Dark elfs and Nords are most popular races in TES and most popular races chosed by players. And most people favorite locations is Skyrim and Morrowind.

+ Nords look like humans which will make most people going play human, chose them over bretons and redguards. And Orcs are least played race in TES. (Even in WOW most people chose orcs only because of racials)

If you ask some one "what is your favorite races in TES?" many players will answer dark elfs and nords - especially after Skyrim and Morrowind success.

Least played faction probably will be Bretons-Redguards-Orcs (not many people chose redguards but almost no one play orcs)

Looks like 60-70%-90% players will play DarkElf-Nord faction which will make game and factions very unbalanced...

I play as an Orc and Redguard.

Yea, what you say is true, but that can also be a good thing, anyway im playing a bosmer, khajiit and breton.

I like redguards maybe not the most but still they're good.

Well thats where having Three factions comes in. If this was a WoW-type two faction game then sure its an issue. Pretty sure iirc DAoC had one faction that was most popular as well, but it all evened out because the other two factions balanced it out.

Here is poll on Skyrim forums. On some forums and sites on the internet i seen polls where 30-40% ppl chosed Dark Elfs and Nords.
This poll doesnt show dark elf is most popular race probably because this poll was made before ppl started playing Skyrim. But this poll shows that redguards and orcs are least played races (and bosmers)

When u play single player its ok to create argonian,orc or khajit character. But when some one going to play character online for years he gone chose human looking race or best looking race in his opnion.

Dark elfs are most popular elfs and nords are most popular among human races.

argonians usually score highest in msot polls iv seen, but that does not help much considering they are also in the ebonheart pact

From most popular to least:

1) Nord
2) Argonian
3) Breton
4) Imperial
5) Dunmer
6) Khajiit
7) Orc
8) Bosmer
9) Altmer
10) Redguard

Redguards are my favourite. Always cheering for the underdogs!

Sure, my main will be a Dunmer wizard, but I will also have a Breton Knight of the Dragon *nod* Daggerfall, ho!

As someone planning to play an Orsimer in the hallowed and mighty Daggerfall Covenant, I too hope the Ebonheart Pact doesnt end up being the Empire of SWTOR and the Destruction of WAR.

I think this is a fair point, and it wouldn't surprise me if this faction starts off a bit heavier than the others, but I think you're downplaying the popularity of the other races. I also suspect racial stats will be influential here, and while you note this factor in your opening post I think it will play a larger role than you give it credit for.

Personally I mostly play Argonians, Redguard, and Breton. I have a tradition of starting TES games with an Argonian character, one I suspect I'll continue here, but I could definitely see myself playing a Redguard conjurer down the road.

I also think that the Ebonheart Pact will easily be the most popular Faction but I bet that Aldmeri Dominion is not behind by a huge degree. Kajiits will draw plenty of people I imagine. Daggerfall Covenant will probably be third but I bet it breaks down close to 50/30/20 and the two weaker factions will make an uneasy truce in order to overcome the mighty Ebonheart Pact. There should be a lot of Alts in order to explore all the areas in detail so after time the Player population should even out a bit.

Since we have already experienced both Skyrim and Morrowind, I was expecting a lot of people to choose other races for the purpose of exploring the new provinces.

The Altmer are probably my least played race in the games so far, yet I am seriously considering an Altmer character for the sake of exploring The Aldmeri Dominion's provinces.

I think you are oversimplifying race popularity just a tad. Sure Dunmer, Nords, and Imperials have been the most popular recently (mainly because the last three games have been in their provinces). That being said I always chose the class that best fit my fighting experience, which just so happened to be Redguard. I would also be careful how you use that poll as it is based off a minority of players who log into this forum and not the entire sample size of players who will likely pick up ESO. There's a good chance that a lot of players will gravitate towards that faction just because of those races, but it would be an initial burst and the other two factions would balance it out. Especially if there are racial abilities like TES games, that will call for diversity alone in what players will pick for their class build.

Bretons and Redguards look just as human as Nords. I think it will just come down to what class you want to play.

I predict an Aldmeri, Daggerfall alliance against the Ebonheart pact.

*sob*
I feel so unique... and so damn proud of that!

I don't think Nords are the most popular. After Skyrim I'd say Dark Elves, Argonians or Orcs would be the most popular. I'd put Nords quite low on the popularity scale. Still, I agree that 2popular races in one faction is a bad idea because it will be overpopulated.

Much more accurate poll was made on Facebook prior to Skyrim's release that IMO represents the people who will be playing the game much more than the more hardcoe players on the TES forums. Let's be honest. We are a very skewed demographic for polls. With such a low population for a poll there is much more room for inaccuracy if one group is more represented than another. Like there being an unusual amount of Argonian fans on this forum for instance.

The Facebook poll had 30000 votes.

This is the ranking of the top 3 as I recall.

1) Dunmer 6000
2) Nord 5500
3) Argonian 4500

The Ebonheart faction is going to be packed with players. More than half will likely be in the Ebonheart pact. However even the players themselves will not like each other if the Argo-Dunmer forum wars are any indication.

I have absolutely no problem with Ebonheart Pact being more populated than The other two factions. I have every intention of playing Daggerfall and I will be happy to have all the extra people to kill in the frontiers of the empire.

basically I play altmer and orcs, sometimes I pick Nords or Breton as well but that's for testing the limit of the character creator really

My problem is that I want to play a Dunmer but I don't want to be in an overpowered faction. I like being the underdog with lots of enemies to kill. Not the top dog trying to sniff out the rodents...just an anology not saying the other factions are rodents...

I'm confused. Are you actually trying to say that Redguards don't look like humans?

XD well I think he means Nords look like your stereo typical barbarian hero type

that isn't a consensus of the casual user base, though.

generally, the mainstream audience goes with the race that's most familiar to them. which would most definitely be Nords, following Skyrim's popularity.



^this. usually social websites like Facebook, and frequently visited gaming news websites like IGN will give you more of an accurate depiction of what the general populace favors. here on the gamesas forums you have to take into consideration that most of the members make up a large majority of what is the franchise's hardcoe following.