- It Just Works
- The foundational Bethesda principle stating that any bug, glitch, or physics anomaly is not broken but rather an intentional, lore-friendly feature. Coined by Todd Howard; load-bearing for the entire studio.
- 16x the Detail
- A unit of promised graphical fidelity, historically calibrated against an unspecified baseline. In Elder Scrolls VII it is applied to sweetrolls, which are now rendered to the subatomic level.
- Lore-Friendly Anomaly (LFA)
- The official reclassification of a bug. A giant launching the player into orbit is not a physics error; it is an LFA, specifically the Nordic Space Program.
- Nordic Space Program
- The proud institution by which players are launched into the stratosphere by giants. Players who achieve orbit are canonically ascending to Aetherius.
- Phase Zero
- The conceptual ideation alignment pre-production discovery sprint. The stage of development that precedes pre-production, which itself precedes production. Elder Scrolls VII has been in Phase Zero since inception.
- The Waiting Room
- A pocket realm of Oblivion inhabited by the hopeful and the chronologically displaced. Also: this website. You are in it.
- Legacy Ticket
- A pre-order secured on behalf of a descendant, on the statistically sound assumption that the purchaser will not personally survive to the 2111 launch window.
- The Definitive Horse
- Not the best horse; the definitive horse. The stated goal of a multi-year research initiative reviewing every horse in gaming history. The distinction will be explained in a future GDC talk.
- Equine Safety Pass
- A monthly subscription ($14.99) required to ride a horse possessing flesh, muscle, or physical collision. Free-tier horses ship as bare skeletons and have a 50% chance of despawning mid-gallop.
- Radiant AI
- The NPC behavior system responsible for inter-save grudges, unsolicited settlement requests, and the emergent Preston Settlement. In its latest revision NPCs greet one another, and occasionally themselves, with “You must be new here.”
- Todd Time
- The temporal framework in which Bethesda release estimates are expressed. One Todd Year is of indeterminate but generous length. “Soon” has been officially updated to “in our hearts.”
- Just Fog
- The recommended default difficulty setting, in which all game elements are removed except the fog. Widely regarded as the studio's most complete and emotionally honest work.
- Genesis Patch
- The v0.0.1 deployment of the Waiting Room itself. Notable known issue: the game does not exist yet. Priority: medium-ish.
- Anniversary Edition
- A re-release commemorating a previous re-release. The Anniversary of the Anniversary Edition of the Anniversary is observed annually with a cake reading “11.11” in icing, baked by Janet from HR.