Explorer's Pack - Any Race to Any Alliance : Boon or Mistake?

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SaveVsBedWet

Well-Known Member
Pre-ordering ESO now gets us the Explorer's Pack, with which any race character can join any alliance, instead of the way things were, where the alliances were made up of military allegiances or regional allies/neighbors.

Anyone else wish things would go as originally set? There was an added realism and authentic feel to the storyline when there were actual bloodlines and whatnot involved in the alliance struggles. Now it just feels like a general free for all where bloodlines mean nothing nor do the set military allegiances and agreements and perhaps it's even possible that certain alliances become unrealistically thick with characters whose racial allegiances are all on the wrong end of a catapult boulder.

On the other hand, logic and reality "should" dictate that there would be mercenary or rebel characters who go against party, racial, or military lines and do whatever they want on a whim or for reasons all their own. This philosophy would consider the original makeup ridiculous, restricting, and unrealistic.

Where do you fall? Discuss...
 

ZeroDragon

Bring me my broadsword, and clear understanding.
There are people everywhere who disagree with the way their country/town/village is being run. But this is a feeling or opinion which develops and has reasoning, even if the reasoning is flawed.

The original race and alliances seemed a bit rigid, they are - 3 pacts with 3 races each, although with some logical ties, and probabaly a vague hope that people new to the series don't all pick the same. But I think opening them up totally to get pre-orders is lessening the game. While I don't disagree with having a Nord joining the Aldmeri Dominion, as unlikely as that seems, I would prefer any changes of alliance done within an optional storyline where you make a decision to become a rebel/mercenary/traitor for a reason.
 

Rimfaxe96

Well-Known Member
Personally I think this is one of the worst changes they could have made. You could be a rogue spying for a different alliance but I just can't imagine Argonians going for the Dominion and likewise.
With the races united in their own factions, it made far more sense and it gave you a better overview of what to fight in PvP as well. Now we'll have a big boring mixture of all...

Truth be told I won't play any race outside of the faction it was originally meant for, but somehow this change made buying the game for me a bit more unattractive as well.
 

SaveVsBedWet

Well-Known Member
I sort of fall in the middle on this actually.

On the one hand, the original way, given no other changes, makes the most sense. I don't like the idea of a free for all with no lore-based affiliations. On the other hand, I would have seen this working if there were some consequences for jumping alliances or defying racial tradition.

Maybe if all NPCs of a defector's race became hostile to said character, and either attacked outright with bonuses (as would player characters of said race) and/or there were mercantile/speechcraft penalties when dealing with base alliance affiliated or native merchants. There are a host of other problems or challenges that could afflict such characters as well (possibly some tie in to divine racial abilities for angering the gods or ancestors of one's race). But whatever they are, there need to be some repercussions to defying one's allegiances unless one is performing as a plant with enemy factions or a double agent. It is pretty weak sauce that someone can do this in a game based on realism and there is no price to pay for it.

I suppose it could get worse. They could have allowed one to jump back to the alliance one betrayed at will later in the game, truly killing realism. They at least had the sense not to do that.
 

Rimfaxe96

Well-Known Member
Went through the stores yesterday and couldn't resist to buy it. Like I wrote before, I most certainly won't leave the original race pattern, but seriously I'm just so happy I'm able to play now. Went through the intro and it looked amazing (had to switch language before I'm going to continue now).
 

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