There has been unreasonable hysteria on this board.

"Play as an Imperial and play in any Alliance."

1.) The meaning of this quotes suggests only Imperials will be able to play cross-faction. It does not suggest all races can play any faction. Supply a source.

2.) The number of CE edition buyers will be a minority, and in any case "defectors" will be rare enough to mean each faction retains it's identity.

3.) In the TES lore/canon/universe, it would be fairly typical for characters to land outside their expected "racial" allegiances.

4.) In this game, race is trivial and mostly cosmetic. Racial traits play a minor role. Since all classes are still available, you're not missing out.

I feel I need to stress (4) - there are two other races which produce nearly identical appearances. Generic White Guy/Girl.

5.) Like CE bonuses in other games before, they will be trivial and quickly forgotten.

6.) There is no evidence further cosmetic items will be charged separately for. There is no evidence the CE items are exclusive only to CE buyers.

But... if you have purchased the Imperial Edition, it grants any race to any faction automatically, as it's covered in the Standard Edition.

While I agree with you, I can tell you that making new threads on a controversial topic NEVER reduces the controversy, it just adds to it

And telling people they're wrong doesn't work.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/01/29/the-elder-scrolls-online-imperial-edition-pre-order-bonuses-announced/

Pre-ordering Imperial or standard edition will give you the Explorer's Pack, any race to any faction. Or at least that is what it says there.

I just pre-ordered the Imperial Edition so it doesn't bother me either way really. Race is more about Roleplaying to me and while the in-game collector's bonuses may be forgotten by most, I like being able to choose Imperial so that won't be forgotten. Besides I also pre-order for the nerdy statue and other cool physical things

1) All who preorder can play any race in any faction. http://elderscrollsonline.com/en-uk/preorder

2) here we agree.

3) count number of npc in Morrowind who is Altmer, Bosmer, Orc Redguard or Breton, In skyrim count, Altmer, Bosmer, Redguard and Khajiit, in short I agree.

4) 5) people who play imperials will hopefully remember their character , in short they will remember, if imperials are playable for free later it will be forgotten.

6) the cash shop will get costumes and pets, it will also let you upgrade to imperial edition. High chance it will let you buy any race in any faction or explorer pack.

We don't know that else they have stated.

1) http://elderscrollsonline.com/en-uk/preorder. Toward the bottom, pre-order bonuses. The play any race with any faction is not related to the Imperial edition it's pre-orders. Anyone who pre-orders will get that bonus.

2) For those at launch it will be like most other games. A large number will have the CE bonuses, they will not be a rarity (especially as all bonuses in game are avilable through a digital version which is effectively unlimited in supply. Over time they will become more so as people quit (unless this gets released in another form down the line).

3) The concern isn't primarily about having those outside the factions original race. The issues people express is with the story line and content being developed without that being a possiblity and 2 months to go being altered (with concern as to how this will be adjusted when it comes to the writing). Also with the pre-order bonus it opens the possibility that you may have, for example. High Elves being the most common race in the Daggerfall Covenant.

4) People keep saying racial traits provide a minor role. I could say the moon is made of cheese. Neither are accurate. The racial lines may not be THE skill lines to get for every build but they are no worse than many other skills available. Those who do not spend money will not have access to those of the Imperial race (and there may be no advantage, but on the flip side there may equally be an advantage) and any builds they may benefit.

5) Prior CE in game bonuses are usually cosmetic or short term advantages, this offers a race with distinct differences to other races permenantly which may or may not (as mentioned in 4) have gameplay impact.

6) There is no evidence that they will not either. They said there would be no pay gated content or features, that everything would be avilable for the box and sub. That is now looking less than truthful, so good faith has been damaged for many. Trusting that though they have misled their fanbase once they won't again is akin to being the frog letting the scorpion climb on board to cross the river. Also imagine the uproar from those who did purchase what they believed to be exclusive content (because it is worded to imply such) when it is made available to all.

I see.

Does it occur to you that the PvP game would be hopelessly broken if people were race-bound by faction? Whichever race had more popularity would have a flat numbers advantage.

It is core to the PvP game design that players be able to evenly distribute themselves. You're fighting against your own interest and you're just too ignorant of game design to understand why.

That it does. It also states that the Imperial Edition comes with the Explorer's Pack.

Yeah I see that. It's a good thing though, unless you prefer to play competitive online games without balanced teams.

I wager that all players will be able to choose to change factions through quests at some point. I also wager that at some point Zeni will need to intervene directly to enforce fair team balance.

I can't find a source on any ESO website that says there will be a "cash shop" selling cosmetic items.

The only confirmed charge is for a name change.

http://imgur.com/cs7WiO0

"Don't worry! All races can't play all factions!"

"Oh. Well, it would be unbalanced if all races couldn't play all factions!"

O.o