[Megathread] Elder Scrolls Online

[Vankrys]

Am I the only one who doesn't think this game is going to do well.

I know they want to try something fresh & new, but lets not forget what brought them to where they are and successfully still growing.

A single player very deep impressive story telling rpg.

This game basically has to be designed as what they are known for in elder scrolls with the addition of playing with friends. If they do anything different, it will not go well. I am almost sure of it.

Sure it'll have the giant hype train, but lets look at swtor. That went well for how long? About a few months, not to say its not still going, but it was much much stronger, then it just had a giant fall and its about plateau'ed since.

I feel the same is going to happen with elder scrolls.

single player and MMO are very different in design.

Single player, calculation are made on personal computer (or console), there is no latency beyond CPU power and RAM speed.
MMO, calculation for hits, position, everything are made server wise. this ensure their is no cheating. Latency issues are very real.

This force company making MMO to take design decision. (such as spell range, global cooldown, auto aim). You don't have to aim your fireball in wow now do you?
It's not that they want to try something fresh and new. I'm sure bethesda (and us) would wish nothing more than make a skyrim MMO but it's not possible, they HAVE to rethink their whole game design. Guild wars does suffer the same limitation too.

The most experinced and successfull MMO company is certainly blizzard. Even they are not capable going around the latency/server calculation issue.
If you want to play a heavily multiplayer game, you have to accept the technical limitation of the real world, and embrace the "MMO design" rules.

[wombinator04]

Don't worry guys, the hype train for ESO will be in full swing in 1-2 months.

It's just taking a break atm.

[Frozenbeef]

So it's being released on 4/4/14? was expecting longer tbh, hope it's not let down by the short development time <3

[Dilbon]

Too much hype can only lead to disappointment. But if a game you think is crap is actually fun, yay.

[Zanag]

So it's being released on 4/4/14? was expecting longer tbh, hope it's not let down by the short development time <3

Short development time? The game has been in development for over 5 years.

[Kuja]

If they make the graphics and animations better, or even as good as skyrim's, I'll stop WOW instantly and switch over lol :P But as it is, no thanks. There's enough cartoony games with bad animations. Granted there's still a couple of months to revamp the game a bit. Might even do a Final Fantasy and totally flop at release, shut down the servers for a year and rise from the ashes like a phoenix with gazillion new features and changes.

[Tierbook]

If they make the graphics and animations better, or even as good as skyrim's, I'll stop WOW instantly and switch over lol :P But as it is, no thanks. There's enough cartoony games with bad animations. Granted there's still a couple of months to revamp the game a bit. Might even do a Final Fantasy and totally flop at release, shut down the servers for a year and rise from the ashes like a phoenix with gazillion new features and changes.

What? ESO's graphics make it look the most realistic of any MMO that will be on the market for the next few years

[Edge-]

What? ESO's graphics make it look the most realistic of any MMO that will be on the market for the next few years

If you're talking the art style, then sure, it's more based in reality and less stylized than the vast majority of MMO's out there. But there are plenty of MMO's out there that base themselves in reality and have decent enough graphics, two of which being The Secret World and Fallen Earth. If you're talking about graphical fidelity though, to me it doesn't seem much better, if it's even better at all, than many of the other recently released MMO's (Tera, FFXIV, or ArcheAge, for example)

[Prancing Minstrel]

The hype died out when everybody tried the beta and found out the game is crap.

Eh? Did you not see the reaction when it was first announced? ESO has been a hate magnet from the offset, the worst it can possibly do is meet expectations, there are no crazy WoW-killing dreams for this MMO to fail to meet.

[Angarin]

I just


It still appalls me that they would do this to themselves. They're literally either going to win a jackpot or shoot themselves in the face for this.

As I said, why break what works.


If your computer was working perfectly but then all the sudden you wanted to just replace something that could either improve performance or destroy it all together...

What would you do?

I'd not take the chances...Me without a computer is me without life...

Irony....



I mean its no doubt I will be playing this game. No doubt at all. It is an elder scrolls game and it most likely will have a story. And I will be playing that story. It just...bugs me. This will probably leave alot of room out of the game for things such as the steam workshop which was probably the best thing that happened to skyrim ever.

