[Megathread] Elder Scrolls Online

[Valeron]

maybe they are planning ahead for expansions? that might explain why exploration is kinda limited...

But here is the issue that I have and and I imagine others like vizzle have with it. The Elder Scrolls is not about restrictions. Exploration is such a huge part of the whole series that when you limit that well then it doesn't seem like an Elder Scrolls game then does it.

[Tekkommo]

You can't explore more than half of the entire world. You can only explore your faction's corner and the all-PvP zone.

Oh, that is rather bad, SWTOR also had bad exploration and to me and I'm sure many many other MMO gamers, exploration and freedom is vital to a game long term.

[Buckwald]

You can't explore more than half of the entire world. You can only explore your faction's corner and the all-PvP zone.

From my understanding it's only the starting zones you can't visit.

[Deleted]

I admit that when I first heard the news about this MMO and saw that they added action bars etc, I thought instantly that it's a generic WoW clone like Rift, SW and the other dozens that came before it and there was nothing further to see.

However, I recently stumbled on this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8luBc0X3vIg

and I have to admit it got me pretty interested in the game if they could actually pull it off like that and don't scratch off those features replacing them with tried out generic WoW clone ones.

[mvaliz]

I'm going to be very lazy here, what's up with the exploration and faction?

There are 10 zones in the game... but your character can only ever explore 4 of them, your 3 home faction zones and Cyrodill. Cyrodill being the end-game largest zone where all three factions will meet for PVP/Endgame content.

Meaning if you role a Khajit (Cat person), you can only go to Elsewyr, Summerset Isle and Valenwood in addition to Cyrodill.
Skyrim, Morrowind, Black Marsh, High Rock, ect will be locked off from you.

Same with if you roll an Argonian (lizard person) - you can only go to Black Marsh, Morrowind and Skyrim in addition to Cyrodill, but you cannot go anywhere else.

The reason they're doing this is to promote cooperation/bonding in their homelands between factions instead of individual competition. It's actually an excellent idea - the problem is it TOTALLY negates what Elder Scrolls is about and is NOT what ES players wanted.

Not to mention all the jackass PVP gankers from WoW hating it as they can't "World PVP" - which is another term for lowbie-faction ganking/griefing.

[Kuntantee]

No matter what they do, if they insist on locking down zones to enemy factions, this game is going to fail. It's sad to see this game is doomed by its design.

[Immitis]

i havent read up much on this game for awhile but last time i checked it was basically wow with elder scrolls lore and a bunch of restrictions based on what you pick to play as O-O

any of this change and does it look like it will be any good?

[mvaliz]

From my understanding it's only the starting zones you can't visit.

You're misinterpreting what you're hearing... the "starting zones" are (theoretically) huge faction areas that get players from 1-50. For example, Khajit are from Elsewyr, the Altmer are from Summerset Isle, and I forget who the ones are from Valenwood - each of those are their "starting zones", but all three together make up the 1-50 leveling experience for that individual faction. Those three zones make up almost 1/3rd of the entire map, meaning almost 2/3rds of the map you can't visit as those contain 2 other faction zones.

---------- Post added 2012-12-30 at 06:03 PM ----------

i havent read up much on this game for awhile but last time i checked it was basically wow with elder scrolls lore and a bunch of restrictions based on what you pick to play as O-O

any of this change and does it look like it will be any good?

It's definitely NOT WoW at all. The problem is it isn't really Elder Scrolls either. :P

The whole ideology is different. You have Elder Scroll controls (Mouse 1 = physical attack, Mouse 2 = block), and by physical attack I mean just that - REAL TIME physical attack. Not a generic "auto attack/white damage" nonsense. You have to actually swing your sword, fire your bows, ect... same with blocking with a shield. Same with blocking/shields - shields actually require putting up and blocking and using up stamina, the stats of the shield being important in deflecting the attack. It's not just a "stat item" you keep on your arm that may offer 1-3 new hotbar options like WoW. :P

Though you do have classes, you're not restricted to any type of weapon/armor and have freedom to choose how to play in that regard. You can be a plate-wearing healer with a battleaxe, or a long-ranged tank using cloth that boost magic armor/ranged attacks, ect... the balance comes in the form of the stamina bar (think almost like a rogue energy bar). Plate/2h weapons use up more stamina than cloth/leather and 1h weapons.

