New Player Race Possibilities?

TheShadowScout

It has been mentioned before, but... I thought it might be a good idea to have this foe easier reference, so...
Anyways, many people think there is ample room in ESO for more races then the "classic ten" which were not quite as classic as many others assume, actually (TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall only had eight, imperials and orcs became playable only from TES-III:Morrowind onward; TES:Battlespire even had only six, missing also argonians and khajiit... and TES:Redguard obviously had only one through the premade character thing, but that doesn't really count anyhow)
...
So, let's take another look at the usual suspects, shall we?

First the ones we have already seen in the game as NPCs, even tho as antagonists (just like orcs were in the elder scrolls series, once upon a time... just like werewolves or vampires are, supposedly...):

Goblins

Despite what some people might say, they are technically possible. They are around, they are (barely) intelligent enough to talk, cast spells and craft stuff, so... they could theoretically be player characters. Thay are also a bit... unwanted... all across tamriel, due to generally being too primitive to follow the laws civilized people live by, and thus usually end up killed on sight or enslaved for "their own good", so it may be a little iffy... but then, we also can make bretons and wander through stonefalls during the DC invasion attempt without getting murdered by our pact allies, so an exceptional gobbo becoming a hero may perhaps not be too far-fetched. It would however be a reasonable idea to give them some racial drawback to represent this bad reputation... like, penalties for vendor business (get less gold when selling, spend more while buying) and bounty reactions (gain double bounty for crimes?)

Maormer

The sea elves would be entirely possible, they are around in this era, they are in the game, they have their own crafting style... all it needs is cobbling together some passives (maybe altmer/dunmer-istic but with storm damage bonus instead of fire?), and there we go. Yes, the race in general is isolationistic, and an antagonist race - and playing as maormer through the AD storyline or the Summerset expansion would be a little iffy. But no more so then playing as imperial in the bangkorai or reapers march questlines, or as DC race in bleakrock to stonefalls, or as AD race through shadowfen... (it might however be plausible to make maormer only playable for DC and EP, unless someone has an certain unlock... Though perhaps not as proifitable, so I would not count on it...)

Reachmen

They can or can not be their own race, that is up to the developers, the lore would support both them being just primitive bretons, or them being a slightly different race thanks to lots of interbreeding with other people in the distant past... but they are in the game, have their own crafting style and so... easy to do if the powers that be decide they want to. Of course, again there are many questlines in Glenumbra, Bangkorai, The Rift or Orsinium where reachmen are the enemies, but... see above, no more iffy then having an imperial character fighting imperials in other quests or such.

...

...and then some we have heard of, or read about, but not actually really seen them...

Imga

...would be somewhat possible; they are technically around in this era, though they seem for some reason absent from valenwood in ESO, likely hiding somewhere in a pocket dimension like that vanishing village in greenshade (possibly in Falinesti) from Molag Bal and the soulburst troubles no doubt. But that would not preclude some being caught up in the issues and sacrificed by Mannimarco for vestige status before the rest of them got away... and thus becoming player characters (though there might be an inflated cost considering they seem to be a rare sight...)

...

Akaviri

...are not one race but four. There is little lore if all of them were part of the akaviri invasion that took place a mere ten years before ESO - but lore does say there were survivors from that one, which eventually would make their way to Rimmen in northern elsweyr (DLC possibility?) where they join up with some human akaviri descendants from earlier visits who had once been a strong power in the empire... and make a push into cyrodil somewhen between this time and the rise of Talos in three of so centuries, though they fail to grab the ruby throne for good like everyone else in this time period... so all of them may be technically viable lore-wise... (since even iof the invasion was mostly, say, Kamal like the lore might indicate, they could plausibly have brought allies or slaves of the other races with them) though since they ought to be somewhat rare, it is a little questionable if they would be done (or at what price - adding a surcharge for extra-rarity would seem likely)

Tsaesci

These golden-skinned snakepeople may be possible, depending on how the powers that be choose to depict them in ESO... they -are- supposedly somewhere between argonians and lamias in body structure, so they -could- be done in a humanoid enough way to be viable for all equipment... (and thus as viable player race - the question if they have legs or not has yet to be entirely cleared by the lore) or there could be two kinds of them, like with the D&D Yuan-ti where one breed/caste might have a more snake-body lamia-ish body structure, the other a more humanoid one, thus keeping both options open, with the humanoid caste available as player character race (since I doubt anyone would play a race that could not use leg and foot armor slots, yes?)


