One big issue I see coming up is one of faction balance. I'm sure final numbers will be different, but at least from the perspective of TES players, there is a huge disparity between those who want to play Nord, Dunmer, and Argonian versus those who want to play everything else. The forseeable issue of this is that if this trend proves true then one faction will be so huge that the other two have to more or less merge to make up the difference. So we end up with the "Daggerfall Dominion".

I love the concept of three factions, but I am curious to see if they have any other plans for balancing out factions vs. load bearing ones.

One of the big issues when you have a huge overpopulation of one faction on a server is they will repeatedly dominate world PvP objectives.

Now in typical cases you may see a 2:1 ratio of one faction vs. another, but with a third faction that lets two team up to take down one, and of course there can be only one king, so at the end does the allied two start fighting it out against each other? Irregardless, I can see this kind of ratio working well.

But in my experience playing MMOs Server Demographics can vary WILDLY, what happens when you have a server where the Ebonheart Pact is 15 times denser than the other two? Even if they team up they are still a fly-speck against this might, they can never be Emperor. Unless it's a matter of "letting them take it so we can take it back" kind of gameplay which is very... well lame...



What are your thoughts on this? I am all for world PvP, I can't stand instanced battlegrounds as they don't feel natural, but it can be difficult to balance.

It may be a problem sure, maybe they do stuff to balance it.
(in WAR the side that had less players got XP boosts and such).

But I don't know, people like Bretons too and it will probably attract a bunch of new players who might play as the other factions.

Sure, if you can come up with a convincing explaination for why Redguards would help the Dominion.

I could give more plausible explanation for that than Nords and Argonians siding with Dunmer

If they want to focus on 3 faction PvP, I don't think that alliances will be possible. Alliance would require :
1. A function for the players to "govern" their faction, and decide alliances. Wich is more or less impossible as it wouldn't fit the lore, and some factions political system don't allow it (like the Argonians and the Dunmer).
2. A decision from the developper to merge the factions, or change their organisation. But it would make the game even more unbalanced.

Maybe they can nerf the most populated/buff the least populated faction like Emberoth pointed it out.

As I see it, Dunmer and the human races (nords first) are going to attract a lot of players. I guess it will make the Breton/Redguard/Orsimer alliance more populated.

I really think they should have let the players handle their faction, and change their politics based on them. So that players would be able to become masters of the Great Houses, lords of Daggerfall and so on. Even if it would mean making the game non-canon, Im sure it would make things much more subtle and interesting.

So to get stuff like faster levelling and possibly more loot, all I have to do is to lose? Awesome!

Really?
Cause I cant.

Nord and Dunmer have worked together before and will do so again.
Nothing wrong with Argonians siding with the Dunmer either, if both get something out of it.
This is not your average lazy fantasy or sf, where an entire race is just one trope.
These are more like real societies, with real people, and there is no such thing as 'All Argonians hate the Dunmer'.

However, both geographically and culturally I would be hard pressed to find a reason for the Redguards to side with the Altmer.

I don't have a problem since I KNOW what I will play if I get the game

altmer

as always

An unstoppable horde of Nords, Dunmer, and Lizardmen marching westward towards your homes does wonders to stifle racial hostility long enough to deal with an impending threat, which is kind of the basis of all of these factions, none of them really like each other, with a few minor exceptions perhaps, but they are joined together because there is a greater threat at hand.


I'm fairly sure in the GI article it even mentioned something about how two factions can gang up on one. The concept creates an interesting dynamic for sure, though there's various elements to consider.

One thing I think would work is simply create a large enough playspace with enough individual capture points that holding and defending them all is simply not logistically possible, so perhaps yes one faction grows much more powerful, but holding less territory for a smaller group allows for more rapid and intense defense. Though these don't always translate well to gameplay mechanics.

The idea Emberoth mentioned has been used before, in WoW in certain non-instanced battlegrounds you gained a Tenacity buff that increased your health and damage output when you were outnumbered. Though the idea of non-balanced PvP also has it's merits.

Good point.
I hope the game turns out something like you describe, because it sounds interesting.

I don't know. I think Raga would rather have Nords or Dunmer on the throne than the Dominion.

If the system works as described where each faction chooses if they want to help support another, then this is also a possibility. I merely mentioned the concept of Daggerfall Dominion as one outcome, it could be for instance that the Aldmeri Dominion becomes the top dog in the realm, and then you have the Ebonhearts and Daggerfalls wanting to take them down, it's less of a true alliance and more of a "Hey let's take down this guy then go back to killing each other" type of situation I would presume. I don't believe it will be a formal negotiation like the High Hrothgar Meeting in Skyrim or anything, more about who do you want to kill more.

Also consider the motive that the Creative Lead mentioned in the interview, the Daggerfall faction is more about economic dominance, which means they will play more of the neutral role between the more high strung Aldmeri and the desperate Ebonheart (which for those three to ally together means desperation). So they will tend to sway towards helping whichever side benefits them more.

nvm.