[Particle Person]

Yes, even that.

[Ghost of V]

I never played Knights of the Nine.  Or Shivering Isles, for that matter.  I've heard they're good, though, so I may get to them someday.

I thought you liked Oblivion.

[Saddam Hussein]

I do, but I had bought it for the 360 (don't judge me) and now it's borken.  So I'll just buy the whole thing on Steam one of these days, maybe when there's a sale next.

[beardo]

foppish pansy

[Ghost of V]

I do, but I had bought it for the 360 (don't judge me) and now it's borken.  So I'll just buy the whole thing on Steam one of these days, maybe when there's a sale next.

Make sure to bring some sweetrolls.

[Saddam Hussein]

Speaking of generic fire and brimstone, Coldharbour is pretty cool.  Not the linear corridors that you have to follow in the first few quests of the main story, but the open-world version of it that you get to explore near the end.  It's bold and striking, with eerie forests and blue lighting and weird enemies.

After playing the game nonstop for hours and hours today, I've finally beaten it.  That is to say, the main story.  I now get to play through the Daggerfall Covenant, and after that, the Aldmeri Dominion.  This is made possible through some kind of magic that Meridia uses, her reasoning being that players don't want to go through the hassle of grinding a new character and slogging through the main story again in order to properly understand the conflict currently raging on Tamriel, I must see it from the perspectives of the other sides.  Or something like that.

Also, Vanus Galerion's voice isn't really that bad.  It grew on me after a while, and he's such a funny and likable character that I couldn't stay mad.  Actually, that's one thing I really like about this game - the main characters are all pretty neat.  They're far more distinctive and memorable than the ones in Bethesda's games, anyway.

[Rushy]

That's dumb. I'm willing to bet you would have happily plodded through another character grind to experience the other main quests, thus taking longer and therefore spending more money. ESO is MMO'ing incorrectly.

[Saddam Hussein]

Stros M'Kai is quite different to how it appeared in Redguard.  Betrayal!  At least it still has the statue of Hunding, though.

[beardo]

Betrayal!

[Saddam Hussein]

As if you care.  Only Alexandyr and I have played Redguard.  The rest of you were too cowardly.

[Ghost of V]

I've played Redguard. It sucks.

[Ghost of V]

Liar liar, pants on fire.

Sword gauge and candle stick magic meter are not my idea of fun. Sorry.

[Saddam Hussein]

I was talking about you playing Redguard, not your opinion of it.  You totally didn't play it.

Alexandyr, tell us your opinion of the game.

[Particle Person]

I've barely played it at all, but, my brief experience with the gameplay was pretty so-so, but the setting and more importantly, the near complete reboot of ES lore up to that point were excellent and the changes paved the way for the creation of our glorious lord and savior, Morrowind.

Eventually I do plan on going back and finishing it, so it wasn't that terrible.

[Vongeo]

Oo sadam some idiots on the internet are arguing if having thousands of pointless details make better lore than an interpretive story which carries themes but is not immediately apparent.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/606312-dark-souls/65001569?page=4

[Saddam Hussein]

I like DS's lore, and the minimalist way that it's communicated is refreshing when compared to how most video games deliver exposition, but I wouldn't want every game I played to be like that.  It's appropriate for the type of the game that DS is, just like ES's lore is appropriate for the kind of series that it is.

Also, on the notion of lore, behold:

http://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/2g0x5l/ama_with_the_eso_writing_team/

They answered some interesting questions.  Off the top of my head, they like reading r/teslore, enjoyed C0DA, and confirmed that Vivec and Sotha Sil will appear in TESO eventually.

[beardo]

The low bumbling voice some of the male Khajiit has is really annoying.

[Ghost of V]

The low bumbling voice some of the male Khajiit has is really annoying.

Gotta love Weebam-Na, though.

[Saddam Hussein]

Okay, so it turned out that I dun goofed during my discussion with Vongeo way back when:

It feels like it wouldn't really jibe with the lore to play as a race in a different alliance.  Not that it could never be justified, but I highly doubt there's anything in the writing that might actually address the discrepancy, and it's probably just something you'd be expected to ignore.  I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't have an issue with that, but if it were me, I'd just play as a member of my race's default alliance.

As for your race, I suggest you stick with the Orcs.  You have a lot in common with them.  They're big, green, have excessive elbows, are misunderstood by society, and live in strongholds.

Not everyone in the same race has the same agenda Saddamit. And I think a high-elf awknowledged it.

That's right, but my issue is that I don't think it will be addressed in-game.  You'll probably just get the exact same dialogue as everyone else, nobody raising an eyebrow over the fact that you're a foreigner who's apparently on their side.

An elf said "Just cuz I'm a high elf doesn't mean I support the aldermari dominion. A person can be born anywhere regardless of race.

I know.  But that character works because the writing is different for him.  That's my whole point.  Now imagine if that elf was talking with a Nord accent, and was making the same jingoistic racial comments as most of the Nords do, without a word of explanation towards the fact that he himself is an Altmer.  In short, imagine if the game had treated him like just another Nord.  That wouldn't have worked.  It would have been weird and jarring.

I hadn't realized that he was talking about an Altmer in the Daggerfall Covenant.  For some reason, I thought he was referring to this guy.  Yeah, from Skyrim.  I really don't know what I was thinking to make such an absurd assumption, but I guess I hadn't realized that he had already begun playing TESO at that point.  It's only now that I'm playing through the Covenant storyline and have met the Altmer in question that I realized my mistake.  Derp.

With that out of the way, he was right that playing as a foreigner through the Covenant storyline doesn't feel off, because while the majority of NPCs are Bretons, Redguards, and Orcs, there are still plenty of foreigners around, and nobody bats an eye at any of them.  And given what we know about the Covenant and its mercantile motivations, that actually makes sense.  They care about free trade and prosperity, not what race you or anyone else is.  It's not like the Ebonheart Pact, which is of course big on racial pride and defending their sovereignty, which results in there being very few non-hostile foreign NPCs you can encounter during its storyline.  lore lore lore

[Vongeo]

Vongeo was right.