Dusk_Coven wrote: »

For those who like solo PvP… how about an "Outlaw" faction?

Would be a possibility, but... not exactly as described.
Since a "bounty" in ESO is a very short-lived thing... while actual "outlaw" status was a much more serious thing in medieval law. As in, permanent.
AND - in those kind of societies, a great many people jopined the army -exactly- to escape persecution, because their minor(-ish) crimes often were pardoned if they served their time... (especially in the crusades, where everyone got off with a clean slate through papal decree) - so the idea that anyone with a bounty could fight normally in cyrodil, but have their earned AP first "pay off" the bounty before they actually get some to spend is one I would really love to see implemented!

On the other hand, "outlaws" in medieval times on the other hand were career criminals deemed "unredeemable" and thus were "kill on sight" by any official guard as a permanent state. And not generally allowed to join the army, ever (there are exception when things are so dire a king or pope offers a pardon to even those kind of scum if they only fight to save crown and country). That is the main reason they usually did not last very long (with the one notable exception in sherwood forest)
And that sort of status... would be iffy with all the "Hero" type of stories we always quest through. Since true "outlaw" status would make questings generally unavailable. And have you permanently attacked by every town guard, forever.

How it might be sort of doable IMO?
Well, I said it before:

TheShadowScout wrote: »

As I always say when this one comes up : I am all for alliance change - If Done RIGHT!

And by that I don't mean some token that pops your character to a new alliance, I do indeed mean a whole guild-DLC sized questline with an cloak and dagger (Or since this is ESO, "hood and dagger", perhaps?) spycraft flavor and a "faction loyalty called in question" plot, where you get to make a big choice in the middle - stay loyal to your alliance and prove yourself, or turn your back on them and defect to greener pastures elsewhere...

With the second half (or two thirds, or whatever) of the questline being different depending on your choice - either uncovering the one who actually framed you, mobilize your old and trusted allies to gather support and track down the true conspiracy while dodging the agenrs sent to bring you in; or preparing your escape, dodging the agents sent to arrest you, courting your desired new friends while grabbing some juicy secrets on the way out to sweeten the deal, etc.

Such a story could have a neutral city as "spycraft" focal point (like vienna during the cold war, where spies and agents often went to spy hard between the two sides - for ESO it could be some place between the alliances, a former imperial town declared "free city" after the fall of the empire in northern nibenay, eastern colovia or western skyrim, perhaps, or even an post-anchorite-war isle of stirk...), but otherwise take you all over the old faction regions, possibly revisiting a few one-time-only maps with new mobs... and perhaps even meeting a few familiar faces (come on, wouldn't you love to slam a porticullis shut into Razum-dars face as you hop on a boat bound to morrowind with Naryu? )

Such a questline could even have special titles depending on what you choose... "[original faction] Loyalist" or "[original faction] Defector"... obviously it would be a one-time only event, thus making serial defectors that change alliance depending on which one is currently top in cyrodil that some people always fear when this topic comes up an impossibility.

And it also might have drawbacks for PvP, like... reduced AP gain for several months, since noone fully trusts a traitor... or maybe having to re-earn all the AP up to your current rank before you start progressing again, representing your efforts to convince your new allies of your trustworthyness... and definitely increased AP rewards if a member of your original faction takes you down, because...


(there could even be a daily "hunt traitor" mission, and defectors from your PvP-characters alliance in cyrodil getting an visual clue while that mission is active...)

Also, this could be a option to add new factions to PvP. Like... have options to not just defect to one of the other two alliances, but also "go rogue" and join a new "Outlaw" faction (...black color and jolly roger flag, perhaps? Would be hostile to -every- other faction in cyrodil, and spawn at some new but unsecured base, thus very susceptible to enemy raids - trials of being an outlaw in the face of organized armies); or an "Imperial Remnant" faction (purple imperial diamond flag, spawning in some ill-secured legion base somewhere, possibly at the nibenay border, and also fighting everyone else, but turning all the "imperial" NPCs in cyrodil non-hostile?), or a "neutral" faction that is "yellow" to everyone (green flag and incapable of capturing locations, spawning at vasrious random merchant camps and such...)
Might be too complicated, but would still be interesting!

...and that's still the best idea I can think of to get to any "outlaw" faction for players.
Or if not totally "outlaw" then at least... one fighting all three.
Also, one possible faction I forgot back when I wrote this would be the reachmen... who once has a bloodline on the ruby throne (The longhouse emperors; the very people Varen Aquilarios overthrew to set the stage for the mainstory fluff) and might want to recover a bit of glory this way... I could see them under a green "briarheart" banner, without secured main base, only a small camp in the north border of cyrodil, but available for defectors from the main allainces to spice up cyrodil... then also the "imperial remnant" coming from the colovian border in the SW, under a purpler "diamond" banner... heck, we could even have maormer messing in the war under a cyan "sea serpent" banner based on a ship in the SE corner... and perhaps a white-flagged "neutral" faction that is "yellow" for everyone for those trying to just PvE (meaning non-hostile, but still attackable if one of the warring faction PvPlayers feels like it... and lets be honest, many will, we all know this!)
It would be a possibility to bring some fresh wind into cyrodil, yes?

logarifmik wrote: »

How about war crimes?

The very idea of "war crimes" is a lot younger then the medieval era that ESO (and most other fantasy settings) take inspiration from. Back in those days... everything is fair in war.
Killing or torturing prisoners? Go ahead, noone will care.
Pillaging, ravishing or murdering the civilians? Its actually expected as a matter of fact!
Using enemy uniforms? Sure, they might shove a rusty sword up your bum if they catch you, but other then that, noone really complains about it either.
Slaughtering non-combatants, like nurses, priests and healers? That's the first thing they do in fantasy fights! (Okay, so in fantasy a "healer" or "priest" is generally not a non-combatant since their prayers actually have magic behind them...)
In any case, there kinda are no "war crimes" in medieval style warfare.

There are already to many trolls running around, no reason to have a troll alliance.