[Megathread] Elder Scrolls Online

[Allyrion]

It more has to do with the type of game they are trying to make and that is one part being Group/Solo PvE play where ppl can be the focal point of their story or band together to tackle different obstacles and missions together. And the other part is Massive world PvP. So because they want this certain kind of exploration/story experience similar to what you get in a normal elderscrolls game they dont want other players from the warring faction to interrupt your story, it would be like someone jumping into your skyrim game and killing you.

So they want each faction to have its own central story and adventures to do. I like to think of it as 3 different elderscrolls games. Each one taking place in different areas but all during the same time period. I dont have a problem with making alts if the story is good or the game makes you want to explore all the different areas they have.

That makes perfect sense and all, but it's depressing that if I don't play an alt then I may never see half of Tariel. I don't hate alts, but I'm probably not going to make one any time soon if I'm starting a new game.
I don't know if they'll use any of the WoW phasing or portals or something so we at least visit the other places in quests.
I don't care about pvp or breaking the immersion, but if this game becomes a success and I stick with it, I'll wish my character could see the rest of the world (without making a new one).
Too early to tell how it feels though.

[ddsad2212]

God can they just announce when the beta is coming out. I don't mind if they say it is in 3 months time I just want a date to look forward to. But obviously the sooner the better

[indoordinosaur]

It more has to do with the type of game they are trying to make and that is one part being Group/Solo PvE play where ppl can be the focal point of their story or band together to tackle different obstacles and missions together. And the other part is Massive world PvP. So because they want this certain kind of exploration/story experience similar to what you get in a normal elderscrolls game they dont want other players from the warring faction to interrupt your story, it would be like someone jumping into your skyrim game and killing you.

So they want each faction to have its own central story and adventures to do. I like to think of it as 3 different elderscrolls games. Each one taking place in different areas but all during the same time period. I dont have a problem with making alts if the story is good or the game makes you want to explore all the different areas they have.

But you could easily make a game where enemy players can't interrupt your story line. They could put in penalties for for invading opposing player territory, they could make you unflagged for PvP in your own zone. Or perhaps they could do something fun like put bounties on the heads of people who gank/kill NPCs causing gankers to lose gold on their death and defenders to gain that gold. Anything is better than putting up some immersion-killing invisible wall, that's completely the opposite of what you'd expect to see in an ES game.

I really worry that their whole motivation for faction-locked territories was financial or the result of executive meddling rather than it being good MMO design. Forcing you to level up three characters in order to see all parts of the map is a great way for them to keep you subbed for an extra couple months. As skeptical as I am I do still intend on giving the game a chance once it releases, who knows, it might not be that bad.

[Deleted]

hmm, i hadn't thought of faction imbalance yet. i'd imagine that daggerfall covenant will be the least played, and aldmeri dominion being most played.

I'd say the same except put Ebonheart Pact first instead as most played. With Skyrim fresh in memories and Morrowind largely celebrated as an amazing game that got alot of players hooked on the series in the first place, I think it'll recieve a huge popularity. Add to the fact it's the largest area in comparrison with the Dominion second and Covenant third, I don't see it other ways. Although we'll have to wait and see ofcourse.

I'm still sticking to being a Breton. I don't mind being among the least played tbh, I applaud it. It'll leave me more chance to stalk the highlands and farmlands in peace as the lone ranger, potentially with my friends by my side to enjoy some solitude in a potentially marvellous enviroment.

That's not to say I won't be rolling an alt for both the Pact and Dominion just to experience it, but my main will be Covenant. Breton = Humans with Mer roots ftw!

[Pachycrocuta]

Or having full PvP goes against their game idea. From my understanding, this isn't a full on war. The central government (Cyrodiil) is corrupted and 3 people (leaders of ebonheart, aldmeri, and daggerfall) feel like they could do better, and thus stage a coup in order to rule Tamriel. This isn't World of Warcraft or SW:TOR where the 2 sides are going at each other. It's 3 people who think they could rule the empire better than what's already in place.

