One of the core philosophies of The Elder Scrolls Online is to allow you to play the way you want. You've probably heard us say it or experienced it for yourself: equip any weapon, wear any armor, choose from a myriad of skills, pick your role, make choices in quests, ignore certain quests and just explore, etc. The idea is that these choices tie you more to your character, and respect that you might want to play differently from one day to the next. Many times, I've heard people discuss how they like to solo, others like to "raid," and another group likes to PvP, so we know gamers never fit into neat categories.However, many people who have become attached to their character want to see how their character would perform in a variety of situations or game modes. This is part of the reason we don't have PvP gear and PvE gear, and also the reason we embrace being able to pick and max out more than a handful of skills. We've tried to avoid the danger of compartmentalizing and labeling certain players by acknowledging that circumstances change for people day-to-day. On Monday you might feel like playing alone, and Tuesday you might feel like working with friends on a dungeon. Whatever your motivation, you should be able to go do the thing you want without a lot of barriers.This is the philosophy behind the core systems of ESO-play the way you want to play-and it extends to our veteran content.
TYPES OF VETERAN CONTENT
While you can start PvP at level 10, the repeatable nature of the Alliance War means it is also veteran content. There are many different ways to play ESO, but here's a simple breakdown of the most common ways people will experience Veteran Content.
SOLO OR DUO PVP:
You can go through Cyrodiil (ESO's PvP zone) and quest, collect resources, go into delves, find Skyshards- the same way you play through PvE. Of course, in Cyrodiil there are player enemies who could ambush you at any time, or maybe you prefer to sneak and be the ambusher. The size of Cyrodiil allows you to play how you want, but with risk.
SMALL GROUP PVP:
Groups like this, sometimes referred to as "gank squads," can run around Cyrodiil taking farms or other resources. They can also be on the lookout for other small enemy groups or solo enemies to kill. Well-coordinated squads will have a ton of activities that make them valuable in the Alliance War.
LARGE GROUP PVP:
Large groups perform tasks like keep sieges, keep defense, taking an Elder Scroll, cutting off enemy supply lines, etc. Large group PvP is a dynamic affair. This is where coordination really pays off-the internet is filled with videos showing beta players in large groups doing just that.
SOLO OR DUO PVE:
Our Veteran Rank zones (playing other Alliance content), are the core of our solo / duo Veteran PvE content. I have said many times that our game opens up at 50-this is what I was talking about. At Veteran Rank 1 you can travel anywhere in the first or second alliance you want to go. When you meet the qualifications for opening up the third alliance, the entirety of the current game world is open to you. Yes, it does get harder, but that's part of the fun and challenge. When you consider that 2/3 of the hand-crafted content and quests are available to you after you hit the level cap of 50, the veteran solo / duo game is huge. Skyshards, quests, delves, Dark Anchors, crafting, collections, achievements-basically everything you enjoyed during the 1-50 game, are all available at these Veteran Ranks.
FOUR PERSON GROUP PVE:
For group-based Veteran PvE experience, we have our Veteran Dungeons. Veteran dungeons are new experiences and challenges with different stories that take off from where lower-level dungeons ended. There are reasons to repeat them, as they have very difficult achievements associated with them. We will ship with six Veteran Dungeons.
CRAGLORN (ADVENTURE ZONE)
The first ESO Adventure Zone is called Craglorn, a zone that is situated between Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. All content in Craglorn is built for a group of four. The story revolves around a mysterious removal of the constellations from the sky, so the Warrior, the Thief, the Mage, and the Serpent all play a part in unraveling the mystery of Craglorn.
Imagine a zone similar in setup to a standard PvE zone, but tuned for a group of four. Follow a story, or just go explore. Delves are instanced to your group; these are the interior spaces where you'll always find a boss and a Skyshard. There are events similar in mechanics to Dark Anchors but with a different fiction-and much more difficult. There are also story areas that are similar to very large dungeons-each has a quest guiding you through them. These can be replayed as much as you want. And this is just the tip of the iceberg: there are lots of little events, a full storyline and quests, more crafting opportunities, and entries to the Trials, our large-group Veteran PvE content.
TWELVE PERSON GROUP PVE:
Trials. Twelve people fighting through an increasingly difficult experience. A Trial is instanced to your group of twelve. There is a staging area where you can plan your attack and the Trial itself.
In a Trial, you will have a limited number of resurrections, known as a Soul Reservoir. Too many resurrections mean that you have failed the trial. It takes a lot of coordination to survive a Trial. The enemies you face in a Trial will be difficult, while the surroundings are some of the most beautiful places in ESO. Provided you do survive and make it to the end of a Trial, your group might make it to the leaderboard. Trials have a running clock and mistakes, including deaths, can add a time penalty. Turn in a great time, however, and you might make it to the top of the leaderboard. If you fail, your group can restart and try again.
THE FUTURE
Describing the veteran gameplay strategy in these terms also leaves out a very important, but necessary element in the strategy: new systems or growth in breadth as well as vertical growth of current systems. We will introduce new systems over time which will add to both the pre- and post-level 50 game. Adding fresh new systems helps broaden the experience for all players, giving you even more things to do on a given day. As an example, we might introduce horse racing. For those players who have fed their horses and think they are ready to test their riding skills.
This is just a small example of how breadth of activity is all part of the goal and strategy forThe Elder Scrolls Online veteran gameplay. You're not just building your character for one or two things, but for a variety of activities. Different days of the week and even different hours of the day can change your motivations for what you want to do or experience. We don't think of people as PvP players or PvE players-they are just gamers and we will support you playing the way you want to play.