Tang Mo

The monkey people of the thousand islands would seem entirely possible as palyer race. But they better also come with polearms to use staves in battle, hear!

Ka Po'Tun

Not much is known about the Ka Po'tun except they are somehow "tiger-like", which could mean anything... a feline race like the khajiit, or perhaps a rakshasa-equivalent with fur-less human bodies and tiger head? Or something half-furred in between? Or perhaps even tiger-centaurs (which would make them unsuitable as player race of course due to non-humanoid body)?

Or maybe they come in various forms like the khajiit depending on moon phases? Its really up to the developers, even though most fans envision them like the tiger-person picture I found... but there is little enough intormation that the poeple at ZOS could do as they wish with them...

Kamal

Little is known about the "Snow Demons", except that they may have been the bulk of the recent invasion that spawned the ebonheart pact, and that they are rumored to freeze solid during winters - something that would make them a bit iffy when it comes to player characters and questing in eastmarch... however, noone can really say if that is not a mere rumor anyhow, it -might- just be indicating a cold-blooded reptilian race that are sluggish in winter and thus prefer to hide in warm caverns during that time...

...or perhaps more liklely ursine (aka, bear-like) race that hibernates...

...or anything, really, and chalk up the legends to their lands being accessible only through mountaijn passes that are simply snowed shut during winter!
Up to the developers.

...

...then there are some "maaaaaybe" races like:

Kothringi

The silver-skinned tribes of black marsh all died out in the Knarhaten flu. How-ever... that only happened twenty years before ESO, so its not entirely implausible that one or two "lone survivirs" managed to hold on, doomed to extinction, and got caught up in the troubles landing them in a coldharbour prison. They -could- be done as PC race, but if so, I would expect them to be as rare as apex mounts... either by hiding their racial unlock in crown crates at the same rarity, ot by charging an insanely inflated price.

Lilmothiit

Are in the same boat as the Kothringi. (not literally, since they for one were not taken aboard the crimson ship). Very unlikely as PC race, but not entirely impossible.

...

...and then, firmly on the "nope" side we have:

Dremora (and other humanoid daedra)

Playing as daedra is way more iffy, lore-wise, then anything else. I mean, come on... why would any quest giver trust a frikkin -demon- to actually help them??? Because that's what daedra are in TES lore! Thus any daedra who shows their face without some sorceror to hold their leash would be seen as mortal enemy, not potential ally. Remember how your stories all start with some sort of rescue? Well, forget that if you were a daedra! You'd get your throat slit before you even woke up after the coldharbour escape... you'd be a dead-ra at best! ;p
Now, yes, it -would- be cool to play a dremora, dark seducer, skaafin or whatever... but it would not fit into ESO. If they ever make a TES game for it though... starting in oblivion, serving your dark masters, going to mundus for questing to avert some dire threat to oblivion itself, facing the usual mobs plus enraged mortals, with adventurer groups as "bossfights"... it could be fun! But it definitely is -not- ESO!

Dwemer

The deep elves are long gone in this era (with one exception), and they won't be coming back for as far as anyone knows - even in games set a thousand years later, noone has ever recorded seeing another living dwemer (and they would have, seeing how its one of the great mysteries of tamriel, and anyone who found out could have gotten free drinks from the fame along for life).
Only way we will see them is in some "flashback" quest, like the nedes or chimer - which is entirely possible. But never as player characters without some serious lore breakage.

Sload

...are for one not present on Tamriel at this era (Sea Sload incursions into Sumerset aside), since they generally live on isles to the southwest of the continent; for another may be structurally unsuitable as player characters - they are supposed to be sluggish fat slug people, barely able to support themselves on land, which may not be all that great for player characters (I always kinda think of jabba the hutt when I read about them...)

Snow Elves

...are long gone by the time of ESO. And the only remaining ones are in hiding until met in TESV:Skyrim-Dawnguard. Ther blind mutated descendants the Falmer may show up in some dwemer ruin beneath some skyrim reguin though...

Wild Elves / Ayleids

...have more or less been wiped out by the alessian rebellions, and the cyrodillic empire that rose in their wake; some possibly seeking sanctuary among the altmer... There are rumors occasionally, but those "hidden Ayleids" are kinda like the tamriel-tastic equivalent of elvis sightings... someone's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate has seen one somewhere near someplace, they swear it was true... but whenever scholars go there to check, the reported Ayleids are nowhere to be found (or turn out to be a drunk altmer in torchlight dressing up in a costume on a dare).
And thus... ayleids not really viable as player-race, long gone and only their ruins remain... though perhaps possible as NPC... and rejoice! We meet just one such NPC in the course of the coldharbour assault questline..

