Ok so i just got done reading Game Informers artical on TES:Online.

i have to say from what i read sounds to be pure crap. i was really excited at first but first thing i read is that they are forcing players into set classes. Imo bad move. i like my freedom from the RPGs and taking that away feels like i am going to be forced into just a newer shiny WoW with different lore but same bull crap that makes me want to quit WoW. (only still in it cause they got me locked into the year subscript before i can to my sences).

Also having 3 factions races based.........Hmmmm sounds like WoW to me but with 1 extra faction. and the faction race team ups are not even based on the lore and history those groups have with each other. it is based on location. Nords, Dunmer, and Argonian.... WTF those three hate each other. Nords Attacked morrowind many times trying to conquer it. Like the island with Skaal on it in bloodmoon xpac for morrowind. and the dagerfel town in north morrowind. if you read the books in game you will know what i mean, Also with the Dark Elves constantly enslaving Argonians and raiding black marsh for slaves. Seriously? that team up is the dumbest one they could have thought of.

Second team up is Orcs, Redguards, and Bretons. if you read the lore again.....Redguards stole the orcs homeland of hammerfall. why would they want to help redguards? Redguards name came from some attack tactic they used against the orcs to steal hammerfall after coming from their sinking homeland of Yukada or Yukadan. They pushed the orcs into the mountains bordering mainly with skyrim. And Bretons are descendants of humans that mated with High elven overlords or something like that. that is why they are so attuned to magic more than other man races. I haven't really read much about them hating any of the other races. they seem to be more out of it and misstaken for imperials more than anything...lulz. i always played Orcs in each TES game i played. love the race and i dreamed one day if it became an MMO to try to build a Mer army to help the orc kick the Redguards out of orcs homeland. Hammerfall was named after someone (i think malacath) threw Velundrung (his hammer) to a new land for the orcs to call home and it landed there.

third team up is Khajit, Altmer, and Bosmer. Again those guys for the most part hate each other. there have been many wars of the Khajit against the Bosmer. i remember reading one where Khajit were cutting down bosmer trees and to bosmer that is illegal. Altmer later take over both these provinces after the oblivion crisis but yet they say this game is suppose to be 1000 years before then. it is also called the Altmeri dominion or something with dominion in the name.

Zenimax is getting their lore confused and mixxed and making a terrible team ups. We should get to choose how we want to play not forced into groups that really make almost no sence.

and if this is 1000 years before manythings where are the Heartland High Elves of Umaril, and the Dwemer, and lets not forget the Falmer before they become cave dwelling blind guys.

Also from the sound of it imperials are non-playable. which at this time in history they were known as Colovians or some such at that.

so what i am getting at is Zenimax seems to be making a terrible game and ruining TES franchise. people might as well just keep playing WoW.

I couldn't be happier. Zeni is doing an amazing job.

Do you know any of the lore? and you really want restrictions such as being forced into classes instead of having a character you level any way you want? Go back to WoW.

On the topic of factions I'm pretty sure almost every race in Elder Scrolls lore has hated pretty much every other race at one point or another. Obviously there are exceptions but I don't think it would be possible to do a 3 faction system where all the allignments make sense. Also this takes place like 1000 years before Skyrim right? It's possible that the race-relations were different then (but I'm not expert)

Giving it a little more thought, I wonder if it wouldn't make a lot more sense to instead have 3 factions that all have very different political views/goals, and any race can join them. That way each race would remain relatively free-agent and it would make more sense in the context of the lore (I think)

Nope, don't like that idea at all.

i know but imo Altmer, Orcs, and Dunmer makes the most sence based on their ancestral heritage. They were all once Chimer. Altmer stayed pure and got taller but weaker to magic. Dunmer Followed a Chimer Prophet named Voleth or something to that nature and were turned into Dunmers after the tribunal betrayed the Nerevar. Orcs were either Chimer or Dunmer at the time of their change i think Dunmer but uncertain. they were followers of Trinimac. the strongest of the Mer gods and he was eaten by a Dreadric prince and the remains became Malacath and at that time all his followers were changed into Orcs.

