Presumably the threat of the Daggerfall Covenant and the Aldmeri Dominion ending up in control of Cyrodiil is sufficient threat to make up for the lack of Akaviri invaders.

More specifically...

The Tribunal tell the Dunmer what to do and the Dunmer do it. Even if it means giving up their slaves and holding their noses to ally with the Argonians and their historic enemies, the Nords. The Tribunal doesn't like the Covenant and Dominion for various reasons mostly boiling down to "they don't listen to what we say" plus the historic rift between Chimer and Altmer.

The Argonians would prefer not to be enslaved and its not yet time for the Saxheel to smash the Dunmer back into the ashen bedrock of Morrowind (The Reckoning of Red Year is coming, slavers) so this is their best bet atm. Some Argonians think the Dominion is a better shot, and its up to the AD Vestige to figure out how that works out for them. Then again, if I were an Argonian living in Shadowfen, the Dominion is the last group I'd join up with.

The Nords don't like the idea of being ruled over by elves at all, so their King is nominally in charge of the effort to beat the Aldmeri Dominion. Jorunn was also very involved with the Akaviri Invasion and the alliance with the Dunmer and eventually Argonians there, so he's not as opposed to working with the Dunmer as some other Nord generals (like one you meet in the Rift).

VaranisArano wrote: »

Presumably the threat of the Daggerfall Covenant and the Aldmeri Dominion ending up in control of Cyrodiil is sufficient threat to make up for the lack of Akaviri invaders.

More specifically...

The Tribunal tell the Dunmer what to do and the Dunmer do it. Even if it means giving up their slaves and holding their noses to ally with the Argonians and their historic enemies, the Nords. The Tribunal doesn't like the Covenant and Dominion for various reasons mostly boiling down to "they don't listen to what we say" plus the historic rift between Chimer and Altmer.

The Argonians would prefer not to be enslaved and its not yet time for the Saxheel to smash the Dunmer back into the ashen bedrock of Morrowind (The Reckoning of Red Year is coming, slavers) so this is their best bet atm. Some Argonians think the Dominion is a better shot, and its up to the AD Vestige to figure out how that works out for them. Then again, if I were an Argonian living in Shadowfen, the Dominion is the last group I'd join up with.

The Nords don't like the idea of being ruled over by elves at all, so their King is nominally in charge of the effort to beat the Aldmeri Dominion. Jorunn was also very involved with the Akaviri Invasion and the alliance with the Dunmer and eventually Argonians there, so he's not as opposed to working with the Dunmer as some other Nord generals (like one you meet in the Rift).

the deep unending hatred for dc and ad

Not too long ago, in our world...

The Germans allied with the Soviets to divide Poland between themselves. Fascists and Communists working toward a common goal.

Russia did the same with Imperial Japan out of necessity. Russia also became allies with Britain and later the US all in the same war. Its about geography and strategic success/survival for your nation, not racism or feelings. The ministry of propaganda uses those as motivators to accomplish the main goal.

Disbanding the pact would leave its members exposed to being gobbled up by a larger entity.

Nobody wants that, and sacrifices need to be made to ensure sovereignty. Ruling yourself is always better than not, etc.

Maybe because they got to fight alongside each other and put away their differences once? And after realizing that together they are truly strong and managed to protect their lands together, as well as with other super-alliances sprouting up all around? I would see no other way.

They do hate each other, but after once proving they can put their differences aside, they prosper much better as allies.

I would imagine that wouldn't be that hard to understand, it feels only human and natural. The Pact however is on a very fragile foundation. Many within it despise it. That makes for some very interesting dynamics as together they are possibly the most powerful alliance in Tamriel(According to a lorebook) however it is kind of a glass cannon. Plus people get tired of fighting each other, and at the time of the Akaviri invasion Nord and Dunmer weren't probably at open war.

ascan7 wrote: »

I think you undervalue the importance of borders in a place without planes, submarines and advanced boats.
Imagine you are argonians. You ally with the Dominion because you hate the dunmer. Next thing that happen is that dunmer and nords attack you and the dominion is too far away to react. The Dominion can supposedly fend off the covenant from his borders, attack Imperial city and also send troops to protect Black Marsh.
If you notice all the 3 alliances ar made by adiacent territories. It would be too dangerous to have your neighbour as an enemy.

