[Megathread] Elder Scrolls Online

[Gatsby]

"something fans have long said they wanted"

Nooooo. People wanted a co-op experience in their elder scrolls game, not another mmo. For years and years the TES community have been asking them specifically about a co-op feature and then finally they are like "Sure, we'll make it into an MMO!" Gadamnit...

I'm remembering it very differently. When Morrowind was released in 2002 people were clamoring for Bethesda to jump on the MMO train that was starting to begin around that point.


It's only recently that all you lot have become jaded and cynical about MMOs because of World of Warcraft (and the half a dozen overhyped WoWkillers) that resulted in so many people are against the genre.

[Deleted]

Just not excited about this when this time last year i would have been all over it. Skyrim pretty much killed my enthusiasm for the series (not through any particular fault of it's own; it was just a bit too samey after so many hours put into Morrowind and Oblivion). I'll keep my eye on it to see if it actually sounds like a good game rather than a mediocre MMO dressed in a popular franchise's clothes. At least the pedigree of the dev behind it suggests to me to it won't be a standard "WoW-clone" and might bring something different to the table. We will see over the next few months as the game's actual shape becomes clearer.

[Deleted]

ZeniMax Media group owns Bathesda though, so while it may not be Bathesda's name on it I think alot of their staff might be working on the title, infact I might be wrong but Bathesda's main headquarters is at the ZeniMax branch in Maryland.

[Baracuda]

I'm kind of sick of MMOs atm, why can't they just stick to the working formula? Don't make the same mistake as bioware with KoToR...

[psdew1813]

who wants to bet on the factions?

[Keristrasza]

I'm remembering it very differently. When Morrowind was released in 2002 people were clamoring for Bethesda to jump on the MMO train that was starting to begin around that point.

This, I only have seen a handful asking for Co-op, but I see tons asking for an MMO. Obviously that must be the cause of they decided MMO over Co-op since the 2 are vastly different from one another.

[Dermot]

The Elder Scrolls series already has one of the worst combat systems in gaming, I hope they make some drastic changes in this MMO version. Implement a similar combat system to Mount and Blade and they might make me interested.

[Agent Mercury]

Not even sure how the hell that would work, to be honest.
Ah well. Sounds awesome.

I assume like the mods that have been made to emulate it just more polished and not buggy as hell.

[Eorayn]

read again:

"The Elder Scrolls Online will allow players to quest across the entire continent of Tamriel 1000 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls V, which includes the provinces of Cyrodiil (where The Elder Scrolls IV was set) and Skyrim (setting of The Elder Scrolls V). "

You just got me hyped, sir.
I just hope it will match the original RPG’s gameplay and style.

[Speedlance]

Skyrim was such a great game, but the combat system..... I never felt I had complete control over how fast and when enemies died, I need something more, doesn't have to be as wow but they could make it like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry sort of style.

As long as they have compelling stories and character progress it will be a success, specially when you saw how populare skyrim was.

[Deleted]

ZeniMax Media group owns Bathesda though, so while it may not be Bathesda's name on it I think alot of their staff might be working on the title, infact I might be wrong but Bathesda's main headquarters is at the ZeniMax branch in Maryland.

That would be a first in that case.
Zenimax owns Bethesda Game Studios and naturally Zenimax Online, but in no other games published by Bethesda Softworks (also owned by Zenimax) have there been any work together between the studios. ID made Rage by themselves. Splash Damage made Brink by themselves. Bethesda Game Studios made Skyrim by themselves.

I'm sure there may be some consulting on lore, art direction etc, but I doubt that there any real amount of Beth employees working for Zenimax Online. Beth is busy with their own projects, whatever that may be.

[Nengal]

The better remove fast travel. Or put it on a similar CD to the hearthstone.

[Drakhar]

"something fans have long said they wanted"

Nooooo. People wanted a co-op experience in their elder scrolls game, not another mmo. For years and years the TES community have been asking them specifically about a co-op feature and then finally they are like "Sure, we'll make it into an MMO!" Gadamnit...

Lol yeah, I've only seen a handful of people say they wanted it, and generally those individuals have been immediately crucified by the onslaught of "OMG NO DON'T RUIN A SINGLE PLAYER RPG SERIES!!!"

Fans wanted? Hah. More like your producers wanted so they could get in on that WoW money!

[Kathandira]

I think the main concern is the scope of the multiplayer game. If Elder Scrolls Online contains all of Tamriel, why would people be hyped to buy a game from Bethesda a few years after its release containing say just Valenwood? It's not a death blow to the series by any means, but I think people are worried it will spoil the magic of it.

Imagine if Blizzard made a single player RPG out of The Barrens. Actually, nevermind, that could be cool.

1 amazing feature that didn't get discussed to often. Grandeur. I often found myself stopped dead in my tracks to stare at the mountain tops being caressed by clouds and thinking, i'm gonna scale that there mountain. Everything just felt huge in that game. in WoW I feel huge compared to the environment, especially since the introduction of flying mounts.

The comparison of the Barrens vs Skyrim is perfect. By rights The Barrens are pretty big, but it takes all but 5 mins to run across it. Skyrim takes about 30 mins (on foot)

[Deleted]

Not interested, don't buy? It isn't that simple. When did the last Warcraft game come out? Over 10 years ago.. and they completely destroyed the lore with WoW. If it comes out then it's goodbye for TES 6, TES 7 and so on. If you have to make a mmo, at least make one in a new universe and don't destroy the existing one.

Couldn't agree more. I always hoped Blizzard would do that with Titan, and let WoW continue unto Warcraft 4. But I guess that's not going to happen.

Anyway, setting this Elder Scrolls Online game a thousand years in the past, it seems it will have less of an impact on the other TES games. That's a good thing, but is it enough?

This game can either become really awesome, or it can become complete crap compared to other TES games. I'm leaning towards the latter.

[Lusitan]

as long as they maintain the combat system similar the games im very happy, if they go with tab-targeting and hotbars skill then meh

[Faldric]

I love the Elder Scroll series, but somehow I am not amused of this announcement. It gave me a chill.

[Lusitan]

at least one thing we can be 100%, at launch it will full of bugs ^^

[Gatsby]

Lol yeah, I've only seen a handful of people say they wanted it, and generally those individuals have been immediately crucified by the onslaught of "OMG NO DON'T RUIN A SINGLE PLAYER RPG SERIES!!!"

Fans wanted? Hah. More like your producers wanted so they could get in on that WoW money!

You're still thinking in recent terms (as in the last 5-6 years). The Elder Scrolls franchise is the SAME age as Warcraft (give or take a few months). Most people are unaware of any games prior to Oblivion.

Yes, we've already established the MMO market is very saturated and stale in 2012. This hasn't always been the case. It makes their language a bit dated, but not inaccurate.

[4KhazModan]

Oooh! Can't wait for the details!