Likewise the 3 factions are land-locked. There's no world PVP outside of the end-game zone of Cyrodill. The 3 leveling faction zones are designed for cooperation in mind (sharing nodes, no kill-stealing, ect) to bolster cooperation and creating friendships with your side instead of promoting individual greed. Endgame takes place in one massive zone called Cyrodill and contains many dungeons and all-phased PVP objectives (think Wintergrasp type stuff in addition to localized village/quest zone PVP raiding).

It's quite a different beast from WoW - but it's also quite a different beast from anything any ES fan would want (and what SHOULD'VE happened).

[Immitis]

It's definitely NOT WoW at all. The problem is it isn't really Elder Scrolls either. :P

The whole ideology is different. You have Elder Scroll controls (Mouse 1 = physical attack, Mouse 2 = block), and by physical attack I mean just that - REAL TIME physical attack. Not a generic "auto attack/white damage" nonsense. You have to actually swing your sword, fire your bows, ect... same with blocking with a shield. You actually have to physically aim the sheila and block, or block with a weapon. Same with blocking/shields - shields actually require putting up and blocking and using up stamina, the stats of the shield being important in deflecting the attack. It's not just a "stat item" you keep on your arm that may offer 1-3 new hotbar options like WoW. :P

Though you do have classes, you're not restricted to any type of weapon/armor and have freedom to choose how to play in that regard. You can be a plate-wearing healer with a battleaxe, or a long-ranged tank using cloth that boost magic armor/ranged attacks, ect... the balance comes in the form of the stamina bar (think almost like a rogue energy bar). Plate/2h weapons use up more stamina than cloth/leather and 1h weapons.

Likewise the 3 factions are land-locked. There's no world PVP outside of the end-game zone of Cyrodill. The 3 leveling faction zones are designed for cooperation in mind (sharing nodes, no kill-stealing, ect) to bolster cooperation and creating friendships with your side instead of promoting individual greed. Endgame takes place in one massive zone called Cyrodill and contains many dungeons and all-phased PVP objectives (think Wintergrasp type stuff in addition to localized village/quest zone PVP raiding).

It's quite a different beast from WoW - but it's also quite a different beast from anything any ES fan would want (and what SHOULD'VE happened).

hmm so theres 3 factions you spend most of your time leveling up only in a zone with your own faction and you can dress up however you want regardless of class then for endgame you go to a big zone for all three factions? doesnt sound that bad O-O

how many races are available? and by races i mean distinct races the one thing that irked me about oblivion and skyrim was that most of the races were basically human except for the elves and cat people oh and i think lizard men. were there lizard men in skyrim?

[Deleted]

hmm so theres 3 factions you spend most of your time leveling up only in a zone with your own faction and you can dress up however you want regardless of class then for endgame you go to a big zone for all three factions? doesnt sound that bad O-O

how many races are available? and by races i mean distinct races the one thing that irked me about oblivion and skyrim was that most of the races were basically human except for the elves and cat people oh and i think lizard men. were there lizard men in skyrim?

There are actually tons of races in Elder Scrolls. 50+ at least. It's just that only 9 are playable in the single player series(+2 if you count vampire and werewolf as separate races). I actually see it as a huge bonus. All the playable races make sense and none of them are silly, joke races or ripoffs from real history (ex. egyptian cat people or mongol dog people). Besides, I only play humans anyway and very rarely elves in RPGs. Meeting interesting lore characters or races is fun, being one really isn't. I actually like the fact that you can't be a snow elf or dremora or what were those crab people called again in Skyrim.

[Immitis]

There are actually tons of races in Elder Scrolls. 50+ at least. It's just that only 9 are playable in the single player series(+2 if you count vampire and werewolf as separate races). I actually see it as a huge bonus. All the playable races make sense and none of them are silly, joke races or ripoffs from real history (ex. egyptian cat people or mongol dog people). Besides, I only play humans anyway and very rarely elves in RPGs. Meeting interesting lore characters or races is fun, being one really isn't. I actually like the fact that you can't be a snow elf or dremora or what were those crab people called again in Skyrim.

in my opinion its not that bad in a single player game especially a game like elder scrolls where its mainly played in first person but for me an mmo is always best when theres tons of different races you can play as since it makes everyone look a bit more unique.

the amount of customization in elder scrolls does help alot with this though i remember in oblivion if you knew how to mess with certain features you could kind of mess up things and get things you werent normally supposed to get like blue skin and weird colored hair

[Deleted]

There are 10 zones in the game... but your character can only ever explore 4 of them, your 3 home faction zones and Cyrodill. Cyrodill being the end-game largest zone where all three factions will meet for PVP/Endgame content.

