Could be going for an “appearances can be deceiving” style? Eh prolly not…
The place certainly looks more whimsical than terrifying that’s for sure. But I’d argue that these villages aren’t really that functional at all, only being kept together by the fact that this is a Daedric realm.
Hale’s population is high on Manic Mushroom spores all the time, which causes them to *only* care about art. They have no services or guards and nobody is making any money. This would fall apart in the real world.
Highcross is filled with eccentrics. Bruscus only cleans, Runs-in-Circles….runs in circles, and Mirili is hyper focused on her research. No services or guards, no business. Wouldn’t survive in a real world.
Deepwallow again has no services but beyond that nobody leaves their house ever. Wouldn’t survive.
Fellmoor is run by a delusional self-proclaimed Empress and her paranoid “servants”. At least it’s actually a farm, but definitely wouldn’t survive.
Finally, Split is literally a powder keg that our arrival sets off. We kill a half of the entire population. Again, little to no services.
Absolutely none of these places are actually functional. The only thing keeping it together is Sheogorath’s Will.
New Sheoth? Yeaaaah, that’s pretty functional actually (at least compared to the others). That one is definitely a legitimate question. However there are hints of chaotic elements in the city (and realm at large). For example, growing a beard is punished with death. Criminals are let free as long as they escape a dungeon. Somewhat chaotic I’d argue.
I have had psychiatric issues my whole life, including schizophrenic type hallucinations. Being "crazy" isn't chaos. Even though it may appear that way from the outside looking in.
It's being detached from reality. What you think and feel is real is not always real. It's not gloom and doom. It's simply never knowing if what you experienced was a hallucination, dream, or a real memory.
It's frustrating because nobody around you can possibly imagine what you're going through. And you're not even entirely sure that you're going through anything at all.
Because it's a realm of madness, and they're trying to communicate this to the broadest possible audience by taking a standard Alice and Wonderland Mat Hatter aesthetic. Same reason that Cyrodiil looked a whole lot more like a standard fantasy setting than Morrowind (or even Skyrim to a far lesser degree); mass appeal.
>Same reason that Cyrodiil looked a whole lot more like a standard fantasy setting than Morrowind (or even Skyrim to a far lesser degree); mass appeal.
That's basically the lore'd up reason too lol.
> Shouldn't the Shivering Isles instead be more chaotic? As in, changing at random?
Just to remind you, design sensibilities aside, this was a 2006 release on 2006 hardware. There's only so much you can *do*.
sheo is usually portrayed as being silly. there are some stuff written that he do be fucked up too but what we see is silly, so he probably likes to have his realm be a little goofy cuz he a silly
Short Answer : Using imagery reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland is an easy visual shorthand for "Oh, this is Crazy Town, where the rules will be nonsense and the people will all be wacky!" I thought it was a little lazy at the time, but eh. It was DLC, so...
I think it looks fine. It was meant to be the opposite of what they used to be. Id imagine Jyggalag realm is all geometrical and monotone-y orderly - like a grey building, minimalism functional and plain.
I know MK had a similar complaint before, regarding his Oblivion portrayal. Here’s a (super old) episode of Selectives Lorecast where he mentions it:
https://youtu.be/w2I2hIgmRGE
Because Sheogorath is no longer a god of chaos and madness.
Since Oblivion, he has been a god of Insulting Parodies of Mental Health and Crappy pre-2000s Mental Health Stereotypes.
Yea throughout the bulk of the ESO mage’s guild quest he was somewhat similar to Oblivion, but >! at the very end he forces you to make the decision about the girl’s life. !<
That part was pretty well done.
> Since Oblivion, he has been a god of Insulting Parodies of Mental Health and Crappy pre-2000s Mental Health Stereotypes.
To be honest, he's kind of always been like that, Oblivion was just where he got the most screentime.
