I think it’s roughly 700 before Morrowind and almost 1000 before Skyrim but I agree.
Vvardenfell even has Seyda Neen, an imperial colony from an empire that hasn’t even reached that place yet, just for the fan service.
The whole game just feels like a good MMO that was forced to be part of Elder Scrolls rather than an Elder Scrolls game that happens to be an MMO if that makes any sense.
Reign of Giants is basically the only expansion to the base game.
The others are their own thing and aimed at players who have already mastered it. They are not really so much expanding the base game as opposed to turning it into something somewhat different for the sake of variety.
I think they are all worth buying but definitely start with Reign of Giants.
There is a difference between filling in a diversity checklist for mass appeal and “allowing” it.
Not allowing their teams to include the subjects goes against artistic freedom in the same way that forcing them does.