Todd Howard has admitted to the Official Xbox Magazine that attempts to make Oblivion feel more "welcoming" resulted in the loss of "the wonder of discovery" that characterised Morrowind.

"With Skyrim, we're trying to bring some of that back and walk the line between Morrowind and Oblivion. Where it's at first familiar looking, but has its own unique culture and spin on it," said Mr Howard.

The province of Cyrodiil was previously described as a "jungle" in the lore but became a European countryside in the game.

Bethesda provided no lore explanation of why this change took place. Michael Kirkbride, creator of much of the lore for Morrowind and Oblivion eventually provided an unofficial explanation - that Tiber Septim had changed the jungle into what it is today by his power.