This is a mini-series of articles that act as a sort of interview with an "Outsider" or someone who has never played any Elder Scrolls games. I wanted an unbiased, untainted opinion so I sought after one! This little experiment will hopefully shed some light on what new players are thinking when they check out TESO. I'm showing this Outsider a slew of pictures, videos and information and asking them a series of questions pertaining to what they saw.

This is the third topic of four which are as follows:

1) Characters and Graphics Progression
2) Storyline and Alliances
3) Cinematic Trailers and Gameplay Videos
4) TESO in General



For this portion of the interview, the Outsider watched three videos which I will link below in order of appearance to the Outsider:

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWXjzLEGV9U
Cinematic Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jNT5cMwxw0
Gameplay Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlEipFtHw7o

After watching all of the videos, I asked the outsider some questions. Just like previous articles, feel free to voice your own opinions as well!

Q. Do the trailers and videos leave you curious at all?
A. “After seeing the videos I’d be even more inclined to play. As I was watching it I’m going, wow this looks really great.”

Q. Could you differentiate between the races and alliances shown in the videos?
A. “Yeah, I think so. The first group you come across was the Nord’s obviously. The girl was an elf and the last group was the Redguards and Bretons.”

Q. From the cinematic trailer, which alliance/person do you find most enthralling?
A. “I didn’t really see much of the woman. They showed a ton of archery and the more brutish group but not so much of the other. I liked a couple for different reasons. I loved the hand-to-hand combat and the excitement of the archers. The acrobatics was pretty exciting. You could definitely see how all their strengths were working together. Really, the one with the girl leading was most interesting though just because the dynamic was the best in my opinion.”

Q. Does one trailer or video stick out in your mind? Or a portion of either of the before mentioned? Why?
A. “Well obviously I loved the realism they gave to the cinematic trailer. To actually see and almost get to feel the inner-workings of the game in the actual gameplay was great though.”

Q. In concerns with the gameplay, does it look enjoyable? Why?
A. “I’m really intrigued! I love the fact that so much of it is a group effort, I mean there’s no way you could have accomplished some of that without being part of a big group. I really like that there aren’t the limitations on your character because you can choose your traits and excel at more than one skill at a time.”

Q. Is the in-game animation up to par?
A. “The graphics are fantastic. Your character’s stand out but they’re still part of the world. Things seem more identifiable. You’re able to pick out things in the gameplay. It’s not just a flat world, it brings more dimension to the playable area.”

Q. After seeing these videos, have any of your opinions on the races you saw previously changed?
A. “Not really, I mean I would want to have time on my own to really research them all. In truth, I think they are all so well done that no matter what race you chose you’d be really pleased. The armor and weaponry and the characters themselves is just fantastic.”

While it was clear that the Outsider had problems remembering the names of the factions and races within them, they are rather fascinated with the way the game looks and feels as a whole. I believe their views (however stunted by the limited Elder Scrolls knowledge) have some truth to them and obviously reflect the game in a positive manner.

Catch the Outsider's fourth and final interview portion next week on General TESOF knowledge.