Replying to a post from the Gaming Pet Peeves thread...
Naw I am a huge fan of "generic" in almost everything and there are reasons they are used so much. Often the reason they have only one unique race is because by having these generic ones everyone is on the same page and they don't need to expound on everyone else.
The "bad" part is that they make the "generic" races incredibly boring... often just making a race entirely contained in "What they can do".
Skyrim is a big example of this because you could play the entire game and not even realize there are distinctions, socially, between the different races... There is in fact almost a boring amount of intermingling.
Eh... My Skyrim experience was counter to that, I think they turned the racism up a lot (for the better). In Oblivion, nobody cared or hardly commented on your race. I only remember it being at all addressed in Bravil, a little, where there were more argonians or something. And there was a slight disposition bonus/malus based on racial relations, but that was mechanical and almost imperceptible.
In Skyrim:
All Nords constantly shout "Skyrim belongs to the Nords!" in battle. Even your hirelings. Edit: I'm pretty sure even Nords in the Imperial Legion.
Dunmer live in a ghetto called the "Grey Quarter" and are basically getting persecuted. Not sure why most of the Dunmer are living in the Nord-Uber-Alles city, but whatever.
Altmer who aren't Thalmor are openly resented for everything the Thalmor do. While the Thalmor themselves are racist against everyone, especially humans.
Bosmer... Are there Bosmer in Skyrim?? I guess there's that one fletcher. Edit: And I think one of the mages. Anyway, not enough of them to really tell if the Nords persecute them like Altmer and Dunmer. Seems like no.
Khajit merchants *aren't allowed in the cities* because of their perception as thieves. I mean there's truth to it, but still. Riften being the exception because it's the city of crime.
Argonians: The only ones I remember work as dockworkers, where they are given pitiful wages *for being Argonians*, or are criminals/live in Riften.
Imperials/Bretons: I assume these are the white humans who aren't screaming about drinking or SKYRIM FOR DA NORDS all the time. I think they're oddly exempt from the Nord racism, which is kinda weird... Even the Stormcloaks seem to hate the Empire rather than Imperials. Yet they blame all Altmer for the Thalmor machinations.
Redguard: There's that Redguard woman who's on the run from some Redguard men... Other than that I don't remember seeing Redguard in Skyrim.
Orcs: I actually forgot about orcs and had to edit! They seclude themselves in their forts rather than mingle, and a lot of NPCs describe them as stupid barbarians. There's that book Grelog the Kind has, for example, basically explaining why they ought to be *exterminated*.
Note that I'm not saying there ought to be more foreigners in Skyrim - it makes sense that they're rare - just that the notable foreign populations (Argonians, Khajit, Dunmer, and Altmer) suffer some serious racial persecution. Which is great characterization for Skyrim. The Nord people in Skyrim are, with many exceptions, xenophobic for understandable reasons. There's a lot of racial tension and it makes sense. My reaction was to support the Empire instead of the radically xenophobic group, but I understand *why* there's a radically xenophobic group.
Also, on a side note, I was pleased to find out that you can be a dark-skinned Breton. I don't know if that ever happens outside of character creation though.
Author
Topic: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Read 1621110 times)