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Written by Dustin Murphy

Welcome to the world of Tamriel, Bethesda Zenimax’s ever-growing world with unique storylines that has begun to capture hearts of fans. As it grows, Matt Firor steps on stage, welcoming players, fans, and viewers from around the world letting us know what’s going on with the game. With telling us about the launch of the game, added things such as the Justice system (something he personally loves), he also went over how the combat system has changed, but also the Champion system as players work their way up into the game it is now. He stated since the games reboot, it became more successful than it was before since the console launch absolutely was larger than expected.

Before he discusses the DLC pack: Imperial City, he stated we will be seeing new content every twelve weeks, which will help the game grow free of charge for ESO Plus members, or we can separately purchase them on an individual basis. As he covers that, we get to see some of the first concept work of the Imperial City where we will see Overland city streets PvE and PVP, but also 2 PvE 4-player dungeons, Giant PvP Public Dungeon, tons of new gear, and rewards. After having discussed the fact the game is based upon the IP itself, we know how we saw the game the first time around, but we are seeing what the Imperial City looks like 700 years before, a place that isn’t just the same city you knew. You will get to see the different districts, which will have their own quests, but we are not going to see just the Imperial City you remember. Much like Stalingrad, the zone will have guards fighting monsters as fans enter it in order to keep Molag Bal’s armies at bay, which will push fans into a deep and complex story they will enjoy within the game. As they preview the finished concept art, fans will get to see the town as it was before Molag Bal had been stopped. Thanks to street fighting, fans get to see the city in a very damaged state, one that leaves fans fighting against each other, but also the armies.

With Cyrodil under-siege, the concept art we get to see is a very grim, but dark place, one where the Arboretum District has been damaged, one that shows Daedric warriors burning the books within the tower, we actually get to see the new White-Gold Tower in the game, one that has been damaged as the planemeld begins to occur. With this DLC being based upon a Daedric Invasion, fans get to see an artist concept of the Winged Twilight Monster, one that reminds me of a twist between a bat, a demon, and overall; a badass monster that makes me shiver at the sight of it. We also get to see world bosses wandering the streets, and he just happens to be one. As art begins to roll through, we get to see the new alliance armors, which gives us a few of what they look like. The Aldamari Dominion armor looks great, but while the Daggerfall armor looks amazing, the Ebonheart sets themselves apart from the rest with how it looks; I’m sure this is something that will not disappoint fans of the series.

With this battle taking place, the story is becoming a part of it. With Rich Lambert coming on stage, we get to learn that ESO is getting a bit of a change. Rich is the Creative Director of ESO. We learn that they come into a list of set criteria and design goals when working on the game, which allows the team to work on the same goal within the long run, something rather important when they are working on the game in order to keep themselves in check when providing us the experience they do. With PVP being expanded, we learn that they are working on focusing on close quarters combat, which will be rather frenetic and based upon the streets within the Imperial City, but also twist together with the story in itself, which will be one of the staple points of them to wrap up some of the Molag Bal information regarding this chapter of his story arch. With Imperial City preparing to launch, we learn that PvE and PvP will be intertwined, something that players will become familiar with as they begin to battle against each other in order to progress through the story driven content. They worked hard in order to balance this to keep the game from being too unbalanced from where it should be. We also get a glimpse of the Xivkyn: Molag Bal’s elite force that will be appearing for the first time in the game, but we also get to see a new alternate currency that will be implemented with the DLC itself. We also get a note that shows new gear, pets, and costumes for those of you who enjoy these little quirks.

