The Story of Bethesda's Weirdest Writer
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- If I sound different that's because I'm sick big time :( But yeah I'm back sort of.
When writing a fantasy setting, there is a desire to go the safe, familiar route, but not Bethesda. The events and characters of games like Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim tend to be on the weirder and wackier side of things, where the world can feel like it was written akin to a homebrew Dungeons and Dragons setting by a Dungeon Master who has not felt the shackles of creative limitations in a millennia.
And that credit can partially be given out to today's subject - Michael Kirkbride. This video intends to go in-depth over his history as a writer, highlights his most famous concept works and contributions to the world of the Elder Scrolls and go over his more controversial and problematic side and dive deep into whether his creative genius is to be cherished and encouraged or judged.
00:00 Intro
01:52 Who is MK?
02:40 Writing for Morrowind: Concept Art
04:32 Writing for Morrowind: Inspirations
07:56 Journey through Substance Abuse
10:35 The issue with Vivec
19:28 Post Morrowind. Knights of the Nine
22:06 C0DA
27:36 Where is he now?
30:40 Public's Perception
32:12 Conclusion
35:18 Outro
Sources:
www.tumblr.com/outofoxygen/18...
/ fzklmr6
en.uesp.net/wiki/General:Mich...
www.polygon.com/2019/3/27/182...
/ what_is_c0da_an_answer
ESO Footage: • Elder Scrolls Online ...
Skyrim Footage: me :) 
Игры
![Sean Rii, Karyon, Sharzkii - Taungule [My Love] (Official Music Video)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eJoMuypbSzQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Back but not really. Kindly do note that this video is not supposed to be a call-out or re-stirring old drama, but simply an analysis of Michael's highs, lows and overall progress. Also I'm a bit sick so disregard if I sound strange at any point of time. Fun fact: the inspiration for the thumbnail came from his TV tropes page.
I highly recommend to check out the original sources linked in the description of the video. Oh and I will feel no guilt or remorse over deleting comments that justify racism or SA at all in any way
Sexual assault or abuse can be beneficial for creating lore with depth and realism having. If you look at the Greek myths for instance Zeus pretty much was a serial rapist, also unfortunately history is full of it. Having such awful things in a fantasy world can make us believe in it, feel for the characters, and make us doubt how good somebody like Vivek is. An example of rape allowing for a character to be more fleshed out is Serana and her mother, it can help you empathize with her struggles and can make you despise her father for subjecting her to that. What I'm trying to say is the unsavory stuff in life can be used as a narrative device quite effectively to emotionally involve the viewer.
*Berserk* 👀
literally this
Beat me to it @@conscioussubconsciousness1976
Nice. I wish he was still the main writer. Elder Scrolls needs to be weird, not some bland ass disney MMO.
MK approved TESO writers tho. It’s Oblivion (esp Isles) and a bit of Skyrim he loathes
It does bum me out seeing people hyping up MK in one breath only to denigrate things he approved of in the next.
I agree but MK struggles a lot with having weird just to be weird for no reason and actual deep and interesting lore. He needs someone else there with him to even it out and smooth the edges a bit.
"Be weird, be strange, but most of all, be kind." is a hell of a note to end on.
Considering what Bethesda is now, TES6 will be a very big and ugly piece of s***. You can hate me, but I am just bringing the message. Modders are just better.
Are they though, none of the mods I’ve played for Skyrim have writing that’s better then Skyrim’s. Certainly not better than the Dawnguard or Dragonborn DLCs.
@@sirbillius so play inigo, lucian, enderal, and many mote
@@Gradashy
Enderal isn’t in the Elder Scrolls universe and so I have no interest in playing it as a point of comparison. It would actually be extremely difficult to compare as you would be comparing how well the developers of Enderal tell their particular story in their particular world. How well those same developers would do at writing an Elder Scrolls game is unknowable.
I have played Inigo and Lucien for many many hours. Their writing is good *for mods* but would never pass muster as a triple A game studio’s product. The closest any mod gets to reaching that level is Beyond Skyrim Bruma. I have thousands upon thousands of hours playing and modding Skyrim. I’ve seen it all.
I don't think it will, and I suspect they will try to incorporate more of Kirkbride's original imaginings than you anticipate. Call it a hunch, but my feeling is that we will all be surprised.
