virtual

"What's the story?"

When players ask what the story is, I imagine Macbeth asking what the story to Macbeth is before the play begins. You are the protagonist, the hero of the game -- the story is what you decide to make it. There are going to be foils to your character: people who will try to stop some of your more grandiose goals, and people who are there to help it if it serves them. But it is your aims and ambitions that frame the story. After all, these games are plays in which the stars are members of the audience. Given a large, well-appointed stage, a supporting cast of improvisationalists, and an alert backstage crew, they are capable of anything. And the best thing We can do is give you what you want, and get out of your way.

You have a challenge ahead of you in more ways than one. This is a game designed to encourage exploration and reward curiosity. There are opportunities to do great and heroic deeds, and, likewise, possibilities of indulging in less virtuous activities. You are not required to follow a path of righteousness nor a path of depravity, but both roads and everything in between are open to you.

And so we turn the question back to you, "What's the story?" It is not for us to answer. Follow your own spirit and tell your own story in your own way.

We hope only to help you make it real.

* * *

adapted for a purpose,

original courtesy of TES ch. 2: Introduction

Bethesda Softworks.