Elder Scrolls Online is going to have a lot of combat. It'll have duels, skirmishes and all out siege warfare between factions, all so one man or woman can sit the throne as Emperor over all the land. It'll be hard, nigh on impossible in-fact, but if you achieve it, you'll be handsomely rewarded.
At least until someone takes it from you.
To make it to the top of the pile, you'll need to accumulate Alliance points. You do this by slaying foes on the battlefield, taking control of keeps that surround the main Imperial City and collecting experience and loot. These goals can't be completed alone though, you'll need a team with you, an "alliance," to help you take the fight to the enemy and secure your own holdfasts.
Ultimately you'll need to take all of them too, but once your alliance has done it, if you have the most points of them all, you'll be elected Emperor of the world.
The powers you get in return will be in the form of a whole new skill tree, which you'll keep throughout the rest of your time playing the game, whether you end up losing the throne in a few hours or years. However once you've fallen from power, your skills will be slightly less powerful to allow the new emperor to become the most feared entity on a battlefield.
However it doesn't just pay to become emperor, it pays to be his/her friends too. Members of the alliance that help take the throne will be granted bonuses of their own, creating your own personal guard of super-powered warriors that can then help defend your newly won realm.
Elder Scrolls Online is launching in April this year and will charge a monthly supscriotion fee of $14.99.