I guess that’s why Prussia never, ever allied with distant Britain to fight Austria, Prussia’s neighbor. Considering there being a third power involved in ESO, however, your point is still perfectly valid. It would be difficult to defend a distant ally and defend against different neighboring enemies at once, both having their own resources to pull from. Black Marsh would really just be dead weight, not that they aren’t exactly that within the Pact.

chris211 wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Presumably the threat of the Daggerfall Covenant and the Aldmeri Dominion ending up in control of Cyrodiil is sufficient threat to make up for the lack of Akaviri invaders.

More specifically...

The Tribunal tell the Dunmer what to do and the Dunmer do it. Even if it means giving up their slaves and holding their noses to ally with the Argonians and their historic enemies, the Nords. The Tribunal doesn't like the Covenant and Dominion for various reasons mostly boiling down to "they don't listen to what we say" plus the historic rift between Chimer and Altmer.

The Argonians would prefer not to be enslaved and its not yet time for the Saxheel to smash the Dunmer back into the ashen bedrock of Morrowind (The Reckoning of Red Year is coming, slavers) so this is their best bet atm. Some Argonians think the Dominion is a better shot, and its up to the AD Vestige to figure out how that works out for them. Then again, if I were an Argonian living in Shadowfen, the Dominion is the last group I'd join up with.

The Nords don't like the idea of being ruled over by elves at all, so their King is nominally in charge of the effort to beat the Aldmeri Dominion. Jorunn was also very involved with the Akaviri Invasion and the alliance with the Dunmer and eventually Argonians there, so he's not as opposed to working with the Dunmer as some other Nord generals (like one you meet in the Rift).

the deep unending hatred for dc and ad

Pure spite and vitriol. Plain and simple. Try going into PVP, you'll understand.

Asardes wrote: »

The desire to cap Sotha Sil, in a similar way the desire to cap Shor holds DC together and the desire to cap Vivec holds AD together. The only common denominator is farming AP at Alessia Bridge

The Pact even has its own battlecry: "Remember the Chalamo!"

Edited to remove a double comment.

RebornV3x wrote: »

Because Zenimax..... In all honesty the Ebonheart Pact should have disbanded or not exist at all since theres no mention of the Ebonheart Pact in the other games and its gone by the time Tiber Septium comes about

Apparently you didn't complete the game, or paid little to no attention to Molag Bal's taunting during the story or anchors "No matter what you do, I'll erase your existence from history." In the end, Molag Bal won... He lost the battles, but won the war by destroying a hero. And Tiber Septim (believed to be a fake name used by a Breton) isn't born for another 80 to 100 years later, plus 20 or 30 when he becomes emperor. So 120-130 years after ESO... Factions, especially during war, don't always stay together.

NordSwordnBoard wrote: »

Not too long ago, in our world...

The Germans allied with the Soviets to divide Poland between themselves. Fascists and Communists working toward a common goal.

describing that non-aggression pact as an alliance is slightly revisionist... both sides were putting off an inevitable conflict, both sides knew this, and both sides knew they knew this.

The Ebonheart pact is actually fairly easy to explain...

A general edict freeing a population that once used to be legally enlsaveable creates a an entire population ready to join in war - combine that with an effective geographical isolation from the other factions, and you've got an entire race that has a vested interest in securing it's freedom by becoming an indispensable asset in war...

I'll admit - the orcish alliance is a little harder to explain -but all it really needs is a moderately flexible human leader (Emeric) and a forward thinking orcish leader (Kurog) - you get emeric who's more interested in money and idealism than racism (turns out profit and enlightened self interest can overcome a lot of prejudices) and Kurog, who as much as he might WANT to kill all brettonians, knows that it won't necessarily actually work, ESPECIALLY in the face of the other alliances

And suddenly you've got...you know...RATIONAL people...making decisions about the future of their governments and their races, instead of people MIRED in emotional leftovers deciding the respective futures of their people

My point is, that alliance in the absence of alternate alliances, makes sense - now, if you wanted a truly kooky mixup...

alliance 1 - orcs, khajit, argonian - all the non mer races gathering in one place - except they'd be geographically spread across the continent in strategically inconvenient locations

2 - all the elves together...hehe...altmer and bosmer can BARELY stand each other, and while I can't recall any game where it's really been touched on DIRECTLY...there seems to be a very subtly understated hatred between dunmer and the other "elf" cousins in general

3 - all the humans together - again, trace the geography - racial "solidarity" notwithstanding, they're fairly extensively separated - and human beings are particularly well noted for getting along, ESPECIALLY with significant religious/political divides

the point I'm trying to make I guess is - none of these alliances is particularly daft on the surface, OR is particularly sensible - it's very much HALF believable "lore", and half-believable MMO game mechanics...

so, just roll with it