By Quintin Smith on June 23rd, 2011 at 3:34 pm.
VG24/7 have reported an announcement from Bethesda that pre-order customers of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will come with a “Premium quality map” (presumably of the game world, rather than Ireland or somewhere). What with the endemic loathing of pre-order bonuses in this industry, I’m guessing that this is going to cause a good deal of conflicted soul-searching, and what makes it even worse is that while Morrowind had one of the greatest paper maps of all time, the paper map that was released for Oblivion was both colourless and useless. What will we be getting with Skyrim? We just don’t know.
EDIT: OK, we do know a bit. VG24/7 just updated their story with a picture of the map, with copies of Skyrim balanced annoyingly on top. Click through the jump to see it. Also, to see how the PC version is at the back. Boo!
23/06/2011 at 15:36 brian says:
I miss the days of getting free cloth maps with Ultima games :(
23/06/2011 at 15:45 Wizardry says:
Yeah. Paper maps suck.
23/06/2011 at 15:46 Diziet Sma says:
I’ve still got mine. Keep meaning to do something nice with it. I’m a sucker for maps whether fantasy or real.
23/06/2011 at 15:53 Richard Beer says:
This does nothing for me. Where’s the bonus horse armour?
23/06/2011 at 16:04 Tyshalle says:
Yeah, seriously, I wouldn’t wipe my ass with paper.
23/06/2011 at 16:10 MrThrope says:
I still have my Baldur’s Gate 2 cloth map somewhere.
23/06/2011 at 16:35 TillEulenspiegel says:
Out of interest, does anyone know how cloth maps are made? That is, if I were an indie developer who wanted to order a few hundred, where would I go? It’d be a perfect Kickstarter extra.
I was searching for that sort of information a while ago in a moment of idle curiosity, and I think I found someone who would do printing on cut pieces of cloth, but wasn’t quite sure it was the right thing. Mostly wondering how much it costs.
23/06/2011 at 16:52 Text_Fish says:
TillEulenspiegel, there must be a company that print teatowels to spec. Wouldn’t have thought that would break the bank.
23/06/2011 at 17:40 something says:
http://thecleverbaggers.co.uk/
not only has what you want but also features a disturbing, mentally ill woman in a purple unitard as their mascot.
23/06/2011 at 23:47 dhex says:
regarding diy cloth maps: anyone who can do tea towels could do a fairly decent cloth map. the last time i priced something like that (not related to game maps, sadly) it was in the $9 USD per unit range for a single lot of 1,500 pieces. so doing 100 or so would be significantly more expensive per unit.
24/06/2011 at 00:18 Betamax says:
According to Bethesda’s blog the map will be made of “high-grade material that has a feel similar to burlap” with the paper map being restricted to those who don’t pre-order. Fair enough I say!
http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/06/23/get-a-premium-skyrim-map-with-your-preorder/
24/06/2011 at 08:51 BloodPukeSalvation says:
@TillEulenspiegel: i have no idea… but my first thought is to contact whoever it is that makes cloth napkins, etc for restaurants? i cant recall eating anywhere fancy enough to have anything beyond a solid colored cloth napkin but i’m assuming there are places out there with custom printed cloth napkins.
you could also contact a tshirt company to see if they would do a custom order like that. perhapse you can acquire the material and give it to them to do the screen printing.
07/07/2011 at 11:35 florble says:
Hey ‘something’
Thanks for mentioning our site for a good place to get tea towels printed up. The Clever Baggers Ltd Can indeed print tea towels with designs on them like maps. The best part is that we can print just one if you like or even millions if you really like maps! We can print full colour photographic quality prints onto a range of textiles available from our site. Just find the tea towel or whatever you want printed on the shop, click the requjest a quote button and somone will get back to you very quickly with a link to purchase online…. Put ” rockpapershotgun ” in the discount code box at the end of checkout to get 5% Off… :-)
Thanks again!
The Clever Baggers & Dotty AKA mentally ill woman in a purple unitard
02/11/2011 at 14:31 UK_John says:
I have just been contacted by my UK web retailer saying that while the 360 and PS3 pre-orders will get burlap maps, the PC version will not. I had ordered the PC version from the, and of course, cancelled my order!
