Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10197675-20130806142227/@comment-24590102-20140404105157

"It is a video game not a book. It is made to attract the largest audience possible."

So's any work of fiction.

As a video-game, are we talking Blakestone or Doom? One had an emotionally compelling plot while the other didn't.

So, maybe a videogame is not a novel, but Doom's eclipse of Blakestone proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that both "videogame" and novel alike are more successful than their equivalents if they deliver an emotionally compelling story in order to be successful.

In the case of TES, it's not just a video game (which is like saying that a kangaroo is just an animal when it's also a vetebrate, a mammal ans a marsupial). TES is an video-RPG - the full deal complete with modding tools for modern "Dungeon Masters", open world, detailed backstory and open plot (quest system). RPGs, whether video or not, revolve around backstory, plot, and an open, modifiable world.