Template talk:Lore Race Summary

Template Discussion

Overall, I think this the idea can work, with some tweaks to the taxonomy. However, I don't think it will work at all on the Lore:Nede page given that page does not deal with a distinct variant of Nede, but all variants and the fields can vary wildly. Copying over the terms from the template:

• Major Regions: Historically/Currently: I'm assuming this means "where this race lived/live" - but what we should be clarifying is that this means regions where this race is numerous/majority (because almost all races are found all over Tamriel, and that's not what we are trying to say here.) For this one I take direction from Wikipedia and say that "Regions with significant populations" be used instead. This would also prevent people incorrectly putting Nords from Atmora, Altmer from Aldmeris and Redguards from Yokuda under "Historically".

• Religion: Using the term "Religion" alone is not good because it implies the whole race follows the 1 or 2 we list there. This one will also get messy and I don't think it will work for the main races if its just "Religion". Its not as simple as picking a pantheon, as each major race is too nuanced for an infobox entry to do it justice. Another complication in relating accuracy is historical religions vs current (Like Nordic Totemic). A good example is Bretons (Which covers regular Bretons, Druids, and arguably Reachmen - although we do list them as a distinct race.) If we look at what's associated with Breton religion at Template:Lore Breton Religion, we see its not as simple as "Eight/Nine Divines". Similarly, Redguards (Crown gods or Forebear gods + cults) and other main races have this issue.

I thought about "Majority/Minority Religions", then that needs to be substantiated and there arent solid sources for many races to support even generic claims (for example, we can't prove the majority of Nords follow the Nine Divines in 4E 201.) Luckily, each of the playable races have a great fleshed out "Religion" section on their page that goes into the nuances, so I think for all the playable races pages we keep the religion field in the infobox - rename it "'Religions'", and have an anchor link named "See religious beliefs" that jumps down to the Religion section. For the minor races that have at least one defined religion and are a lot simpler to define (specfically: Ayleid, Snow Elves, Duraki, Aldmer, Chimer), the suggested approach should work.

• Languages: This one will work for the main races (Lore:Linguistics), but for accuracy change it to "Native Language", otherwise it can be argued that "Tamrielic" should be included for 90% of the non-Imperial races (which tbh is a gameplay concession, given even Dragons and Ehlnofey speak Tamrielic). For the other races where language is not known, like Nedes, consider if we should remove the row or have it say "Unknown".

• Origins: Since this means "what race did they descend from", a more understandable term would be simply "Descended From". "Origins" can have geographic connotations too. This field will work for the all Elf races (All are Aldmer) - but we need to be aware for men it will get messy, like Bretons are descended from Nedes (or Proto-Bretons) and Aldmer (or Altmer or Direnni).

• Descendants: I don't think this should be included. This field will only be relevant for Ehlnofey, Aldmer, Snow Elves and Chimer iirc. Anything else I'm sure is speculation or disputed, and neither belong in an infobox. This field wont really work for the Lore:Nede page either because its a catch-all page that lists all the tribes anyway.

• 'Diaspora': This is good as long as it means significant populations, but I can see some nuanced cases where it will need to be elaborated on with nb notes - especially the Aldmer page.

--Jimeee (talk) 10:55, 3 July 2023 (UTC)