I agree with this. i am more into freedom of choice in Elder scroll games. i do not want my favorite race tied to a certain faction when my friends have favorite races in other factions. i want to play Orcs but be able to be with my friends who Favor Nord and Bosmer/Dunmer.

And I wanted to take down the Thieves' Guild in Skyrim.

We can't all get what we want.

What Drew me to TES was the freedom of choice. Taking that away is not a good idea for the MMO.

TES has been removing some aspect of freedom of choice since like Oblivion.

i know i was disappointed when they removed Spears. Spears are my favorite weapon type in games and RL. The feel of a spear and the fighting style one can use is awesome. like the Japanese Naginata spear type weapon.

Yeah but that was more of a development limitation, as in Bethesda didn't have enough time/resources to implement that into the game. This is purely a design choice, and not a great one imo.

Yet they had time for destroying the Dark Brotherhood and Marriage?

they did make a few poor choices went making Skyrim. they gave us even less choices in armor and weapons for better graphics.

And it's ridiculous. The games are still very enjoyable but there is no logical basis to the dumbing down. Even Morrowind, being my favorite, was dumbed down some from Daggerfall but they didn't go overboard.

The game still had:

-Incredible freedom with building your character via dozens of skills.

-Enchanting items the way you wanted (like being able to actually change the min/max dmg of lighting dmg and cold dmg added to a weapon).

-Spell crafting stuff to your hearts desire, freedom to instantly go where you wanted.

-Great item variation down to having 2 separate gauntlets equipped.

-Freedom to join what guilds you wanted.

-Freedom to join what great house you wanted.

-Tons of dungeons

And on and on.

Then we get to Skyrim, and while it's still a damn good game, has lost features or still has features but are dumbed down from what they once were. Then we get to Elder Scrolls Online and it seems even more dumbed down in the freedom department and doesn't leave much hope at all for other aspects from the single player games either.

Freedom to join what Guilds you want? That's in Oblivion and Skyrim.

Tons of dungeons? Again, that's in Oblivion and Skyrim.

Problem is translating a single player game to an MMO is no easy feat, especially if it's a system that provides a super amount of freedom.

There's a lot of aspects that would be somewhat hard to balance in an MMO world if you kept much closer to the standard TES formula, even just with combat.

Could you imagine spellmaking in a PvP game? Or Skyrim's crafting? While it's better to have more choices regarding who you are, who you join, where you can go, there have to be gameplay and mechanics limitations over what you can do in single player.

Can you imagine the power of just a few players who have Restoration, Destruction and One-Handed maxed out? Or a group of full spec Assassins?

Doing a TES MMO that plays like a TES single player would be a nightmare.

I also wondered about the Ayleids, and you're right about the Dwemer and the Falmer. What about them?

And the factions are weird indeed, I hope the come with a lore explanation at least.

Except the fact that stuff like enchanting and spell making has limitations already. For spell making, you were restricted by the fact you would never be able to successfully cast the spell if you went overboard and with Enchanting, you were restricted by the items themselves which each had a set enchanting points amount in which you can't go over. Not to mention enchanting needs a captured soul for every item you wanted to enchant.

Actually, that's only true if the game is PvP. And if there are level caps on everything, eventually everything evens out for a PvP endgame.

Just put an absolute cap on DPS, regardless of whether it's a custom spell, and that problem is solved.

No offence, but it'd be damn more helpful if you actually posted something constructive rather than 'Zeni is amazing!' one-liners in each thread where the OP is grumpy.

Now, dear OP, I do advice that you brush up on some of the lore; UESP.net is very useful for that sort of thing. It should answer some of the concerns you already have. But I won't lie to you; it seems strange. Why? Because things -can- be strange. Allegiances of convenience are made every day. We do not know the background yet behind the Argnonians, for example, and their joining the Ebonheart doesn't seem to make much sense. I can't tell anyone off for that untill I have all the information, though.

On the matter of factions, follow the link in my signature to a petition to remove the strictness of factions and allow neutrality. It should solve nearly any concerns you could have.

i went and voted and agree on all. I still want Orcs to boot Redguards out of Hammerfall