Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
I have the best news to share:
*@Tamriel_Tidbits is now part of the ZOS fan content creator team!*
I am so thrilled, and so thankful for all of you who have supported the channel. It couldn't have happened without you.
And congratulations to all my fellow ESO YouTubers who made it onto the team with me! I'm already fan of many of them, some for years, and it's wonderful to see so many excellent channels recognized for their quality content.
This is the first year ZOS has supported YouTube channels and other platforms--previously it was only Twitch streamers. So when I began, I didn't even think it was a possibility. If I'd started a year later, I wouldn't have been ready. If you all hadn't shared the video links, liked them, commented, and most of *watched* them, the channel wouldn't have grown fast enough to be eligible in time. I'm so grateful for that.
It's been a crazy year for the channel, and I am super excited about the next one. Love you all.
#ESOfam
24 - 13
I love Zerith-Var. A LOT.
The Northern Elsweyr quest Path of the Hidden Moon is one of my top 5 favorite quests in the game. It's so full of amazing lore about Azura. When I heard Zerith-Var was a Khajiit necromancer "from another time," I was instantly hopeful, and yes, that's where he's from. His story has surpassed all my expectations, I love the voice actor, and as if I needed anything else, now my heavy sacks glow. In case you missed it, the glowing is accompanied by little spirit-kitty pawprints, b/c it's actually Zerith's ghost cat highlighting the sack. As though I needed something else to be charmed by. <3 <3 <3
In other news-- I have BIG channel news... that I can't share yet. :) But I'll have a major announcement at the end of this week or the beginning of next that will affect the future of the channel. Stay tuned!
27 - 7
The newest lore video is finally up (Ithelia Pt 3: the Luminaries https://youtu.be/Z8ngSTlEd90), and I have been thinking a lot lately. About the lore, myself, the channel... anyone else get introspective in the fall? Or maybe after weeks of sleep-deprivation and self-doubt while constructing a 45 page script explaining a circular-logic plot w/years of back-story? Just me?
Writing the script, I kept telling myself I was doing it wrong. I've watched / listened / read so many fan-content on TES lore over the years, and generally, one sticks to conveying the facts and does not insert one's own opinions into the already confusing maelstrom of info.
Y'know that thing: "the book is better than the movie"? I object to that statement, b/c they are different mediums. I have no problem loving each on its own merits, and enjoying the different perspective they each give on a story I enjoyed enough to consume twice.
The Elder Scrolls solo games are solo games. ESO is an MMO. MMOs are living, breathing beasts. If I wait for the MMO fire hose to stop before I talk about the lore, I can't talk about the lore until the servers shut down, and... no. The speculation is part of the fun of assembling the puzzle. So I cut some of it, made sure I backed up what remained, and jumped in.
If I keep guessing in public I'll look like an idiot at some point. But words cannot express how happy it makes me to know that I stand a chance of being proven wrong every quarter when new material is revealed. Both b/c: new content! quarterly! and also: wrong=learning things=yay. :)
I don't have the answers; no one person can. To switch metaphors, all I can do is assemble the data points like stars and then describe what shape I see in those stars. If I see a bear and you see a dipper -- let's talk about it. Maybe we're both right, or maybe I missed something, but either way, I want to start the conversation.
ESO lore is so, so good. It's The Elder Scrolls lore, for real, just... well: fire hose. I enjoy doing the lore videos, but that's just me talking to myself. How can we actually have a conversation? Do I do YouTube live streams? Set up a discord channel? Start doing Twitch streams? Do I limit access to paying channel members and post videos later? So many questions, and I can't answer them myself. So if you're a lore nerd, and you read this novel of a post, let me know what platform / access method you'd prefer, and if you have any thoughts on content. I'm thinking a play-along w/a quest w/a running lore Q&A about the quest material, but I'm open to other formats.
I'll talk more about channel memberships, streaming, and all that in future posts.
For now I'll close with: yeah, it's a different approach. I am always open to feedback, so if something ever feels like a distraction that's keeping you from enjoying the real content (however you define that), please let me know.
5 - 0
Hey, housing enthusiasts! To go along with today's video, here's a poll - which of my homes would you like to see me do a video tour of next? And here's a link to today's video, if you missed it: https://youtu.be/eehkBW5yDsw .
(The next Ithelia lore video is still coming, but I lost a bunch of video files on one hard drive from a power surge during the storm, so I'm more behind than I thought I was. The house tour will be after the lore video.
::pedals faster::)
4 - 3
Summer thunderstorms are fun. One minute everything was fine, the next minute trees were down all over my yard, the power was out, and emergency crews were swarming the streets. Power lines were draped over school buildings; a row of power poles about a block from my house were on the ground. Exploding transformers. All the things. Power was out in the whole neighborhood for days. No one was seriously injured, tho', and the utility crews & linemen were miracle workers. My neighbor had a tree go through his roof, but I am really lucky and had no serious property damage.
