Is it acceptable for zenimax to scour through your messages and take account actions at random?

HatchetHaro · October 7

No

RaikaNA wrote: »

HatchetHaro wrote: »

Lovely! Now my private in-game roleplay with my significant other can now be monitored for any potential harmful subjects normally confined to private conversations and roleplay!

Lucky for you lot at ZOS customer support, I like to put on an exhibition!

I wonder how much personal depravity can one customer support representative handle before tapping out.

There is discord for that

Discord does not have support for ESO characters, emotes, and mementos, all of which enhance (and in my opinion, are integral to) the in-game roleplay experience.

Artim_X · October 8

Gotta get on teamspeak or discord. If what others are saying is true, it is kinda scary to be at risk of being banned for unreported chatting between friends even when specific flagged terms are said in a way where is shouldn't be flagged.

JemadarofCaerSalis · October 8

Yes

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

Sleepsin wrote: »

Cazador wrote: »

I think people need to understand that your right to free speech really only covers suppression by the government. ZOS is not the government and you had to agree to a TOS to play the game.

Privacy laws apply to companies. TOS does not negate it.

NO they do not. Unless they are specifically targeting companies. The privacy guarantees are to keep government out of our lives, not to stop corporations from operating how they see fit. You see companies firing people for what they do in their private lives all the time if the company thinks it reflects badly on the company.

Privacy laws absolutely affect companies. ZOS literally listed some they are compliant with. And EU protection are generally stronger than the US

Privacy laws, and private data, do NOT pertain to discussions and things you post (at least not from what I have found, might be different in the EU). They pertain to private data, such as personally identifiable information (which you should NOT be posting in a chat, private or not, unless you are okay with the potential of someone else getting a hold of said information) and things like financial information, passwords and such.

So, to my very limited and un-lawyer knowledge, a person posting swear words and/or slurs, or things that a company says they don't allow on their site, and that data being sent to someone for moderation does NOT fall under privacy laws, at least not the one I found. Now, if the company was sending your passwords and credit card information, THAT would fall under the data privacy laws.

Now, full disclosure, I am American, and thus the information I found was specifically for American laws. It could be that the EU and other countries have looser definitions of what constitues 'private data'

SilverBride · October 8

No

Discord is not an answer for everyone. I often chat via whispers with more than one person at a time, and say things in zone chat and guild chat. I don't see how this could be done through Discord.

spartaxoxo · October 8

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

Sleepsin wrote: »

Cazador wrote: »

I think people need to understand that your right to free speech really only covers suppression by the government. ZOS is not the government and you had to agree to a TOS to play the game.

Privacy laws apply to companies. TOS does not negate it.

NO they do not. Unless they are specifically targeting companies. The privacy guarantees are to keep government out of our lives, not to stop corporations from operating how they see fit. You see companies firing people for what they do in their private lives all the time if the company thinks it reflects badly on the company.

Privacy laws absolutely affect companies. ZOS literally listed some they are compliant with. And EU protection are generally stronger than the US

Privacy laws, and private data, do NOT pertain to discussions and things you post (at least not from what I have found, might be different in the EU). They pertain to private data, such as personally identifiable information (which you should NOT be posting in a chat, private or not, unless you are okay with the potential of someone else getting a hold of said information) and things like financial information, passwords and such.

So, to my very limited and un-lawyer knowledge, a person posting swear words and/or slurs, or things that a company says they don't allow on their site, and that data being sent to someone for moderation does NOT fall under privacy laws, at least not the one I found. Now, if the company was sending your passwords and credit card information, THAT would fall under the data privacy laws.

Now, full disclosure, I am American, and thus the information I found was specifically for American laws. It could be that the EU and other countries have looser definitions of what constitues 'private data'

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act protects private communication from access without prior consent. There are limited carve outs for surveillance by the company that stores it. ZOS entertainment obviously feels that they the ability to do this due to prior consent through the TOS as well as limited surveillance being permissible as the ones storing that data.

