The Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was announced in May 2012 and was released on April 4th 2014. It is the 8th game in The Elder Scrolls series.

Developed by the team at ZeniMax Online Studios, The Elder Scrolls Online merges the unmatched exploration of rich worlds that the franchise is known for with the scale and social aspects of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

The Elder Scrolls Online is pay-to-play and subscription based, with unlimited play for the first 30 days of purchase. The basic monthly charge will be $14.99/€12.99/£8.99, and with discounts if multiple months are bought at a time. There is also a shop where players can buy a standard horse and the Imperial Edition of the game, though it is not in-game and can be found on the official website.

The PC and Mac was released on April 4, 2014 and will be released in December 2014 for consoles (PS4 and Xbox One). Pre-ordering the game gave players the option to play as any race in any Alliance, an exclusive pet called the Scuttler, and some treasure maps. Buying the "Imperial Edition" gives players the option to play as an Imperial, craft Imperial gear, convert existing gear into the Imperial style, give an Imperial horse with standard stats, a mudcrab vanity pet and the Pledge of Mara, which allows players to marry.

Storyline
The game is set in 2E 582 during the Interregnum, a period of time where no record of the chaos and destruction happening at the time, had survived. The Daedric Prince Molag Bal and his followers have taken advantage of this instability and the Daedric Prince seeks to meld the plane of Mundus with his own plane of Oblivion known as Coldharbour into a single, nightmarish hellscape. This is achieved by sending enormous Dark Anchors into Tamriel, as well as portals to Oblivion called Dark Fissures to summon even more forces of Daedra into Tamriel. This event is known as the Planemeld. Since there is no legitimate Emperor on the Ruby Throne, the Dragonfires in the Imperial City are left shattered, resulting in the breaking of the covenant between Alessia and Akatosh, thus destroying the barriers between Mundus and Oblivion.

The Tharn family, current rulers of Cyrodiil through Empress Regent Clivia Tharn, has made a pact with Mannimarco, The King of Worms, who has agreed to supplement the Imperial's forces by resurrecting their soldiers, except for Clivia's father Abnur who opposes Mannimarco. Secretly, Mannimarco is a servant of Molag Bal, the Daedric Prince of corruption and domination. Molag Bal is harvesting the souls of mortals for more power. The hero, known as the Vestige, is an adventurer whose soul has been taken, which allows them to constantly return to life. Just before the game begins, the player is killed by Mannimarco in a sacrificial ritual and he is brought to Coldharbour. This is seen in the opening cutscene of the game.

Throughout the course of the game, the player tries to turn Molag Bal's schemes against him to reclaim their soul.

Factions
In this game, there are three major playable factions. Those factions, made up of the different races found throughout Tamriel, are the Aldmeri Dominion, the Daggerfall Covenant, and the Ebonheart Pact.

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Aldmeri Dominion
This alliance, led by Queen Ayrenn, consists of Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit. It controls the Summerset Isles, Elsweyr, and Valenwood.

The Dominion was formed by the Altmer after restoring order to Valenwood and Elsweyr.
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Daggerfall Covenant
This alliance, led by King Emeric, consists of Orcs, Bretons, and Redguards. It controls High Rock, Hammerfell and the recently-recognized "province" of Orsinium.

The Covenant was formed by the Bretons through much diplomacy, trade, and marriages.


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Ebonheart Pact
This alliance, led by Jorunn the Skald-King, consists of Dunmer, Argonians, and Nords. It controls Skyrim, Morrowind, and Black Marsh.

The Pact was formed by the three races through diplomacy due to the recent Akaviri Invasion.
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Other factions
Other factions that are confirmed to be in the game include:
 * Fighters Guild: A guild of mercenaries-for-hire, largely involved with destroying Molag Bal's Dark Anchors
 * Mages Guild: A guild of individuals devoted to the magical arts, largely involved with collecting "old books and lore"
 * Undaunted: A brave group of mercenaries and adventurers who seek to achieve riches and glory, and is led by Kailstig the Axe . They are involved with dungeons.
 * Thieves Guild: A notorious group of thieves, available after launch.
 * Dark Brotherhood: An infamous guild of assassins, available after launch.

