What is your *main* criterion when choosing character race?

Athan1

Cirantille

Lore / Culture

I came to ESO after finding out that "Summerset" is a zone in the game! I did not know anything about its meta, etc

I had in my mind an Altmer mage living in Alinor already

Sylvermynx

Other: a character pops into my mind fully formed including name, race, and backstory and then I go make that character in the game. The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

Athan1

Aesthetics

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Other: a character pops into my mind fully formed including name, race, and backstory and then I go make that character in the game. The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

That's role-playing in the broader sense.

LostHorizon1933

Aesthetics

Sylvermynx wrote: »

The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

Little known fact: when you cross them, you get Oregonians.

Sylvermynx

Athan1 wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Other: a character pops into my mind fully formed including name, race, and backstory and then I go make that character in the game. The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

That's role-playing in the broader sense.

Well, not really. I never actually set out to role-play any more. Games like this are just an escape from the real world at this point. But my writer's subconscious never stops, so that's where these people come from. I actually don't write any more, because it became very apparent to me that I simply could not deal with the current attitude of "you MUST interact on social media in order to sell yourself so people will want to buy what you write" - so I'm leaving my millions of words to my daughter when I die, and she can do what she likes with it: publish it in my name posthumously; publish it in her name; or burn it.

LostHorizon1933 wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

Little known fact: when you cross them, you get Oregonians.

*snerk* Cute!

Athan1

Aesthetics

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Athan1 wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Other: a character pops into my mind fully formed including name, race, and backstory and then I go make that character in the game. The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

That's role-playing in the broader sense.

Well, not really. I never actually set out to role-play any more.

That's why I said "in the broader sense". Years of hatred against the RP community have led to a fear to use this word. Role-playing isn't just about joining a group and acting out... Creating a character because you want them to have a specific identity, head-canoning stuff, keeping this identity in mind when you do quests and immersion... I'm sorry to disappoint but this is still role-playing.

Sylvermynx

Athan1 wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Athan1 wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Other: a character pops into my mind fully formed including name, race, and backstory and then I go make that character in the game. The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

That's role-playing in the broader sense.

Well, not really. I never actually set out to role-play any more.

That's why I said "in the broader sense". Years of hatred against the RP community have led to a fear to use this word. Role-playing isn't just about joining a group and acting out... Creating a character because you want them to have a specific identity, head-canoning stuff, keeping this identity in mind when you do quests and immersion... I'm sorry to disappoint but this is still role-playing.

Ah. Well, then I do see what you meant. I don't actively RP at all any more - that requires more effort than I really want to put into a game I play to get away from the real world. And yes, there's the whole problem with griefers and roleplayers in an MMO (been there forever - first MMO was WoW in 2006, on a RP server.... LOTS of griefers, no help from GMs....)

But yes, in that broader sense, all of my characters (60 at last count) are themselves - and every one of them has a life before the game, and a life during it. That's my RP these days.

One of these days, I'll have to write it all to file.... Hmmm. That could take me a while....

peacenote

Passives / Meta

Honestly the answer is "it depends." But it's either meta or aethestetics depending on whether I'm going to be serious about that character later with raids or PvP. My mules are all about how they look but I will race change my most competitive characters for a build.

I used to get a little tied to "what my characters were" and would work around the meta but I have give up on that after all my vampires had to stop being vampires and I just kind of taught myself to let go of the whole idea. The fact that none of my healers could realistically be vamps took the backstory fun out of it for me. It was my bosmer passive turning point.

Athan1

Aesthetics

I think that the majority of players choosing aesthetics/lore are (un)consciously attracted to characters similar to them... E.g. I main an Imperial bc I am Mediterranean and my char looks the closest to me an ESO character can look... I think this would also explain the tremendous Breton popularity, because most playerbase is North-European somehow.

Of course, this can go in the opposite direction, with people actively choosing something as distinct from them as possible. In total, these two factions just cancel out so the effect would be hardly noticeable. I'd be keen to study this!