23/06/2011 at 15:37 JFS says:
Will there be soul-searching? I thought pre-ordering Skyrim was pretty much a given for just about every gamer that’s remotely interested?
Oh, and by the way: I like Ireland’s geography.
EDIT: Okay, now if there’s GFWL the situation is not so clear anymore.
23/06/2011 at 15:41 jon_hill987 says:
Is it Games for Windows LIVE or is it just Games for Windows? With the last word covered up it could still use Steamworks like New Vegas.
23/06/2011 at 15:41 lonewolf80 says:
There’s no LIVE logo yet, so until I see that…it’s just GFW… which might mean the game isn’t using GFWL.
23/06/2011 at 15:47 JFS says:
Pah! Mr Smith edited the post. It wasn’t my invention that there was the dreaded “Live” at the end. But you are of course right, there is still hope.
23/06/2011 at 16:09 UnravThreads says:
That’s Games for Windows. If it was using Live, you’d be seeing an orange border AND the word ‘Live’ where the ‘For Windows’ is.
23/06/2011 at 16:30 JFS says:
Yes, I know. We all do by now. It’s all Smithen’s fault for getting out “GFWL!” in the first place.
23/06/2011 at 16:31 simonh says:
I’ve got no problem with giving out-of-game collectibles to preorderers, it’s the in-game items, particularily in MP games, that annoy me. Also, additional in-game items in SP-games just feel incredibly manipulative and weird, but not really unfair.
23/06/2011 at 16:36 Bureaucrat says:
Eh. I’m remotely interested, but not pre-ordering. Elder Scrolls games generally need a good 6 months of modder effort to make them worthwhile, and if you’re waiting that long, you might as well wait for the inevitable GotY version and/or Steam sale.
23/06/2011 at 15:38 Duffin says:
Well I KNOW I’m gonna end up getting it even if reviews are only lukewarm… so I may aswell just cave in and get the pretties right?
23/06/2011 at 16:28 Nick says:
The majority of reviews will be nothing but arselicking praise, carefully failing to point out any flaws. 9/10 10/10 best game evar.
(don’t get me wrong, I’m really looking forward to it, but honestly..)
23/06/2011 at 16:33 Robert says:
But to be fair, that’s my reaction as well.
I get it, start it up, go “OMG< THIS IS AWESOM" and call my friends to tell it's awesome. Then after a couple of hours I get bored and put it in the closet. As this is what happened with the last 3 Elder Scrolls games. I spend more time making characters then playing them.
24/06/2011 at 12:01 noodlecake says:
Well of course they get “asslicking” reviews if you call giving any top quality game 9/10 ass licking. Oblivion had lots of flaws but it was really pretty ambitious and also successful in lots of ways too. I had at least 100 hours fun with it. Skyrim looks like it’s going to be much better. So I expect the reviews will be good. :)
23/06/2011 at 15:39 Rinox says:
That Daggerfall map brings back memories.
23/06/2011 at 16:07 Daryl says:
I thought that was the map for Arena? I could be wrong as I haven’t played either game in who knows how long though.
23/06/2011 at 16:18 Unaco says:
It is the map from Daggerfall. Mistaking it for the map from Arena is easily done, however, as they are very, very similar to each other. Here’s the Arena map to compare…
http://images.wikia.com/elderscrolls/images/5/5d/Tamriel_map_arena.jpg
24/06/2011 at 22:39 Tergiver says:
I suddenly have a strong desire to play Arena again.
23/06/2011 at 15:40 Oneironaut says:
I’m pretty sure that’s the games for windows logo, not live. I haven’t bought a retail game in ages, but going by this picture, the word live would be visible even in the section of the box that is shown.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Ba653B6ZL._AA300_.jpg
23/06/2011 at 15:42 Quintin Smith says:
Lord. Right you are. *breathes into paper bag*
23/06/2011 at 15:44 Ringwraith says:
I’d rather they’d just not have it at all, Live or no, as it always looks horrible as it’s conflicting with the cover’s artwork as well as taking up space over it.