Atmorans have become Nords... Youkudans have become Redguards... Nedes have become Imperials... Chimer have become Dunmer... Aldmer have become Altmer...
...making all those races part of history, and no longer around in their ancient incarnation.

As for all giants, lamia, ogres, minotaurs, or other races that have non-humanoid or oversized bodies - obviously those are all unsuitable for PC races (Can't have a player race that would clip through half the scenery after all! Or a player that needs a completely new set of animations!)

(So, I think this time I gathered all the thoughts in one place ;-) )

Lord_Eomer

Not sure what are ZOS plans for ESO but new race definitely sounds good.

After ESO launch till now only Imperial race is added, may by 2018 is ready for a new Race addition.

jlmurra2

It is interesting, and those are very nice pictures, but ten playable races at maximum is all we have ever gotten in all elder scrolls games. I don't think they plan to change that.

TheShadowScout

jlmurra2 wrote: »

It is interesting, but ten playable races at maximum is all we have ever gotten in all elder scrolls games. I don't think they plan to change that.

Read my post:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

...more races then the "classic ten" which were not quite as classic as many others assume, actually (TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall only had eight, imperials and orcs became playable only from TES-III:Morrowind onward; TES:Battlespire even had only six, missing also argonians and khajiit... and TES:Redguard obviously had only one through the premade character thing, but that doesn't really count anyhow)

Back in the beginning, they had "eight playable races at maximum". Then they got the idea to add two more in TES-III. So... two games with eight, one with six, three games with ten. Now ESO... with nine plus one. Who is to say they cannot make it nine plus two, nine plus three, nine plus four, nine plus... you get the idea?
And thus the post above, to outline which options might be possible, and which would not be a good idea due to lore or game mechanics issues.
Only remaining question would be... would enough people -pay- for it to make it worth spending developer resources on? Because that is where they will be thinking about plans to "do or do not"...

yiasemi

We already have hordes of vamps running around in this game, give us a (dragon)break.

UppGRAYxDD

Oh please let us veture to the Akaviri Isles, get the "1000 Monkey Island" Expansion with the Tang Mo as a playable race, and a new global weapon skill line "pole arm"...

SilverIce58

I can see the reachman as a stamina variant to the Breton race. Every passive the Bretons have, make it into a physical variant, and boom, you got your Reachman.

Some lore on the Ka Po' Tun
The Ka Po' Tun, formerly known as the Po' Tun, whose name means Tiger-Dragon Empire. Their leader, Tosh Raka is said to be a dragon with tiger coloring and markings. They're allies of the Tang Mo, and enemies of the Tsaesci. Further lore can be found here, among lore of the other races: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Ka_Po'_Tun_(race)

Anyhow, it seems like the best race would be the Maormer. As you said OP, theyve got character models, their own motif, and i can see them having a starting extra 7% shock damage with an added 2% cold and physical or poison (bc of serpents) damage. It would work really well.

TheShadowScout

UppGRAYxDD wrote: »

Oh please let us veture to the Akaviri Isles, get the "1000 Monkey Island" Expansion with the Tang Mo as a playable race, and a new global weapon skill line "pole arm"...

As I mentioned in the link pointing to another discussion: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/371862/additional-weapon-skill-ideas-mk-ii

TheShadowScout wrote: »

Polearms
These extra-long shafted weapons (…things like: Pikes, Poleaxes, Tridents, Glaives, Monks Spades, War Scythes, Ranseur, Military Forks, Naginata, Hunting Spears, Halberds, Spetums, Pitchforks, etc.) should have 50% more range then normal weapons, but be awkward to use in very close quarters, so any attacks that are made against opponents at knife range suffer a 50% damage penalty (meaning, the weapons will do half damage from zero to 50% normal weapon range, and then full damage from 50% to 150% normal weapon range… for light/heavy attacks, as well as skill use…)