Meaning if you role a Khajit (Cat person), you can only go to Elsewyr, Summerset Isle and Valenwood in addition to Cyrodill.
Skyrim, Morrowind, Black Marsh, High Rock, ect will be locked off from you.

Same with if you roll an Argonian (lizard person) - you can only go to Black Marsh, Morrowind and Skyrim in addition to Cyrodill, but you cannot go anywhere else.

The reason they're doing this is to promote cooperation/bonding in their homelands between factions instead of individual competition. It's actually an excellent idea - the problem is it TOTALLY negates what Elder Scrolls is about and is NOT what ES players wanted.

Not to mention all the jackass PVP gankers from WoW hating it as they can't "World PVP" - which is another term for lowbie-faction ganking/griefing.

At first I thought that this game sounds interesting but after reading that I am kinda pissed.

I love to play TES games as it is just amazing how much time you can "loose" by just playing the game the way you want. There are always things that you stumble on that you do then do spontaneously and so many different ways to play the game.

Exploration is a vital part of the whole series and most importantly it is FREEDOM to do whatever you want to and go wherever you want to.

Locking down "enemy" zones completely is crap. I would not want to roll a Bosmer and be locked to Valenwood, Summerset Isles and whatever the third allied zone is (plus Cyrodiil as endgame zone ofc) That destroys the whole ES feeling to be honest.

At first I was thinking that this game will be a massive experience with the whole of Tamriel visitable in one game but sounds like that ain´t gonna happen.

[TranquilDream]

There are 10 zones in the game... but your character can only ever explore 4 of them, your 3 home faction zones and Cyrodill. Cyrodill being the end-game largest zone where all three factions will meet for PVP/Endgame content.

Meaning if you role a Khajit (Cat person), you can only go to Elsewyr, Summerset Isle and Valenwood in addition to Cyrodill.
Skyrim, Morrowind, Black Marsh, High Rock, ect will be locked off from you.

Same with if you roll an Argonian (lizard person) - you can only go to Black Marsh, Morrowind and Skyrim in addition to Cyrodill, but you cannot go anywhere else.

The reason they're doing this is to promote cooperation/bonding in their homelands between factions instead of individual competition. It's actually an excellent idea - the problem is it TOTALLY negates what Elder Scrolls is about and is NOT what ES players wanted.

Not to mention all the jackass PVP gankers from WoW hating it as they can't "World PVP" - which is another term for lowbie-faction ganking/griefing.

You're 100% spot on. If this stays as is, I will not be buying ESO, no matter how good the rest of the game is.

[mvaliz]

There are actually tons of races in Elder Scrolls. 50+ at least. It's just that only 9 are playable in the single player series(+2 if you count vampire and werewolf as separate races). I actually see it as a huge bonus. All the playable races make sense and none of them are silly, joke races or ripoffs from real history (ex. egyptian cat people or mongol dog people). Besides, I only play humans anyway and very rarely elves in RPGs. Meeting interesting lore characters or races is fun, being one really isn't. I actually like the fact that you can't be a snow elf or dremora or what were those crab people called again in Skyrim.

Look, I love Skyrim and am into the ES series now thanks to it. but, see, to me there aren't 9 playable races... there's only 4. Humans, elves, Cat people and lizard people.

Nords, Bretons, imperials and redguards look all exactly the same (possible exception for the Redguard, which has darker skin).

Dunmer, Altmer, Bosmer and even Orcs look all exactly the same (possible exception for the Dunmer/orcs, which has darker skin).

Yes - the lore is VERY deep for each of them. The lore, however, doesn't effect jack squat to their outer appearance. Sure, they have 1 or 3 unique racial abilities. I'm not talking the story or gameplay - I'm talking pure esthetics.

