General:Ask Us Anything: Alliances at War

Originally published April 22, 2013. The original article can be found here.

We answer your PvP-related questions about The Elder Scrolls Online in our newest Ask Us Anything.

You and other ESO fans had lots of great questions about PvP for us, and we've selected some of them to answer in today's Ask Us Anything. Thanks for sending them in.

We want to see more of your questions! Ask away by emailing us at community@elderscrollsonline.com, and we'll consider them for an upcoming Ask Us Anything. Please enjoy today's answers, and come back in two weeks for more.

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How are siege weapons constructed? Do you need special resources? Are siege weapons mobile or stationary? – By Eric Aholou

Siege weapons can be obtained and constructed by anyone that has the Alliance Points to purchase them. You won't need any other resources to buy them and deploy them all on your own. As for mobility: rams are mobile, and ballistae, catapults, and trebuchets can be packed up after they're deployed so that they can be repositioned.

A group of four people is a rather small force in PvP with major PvP guilds having 20+ players online simultaneously. Will there be an alternative group size? – By Eric Aholou

Yes, there will be groups of larger sizes than four. We'll have more details for you about that later.

As a serious roleplayer from multiple games and guilds/communities, I find it essential for immersion to have places to chat and roleplay with my friends and strangers such as taverns and unique open-spaced and furnished buildings. Will there be open-spaced buildings in the major cities and outside them? – By Ryan Houghton

There are lots of taverns in the game, and many places for large gatherings of people.

It has been mentioned multiple times that players can invade areas surrounding enemy keeps in order to starve them of resources. What kinds of resources are these, and how will they affect gameplay? – By Eric Duey

The three resources around a keep (lumber mills, farms, and mines) fuel its upgrade process. Lumber mills help make keep doors stronger and allow them to repair themselves automatically. Farms make keep guards tougher and stronger, and mines help reinforce the walls, making them harder to destroy and allowing them to repair themselves over time as well. Taking control of resources around keeps also shuts off various patrols in the vicinity, so it's always advantageous to take resources before laying siege to the keep itself.

The biggest incentives for capturing and holding keeps are the benefits and perks that players will receive from ownership of that territory. Can you elaborate at this time what these will be? – By Eric Duey

While we aren't ready to reveal the specifics yet, you and your Alliance will receive benefits which last only so long as your Alliance retains ownership of the territory.

Will there be a PvP ranking system? If so, will it grant titles, gear, skills, or additional stats? – By Kevin Kent

Yes, there will be a ranking system. You can earn Alliance Ranks, which grant titles and let you purchase weapons and armor. There's also a PvP skill line that you can get new abilities from—we'll have more details about that later.

Will I be able to level from 10 to 50 in Cyrodiil at a comparable pace to someone who levels doing PvE? – By Micah Hood

Leveling speed in PvP is not as consistent as leveling through PvE due to the nature of enemy player population. However, there are lots of activities in Cyrodiil that can supplement PvP combat, like questing and exploring. You can encounter players from the enemy Alliances throughout Cyrodiil, so there's always potential for conflicts.

For you, what's gonna be the best thing about the game? – By Simon Langevin

Getting it into the hands of the players (including yours!).

How will stealth/sneak be implemented into PvP and how will players detect a sneaking opponent? – By Cameron Neilson

There are a few different ways you can detect sneaking opponents. For example, a player who's sneaking is revealed upon taking damage. There are spells that can detect opponents who are trying to sneak around. It's also important to remember that sneaking uses stamina, and you really don't want to be out of stamina going into a battle.

In Cyrodiil, will NPC towns be hostile? I know the Cyrodiil government is corrupt and evil, but will the people reflect the rulers, or will you be able to travel peacefully? – By Shane Ford

Villages are Alliance-neutral. However, guards will patrol a town if your Alliance has captured the nearby keep. This makes it safer for your Alliance to do quests in that town, but you won't be 100% safe, obviously. NPC towns and villages will not be hostile, but there are NPCs in the wild that are definitely not your friends.