Bay 12 Games Forum

During the Second Era, the races generally do not like each other. Heck, the only time they've been united under a single empire was during Septim rule (Third Era). It all fell apart rather quickly after that (i.e. the Thalmor in TES V). It would make less sense if TESO depicted Tamriel as being as cosmopolitan as it was depicted in TES III-V.

Too bad. The Towers are a pretty big part of that C0DA, and none of the games have bought into that story more than ESO. 'Course, you could always just ignore the parts you don't like.

I mean the actual graphic novel called C0DA, not Kirkbride's lore in general. TV heads, rappers, sex missiles, and Kirkbride-as-Numidium pretty much spit in the face of the lore he had been developing up to that point. It was nice seeing Nirn and Masser after Landfall, but all we got was a depiction of life in a single city from the perspective of a single character, so it doesn't contribute much in that respect.

Honestly the medieval stasis in Elder Scrolls is extreme. Did they ever explain it?

With magic as ubiquitous as it is, why would they develop technology?

What's true? I wasn't commenting on the lore. I was commenting on two factual gameplay mechanics:
1. Switching alliances on a character is not possible.
2. Anyone with the Imperial edition can convert armor into the Imperial motif.
Those are objective truths unless and until ZOS decides to change things.

As for the lore, it was bent to fit the game; the alliances don't make sense otherwise. That said, as others have pointed out, it may not be as screwy as some around here think (i.e. in game lore books were written with an in game character's perspective), and whatever screwyness remains doesn't prevent me from having fun with the game on a mechanical level.

I'm not arguing, really, but I would like the discussion about the game to be more substantive than "It's too expensive!" or "They're relying on common marketing gimmicks!" so that anyone who's still on the fence by this point can make a more informed decision. I'll also try to correct any misunderstandings or mistruths that are stated here.

In that video review, around 7:30: "We see a lot of Dark Elves hate Argonians." "Still, it's been a long time since Morrowind." (My emphasis.) ZOS has been saying the game is set in the Second Era for two years now, so this is a case of the reviewers not doing their research. They also misstate the RvR requirement as being level 20 (it's was 10 during that beta and still is), and apparently didn't know what time the beta ended (which was stated in the same e-mail that issued beta codes).

They do point out one significant problem with the game around 2:00: The quest phasing, which makes playing with friends, an important part of any MMO, very difficult. But you'd never know about it reading this thread since everyone wants to harp on non-gameplay issues.

As for the gate thing they mention near the beginning: That was keeping them in the tutorial area until they completed the tutorial quest line. ZOS has since changed it so the tutorial is optional, and this caused a lot of outcry on the beta forums about how it 'breaks the storyline'. So, ZOS can't even win on this issue. (I also like how the guy is complaining about the 'lack of freedom' unbecoming of a TES game one moment, then seems surprised how he can join multiple guilds (fighters', mages', etc.) the next).

And to be clear, the Imperials do not come with their own quest content or anything of the sort. For all intents and purposes, they are just an aesthetic and a set of racial passive bonuses (and RP potential).

From what I've seen both in previews, in-game and in the post-beta survey, characters who hit the level cap can change alliances as well. So I guess the only advantage the pre-orders get is not having to grind to the top before being able to do it.

It's not changing alliances. After completing your alliance's main quest line, you can travel to veteran versions of the other alliances and play through their quest lines in order to earn veteran XP.

RPers get the short end of the stick in just about every MMORPG these days. At most, they might get a chat channel or an ability to flag themselves as RPing. Expecting the business model to accommodate them is reasonable, but you should expect disappointment.

For reference, I'm well aware the franchise has a following. I've been playing TES in some form since the Betony demo was released almost twenty years ago. I'm also one of those people who was strongly discouraged by the early coverage of the game; it wasn't long ago I was calling the game 'generic' in this very thread. It was only after the final beta weekend when I convinced myself to buy the game as I simply found myself wanting more of it. I'm still concerned for the game as ZOS isn't being forthcoming with their plans for the game post-launch (we know there's an "adventure zone" coming; that's it).

Despite all of that, at no point did I think "They're trying to give me a free pet and junk, and get me into the game five days early; clearly ZOS/Bethesda/Zenimax is terribly exploitive and I refuse to do business with them.". If the only things people have to complain about are the lore and the business model, then that's not at all informative about the game itself.

Or they could charge an initial purchase and not charge anything a month.

And thank you for proving my point. MMOs can't survive on the pay-once revenue stream alone, hence why games like Guild Wars 2 have massive cash shops filled with all sorts of crap that they're constantly pushing on their players instead of developing decent amounts of content. Yet here we are considering it as the preferred alternative to p2p while simultaneously denouncing cash shops. Brilliant way to go with the flow without thinking about it.

If you want the game to be cheaper, fine; its certainly your right to voice your opinion. But there would be consequences if they were to reduce the price enough to significantly impact their revenue, and it's a safe bet that one of those would be an expanded cash shop. People in this thread are already in a tantrum spiral over the current version of the cash shop, as tiny and purely-out-of-game as it is. Simultaneously tantruming about the game being too expensive is simply just cognitive dissonance, and distracts from the very real issues that TESO does have.

You like roguelikes but not Minecraft-style graphics? I find this strange, but w/e.