Skills:
• Impaling Jabs (Puncturing Jabs animation, triple attacks in one go)
- Morph1: Impaling Strikes (+ knockback on last strike)
- Morph2: Rending Jabs (+ bleeding DoT increased per hit)
• Circular Slash (Radial Sweep animation, Aloe around wielder)
- Morph1: Circular Sweep (+ shield per enemy hit)
- Morph2: Crescent Slash (+ extra damage to enemies in front)
• Spear Charge (Focused Charge animation, gap closer & damage)
- Morph1: Impaling Charge (+ bleeding DoT)
- Morph2: Spear Rush (+ damage increased per distance charged)
• Braced Guard (auto-damage against anyone using a gap closer / duration)
- Morph1: Indomitable Guard (+CC immunity / duration)
- Morph2: Aggressive Guard (+ increased auto-damage and chance to disorient)
• Stalwart Defense (physical resistance buff, weapon damage buff)
- Morph1: Stalwart Resistance (+ spell resistance buff, CC resistance chance)
- Morph2: Indomitable Defense (+ heal over time, removes one DoT effect)
Ultimate: Spear Dance (AoE around caster, polearm rotation like dwemer centurion)
- Morph1: Scythe Dance (+ knockdown on hit, shorter duration)
- Morph2: Spear Tornado (+ increased range & duration)
Passives:
• Piercing Pike: increases damage bonus for critical and damage against blocking targets
• Balanced Polearm: reduces the cost of polearm abilities
• Pike Wall: increases block against melee attacks
• Melee Training: reduces the half-damage range to 40%/25%
• Impale: gives chance to cause extra bleed DoT on any polearm strike/skill

SilverIce58 wrote: »

Some lore on the Ka Po' Tun...

...is what you also get when you follow the link I cleverly hid in the races name. For all of the races discussed. Just so people can read up on nice elder scrolls lore!

Ratzkifal

You are already getting a Maormer skin, which has been datamined. Now quit beating a dead horse.
https://elderscrolls.net/media/2018/04/aw_crwn_skin_maormerfish_1x1.jpg

Kimda

I want to roll a guar tank

coop500

I pretty much never buy crown crates and man that would hurt if lilmothiit were put there, but inflated price would be worth saving up for.

SilverIce58

Ratzkifal wrote: »

You are already getting a Maormer skin, which has been datamined. Now quit beating a dead horse.
https://elderscrolls.net/media/2018/04/aw_crwn_skin_maormerfish_1x1.jpg

Thats not a race, just a skin. Try again.

Rickter

This is pretty awesome and big kudos for taking the time to write this up @OP with the visual references.

Akavir is definitely a wild and lore-wise rich and untamed gold mine.

Would love to see ZOS' thoughts on this.

EDIT: I do want to bring attention to the "Tsaesci Burial Mask" thats apparently an item in ESO:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/File:ON-icon-stolen-Burial_Mask.png

Where is this in game and how is it obtainable?

TheShadowScout

Ratzkifal wrote: »

You are already getting a Maormer skin, which has been datamined.
https://elderscrolls.net/media/2018/04/aw_crwn_skin_maormerfish_1x1.jpg

Looks fishy to me!
But one does not preclude the other.

Just like a once-sold costume using certain low-tier armor visuals stopped them from allowing use of the same visuals in the outfit system, or the goblin transformation gem woud not preclude ZOS deciding to add gobbos as race, and so on.

Ratzkifal wrote: »

Now quit beating a dead horse.

Hey, if it works...

Rickter wrote: »

I do want to bring attention to the "Tsaesci Burial Mask" thats apparently an item in ESO:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/File:ON-icon-stolen-Burial_Mask.png

Where is this in game and how is it obtainable?

It says "stolen items" so that would indicate a rare treasure you can find while burglaring houses or pickpocketing people, maybe?
Sadly, those are onle food for the fences, and not usable for characters...

NewbieOKS

@TheShadowScout

I love the reference and pictures you used in your thread.

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Races

idk

Adding races for the mere reason to add a race does not make sense because it does not add anything to the game itself. We already have a slew of choices for racial passives and really not much to add.

Further, while I certainly did not read over the entire long OP, it did start with many races that are enemies of everyone in Tamriel so it would not make sense to add them. While scrolling down I also saw images of other enemies like sloads which obviously could not be a playable race.

Unless there is a compelling reason to add another race I do not see Zos entertaining the idea.

AuldWolf

What I'd want is anything other than human, but...

There's a reason why the khajiit and the saxhleel are by far the most interesting, diverse, and entertainingly written in the game, bar none. I don't think anyone could really argue that point. I mean, the other races have their highlights but the betmer steal the show. It's the same reason why the most fun characters in Guild Wars 2 are the charr (and more rarely, the asura), in Everquest 2 the frogloks and the ratonga, and so on.