Just...bad decision making. We'll see though.

[Valeron]

Eh? Did you not see the reaction when it was first announced? ESO has been a hate magnet from the offset, the worst it can possibly do is meet expectations, there are no crazy WoW-killing dreams for this MMO to fail to meet.

indeed, it has been hated since it was first announced

I actually came out more enthused about the game after playing the beta. granted I didn't have much positive impressions going into it but after the beta my view on it has improved.

[Edge-]

indeed, it has been hated since it was first announced

I don't think it was hated so much as just kinda ignored. The collective response from everyone at the unveil seemed like a resounding, "meh". Nobody really cared all that much because what was shown wasn't interesting in the slightest. The only angry ones I remember seeing were the TES fans who thought that Bethesda was heading this project instead of working on a single player TES project >.>

[puppypizza]

I don't think it was hated so much as just kinda ignored. The collective response from everyone at the unveil seemed like a resounding, "meh". Nobody really cared all that much because what was shown wasn't interesting in the slightest. The only angry ones I remember seeing were the TES fans who thought that Bethesda was heading this project instead of working on a single player TES project >.>

Hate and apathy is not a good response to its introduction to the world. This game has been fighting an uphill PR battle since its inception.

I read a few other forums in my daily rounds, and kind of like this thread, there's minimal activity and just an aura of apathy and cynicism surrounding the game. The most common sentiment is "why does this exist" or "I never asked for this".

[Edge-]

The most common sentiment is "why does this exist" or "I never asked for this".

Yeah. And when they announced it, it just fell so flat. Nothing they discussed really blew anyone away or impressed them, it was just like, "Oh...so it's a kinda watered down Skryim MMO? Alright..." They had their chance to blow everyone away at E3 and turn things around, but then released the most generic of generic CGI trailers that nobody gave a single fuck about.

They've been doing a decent job since the announcement of listening to feedback and doing more to show why ESO is interesting, but they started out in the worst possible space for a big name game to start out in : /

[grexly75]

Well we shall find out how good / bad it is on the 4th of April 2014 as that is the release date I got from an email sent to me..

[Jainzar]

Am I the only one who doesn't think this game is going to do well.

I know they want to try something fresh & new, but lets not forget what brought them to where they are and successfully still growing.

A single player very deep impressive story telling rpg.

This game basically has to be designed as what they are known for in elder scrolls with the addition of playing with friends. If they do anything different, it will not go well. I am almost sure of it.

Sure it'll have the giant hype train, but lets look at swtor. That went well for how long? About a few months, not to say its not still going, but it was much much stronger, then it just had a giant fall and its about plateau'ed since.

I feel the same is going to happen with elder scrolls.

That entirely depends on how you define "not doing well". If you expect an MMO on a level with WoW with the same PvE endgame content, item reward system raiding and subscription numbers yes, then it probably will "fail". People need to realize that this is not a PvE centric game. And never will be. Does that mean it will be bad per se, though? No, it doesn't.

That's because ESO offers something that WoW, for example, never will: A very well thought out, open world Alliance vs. Alliance system that is extremely immersive. It is designed by the same people that were responsible for DAoC. A well done PvP system will always be more interesting than PvE, simply because you're playing against other human beings.

I know, a lot of you haven't played DAoC and are not familiar with the three realm AvA system and only know instanced Battlegrounds and Arenas. Let me tell you, it is an entirely different experience. It's so much more fun, it's so much more immersive and, quite frankly, a lot more diversified than the small scale PvP that games like WoW offer. It's like a completely different world.

I, for example, have never PvPed at all in WoW and other games like WoW. I have always only played PvE and participated in raids because I thought the PvP was boring and felt artificially set up. So you could call me a hardcore PvEer that hated PvP. At least in the games with Battlegrounds and Arenas. In DAoC? Entirely different story: I played that game for years and have done PvP exclusively, because it was that good.