But we wonder.. How will this work? This is quickly covered as we learn that the dungeons follow normal dungeon rules that makes them PvE only for those who either buy it in the crown store or head off to the ESO plus option. We also learn that Imperial City is tied into the Cyrodil home base, and there you will get a quest to head into the Cyrodil sewers, which is a massive 3 level public dungeon with pvp, but we also learn that there is six overland city districts, each of them containing their own city while learning what Molag Bal is actually up to with his invasion of the city, something we learn is Molag Bal’s last ditch effort at Planemedling the city into his realm; something you are tasked to work on stopping with. AS he ends his notes, we get to see a clip that displays what Cyrodil’s city looks like. This includes the city sewers, streets, and the sewer entrance where NPC’s are wandering around. AS we get a glimpse of the sewers, we get to see small plane portals in the way as Molag Bal’s forces work on opening their portal. Many of you will notice a few of the locations within it, clear down the statue of a former ruler. As the sewers are displayed to us, we see just what Molag Bal is up to. This includes glimpses of the districts where enemies are running around, the Arboretum district that is under sieges, books being burnt, and the Daedra cheering at what is happening only to shift to the Temple District, which has been over run, and no longer is the city we remember. The Nobles District, which shows guards fighting off the Daedric forces while city dwellers screen. The video shifts to the Elven Gardens where slaves work away at cutting down trees, but only to shift to a video where trebuchets are bombarding the city, then the scene shifts to the Arena District where Daedra are cheering on the doings of their own people as civilians are working away.

After this trailer ends, we get to shift focus to the PvE instances, which goes to the Imperial City Prison, which will feature a 4-player dungeon, regular and veteran modes. We learn that we get to meet an old accomplice from the Coldharbour missions, which lets us meet Lyranth; the Daedra that helped us before. She wants revenge for the wrongdoings that have been done to both her, and her clan. After he gives us this information, he shifts us once more to a video, which displays the visuals we will see. This includes a Daedra holding a skull, chains tearing through walls where the Planemeld has begun, but also Soul Shriven creatures feasting upon corpses. We also witness skeleton’s hanging, Daedra begin to act like Coldharbour is beginning to meld in, which gives it the feel that Molag Bal has truly begun his final approach of taking over. We also learn about the White-Gold Tower Instance, one that he personally takes a lot of pride in, which makes this tougher for them to do since the expectations are high due to Oblivion. Much like before, this is a dungeon that follows the same set of rules as previous ones. Just like the others, there are daily Undaunted missions. This one follows the story where the Moth Priests began to hide the Elder Scrolls from Molag Bal, and players will be helping hunt one of them down in order to stop Molag Bal’s forces. As players hunt it down? A little bit of unexpected occurrences happen. As he introduces it to us, the focus takes shift once more to the screen where we see Soul Shriven feasting, players obtaining the Elder Scroll, and causing an unexpected event to occur. The music has definitely set the mood of the instance as we focus in on the various creatures roaming the hall, but also the fact that the White-Gold Tower has been ripped apart into a sense of damaged space and time, but perhaps the fact it’s shifting planes. On that note, he announces that PC users can access the PTR in order to take the new expansion for a spin. He highly encourages you to jump on it, play it, and give them the feedback that they need to know; this includes impressions on armour, weapons, and the sets. This also includes the enemies we will be taking on in the very near future.

As he leaves the stage we get to see Brian Wheeler who is the Lead PvP Designer, which sends a quick thank you to everyone back at the studio for working on the Imperial City content back in Baltimore. With Cyrodil being expanded, we get to see that this is being expected, and it is truly being built, and has been with PVP at its core mind. Not for you? Be careful, there will be places where PvP will be a siege war, instead this is a street brawl where players can hunt each other down, take out their enemies, and even lurk among the sewers which are being made as a PvP flagged zone. Accessing the Imperial City will be opened for all alliances to enter the city itself. Don’t fear folks, we all know that you will be fighting for it hard, but luckily? You won’t have to swim across the lake in order to enter the sewers. There is also a place where you can access the Tel Var Stones, which are the new currency within the game itself. These drop from any PvE encounters such as killing monsters, looting, killing an enemy player, which can be retrieved off their bodies. Let the hunting season begin, remember, the hunter is now the hunted. What else is new? We get to see the Arena District “Sweeper” boss, which is big, ugly, and it looks quite powerful where fans will be teaming up to take it out, but there are also Xivkyn battles that will ensue within the tunnels. Don’t forget, these things will be within the sewers also. Treasure Scamps have also been added within the title itself, and will be a place for gamers to hunt down some of the loot, that can be obtained through one of the various chests within the game. This new PvP system is created for both small and large groups as a street brawl. The Tel Var Stone system will be an intricate addition to the game. Will you be hunting down the NPCs? We will.

