General:Ask Us Anything: Variety Pack 7

Originally published September 9, 2013. The original article can be found here.
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Want more answers to your questions about The Elder Scrolls Online? Look no further!

In today’s Ask Us Anything, we’ve got another collection of answers to your questions on several ESO topics, including quite a few focusing on Cyrodiil and PvP. Give them a read—we think you’ll enjoy the information and clarifications. If you have a question we haven’t answered, we’d love to see it; send your query to us at community@elderscrollsonline.com and we’ll consider it for an upcoming AuA article. Enjoy!
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''How will the Alliance Wars work with the three alliances? Let’s say the Ebonheart Pact controls a keep. Can the Aldmeri Dominion and the Daggerfall Covenant attack that same keep, at the same time? Or in the same scenario, let’s say I am from the Aldmeri Dominion. Can I just go around and start attacking the Daggerfall people who are attacking that keep, or are the confrontations capped to two alliances at any given time? – By Gabriel Feix

In that scenario, Aldmeri and Daggerfall forces can attack the keep at the same time, and like you said, if they wipe out the Ebonheart defenders, it’s up to the two Alliances left to battle it out between each other.  The Aldmeri attackers could choose to attack Daggerfall while assaulting the keep or just wait until the dust settles and attack whoever is left.  Another tactic could involve the Ebonheart force withdrawing from the keep, letting Aldmeri and Daggerfall fight each other, and then wiping out any remaining forces from those two fighting.  It’s very exciting what three sides in open warfare add to a fight, and you’ll see many tactics out there on the battlefields of Cyrodiil!


Hello there, I was hoping you might be able to share any information on the possibility of Shadowscales, please? I am a major fan of them and I would really like to see them in game. – By Daniel Dench

The Shadowscales, those Argonians born under the sign of the Shadow and thus taken into the Black Marsh Dark Brotherhood, are definitely a part of ESO. You will meet them personally in the region of Black Marsh known as Shadowfen.


Can you explain the guild stores a bit more? Do I have to be a member of a guild to buy from it or is it a public store in which a guild of crafters and merchants offer their products? Will I be able to set my own prices or would this be regulated by the guild leaders? – By John Connor

You will need to be a member of a guild to use its guild store; right now, there isn’t a public storefront for them. If you have permission (configurable by the guild leader) to sell items on the guild store, you’ll be able to set your own prices.


Will you be able to gather titles or achievements? For example, can you get them for the completion of a long quest or for solving of every quest in a certain zone (similar to the Thane title in ES V)? – By Wiborg

You’ll be able to gain achievements for many things in the game, including for completing large quest chains or by finishing every quest in a zone. As for titles, they’re something that we’re still considering. We understand the value and appeal of titles, but if we use them, we want to make sure they’re displayed in a way that is immersive and consistent with our game. Rest assured, though, we want to make sure there are ways to show off your accomplishments in the game, such as through visual advancement with gear, abilities, and by other mechanisms.


If a player becomes Emperor and their alliance holds the keeps around the Imperial City, how will the other alliances be able to take control again if they have no point of access into Cyrodiil? Also, if the Emperor is changed when the current Emperor is killed, what is to stop a player just avoiding Cyrodiil on that character once they become Emperor? – By Mitchell Antico

Access to Cyrodiil is always available in safe locations that enemies cannot enter, so you can always fight over control of the Emperorship. If an Emperor is dethroned (meaning their alliance lost all the keeps necessary to crown an Emperor), the next time they are killed, log out, or switch zones, they lose the Emperorship. Emperorship isn’t just beneficial for the individual player, though—the entire Alliance gets a bonus if an Emperor is on their side.


It has been confirmed that the spell Magelight will be in the game, and you mentioned that it will reveal sneaking characters. Will Magelight act like Magelight from Skyrim, being sent forward as a projectile and sticking to the first object it hits, or will it be more like Candlelight, hovering above the caster? Will Magelight serve any other purpose besides revealing sneaking players? – By Jesse Grote

Magelight will work more as an aura around the player, similar to Candlelight. In addition to revealing sneaking characters, it also grants a bonus to spellcasting.


We have already been told that there will massive, in-depth battles taking place for strongholds and territory in Cyrodiil, but my question is whether or not there will be any open PvP combat when encountering another player (not npc) while exploring. Will there be any sort of combat in this case, or will the encounters be purely social, even when meeting up with enemies from other factions? – By Andrew Spittlemeister

There will be lots of chance encounters and roaming players to kill in Cyrodiil.  Many of the quests from towns and from alliance entry locations are designed to send you into enemy territory. If you’re looking for a fight outside of large-scale keep battles, there’s a good chance you’ll run into enemies near Chorrol, Cheydinhal, Bruma, Cropsford, or Vlastarus. 


''If players are free to choose one of three factions, how will ESO strike a player balance between the three? What if one faction is over-populated while another is extremely under-populated? The under-populated one won't stand a chance in claiming the throne! – By Benji Cold-Beer

Three-sided battles actually allow for more player balancing options than systematic options. If one side is over-populated, the other two sides usually gang up on that alliance. That being said, there are alliance population caps per campaign to make sure one alliance doesn’t fill up a campaign entirely. There are also scoring incentives for alliances that are tailing behind when capturing resources and keep, from the winning Alliance if the score is imbalanced. You’ll get more points by taking keeps and resources from the winning alliance and holding your own keeps, helping you catch up in the overall score. Lastly, keeps can be captured with smaller groups than you may expect, so even under-populated alliances have a real shot at claiming the throne.


''Will we find new hints about the disappearance of the Dwemer in ESO? Maybe new books about the Dwemer or even original texts from them? – By Malte Goldkuhle

There is never any shortage of theories in The Elder Scrolls about the Dwemer and their mysterious disappearance back in the First Era. That tradition carries on in ESO.


''When attempting to take a keep, what are the parameters for victory? In other words, when will the keep change banners? To break into a keep, attackers will have to destroy the walls or the gate. These openings will remain after the keep has changed banners. We know resources (mines, lumber mills, farms) will automatically repair the damage over time, but these are important to defending the stronghold, so they will most likely not have survived the battle either. How can players restore them and the walls and gates of the keep? How will players be able to manually repair the keep's walls and gates? I will probably be sneaking around a lot, so I'd like to know what role you expect 'thieves' and 'assassins' to play in taking a keep. You mentioned "guerrilla warfare". Can you elaborate? – By Lucan Archer

There are two flags in a keep which must be held by the same alliance to officially capture it.  Killing NPCs is not required to take control of the keep, but it definitely makes it easier.
There are capture banners at each resource, and resources are captured independently of keeps, so you can send out small skirmish groups to recapture them. As for your damaged gates and walls, you’ll be able to purchase masonry and woodworking kits to help repair them more quickly.
Sneaky players are great at taking out individual siege operators and weaponry. The best way to stop a weapon from firing is to kill the person using it. After that, you can set the weapon on fire and it will get destroyed very quickly!