When linking steam with ESO account, which account's characters/crowns/data is saved?

mememe892ub17_ESO

I played ESO in Beta on and ESO account, but didn't purchase the game on release, so have no characters/currency on the account. Later on, I purchased the game on Steam and had always (as far as I can remember - it's been a while) just clicked play from steam and been logged in. On that account I had played quite a few hours, made a lot of progress, and was a member of premium for many months and never spent the crowns.

I quit the game for a long time, but re-downloaded today and went to play, but instead of logging me into the game, it's asking me to link my account to an ESO account to proceed.

If I were to link the accounts, would I lose my characters/crowns/items/etc, or would they override the empty account which just had beta access (no actual purchase history)?

Also, if my memory is wrong and it was never possible to just log in directly from steam without an ESO acount, how could I find out what that account was? I remember some of my character names, but in checking my e-mail addresses, wasn't able to see any with messages regarding ESO aside from the one mentioned above.

ZOS_Bill

@mememe892ub17_ESO

You can only have one ESO account linked with one Steam account. For further details about linking please see the FAQ below.

Can I link my existing The Elder Scrolls Online account to my Steam account?

mememe892ub17_ESO

This doesn't answer the question/address the issue. I understand that only one eso account can be linked to my steam and I understand how to do so. The question here is which characters will I keep? Will I still have the progress and coin I made from steam before the accounts were linked, or from the ESO account I'm linking, which has nothing?

mememe892ub17_ESO

Never mind. It turns out my memory was going bad and my first post was based on a false premise/misunderstanding.

I did indeed have a different ESO account I had been using, and not logging in directly from steam. I was able to remember that account's log in information, so my issue is resolved.

ZOS_Bill

Thank you for letting us know the issue is now resolved. We will now be closing the discussion since help is no longer needed.