I don’t think I’d want to recreate my character on another game. With its ups and downs, ESO and my main character have been a special part of my life since January 2015. It’s very personal to me. I’d prefer to keep the good memories and move on to something else. However this game ends I’ll be grateful for the many hours of entertainment and immersion.

My RP characters are too deeply embedded in this game's storyline and in the lore.

I would retire my character. If the game ended abruptly, I would think up a final story arc to finish off their story.

It isn't that I would try to recreate my ESO characters on a different MMORPG, it's that I just would. I'd play the same types of character, a commando type using stealth and/or range attacks when able, a medic/healer type and a crafter type.

Recreating them in another game is an option. This is something I already do with my TES characters, especially in strategy games with any detailed character customization. For example, my Khajiiti lunar cleric from ESO can easily become a powerful priestess who leads armies against the undead in another setting, especially if that setting has bipedal cat people.

I am also a fanfic writer, and when I feel inspired enough I sit down and write my little heart out. This is where many of my TES characters end up, even as I continue to replay Oblivion, Skyrim, and ESO.

To me, ESO itself is like a sandbox. It’s a nice expressive medium with an absolute ton of activity to offer. The same is true of what it contributes to RP and writing: it has a solid foundation and a large framework of story and lore. I would be sad if it were lost for good, but I would keep writing.

My character started playing in 2007 in Oblivion. Once she learned how to travel time and between worlds, she has also adventured in Skyrim, ESO and even Baldur's Gate II. She is an adaptable adventuress and does not require ESO or even the Elder Scrolls world to adventure and endure.

Most of my characters were not brought to life by ESO. I have main characters that are as much a part of me as, well, any of me I suppose. I simply tweak them to fit different games, if they can fit. Krist was created in the late 90s on a game called Ultima Online, as was my mage Hughe, and has developed since in story, thought, and outside sources (such as ESO). I have no need to develop another "knight" style character, when Krist is always there, itching my brain for another story.
Edit: To re-read seems so self congratulatory, but my point wasn't that ESO hasn't helped tons, its that my toons would live on. I love the Krist (Fighter's Guild) in eso, as much or more than Krist (The King) in the UO private shard I played. The stories that ESO has helped me write has brought nothing but joy to me, and that is thanks to ESO.

Oh my gosh, I don't even want to think about it...!

I've been playing my main in all TES games since TES3 Morrowind and I'll also be playing him again in TES6 (and any upcoming sequels), so he would not be "lost". Of course it would/will still be a pity to see ESO end some day.

Ilsabet's story is her journey through the events of ESO, so when the game ends, it would be hard to see her jumping to what would essentially be another reality. As for the future of the headcanon, I'd have to see what the game gave us for a finale, and then decide whether to let Ilsabet fade into canon-friendly retirement or go scorched-earth and write my own damn happy ending with Darien and sweetrolls.

i actually came from WoW last year.

Moved two of my characters into Tamriel. There were a lot of similarities in worlds, creatures, and oddly enough the main storyline wove quite well into what i was hoping to achieve.

Anyone curious about that story can read it https://thecheshirecatseso.proboards.com/thread/65/last-dance-story-cats-eso <-- there.

Used some classic amnesia, some other twists and turns from the original game to blend pretty smoothly into this one, leaving for some amazing role-play so far.

If something happens to ESO, or i decide i need to move on, would likely do the same thing. Both my characters have been in play for almost 19 years now. Pretty attached to them.

One thing I learned early is that folks are often attracted to certain tropes - and the ones we do on repeat are the ones we need to express elsewhere too. So to an extent, I think we all remake the archetypes that call to us.

If ESO closed, I'd find another game & play new characters - and any ghost of my old toons would just be in the mannerisms & jargon I've come to adopt in play. I don't need to invade other worlds with irrelevant references, but I've oft played a certain tropes in Everquest or Conan or Elder Scrolls that is simply my online persona.

There's also the factor that TES1 & TES2 were based off a D&D campaign - as were many other franchises at their roots - so maybe TES becomes "our D&D foundation" and some folks cobble together a whole new diversion? I don't need Malacath to tell stories about pariahs, yanno?

My ESO characters would have to have a head cannon conclusion and riding off into the sunset. There are archetypes I like to play, but my characters tend to become their own people in whatever world they are created in, and there's nothing to really cross over. Even my namesake, Kesstryl (red haired nature loving human or elf or both who wields a bow) becomes someone different in each game world. The archetype is there, but she evolves and is not the same person as the Bosmer Kesstryl in ESO, or human Kesstryl in GW2, or wood elf Kesstryl in EQ2, or human Kesstra in SWG (red haired light saber wielding in that case). They were all unique people self contained in their own respective universes. Most of my characters don't crossover with name and archetype except for maybe 3, and all of them are unique.

Old topic, but my characters live without me. They would continue to explore Tamriel. I would just not be able to check in on them.