Ghogiel Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 (edited) The Tolkien thing about elves is nothing new. Professor Tolkien drew from assorted European mythologies where the conception of elves was of them being a higher being, more cultured, intelligent AND beautiful. Not to mention tall. So my take on elves is from a pretty deep rooted tradition,to call it bias is something of a misnomer, hence I think those elven presets are also horrendous. Nothing to do with modern media and supermodels, more to do with my Celtic and Norse forebears, actually.Tolkien elves are not exactly TES elves, I wouldn't be wrong to draw a comparison though. The influence Tolkien had on shaping our current general idea of elves is clear, from D&D to warhammer to TES. The exception are dark elves. As a distinct race they don't exist in Tolkien's lore. You make the reference of them in norse mythology, who were short, black, ugly and lived underground, and appeared to you before you died or something. And perhaps wood elves which are English I believe, and I am pretty sure they are short child like creatures in the mythology they appear. Just saying. We probably get our dark elf idea corrupted from Tolkien, in its current form they come straight out of D&D. In TES lore. Bosmer for example are weird carnivorous beings. So it's all a bit different, that weirdness is why I like TES lore so much. Anyway I see your point, The presets on the whole look somewhat sketchy to me too. Obviously discounting orismer and the beasts. All the mer are imo the most improved over oblivion. Though for example the female Redguards, 2 maybe 3 I consider looking proportionately human. ;D I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say it's a step back to MW though. Edited August 26, 2011 by Ghogiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnyfizz Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Oh, I know TES has its own sort of rules, and bearing in mind the cannibalistic tendencies of the Bosmer, I have given my Oblivion wood elves fangs. My Bosmer girl is still very pretty, but I wouldn't piss her off any more than I would the Beastly Breton. I am just saying where my own view that elves should be rather better looking than those presets comes from. Where I come from, England (sorry to disappoint the Scots, Irish and Welsh but a lot of us are actually Celts too), all the local myths and legends of their appearance refer to elves as being beautiful and also tall, it being fairies, piskies or pixies that are tiny. Norse legend has high elves as the tallest of all but does not have wood elves as exceptionally short. The point about Norse Dark Elves is moot, with some authorities holding that they were short and ugly. However, many seem to make a distinction between the Dökkálfar, Dark Elves, and svartálfar, Black Elves, who it is thought may just be dwarves. Certainly the TES view of female dark elves as being alluring and rather...ummm...friendly, seems to have relevance to some of the Norse tradition. Found a good website on this but I won't give a direct link as there is some nudity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamonnaTong Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Oh, I know TES has its own sort of rules, and bearing in mind the cannibalistic tendencies of the Bosmer, I have given my Oblivion wood elves fangs. My Bosmer girl is still very pretty, but I wouldn't piss her off any more than I would the Beastly Breton. I am just saying where my own view that elves should be rather better looking than those presets comes from. Where I come from, England (sorry to disappoint the Scots, Irish and Welsh but a lot of us are actually Celts too), all the local myths and legends of their appearance refer to elves as being beautiful and also tall, it being fairies, piskies or pixies that are tiny. Norse legend has high elves as the tallest of all but does not have wood elves as exceptionally short. The point about Norse Dark Elves is moot, with some authorities holding that they were short and ugly. However, many seem to make a distinction between the Dökkálfar, Dark Elves, and svartálfar, Black Elves, who it is thought may just be dwarves. Certainly the TES view of female dark elves as being alluring and rather...ummm...friendly, seems to have relevance to some of the Norse tradition. Found a good website on this but I won't give a direct link as there is some nudity. All in all it is presets. I am sure you can make some beautiful Elves if you wanted to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FnimonSni Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 The exception are dark elves. As a distinct race they don't exist in Tolkien's lore. You make the reference of them in norse mythology, who were short, black, ugly and lived underground, and appeared to you before you died or something. And perhaps wood elves which are English I believe, and I am pretty sure they are short child like creatures in the mythology they appear. Actually, Tolkien did have Dark Elves in his legendarium, the Moriquendi! :tongue: They're not dark-skinned as the Dunmer in TES. They were the ones who didn't make the Great Journey over the sea to Valinor and therefore couldn't see the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, hence the expression Dark Elf. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghogiel Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 (edited) The point about Norse Dark Elves is moot, with some authorities holding that they were short and ugly. However, many seem to make a distinction between the Dökkálfar, Dark Elves, and svartálfar, Black Elves, who it is thought may just be dwarves. Well sort of. Dökkálfar are never said to be tall nor are light elves in Norse mythology. Edit: though apparently Tolkien did have dark elf race. Edited August 26, 2011 by Ghogiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimembrain Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 This thread has become entirely to nerdy for my taste~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyvernix Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 (edited) I, for one, love this new art direction. The females don't look like barbie dolls, and the males look like they can actually handle a sword in a fight. If the jawline is a concern, keep in mind that it can be customized if you so choose. I think they were just presenting the thicker jaws to show the potential and depth of the new facial meshes they made. Edited August 26, 2011 by wyvernix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHIROryuu Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 (edited) None of us know what you can do to let's say, the shape of the head. Perhaps there are options for height, shape, size? So long as they don't lock the sliders I'll be happy. Edited August 26, 2011 by SHIROryuu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimembrain Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I'm sure there are lots of sliders .. And if they do lock them I'm sure there will be a mod that makes them go beyond 100% .. every game has those mods since they are easy to make .. day one most likely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcrin Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I thought they weren't using facegen this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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