The company that developed the game explicitly telling a website "here is the up-to-date information on these skill lines, feel free to share them" sounds official to me.

Still anything outside of the Zenimax/bethesda site shouldnt be taken as "official" before the release.

But if you like to think the foundry is reliable, go on, i wont stop you.

Dude. I get what you're saying.

but Zenimax, Bethesda, whatever, the company that made this game gave that site an official OK and in fact the source the Foundry has for their information. it wasn't leaks, it wasn't user-submitted. It is them copy-pasta'ing what ZOS told them, and ZOS confirmed this.

You still do not understand the definition of official. In your final sentence you say the word "reliable". THAT is what the info on TF is not. It's not 100% reliable, because like you said they keep tweaking and improving. That doesn't change anything about the "officialness" of the earlier releases. Official is not even bound by time. But let us stop arguing over semantics here and get back to the content of the AuA.

Read. My. Post. 'Official' =/= 'reliable'. It's really not hard.

Ok then its official.

And unreliable.

Happy now? Still not worth to discuss.

I still think there is nothing that makes the foundry "official".

Zenimax being friendly to them isnt quite enough.

"This is cool content designed for some of our biggest fans who wish to have something different from other collector’s editions in the market. The only other alternative would have been to offer a collector’s edition that offers no in-game items whatsoever."

In other words, don't get the CE if you're complaining about not being able to play your perfectly average human race. The CE is meant as a self elected purchase to express your enthusiasm for the game.

You weren't going to be able to play imperial anyway, so why raise a fuss over something extra that fans that can afford can acquire. It's not something being covered as the sub, it's something extra like a sparkle pony, only less sparkle and more centurion.

Pretty easy really, since most builds will require a combination of stamina and magicka you just change around your point spread (magicka/stamina/hp) a tiny bit and you are done (ie put 1 more point into stamina rather then magicka every 10 levels for example).

Yes for a pure stamina build Altmers are not the optimal choice but then again I have my doubts that pure builds that neglect one of your characters resources completely (in this case magicka) are a a valid choice for a competitive player who cares for that 5% more effectiveness (or whatever the value may be).

You think I or any person here gives a [censored] about your nonsensical logic about it not being available before?

We, I, and nobody else cares what was before. This is now. The imperial race exists NOW. And as we pay the sub, we are entitled to that content.

And for the last time, nobody cares over your opinion of what we should think a race. It's more than an aesthetic to us, and you're either going to have to leave this discussion or accept that.

Uh....it isn't JUST magicka you know. It's damage, training speed, regen, and a magicka based racial.

Anybody who doesn't pick Altmer as the mage race AD side is just gimping themselves.

I'm sorry but a 3% straight DPS increase? With a safety switch to boot? And faster levelling?

The weapon skills alone show that each race is intended for some builds more than others.

You can try to minimize it all you want the themes are clear as day and disregarding them just makes you seem like a sleezy politician.

The only thing you are entitled to is stop paying if you are not satisfied by the service.

Zenimax doesnt owe you anything.

Sorry but this is the harsh truth.

training speed is completely and utterly irrelevant trust me on this,I am fairly certain that most people wont actually put any points into that skill at all!

Most of your other concerns in that post really are not that big of a deal too... sadly due to nda regarding statpoints etc I cant go into why exactly that is :-/

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/276/0/c/i_don_t_want_to_live_on_this_planet_anymore__by_tiredorangecat-d6p2v9g.jpg

NDA-breaking. You just crossed the line there, boyo. And I personally think Breton is gonna be a better mage choice.

If game developers figure out that they can charge both a subscription AND extra fees for players to see all game content then every developer will do it. That is bad for players everywhere. More paygates and more pennypinching even in games with subscription.

ZOS can get away with it right now because there is nothing else interesting out there this very moment. Once Wildstar and WoD and EQ Next come out, this kinda of crap will not fly. People will not stick with a game where they have to pay a subscription AND fees to see the content.

You know I see this defense brought up a lot. Usually when games are on the cusp on dying.

Not saying this is what's happening here, mind you- I've honestly never felt so betrayed by a game before I even played it before. Who knows what will happen.

I'm not even insinuating that you are wrong. I'm just stating common themes.

They're racial passives, you don't put points into them FYI.

I'm sorry but 10% extra magicka is ALWAYS going to be a big deal. No NDA mystery could change that.