I'd love to see a new race, something genuinely insectoid in nature, but that's unlikely due to how locked down ZOS are. My preferences, then, would likely be:

- Tsaesci
- Sload
- Lilmothiit
- Ko Po'tun

The reason for that order? The first two would likely make for the most entertainingly written characters, one would imagine. There's more to play with there both in the lore and the nature of their respective species. The Lilmothiit would fill a 'cute race' quota that ESO hasn't readily filled, so they'd probably be a welcome choice for those looking for that (hey, look mom, I can empathise with the desires of people who aren't me!), and finally, the Ka'potun would be a fun choice but their similarity to the khajiit would mean that they'd be a difficult prospect to write differently enough than the khajiit.

I know everyone won't agree with this. It's all about imagination, really. Some dream, some don't. Some are almost allergic to creativity, and they tend to have a bias against it. I was interested to see the reaction to Hammond (the hamster character) that's been revealed for Overwatch. Some of the reactions were, quite literally: Aw, I'm sad it isn't another human, male grunt with a gun. This non-human stuff makes me uncomfortable.

All I could do was blink and shake my head disbelievingly. I know some people are like that, though. It's the Dragon Paradox, right? Four-limbed dragons aren't any more believable than six-limbed ones, they breathe fire (no animal on earth does this), they don't move like a bat (which I can say as an authority having worked at a bat sanctuary), and none of the arguments hold any weight. The only argument I've seen is the one they don't like: It's about feeling threatened by imagination. Fictional creatures, and all. I mean, they don't complain about gryphons, pegasi, and centaurs, right? Well, those creatures aren't more intelligent, kind, wise, and powerful. Nor are they quite so founded in imagination.

Some people really are intimidated by creativity. They need to be surrounded by humans (preferably of their own ethnicity) to feel safe. Even in a video game. I don't personally agree with this, nor do I fully understand it yet, but I get that it comes from the same place of fear as racism. Otherwise why mutilate, amputate, and lobotmise a six-limbed dragon? To make them less threatening, to remove the wondrous, fantastic factor and replace it with grotesqueness so that killing them for the sake of dominance so that the killer feels more powerful and that that's acceptable.

The things some people are intimidated by never ceases to amaze me. I mean, my pity is offered, but still...

So, I don't see many more interesting options being offered. I think that ESO is pushing the envelope by having the khajiit as it is. As such, if any new races were added it would probably just further add to the unbalanced monopoly of human, but... and I don't really favour that outcome.

For that reason, I'm going to say we're fine with the races we have.

Edit: Oh, and on the topic of dragons? Istaria actually had those!

Also, footnote? Four-limbed dragons aren't like wyverns. Just someone's small-minded fear of dragons leading to a perverse big-game hunting desire, but you have to make six-limbed dragons less powerful, intelligent, sapient (which removing their hands and minds definitely does), and scary for that. No, wyverns are like birds. They move like birds. They don't roll around on their bellies like a poor, amputated animal. Wyverns are just big, scaly birds for bird nerds.

And I tend to bring this kind of thing up because I know how threads like this go. Some of us want more fantastic, wondrous, creative options but that'll never happen. Sigh.

Like I said, the khajiit/saxhleel are already borderline and I bet there are some that feel intimidated by them.
 

grannas211

I'd make a giant Sload man in a heartbeat.

SydneyGrey

I love this well thought out post.
I'd like Maormer, Reachmen or Kamal, but I'd be happy with pretty much any new race.

Tasear

Tang Mo could be very popular race. I can see this along with new skill line poles.

Heimpai

Snow demon sounds pretty cool

I like demons and ice/snow/cold soo yeahh you got me there

jlmurra2

TheShadowScout wrote: »

jlmurra2 wrote: »

It is interesting, but ten playable races at maximum is all we have ever gotten in all elder scrolls games. I don't think they plan to change that.

Read my post:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

...more races then the "classic ten" which were not quite as classic as many others assume, actually (TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall only had eight, imperials and orcs became playable only from TES-III:Morrowind onward; TES:Battlespire even had only six, missing also argonians and khajiit... and TES:Redguard obviously had only one through the premade character thing, but that doesn't really count anyhow)

Back in the beginning, they had "eight playable races at maximum". Then they got the idea to add two more in TES-III. So... two games with eight, one with six, three games with ten. Now ESO... with nine plus one. Who is to say they cannot make it nine plus two, nine plus three, nine plus four, nine plus... you get the idea?
And thus the post above, to outline which options might be possible, and which would not be a good idea due to lore or game mechanics issues.
Only remaining question would be... would enough people -pay- for it to make it worth spending developer resources on? Because that is where they will be thinking about plans to "do or do not"...

