Four Principles of Lore

Place to discuss history, story, character development, questlines for factions and other specifics.

Moderators: Haplo, Lead Developers

Locked
User avatar
Sload
Developer Emeritus
Posts: 6358
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:16 pm

Four Principles of Lore

Post by Sload »

First Principle of Lore (Principle of Alienity) - What is boring and mundane is wrong; what is interesting and alien is right.
  • Sub-Principle of the First Principle of Lore - Alien in excess is mundane.
Second Principle of Lore (Principle of Interpretation) - Lore is nothing but interpretation.
  • First sub-Principle of the Second Principle of Lore - Lore is 90% the reader's interpretation.

    Second sub-Principle of the Second Principle of Lore - The remainder is the interpretation of the author.
Third Principle of Lore (Principle of Contradiction) - Contradiction is not invalidation, and, in a way, is confirmation.

Fourth Principle of Lore (Principle of Mythopoeia) - Belief makes truth.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nabO_UXb6MM]This is not my life[/url]
User avatar
lb003g0676
Developer
Posts: 1204
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:00 pm
Location: Surrey, England
Contact:

Post by lb003g0676 »

We have to start thinkign abotu this rule when designing architecture and plants of the rest of Hammerfell.

I think I will start quoting from this, or at least refering.
"Only perfection is acceptable. I expect something beyond the acceptable." - Sload

"Orix bows down to £'s leet spelling skills" - Oriks
User avatar
Sload
Developer Emeritus
Posts: 6358
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:16 pm

Post by Sload »

Examples of these principles in action:

The first:
  • Yokuda was either sank by tectonic activity or by the Hiradirj. Obviously, the second is true and the first is false, because the first would be totally uninteresting.

    Khajiit are either mer or aboriginals. There is an excellent story surrounding their mer origins, aboriginals have no real story, so they are obviously mer. There is other evidence against the aboriginal theory.
The second:
  • The endless debate over whether the Redoran are cooler than the Telvanni.

    CHIM, despite Vehk's intense clarity.
The third:
  • Morihaus is a winged bull and a man at the same time.
The fourth:
  • Everything.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nabO_UXb6MM]This is not my life[/url]
Xui'al
Developer Emeritus
Posts: 1330
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:21 pm
Location: Wastelands of Canada.

Re: Four Principles of Lore

Post by Xui'al »

Sload wrote:Principle of Lore - Lore is 90% the reader's interpretation.
It's imperium sine fine now.
'What if man is not really a scoundrel - man in general, I mean, the whole race of mankind - then all the rest is prejudice, simply artificial terrors and there are no barriers and it's all as it should be.'
Arthmodeus
Developer
Posts: 923
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 1:16 pm
Location: Ann Arbor

Post by Arthmodeus »

I love you, Sload.
User avatar
Sload
Developer Emeritus
Posts: 6358
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:16 pm

Post by Sload »

To remember-

No one is altogether evil. Everyone should be doing what they believe is right, or at very least justified.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nabO_UXb6MM]This is not my life[/url]
rekuli
Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: where people think before they speak

Post by rekuli »

Sload wrote:To remember-

No one is altogether evil. Everyone should be doing what they believe is right, or at very least justified.
True. But they should avoid trotting on other being's cultural or ethic-moralic preferences or beliefs. There's a fascinating contradiction: though everyone is free to do exactly what he/she wants, he/she isn't because there's a global sort of balance to keep.
This might be the fifth principle of lore: Principia Equilibrium. That is, if Sload agrees -)
We all live in front of a mirror but avoid looking into it because we are afraid to see what we have become.
DawnJasnine
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue May 07, 2013 9:36 pm

Post by DawnJasnine »

Cool principles. I think it is these things that make the story in the Elder Scrolls so interesting and deep, not just better than most other RPG games, but IMO actually better than many fantasy novels too, including Lord of the Rings.
User avatar
Aeven
Lead Developer
Posts: 1964
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:43 pm
Location: Groningen

Post by Aeven »

You do realise it's been about 4 years since anyone posted here?
DawnJasnine
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue May 07, 2013 9:36 pm

Post by DawnJasnine »

Aeven wrote:You do realise it's been about 4 years since anyone posted here?
Well, I don't think it really matters. There are many other threads in the lore section which have been updated much more recently. I just reply to whichever thread I want to reply to, I don't really care about the dates.

This seems to be a "slow" thread anyway. There are rather large gaps between some of the posts as well.
Why
Lead Developer
Posts: 1654
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:18 am
Location: Utrecht

Post by Why »

I appreciate you appreciating our principles, but the general idea is that unless you have something relevant to add to an old thread, you shouldn't necromance it. There's not really all that much more to say about the subject of this thread, it has been one of the cornerstones of our creative process for years now and doesn't need to be changed or expanded.

If you want to discuss what good a work of fiction TES is or how it compares to LotR I'd be happy to discuss that in the off-topic forum, as it doesn't relate to our lore and quests at all. Feel free to make yourself a thread.

In the meantime I'm locking this thread because there's no need to discuss any of this right now.
Locked