The Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax has announced that changes to racial traits will be made in the future. Players have very different reactions to the announced changes.
Among the players, three camps are forming. Some players are looking forward to the adjustments. Others do not trust Zenimax to make these changes or fear that all races will play the same. The rest of the players are taking a wait-and-see approach.
The racial skills are to be revised
This has happened: Zenimax has announced that the influence of passive racial traits will be reduced. Players should have the option to choose between different passive abilities that best support their current role. The influence of the traits is expected to increase with higher levels.
Despite the changes, each race should still retain its individuality.
What are racial traits? Racial traits grant different bonuses. For example, agile Khajiit have an increased critical hit chance, while High Elves have more Magicka to use abilities.
The players are torn
What do the players think? A player initiated a survey in the official ESO forum, in which 408 players participated. There is no clear trend in the survey results. 40% of players tend to lean negative, while 31% are positive about the changes. 26% find the announcement neutral.
This is criticized:
- Some players fear that this will make the choice of race irrelevant, and players will only choose based on appearance.
- Since racial abilities have a certain influence on a character’s strength, some players spend quite a bit of money changing their race to maximize their performance in PvP and PvE. This group criticizes the changes especially because it would render their past investments worthless.
- Some players criticize Zenimax’s ability to maintain game balance. They do not trust the developer to properly revise the racial abilities. An example is the unnecessary change to the Sorcerer.
This is praised:
- Some races have significantly stronger racial abilities than others. For example, High Elves are very good mages, while Orcs bring good passive abilities for PvP in Tamriel. The planned changes could restore balance among the races.
- Currently, certain race and class combinations are better than others. Those who want to get the most out of their class are therefore limited to specific combinations of race and class. The changes could lead to new class builds, which would be beneficial for the diversity of the game.
That’s why some players do not care:
- Some players believe that races should be chosen independently of alliances to better balance PvP in Tamriel.
- Currently, not enough information about the planned changes is known. Consequently, some players are observing and holding back for now.
- Some players generally oppose the existence of passive abilities. In their view, it is good if Zenimax reduces the influence of passive abilities.
What do you think of the planned changes to racial skills?