Vevvev

Role-Playing

Little bit of roleplaying, aesthetics, and lore.

Kory

Pretty much a combination of all of the options. I like playing Nords, Redguard, and Orc.

GreenHere

Lore / Culture

Maybe I'm just not well-acquainted enough with this stuff as someone who doesn't RP in the way that people who RP mean RP, but wouldn't Lore/Culture just sort of be lumped together with Role-Playing?

I make my characters the race they are because... well, it fits the character idea I'm trying to make. Is that RP, or is that me following lore? What's the difference, especially if I'm "making my own lore"? If my Bosmer is an archer, and my Orc is a warrior, but my Altmer is a sword master, then how would you classify that?

Either way, it's seldom about aligning with the meta or popularity for me; and I think all races/sexes can be made attractive and/or aesthetically interesting. So I guess I'm in one of those two other categories. I'm interested to hear what the difference is now, honestly.

Sylvermynx

Athan1 wrote: »

I think that the majority of players choosing aesthetics/lore are (un)consciously attracted to characters similar to them... E.g. I main an Imperial bc I am Mediterranean and my char looks the closest to me an ESO character can look... I think this would also explain the tremendous Breton popularity, because most playerbase is North-European somehow.

Of course, this can go in the opposite direction, with people actively choosing something as distinct from them as possible. In total, these two factions just cancel out so the effect would be hardly noticeable. I'd be keen to study this!

Well.... actually, my characters run the gamut of all the races - except orc and argonian. This is because I can quite well imagine myself as any race EXCEPT orc and argonian. So I have lots of everything but those two.

Now, that said, none of my characters are "similar" to me. My mains are all Redguard wardens. I have no similarities to them at all, nor to the Bretons, the Imperials or (!!) Nords. I'm human of course (well, more or less depending on any given day and what I'm pissed off about right then) - but Tamriel's humans aren't this world's humans at all. And khajiit.... oh would I EVER love to be khajiit IRL! Or Bosmer..... But Altmer and Dunmer - well, there's nothing "congruent" in the real world, but elves are cool (other than Orsimer.... ewww)

What all my characters have in common is that they're superb specimens of athletic ability - something I have never been IRL - and they're all as gorgeous as I can make them (also not something I am IRL). I mean.... hey, what's the point in pretend dress up otherwise?

And beyond that, they all fit the fairly rigid stereotype of "chaotic good" or at least "neutral good" - yeah, those are tropes that don't happen in this game, but I've been playing RPGs since the mid 1970s, and D&D tabletop was my first real gaming experience.

coop500

Role-Playing

Sylvermynx wrote: »

Other: a character pops into my mind fully formed including name, race, and backstory and then I go make that character in the game. The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

This, except that last part. I have TONS of argonians and an orc.
But yeah, I make characters/people, not builds.

erio

Passives / Meta

Anyone who pvps need to chose the correct race.

Kiralyn2000

Aesthetics

Gotta look good. Whatever that day's definition of "good" is.


(well, and I'm also much more of a visual artist than a writer.)

Starlock

Role-Playing

GreenHere wrote: »

Maybe I'm just not well-acquainted enough with this stuff as someone who doesn't RP in the way that people who RP mean RP, but wouldn't Lore/Culture just sort of be lumped together with Role-Playing?

Yes, but not necessarily.

One can enjoy the trappings of something without a deep level of immersion expressed by action. It can be a "I pick Bosmer because they're cool, but I'm playing the game as me, not as a Bosmer - I'm gonna pick plants for alchemy dang it!"

Nord_Raseri

Athan1 wrote: »

I think that the majority of players choosing aesthetics/lore are (un)consciously attracted to characters similar to them... E.g. I main an Imperial bc I am Mediterranean and my char looks the closest to me an ESO character can look... I think this would also explain the tremendous Breton popularity, because most playerbase is North-European somehow.

Of course, this can go in the opposite direction, with people actively choosing something as distinct from them as possible. In total, these two factions just cancel out so the effect would be hardly noticeable. I'd be keen to study this!