Locations


Nearly all of Tamriel will appear and will be playable in The Elder Scrolls Online. Each of the provinces of Tamriel will be playable to some degree. Cyrodiil will be accessible once the character reaches level 10. Some provinces, such as Black Marsh and Elsweyr, will only be able to be traveled to in a limited capacity.

Creatures
A number of creatures are featured in The Elder Scrolls Online. Many of these creatures have appeared in Elder Scrolls games previously, however, five new Daedra types appear in-game.

Classes

 * There will be four classes, including Dragonknight, Templar , Sorcerer,  and Nightblade. Classes will only give players 3 exclusive skill lines, and do not affect a character's weapon or armor choices. For example, you can be a very stealthy Sorcerer who wears heavy armor and wields a two-handed sword.

Combat

 * Player vs Player - available after level 10. In Cyrodiil, combat will revolve around the capturing of Keeps and its surrounding buildings. It is designed for a large amount of players to capture a keep, and a smaller group to capture a surrounding resource fixture.
 * The game itself will be hosted on one Megaserver, which will allow players to find friends or similar players more easily, without requiring them to reset to a different server.  There are 6 megaservers in total; one for each region and two for each platform (PC/Mac, PS4, Xbox One)
 * 6 Skills can be used at any one time. The 6th slot is reserved for a very powerful ability called an Ultimate Ability, which can only be used after acquiring a certain amount of Finesse points.
 * Siege Weapons will not only be in the game, but will be craftable and customizable.
 * Alliance Points: An alternative advancement system, with 23 ranks at launch. A "lifetime alliance point tally", each rank will give a new title and alliance icon, similar to faction ranks in Morrowind and Oblivion.
 * There are a total of eight ranks for increased character weapon proficiency.

Skills

 * Only six Abilities will be available at once, however these can be changed. Abilities can be leveled up to become more powerful the more they are used. Once an ability reaches level 4, it can be morphed, which means the spell turns into a more powerful version of itself, usually adding a new effect to the spell. Players have 2 morph choices. Passive abilities cannot be morphed, though they can be levelled up by putting skill points into them.
 * To get a new ability or passive, one must use a skill point, similar to Skyrim. These can be attained by collecting 3 Skyshards, completing certain quests and levelling up.
 * The list of skill lines is:

Weapon

 * Two-Handed
 * One-Hand and Shield
 * Dual Wield
 * Bow
 * Destruction Staff
 * Restoration Staff

Dragonknight

 * Ardent Flame
 * Draconic Power
 * Earthen Heart

Templar

 * Aedric Spear
 * Restoring Light
 * Dawn's Wrath

​Sorcerer

 * Dark Magic
 * Daedric Summoning
 * Storm Calling

Nightblade

 * Assassination
 * Shadow
 * Siphoning

Armor

 * Light Armor
 * Medium Armor
 * Heavy Armor

World

 * Soul Magic
 * Lycanthropy
 * Vampirism

Guild

 * Fighter's Guild
 * Mages Guild
 * Undaunted

Alliance War

 * Assault
 * Support

Racial

 * There are passives exclusive for all 9* races in the game. Some races share passive bonuses, while some don't.

Craft

 * There are passives for each of the crafting professions.

* There are 10 races in the game if one purchases the Imperial Edition. Imperials have their own racial passives as well.