I did. That's why I stated "at maximum". I'm not against the idea, I just don't think they will add more races in ESO. Maybe they will add more in the main Elder Scrolls games one day.

SilverIce58

jlmurra2 wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

jlmurra2 wrote: »

It is interesting, but ten playable races at maximum is all we have ever gotten in all elder scrolls games. I don't think they plan to change that.

Read my post:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

...more races then the "classic ten" which were not quite as classic as many others assume, actually (TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall only had eight, imperials and orcs became playable only from TES-III:Morrowind onward; TES:Battlespire even had only six, missing also argonians and khajiit... and TES:Redguard obviously had only one through the premade character thing, but that doesn't really count anyhow)

Back in the beginning, they had "eight playable races at maximum". Then they got the idea to add two more in TES-III. So... two games with eight, one with six, three games with ten. Now ESO... with nine plus one. Who is to say they cannot make it nine plus two, nine plus three, nine plus four, nine plus... you get the idea?
And thus the post above, to outline which options might be possible, and which would not be a good idea due to lore or game mechanics issues.
Only remaining question would be... would enough people -pay- for it to make it worth spending developer resources on? Because that is where they will be thinking about plans to "do or do not"...

I did. That's why I stated "at maximum". I'm not against the idea, I just don't think they will add more races in ESO. Maybe they will add more in the main Elder Scrolls games one day.

I actually dont think Bethesda would add more races just yet(unless for some reason we go to Akavir). Itd be better for zos to be the ones who add in minority races like Maormer or Imga or Reachmen, as they would fit better as like dlc or chapter bonus, ya know?

ereboz

I would love to see Imga. Apparently they're here in this era, just hanging out in the trees watching Tamriel get torn apart, and I also agree that bringing a new weapon style with them (or with any new race) would be great

Valkysas154

Adding a new race would be to much work unless they cut corners unlike allot of mmorpgs out there that use text for there story's eso uses Voice acting as well so you would have to get every person who ever had a line that said the race you was playing and have them record new lines that's allot of money for a new race

jlmurra2

SilverIce58 wrote: »

jlmurra2 wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

jlmurra2 wrote: »

It is interesting, but ten playable races at maximum is all we have ever gotten in all elder scrolls games. I don't think they plan to change that.

Read my post:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

...more races then the "classic ten" which were not quite as classic as many others assume, actually (TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall only had eight, imperials and orcs became playable only from TES-III:Morrowind onward; TES:Battlespire even had only six, missing also argonians and khajiit... and TES:Redguard obviously had only one through the premade character thing, but that doesn't really count anyhow)

Back in the beginning, they had "eight playable races at maximum". Then they got the idea to add two more in TES-III. So... two games with eight, one with six, three games with ten. Now ESO... with nine plus one. Who is to say they cannot make it nine plus two, nine plus three, nine plus four, nine plus... you get the idea?
And thus the post above, to outline which options might be possible, and which would not be a good idea due to lore or game mechanics issues.
Only remaining question would be... would enough people -pay- for it to make it worth spending developer resources on? Because that is where they will be thinking about plans to "do or do not"...

I did. That's why I stated "at maximum". I'm not against the idea, I just don't think they will add more races in ESO. Maybe they will add more in the main Elder Scrolls games one day.

I actually dont think Bethesda would add more races just yet(unless for some reason we go to Akavir). Itd be better for zos to be the ones who add in minority races like Maormer or Imga or Reachmen, as they would fit better as like dlc or chapter bonus, ya know?

Akaviri was what I was thinking as well.

jlmurra2 wrote: »

SilverIce58 wrote: »

jlmurra2 wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

jlmurra2 wrote: »

It is interesting, but ten playable races at maximum is all we have ever gotten in all elder scrolls games. I don't think they plan to change that.

Read my post:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

...more races then the "classic ten" which were not quite as classic as many others assume, actually (TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall only had eight, imperials and orcs became playable only from TES-III:Morrowind onward; TES:Battlespire even had only six, missing also argonians and khajiit... and TES:Redguard obviously had only one through the premade character thing, but that doesn't really count anyhow)

Back in the beginning, they had "eight playable races at maximum". Then they got the idea to add two more in TES-III. So... two games with eight, one with six, three games with ten. Now ESO... with nine plus one. Who is to say they cannot make it nine plus two, nine plus three, nine plus four, nine plus... you get the idea?
And thus the post above, to outline which options might be possible, and which would not be a good idea due to lore or game mechanics issues.
Only remaining question would be... would enough people -pay- for it to make it worth spending developer resources on? Because that is where they will be thinking about plans to "do or do not"...

