Actually the Imperial race and the play any race in any faction are not labelled as exclusive simply as bonuses.

You are also letting you mind run away with things that have no actual evidence for. You keep bring up random scenarios with no evidence for them at all. It's like you are paranoid.

Like I said before, there are things I don't like about this, but I lack any info to really make a judgements. Far too many ifs and possibilities to swing one way or the other.

Hi, I'm a person that played Imperial for every TES game since I can remember and now because I can't afford the CE I can't play one of the fundamental races of the game.

RP is content too. Racials are content. Crafting is content.

I can guarantee you that you will be able to craft imperial stuff without the CE.

You could also wait to for more info, such as the possibility to unlock the things in game without paying a dime (outside of the standard edition).

What is an Imperial? Why are special?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Imperial

Why support them? Because I want to play ESO. And, Unlike Yourself, I'm not a cheapskate that thinks everything should be FREE!

nothing is special about the filthy imps. i really liked the fact that my least favorite race was not playable lol

No, no you can't guarantee anything.

I can and will wait for more info. That isn't gonna stop me from voicing my opinion now.

The early bird gets the developers to change their minds.

This is great!! I don't think that that this is purely a money grab or anything like that. ESO is going to do great. To people who say that ESO is the laughing stock in the MMO community, fine that's okay, developers have stated that this game is not purely a MMO. If the Elder Scrolls genre is something that you like and really like to get immersed in then you will have no problem paying for the deluxe edition and subscription fee to enjoy a robust ever expanding world. This announcement caught me completely off guard, but I am so happy that they decided to go this route because it offers so many more possibilities for those of us who don't mind paying a little extra.

Also, I'm sure the purists and the casual players will stick with the races in the alliance suggestions so other races in other alliances will make up the minority.

Furthermore, Characters playing in other alliances who are not part of the core races have a great opportunity to do some cool roleplaying. Now the Gray Quarter in Windhelm will once again have meaning if it's a haven (or ghetto) for races that aren't Nord) I'm sure some players will have prejudices against characters in their faction who are not part of the core races and frankly I;m excited for the element of friction that it will bring.

Honestly, I go after collectors editions for physical content so the imperial race is just a neat extra perk for me. I'm not sure how I feel about the any-race to any-faction thing yet :/

Sliiiightly dissapointed that the CE has no soundtrack but I'll live.

You have definitely been one of the more mild of the ones voicing their concerns. I just hate when people act like there is evidence where there is not. That is the single reason why I even had an issue with your post.

And yes I will say I can guarantee the crafting part, i simply can't go into how and why I can.

Thank you. Interesting, they are the Romans of Tamriel or whatever the world is called. Cool, I like the Romans.

But...they can't leap tall buildings in a single bound, nor change the course of mighty rivers, nor wield the One Ring without fear of corruption, so why is everyone whining about this?

This all just reeks of sheer, unmitigated panic by the suits at ZES.

Well I can tell you I made some speculations about the game before but the reality of this is more than I thought.

Go look at stuff in August about them being a subscription game. Then go look through these forums at every single thread talking about why it was a sub game, and see that every single one of them was locked. Why were they locked?

Why is it a sub game? Why isnt it simply buy to play? if theyre selling this stuff, that clearly isnt 'fun stuff' then why try and blow smoke up our asses?

Like I said they can do what they want, but they shouldnt take such hardcoe stances and not expect backlash when they do a complete 180 and then some. Thats why developers are developers and cant really say anything about a game because in the end marketing and money people control it all.

So every developer diary or blog or weekly update is completely meaningless, because if someone in marketing wants to change something it gets changed.

As for your first part, being an Imperial is exclusive. if it wasnt or if people didnt think it was they wouldnt be buying the digital copy of the CE. I can justify spending the 99.99 for the physical copy much more than the 79.99 for the digital CE, at least with the physical CE you get real life stuff to have. But that is also why THAT version of the CE costs 20 bux more because it has that extra stuff in it. But it isnt GAME content. Its real life 'fluff'. THAT is the difference.

Like I alluded to before youre one of those guys who could buy 4 CE versions of the game, have Zenimax close down and never release the game, never refund any money and you would be fine with it. You are the type of people that have zero reason and just go with the flow. Youre also the perfect customer for these new age MMO companies who peddle garbage and make people thankful they are getting it.

Because this is a gaming forum, and as with every other gaming forum, people would go insane if they didn't have something to complain about.

At the end of the day, people getting the Imperial Edition will have no significant advantage over people without it. Everyone already knows this, but they want to get up in arms about the "principle" of the thing, which is also a moot point.

I love the whole thing. You can play any race/any alliance for no extra fee (digital standard) and for a lousy 20 bucks you can get the Imperial Edition and get extras in addition to the Imperials as a race. It's either nothing extra or a stinkin' 20 bucks. Meh.

Because something doesn't have to give an advantage to be content.

I just hope that sometime during this week ZOS will talk to us about the CE, clarify some of the items.

I don't know why anyone would think that there is some sort of advantage in it, because there isn't. What I'm arguing against is the fact that ZOS thinks they can just charge us willy nilly for things like races and still expect a sub price. I 100%, this has no impact on gameplay balance, but that doesn't make ZOS decision to paywall Imperials any less of a dike move.

While that may be true, opposition to things like mounts and pets is a little ridiculous. Most (if not all) MMOs offer those kind of CE incentives, and they do not impact you in the slightest.

Food for thought: Would it be more fair to give EVERYONE a small number of cross-faction character slots, while making the pre-order bonus give extra cross-faction slots on top of those?

Well the pet crab is content too because that is the nature of a digital bonus.

I agree it svcks if you want to be Imperial if cost is a concern. I am pretty sure though that when balanced against all other options that this method is the least damaging for ZOS. They must keep their promise of no cash shop after purchase of the game or be viewed far more harshly but also consider limiting these options in order to not break lore. Allowing everyone access to Imperials or even free faction choice would break lore far too much. Pure faction lock also goes against logic as individuals in Tamriel have been freedom to move, set up trade or even settle down most anywhere they want and this being reflected in game makes more sense than not, as long as it is limited. It is the implementation of these restrictions that causes friction. I cannot see a better way at this time however.

I feel my Argonian would be far more interested in setting up trade with the Bretons over the Dunmer. It is a choice between humans (more or less) looking to open up trade much in the way Argonians had with Imperials vs Dunmer who would rather enslave me. Some races having more options makes greater sense over others but that is exactly what I hope most players will do ... stick with lore that makes sense more than not. Imperials just if rough during this time period and fans of them are indeed limited by this.

Yes this have been a sub game, yet we have known that there was going to be some sort of shop.

They were locked because they always turned into flame fest and no new info on the subscription was available. We still don't have more information on the subscription.

The problem is the possibility of a pay wall with the Imperial race and playing as any race in any faction. I fully acknowledge that issue, but that issue becomes moot if you can unlock those things in game through simply playing or through some sort of achievement.

People often buy CEs not simply for exclusive items, but for immediate access to certain things. Such as mounts. Many people don't pay for the fact that it is an exclusive skin, but more for the fact that they can get one early and for free in game.

Again, you immediately swing to worst case scenario. You are letting your mind run wild with it. It makes you look paranoid.

They do, because I want to play an Imperial.

The mount and pet I couldn't give two [censored] about, but an entire race is something that direct many players entire way they approach the game.