Yes. I play mostly Nords. I am Norwegian, Danish, and very, very northern German(from Nord Frisland). It makes sense.

Athan1

Aesthetics

GreenHere wrote: »

Maybe I'm just not well-acquainted enough with this stuff as someone who doesn't RP in the way that people who RP mean RP, but wouldn't Lore/Culture just sort of be lumped together with Role-Playing?

I make my characters the race they are because... well, it fits the character idea I'm trying to make. Is that RP, or is that me following lore? What's the difference, especially if I'm "making my own lore"? If my Bosmer is an archer, and my Orc is a warrior, but my Altmer is a sword master, then how would you classify that?

Either way, it's seldom about aligning with the meta or popularity for me; and I think all races/sexes can be made attractive and/or aesthetically interesting. So I guess I'm in one of those two other categories. I'm interested to hear what the difference is now, honestly.

The way I understand it, making your own lore is the definition of RP. Fanfiction is part of RP. Your RP may be following lore, e.g. Bosmer archer, or deviate from it, e.g. Altmer swordsman, based on the story you have created for your character.

Following lore/culture would be to play an Altmer because you like how Alinor looks and feels, because you like their architecture, clothes and armor, or the way they talk. E.g. I created a Khajiit because I like how they don't use first person pronouns and talk like the Japanese.

Opalblade

lizard

milesrodneymcneely2_ESO

Role-Playing

LostHorizon1933 wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

The only races that never happen are orcs and argonians.

Little known fact: when you cross them, you get Oregonians.

You just secured your automatic pass into Heaven.

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe

Role-Playing

Role playing, aesthetics, and lore/culture all for me, as all this criteria goes hand in hand.

Araneae6537

Lore / Culture

Looking at others’ responses, perhaps I should have picked RP as I create my characters to fit a particular idea, including class, lore and aesthetics. I had been thinking of role-playing as something actively engaged in with other players rather than purely in my head and how I interact with the game world.

Sometimes I enjoy transposing characters into Elder Scrolls lore:
I have a Bosmer dragonknight named Fenris who was enslaved by a Telvanni mage. Ëol is a sword-wielding sorcerer who is the son of a Telvanni wizard and the Maormer he enchanted (I would have more accurately named him Maeglin, except I really dislike that traitor and naming him after Ëol, the Dark Elf, was much more appealing).

WiseSky

Passives / Meta

Lord knows no one wants an orc magsorc as their sorc trying to get Godslayer

Scardan

Passives / Meta

Passives and roleplaying and culture. I never play as elf in TES, meta or not. But passives are important so i choose breton as magcro.

Olauron

Lore / Culture

That's rather hard to answer, because the options are interconnected. All my characters are heroes of either role-playing games or short stories, so this is a role-playing part, but they are who they are (more than 90% of altmer and ayleid by race) as a result of the lore and culture of the particular races.

GreenHere wrote: »

... my Altmer is a sword master, then how would you classify that?

First, there are a lot of altmer in Fighters guild. Then we have an example of the mighty sorcerer and a warrior at the same time, the Last King of Ayleids (he is not an altmer, but he is a high elf, so the difference is not that big). Finally, there are definitely swordsmer in altmer society (look at all those guards). Any swordsmer who is practicing for hundreds of years will be a much better sword master than any human possible. So you are completely within the lore.

Nightowl_74

None of those. I've played every race, but not as my main, and I choose that from among the races I've never spent a lot of time on in any of the Elder Scrolls worlds. My next choice will be one of these - high elf, khajiit, orc, wood elf, or imperial.

colossalvoids

Passives / Meta

Passives then aesthetics, culture and lore are always there anyways.

LalMirchi

I used to stare myself blind at the small differences in stats, now I just choose races for aesthetics or roleplay.

Crazyprophet

Lore / Culture

Definitely lore and culture - I enjoy learning about the cultures of the world and trying to build a character within those parameters.