Damn, somehow I knew most of what you said. I'm not that surprised considering I wrote my thesis on TES and like, Morrowind is def my fav, but still, I was a bit scared I would learn more awful shit about him - glad to know he's gotten better. Thanks for the video, definitely super important!
The beginning chunk and gender ideology around Vivec were honestly pretty solid, but the attempt at labeling cultural controversies in his writting regarding the races along with complaining about the things wrote about in a graphic nature are about as solid as your pronunciation of Vvardenfell tbh
Thank you, I enjoyed about half of this video and respect to the guy that put in the work to produce it but it felt very social justice warriory at times and no one goes to fantasy land to be preached to about the real world and it’s bullshit!
Also the way he says "I hope it's enough time for him to improve and become a better person than he was 10 years ago". Holy cow this guy has a superiority complex or something
as the person who knows nothing about skyrim and never played the game - quite an interesting perspective on videogame writing as a whole and what sometimes happens behind the scenes
also your mic quality sounds soo good! keep up the good work, glad to have you back! :>
Great vid man ❤ glad to see ur making vids again
Imagine if Kirkbride was writing all of Bethesda's games instead of Emil
For some reason I've a feeling that having those two hammer out a game story together would be interesting. Could be great, could be trash, would be interesting.
Kirkbride’s brilliance is only evident with the help of the quality control of excellent lead designers. This is why his writing for other studios appears lackluster. If Kirkbride was contracted to storyboard the world building for TES6 and then let Bethesda’s lead designers run with his concepts, the game would likely have an amazing story. If Kirkbride was lead designer it would be a train wreck.
Emil is an example of getting promoted beyond ability. He's simple minded and doesn't make the games very deep.
for the community interaction section, i think you could have mentioned how MK has co-operated with TES fans for different works of headcanon/c0da/whatever. stuff like the Uutak Mythos and the PGE 2nd Edition are some amazing works, even if the latter is unfinished.
Amazing as usual bestie; I love the mic quality too!! So happy to see you back in your element
Interesting fact. It is implied vivec was born a hermaphrodite iirc, the son of a netchiman. Also vivec, though a hermaphrodite and both genders at once, is in most instances pronouned as "he." It's like how the judeo-christian God is a "he" even though God is the exact same way, both and neither at once. Almalexia was the wife of Indoril Nerevar, and was complicit in his murder.
"Inside you is the egg of my BROTHER-SISTER"
This is the second video I've seen to call Vvardenfell "Vvanderfell". It doesn't get said much in the games maybe...but shouldn't youtubers know things like this?
I love this video otherwise it's very detailed I've just noticed it mispronounced a lot. Not trying to be a hater
Once I've seen to call Vvardenfell - "Vrandenfell", but that one was to be some irony, I think. Also a funny thing that someone called MK - Michael Kirkibide, more likely just wrong :)
i just go Varden Fell since rolls of better and think when voice acting in Obilvion/ skyrim they used that.
6:00 I had a feeling that the tribunal were inspired by Hinduism
(From Ted): I’m a fan.
Ted?
@@Harenko Ted Peterson, original lead writer on The Elder Scrolls one and two. (This is not Ted responding btw)
I swear I can’t wait for Skywind
True
what a weird interpterion of Vivec. You might be hitting the same drugs as MK lol
its vaRdenfel not vaNderfel
or Varden Fell
As someone who has experiences with substances and especially those of an 'enlightening' nature, my feeling is honestly that in a lot of ways Vivec was a hyperbolised self-insert. The unfortunate reality is that many who seek out spiritual paths are simply mentally ill, and though you can attain profound insight that most will not meet in their lifetime, depending on your character a lot of it may simply be chasing your own tail. That is the tricky nature of the ego, you cannot escape it, least of all by some reach-aroundesque modality of trying to affirm it, and I think a closer inspection of Kirkbride's writings display that fact.
That being said, it is so often the nature of being genius or highly creative that it is marred by an internal struggle with oneself, and I feel this is all exemplary of that fact. On a lesser note I find it silly to accuse a man who understands and acknowledges the ancient and esoteric reflections of gender ambiguity of transphobia when the reality is that he was simply an addict being an asshole, but I digress.
