The faction and race system of The Elder Scrolls Online has been revealed; it looks like players will be able to choose one of three factions to play as, each with specific races within them.
The Ebonheart Pact
Hailing from the Northern and Eastern regions of Tamriel, this faction consists of Nords, Dunmer, and Argonians.
The Aldmeri Dominion
From the South and West regions, the Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit.
The Daggerfall Covenant
And lastly, from the Northwest, the Breton, Orc, and Redguard.
These are the playable factions - as far as we know, players will be tied to a specific faction if they want to play a certain race, or tied to only three races if they wish to play a specific faction. A bit limiting, but we'll see how it pans out. There's a fourth, unplayable faction as well, the Imperial.
These are NPCs only, and are the reason the other three alliances were formed. They form a pact with the Tharn Family and Mannimarco, King of Worms under the plan of bringing Tamriel back under Imperial rule. This isn't going to end well if the other two figure out that Mannimarco is working with the game's main protagonist, Daedric Prince Molag Bal, to take reigning power for themselves.
The Elder Scrolls Online has been in development for several years and of course is based on the legendary Elder Scrolls series, allowing players to explore the universe with others. Heading the project is Matt Frior, who has been working in online game development for two decades.
“We have been working hard to create an online world in which players will be able to experience the epic Elder Scrolls universe with their friends, something fans have long said they wanted,” said Matt Firor, game director of The Elder Scrolls Online. “It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years. The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise.”
Stay tuned for more updates, and be sure to check out our Skyrim Wiki for more information about the various races of Tamriel.
Comments
I'm definitely interested in how they're going to handle factions, especially after hearing this! Will there be cross-faction trade, war, etc.? The backstory behind each of the alliances will also be fun to read, I think.
Just a little note: I believe "Malag Bal" in the paragraph under the photo of the Imperial should be "Molag Bal", if we're talking about the same Daedric Prince of domination and enslavement of mortals.
Thank you :) Every now and then one gets by me, oops ><
Elder Scrolls Online... Man, I'm just gonna have to try that!
This game is so special, so different from WoW in many ways, and knowing how different games attract different kinds of players, it will be interesting to see what kinds of players will play Elder Scrolls Online and how their playstyle will be.
Either way, I'm looking forward to it!...
Silverfalkin: "Will there be cross faction trade, war, etc.?"
That was the first thought that came to mind for me as well. It's really going to be interesting to see how this implementation gets structured and dealt with.
I doubt they can base factions on the char's race alone, like it is being done in WoW. It doesn't make sense in WoW and it would make absolutely no sense in Elder Scrolls other than the small NPC fractions and groups that already exist in the game world.
Yeah, we'll see!... :)