Not all Argonians live in Blackmarsh, not all Khajiits live in Elsweyr -- A Skyrim Born Khajiit can be fighting for that fraction for whatever reason, for example.

To take a real life history:

US Civil War: Some from the South were fighting for the North side and some from the North States were fighting for the Southern States

Same logic here.

I wonder when they decided to implement this, I can see it's good for a lore and role play stand point, a bit messy with the alliance war.

I don't think balance will be an issue, since PvP campaigns are designed to limit the number of players in order to keep sides balanced. At least I'm pretty sure that's been mentioned at some point.

This should have been known from the start... There wouldn't be nearly the raging if we had all planned on this from day 1.

It's clear that at some point, they switched their mentality. They should have released a video of this with positive spin long ago. Instead it was leaked and now they're in a defensive position rather than a liberating one.

Well now I can say I like that. Play Khajiit for any alliance. Count me in. This, and the playable Imperial are all things there has been a demand for on the forum, so it makes me think there will eventually be in game player housing (which has generated similar demand), but I will probably have to pay extra for it. :/

And it's completely impossible that this came as the result of beta players saying it was a feature they wanted?

Mixed feelings.

IF I get the game, I'll probably end up with the Imperial Edition just because it's an Title of the Elder Scrolls Franchise (which is my favourite of course).

The fact that I can REALLY join the Ebonheart Pact as a Khajiit, which was before my biggest issue with the title, raised my "must have" level pretty high at first. BUT....

What I'm worried about is the fact, that I read extremly bad stuff about the game ( I won't go into details here, just google for Teso + disappointment). I'll just ignoring all those "wait and see for yourself" comments (Maybe that already happened? Who knows?).

Now...playing as any Race in any Faction is a HUGE impact on some of us, which will likely result in a definate Pre-Order instead of a "lets wait for the reviews and player oppinions".

Could this be used to get even more people to pre-order while having the knowledge that your own game doesn't reach as many players as expected and you need something to at least counter that fact a tiny, tiny bit?

Just my thoughts on the whole situation.

I have played enough MMO's before WoW and after to know how things work.

I don't think it's reasonable to assume that they're trying to "cover up" anything by increasing pre-order sales. Increasing pre-orders is hugely beneficial for a company, regardless of the quality of their game. It's money now instead of money in the future. It's a guaranteed player base putting some strain on the servers before the official launch. It's a good way to get the fan base revved up about the game. Etc., etc.

Not every move Zenimax makes is a calculated attempt to hide some kind of flawed product.

Whelp I'm pretty happy, I expect to be predordering a standard edition, so I can play a Ebonheart Pact Khajiit and that's all I really care about, no faction locks, it's just a shame you have t opredorder at all for this, which should have come included with the base game. Might even get the Imperial Edition for the Horse, and Race.

I'm not saying that they are and I agree with your explanation of the Results of an Pre-Order/-Purchase.

Those are just my thoughts because, like I said, the stuff I'm reading is BAD. Really, really, bad.

Don't get me wrong: I want this game to have success and I want to play it.

My worries come from many flawed and failed MMOs released in the past years.

The biggest question for myself is if I want to "endure" another bad MMO-Start and wait for stuff to be re-designed and/or fixed again.

I never had any believes that Tes: O will be the new Messiah of the MMO-Genre. I just want it to be a good enjoyable game.

My brain says "Wait for the reviews" while the game itself stretches out to grasp and bait me with "Play as your favourite race and see Morrowind and Skyrim again".

I'm almost sure which side will win in the end... well played Zenimax, well played.

You can't be reading anything terribly legitimate, since the only people who have really experienced recent gameplay aren't allowed to speak about it.

Since when did any NDA in any MMO stop people talking about their experience during a Beta in an NDA'ed Game?

I'm not responsible for people breaking their NDA, but most of the things they write stay where they wrote it. For anybody to read.

I thought this thread was supposed to be about the impact of playing any race in any alliance on the games lore? Seems sidetracked...

Your point about the mixed sides of the Civil War is a good point K9mouse.

As an Argonian I didn't really want to fight with the Dunmer in an alliance, so I guess won't have to now.

Though I'm wondering, like if AH93 said, if things will get a bit messy now with the alliance war. From a gameplay prespective I liked the idea of immediately knowing whether someone was a friend or foe from their race. That is sort of erased now.

Yes, they stay available for anyone to read, but not for anyone to respond. Ethical beta players probably have a number of responses to the posts you've seen, but they aren't posting them while the NDA is in place.

Look at this way:

You tell your "bestest friend ever!" something that is very dark about your self and ask him not to tell anyone about it. Your best friend tells everyone person on the street what you had said, post it on Facebook, tell all your bosses at work and much much MORE!

Will you trust your best friend again? Will you tell him something else that should NOT be made public about yourself?

People who break NDA are like that best friend of yours, IMHO. They can not be trusted to tell the whole truth.

It's not "leaked" when the publisher states that's how they are going to run things.

I'll still be sticking with a Nord with the Ebonheart Pact; it will be odd seeing other races and such running around inside the Ebonheart Pact

From a roleplay standpoint, my character will be extremely skeptical and distrustful of anyone in my alliance that doesnt match the standard races for that alliance.

Yeah it got side tracked, sorry I am hoping that people think about the lore and it does make for good logic.

While it makes plenty of sense for SOME people to fight for an Alliance other than their racial-Alliance, it does not make sense for thousands of such individuals to exist.

They can handle to "odd-man out" cases purely through NPCs. Allowing players to do this is unnecessary.

I think that making this a pre-order bonus limits it in precisely the way you're describing. It will mean that people who choose to play the "odd-man-out" in their faction will still be in the minority.

I am pretty sure they never expected HUGE numbers (wow like numbers) from TESO.

While not a niche game, it wont be one of the most populare mmos ever.

This isnt necessary a bad thing, as long as there is a consistant player base willing to pay.

I wish I could agree with you, but I don't think that breaking an NDA makes your oppinion and overall personality less valid.

Imagine you get hyped about something and while testing it you get terribly disappointed, but you're technically not allowed to talk about it. Still, there is always that feeling inside you that you want to talk with others about the bad experience you had. Are you going to tell anyone?

If you decide to break your muteness (what can happen? You get thrown out of a game you're not likely to play anymore), makes that your expression invalid?

Of course, I know that most things written on the internet are just whine and [censored]. But I'm sure there are people out there, breaking their promise of keeping the NDA (which they shouldn't do) with an overall good impression of the game. They just seem to be the minority...

Can't agree more!

And now back to the topic:

I always said from my POV that playing a race in another faction is pretty much legit in any way. There are always spies and people with different oppinions/reasons to fight for something. My Khajiit will def. join the Ebonheart Pact now.

I'd lean out of the window and say that the most players who want to play TESO this year will join at launch + pre-order. That's pretty much happening to any hyped game these days, till the day people are stopping to pre-order and wait to see if the game is any good before getting it. So I'd say it's the majority of players.