I did. That's why I stated "at maximum". I'm not against the idea, I just don't think they will add more races in ESO. Maybe they will add more in the main Elder Scrolls games one day.

I actually dont think Bethesda would add more races just yet(unless for some reason we go to Akavir). Itd be better for zos to be the ones who add in minority races like Maormer or Imga or Reachmen, as they would fit better as like dlc or chapter bonus, ya know?

A game set in Akavir was what I was thinking as well.

dodgehopper_ESO

You forgot the Akaviri men (if they were not in fact all eaten). I'm curious if this is actually accurate.

I've been a bit annoyed at the lack of NPC Imga in the game given the prevalence of the Valenwood locales in ESO.

I've always been intrigued by the Kothringi and Maormer. The Kothringi more or less exist though in the bloodlines of the Imperials. The Maormer on the other hand seem a reasonable possibility although it would take some explanation for hordes of them to defect I think.

Tang Mo are also really interesting and I'd love to see them added to the game. I wonder if they are a more refined version of Imga who developed on their own without Elven insults and slavery dragging them down? I've also wondered this about the Ka'po'tun Tiger-men of Akavir, whether they are just some other brand of Khajiit.

tinythinker

Good points about the variable race number (and nice production value for the post). Plus it's an MMO set in the past so that gives more license to play around.

There would be some stiff production costs, and one way I can see it worth the effort would be a cross-over for TES 6. If it's set in Akavir, then a tie-in with unlocking a couple of new races would be viable.

It's more likely that they would be skins, though, like the Maormer (heh, recalling the one April Fool's Day post I made a while back with some cheap editing to suggest I was in a secret beta for a Maormer race ).

If they do make a race it would likely be a prestige option that you unlock after getting to level 50. That avoids the weirdness of not having a place in any Alliance/home zone, not really fitting into the original base-game story, etc. A strike against even that would be balancing even more racial passives. So skins still more likely.

DuskMarine

if they made a race for us to play itd have to be dremora or snow elves. and for gods sake bring in necromancer class its long overdue.

TheShadowScout

NewbieOKS wrote: »

I love the reference and pictures you used in your thread.

Thanks. I did a lot of searching to find good ones in some cases, to give people an idea of what a never yet seen race could be...

idk wrote: »

Adding races for the mere reason to add a race does not make sense because it does not add anything to the game itself.

That is your opinion, but while it certainly is a fact that the game does not -need- any more races, it certainly could -use- some more races. The more choices, the more fun playing the game, right?

Adding new races would be a lot like... adding new costumes, adding new crafting styles, adding new haircuts. it adds choices for players to have fun with in making their "perfect" character...

idk wrote: »

Further, while I certainly did not read over the entire long OP, it did start with many races that are enemies of everyone in Tamriel so it would not make sense to add them. While scrolling down I also saw images of other enemies like sloads which obviously could not be a playable race.

As a general rule, it is a good idea to actually read things before you comment on them, otherwise you might make somewhat of a bad impression about yourself...
And if you had read my post, you would have noted that I touched upon that point in the former regard ("enemy" races make as much sense as cross-faction races, or imperial in many questlines, since we have those, that is no reason not to have these as well), and did discuss races in the "nope" category (like the sload), giving reasons why they would be unsuitable for player character options despite getting mentioned every so often when the topic comes up...

AuldWolf wrote: »

There's a reason why the khajiit and the saxhleel are by far the most interesting, diverse, and entertainingly written in the game, bar none. I don't think anyone could really argue that point... 

Every point can be argued for and against.
But betmer races (aka "beastfolk") are generally interesting because they allow designers more freedom to take a step further from the "human norm"... after all, much of the rest always has a touch of "been there, done that", altmer are not so different from D&D high elves, bosmer mirror many wood elf cliches, etc. And while Saxheel borrow heavily from native central american tribes and khajiit a lot from central asian patterns (india), they also add a completely new angle to that through their non-human ancestry.

One of the reasons why the akaviri races fascinate so many people methinks!

AuldWolf wrote: »

I'd love to see a new race, something genuinely insectoid in nature, but that's unlikely due to how locked down ZOS are... 

