Well the Fallen are just evil "super" humans of some sort with a rather acute neophobia of sorts it seems.. so no elfy things there..

But i am rather curious as to how distinct they will actually be, will those destinctions actually matter ?

The Fallen are derivative of men.  

From a game mechanic point of view, The Fallen make use of death magic, Men make use of life magic.  It's not so much a good/evil thing as it is the worship of death vs. the worship of life.

When Fallen civilizations territory expands, the landscape changes to be twisted and deadly and Fallen Civilizaitons get a significant combat bonus versus Men on those territories.  By contrast, when the kingdoms of men expand, life is returned to the world.

Or put another way, the world of the Fallen looks a lot like Mordor.

So are there factions who equally worship both death and life? 12 factions seems like there's room for 1-2 both Fallen and Human groups that are actually more like each other than they are like the rest of "their side."

I'm guessing the factions each have their spheres, how I don't know.  Since there are 5 spheres, it can't just be one each.  I'm guessing the sixth faction isn't going to be magic void since the channelers are the main character, perhaps an archmage with all spheres, perhaps the other five aren't even single sphere characters themselves.

For those who want elves... it will be possible to mod the race in yourself.

On a side note, I find the Fallen to sound a lot like Chaos in Warhammer... I'm just saying...

Custom races are a staple feature of this title. Which is why I'm so happy - I want to play drow. I only hope that underground areas are truly a part of it.

Even though there are only 5 spheres, Life and Death occupy the same "slot", so you can kind of say there are about 6 spheres total.  I find that a bit confusing, but whatever.  And I also imagine when you are a channeler that you'll have more than just one sphere of magic to draw from, so you aren't just a Fire channeler, but maybe a Fire channeler with some focus in Air and Wind, too.  Or something.

If the area with the Fallen looks like Mordor, how does that land produce any good wood?  Or food?  That's always puzzled me.

Don't forget, Mordor looks horrible, but plants do grow there.  Just not the kind you or I would prefer to deal with.  Thorny, poisonous, nasty-tasting stuff... that orcs love to eat!

My guess is that the operative phrase in Frogboy's Mordor reference might be "a lot like."

O.k so it seems that we could costumize and creat new factions but to what dagree? would I be able to recreat my beloved Dwarven kingdom of Nutbar?

Would there be a race designe tool like in spore? /drool (would make online games legendary)

Warder

(running off to buy 64bit OS and 8 GB Ram)

Yea ... I'm pressuring my dad to get the same ... for the humongous maps that will take months to explore & conquer.

Why does every fantasy game need Elves,Dwarves and Orcs ?

I do like Tolkiens work very much but its been overused in todays games...

Cant company that create games also create something beyond those races or hire somebody who can ?  Did creativity died in 21 century ?

So for now,am perfectly happy with Men and Fallen ones into 12 factions,if game turn out to be success we can expect more races and factions,right ?

Quite happy as well, besides, any non human races could be added later on with more thought to them beyond just being reskinned men or fallen.

I agree. I'm getting sick of the elf/man/dwarf trichotomy. I don't think that Tolkien has to be copied at every turn, because Tolkien is only one type of perfection. There are other ways to make a good game/fantasy universe. I'm fascinated at the possibility of in-game mutations/alterations of your race. If all good factions start looking similar, maybe the fire-specialty race tans, or even takes on elemental aspects. The possibility of changes based on your choices (like what we were promised in Fable 2) is fascinating. I'm happy to find this game so early- I'll be able to see the full life cycle of a great game!

(Is there a spellcheck function here? I looked but couldn't find it.)

I've been fairly elf-obssessed when I'm doing a D&D-related game, but I basically agree that the Tolkien framework is overused. What I hope to hear more about soon is how the game "canon" (text, not weapon) will relate to the planned high level of customizability. Have I missed any big info on the how the campaigns, sandbox mode, and multiplayer might differ?