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[Leyic]

RPers get the short end of the stick in just about every MMORPG these days. At most, they might get a chat channel or an ability to flag themselves as RPing. Expecting the business model to accommodate them is reasonable, but you should expect disappointment.

[Neonivek]

First of all it diminishes the actual Alliance-stuff to begin with

That is because the actual "alliance-stuff" was artificial to begin with.

It in fact makes no sense to faction lock the races within the MMO storywise.

In Warcraft, sure... The intense racism between the races have kept them so separate that even at the best of times they were at arms length and any orc in a human settlement was likely an outright slave.

In Elder Scrolls? Where any settlement of any reasonable size include several if not all the races? We aren't playing soldiers in this game to my knowledge.

[LordBucket]

The Imperial race is NOT a pre-order bonus!!!

any subscriber can upgrade to for $20. It is not exclusive, it never was.

Can you provide confirmation of that?  The eso site faq claims the upgrade you're describing is only available to those who either pre-ordered or have physical store-bought boxes.

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/storefaq

"Can I upgrade to the Digital Imperial Edition?
Starting April 4th, 2014 all customers who pre-purchased the Digital Standard Edition can upgrade to the Digital Imperial Edition by visiting The Elder Scrolls Online Store (https://store.elderscrollsonline.com). This will allow them to receive the exclusive collection of in-game rewards available from the Digital Imperial Edition. This upgrade service will be available from April 4th, 2014."

If players have purchased a physical copy of the Standard Edition but wish to upgrade to the Digital Imperial Edition, our upgrade service is also there to assist them


It's possible this is all simply a poor choice of phrasing, but it seems odd that they would specifically phrase things on the site faq to exclude digital purchases that are not preorders.

[Stuebi]

First of all it diminishes the actual Alliance-stuff to begin with

That is because the actual "alliance-stuff" was artificial to begin with.

It in fact makes no sense to faction lock the races within the MMO storywise.

In Warcraft, sure... The intense racism between the races have kept them so separate that even at the best of times they were at arms length and any orc in a human settlement was likely an outright slave.

In Elder Scrolls? Where any settlement of any reasonable size include several if not all the races? We aren't playing soldiers in this game to my knowledge.

I didnt wanna touch on the whole Lore-thing and going hand-in-hand, if it even makes sense. Yahtzee said it best:

"World of Warcraft had a Faction-System, so everyone else has to too."

I was weirded out by it a bit, but I just assumed that it would work in a PVP-Mechanic of some sort. Considering how many people call Lore-butchery on TESO. I no expert when it comes to TES-Lore, so I didnt want to go too deep.

RPers get the short end of the stick in just about every MMORPG these days. At most, they might get a chat channel or an ability to flag themselves as RPing. Expecting the business model to accommodate them is reasonable, but you should expect disappointment.

Oh, im used to that. But the racial-exclusion for everyone but the people who own the Explorers Pack from pre-ordering can and probably will bug even non-rpers. Its something that probably wont affect people that dont give a rats-ass about continuity, Lore or atmosphere in general, but everyone else might be ticked off at the fact that there are suddenly 50 Argonians running around in this Elven-Alliance.

Again, it just seems like cheap bait to hook in people before Release, even if its harmful for the atmosphere, the feeling and upsets a lot of people.

[Leyic]

Confirmation via ZOS employee on Reddit (should be the first comment):

http://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/1zyj3e/zenimax_customer_support_confirms_that_a_preorder/

Granted, that statement is also worded poorly (use of past tense), but she is negating the claim 'preorder is required'.

That is because the actual "alliance-stuff" was artificial to begin with.

It in fact makes no sense to faction lock the races within the MMO storywise.

In Warcraft, sure... The intense racism between the races have kept them so separate that even at the best of times they were at arms length and any orc in a human settlement was likely an outright slave.

In Elder Scrolls? Where any settlement of any reasonable size include several if not all the races? We aren't playing soldiers in this game to my knowledge.

TESO takes place during the Second Era, when there was no Imperial unity and racism was more rampant. There's actually racism *within* the alliances, if you listen to how some of the characters talk about one another.

[Ultimuh]

TESO takes place during the Second Era, when there was no Imperial unity and racism was more rampant. There's actually racism *within* the alliances, if you listen to how some of the characters talk about one another.

I find it strange that when I tested the Beta. I arrived on a certain island and a local NPC were telling me how much he hates Orcs, in a way as if he didn't notice my green-ish skin and pointed tusks.

[Sinistar]

This is more than a month old review, but still interesting. At around 6:20, they start talking about pre-order thingies and especially interesting point regarding race-locked alliances is presented at around 7:10.