They already released the racial skill trees for the base 3 factions IIRC.

Breton only has like two skills beneficial for it.

As far as I'm aware, only the EP races have been released and without numbers. The others are straight up leaks.

No they haven't. No Racials have been released besides a few EP ones on TF a while ago. Anywhere else, especially if they have numbers is in fact NDA breaking.

I can't read BS.

Also races = content. A race is still blocked with a pay wall. And this answer evades the real problem and actually insults us. Seriously who thought that imperials would be better and provided a clear advantage. Because it seemed to me that this whole debacle was about freedom of choice and playing my game the way I like and not having something I liked ransomed for money.

LMAO with one weak ass excuse err reason the defenders of Zenimax are suddenly emboldened to cme back to their defense.

It just shows how Zenimax is the pied piper here.

Hope that isnt seen as flame bait, but most defenders of the decision didnt have a lot to say. But now that the mighty zenimax answered a few selective questions from their mail bag, and oh how coincidental THAT was the first question listed and the ONLY question about any of this. All is well.

The answer svcked. Pointblank, especially the part where they claimed this

The only other alternative would have been to offer a collector’s edition that offers no in-game items whatsoever.

I said it in another thread, I could pull a dozen in game items out of my ass that would have worked.

But whether it offers an advantage or not is irrelevant. No one is arguing that theyre BETTER, just that the EXIST, and not EVERYONE is able to play them.

But like I said the Imperial isnt the biggest issue its the explorer pack that allows people to switch races. Those are the 'freebie'. But the real affront to putting in exclusive 'content'.

The fact that the digital CE is so cheap and people have made that abundantly clear in comparison to other MMOs there is a reason for that.

Nope. As said, you're breaking that NDA pretty good with what you've already said. So, I disagree with your assessment, but unlike you, I'm not going to get into why.

You're getting pretty aggressive there. I don't know what it is about you or your personal life that you need to bring such venom to a digital forumn discussion, but please leave it at home.

I care, my wife cares, infact I know alot of people locally that are excited for these changes. The difference here is most of us have disposable income, which isn't as common online as I used to think.

To return your hostility, go mow a lawn and maybe you can afford to play the full game and its optional bonus content, too!

I am not keen on the idea that you can pay to have the imperial content after launch. This would be an in game content purchase which is different to a pre-order bonus. I would prefer it should be tied to those that acquired the Imp Edition prior to launch and not be available thereafter.

Do people who order the Imperial Edition gain a big gameplay advantage over those who don’t? – Sven Denteu

No. With the Imperial Edition you get the opportunity to play as a rogue Imperial who has broken from their Daedra worshipping ways, and you get a unique racial skill line of equal gameplay impact to other races’ unique racial skill lines. As an Imperial you also get a mount and the automatic ability to craft items into the Imperial style. All non-Imperial races can also learn this ability after locating the corresponding racial motif. Imperials do not begin the game in a unique starting location or via a separate quest, but they can start in any alliance as befits their status as un-aligned outcasts of their own Province. Being an Imperial includes a racial skill line that offers unique gameplay opportunities, but there is not an overall gameplay advantage. It is an opportunity to set yourself visually apart in the lands of Tamriel.

Gameplay benefits within this edition have been designed to avoid bestowing unfair advantages over players who do not purchase this special edition. This is cool content designed for some of our biggest fans who wish to have something different from other collector’s editions in the market. The only other alternative would have been to offer a collector’s edition that offers no in-game items whatsoever. That simply didn’t seem fair to fans who are excited about the game and want some special digital items.

----

Gameplay benefits within this edition have been designed to avoid bestowing unfair advantages over players who do not purchase this special edition. This is cool content designed for some of our biggest fans who wish to have something different from other collector’s editions in the market. The only other alternative would have been to offer a collector’s edition that offers no in-game items whatsoever. That simply didn’t seem fair to fans who are excited about the game and want some special digital items.

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This is cool content designed for some of our biggest fans who wish to have something different from other collector’s editions in the market.

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This is cool content

This is content

Content.

This is content that is unavailable to me unless I pay extra. Subscription is supposed to offer 100% of content to players. Irrelevant to whether I plan on playing imperial, or even give a [censored]. It's the principle.

I'm glad they say something about it.. but I would have preferred they said that the imperial race can be unlocked in game somehow.