23/06/2011 at 15:56 Abundant_Suede says:
The ugly white bar is definitely an eyesore. Of course, I’m a relic who actually enjoys having nice looking game boxes for shelf display.
23/06/2011 at 15:59 Bhazor says:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elder-Scrolls-Skyrim-PC-DVD/dp/B004G5YW5Y/ref=sr_1_24?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1308840912&sr=1-24
Journalism.
23/06/2011 at 15:42 Octaeder says:
Well, we can only see the Games for Windows logo and not the Live suffix that suggests bad times ahead. The Brink boxed copy (which I had to get, because it’s still purchasable on Steam in UK) had the same thing but was Steamworks not Live.
I assumed after New Vegas went Steamworks, Bethesda had seen sense and dropped Live entirely.
Edit: Damn, ninja’d by Oneironaut
23/06/2011 at 16:10 UnravThreads says:
Vegas, Hunted and I believe Brink and Rage are all Games for Windows games ;)
23/06/2011 at 18:31 nofing says:
Nevermind…
23/06/2011 at 15:42 Teddy Leach says:
No, that’s not a GFWL logo, just the Games for Windows logo, which plenty of games have without having GFWL.
23/06/2011 at 15:42 Abundant_Suede says:
This is actually the sort of pre order bonus I support, as it doesn’t involve cutting up and parceling out actual in-game content to try and contrive some sort of value for pre-orders at the expense of the game experience. I’m perfectly fine with pre-order and collectors editions being graced with nice, but non-gameplay relevant, physical tokens of the game. It’s only when players are forced to play different versions of the game depending on where/when they bought it, that I take issue.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether they’ll be doing that as well.
23/06/2011 at 15:53 jon_hill987 says:
They no doubt still will. Get Sword X exclusively at Best Buy! Get Magic Spell Y only at Gamestop! Live anywhere else in the world? No bonuses for you!
23/06/2011 at 15:57 Bhazor says:
Yeah but the mod community will pump out clones of these extras just to spite them.
23/06/2011 at 16:09 200proof says:
@jon
at least in this game you could make those items if you wanted, via mages guild
23/06/2011 at 16:37 simonh says:
In most SP-games, like New Vegas and Dragon Age, the pre-order and store-bonuses are usually very easy to find online and install anyway.
23/06/2011 at 16:54 Vinraith says:
Honestly though, usually preorder bonus items are game-breaking, overpowered crap anyway.
23/06/2011 at 16:56 Abundant_Suede says:
@simonh
Entire Games are easy to find online and install. Doesn’t mean that’s how most consumers want to conduct business with these publishers.
23/06/2011 at 22:01 Starky says:
Abundant_Suede you missed his point…
All those pre-order items are available LEGALLY and legitimately from the modding community. It isn’t in any way piracy.
They (the item makers) just make an item using the same model (which is part of the modding tools and allowed), with the same stats and name it slightly differently.
So that “Sword of Smiting” becomes the “Sword of Foe Smiting” – which is a perfectly legitimate thing to do given you can’t copyright facts, statistics, or game rules/mechanics.
23/06/2011 at 22:56 Abundant_Suede says:
If that was his point, I did indeed miss it. Usually , when one refers vaguely to “finding something online”, it has a different connotation. Unlike the poster before him who specifically referred to the mod community on the same subject. I assumed since he was posting after that statement, he was referring to something different, and not just repeating the same thing someone else had just said.
Regardless, I dislike the practice, and these pre-order or dlc incentives are not *always* easily modded or recreated in a toolset, assuming there is a toolset. Beyond, that, it’s simply the principle.
23/06/2011 at 15:43 mjig says:
I hate in-game preorder bonuses.
I don’t mind feelies for preorders or collector’s editions.
23/06/2011 at 15:47 Octaeder says:
Yeah, physical items for pre-order / collectors editions are alright. After all, it doesn’t have an impact on the actual game. I’m still quite enamoured of my Anno 1404 special edition, which came complete with a compass and bloody almond seeds.