[Deleted]

God can they just announce when the beta is coming out. I don't mind if they say it is in 3 months time I just want a date to look forward to. But obviously the sooner the better

Keep in mind, even if they started it today and you were'nt invited - nothing would change. With the NDA, those invited to the closed Beta are not even allowed to share the information about it. Heck, even if they had ALREADY begun running closed Betas but were keeping it quiet to avoid "Omg why were'nt I picked?!" those participating right now would not be allowed to tell.

So unless you're selected, nothing's changed =)

[Zeek Daniels]

But you could easily make a game where enemy players can't interrupt your story line. They could put in penalties for for invading opposing player territory, they could make you unflagged for PvP in your own zone. Or perhaps they could do something fun like put bounties on the heads of people who gank/kill NPCs causing gankers to lose gold on their death and defenders to gain that gold. Anything is better than putting up some immersion-killing invisible wall, that's completely the opposite of what you'd expect to see in an ES game.

I really worry that their whole motivation for faction-locked territories was financial or the result of executive meddling rather than it being good MMO design. Forcing you to level up three characters in order to see all parts of the map is a great way for them to keep you subbed for an extra couple months. As skeptical as I am I do still intend on giving the game a chance once it releases, who knows, it might not be that bad.

I think its immersion breaking when someone your fighting against is just trollollollollolling through your zone. Elderscrolls is all about immersion, making you feel like your actually in that world and that it is a living and breathing world. I dont think it was any higher power that said you cant have xfaction zones or even financial or server tech. I just think they thought this is how their game should be.

[ddsad2212]

Keep in mind, even if they started it today and you were'nt invited - nothing would change. With the NDA, those invited to the closed Beta are not even allowed to share the information about it. Heck, even if they had ALREADY begun running closed Betas but were keeping it quiet to avoid "Omg why were'nt I picked?!" those participating right now would not be allowed to tell.

So unless you're selected, nothing's changed =)

At least then I could stop waiting for it:P. Also they have said that they will say once beta invites are been sent.

[Deleted]

But you could easily make a game where enemy players can't interrupt your story line. They could put in penalties for for invading opposing player territory, they could make you unflagged for PvP in your own zone. Or perhaps they could do something fun like put bounties on the heads of people who gank/kill NPCs causing gankers to lose gold on their death and defenders to gain that gold. Anything is better than putting up some immersion-killing invisible wall, that's completely the opposite of what you'd expect to see in an ES game.

I really worry that their whole motivation for faction-locked territories was financial or the result of executive meddling rather than it being good MMO design. Forcing you to level up three characters in order to see all parts of the map is a great way for them to keep you subbed for an extra couple months. As skeptical as I am I do still intend on giving the game a chance once it releases, who knows, it might not be that bad.

To be fair, I've said several times in this thread that I agree, it's a bit of a shame that you can't explore the whole of Tamriel on one character. But I firmly believe it's for the sake of tailoring content and story to the specific race. I've made this example multiple times but I'll repeat it again;

Let's say you're playing as a member of the Covenant. You're sent to destroy an outpost of dastardly Nords who've managed to sneak into High Rock and it's utmost importance that the infiltrators are destroyed, building a storyline on that event. You venture towards the outpost only to find 30 Nords running around randomly in your zone lolling around or exploring. Would that not break immersion somewhat and undermine the value of what the quest is trying to make you feel? "Why is the outpost of X nords such a big deal when there's a Nord /dancing next to the quest giver anyways?"

Alot of methods could be done to prevent this. I've suggested the compromise of what if they phased the zones then. Let's say you're playing a Nord (again for example only) and you want to go to, say, High Rock. You approach the border but the moment you cross it, you get phased. You'll no longer encounter other players except others from the Pact also exploring, there'll be NPC's but no quests and anything you do will not affect the 'real' world, it's entirely phased. You can kill away as you like, die, explore caves but without quests. All you can do is run around and see how everything looks. When you're tired of looking at the pretty scenary, venturing into the caves and such, you cross back into Skyrim and BAM! you're back in the 'real' world where you have quests tailor made to you, dungeons which makes sense for you, explorations which is designed just for you and other Pact members and you can continue as always where you impact the world.

Such a thing could potentially push the release several months as it requires rehauling of design all around. Contrary to common belief, stuff like that is not just written in 5 minutes during coffee breaks, but it IS possible. Ofcourse it would require them to strip other components for the game to meet expected release date, but it would provide a fitting compromise for the players who think alts sucks or who might play alts but would still like to see the world for their mains.