I am not a lawyer so I don't know if that's 100% accurate. But that's what Google is telling me is that private communications are protected and that there limited carve outs for the ones storing the data (so ZOS).

Syldras · October 8

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

It could be that the EU and other countries have looser definitions of what constitues 'private data'

In EU it's definitively the communication itself that is protected, no matter if sensitive info is transmitted or not. The only question is whether it applies to in-game chats. It's absolutely clear with phone calls and letters (or other items transported by a postal service), but with the many different ways communication takes place online, it's all less clear. Politics is often rather slow with new technological developments.

RaikaNA · October 8

Yes

HatchetHaro wrote: »

RaikaNA wrote: »

HatchetHaro wrote: »

Lovely! Now my private in-game roleplay with my significant other can now be monitored for any potential harmful subjects normally confined to private conversations and roleplay!

Lucky for you lot at ZOS customer support, I like to put on an exhibition!

I wonder how much personal depravity can one customer support representative handle before tapping out.

There is discord for that

Discord does not have support for ESO characters, emotes, and mementos, all of which enhance (and in my opinion, are integral to) the in-game roleplay experience.

You can change your discord name to your ESO character name. Instead of using text.. use voice (Discord).. you can still use emotes and mementos in-game.

SilverBride · October 8

No

RaikaNA wrote: »

You can change your discord name to your ESO character name. Instead of using text.. use voice (Discord).. you can still use emotes and mementos in-game.

What if someone plays more than one character? Should they change their Discord name every time they change characters?

How is someone supposed to use voice with more than one friend, and zone, and guild chat at the same time? Get them all to join the same channel at the same time?

SteveCampsOut · October 8

Yes

Tra_Lalan wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

It's their game, their servers. You don't have the right to privacy using their chat system.

So when you use your phone, the service provider has the right to hear your calls?

Or when you use internet, your internet provider has the right to track your chats?

You always use some company systems and infrasctructure, this doesn't change your rights for privacy guaranteed by law.

Quote me this law you speak of. I mean SPECIFICALLY! [snip] Your right to privacy is LIMITED. Look it up.

Syldras wrote: »

This is EU law:
"Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications."
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT

This is, as an example, German law (the 2nd point defines an exception - basically that, if there is a security threat like hints that a person might be planning a severe crime, his communication can be surveilled, according to laws):
"(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.

Communications is a big word. Not all communications are protected. This game falls under the laws concerning "Media" since it is a Media provider. When you publish something to a Media Provider, it's not protected by privacy laws unless it's concerning your actual Identity data like name, address, credit card and other finance data that the game keeps on file to accept your payment for their services. Chats, whispers and in game communications are not the same as ISP emails because of this. If you're so bugged out by this, take it up with a lawyer or, in EU's case, a Barista.

[edited for baiting]

SteveCampsOut · October 8

Yes

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

Sleepsin wrote: »

Cazador wrote: »

I think people need to understand that your right to free speech really only covers suppression by the government. ZOS is not the government and you had to agree to a TOS to play the game.

Privacy laws apply to companies. TOS does not negate it.

NO they do not. Unless they are specifically targeting companies. The privacy guarantees are to keep government out of our lives, not to stop corporations from operating how they see fit. You see companies firing people for what they do in their private lives all the time if the company thinks it reflects badly on the company.

Privacy laws absolutely affect companies. ZOS literally listed some they are compliant with. And EU protection are generally stronger than the US

[snip] You IGNORED the fact that I said Privacy laws do not apply to Corporations unless the law targets them, which are literally the laws that ZOS is compliant with! [snip]

[edited for baiting]

Syldras · October 8

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

This is EU law:
"Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications."
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT

This is, as an example, German law (the 2nd point defines an exception - basically that, if there is a security threat like hints that a person might be planning a severe crime, his communication can be surveilled, according to laws):
"(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.

Communications is a big word. Not all communications are protected. This game falls under the laws concerning "Media" since it is a Media provider. When you publish something to a Media Provider, it's not protected by privacy laws unless it's concerning your actual Identity data like name, address, credit card and other finance data that the game keeps on file to accept your payment for their services. Chats, whispers and in game communications are not the same as ISP emails because of this. If you're so bugged out by this, take it up with a lawyer or, in EU's case, a Barista.

