Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10197675-20130806142227/@comment-24349111-20141216153304

OrcGodMalakath21 wrote: I would like to see a game going way back where the only playable races are the original MER- dwemer, ayleid, chimer, etc.

thus the gameplay would be monumentally different without having to sacrifice history, canon, lore whatever you want to call it

btw in the end what you can truly consider canon is the main quest/storyline that you as a player play out as well as any other information provided by subsequent questlines

no other literature whether in game or out (MK) can be consider canon bc Canon is any information coming directly from an original work of art or creation and since a video game thanks to modern technology is considered created and a work of art it falls under those rules its just like with comics surely Stan Lee can say whatever he wants about his characters outside of the actual works of art but the mind is fleeting but his comics each went through many edits by him thus they are the only true source of canon its just like when you do a report for school you have to quote primary sources a.k.a. canon in order to make a compilation of that is a report but in the enfd the reader is charged with reading the primary sources for the real information just bc mk or kk said or wrote anything does not make it canon what canon is comes from the work of art itself You have not even the slightest idea of what canon is.

The definitions  of "canon" clearly state that something can be considered canon if it is accepted by a higher authority and/or the public.

[Middle English, from Late Latin, from Latin, standard]  a  :  an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture  b  :  the authentic works of a writer  c  :  a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works MK's work past Morrowind has continuously appeared in newer TES games, and he has been asked by Bethesda countless of times to help them with lore, one of the biggest examples being the Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes, which were written by MK (and appear both in Oblivion and Skyrim), The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine, which had most of it's lore & plot written by MK and the end of the Shivering Isles' Main Quest (as it is very likely that the player character has mantled Sheogorath at that point).

Bethesda has never released an official statement saying that Michael Kirkbride's work is considered non-canon, and likewise, has never directly confirmed that his work is canon. But due to the fact that they continuously use his lore, even in major parts and questlines of the newer games, it is very likely that they accept his lore as being part of TES, therefore fitting the definition I gave above.