In this week’s “Ask Us Anything” the developers at Zenimax Online Studios answered some more questions regarding their upcoming MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online. This week you can find out a little about a player’s inventory, how different equipment can affect your combat role, voice acting in ESO, and more.
I’m a total neat freak when it comes to my inventory in games. Will the inventory system in ESO be easily organized? Also, will I be able to quickly remove unwanted items?
The inventory is based on slots, but has a list style much like the inventory in Oblivion or Skyrim. It has tabs that allow you to view all your items or just items in specific categories, such as weapons or armor. More sorting criteria will also be available; for example, you’ll be able to sort by value or how recently you picked an item up. Removing items will be very simple. So, to answer the question directly, you can definitely maintain your neat freak ways!
You’ve stated what the Ebonheart Pact symbols mean, but what do the Aldmeri Dominion symbols represent? I’m guessing the Khajiiti symbol means Masser, Secunda, and the mysterious third moon that only appears when the Mane is born. As for the Bosmeri symbol, I’m guessing it represents either the Green Pact or Elden Grove.
Good guesses. The Khajiiti symbol depicts the Two Moons and the Cat-folks’ claws, while the Bosmeri symbol does in fact represent the Green Pact.
One of the most tedious things I found in other MMO games was having to read countless walls of text. Being a fan of lore, I’d read them anyway. However, in Elder Scrolls games such as Skyrim, NPCs speak to you so you don’t have to deal with all the reading. Are most of the NPCs in ESO going to be voice acted?
ESO is fully voice acted – you’ll hear every NPC. There are a lot of great lore books in the game, too, for those who choose to read them.
I’ve been waiting for years and years to play a tank-oriented character with light armor. Will only characters with heavy armor be able to tank, or will our role be more dependent on the abilities used/chosen?
Generally, as a tank-oriented character, being in heavy armor will be the most reasonable course of action because it lends itself well to absorbing damage and taking the big hits. However, if you choose to increase your health to the max and carefully choose your abilities, you could build a light armor character that would last a good, long time on the front lines.
I’ve watched the videos and read the articles, but most of the details on classes have been mainly about how you can be a hybrid. I commonly play strictly healing roles. Will it be viable (or possible) to make a pure healer?
Yes. You will definitely be able to play a healer. As the game has evolved, we’ve really downplayed classes quite a bit in the design, and we’ve really played up the skill lines and the choices you make. For instance, if you wanted to focus entirely on healing at first, you might choose Templar and the Restoration staff lines. Later, if you decided not to be a healer all the time, you could work on other lines.
By choosing your weapon, passives, and buffs and filling your five active ability slots, you’ll really decide how you want to approach any given situation. The more you play, the broader your choices will be.
I’m a mer at heart, and my favorite race of Elves is the Falmer (Snow Elves). I was intrigued by their appearance in TES V: Dawnguard and would like to know: will we learn anything more about their race, history, or culture in ESO?
In the Second Era, the Snow Elves are a near-forgotten legend, and the fact that they’ve degenerated underground into the feral Falmer of Skyrim is a deep secret. But secrets can be discovered, and the Falmer may make a future appearance in ESO.
The Blades have been a central part of the character’s main storyline in Elder Scrolls games. To what extent, if any, will The Blades be involved in ESO?
At the time of ESO, remnants of the Akaviri Dragonguard who protected the Emperors are still around, but they have not yet re-formed into the secretive Blades of later eras.
About the Eight Divines, how much has their influence grown and will we see an involvement in ESO?
The Imperial Eight Divines are devoutly worshiped in Cyrodiil and much of the Daggerfall Covenant. In other regions reverence for the Eight varies – even which divinities make up the Eight varies from culture to culture.
Will we be able to equip the left and right hand individually as in Skyrim (e.g. a spell in the right hand and a melee weapon in the left)? If that’s the case, is there a way to quickly switch between different weapons?
You can put one handed weapons in both hands and dual wield. You can put a shield and a one handed sword in each hand and sword / board. Or you can use a two handed weapon or staff. Additional abilities (these aren’t always spells) can be fired from the ability bar. And yes, you can have different weapon loadouts and switch between them.
The Elder Scrolls games have always included moral and ethical choices for players. With the release of The Elder Scrolls Online, how important are these choices to the overall game and how do these choices affect your relationship with your alliance?
You will have tough choices to make for your character. The choices are very important, but they won’t affect your standing in your alliance. Sometimes they will just aid the story, but in some cases they will have lasting consequences.