Please keep this out of here.
A short note on me:
I'm a long time Elder Scrolls Fan (Skyrim and Morrowind are my favourite games of all time) and MMO-Player. I've played several MMOs before WoW, which I played for 7 years and got more than just sick of it by now.
I play Guild Wars 2 now and I'm absolutely and totally happy about it, even with its flaws (this is my oppinion, point).
I really wish that Elder Scrolls Online will be successfull, but the Race and Terretory Restrictions are a immense Game Breaker for me. I don't want to be forced to join the Aldmeri Dominion when I want to play a Khajiit.
Like I said, this is not a place to discuss this, but rather THIS:
Everquest 2 had two Factions at the beginning ( I have no idea what's happening with the game right now because I have stopped playing when WoW came out). Good and Evil.
Some Races were able to join both factions, some were limited to one side. For example, you could only play the Argonian-Like Iksar and the Rat-Like Rattonga on the Evil side.
BUT:
The game offered you at a certain level ( I think before you choose your 2nd Class) to betray your side and join the other faction. This was a one-way ticket. Once done, there was no way back for your character.
It made it possible for me to play an redeemed Iksar on the step of becoming an righteous Paladin instead of an Shadow Knight.
I want this for Elder Scrolls: Online.
There's already a lot of discussion for the race stuff, but let me say that:
Given the circumstances we see right now, they must have literally kicked out all of the enemy races out of their country. For Dunmers that might make absolute sense but...yeah.
My Khajiit warrior was once asked why "a cat fights for Skyrim" when joining the Stormcloaks and he answered "because Skyrim is not only the home to Nords". THIS. Maybe my Khajiit was never born in Elsweyr or in the Aldmeri Dominion.
Before this war broke loose, there could have been a Redguard family living in Black marsh for generations, calling it their home rather than Hammerfell. Or an Altmer Mage who is married to a Nord woman in Skyrim despite of the racial differences and believes. You see what I'm getting? But I'm not asking for the freedom to choose the faction for the race I want, because this is not going to happen. The Devs don't want this.
In a war, everbody has their spies. People who betray their faction... or switch sides because they did something wrong in their own faction and are beeing followed. The possibilities are endless.
Given that we only have humanoid like races, who look absolutely the same in the distance except for some tail, the racial destrictions can't be because of the looks.
How should Zenimax Online to that?
Make it a one way ticket as well. You play in your own faction for, let's say 20 levels, then give the option to betray it in a quest-line and choose one of the two other for good.
An Argonian Emperor fighting for the Dominion? Would be too far, right?
Make that anyone who betrayed it's faction can't be emperor. Easy!
Still not enough? Give betrayers debuffs in form of less influence for the new faction or something like that.
Interaction with NPCs would be too difficult to achieve since they must acknowledge that this race is not part of their faction? Well...like the NPC interaction in MMOs is that deep...they'd mostly keep it on "Hello [Name/Race]...blabla"
Give players disadvantages for doing such a heavy political thing. Nobody is forced to do this at all, it's totally optional.
Everquest 2 showed nearly a decade ago that this is possible!
I'm, for myself, sure a betrayal system will not be ingame. I'd love to see it, but I know I can't have everything I want. This is just be a discussion about if something like this could solve a lot of problems about the Race/Faction systems.
And now, let the discussion war beginn.