That's why I laughed when I saw the race roster in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Cyborgs!? Seriously!? Humans with tiny bits of metal slapped on their faces? THAT'S A WHOLE NEW RACE!? Compare that to Star Wars: Galaxies, where you had Wookies, Trandoshians (Bosk), Mon Calmari (Admiral "it's a TRAP!" ackbar), ect... It's either that or humans with facepaint of some kind...

WoW sadly is the ONLY MMORPG today who dares make a race that has a vastly different physical build from each other race. Hell, you can even tell Bloodelves from Nightelves apart easily... even when wearing armor. In Skyrim the only thing that separates the races when wearing armor is a) the voice actor or b) if they have a tail. >_<

---------- Post added 2012-12-31 at 12:58 AM ----------

hmm so theres 3 factions you spend most of your time leveling up only in a zone with your own faction and you can dress up however you want regardless of class then for endgame you go to a big zone for all three factions? doesnt sound that bad O-O

hmm so theres 2 factions you spend most of your time leveling up only in a zone with your own faction and you can dress up dependent on class then for endgame you go to a big zone for both factions? doesnt sound that bad O-O

Edited that to show you a Warcraft comparison. :P

---------- Post added 2012-12-31 at 01:01 AM ----------

You're 100% spot on. If this stays as is, I will not be buying ESO, no matter how good the rest of the game is.

Yeah... I'm pretty miffy about that myself. What they should've done (IMO) is keep the 3 factions, but let you choose your race and go adventure into the game. Then, at some point (any point you want really!) you could choose a side to go with, and then you'd be able to stay on that faction's cities, use their AHs and participate in PVP with them.

I still think it sounds like a fun game... the trouble is it has this nasty title called "Elder Scrolls" on it that really should've been something else. :P

---------- Post added 2012-12-31 at 01:05 AM ----------

At first I thought that this game sounds interesting but after reading that I am kinda pissed.

I love to play TES games as it is just amazing how much time you can "loose" by just playing the game the way you want. There are always things that you stumble on that you do then do spontaneously and so many different ways to play the game.

Exploration is a vital part of the whole series and most importantly it is FREEDOM to do whatever you want to and go wherever you want to.

Locking down "enemy" zones completely is crap. I would not want to roll a Bosmer and be locked to Valenwood, Summerset Isles and whatever the third allied zone is (plus Cyrodiil as endgame zone ofc) That destroys the whole ES feeling to be honest.

At first I was thinking that this game will be a massive experience with the whole of Tamriel visitable in one game but sounds like that ain´t gonna happen.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Though technically all of Tamriel will be visitable in one game... just sadly NOT on one character. You'll have to create three distinct characters in order to see the whole of Tamriel.

Which really REALLY blows for me as somebody who's a one-toon kinda guy! >_<

Oh, and there's one bigger kicker to this that's the proverbial killer whale waiting to strike at a helpless pup...

The Nords, Dunmer and Argonians are all in one faction. Their lands? Skyrim, Morrowind and Black Marsh...

Skyrim and Morrowind were ESIII and ESV respectively. Do you KNOW how many players joined up with those two games!? Do you KNOW how many are going to join that faction JUST because of Morrowind and Skyrim? >_<

PS. The answer is Elsewyr... you were wondering what the third zone was if you were a Bosmer? It's Elswyr... the home of the Khajit (yup, Altmer/bosmer are allied with the cats. :P)

[hiragana]

Personally i love having more than 1 character, so that isnt really an issue for me. Lets all remember though, most of this info is from pre alpha, the devs have already changed lots of things thanks to feedback, they obviously dont mind making drastic changes if they feel enough people want them.

[Deleted]

Look, I love Skyrim and am into the ES series now thanks to it. but, see, to me there aren't 9 playable races... there's only 4. Humans, elves, Cat people and lizard people.

Nords, Bretons, imperials and redguards look all exactly the same (possible exception for the Redguard, which has darker skin).

Dunmer, Altmer, Bosmer and even Orcs look all exactly the same (possible exception for the Dunmer/orcs, which has darker skin).

Yes - the lore is VERY deep for each of them. The lore, however, doesn't effect jack squat to their outer appearance. Sure, they have 1 or 3 unique racial abilities. I'm not talking the story or gameplay - I'm talking pure esthetics.