23/06/2011 at 15:44 pipman3000 says:
i don’t care unless the pre-order box contains INFINITE DRAGONS
23/06/2011 at 20:16 LionsPhil says:
I, too, would gladly pre-order for the power to destroy the Universe.
23/06/2011 at 15:50 povu says:
Looks like the same boring brown map that came with Oblivion (Which came with the normal copies of the game, too!) instead of the awesome colourful detailed Morrowind one: http://images.uesp.net/b/bb/MW-Map-Vvardenfell.jpg
Extra high resolution: http://tamrielchronicles.com/assets/map-morr-enormous.jpg
23/06/2011 at 15:54 Schadenfreude says:
What I loved about that Morrowind map is that all of those little Xs did in fact mark the spot (or a spot).
23/06/2011 at 16:00 John P says:
Man, just looking at that map brings back the wonder of Morrowind. The exploration, the danger, the atmosphere. The things Oblivion totally missed. I hope they can bring it back with Skyrim, but somehow I expect the user-friendliness of big budget modern games will destroy that hope. Instant fast travel to anywhere, level scaling, and right-this-way-sir map markers are awful, awful things in a game of this kind.
23/06/2011 at 16:05 JFS says:
I am more than a little enticed to whip out Morrowind again just because I looked at the map. Ah, the olden days. And I didn’t even have that map, it didn’t come with my DVD-case GOTY edition of Morrowind, and yet it still revives fond memories.
23/06/2011 at 16:52 sasayan says:
I used the paper map constantly as it was often more informative than the ingame map.
23/06/2011 at 15:52 Theoban says:
I’m still looking for my damnable Morrowind map that I had on my wall for years before I moved country. I’m sure I have it somewhere. I want to stick it up on my bedroom wall to finally ward off any chances at sleeping with a Lady.
23/06/2011 at 17:36 Ian says:
Or attract one who likes maps!
23/06/2011 at 22:03 Starky says:
I think there is a higher than even chance that any lady you found that liked maps, would probably like ladies too.
24/06/2011 at 01:43 Thants says:
Wait, lesbians like maps? Is that a thing now?
23/06/2011 at 15:52 Schadenfreude says:
I hope it’s useful like the Morrowind map, but they’ve most likely just stuck with Oblivion’s ‘helpful’ compass markers. Took all the fun out of orienteering that did :(
23/06/2011 at 15:53 TuesdayExpress says:
My favorite Bethesda map is still the one that came with my copy of Redguard. Some (all?) preorders came with a fantastic rolled map on heavy yellowed paper that had then been lovingly charred along the edges by the dev team playing with zippos. Gave it a found-treasure-map feel. It was an endearing touch.
23/06/2011 at 15:54 Jumwa says:
That’s a better kind of pre-order deal. I hope they don’t sully the Elder Scrolls with the kind of nonsense that seems to be growing more popular these days; i.e. in game benefits particular to where you ordered it from.
23/06/2011 at 16:02 Antsy says:
*cough* horse armour *cough*
I agree with you though. I find pre-order bonuses to be more deterrent than incentive. Especially when split amongst various stores.
23/06/2011 at 16:07 Jumwa says:
That should’ve been a free download like their DLCs for Morrowind.
To be fair though, at least Bethesda learned their lesson and gave up on that kind of minor DLCs. I can’t help but notice other certain companies are still putting out singular pieces of armour or gear and charging for them as separate DLCs these days STILL. I noticed, most recently, that Fable 3 had a set of armour and a dog costume as individual DLC packs for instance.
23/06/2011 at 16:11 Antsy says:
It’s funny you mention Fable 3 actually. I nearly bought it the other day on steam while looking for something to play and when I saw all that DLC it was no longer an option. I’ll just wait a year or two for the inevitable GOTY edition.
23/06/2011 at 16:24 Jumwa says:
I desperately want to play some Fable 3 in co-op with my significant other, but the saddling of Games for Windows Live upon it is a huge turnoff, and the silly sale of minor little DLCs is a minor one to add to the reasons why I’ll just wait for it to go on sale for $5 at some point.
