General:Josh Utter-Leyton Isle of Madness Interview

In 2019, UESP looked for questions to ask Josh Utter-Leyton in relation to the Isle of Madness expansion for Legends, a free-to-play card strategy spin-off. The interview took place in March 2019, and Josh's responses can be read below. Josh is a Card Designer at Sparkypants Studios, who also worked on the game at Dire Wolf Digital. You can download Legends here; it is also available on Steam, Android, and iOS.

Questions & Answers

New Sheoth Palace in Isle of Madness

Firstly, why did the studio choose the Shivering Isles as the setting of its first expansion? (Thalmor_Justiciar)

Dire Wolf chose the Shivering Isles as the setting largely due to wanting to involve Sheogorath in the story. Sheogorath is a horribly wonderful character, and had a presence in Legends that we were really excited to expand upon. And the Shivering Isles are home to many delightful concepts we knew we wanted to translate into cards!

Double Cards make a fun addition to The Elder Scrolls: Legends, but what was the reasoning behind introducing this new mechanic? (Thalmor_Justiciar)

For our visit to the Shivering Isles, a theme we knew we wanted to capture was the duality of Mania and Dementia. How could we show that two cards were two sides of the same coin? Our answer was to show them both in one card, and double cards were born.

Baliwog, Grummite, and Scalon cards all belong to the 'Grummite' tribe. Similarly, Gnarl cards belong to the 'Spriggan' tribe. Does this mean that these creatures are actually interrelated, or have they been grouped together for balance and gameplay reasons? (Zebendal)

They have been grouped together based on their "race," not for gameplay reasons.

During what time period does the Isle of Madness story take place? Are you able to give us a specific year? (Legoless, Phoenix Neko, Thalmor_Justiciar, and Zebendal)

The time period is intentionally left unknown...

Do Kellen and Nagh have a story of their own? In the new expansion, we see them both traversing a desert together, so can you tell us more about where they appear to be journeying to? (Thalmor_Justiciar)

I can't tell you more at this time!

Is the portal to the Shivering Isles that we see in the opening cutscene to Isle of Madness the same as A Strange Door which the player protagonist used to enter the Shivering Isles during the events of the related expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? (Thalmor_Justiciar)

Yes it is.

To what degree were Talym's memories altered? (Lost in Hyrule)

Only Sheogorath knows for sure.

Telling the story from the recollections of someone who had their mind altered is a very interesting choice! Do you plan to embrace the 'unreliable narrator' idea further, as you move forward? (Lost in Hyrule)

We have no plans to do so.

Did Talym first join the Imperial Legion and then get his son killed as he infiltrated the Worm Cult? Or, did he first join the Worm Cult, get his son killed, and then joined the Imperial Legion for revenge? (SarthesArai)

He first joined the Imperial Legion and killed his son as he infiltrated the Worm Cult.

Why is Luzrah named 'gro-Shar' (male), as opposed to 'gra-Shar' (female), which would be in accordance with orcish nomenclature? (Phoenix Neko)

We made a mistake, her name should be "Luzrah gra-Shar". By the time we caught the error, it was unfortunately too late to fix VO with her name in it!

Drive Mad card art

What is your favourite card from the new card set that came with Isle of Madness? (Legoless)

Drive Mad.

What is your favourite area of lore within The Elder Scrolls universe? (Thalmor_Justiciar)

Daedric Princes!

Finally, in our last interview, we asked Pete Hines if there were plans for an official art book and soundtrack to be released for The Elder Scrolls: Legends. Are you able to provide us with an update on any plans for either of them? (Thalmor_Justiciar)

I am not.