Alliance Change?

Merlin13KAGL · May 2017

TheShadowScout wrote: »

I stated it before, I shall do so again...

If alliance change ever comes, I would want to see it done well, not merely a token that pops you over to other alliances, but an epic questline with an "faction loyalty called in question" theme, and a big choice in the middle - will your character stay loyal to their home alliance, or defect for greener pastures, with the second half (or two thirds, or three quarters, or whatever) being different depending on the choice made - either you quest your way through proving your innocense, or you quest your way through preparing your escape while dodging the agents sent to bring you in... bonus points for familiar faces, I mean, who would not enjoy slamming a porticullis shut into Razum-dars face as you give him a jaunty wave while you jump onto a boat bound for morrowind with Naryu...

Of course, there ought to be limitations as well.
For one, such an quest should require completion of cadwells as prerequesite, to avoid storyline entanglements - it would make a perfect final reward for completing that one, would it not? Much better then merely some trinket from Meridias tourist shop...
For another, there might be some added consequences in PvP, due to the "traitor" status... like, say, defectors only gaining half AP for the next six months (because noone completely trusts a traitor, not even the ones he betrayed his country for), while being worth triple AP if killed by a member of their original faction...

There could also be nifty titles depending on which way you chose to complete this questline - either "{original faction} Loyalist" or "{original faction} Defector"...

Of course, the questline itself could very well be an DLC all of its own. And in addition, there might be an very expensive crown store unlock to restart it, for those few "serial defectors"...

While I understand where you're going and get it from an RP/lore perspective, I think the initial problem with this lays in the fact that one should start out Alliance Neutral.

Loyalty comes form actions and witnessing events (which is kind of where your Cadwell's requirement falls) not simply because you happened to be born in a certain location.

Defending your home (which is not necessarily the same as defending you Alliance major) is quite different than choosing to go to war for your country (Alliance). IRL example: You can be born in a tyrannical country. It does not mean you automatically have ties and adhere to those beliefs.

On the practical (game) side, since there are no more separate vet/not vet instances regarding zones, the need to choose at character select is unnecessary.

Woodoochill wrote: »

Nestor wrote: »

Not sure why changing an Alliance is really needed at this point.

Okay, let me show you:
Horse leveling - 180 days of feeding
Crafting to 50 - cuz noone wants to spend 20 yellow upgrades instead of 8 (100k gold difference in one armor piece!)
Farming gear - i dont even know how long but its a lot to get all divine pieces, vMA weapon, monster set, etc
Achievements - some ppl just like to hunt them
And guess there is more

All that just because you want to play PVP with your friend?

@Nestor , disregarding all the practical aspects @Woodoochill pointed out, perhaps you have a long term character you simply like and don't wish to shelve or delete? I wouldn't expect this to be a frequent occurence.

tbh, there should be a one-time free change option per character, just as there is when switching campaigns. As it stands, and since it would be an easy money maker for the crown store, it's one of the few things I'd be willing to invest in to have that one or two odd-man-out's get to partake in all content with my guildies and friends.

The requirement has already been otherwise lifted with One Tamriel and Undaunted/Trials grouping. Why not see it through to completion with the alliance war?

Nestor · May 2017

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

disregarding all the practical aspects he pointed out, perhaps you have a long term character you simply like and don't wish to shelve or delete? I wouldn't expect this to be a frequent occurence.

@Merlin13KAGL

To me, PvP is player against player, not alliance against alliance. Sure, the Alliances are a mechanism and a structure in order to facilitate PvP, but it boils down to playing against another player, group or individual.

Now, some people take their Alliances seriously, I get that. This is the biggest reason I am against it, as some people will just flip alliances and everyone else will complain and moan and groan. Unless of course there are cumbersome Fizzbin like rules put in place. But, PvP is already cumbersome enough just trying to change a campaign.

But the need to move a character from one alliance to another is mitigated by how easy it is roll an alt and run them. Other than the Horse aspect, nothing about one individual character is needed on any other individual character. However people want to spend money on an alliance change, just spend them money on the horse speed upgrade.

Crafting? Just use the bank to facilitate crafting. Heck, it does not even need to be taken out of the bank to be improved.

Farming Gear, that is a choice, not a necessity. Yes, the Min/Maxers are lining up to lynch me right now as they always do when I pop their bubble. But it has already proven that you can get within 5% of the theoretical maximum with many many different gear combos, 1% with many gear combos.1% to 5% difference is not why your dying in PvP, no matter what the Min/Maxers tell you.

Achievements, why chase them on another character when you have them already on a different one? No reason for that as Achievements do absolutely nothing for your character, at all, on any level.

Finally, it all boils down to, if there is already an reasonable method for the player to do what they want, then why does ZOS have to recode things and cause the turmoil and drama that ensues when the player can just do what they want, right here and right now, by rolling another character for another alliance? Let ZOS work on things that the player's can't do themselves.

dotme · May 2017

Why not just move Battlegrounds team concept to Cyrodiil?

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2017/03/08/eso-morrowind--battlegrounds-basics

"Pit Daemons (Green), Fire Drakes (Orange), or Storm Lords (Purple)"

You choose when you enter your campaign which color you're fighting for at that moment. Lower population teams get more AP, to encourage balance. Recolor the map/keeps and now anyone can play with their friends instantly without spending weeks leveling a new character first.

HugsAlotOfBosmer · May 2017

fred4 wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

If alliance change ever comes, I would want to see it done well, not merely a token that pops you over to other alliances, but an epic questline.

Oh my god, please, no, no, NO, NEVER LIKE THIS!!!

The whole point of my being in ESO these days is for PvP. I have COMPLETELY lost interest in PvE quests, they absolutely bore me to tears, and this started with Orsinium and every DLC thereafter, which I have had ABSOLUTELY NO interest in playing whatsoever. None. This is from someone who played Skyrim to death. I have simply moved on to other things.

I am here, now, for the GAME, not the stories. Please do NOT force PVPers into a STUPID PvE questline. I am here to fight it out with other players, NOT NPCs. I couldn't care less about the storyline implications, all I care about is the mechanics of the game and the other players.

The whole point of doing an alliance change has to do with REAL LIFE friendships, as the OP indicated. In my case it is also because I made some characters early on, which I am attached to and have invested considerable time in. They ended up in different alliances, because of their race, which was chosen when I didn't have the adventurer pack, nor realised the implications. I now have the adventurer pack and would choose to have them all in one alliance, if I could.

you talking like the whole game is only for PVP'ers and ZOS should give zero care about people who enjoys PVE, the story and stories and quests told within the game. you not here for the game as a whole, but for the pvp aspect of it.
and forcing pve? well you make it worse than it is, likely it would only be a small quest if something like this would happen. and changing Alliance isn't only about "REL LIFE friendships". people choice a faction for diffirent reasons, little to do with friends. i love the AD from a story and lore point of view, not because of my friends. though if i suddenly, starting to like another faction more, i might want to change that.
Also when it comes to roleplay, before one tamriel you were forced to choice the faction where you wanted to rp. and not the faction that would fit your character the most. or let us say similiar to both examples i just gave you. let us say if my character for some reason joins one of the factions in character and isn't part of it out of character, or maybe my character starts to think one of the other factions is better.
these are some situations that is about why one choice an faction along with why one wants to change to another faction.

SerasWhip · June 2018

I hope zenimax does this