Hmmm... insectoid races are likely going to remain mobs, since for one there aren't really any in the elder scrolls lore at this time, and for another... well... they would not fit well with the gear system, which would be a prerequesite for any new player race, to be able to use all the gear (and animations) in the game. That's also why races with non-humanoid bodies are out. Anything more then a lizard tail or somesuch would break the mold, sadly...

SilverIce58 wrote: »

I actually dont think Bethesda would add more races just yet(unless for some reason we go to Akavir). Itd be better for zos to be the ones who add in minority races like Maormer or Imga or Reachmen, as they would fit better as like dlc or chapter bonus, ya know?

That definitely would be the most logical option.
Test the waters, so to speak, by releasing races they already have in the game as NPCs for player use. Maormer. Goblins. Possibly reachmen if they decide to depict them as seperate race instead of just bretons with a slavic accent.
Then see how it goes, how many people -actually- pay fot those in the crown store.
If the profits are good... they cvan think about adding races that take more of an effort. Likely first as mobs for some expansion, then later as player choices...
...for example, they -could- make an expansion covering the three islands between Tamrial and Akavir - - there are three of them, Esroniet, Yneslea and Cathnoquey, each reputedly somewhere between the size of a starter island and standard region, those would almost certainly have been the staging area for the invasion ten years before the events of ESO, and thus be in akaviri hands... and so might make prime expansion territory, without deadric princes for a change, just find out the story behind that invasion, and prevent the next one? While showing off the akaviri races? And... make them available in the crown store?
It certainly would make a good idea for the future, would it not?

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

You forgot the Akaviri men (if they were not in fact all eaten). I'm curious if this is actually accurate.

Well, they -were- supposedly all eaten as you say. The few who escaped were supposedly involved in the formation of the empire, and thus kinda mixed with the nedes into the current imperials I guess...

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

The Maormer on the other hand seem a reasonable possibility although it would take some explanation for hordes of them to defect I think.

No hordes are needed.
Just a lone vestige (or a dozend), that somehow ended up exiled from pyandonea, or otehrwise stranded on the mainland, captured, sacrificed and ending up in coldharbour to escape and become a unlikely hero...

tinythinker wrote: »

If they do make a race it would likely be a prestige option that you unlock after getting to level 50. That avoids the weirdness of not having a place in any Alliance/home zone, not really fitting into the original base-game story, etc. A

If anything, they would be made like Imperials.
Who also have the "wierdness" of not having a place in any alliance/homezone, not really fitting into the original base-game story, and sometimes having to fight in questlines where other imperials are the "bad guys".
Yes, a maormer as AD character would be... lorewise iffy. Same for a reachman in glenumbra, bangkorai, the rift or wrothgar; or a goblin... well, pretty much everywhere... or a akaviri race in pact territory... lorewise iffy, all of them! Very much so.
...
Just as much as an breton or redguard playing for the pact through bleakrock, bal foyen and stonefalls, or an orc playing through eastmarch for EP or malabel tor for AD, or a altmer or bosmer playing for EP through shadowfen, or a imperial playing through bangkorai or reapers march for the respective alliances... or a friggin Vampire playing anywhere while showing their undead face to everyone!!!
...
So, all in all... not that much of an issue, right?

tinythinker

TheShadowScout wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

If they do make a race it would likely be a prestige option that you unlock after getting to level 50. That avoids the weirdness of not having a place in any Alliance/home zone, not really fitting into the original base-game story, etc. A

If anything, they would be made like Imperials.
Who also have the "wierdness" of not having a place in any alliance/homezone, not really fitting into the original base-game story, and sometimes having to fight in questlines where other imperials are the "bad guys".
Yes, a maormer as AD character would be... lorewise iffy. Same for a reachman in glenumbra, bangkorai, the rift or wrothgar; or a goblin... well, pretty much everywhere... or a akaviri race in pact territory... lorewise iffy, all of them! Very much so.
...
Just as much as an breton or redguard playing for the pact through bleakrock, bal foyen and stonefalls, or an orc playing through eastmarch for EP or malabel tor for AD, or a altmer or bosmer playing for EP through shadowfen, or a imperial playing through bangkorai or reapers march for the respective alliances... or a friggin Vampire playing anywhere while showing their undead face to everyone!!!
...
So, all in all... not that much of an issue, right?

But the ones you've mentioned are muuuuuuch more of a reach, plus, making them a prestige option makes them a reward for leveling to 50 (or even some number of CP). Carrots for progression are helpful. They could also do prestige classes or subclasses.