Next time you complain, at least take the time to read and quote my post fully (and look at what I was replying to - the question was NOT about the ESO chat, but about phone and internet service providers):

Syldras wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

Tra_Lalan wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

It's their game, their servers. You don't have the right to privacy using their chat system.

So when you use your phone, the service provider has the right to hear your calls?
Or when you use internet, your internet provider has the right to track your chats?

Yes, and yes. It's in the terms of service you have to agree to before using their services.

In the USA, that might be legal (I don't know), but in EU law as well as in the laws of several EU countries, communication by phone, e-mail and letters is protected.

This is EU law:
"Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications."
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT

This is, as an example, German law (the 2nd point defines an exception - basically that, if there is a security threat like hints that a person might be planning a severe crime, his communication can be surveilled, according to laws):
"(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.
(2) Restrictions may be ordered only pursuant to a law. If the restriction serves to protect the free democratic basic order or the existence or security of the Federation or of a Land, the law may provide that the person affected shall not be informed of the restriction and that recourse to the courts shall be replaced by a review of the case by agencies and auxiliary agencies appointed by the legislature."
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0059

It's doubtless, really: No one is allowed to spy on your phone calls, no one is allowed to open your letters (not even your spouse), and internet service providers can't just monitor everything you are doing either.

The big question is how these laws apply to game chats. If they are considered part of the game's functions, it might be seen differently, I don't know.

Highlighted the bold parts extra for you.

Also, the only person who seems agitated here is you. I was just replying to a question.

SteveCampsOut · October 8

Yes

Syldras wrote: »

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

This is EU law:
"Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications."
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT

This is, as an example, German law (the 2nd point defines an exception - basically that, if there is a security threat like hints that a person might be planning a severe crime, his communication can be surveilled, according to laws):
"(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.

Communications is a big word. Not all communications are protected. This game falls under the laws concerning "Media" since it is a Media provider. When you publish something to a Media Provider, it's not protected by privacy laws unless it's concerning your actual Identity data like name, address, credit card and other finance data that the game keeps on file to accept your payment for their services. Chats, whispers and in game communications are not the same as ISP emails because of this. If you're so bugged out by this, take it up with a lawyer or, in EU's case, a Barista.

Next time you complain, at least take the time to read and quote my post fully (and look at what I was replying to - the question was NOT about the ESO chat, but about phone and internet service providers):

Syldras wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

Tra_Lalan wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

It's their game, their servers. You don't have the right to privacy using their chat system.

So when you use your phone, the service provider has the right to hear your calls?
Or when you use internet, your internet provider has the right to track your chats?

Yes, and yes. It's in the terms of service you have to agree to before using their services.

In the USA, that might be legal (I don't know), but in EU law as well as in the laws of several EU countries, communication by phone, e-mail and letters is protected.

This is EU law:
"Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications."
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT

This is, as an example, German law (the 2nd point defines an exception - basically that, if there is a security threat like hints that a person might be planning a severe crime, his communication can be surveilled, according to laws):
"(1) The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall be inviolable.
(2) Restrictions may be ordered only pursuant to a law. If the restriction serves to protect the free democratic basic order or the existence or security of the Federation or of a Land, the law may provide that the person affected shall not be informed of the restriction and that recourse to the courts shall be replaced by a review of the case by agencies and auxiliary agencies appointed by the legislature."
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_gg/englisch_gg.html#p0059

It's doubtless, really: No one is allowed to spy on your phone calls, no one is allowed to open your letters (not even your spouse), and internet service providers can't just monitor everything you are doing either.

The big question is how these laws apply to game chats. If they are considered part of the game's functions, it might be seen differently, I don't know.

Highlighted the bold parts extra for you.

Also, the only person who seems agitated here is you. I was just replying to a question.