Ofcourse that's just my take on it. I would love something like that as it covers the ability to explore what you like but retain your own tailored experience and adventure within the zone that makes sense for you, also avoiding disruption from players belonging to other factions.

---------- Post added 2013-02-04 at 01:08 AM ----------

At least then I could stop waiting for it:P. Also they have said that they will say once beta invites are been sent.

Yeah, that's what they said indeed. But as I also mentioned, maybe they're just pretending not to have already opened the gates for some testing phases to avoid the "OMG why did'nt I get picked?!" cries that are sure to follow once the actual announcement is made. Afterall, anyone who gets invited are covered by the NDA so nobody would be aware of it anyways except the actual players, and even in future, you're never allowed to tell unless you specifically get an 'okay' by ZeniMax to do so. (I'll refer to the pinned post in the Video Game Forum main page which displays the NDA)

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...SURE-AGREEMENT

[derpkitteh]

I'd say the same except put Ebonheart Pact first instead as most played. With Skyrim fresh in memories and Morrowind largely celebrated as an amazing game that got alot of players hooked on the series in the first place, I think it'll recieve a huge popularity. Add to the fact it's the largest area in comparrison with the Dominion second and Covenant third, I don't see it other ways. Although we'll have to wait and see ofcourse.

I'm still sticking to being a Breton. I don't mind being among the least played tbh, I applaud it. It'll leave me more chance to stalk the highlands and farmlands in peace as the lone ranger, potentially with my friends by my side to enjoy some solitude in a potentially marvellous enviroment.

That's not to say I won't be rolling an alt for both the Pact and Dominion just to experience it, but my main will be Covenant. Breton = Humans with Mer roots ftw!

i would have figured daggerfall would be the largest, since they have hammerfell. i'm starting with covenant myself, as a redguard dual-wielder. always wanted to hang out in hammerfell, and i love redguards <3

but yeah... i just don't know if morrowind will be enough to outweigh the elf love of the mmo market lol. i'd say it'll alternate between dominion and ebonheart, with dominion eventually staying slightly ahead as the morrowind nostalgia settles down.

[Tabbycat]

I love the Dunmer so that's what I'm playing. I'd be playing them no matter what because I absolutely loved Morrowind. Well, I still love it cause I still play it.

[indoordinosaur]

I think its immersion breaking when someone your fighting against is just trollollollollolling through your zone. Elderscrolls is all about immersion, making you feel like your actually in that world and that it is a living and breathing world. I dont think it was any higher power that said you cant have xfaction zones or even financial or server tech. I just think they thought this is how their game should be.

But again, if they implement it right the people you're fighting against won't be able to just trollollolloll through your zone. They would have to be sneaky or otherwise clever or in a large enough group to keep from getting killed in dangerous territory. In a real war you would expect occasional invaders to go where they don't belong. Not to have everybody politely stay in their own little area.

[Deleted]

i would have figured daggerfall would be the largest, since they have hammerfell. i'm starting with covenant myself, as a redguard dual-wielder. always wanted to hang out in hammerfell, and i love redguards <3

but yeah... i just don't know if morrowind will be enough to outweigh the elf love of the mmo market lol. i'd say it'll alternate between dominion and ebonheart, with dominion eventually staying slightly ahead as the morrowind nostalgia settles down.

While Hammerfell IS indeed large (And I look VERY much forward for that zone!) the combination of Skyrim, Morrowind AND Black Marsh overshadows the combination of High Rock (Which is relatively small but is most likely gonna be AMAZING visually. Like the caramel core of the chocolate shell that is Hammerfell). Then you have Elsweyr, Valenwood and Summerset Isle being somewhat, but not much, larger than High Rock and Hammerfell. Albeit, it still makes the Covenant the geographical minority in terms of landmass. However I absolutely can't wait to see Hammerfell and High Rock. And I'll be sure to swing by and celebrate our temporary peace treaty with you, my Redguard Ally. I'll be sure to bring an Orc or two you can babysit because we sure as HECK don't want them crawling around OUR lan-- I mean, they would suit you guys MUCH better. *Nods nods* =D

---------- Post added 2013-02-04 at 01:19 AM ----------

But again, if they implement it right the people you're fighting against won't be able to just trollollolloll through your zone. They would have to be sneaky or otherwise clever or in a large enough group to keep from getting killed in dangerous territory. In a real war you would expect occasional invaders to go where they don't belong. Not to have everybody politely stay in their own little area.

