Dear Bethesda: 10 Things I Want To See In The Elder Scrolls: Online

By Reggie Fells / August 2, 2013

1. A More Satisfying Story

Quick quiz! your character joins a faction by performing some out-of-the-way task your character soon learns your faction is suffering from internal turmoil or lack of dedication after extended toiling to prove yourself, your character receives minor recognition within the faction events escalate, resulting in the death of one or multiple people within your faction you confront the leader of your faction, and as a result of a previous event or an enemy, the faction leader dies via vengeance, retribution against a third party, or some manner of conflict, your character perseveres and becomes leader of your faction Now, the above describes what? A) The Companions of Whiterun B) The Dark Brotherhood C) The College of Winterhold D) The Thieves' Guild of Skyrim Surprise! It's ALL of them! In The Elder Scrolls: Online, I'm certainly hoping the faction system is revamped. There's many an instance in which being the leader of a faction doesn't feel satisfying - I've heard players complain that the deaths in The Dark Brotherhood storyline were superfluous, that the callous lack of respect you recieve once becoming the Theives' Guild Guildmaster is off-putting, and that the College of Winterhold feels no different after solving the mystery of the Eye of Magnus. Those however, were just the four main faction storylines - never mind the somewhat uneventful civil war of Skyrim. You fight through three forts, assault or defend Whiterun, and then... on to either Solitude or Windhelm. And we're not even gonna get started on the Dragonborn's quest - the aforementioned uneventful fight with Alduin was less than a stellar end.

Potential!

Now, with the entire continent of Tamriel yours to explore, the possibilities multiply exponentially. For those who don't know, in addition to the obvious faction quests, Molag Bal, the Daedric Lord of Domination (and owner of that nifty mace you can get in Markarth), is attempting to draw Tamriel under his rule. As such, it has the side effect of upsetting the Empire's control of the continent. Discontent arises, until three pacts arise, as seen above: The Aldmeri Dominion (High Elves, Wood Elves, Khajiit) which seek to prove Elven and magical superiority, the Ebonheart Pact (Argonians, Nords, Dark Elves) which seeks to restore a strong government, and the Daggerfall Covenant (Redguards, Orcs, Bretons), which also seeks to replace the Cyrodiilic Emperor with better leadership. As such, each faction opposes the others, in addition to the Cyrodiilic Empre that's desperately trying to regain its influence. This already sounds a lot more interesting than Skyrim's lukewarm civil war. More factions, more land, more political impact - there is no way that this isn't an improvement over... every Elder Scrolls setting thus far? I'm nothing but optimistic for the Elder Scrolls: Online. Skyrim itself was a satisfying experience in my eyes, and I had none of the mods that the PC community has, or the online capabilities that it's sequel is going to provide. My minor gripes with Skyrim aside, I eagerly await to play it in February 2014. ... my wallet is in for a sound beating