6. Levelling Up And Questing
The leveling system keeps a lot of what you'd expect from other titles in the Elder Scrolls series. At the start of each new level, you have the option to increase your stamina, magicka or vitality depending on your play style. From there, you get a skill point to either advance a class skill or some of the other skills which i'll go on to explain later in the article. Questing brings a new aspect into MMO games - one I, personally, haven't seen - the choice and consequence scenario. At many points during the game, your quests will give you choices that won't be obvious to you right away. One of the team described a scenario to me and here it goes - but it is somewhat of a *SPOILER* so avert your eyes if need be! At the end of one the quest lines in the starting zone, you come across a village being raided. You have the option to save some of its citizens or let it crumble under an overwhelming amount of steel. One of the villagers you may save seems completely insignificant at this point in time, however he goes on to become part of a rebel group and the reason for the assassination of an important character down the line. It's moments and consequences like these in a game that truly make your choices count and demand a great deal of thought as to how you're going to play it through. Even good actions can result in bad things happening further on down the line and vice versa. It is the players place to decide which he prefers. After the first ten levels of basic questing, you are made to choose an alliance that may be familiar to you from the older titles; The Aldmeri Dominion, The Ebonheart and the Daggerfell. Each alliance has its own questing campaign and benefits. When asked about how far the campaigns could take you - the developers said that any of the campaigns could take a completionist to the level cap of 50. At any rate, you are able to join other alliances when you have finished your first, or second, choice. Quests are picked up in the same way as any MMORPG, you find an NPC with an exclamation mark over their heads and simply click to talk. Your quests will be tracked on both the minimap and a side screen display