Morrowind and Cyrodiil in Skyrim

          Unless you've been living under High Hrothgar for the past two weeks, you've probably noticed how expansively vast the Nordic province of Skyrim is in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. While Bethesda claims it's about the size of Cyrodiil, the creative level of detail and use of mountainous terrain make Skyrim feel much larger than the province from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Yet the area you can access, the actual Skyrim province, may only be about 1/3rd of the area you'll be able to travel in the future.

          Thanks to the PC version's console commands--special commands for debugging and cheating, among other things--a Tumblr blogger discovered something quite promising lying beyond the official border of Skyrim. According to the the blogger, Tamriel Explorer, "the landmass of almost all of the provinces in Tamriel, has been put into Skyrim." Walking towards these provinces normally greets players with an invisible wall and a "You cannot travel further in that direction" message. The crafty use of console commands lets you break through these invisible walls, though, as any self-respecting Dovahkiin should. Exploring beyond these borders shows that both the Morrowind and Cyrodiil provinces are part of the game's map, even though you're not supposed to visit them. The provinces from the two previous Elder Scrolls titles aren't populated with NPCs or creatures. The textures on the ground and trees are rendered very poorly, certainly not up to snuff with the beautiful province of Skyrim, almost as if they're simply placeholders. This is certainly one of the biggest mysteries in Skyrim, even stranger than Cicero (though not nearly as annoying). What are Morrowind and Cyrodiil doing in Skyrim, and why can't we access them without cheats?

          One theory floating around the net is that Cyrodiil and Morrowind were included for modders. Bethesda's always highly valued their avid modding community. In the two weeks the fifth Elder Scrolls title's been available, modders have already created over 1,000 mods for the PC version, and this is all before the big B has even released the Skyrim Creation Kit, making modding much easier, and affording modders added depth and creative liberty. As someone who's used over 200 Oblivion mods since first installing the game in 2006, I have faith that modders wouldn't disappoint and, given ample time, would recreate stellar versions of Morrowind and Cyrodiil, much like the Morroblivion project.

          While I love my mods, the second possibility is even more enticing. As IGN's Jamie Feltham reported back in June, Bethesda plans on releasing "more substantial" DLC than with previous games. I know, you're very discouraged that you may not get any horse armor or Frostcrag Spire, but just hold on. Bethesda's Todd Howard says the Skyrim DLC will be "closer to an expansion pack feel." While this certainly doesn't confirm anything, it leads me to speculate that big plans may be in store for the unused provinces included in Skyrim. What if Bethesda included Morrowind and Cyrodiil planning to let players return to these provinces with future DLC? Would that be something you'd be interested in, or would you prefer totally new places you've never seen? What do you think Bethesda included Morrowind and Cyrodiil for? Let me know in the comments, preferably with all the feverish fanboyism I've come to expect from fellow gamers.