Remember the old pencil-and-paper RPG's? The limits of your adventure were only defined by your own imagination. The dungeon master didn't force anyone down a particular path (if he knew what he was doing) but instead allowed the players to explore the world he had created. If you wanted to stay in the town and become a local hero, fine. If instead you wished to step into the shoes of a starship Captain and save the universe, that was also fine. A good DM had lots of imagination, and all the answers. The players provided the adventure.
In The Elder Scrolls, we have strived to put the fun back into role-playing. We have given the world many areas of exploration, over four hundred places where death can be dealt in new and exciting ways. It is a place where those of you who love combat and spell casting can earn fame and fortune by proving your prowess in battle. Among the hundreds of quests present in the world, the opportunity to save the Empire is there, for those who are brave or foolhardy enough to seek it out. We plan to dedicat further expansion and adventure modules to giving people new areas to explore or other mysteries to solve.
In The Elder Scrolls there is no absolute right or wrong. We have
always held that the idea of good vs. evil
is a bit cliché,
however effective it may be for running a story. Things in the real
world are rarely black and white. We did include an overall quest
for those of you who wish to participate in the never ending battle
of Light vs. Darkness. Failing this, however, only means that
particular or adventurer has met an unfortunate end, not that the game
is over for the dozens of other characters you might otherwise have
chosen to play. If you wish to become a thief who robs innocent nobles,
fine. If you wish to play a warrior who makes it his mission in life to
kill these thieves, that's fine too. All we did is give the computer
all the parameters of the Land, from NPCs and their motivations, to
monsters and their treasures, to nobles and their quests. The rest is
up to you.
The quest outlined in the introduction is to rescue the Emperor from the dimension in which Jagar Tharn has imprisoned him, by recovering the eight pieces of the Staff of Chaos. Learn the world and its ways well, however, before you journey down this road. The Arena can be deadly to the uninitiated. Explore as often as possible, perhaps using the many crypts and forgotten lairs around the land to hone your skills. This will give you the experience necessary to win against stronger and tougher adversaries later in the game. I suggest you pay attention to any dreams or messages you may receive. The information contained in them can be very valuable, even necessary to complete the final quest to recover the Staff of Chaos. The eight pieces of the Staff are the only way to open the gate to the world in which the Emperor has been banished. Bide your time and gain experience Neither the Emperor nor the pieces of the Staff are going anywhere…
Creating a CRPG for the first time was a sometimes frustrating, always exciting, and wholly enjoyable process. Many nights were spent discussing different aspects of the game, trying to make sure that you, the consumer, would get to journey within in the most realistic fantasy environment possible without being forced into yet another boring world (any of us can do that by just looking out the window). Our commitment and goal was to create the strongest fantasy role-playing game possible. It was very important to us that the people who bought TES:Arena got as much enjoyment out of playing it as we did creating it. As with any creative endeavor however we know that we do not have all the answers. Your feedback on TES:Arena is very important to us. We invite your letters, suggestions and comments, so that together we may make future chapters of The Elder Scrolls as good as they can be.
With that said, may your sword be sharp and your spells close at hand, for your adventure begins here…
VJ Lakshman
Chief Designer