From what I've seen on the forums and streams from gamers, it seems that I can't find much positive reinforcement for the motivation behind some of the marketing decisions made by the higher-ups in the cooperation (for some of us gamers in certain states of minds, the steps they are taking are standard). Much of which is centered around being "nervous" about their product and needing the income right up front on account of projected losses. Simply put, technology that isn't invested in will not progress.

Personally, I think Zeni. -or the company handling marketing, etc.- killing a few birds with one stone.

1) Loyal and/or hopeful players (me included) will want to invest in the foundations of the game and, albeit a bit vainly, make a unique name for ourselves.

2) It takes a special person to play an imperial and identify with their ideals. For the rest of us: we love being the scorned underdog, don't we? With that being said. There is no mention of items crafted by the imperials being sold or looted from them (Here's hoping. At least give us ear trophies!) Not to mention that they only mentioned unique crafting styles, which in my mind says "imperial plate, etc." which is the same as any other steel, only more clunky.

3) What was the third bird? I bet Tokugawa new...

4)Oh yeah! Most importantly for me, on the subject of faction lock: any restriction to a role player is an affront. Full stop. Who says a Dunmer wouldn't flee the desolate wasteland of Morrowind for the promise of imperial coin and steel? Will you be one to trust him and invite him into your ranks? Will he die nameless on the road and you a "murderer" who as the one that took the truth to the grave? A bit dramatic, but you get my point. Choice is everything. Limitation is ruin.

5) Oh! I forgot. Always present is the single player vs. online player. Within the first five minutes of entering Balmora on my Dunmer, I couldn't help but muse: "What if another human being had taken over that house right there?" Or "Umbra is a lot like my friend would be in an anime, wandering around, being strong, looking for a fight. Wouldn't it be cool if you were now friends with that guy someone knew with that personality? Not just a programmed AI? Of course, that would require a lot of player freedom...

Anyway, no one knows the whole story, so feel more than free to contribute or comment or question and mayhap we get an answer (and hopefully more open-world gameplay footage)!

P.S: Hope this isn't redundant. Did a quick sweep and didn't find much, but my brain is a bit addled.

The irony is that in the first paragraph you defend Zenimax 's marketing...

And in the last paragraph, you describe "faction lock" as an affront.

Zenimax marketing wants you to pay extra not to be faction locked. Zenimax marketing wants you to (in addition to the 15 bucks a month) pay extra to play as an imperial.

How do you justify these marketing decisions exactly? Because it sounds like they're not in line with what you want in an MMO

You get a few things for preordering but the standard edition game will cost the same.

Very true, Kent. Unfortunately. I can't manifest myself as a dark elf and live out my fantasy as it is now (Maybe I can. I'll let you know if I die soon.) So for now the best we can do is compromise. I mean xbox one, which a lot of people will rely on for their ESO experience, still runs on physical servers. We still have very strict limits as far as R&D for virtual reality goes. I'm no saying marketing is noble or honest in any way. But I do believe there is a reason they did it. And not to sound like a fan boy, but I do think is was not a bad option. I'm not really knowledgeable to say what the best option is. I will say that. perhaps in some perverse way, I think gaming communities would benefit more from out "old school, hard way" of life instead of a dictated story of someone else's creation. Granted I have switched demographics since I was first enthralled by MMORPGs, and maybe I've lost sight of some things, so thanks for the response.