Features

 * The game is available in three different languages: English, French, and German. It is unknown whether or not the game will support other languages.
 * Mundus Stones are used to give characters special passive abilities. They are similar to the Standing Stones found in Skyrim.
 * Fast Traveling will be available. Players can travel to other Wayshrines when using another wayshrine for free, or they can travel to the wayshrine from anywhere, however they must pay a sum of gold.
 * Fast Travel in Cyrodiil is different from the rest of the zones. Instead of Wayshrines, characters can travel to keeps and outposts that their alliance controls via the Transitus network. Players can not fast travel to anywhere without using a Transitus shrine at a keep, outpost, or alliance base camp, nor can players travel to resources.
 * Mounts are in the game, though only horses can be used at present and there are no plans to include flying mounts. If a player purchases the Imperial Edition, they can get a unique white Imperial Charger to use, though it has no advantage over other mounts. There are plans to include Guar mounts in the future.
 * Crafting elements can be done in crafting stations in cities as well as special crafting stations in the wilderness that can craft special weapons and armor that belong to a set.
 * Players are able to own a pet. Only Sorcerers can summon combat pets, while the other classes must use vanity pets which cannot be used in combat. The Scuttler is a pet given to players who pre-ordered the game, the Nibenay Mudcrab is a pet given to players who purchase the Imperial Edition, and the Imgakin Monkey is a pet given to players who participated in the game's beta.
 * Daedric Artifacts such as the Prismatic Weapon exist in the game, and are tied to the Fighters Guild storyline.
 * Player Guilds exist in the game.  If a guild controls a keep, their Guild Store and bank are able to be used there. Guild keep ownership will be specific to a faction's campaign.
 * Certain dungeons are instanced. That is to say, once Level 50 is reached, new areas of the dungeon will open up, and the results of previous actions in that dungeon will be able to be seen. These are called Veteran Dungeons.
 * Lockpicking works much like Oblivion where the player must move tumblers to unlock locks.The twist is that the player must unlock the lock in the alotted time. There are levelled locks much like Skyrim.
 * Veteran Points can be earned by characters after they reach level 50. They are used to advance characters after the Veteran Ranks are reached after Level 50. The current level cap is Veteran Rank 12.
 * Adventure Zones are zones of which's content is tailored to 4 or more players ranked Veteran 10 or above. Craglorn is the first and only Adventure Zone in the game and was released on May 22, 2014. They are essentially very large public dungeons, which include Trials, Delves, Dungeons, Quests and public world events.

Primary Stats
Elder Scrolls Online features five primary stats:
 * Health - affects amount of damage that can be taken before dying.
 * Magicka - amount of Magicka available to cast spells.
 * Stamina - amount of Stamina available for physical abilities.
 * Armor- decreases amount of damage you take from physical attacks.
 * Power- increase damage output and healing ability.

As the Soulless one levels-up, they will be given one point to place in the Health, Magicka, or Stamina stats, much like perks in the recent Skyrim. They will not only increase stats and improve them, but also unlock new passives and bonuses by placing points into one stat or another.

Skill Points are obtainable both through character level-up, but also through quests and objects.

Trivia

 * The game has been in development since 2007.
 * 5 million people signed up for the game's beta.
 * There are 61 million items in the game, as well as 2,235 books, 10,202 NPCs, and 5.0952187*10^58 character variations.
 * There will at some point be a battle for the Imperial City.
 * Dragons are not going to be part of the game, due to the time the game is set in (2E 582).
 * Some familiar armor types appear in the game.
 * All races will have their own type of customized armor.
 * The Mane, the Khajiit spiritual leader, is confirmed to be included in the game.
 * Players will be able to help choose the next Mane, and this will be a key event in the regions of northern Valenwood and northern Elsweyr.
 * The Knahaten Flu will be featured in the game, with various causes and cures offered.
 * There are moral dilemmas in some quests and the choices cannot be reversed without abandoning the quest.
 * Content in Cyrodiil is not just PVP, there are NPC locations and many quests scattered throughout Cyrodiil, though the player is always vulnerable to players from enemy alliances no matter where they are.
 * The Creatures' AI system is such so that they not only will work together, but will also be aware when they are being outnumbered by players.
 * The PS4/Xbox One version release date was delayed for unknown reasons. It is set to release sometime in late 2014/early 2015.