No agitation and I did read the whole post including your comments about it being about phone, letters and email. I was pointing out that the portion of the law that you quoted didn't specifically say which communications, and I also was addressing your big question about how the laws pertain to game chats, which I covered under the "Media Providers" portion of my response. As for who you were replying to I clipped it because I wasn't replying to them, I was replying to you. When you write a letter to the editor of a newspaper, you can expect that letter to be published by the editor. It's a Media Outlet.

The laws that allow them to print your letters are the same laws that cover what you post to a media site like ESO's servers. IE, if you put it on their servers, PER THE TOS that you agree to, to play, you acknowledge that what you put on their servers above and beyond your personal information is publishable by them, or they wouldn't even be allowed to share your whispers and emails with the people you're aiming them at. This is why when people post stupid disclaimers on Facebook about how they don't give Facebook permission to share their information, they're flapping in the wind because they agreed to allow Facebook to share their posts and pictures or their own friends would never see what they post. It's the same thing!

JemadarofCaerSalis · October 8

Yes

spartaxoxo wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

Sleepsin wrote: »

Cazador wrote: »

I think people need to understand that your right to free speech really only covers suppression by the government. ZOS is not the government and you had to agree to a TOS to play the game.

Privacy laws apply to companies. TOS does not negate it.

NO they do not. Unless they are specifically targeting companies. The privacy guarantees are to keep government out of our lives, not to stop corporations from operating how they see fit. You see companies firing people for what they do in their private lives all the time if the company thinks it reflects badly on the company.

Privacy laws absolutely affect companies. ZOS literally listed some they are compliant with. And EU protection are generally stronger than the US

Privacy laws, and private data, do NOT pertain to discussions and things you post (at least not from what I have found, might be different in the EU). They pertain to private data, such as personally identifiable information (which you should NOT be posting in a chat, private or not, unless you are okay with the potential of someone else getting a hold of said information) and things like financial information, passwords and such.

So, to my very limited and un-lawyer knowledge, a person posting swear words and/or slurs, or things that a company says they don't allow on their site, and that data being sent to someone for moderation does NOT fall under privacy laws, at least not the one I found. Now, if the company was sending your passwords and credit card information, THAT would fall under the data privacy laws.

Now, full disclosure, I am American, and thus the information I found was specifically for American laws. It could be that the EU and other countries have looser definitions of what constitues 'private data'

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act protects private communication from access without prior consent. There are limited carve outs for surveillance by the company that stores it. ZOS entertainment obviously feels that they the ability to do this due to prior consent through the TOS as well as limited surveillance being permissible as the ones storing that data.

I am not a lawyer so I don't know if that's 100% accurate. But that's what Google is telling me is that private communications are protected and that there limited carve outs for the ones storing the data (so ZOS).

Yeah, I think this would be nullified by agreeing to the TOS when you first signed up, but I am also not a lawyer.

JemadarofCaerSalis · October 8

Yes

Syldras wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

It could be that the EU and other countries have looser definitions of what constitues 'private data'

In EU it's definitively the communication itself that is protected, no matter if sensitive info is transmitted or not. The only question is whether it applies to in-game chats. It's absolutely clear with phone calls and letters (or other items transported by a postal service), but with the many different ways communication takes place online, it's all less clear. Politics is often rather slow with new technological developments.

Yeah, I know in the US, the mail is federally protected and I assume the law would need a court order to open it, and we do have laws about no one being legally allowed to open mail unless it is addressed to them.

I also know that we do have laws about communications over the telephone, but never looked into that enough to know exactly what it is about (I figure anyone stupid enought to listen to my conversations deserves the boredom they will get), but also that I believe the court can order the carrier to show certain records.

AS you said, with the internet, laws tend to be further behind, and I don't know how the TOS actually works. Spartaxoxo mentioned that with one of the US laws, it is illegal without prior consent, but would the TOS be considered 'prior consent' because you agreed to it when you signed up?

I have the feeling this is something that *only* someone who has extensive legal experience with this particular type of situation would truly be able to answer. We can only really speculate.

