Welcome weary internet travellers to my humble abode here on the internet superhighway. With this inaugural blog post I begin my journey towards the release of The Elder Scrolls Online. With 56 days remaining until early access, I am biding my time until open beta by speculating on what kind of character I am planning on making in order to hit the ground running. Thus I present my main character idea:
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Name: Caskan T'rizathil
Race: Dark Elf
Class: Sorcerer
Primary Weapon: Destruction Staff
Secondary Weapon: Restoration Staff
Armor Type: 5 Light, 2 Heavy (Chest and Shoulders)
Background: Eminently pragmatic, Caskan did not begin his journey seeking power, only wisdom and order in a world seemingly torn apart by chaos and bloodshed. This practitioner of magic has been keeping a close eye on all manner of political manoeuvrings in the province of Morrowind (of which there are of course many) and has found it lacking. He sees the alliance of his people with those of the former slave race, the Argonians, as a ticking time bomb. The diplomats from Black Marsh claim to have put their bitterness over past events aside for the greater good. However there is no way their new found allies will ever truly forgive his people for their actions, rightly so, and only the naive believe otherwise. The Dunmer have brought in a snake to fight off the rats, and when the rats are gone, the snake will turn on the home owner and make it his own.
However the alliance with the Nords of Skyrim has opened a new opportunity for transition that was not an option in the past. The open borders to the west have allowed him to begin his trek to the only kingdom that has shown the strength and wisdom to be able to stand at the end of the conflict. The province of High Rock, home of High King Emeric, leader of the Daggerfall Covenant. Where the leaders of the Ebonheart Pact see a mystical power that must be crushed, King Emeric, himself a student of history, sees the wisdom in a united empire, a task that the Dunmer are woefully incapable of doing at this point in time. The Aldmeri Dominion's quest, while appealing, is less based on wisdom and more a sense of entitlement that he finds unappealing. Thus he decides to pack his bags and make his way to the West. It is on this journey that he is spirited away to the events that begin the game proper.
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I'm drawn to the idea of playing a non-human since the human races are likely to be the most popular, particularly among those who didn't pre order and are therefore faction locked. Though more bestial races such as the Argonians and Khajiit do appeal to me, I'm not sure I would play as one just because I wouldn't identify with them as well, and I'm not huge fan of what I've seen of their aesthetics.
ESO NEWS:
So I suppose the big news that everyone has to weigh in on this week has been the announcement of Pre-orders and their content. I pre ordered the Digital Imperial Edition then changed my mind and Pre Ordered the physical collectors edition through Best Buy. As far as the bonuses included, I can absolutely see where many people would be upset about locking the Imperial Race behind a pay wall. However my opinion on the matter is that the Imperials are most likely unlockable in-game and the real advantage the collectors edition gives is to allow us to play them early. Having said that, Zenimax could put an end to the controversy by revealing some information on their plans for the Imperial race, however given how tight lipped they've been about the game in general this seems unlikely.
You would think that, given the above plot for the character I'm thinking of making, I would be pro-all races in any alliance. And while that is true, I'm not a fan of only allowing it as a pre order bonus. I don't see how anyone can argue that the idea makes no sense from a lore perspective since these alliances are a relatively new concept in the game world, and all of the races of Tamriel have been integrated into the empire since the beginning. And I can see from a lore perspective that only allowing pre orders to faction swap would keep the number of cross faction races relatively low. But it still seems like a money grab to me.
All in all ESO seems to have multiple personality disorder. The first personality is the Matt Frior type personality who said that they want a subscription fee so that you're getting the entire game, as opposed to a free to play option where everything beyond the core came is behind a pay wall. The second personality is, I think, the suit personality that wants to put up pay gates, real money stores, and allows the purchase of collectors edition bonuses any time after the launch of the game.
Well that's in for my first post in this blog. I'm looking forward to many more and hopefully open beta in the next 2 weeks or so. Hang in there everyone and I'll see you all on Tamriel.
