, Namira, Peryite, Sanguine, Sheogorath, Vaermina.

Notable ones, who often conflict with mortals are:
Azura - Her sphere is the moon and stars. She is generally benevolent, but holds a distaste to Dunmer, whom she was betrayed by with the acts of the Tribunal. She assisted the Nerevarine on their way to Dagoth Ur, and also lead the hero of Arena, the Eternal Champion I believe, out of their prisoner at the onset of the game.
Mehrunes Dagon - The god of change and destruction. He vies for the plane that mortals live on, and has frequently tried to take it. He at once tried to conquer Morrowind, but was defeated by Almalexia- a scene immortalized by a statue of the two fighting in the capital city of Morrowind, Mournhold. He was also behind the Oblivion Crisis, who was ushered in by the cult of Mankar Camoran.
Sheogorath - The god of insanity, basically. He appears as a fine-suited banker with a nice goatee. Though he no longer appeared so business-like in Oblivion, he still maintained his maniacal ways. The moon that destroyed Morrowind was initially launched by Sheogorath, but that was stopped by Vivec who suspended it in the sky. Sheogorath is also, ironically, the god of order, who is Jyggalag. In the events of the Shivering Isles expansion, he is restored to his original place as Jyggalag, prince of order, and the hero of Cyrodiil becomes the new prince of madness. He appears in Skyrim, which is confusing because the champion from Oblivion was only a daedric prince in all but name, and had no real power as one.

That is a basic run down from the top of my head. For any questions, fire away/

dubq wrote:I love it when I hear that Skyrim is creating interest amongst new fans.. I have a few friends who've only Bethesda experiences were Fallout, and they aren't into fantasy games.. But Skyrim has totally piqued their interest and curiosity.

I've turned a few friends on to Skyrim as well, especially after the demo videos came out. They went from "I dont really care for RPGs" to "I paid off my preorder for Skyrim"

Basically, the Daedra are demons, and Daedric conjuration is akin to witchcraft.

The thing is, there are some rather sociable Daedra, so it's not regarded as outright 'evil'.

You have the Daedra known as Azura, who is sort of like Glenda, the Good Witch of the North.

Then there's Mephala, who is sort of like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Then there's Malacath, who's like Grouchy Bear. With a chain-gun.

You'll be fine. I would just jump right into it, play the game through, and then on your next playthrough you can look up any information on the lore that you need to understand the story more.

Elder Scrolls games are great because you can get what you want out of them. If you just want to stick to the main quest and follow the beaten path, thats perfectly fine. If you want to dig deep and really immerse yourself in a very deep story, you can do that as well.

Just pop that game in and enjoy, that part will come easy.

I love UESP users. so knowledgable and understanding of the TES universe. i feel at home here.

Lynx2069 wrote:I will say this, be prepared to lose large amounts of time.

So true, I barely ever play games but when I first started playing Morrowind. I played for five hours straight.

Wow! thanks for all of the replies! very informative thanks, (especially Kestral, i was having trouble trying to wrap my head around the gods from what i read) and this has made me even more excited! i might show up for the midnight launch at the store....

I would strongly suggest you do.
You don't want to miss out on all the fun everyone else will be having, do ya'?

For new players I would RECOMMEND playing in reverse chronological order. (Start with Skyrim, then play Oblivion, then Morrowind....).
This is because the older the game, the less polished and less novice-friendly it is.

HatofMadness wrote:I envy you, your first experience is the best in my opinion.

Agreed

I first got into the Elder Scrolls with Morrowind on xbox, when my brother got it for his birthday pretty much back when it was released. It was the very first time I ever heard about the game, we had no idea what it was. And honestly, it couldn't be better for a first experience. It IS overwhelming, but a good sense of overwhelmingness. I mean, you're thrown in a new world you know nothing about, and discovering everything from the game itself is incredible. But well, we the veterans don't loose that much either, as I found Oblivion to feel like rediscovering the universe, and I'd be surprised it wouldn't be the same thing for Skyrim.

Secondrow wrote:Wow! thanks for all of the replies! very informative thanks, (especially Kestral, i was having trouble trying to wrap my head around the gods from what i read) and this has made me even more excited! i might show up for the midnight launch at the store....

The theology of Elder Scrolls generally can get unwieldy. Particularly if you want to get into all of their spheres and influence and backs stories. However, you are welcome for your bit of thanks, really, you might be able to pick up all of that as you get along in the game. Talos, Akatosh, Azura, Dagon, and perchance Sheogorath are generally the big players, but the added background on the races and the other things like the Tribunal is useful.

The story of this game takes place 200 years after the prior game. There will be a lot of changes, so there will also be a lot of explanation about everything.

Any newcomer should just jump in in my opinion. Bethesda designs each game to stang on its own.

If you find that you are a big enough of a fan of skyrim that you want to learn more about the elder scrolls stories, then i would do it at that time.

Trying to understand concepts that are completely new and that you have no prior exposure to will only frustrate you and make you think the game is more complicated than it need be.

hunt for books, any book that catches your eye, and read it, in game, not only do they randomly have a chance for giving u a skill, they generally hold all the lore and stories and even lists and hints to great treasures

i think skyrims ease of access and "pick up and play" will make it cool for you, and since you dont have to worry about trying to pick skills to work on to level, the system will do all the real work from the previous games for you, as for your race selection, way the pros and cons for how u think your going to play, ie; if you plan on using magic a lot, or want to try it out early on, go for a character with higher magic capabilities at the beginning, having a little more magicka wont hurt later on when u end up being a warrior in heavy armor cuz u will be able to cast lots of healing spells, and my other advice is to increase health every level for the first 4 levels while your seeing where u want to be, by then u should know how your leaning in terms of combat because your skills will reflect it

Dark Spark wrote:Basically, the Daedra are demons, and Daedric conjuration is akin to witchcraft.

What sort of witchcraft are you referring to? I certainly hope you're not using that as a generic term.

chibimyuutsu wrote:

Dark Spark wrote:Basically, the Daedra are demons, and Daedric conjuration is akin to witchcraft.

What sort of witchcraft are you referring to? I certainly hope you're not using that as a generic term.

Demon summoning, basically. Conjuration magic summons from the planes of Oblivion, which requires some connection to Daedric magic. It's not witchcraft in the sense "Bubble bubble, toil and trouble."

Kestral wrote:

chibimyuutsu wrote:

Dark Spark wrote:Basically, the Daedra are demons, and Daedric conjuration is akin to witchcraft.

What sort of witchcraft are you referring to? I certainly hope you're not using that as a generic term.

Demon summoning, basically. Conjuration magic summons from the planes of Oblivion, which requires some connection to Daedric magic. It's not witchcraft in the sense "Bubble bubble, toil and trouble."

Which witchcraft is in that sense?