Zachary_Shadow wrote: »

idk wrote: »

We currently have all the playable races as it is. Further, adding another race does not mean dimension is added to the game.

The number of playable races can change, however. Again, the Imperial race wasn't added until Morrowind, so it's definitely not impossible to add a new race, especially with how much lore we have been given on the many races on Nirn since ESO has been released.

The playable races have been playable in TES for a bit. Further, Imperial was in the game when it launched. No race was added with Morrowind or any other time since the game launched.

Lore wise, the rest of the races are enemies, devolved or exitinct/self imposed exile because they do not want to deal with Tamriel.

There is still no reason to change lore in this area since we have plenty to choose from. Adding it for the heck of it does not add to the game itself. That is basically what you are proposing.

Zachary_Shadow wrote: »

Before everyone riots and says, "#NotMyElderScrolls", the Imperial race was added back with the original Morrowind, so it's not unheard of.

Indeed, orsimer and Imperials did not become playable races until TES-III:Morrowind. They were antagonist races exclusively in TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall...
TES:Battlespire even only had six races, leaving out imperials, orcs, khajiit and argonians from the ten we have in ESO...

So, yes. There is ample precedent to something else then "ten races, no more, no less". TES added races to be playable before, so they could choose to do it here in ESO as well...

Zachary_Shadow wrote: »

Also, with the talk of Murkmire possibly coming soon, I was also thinking about the different varieties of the beast races. It's said in Elder Scrolls lore that there are different sub-species within Argonians and Khajits. If Murkmire would be added, would you also like to see the different sub-species added to the game? It would make sense with Argonians. Instead of picking a race from the race menu, there would be a new button added once you choose the Argonian race at the top that have the different varieties. Maybe they add different passives, maybe they only change the look of your race, etc.

I would suspect, that might be better done with adding new crown store appearance option unlocks for Khajiit and Argonians...
...after all, making a new race for the game would cost them some effort, so they would need to sell that race in the crown store to recoup that and make their profit. And something "completely different" would be more likely to sell then sub-options to existing races, yes?

Zachary_Shadow wrote: »

I think it would be a welcome change and would really expand upon the variety of options we have in ESO. I personally would love to see the Maormer added as a playable race, especially after a certain quest in Summerset. Would you like to see a race added to ESO?

As for the good old "new race" thing, well...
...
Let's take another look at the usual suspects, shall we?

Akaviri

...are not one race but four. There is little lore if all of them were part of the akaviri invasion 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... and make a push into cyrodil somewhen between this time and the rise of Talos in three of so centuries... so all of them may be technically viable lore-wise... 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. Up to the developers.

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.

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...

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?), 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...

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.

...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 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!)

Claudman wrote: »

Also why does everyone use that picture of a Sons of Svanir Icebrood Norn from Guild Wars 2 when talking about Kamal? Lol
I wouldn't imagine that's how the Kamal look.

I would inagine they don't look like that, agreed.
's why i also looked for alternative pictures, with... minor success. I do like the second picture more tho...

But the point is - noone knows how they look, so ZOS could do whatever. Like I mentioned, those "freeze solid in winter" legends may merely indicate a reptilian or perhaps more liklely ursine (aka, bear-like) race that hibernates? Polar bear race? I could see people get interested in that...


Another possibility is some relation to frost giants, though those are active in skyrim winters, so perhaps not...

Still, ZOS could do whatever with them, and that's the point. make them a unlockable PC race, or maybe some "Snow Oni" cousins to ogres, or whatever...

The issue is your still asking to add a race for the sake of adding a race which is the worst reason to do so.

RDMyers65b14_ESO wrote: »

Do you not understand that this is an Elder Scrolls game? The ten races are the only playable races for Elder Scrolls. If you want to play another race, find another game.