So I thought I'll just throw this here.

Partially ninja'd by Ultimuh.

[LordBucket]

Confirmation via ZOS employee on Reddit

They shot themselves in the foot with the marketing then. Lots of people thought otherwise, and secondary sites and reviews are reporting that both the imperial race and "play any race in any alliance" are part of the pre-order bonus. Actually, given how everybody seems to be saying it and even their faq implies the upgrade is not something everyone can do, I wonder if it originally was pre-order only and they changed it in response to the backlash.

Especially since according to your link, as of two weeks ago even their customer support staff thought that the imperial edition, even via upgrade, was exclusively for people who'd preordered.

This is more than a month old review, but still interesting. At around 6:20, they start talking about pre-order thingies and especially interesting point regarding race-locked alliances is presented at around 7:10.

"...if you pre order the game you can play any race in any alliance..."

"...to miss key pieces of the game just because you didn't adopt it right away..."

"...a pay wall that punishes late adopters that they can never get it..."

Yeah, a review from over a month ago also under the impression that these were part of the pre-order bonus.

[Sinistar]

Confirmation via ZOS employee on Reddit (should be the first comment):

http://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/1zyj3e/zenimax_customer_support_confirms_that_a_preorder/

Granted, that statement is also worded poorly (use of past tense), but she is negating the claim 'preorder is required'.

Definitely a big blunder then. Hopefully, in the future they will take greater care with such things.

Well, we'll see how everything turns out. TESO launch was rough, but who knows, in a year, maybe this will be the next big MMO?
(Though there are still critiques about it not offering anything new etc. My guess is PvP might be it's saving grace.)

[Neonivek]

Honestly from the sound of it... It is a pre-order bonus with the ability to buy the preorder bonus at a later date for an incredibly expensive price.

[Greiger]

The play any race in any alliance is part of the explorer pack which every pre order gets for free.  I don't know why they would give it a special package name if they were not planning to sell it after launch. 

If it would be exclusive to pre order I would think marketing would use indicate it as such to drum up pre orders.

[Teneb]

The play any race in any alliance is part of the explorer pack which every pre order gets for free.  I don't know why they would give it a special package name if they were not planning to sell it after launch. 

If it would be exclusive to pre order I would think marketing would use indicate it as such to drum up pre orders.

From what I've seen both in previews, in-game and in the post-beta survey, characters who hit the level cap can change alliances as well. So I guess the only advantage the pre-orders get is not having to grind to the top before being able to do it.

[Leyic]

In that video review, around 7:30: "We see a lot of Dark Elves hate Argonians." "Still, it's been a long time since Morrowind." (My emphasis.) ZOS has been saying the game is set in the Second Era for two years now, so this is a case of the reviewers not doing their research. They also misstate the RvR requirement as being level 20 (it's was 10 during that beta and still is), and apparently didn't know what time the beta ended (which was stated in the same e-mail that issued beta codes).

They do point out one significant problem with the game around 2:00: The quest phasing, which makes playing with friends, an important part of any MMO, very difficult. But you'd never know about it reading this thread since everyone wants to harp on non-gameplay issues.

As for the gate thing they mention near the beginning: That was keeping them in the tutorial area until they completed the tutorial quest line. ZOS has since changed it so the tutorial is optional, and this caused a lot of outcry on the beta forums about how it 'breaks the storyline'. So, ZOS can't even win on this issue. (I also like how the guy is complaining about the 'lack of freedom' unbecoming of a TES game one moment, then seems surprised how he can join multiple guilds (fighters', mages', etc.) the next).

And to be clear, the Imperials do not come with their own quest content or anything of the sort. For all intents and purposes, they are just an aesthetic and a set of racial passive bonuses (and RP potential).

From what I've seen both in previews, in-game and in the post-beta survey, characters who hit the level cap can change alliances as well. So I guess the only advantage the pre-orders get is not having to grind to the top before being able to do it.

It's not changing alliances. After completing your alliance's main quest line, you can travel to veteran versions of the other alliances and play through their quest lines in order to earn veteran XP.

[Putnam]

They've actually fixed the quest phasing, believe it or not.

[WillowLuman]

Of all the races, it surprises me that they'd lock the Imperials behind a paywall. Let's be honest here, they're not the most interesting race in TES. It could be argued that they're not really a single race at all, either, since Cyrodil's incumbent humans are a fairly diverse lot. Basically, this exclusive content says "You can't play as this various mix of Southern-Europe equivalent people unless you pay extra. Have some vikings, gauls, black pirate swordmasters, lizards, cats, and four helpings of elves instead."