General:Ask Us Anything: Variety Pack 6

Originally published August 26, 2013. The original article can be found here.
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In today’s article, we answer your questions about UI, character roles, magic use, and more.

Welcome to our bi-weekly Ask Us Anything, where we answer questions about the game from fans like you. In this edition, we’re tackling questions on a wide variety of subjects in ESO, and we hope you’ll find the answers informative. Still have a question we haven’t answered? Send it to us as community@elderscrollsonline.com and we’ll consider it for an upcoming feature. Thanks for reading and please enjoy!
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''How will using a stealth-based character be viable in Player vs. Player combat in ESO? In previous Elder Scrolls games, stealth was represented by an eye which displayed whether you were detected or not—your character wasn’t invisible. How am I supposed to sneak up on another player, who can easily spin their character’s view around, without being detected? – By Daniel Mccarty

If you are in stealth, you will be invisible to enemy players unless they detect you. It will take more than just a casual look in a stealthed player’s direction to uncover them. During a recent playtest, one of our developers was ambushed by a hidden enemy. It was a very effective tactic; the ambusher took advantage of the fact that his target wasn’t being cautious and using the Magelight ability, which would have thwarted the ambush.


''Since the players will be the ones crowned Emperor, what’s the point of even having the NPC faction leaders Queen Ayrenn, High King Emeric, and Jorunn the Skald-King? I think they should have more to do with the throne instead of the players. I mean, I like the idea of the player being Emperor, but what's their role in all this? – By splyffer187

There are always monarchs and leaders of other nations while an Emperor sits on the Ruby Throne, and this time period is no different.


'''''I noticed in the QuakeCon video that a significant amount of seemingly precise aiming is required in combat.  My internet connection isn't the best in the world, and when playing multiplayer first-person games, enemies tend to jump around the screen a bit, resulting in few hits for me and the associated frustration.  How forgiving will the aiming in ESO be? – By Nick Lybarger

We try to be fairly forgiving in the amount you have to aim, but you definitely still have to aim. You’ll need to be aiming at or very close to the target when you attack or use an ability.


''Can you expand more on picking a role when players sign up to find a group for a dungeon? – By Kelly McGrath

Every player will assess what role they feel they can perform in the dungeon. If you feel you would be best at a damage-dealing role, pick that. If you think you could do all three, then by all means, pick all three. There are icons you select that let people looking for others know what roles you think you could fill. We understand that people might not be as accurate with their assessment of their own skills as others might like, but we feel it’s more important for the community to have control over the tools instead of using an arbitrary rules system that might not work well with our more open-ended advancement.


''Will there be Conjuration (for example atronachs, necromancy, and bound weapons) in ESO? I intend to play a support role for my clan, but I haven't seen evidence that the player can use Conjuration spells. – By Nick Rosas

Players will be able to summon weapons, armor, and atronachs. However, you’ll notice that, compared to previous Elder Scrolls games, the schools of magic are a little different in ESO.


''After I saw all the footage, I wanted to ask if there is a way to play completely without magic (like weapons only) because every character I saw used spells of some sort. - By Nicklas Bauske

You can play without magic use at all; simply place your skill points in weapon and armor skill lines. Fighters Guild abilities are also an option if you prefer to avoid spells and magic altogether.


When you go fight a monster, how do you know if it’s high or low level?  Will the level be displayed on top or does each level have a set of monsters? I need to know because I don’t want to fight a monster and die. – By Felipe Valdes

Don’t worry! Any monster’s level will be displayed alongside its name.


Will it be possible to customize and shift the UI around a bit, and can I have more than one chat window for the PC version of the game? – By Esther Zabransky

Our UI layout is built with mostly static windows as far as the default configuration goes, but we are offering add-on support for UI mods for PC and Mac, so we expect our community will enable all the thousands of different variations you might want.


Will spells only be tied to staves and classes, or will we see fireballs, ebonyflesh, illusions, and other spells given to us through the Mages Guild or other skill lines? – By Taylor Montgomery

You will definitely get spells from places other than just the class skill lines.


You said that we will be able to unlock almost all skills/talents (there will be enough "shards").  Will shards be harder and harder to get (ex: behind hard dungeon bosses or high ground where you need to solve puzzle-jumping) or it would be mostly the same difficulty and just time-consuming? – By Mariusz "Max" Śmietana

Skyshards are meant to reward exploration rather than killing bosses or completing jumping puzzles. Some are well-hidden in devious places, but you’ll be able to find them through exploration.


Where’s my beta key? – The Internet''

I was going to deliver it to you in person, but I ran out of magicka! My mount went lame! I didn’t have enough gold for the Wayshrine. My robes didn’t come back from the alchemist’s! An old friend stopped by from Akavir. Someone stole my horse! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Fleshflies! IT WASN’T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO THE DIVINES!

Excuses aside, we’ve sent out tens of thousands of beta keys already. Keep in mind, though, that three million fans have signed up so far. The beta is growing fast, and we’re going to keep sending invites, so don’t lose hope! Any time we send new invites, you’ll see a post here and on social media.