Bolded part seems to be among the MOST common misconceptions going on. You're at war with the IMPERIALS at the IMPERIAL city. You're RIVALLING other factions but they're not your primary enemy unless they beat you to it or you're holding them off from taking it. It's not a game of "Invade their land" it's a game of thrones (Hurr hurr) to keep Cyrodil in your power. Who holds Cyrodil holds the might of Tamriel untill they're weak enough to shake off.

[ddsad2212]

Have to agree with indoordinosaur, always is it immersive that during a war no side is sending small squads into the enemy territory to gather intelligence, carry out small scale attacks or assassinate important figure heads? Always if it was hard enough to actual enter those zones, no one would do it just to troll. I mean who'd waste 20 minutes just to go in and /dance.

[Deleted]

maybe he's not an elder scrolls fan?
In which case he shouldn't play this game xD

I love elder scrolls but the gameplay is pretty poor to be honest. Missiles are slow and the controls and UI are pretty unintuitive. Hope the combat is more like TERA and less like skyrim tbh.

[Valeron]

I love elder scrolls but the gameplay is pretty poor to be honest. Missiles are slow and the controls and UI are pretty unintuitive. Hope the combat is more like TERA and less like skyrim tbh.

As long as there was no animation lock, I'd be cool with tera type combat

[ddsad2212]

Bolded part seems to be among the MOST common misconceptions going on. You're at war with the IMPERIALS at the IMPERIAL city. You're RIVALLING other factions but they're not your primary enemy

Yes but wouldn't you still want to hinder them as much as possible? And why are people so steadfast on having less content on in this game, this would add variety and there has been a huge amount of suggestion on how this would be done well with little effect to the players of the faction you are trying to hinder.

[Deleted]

Have to agree with indoordinosaur, always is it immersive that during a war no side is sending small squads into the enemy territory to gather intelligence, carry out small scale attacks or assassinate important figure heads? Always if it was hard enough to actual enter those zones, no one would do it just to troll. I mean who'd waste 20 minutes just to go in and /dance.

I admire your faith in the lower scale minority playerbase, my friend. Unfortunately that's one point where my scepticism is too strong. To be fair, I know I come across as a bit of a fanboy in this thread because I tend to stay positive and see reason behind the development choices, but in ALL honesty, I am looking forward for TES:6 FAAAAR more than ESO. I am merely hoping ESO will be succesfull because it's a fantastic concept in my eyes. I do, however, realize that with it being an MMORPG there'll be ALOT of restrictions and gameplay changes we don't see in the SPRPG series.

The biggest change being other players. I feel ZeniMax Online should take babysteps with this project and it feels that way to me, when they restrict other players from potential grief or disruption. If it's not THE most optimal choice to some, myself included, I feel it holds enough merit to justify. Perhaps it'll revert once the babysteps are taken and we advance to training wheels but that's for even further speculation into the future. And I'm affraid my Sceptical Fortunetelling Hamster only goes one year ahead at a time. He glares at me now for even expecting him to predict that far, so I'll resort to my magic 8-ball for now ;P

[Zeek Daniels]

Yes but wouldn't you still want to hinder them as much as possible? And why are people so steadfast on having less content on in this game, this would add variety and there has been a huge amount of suggestion on how this would be done well with little effect to the players of the faction you are trying to hinder.

No variety would be added as the only thing you could do the way the game is currently constructed is kill other players (griefing) or kill npc's who give those players quests (griefing) your not helping the war at all as there is no central storyline or event system in place that gives that impact or alters the world in such a way that if you did kill an npc it would have a negative effect on the war. Could they put in missions that have to do with spying and attacking other factions of course they could but they want to leave the pvp to the pvp area.

[Deleted]

As long as there was no animation lock, I'd be cool with tera type combat

Yea I agree, Tera isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination - but its the closest similar style mmo control wise (from what we know so far).