23/06/2011 at 16:13 Heliosicle says:
Its a bit like a family photo, PS3 is the child so it goes at the front, 360 is as tall as Dad but he’s younger so he goes in front of him, and Papa PC stands at the back resenting his children.
23/06/2011 at 16:23 Abundant_Suede says:
Actually, theres a kind of balance to that arrangement, in marketing sense. PS3 gets front to back priority, The PC version gets “left to right” priority (which, because of the way we read, we tend to view as “first”), and the 360 takes “center stage” in either arrangement, flanked by the others.
It’s kind of elegant. Depending on the way you look at it, you could read the arrangement as favoring all 3.
23/06/2011 at 16:24 Justin Leego says:
PS3 priority means that this is an image for the EU masses.
23/06/2011 at 16:45 Jimmeh says:
I laugh and spill my drink!
23/06/2011 at 16:24 mbp says:
As a point of historical accuracy I think we should clarify that while Morrowind did indeed come in a lovely box with an exquisite paper map, the in-game map was crap. This sorry state of affairs was compounded by the complete and utter inability of any resident of the place to give the most basic of travel instructions.
23/06/2011 at 17:00 Foosnark says:
This is one of those things where, when cleaning up or moving, you think “I can’t throw this away” and shove it in a box to be ignored for the next 8 years, at which point you think “I have no feelings for that game anymore” and throw it away.
23/06/2011 at 17:57 Fwiffo says:
Ding ding! And this is why I don’t buy limited editions or even boxed copies anymore.
23/06/2011 at 17:37 Out Reach says:
Oblivion had a free map :\
23/06/2011 at 18:02 Ridnarhtim says:
I can see Games for Windows – I am praying there is no Live on the right side of that box.
23/06/2011 at 18:05 Vinraith says:
It’s got Steamworks, same as New Vegas.
23/06/2011 at 19:04 SexualHarassmentPanda says:
Cloth map or GTFO
23/06/2011 at 19:12 povu says:
Extra info they posted:
Early copies of the game (worldwide) will feature the premium map — it’s a burlap paper and a much nicer quality than the map included with Oblivion. If you don’t pre-order, there’s a chance your copy of the game will include a map that’s more akin to what was included with Oblivion.
24/06/2011 at 00:21 Betamax says:
http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/06/23/get-a-premium-skyrim-map-with-your-preorder/
Link to the blog that confirms a burlap high quality map for the pre-order bonus, with the more typical paper map being included with normal copies of the game.
Love free maps, including the Oblivion one (although Morrowind’s was better in a lot of ways). Really all games with a huge new place to explore should include a map (would love to see a Galaxy map included with ME3 for instance).
24/06/2011 at 00:40 ericks says:
It looks like a printout of the ingame map, like it was for Oblivion.
I’ll pass, it would just make me miss Morrowind’s map even more.
24/06/2011 at 07:10 MythArcana says:
I think that says it all right there. In every game ad, commercial, or banner these days; the PC is ALWAYS last. When they start putting PC first, give me a call.
24/06/2011 at 11:59 Juuuhan says:
Well, not that I don’t enjoy maps, (In fact I quite enjoy to get them with games) but I find this to be little redundant.
If this is a try to get people to buy the game, surely they could throw something better than a quality map, since people who already pre-ordered it won’t care too much if they get a good quality map aswell and people who still haven’t decided won’t make their decision based on a map alone.
24/06/2011 at 14:18 mollemannen says:
no dragons? man i thought you were gonna get dragons :/
24/06/2011 at 21:22 Grayvern says:
Doesn’t Bethesda get more money from steam/ digital purchases than retail though, so surely this actually negatively affects their revenue, I want a cloth map but I’d rather that Bethesda ended up getting more of my monies.
25/06/2011 at 01:37 MadMatty says:
Ultima 5 or 6 had an actual cloth map which beats Oblivions by quite some measure….also Elite 2 had a huge 1,2 x 1,2 meter (or close) map of the closer regions of the galaxy (the ingame map wouldve been over 140 x 140 meteres in print)