Ultimately, the man is why we are all here right now, I don't believe he has hatred in his heart for others, but only himself, I know what that's like and I'm sure we all do if only in a small way. I wish him continued health and wellbeing, and express my gratitude for the foundation he created, and though many of you may doubt me I suspect a lot more of his work will go into the nect installment that most of you anticipate. Here's hoping at least 🤞
Anyone who genuinely hates on someone's works just because they dislike the writer's personal opinions and actions is an idiot.
I have been a fan of TES for over a decade now, and never even cared about who the main writer was or much less what he did on his personal life because that does not matter when it comes to his works. I don't need to know him or care about him to appreciate the amazing creativity he had when creating TES lore. The man could kick my dog right now and I would hate him for it, but I would still love all he did for the TES series so far, because it is amazing and to this day I am still reading and thinking about it, learning new interesting pieces with each video I watch.
People need to learn to separate the artists from their works. In all honesty, I think less of Kirk now since apparently he used drugs while writing the lore, which I personally consider pathetic if true, but it doesn't change the fact I still love the result. TES lore is not perfect but it is deeper, better, and more unique than every other western rpg lore out there. While it was clearly inspired by Tolkien lore like every other fantasy series, Kirk and whoever else helped him made TES lore it's own thing to the point there's no other universe like it, and for that the man deserves nothing bu respect.
Yes this video is really toxic while pretending not to be. "Be kind" while basically slandering a writer's entire career als 'problematic' and 'transphobic' (as if the latter is a thing).
I am fully convinced that ideas are independent things that actually find people instead of people discovering them. My evidence comes from the fact Iv designed a worldbuilding project almost identical to this genius’s world. It’s like when you’re in class and someone steals your answer lol. Maybe I stole his without knowing😳 Crazy
That's the noosphere leaking some of its contents into you /jk.
@@PresidentFunnyValentine Now that i think of it, your right. Ideas are controlling us. Our unknown overlords!
big guy
It hears like sort of a corporate defamation against ex-workers.
What an extremely petty current year video.
As a whole it moralistically tries to cast Michael Kirkbride and Morrowind in a suspicious, 'problematic' or 'controversial' light.
While pretending to be a fan of the game just arguing in good faith, for some reason gender-ideology runs through this 35 minute video. As if the developers of Morrowind 20+years ago, were (or should be) concerned with gender-ideology and pronouns.
The video is also a thinly veiled accusation of Kirkbride of 'cultural appropriation' and racist stereotypes because 'Orcs look like Asian men'. More likely RUclipsr is the raycist here for making that association.
That 20+ years later a video has to be filled with useless "tw" (trigger warnings) shows how sensitive this RUclipsr has become, as opposed to anything actually 'problematic' in Morrowind's writing or by Kirkbride.
Sigh yeah focus half the content on gender pronouns and other Very Important Topics
Those darn Woke ancient religions and their gender-nonconforming deities. How dare they be brought up in a video about a guy who thought hermaphroditic deities are cool.
opens profile: of course it's a ruskie
Literally is a series with a series of Gender-fluid gods WTF are you talking about
Daedra literally go back from male to female and the between so to speak
Just look at the three good daedra or even the four corners of the house of troubles
What are you waffling about
bro fell off
You seriously associated Elder scrolls lore with gender ideology?
Bruh the Entire Elder Scrolls series is very much queer coded lmao
I can provide lore sources which where mostly written by Kirkbride 💀💀💀
Reactionary-based questions does not mean good Questions.
Also you can call Daedric Princes by He/she pronouns and they/them solely based on how they switch and change during the series
Boethia and Maphala
and so on
They are effectively gender fluid
(Which was a thing with old pre-christian Roman religions before Christianity blud, some gods literally had female and male versions and even androgynous versions)
This has always been a thing even in Hinduism and Buddhism they have gender fluid Gods and Gods made between unions between Two male gods despite The Dharmic Faiths possessing typically more conservative cultures
you people will always point out the obvious as some sort of Anathema literally pathetic.
Humble yourself instead of acting like some Herma mora
Now I understand the amount of dislikes this video received. Yeah... gender talk is not that scary, guys, c'mon.
@@GabrielMarques1 Not scary at all, just disgusting, and a disrespect to the TES franchise
Very shallow analysis.
Please, buy Atomic Heart)