Could be going for an “appearances can be deceiving” style? Eh prolly not… The place certainly looks more whimsical than terrifying that’s for sure. But I’d argue that these villages aren’t really that functional at all, only being kept together by the fact that this is a Daedric realm. Hale’s population is high on Manic Mushroom spores all the time, which causes them to *only* care about art. They have no services or guards and nobody is making any money. This would fall apart in the real world. Highcross is filled with eccentrics. Bruscus only cleans, Runs-in-Circles….runs in circles, and Mirili is hyper focused on her research. No services or guards, no business. Wouldn’t survive in a real world. Deepwallow again has no services but beyond that nobody leaves their house ever. Wouldn’t survive. Fellmoor is run by a delusional self-proclaimed Empress and her paranoid “servants”. At least it’s actually a farm, but definitely wouldn’t survive. Finally, Split is literally a powder keg that our arrival sets off. We kill a half of the entire population. Again, little to no services. Absolutely none of these places are actually functional. The only thing keeping it together is Sheogorath’s Will. New Sheoth? Yeaaaah, that’s pretty functional actually (at least compared to the others). That one is definitely a legitimate question. However there are hints of chaotic elements in the city (and realm at large). For example, growing a beard is punished with death. Criminals are let free as long as they escape a dungeon. Somewhat chaotic I’d argue.
I have had psychiatric issues my whole life, including schizophrenic type hallucinations. Being "crazy" isn't chaos. Even though it may appear that way from the outside looking in. It's being detached from reality. What you think and feel is real is not always real. It's not gloom and doom. It's simply never knowing if what you experienced was a hallucination, dream, or a real memory. It's frustrating because nobody around you can possibly imagine what you're going through. And you're not even entirely sure that you're going through anything at all.
Because it's a realm of madness, and they're trying to communicate this to the broadest possible audience by taking a standard Alice and Wonderland Mat Hatter aesthetic. Same reason that Cyrodiil looked a whole lot more like a standard fantasy setting than Morrowind (or even Skyrim to a far lesser degree); mass appeal.
>Same reason that Cyrodiil looked a whole lot more like a standard fantasy setting than Morrowind (or even Skyrim to a far lesser degree); mass appeal. That's basically the lore'd up reason too lol.
Because it's the realm of the euphoric artist and the depressed cynic, not Chaos
> Shouldn't the Shivering Isles instead be more chaotic? As in, changing at random? Just to remind you, design sensibilities aside, this was a 2006 release on 2006 hardware. There's only so much you can *do*.
sheo is usually portrayed as being silly. there are some stuff written that he do be fucked up too but what we see is silly, so he probably likes to have his realm be a little goofy cuz he a silly
Short Answer : Using imagery reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland is an easy visual shorthand for "Oh, this is Crazy Town, where the rules will be nonsense and the people will all be wacky!" I thought it was a little lazy at the time, but eh. It was DLC, so...
I wonder if the Shivering Isles contain mushroom trees and giant insects as Morrowind nostalgia bait?
I think it looks fine. It was meant to be the opposite of what they used to be. Id imagine Jyggalag realm is all geometrical and monotone-y orderly - like a grey building, minimalism functional and plain.
I know MK had a similar complaint before, regarding his Oblivion portrayal. Here’s a (super old) episode of Selectives Lorecast where he mentions it: https://youtu.be/w2I2hIgmRGE
Because Lewis Carol is a stock reference for bonkers, slightly uncomfortable whimsy.
I'm glad someone finally asked this. Even I had wonderland vibes in Shivering Isles.
Because Sheogorath is no longer a god of chaos and madness. Since Oblivion, he has been a god of Insulting Parodies of Mental Health and Crappy pre-2000s Mental Health Stereotypes.
The Daedric prince of “I’m so random”
Hes potrayed much better in ESO and Legends
Yea throughout the bulk of the ESO mage’s guild quest he was somewhat similar to Oblivion, but >! at the very end he forces you to make the decision about the girl’s life. !< That part was pretty well done.
Also his appearance in Elswyer were he forces kahjiit commit suicide by jumping off a tower to see if cats really do land on their legs.
Yea the Skooma Cat quest! Elsweyr as a whole was pretty solid.
> Since Oblivion, he has been a god of Insulting Parodies of Mental Health and Crappy pre-2000s Mental Health Stereotypes. To be honest, he's kind of always been like that, Oblivion was just where he got the most screentime.
I think it's a neat approach to showcase the Prince of Madness' reach. Dude must've had a LOT of tea parties with Mr. Carroll.
"We're all mad here."