It’s time for yet another edition of “Ask Us Anything”, wherein the developers of TESO answer some of the many questions fans have concerning their upcoming game. This week is another grab bag of information not focused on a specific subject but on various topics. We get to learn a little about armor, crowd control in PvP battles, and whether or not we can expect to see a Dragonborn pop up at some point throughout the game.

Continue reading to see the full article for yourself, and let us know what you think about the information revealed in the comments below.

Something that is in big debate on every single forum I’ve seen as of late is the life expectancy of the different races of Tamriel for roleplaying purposes. Can you please elaborate and give us some numbers to work with for each race or at least the Elven races (Altmer, Bosmer, and Dunmer)?

Elves live two to three times as long as humans and the “beast-races” (Orcs, Khajiiti, Argonians). A 200-year-old Elf is old; a 300-year-old Elf is very, very old indeed. Anyone older than that has prolonged his or her lifespan through powerful magic.

In previous Elder Scrolls games armor was divided into categories, with each category having multiple styles of armor. The styles were tiered so that there was a progression in the type of armor the player would wear from early game to late game. Does The Elder Scrolls Online use an armor progression similar to the one used in Skyrim?

The Elder Scrolls Online features a very familiar armor system. Armor is divided into 3 categories: light, medium, and heavy. Light armor is generally good for magicka users. Medium armor is good for stamina users, and heavy armor is good for keeping yourself alive as long as possible. Within each category, there are many different types available; some are specific to a particular racial style (though you can wear any armor regardless of your race), and some are the iconic sets you might recognize from past Elder Scrollsgames such as Daedric, Dwemer, and more.

How fast can players travel from keep to keep in Cyrodiil?  While I realize that we don’t want the travelling to take too long when going from one point of interest to the next, having a significant travel time would still be a good thing.

Attrition is a huge concern in keep battles and one way to enforce it is travel time after death. Keeps in Cyrodiil are separated enough to allow a team to gather themselves after a keep defense or capture before an enemy is back on them. On average, it takes about a minute or two to travel from keep to keep within your own Alliance territory while mounted. This is variable, of course, depending on the route you take and between Alliance territories within Cyrodiil.

What is the social and legal opinion of slavery in Tamriel during this time period?

It varies by jurisdiction. The Clans of the Reach, for example, certainly keep captured enemies as slaves – but they’re barbarians. In most civilized realms, slavery is illegal, with the obvious exception being Morrowind. Under the terms of the Ebonheart Pact the Dark Elves have had to liberate their Argonian slaves, but they still have slaves of other races, the most common of which are Khajiit.

With everyone being able to pick any armor and weapon he likes, is there a way to guess which abilities and defenses your opponent has in PvP – other than watching his spell effects?

Even though every player can use any armor type, the choice has a huge influence on playstyle (more so than class, even).  Light armor will allow you to cast many more spells, but at the expense of protection. While it is certainly possible to use light armor and fight in the front line, it will make you a lot less survivable than someone wearing heavy armor. So, if you see an enemy in robes, it’s a pretty safe bet that he will be throwing spells at you.

That said, many different builds are possible, so figuring out what your enemy is capable of is part of the fun in PvP.

As someone who loves Elder Scrolls lore, specifically Dunmer lore, I was wondering what role the Tribunal will play on the Ebonheart side and in general? I know Almalexia will be somewhat prominent, but what about Vivec and Sotha Sil? I would love to see a prevalent Sotha, since he had basically no role in Morrowind.

At the time of ESO’s Alliance War, Almalexia is handling most of the daily affairs of the Tribunal. Vivec and Sotha Sil are occupied with “other matters” – but rest assured, what those matters are will eventually be revealed.

Are we going to encounter Dragonborns in ESO or learn shouts ourselves?

The line of Reman Cyrodiil of the Second Empire was certainly Dragonborn, but they died out at the end of the First Era, and between then and the date of ESO, no “legitimate” Dragonborn has been confirmed by being able to light the Dragonfires in the Imperial City.

As for shouts (i.e., thu’ums), at the time of ESO, they are considered a legend out of the distant past.

The Ayleids are said to have “At one point controlled the entirety of what is now the Imperial Province of Cyrodiil.” Does that mean we are only going to see Ayleid ruins in Cyrodiil or in other provinces like High Rock or Valenwood?

The Ayleids were considerably more widespread than in just the province of Cyrodiil – at the height of their civilization, they were spread across Tamriel from High Rock to Black Marsh, and though their ruins are most frequently encountered in Cyrodiil, you might find one in any province but Skyrim, Morrowind, and Summerset. Outside Cyrodiil they are most common in Valenwood, because after the Slave Revolt of St. Alessia, the Ayleids who fled Cyrodiil largely took refuge among the Wood Elves of the south.

Will there be some puzzles that require us to move around blocks to open up something? Will there be puzzles at all?

Absolutely!

How is crowd control going to be applied in massive PvPs (ie: how often am I going to get pulled/knocked down/staggered/rooted/knocked away)? Are there any crowd control immunities?

Coordinating crowd control and immunities certainly is a big part of the strategy in massive PvP battles. There are many different types of crowd control (including all the ones you mention), as well as a variety of ways to cope with them. Here are some examples, in no particular order:

• The heavy armor skill includes an ability called “Immovable” that costs stamina and makes you immune to stuns and knockbacks and staggers for 8 seconds.
• The CC breaker is a core mechanic available to all players. If you are currently affected by a crowd control ability, you can tap both mouse buttons to break out of it and become immune for 8 seconds. This costs quite a bit of stamina, however, so it’s something you want to do at the right time.
• A PvP-specific ability allows you to remove negative effects (including crowd control) from nearby allies.
• …and many more.

How exactly does the “supply line” system work?

Keeps are linked together in a travel network, and you can travel from keep to keep under certain conditions. If the keep is not flagged as “under attack” and at least one of the resources is owned by your Alliance, you can travel to that keep. This also applies when trying to leave a keep you’re currently inside.  If the keep you’re in is being assaulted or has lost all the resource structures around it, you cannot fast travel out of it via the supply line network.

Books have always held an important place in the lore of The Elder Scrolls, and those that increase skills are my favorite. Will we be able to find these two types of books in ESO? Will there be a sequel to “The Lusty Argonian Maid”?

The current plan is to have both those kinds of books in ESO – and plenty of them. We have new lore books (by the scad) and old favorites from previous TES games – including both volumes of “The Lusty Argonian Maid.”