Bethesda carries out a bi-weekly “Ask Us Anything” about upcoming MMO The Elder Scrolls Online over on the game's blog, and the latest entry is an informative exploration of one of the three alliances that feature in the game: the Daggerfall Covenant. Since The Elder Scrolls Online is set in the second era of the Elder Scrolls timeline, even those who don't play MMOs but are fans of the RPG series should read up on some of the historical information coming out of this game.
For example, we learn that Orcs – who are one of the three races, along with the Bretons and Redguards (both humans) – have an “inferiority complex” as a result of ongoing poor treatment from the other races. In The Elder Scrolls Online, the Orcs' Orsinium Kingdom has only relatively recently been admitted as a full province of the Second Empire. Their love of Orsinium is what convinced them to join the Covenant, since the Bretons promised they could revive the kingdom “unmolested” once the Empire was re-established.
We also learn a little about the relationships between the races in the Covenant, for example that while some individual Bretons and Redguards might be unhappy about the inclusion of the Orcs, it's generally accepted as a better idea to join them than fight them. And apparently the Orcs try to keep their Daedra worship behind closed doors, so that religious conflict might be minimised.
Hopefully, the game itself will make the most of these kinds of issues, the differences between the races and how they interact. It'll need to if Bethesda wants it to be more than just any old MMO, and end up a game Elder Scrolls fans can really be proud to play.