The new video shows on some 4v4 action, the bosses in the sewers where players are attacking the creature and itself, but also a boss battle that ensues completely as fans try to survive. As Brian steps on stage, we get to see Eric Wrobel, lead design step on stage as he talks and discusses the Imperial City’s gear and rewards. Here, fans will be able to gain high level Veteran gear stuff, which varies between level 15, level 16, but 14 being the starting items. Here we also learn the new unique sets such as crafting, PvE, and even PvP. Instead of making items being crafted being more powerful, we learn that items that are dropped via PvP and PvE will be more powerful by default. We also learn that there are twelve new sets in total, 2 monster masks, 6 Tel Var Stone sets, 3 crafted sets, and 11 revamped PvP reward sets. Bags for set items have been reduced so that fans do not have to continually dig through dozens in order to get their items they needed. With these type of sets, fans will gain seven armor pieces total in order to complete the set. This is normal for fans who play a fair-share of MMO’s. Something that is truly enjoyable to hear about when it comes to ESO. We also learn about the new Jewelry Mini-set, where characters will get upgraded stat bonuses versus constant procs. There’s also new Undaunted Masks, which players can equip to enjoy. All of the Monster Masks can be obtained through the new dungeons within the game. The Lord Warden one has been exposed which allows for players to put down an aura of Magic Protection when damaged.

Crafting sets have obtained VR 15 and 16 so that they can craft new high level gear. This also means crafting has been tuned so that new ores have been added to the game. Fans can use the Tel Var Stones will help fans obtain these items when needed for them to use. We also learn about the new Treasure Scamps that will be hidden within the map itself, where these new sets can be obtained. A nod to Diablo 3 I’m sure, which is quite an awesome nod towards one of our favorite games in the free time. We learn about the new Soul-shriven Skin that will be added to the game so that fans will look like a Soul-shriven itself. The Portal Stone has been added to the game so that it can be used anywhere in the city where your home base or safe area is within the Imperial City itself. A new enchantment type has also been added called the Prismatic Enchantments. As things wrap up, we learn that the game has been significantly expanded compared to before where players will find items earning a sense of equality within the long run between both PvE and PvP.

As Eric steps off stage, Matt takes the stage once more to re-iterate several of the points of the game have been made for those fans to enjoy. The expansion launches on PC on August 31st and on consoles September 6th, 2015. As he states that he brings up the idea of beyond, we learn that the third quarter one has been announced, we also learn that the Orcish home locale has been added as the next expansion known as Orsinium. We expect to hear more about the upcoming more expansion as we get to see the bloodied hand print of the Dark Brotherhood will be entering into the game next year for those of you wanting to know the long wrong. Thieves Guild has also been announced into the game. We learn that the game will also be getting Quality of Life Updates within the long run, which includes a Looking For Group update so that fans can get to try out, which includes PvE with other alliance members, which begins with the Dungeon Finder itself that only includes ⅓ of the player base itself in the current state. For folks who want subtitles? This will be getting added in with a future update using native subtitles. For those on PC controller support has also been announced as part of the future planning for the game, which makes the controller UI fully possible instantly for fans. This means it will be in beta for fans, which means this will switch between controller or mouse as well as keyboard instantly upon the one used.

Removing Veteran Ranks has been discussed as something that will be removed later in the game, this means abilities, combat, and even weapons. Want a Champion System as the main-go-to? This will be happening as a replacement system, and of course there is much, much, much more coming in the future thanks to player Feedback on the forums. So jump in, speak up, and help evolve this beloved title.