User blog comment:Master Green Cat/The Elder Scrolls 6/@comment-4113369-20130515152149/@comment-3217145-20130515155719

I think Morrowind was actually an anomaly there. Arena and Daggerfall didn't fall too far outside that aesthetic, either. Morrowind was just kind of a weird bit of providence, a totally fresh and amazingly interesting aesthetic that doesn't appear to be based on any particular tradition, at least not one that's common. The other lands are pretty well defined - Valenwood=tree-hugging elves, Summerset=mystical elves, Black Marsh=swamp full of lizards, Hammerfell=desert - as well as having pretty specific bases in real-world cultures. Morrowind doesn't have either of those. Same with the Dunmer as compared with other races.

So I don't think you have to worry a whole lot about a "new comfort zone." It might just be that they were never as good at making settings as you were led to believe, and just got lucky once.