I am so very behind, tho. Still cleaning up the debris and throwing away spoiled food, trying to play the new content and, of course, video editing. I wanted the next installment in the Ithelia lore series to be up by now, but the sky gods said no. Trying to decide if there's something shorter I can post sooner, but I'd really rather concentrate on finishing the lore video. Hoping to have it up before the end of the month... we'll see.
But I haven't disappeared, and videos will be up soon. Soon'ish. Soon-adjacent. :)
13 - 7
Want the Necrom Music Box, but hate Tales of Tribute? This week in the Infinite Archive, Filer Ool has the Lead to the Inkwood Box. You can pick it up for 5,000 Archival Fortunes, and finally finish the piece -- Happy Scrying!
(And thanks to @Michael-nt7uc for letting me know!)
6 - 4
For the past few months I've had the pleasure (and honor) of being a member of the Selectives Lorecast podcast - we've been doing a deep dive into the 36 Lessons of Vivec, one book per week, line by line, and we just finished. What a ride! (I gotta say, being asked to join a lore podcast made my little nerd heart burst with joy.)
Next time we meet - TBD, but tentatively Sat, May 4 at 3pm EST - we'll begin the series _Truth in Sequence_. If you've always wondered what exactly is up with Sotha Sil (and frankly, who hasn't?), then come join us! My channel links now include Rotten Deadite's Twitch account, which is where the stream happens. Check us out if you're free, but if not, the 'cast is later archived on YouTube; do a search for Selectives Lorecast from @memospore and you'll find them.
My channel links also include one to Written in Uncertainty, a page that archives lore podcasts by another member of the Selectives panel, the excellent Aramithius - well worth your time if you're a lore nerd. :)
On a related (lore) note - I am doing (safe, imaginary) cartwheels over the new Ithelia lore: So. Much. Good. Stuff. Really looking forward to sharing the connections in upcoming lore vids!
8 - 1
When I began the channel I posted a few test things in March, but the official First Day of Real Posting was April 1, 2023. Happy Official Birthday to me! (Uh, well, almost. It's a day late, b/c I have an tumultuous relationship with Time.)
What a difference a year makes. I really did not know what I was doing with Premiere Pro at first, and editing took forever. I feel like I'm finally over the hard peak of the learning curve, tho, and able to more efficiently make videos. But in all my artistic mediums, I always have more ideas than Time*, so now I'm looking ahead at the next year, and making decisions about what kind of content to focus on.
The quarterly-patch reward videos are fun for me and are popular - I think they fill a need - so I'll definitely continue with those. I've been disappointed that I haven't been able to do more lore-centric videos, since that's a passion of mine, but they do take a lot of time. I am super excited about the Ithelia lore, tho, so I want to take a look at that. With Gold Road coming out, I'd like to do more meet-the-NPCs and random encounter content again, but will probably put those out as long-play videos rather than shorts this year... we'll see, though. There's also a couple of other big projects I've been working on in the background for months that I'm finally close to being able to actually turn into videos. I envy Hermione her Time-Turner.
So: one year down, and now into Year Two. As always: thank you!
* Dammitall, Time, why ya gotta be like that?
19 - 4
Big, big channel milestone today - we hit 4,000 watch hours, and the channel has monetized.
Wow, y'all. 4,000 hours. I'm grateful for every minute.
I feel like there should be exclamation points? But I'm still kinda stunned, even knowing it was coming.
That means ads are now running in my videos, and it will take me some time to figure out how best to do that. If ads show up in a bad place in a video, please let me know, and I'll adjust it.
And now, some backstory: I've wanted to create content for Elder Scrolls for a long time. Unfortunately, what finally got me started taking it seriously was a really bad year - my AC went out, then my furnace, then my car, and my cat was so sick that all my savings was going to the vet. I had to get a part-time job, and I decided this would be it, even knowing that it would likely be a year before it paid off. When I say I'm grateful for the support and the watch time, please understand I really mean that. I have loved this community for decades, and it feels wonderful to give back. Being able to pay down my debts at the same time... is literally a dream come true.
Thank you!!
16 - 6
Elder Scrolls Lore Nerd and Organizer of Information, at your service! I've loved Elder Scrolls since Arena, and enjoy helping other people love it, too. Whether I'm deep-diving into obscure TES mythology or compiling lists of new rewards to chase, I love exploring the details - now you can benefit from my obsessions! This community has given me a ton of enjoyment over the years, and I am delighted to pay it back. Come hang out and chat with me about my favorite fictional universe!
P.S. I'm also in the Selectives Lorecast team - we do deep dives into Elder Scrolls lore and are currently working our way through the Truth in Sequence set of lorebooks. You can catch those 'casts live on Rotten Deadite's Twitch stream.