So if people step back and take the game open mindedly as it is: A MMO with a lot of new features (combat system, progression system, skill system) and a very intriguing PvP Alliance War while not neglecting PvE too much (dungeons, adventure zones) they will see a very immersive world that feels a lot more real and alive and from that perspective I think the game will be pretty successful and won't "fail" at all. It just won't have the same subscription numbers as WoW.

[corebit]

I am actually glad that ESO is receiving little hype compared to Wildstar. This means that less idiots will be shouting "WOW KILLER" or have super-high expectations. Most of the disgruntled WoW fans are now looking towards Wildstar as their "next hope and savior". I would hate to be in that place as they will end up disappointed very likely and start spewing venom all over the internet.

[Sharuko]

About a few months, not to say its not still going, but it was much much stronger, then it just had a giant fall and its about plateau'ed since. I feel the same is going to happen with elder scrolls.

Well that is the story for every MMO since WoW, huge peak and huge decline couple of months later. And I am sure ESO and WildStar will fit that trend too. I think the only way a new MMO will grow from launch is if they provide something amazing, it basically needs to take the leap to something completely different both visually and gameplay wise.

The MMO market is too saturated for the decline not to happen, even WoW is declining now. Games like Star Citizen might have that potential but it could also end up like the rest of the market.

People forget games like WildStar and ESO started development before Burning Crusade came out. They had no idea what they MMO landscape would be 6 years later. Even ESO was started around the time Oblivion came out, when they started laying the ground work for ESO, Skyrim was probably not even a concept.

- - - Updated - - -

I am actually glad that ESO is receiving little hype compared to Wildstar. This means that less idiots will be shouting "WOW KILLER" or have super-high expectations. Most of the disgruntled WoW fans are now looking towards Wildstar as their "next hope and savior". I would hate to be in that place as they will end up disappointed very likely and start spewing venom all over the internet.

You have that backwards, ESO has massive hype, WildStar has almost none. WildStar is huge within the MMO community, but ESO has the mass market covered. This isn't an exact science or anything but look at ESO's Facebook likes and Twitter followers compared to WildStar.

Facebook Likes:

ESO = 1.6 million
WildStar = 130k

Twitter Followers

ESO = 317k
WildStar = 38k


WildStar isn't even in the same ball park. Elder Scrolls Online even has more Facebook likes and Twitter followers than Bethesda and Skryim by a significant amount. The MMO centric fans are hating on it, so you are right on that point. But the average joe is following it closely which might be good for ESO in the long run. But who knows.

[corebit]

You have that backwards, ESO has massive hype, WildStar has almost none. WildStar is huge within the MMO community, but ESO has the mass market covered. This isn't an exact science or anything but look at ESO's Facebook likes and Twitter followers compared to WildStar.

Facebook Likes:

ESO = 1.6 million
WildStar = 130k

Twitter Followers

ESO = 317k
WildStar = 38k


WildStar isn't even in the same ball park. Elder Scrolls Online even has more Facebook likes and Twitter followers than Bethesda and Skryim by a significant amount. The MMO centric fans are hating on it, so you are right on that point. But the average joe is following it closely which might be good for ESO in the long run. But who knows.

I don't know. I think looking at Facebook/Twitter likes is not accurate because all ESO news from the official site encourage you to "like" and "discuss" in Facebook/Twitter. Meanwhile Wildstar doesn't do that much and relies more on dev speaks and videos to get their message across.

[Bigtimmy]

I don't know. I think looking at Facebook/Twitter likes is not accurate because all ESO news from the official site encourage you to "like" and "discuss" in Facebook/Twitter. Meanwhile Wildstar doesn't do that much and relies more on dev speaks and videos to get their message across.

I think what Sharukro mentioned is absolutely a valid measure of "hype," for lack of a more academic term. MMOs by their very nature are dependent upon mass market appeal and ESO has a foot in the door simply due to its name recognition and massive success in the past. Facebook and/or Twitter "likes" are more representative of average gamers than those who post on forums like this one. The Elder Scrolls IP absolutely matters, is relevant to this situation, and is the cause for all the attention that has been paid to this game in spite of its mediocrity thus far.