That's why I laughed when I saw the race roster in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Cyborgs!? Seriously!? Humans with tiny bits of metal slapped on their faces? THAT'S A WHOLE NEW RACE!? Compare that to Star Wars: Galaxies, where you had Wookies, Trandoshians (Bosk), Mon Calmari (Admiral "it's a TRAP!" ackbar), ect... It's either that or humans with facepaint of some kind...

WoW sadly is the ONLY MMORPG today who dares make a race that has a vastly different physical build from each other race. Hell, you can even tell Bloodelves from Nightelves apart easily... even when wearing armor. In Skyrim the only thing that separates the races when wearing armor is a) the voice actor or b) if they have a tail. >_<

You must have the graphics turned all the way down if you thing dark elves look anything like the other elves or orcs look like the rest. Sure it's hard to tell one human race from the other in Skyrim other than redguards cause they're black. And I'd even agree that high elves and wood elves look the same but it still leaves humans, elves, dark elves, orcs, redguards, cats and lizards as playable races.

To make more playable would mean sinking to WoW level and twisting lore just to justify this. TES has lots of pretty awesome races like snow elves, dwarves, ogres, dremora, those black Sheogorath guards from Oblivion.. but why would you want to play as one? I'd be happy if I could only be a nord in Skyrim and couldn't care less (although picking racials is interesting). You get to meet, learn about and interact with the other races no matter who you are.

[mvaliz]

To make more playable would mean sinking to WoW level and twisting lore just to justify this. TES has lots of pretty awesome races like snow elves, dwarves, ogres, dremora, those black Sheogorath guards from Oblivion.. but why would you want to play as one? I'd be happy if I could only be a nord in Skyrim and couldn't care less (although picking racials is interesting). You get to meet, learn about and interact with the other races no matter who you are.

...or simply change the proportions on some of the current races. Make Nords taller and more muscular. Make the ALtmer look lith and "noble", and make the Bosmer agilic, poised/slightly crouched for danger, and slightly taller. Change their postures/ready stances... add some custom animation.

There's not a problem if they do that... but right now they just want everybody to share one animation skeleton... and that's a problem.

EDIT: And I don't care how high my graphics are - I can't tell a difference between ANY of the races if they're wearing armor, save if they have a cat-tail or a lizard tail. :P

[vizzle]

Personally i love having more than 1 character, so that isnt really an issue for me. Lets all remember though, most of this info is from pre alpha, the devs have already changed lots of things thanks to feedback, they obviously dont mind making drastic changes if they feel enough people want them.

Aye, which is why we need to be complaining now. I played the "it's still beta guys, chill" game long enough with TOR.

[Deleted]

...or simply change the proportions on some of the current races. Make Nords taller and more muscular. Make the ALtmer look lith and "noble", and make the Bosmer agilic, poised/slightly crouched for danger, and slightly taller. Change their postures/ready stances... add some custom animation.

There's not a problem if they do that... but right now they just want everybody to share one animation skeleton... and that's a problem.

EDIT: And I don't care how high my graphics are - I can't tell a difference between ANY of the races if they're wearing armor, save if they have a cat-tail or a lizard tail. :P

Well, I agree that they could have used different animations for each race and they probably will in the MMO but everyone only looks the same in full armor and that's not really a big problem. NPCs wear their "racial" armor anyway. Redguards tend wear those ugly pants and turbans, orcs orcish and hide armors, Thalmor elven armor etc. so it mostly affect only the player and your followers if you give them different armor. It's still a fairly minor detail and I think there are hundreds of other things they can improve before that. Besides, it needs to be changed in the MMO anyway as enemy factions need to be more easily identifiable, I think.

[mvaliz]

Aye, which is why we need to be complaining now. I played the "it's still beta guys, chill" game long enough with TOR.

Precisely!

I mean, look how much has already changed in response to the MASSIVE negative criticism since they first announced it: First person mode got put back in (was originally only going to have third - specifically saying you couldn't play in 1'st)... and gameplay changed to ALL real-time normal/blocking attacks using Elder Scrolls control scheme. (Was originally announced to be white-damage auto-attacks with real-time block/dodge special moves similar to WoW).