Anyway, I don't think that this thread is really going to accomplish anything further, so I am going to *try* to back out and not respond further (my willpower isn't always the best:P)

Syldras · October 8

I found a handbook by the German government, unfortunately it's in German, an official translation is not available, and it's also from 2010, which means it might not be up to date. So it does NOT help in the current discussion.

I find it interesting nonetheless because it gives clear info on how the topic was seen back then. And indeed, online chat and private messages were considered to be protected by the privacy law.

A translation:

Guide for manufacturers, publishers and operators of online games

If a chat option is offered in an online game, this is usually a telemedia service. If the communication is aimed at a limited and clearly defined group of people, the strict secrecy of telecommunications may also apply to the transport route, to which the Telecommunications Act then applies. Chat content may therefore generally not be monitored or recorded without authorization in the event that it is not visible to everyone.

While chat systems are designed for group discussions, many online games also offer the option for two players to communicate directly with each other (so-called personal messages or private messages (PM)). In-game systems for exchanging messages and interfaces to an email service can be offered.

The transport of emails and other messages is usually a telecommunications service, so telecommunications secrecy applies. If the online game offers the option of writing messages (upstream) and reading messages (downstream), then these are telemedia services. The game operator is generally not allowed to view private communications between players. This also applies to the administrator when maintaining the systems.

SteveCampsOut · October 8

Yes

Syldras wrote: »

I found a handbook by the German government, unfortunately it's in German, an official translation is not available, and it's also from 2010, which means it might not be up to date. So it does NOT help in the current discussion.

I find it interesting nonetheless because it gives clear info on how the topic was seen back then. And indeed, online chat and private messages were considered to be protected by the privacy law.

A translation:

Guide for manufacturers, publishers and operators of online games

If a chat option is offered in an online game, this is usually a telemedia service. If the communication is aimed at a limited and clearly defined group of people, the strict secrecy of telecommunications may also apply to the transport route, to which the Telecommunications Act then applies. Chat content may therefore generally not be monitored or recorded without authorization in the event that it is not visible to everyone.

While chat systems are designed for group discussions, many online games also offer the option for two players to communicate directly with each other (so-called personal messages or private messages (PM)). In-game systems for exchanging messages and interfaces to an email service can be offered.

The transport of emails and other messages is usually a telecommunications service, so telecommunications secrecy applies. If the online game offers the option of writing messages (upstream) and reading messages (downstream), then these are telemedia services. The game operator is generally not allowed to view private communications between players. This also applies to the administrator when maintaining the systems.

So it's a "Guide", not a law.

Amottica · October 8

Yes

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

It could be that the EU and other countries have looser definitions of what constitues 'private data'

In EU it's definitively the communication itself that is protected, no matter if sensitive info is transmitted or not. The only question is whether it applies to in-game chats. It's absolutely clear with phone calls and letters (or other items transported by a postal service), but with the many different ways communication takes place online, it's all less clear. Politics is often rather slow with new technological developments.

Yeah, I know in the US, the mail is federally protected and I assume the law would need a court order to open it, and we do have laws about no one being legally allowed to open mail unless it is addressed to them.

I also know that we do have laws about communications over the telephone, but never looked into that enough to know exactly what it is about (I figure anyone stupid enought to listen to my conversations deserves the boredom they will get), but also that I believe the court can order the carrier to show certain records.

AS you said, with the internet, laws tend to be further behind, and I don't know how the TOS actually works. Spartaxoxo mentioned that with one of the US laws, it is illegal without prior consent, but would the TOS be considered 'prior consent' because you agreed to it when you signed up?

I have the feeling this is something that *only* someone who has extensive legal experience with this particular type of situation would truly be able to answer. We can only really speculate.

Anyway, I don't think that this thread is really going to accomplish anything further, so I am going to *try* to back out and not respond further (my willpower isn't always the best:P)

In Canada the company much obtain "meaningful" consent when collecting and using our information. It is all about privacy. Accepting the ToS that includes wording for such consent would clealry comply with that. I expect the USA and EU has similar stances on this.

Granted, some people may not like it but then again there are always disagreements on the boundries of various laws and regulations. That is why there are courts that have the final say.

