<P> Similar to other MMORPGs, The Elder Scrolls Online originally used a mandatory monthly subscription model, until it transitioned to a buy - to - play model with microtransactions and an optional subscription in March 2015 . The game was then renamed as The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, and released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in June 2015 . As of 2017, the game had around a million monthly active players, with over 8.5 million players in total since release . </P> <P> As in previous The Elder Scrolls titles, gameplay is mostly nonlinear, with a mixture of quests, random events, and free - roaming exploration of the world . The game does not provide a mode for single - player offline play, although the developers stated that there would be "plenty of content" designed to accommodate players who prefer to play solo . </P> <P> The player is able to play as ten different races; four different varieties of humans: Nords, Redguards, Bretons, and Imperials; Elvish varieties: Dunmer (Dark Elves), Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves) and Orsimer (Orcs); and more bestial races: the Khajiiti and Argonians . Players must choose one of five classes when creating their character . Each class gives the player various different attacks, spells, and passive effects . The game has other character choices beyond those of race and class, such as the player character also being able to become either a vampire or a werewolf, each of which grants its own skill tree . </P> <P> As with other games in The Elder Scrolls series, the game is set on the continent of Tamriel . The events of the game occur a millennium before those of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and around 800 years before The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion . It has a broadly similar structure to Skyrim, with two separate conflicts progressing at the same time, one with the fate of the world in the balance, and one where the prize is supreme power on Tamriel . In The Elder Scrolls Online, the first struggle is against the Daedric Prince Molag Bal, who is attempting to meld the plane of Mundus with his realm of Coldharbour, and the second is to capture the vacant imperial throne, contested by three alliances of the mortal races . The player character has been sacrificed to Molag Bal, and Molag Bal has stolen their soul, the recovery of which is the primary game objective . </P>

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