Well, what better time to start speculating than before we have any information?

End of Second Era makes me think Talos. Maybe the three sigil animals are Talos, Altmer and Something Else.

I hope to see the Tribunal, the Armistice, Battlespires, Sunbirds, etc.

I also hope that, if I get a gaming PC ever, it'll be primarily microtansactions as the pay method because I am morally opposed to subscribing monthly for games.

Finally, I hope Zenimax is half as good as BGS at game making, because seriously it's a hell of a series to live up to.

Actually finally, I hope the fact that most fantasy MMO people already have their fix with WoW doesn't mean this will crash and burn in months. I kind of expect it to, people like to stick with the familiar and people know WoW.

Awwww yeaaaaah

Judging by the http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/bethesda/elderscrolls/online/cover-reveal/spread.jpg, it seems clear all of the major provinces of Tamriel are included.

Perhaps you can choose the province where you want to start the game?

Well we better get a house and a housecarl to make me food and drink buffs. Tough I guess this mean no more nudity patches When I strip a corpse of it's armor I don't want it to magically maintain some clothing just because americans can't handle nudity.

SInce Molag Bal is the main "baddie", I want to join him!

I assume that, since we have a political plot and a magic plot, it'll be structured like Skyrim, only occasionally touching on each other.

The map is interesting to me mainly because it is identical to what we see in the 3rd era. I was hoping/thinking that they'd mix things up, since it is the Interegnum. Makes me wonder about the three factions listed, since they're not on the map.

Having different starting areas for different races sounds likely and neat.

It's very likely that they are using http://www.heroengine.com/ for TESO, the same engine SWTOR uses.

I wonder what are the joinable factions indeed, Bird-like creature, Dragon and Lion, speculations?

I'ts been said somewhere else but I can't remeber where, but :

-Sunbird of Alinor? (please yes!)
-Ysmir? (that'd be awesome)
-Lion of Molag Bal? (I don't think that makes sense but still.)

The cover has that ring with three creatures eating eachother. Two are definitely a lion and a dragon, and I guess the 3rd looks bird-like.

We know the empire isn't in it (since it's the interegnum and "warfare over the province of Cyrodiil and the Emperor's throne"). Logic says that the Aldmeri Dominion is one (the bird), but I've got no idea about the others. Some sort of human kingdom centered around Skyrim as one (the dragon) and the Elsweyr confederacy as the other (the lion), with the other provinces independent? I wish we knew more about the 2nd era so that we had a better base for our speculations

That image itself is interesting. An ouroboros motief. Dragon break?

When I look at the ring, I can't help but think of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros.

dam so now i finaley hasve to give in and get a MMO

I think the third is the Akaviri. So maybe it's the Alinor Sunbird, the Akaviri Snake/Dragon and something about a lion for the humans?
There will be Akaviri there at least, I know that. So I guess the three factions will be Imperials, Akaviri and Altmer.

Oh shi-! Totally forgot about them. Having them as the dragon sigil would make a lot of sense.

My guess.

Cat
Elsweyr
Valenwood
Summerset Isle

Dragon
Cyrodiil
Black Marsh
Morrowind

Bird
Hammerfell
High Rock
Skyrim

I think the lion stands for the empire, the dragon stands for akaviri, and the bird of prey stands for some elves.

A Dragon Break would explain the idea of us being clueless of Molag Bal's attempt to absorb Tamriel. Who knows, maybe the Dragon are the Akaviri, while the lion is King Cuhlecain's troops? Seing the ascension of the Nu-Man would be awesome, but I'm probably delusory.

Wait, this doesn't even make sense, I totally forgot my dates, sorry, scratch that.

I guess the Khajit would fight for the Mer, but I wonder about the Argonians.

GOOD IDEAS!

I believe they are going to save Akavir for an expansion. It makes business sense.

What year does this happen in? It says a millenium befor Skyrim. That is like mid second era?

The Seventh Century of the second era I think

I wonder will they get the guy who did the Awesome Molag Bal voice in Skyrim to voice him hope so.

The three factions are really going to depend on how much they plan to appeal to non-TES fans. If they are appealing to them A LOT, I think we can expect something simple... like Humans VS Elves VS Beastfolk or Molag Bal's forces, and races will probably be restricted to faction. If its more complicated and in depth... we'll it could really be anything, but I expect the Empire will be an option no matter what.

This 3 faction player driven PvP... with what seems to be conquest mechanics is very intriguing though... it points to this being more of a sandbox style MMO. If that is the case, I have a some hope for it.

If you look closely, you'll notice that it's in fact a Lion, Dragon and a Bird-like creature's heads. http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/05/03/june-cover-revealed-the-elder-scrolls-online.aspx

Thanks for that, caught it already. I was expecting info from somewhere else.