Do you not understand that even in "Elder scrolls games", those "ten races" you refer to have not been set in stone? TES:Arena and TES-II:Daggerfall had eight, TES:Battlespire had six, TES:Redguard had one (duh)... the "ten races" have been from TES-III:Morrowind through TES-IV:Oblivion and to TES-V:Skyrim - soeven if we leave out the one where you get a preset character with Cyrus, only half the TES games have had those "ten races".
Thus that is a pretty weak argument to make against ESO adding to them. Especially since it had been pointed out here already

Marto wrote: »

Something that I think would be interesting is allowing us to play different sub-races of the existing 10.

Imperials could chose between blonde and fair skin Nibanese, or more rugged black hair Colovians.
Argonians could chose between the existing lizard-like options, or the more fish like Nagas that were shown as concept art as early as 2014.
Orcs could chose between a orc of the wrothgarian mountains, or a wood worc from Valenwood.

They wouldn't even need to change passives or anything. Perhaps only change the extra % XP passive with a weapon, but even that wouldn't be necessary.

If there is no change in passives, that's not a new race, that's a pile of cosmetic unlocks.
Which totally should happen!
I am all for giving people more and more appearance choices, letting them make "sub-races" or "halfbreeds" that way!

Zachary_Shadow wrote: »

...even thoguh some races he suggested I think wouldn't be possible unless we went to Akvari.

...or unless Akavir went to visit Tamriel, and look what happened in eastmarch, riften and stonefalls ten years before ESO!

As I kept saying, the lore from other TES games set in a later time does indicate that...

Though ostensibly its own kingdom, Rimmen still pays tribute to the Mane of Elsweyr, from whose realm it seceded in CE812 during the Interregnum. Earlier, Akaviri refugees had fled persecution when the warlord Attrebus briefly aspired to the Imperial Throne. Attrebus, though he lasted no longer than most of the pretender kings of that period, thought he might rid Cyrodiil of the foreigners who had ruled it for the first half of the Common Era, and he drove the Akaviris past the Empire's borders into Elsweyr. The khajiit granted them asylum in the hills and steppes of northwestern Elsweyr, where they dwelt in relative seclusion until remnants of the Dir-Kamal resurfaced in Cyrodiil, seizing the Throne from Attrebus' successors. The Rimmen (literally, the "Rim Men," as the khajiit called them) joined their brothers to try to rebuild the Empire. This effort was doomed to failure, but not before the khajiit attempted to reclaim their lands in a series of bloody border wars.

...remains of that invasion will in some time in the next 250 years (presumably within a generation time from the events of ESO) end up in Rimmen and try to seize the ruby throne and reestablish a new akaviri potentate, which will last about as long as any "emperor" in cyrodil these days. Could even be a questline just about that, in an "Rimmen" DLC...

Also, there easily -could- be an expansion covering the three isles (Cathnoquey - Esroniet - Yneslea) in the padomeic ocean between Tamriel and Aklavir, which at this point in time would be akaviri territory and likely the staging areas for the invasion ten years ago... I could imagine a questline dealing with averting another akaviri invasion, yes?

SilverIce58 wrote: »

Everyone thinks that the maormer would be altmer clones, but we don't have a race that's dedicated to lightning damage like the Dunmer are to fire. They could have increased lightning dmg, increased swim speed (since they're an aquatic race). I can see them being similar to dunmer moreso than altmer.

My thoughts as well. Something like a mix between altmer, and lightning-flavored dunmer oassives would seem to make a great deal of sense for those sea elves.

starkerealm wrote: »

I realize you like to repost that list every time, but it might be time to rewrite the Sload entry completely now that we've actually seen Sloads in game again, for the first time in nearly 20 years, in fact. Yeah, not playing those.

If you want to throw Centaurs on the Maybe pile, I wouldn't stop you.

I have only reposted this... oh, this should be no more then the second or third time...
Still, gonna do so again and again whenever the topic comes up, since its neat to have all the info in one place. (and this time I added the ayleids I forgot last time, see!)
As for sloads, yeah, I am not so sure how they are related to the sea sloads we encounter in Summerset, but... either way, not really PC territory, those... but I suppose it might be good to add more info on them as well someday.

And centaurs are iffy for body-reasons just like lamia or all oversized races. So they belong in the "nope" pile with these for the body-mesh-animation issues, but would be entirely viable as NPCs...