Oh, BTW, our chat can always end up as public information. Players stream. While some cover the chat box there are cases where they do not any people can see everything that scrolls through their chat. One guild had to demote a player as the officer chat was being broadcast via their stream. This is just an FYI as it steps outside of the purpose of this thread but is germane since people are talking about privacy.

JonesFPS · October 8

No

Not speaking about the legal aspects as they have been talked about enough. And as stated as before its pretty clear at least for ZoS in the EU they have barely no other choice apart from optimizing their system to a point where they basicaly have an audit team for every suspicious line ingame, that does not just swing the banhammer.

Speaking to my fellow EU citizens, be carefull who you vote for. The Digital Service Act was been brought down a few years ago with big uproar by the online community only to be silently (or less in the spotlight) implemented a few years later. A lot of people in the EU voted for the same partys that brought out the original DSA in the latest elections AGAIN.

"if you trade freedom for safety, you will lose both" -- dont know who said it

Me beeing fully aware that i accepted the ToS, this right there is a reason for me to consider leaving ESO for good.

Syldras · October 8

SteveCampsOut wrote: »

So it's a "Guide", not a law.

The text I quoted is from a guidebook issued by the German government for companies who operate online games. It explains which factors have to be taken into consideration so the service adheres to German law. As I said, the publication is from 2010, so it might be outdated. But I included it here nonetheless because I find it interesting that indeed in-game communication was subjected to the same data privacy laws as communication outside of games.

agelonestar · October 8

No

Let me clear up the legal arguments here as they're all over the place!

Data Protection and Online Privacy laws vary from country to country. The most effective of these - by which I mean objectively the strongest - are EU directives (e.g. GDPR). None of these statutory regulations explicitly protect an individual against the monitoring of chat in an online game, and various of them expect a degree of monitoring in these circumstances so that effective moderation can take place.

In any case - literally any case - individual consent is baked into the regulations. This means that by agreeing to ZoS Terms, you have consented to this form of online monitoring and subsequent moderation at ZoS discretion.

ZoS is operating well within the legal boundaries set by any sovereign state you care to mention. They just are.

Now, whether you like it or not is a different question. And whether they're very effective at moderation is (as my previous post questions) is another topic entirely.

Hope that helps

Thee_Cheshire_Cat · October 8

No

HatchetHaro wrote: »

RaikaNA wrote: »

HatchetHaro wrote: »

Lovely! Now my private in-game roleplay with my significant other can now be monitored for any potential harmful subjects normally confined to private conversations and roleplay!

Lucky for you lot at ZOS customer support, I like to put on an exhibition!

I wonder how much personal depravity can one customer support representative handle before tapping out.

There is discord for that

Discord does not have support for ESO characters, emotes, and mementos, all of which enhance (and in my opinion, are integral to) the in-game roleplay experience.

THIS! Also, if we are paying to play/RP in a game, why the heck would we go elsewhere to talk? Doesn't make sense.

If ZOS wants to invade privacy/moderate/AI lurk whatever, at least give RPers a safe place to actually roleplay. Like makes homes a free zone or something, at the very least.

HatchetHaro · October 8

No

RaikaNA wrote: »

HatchetHaro wrote: »

RaikaNA wrote: »

HatchetHaro wrote: »

Lovely! Now my private in-game roleplay with my significant other can now be monitored for any potential harmful subjects normally confined to private conversations and roleplay!

Lucky for you lot at ZOS customer support, I like to put on an exhibition!

I wonder how much personal depravity can one customer support representative handle before tapping out.

There is discord for that

Discord does not have support for ESO characters, emotes, and mementos, all of which enhance (and in my opinion, are integral to) the in-game roleplay experience.

You can change your discord name to your ESO character name. Instead of using text.. use voice (Discord).. you can still use emotes and mementos in-game.

What you are describing is D&D. ESO is not D&D.

Also LOL at using voice chat to roleplay in ESO. Bro doesn't know how fundamentally different text chat roleplay and voice chat roleplay is.