I want to hate you Elder Scrolls Online!!

[Jaeke]

Undoubtebly, you've heard of the new MMO being developed by >>ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS<< (not Bethesda Studios), taking place in Tamriel 1000 years before Skyrim over the throne in Cyrodiil blah, blah, blah....

Anyway, most of you were probably just as shocked (or at least suprised) as I was when this was announced, as The Elder Scrolls, as seemingly far from the "multiplayer cop-out" era of this gaming generation, seemed to take a drastic turn to the other direction.
Many long-time fans, such as I, were immediately dissapointed at this news. Even being an MMO player of 5-6 years (and frankly just an old cranky man when it came to that genre) I still found no solace in seeing my beloved franchise go towards a black hole.

But now assuredly, with news of different developer paths (i.e. Bethesda Studios, which develops the true Elder Scrolls games having little to nothing to do with the project other than the occasional drop-in to see what's up), new "innovations" (I do say hate that word), and rather optimistic features seem to be making Elder Scrolls Online look not that bad... hell, maybe even a little good.

Spoiler: Take these videos for example...

TL;DR With a real-time combat-style, Zone-Wide %100 World PVP, One huge MegaServer, over 200 characters on screen minimum, appearently stunning visuals, a branching storylines, interchangeable camera styles (3rd person to 1st person), rumour of F2P (or pay once like Guild Wars), Skyrim-style freedom of weapon/armor/class, new combat mechanics such as dodging, sprinting, or sneaking, and a relieving sense of dedication by the studio to aim towards both Elder Scrolls fans and MMO fans, I think I'm begininng to see a new light shed on this hopeful MMO.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I am easily the biggest Elder Scrolls fanboy on this forum.... and even I still think it is going to suck.

Don't get your hopes up.

I am expecting terrible, terrible, gear grind, and a lack of interesting end-game things to do.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I am easily the biggest Elder Scrolls fanboy on this forum.... and even I still think it is going to suck.

I would think that the bigger the fan of the Elder Scrolls series the more likely they are to dislike the idea of a MMO Elder Scrolls.

Elder Scrolls to its fans is a great single-player rpg experience with a wide open world. To change up that formula into a MMO, which a lot of Elder Scrolls fans dislike seems like a bad idea.

 

[wintercoat]

I am easily the biggest Elder Scrolls fanboy on this forum.... and even I still think it is going to suck.

Don't get your hopes up.

I am expecting terrible, terrible, gear grind, and a lack of interesting end-game things to do.

I am expecting all of the things modern MMOs are hated for, and none of the customization TES is known for. Oh, and xp. There'll be xp. And none of the houses will be enterable. I can't for the life of me imagine an Elder Scrolls where I can't detour through someone's house if I take the fancy. And everything will be nailed down, though that would be kinda understandable. Hard to allow stealing in an MMO without it biting you in the ass.

 

[krazykidd]

Why not just focus the time and energy to making the next TES game with splitscteen co-op and online multiplayer with friends . Seems like a better use of their time and money . I won't touch this game with a ten foot pole , someone else is holding ( thanks yahtzee for that line ). Even if it happens to not suck ( face it this game can not be good , it will either suck , or not suck so much ) i still won't buy it .

Hmmm a TES game on the WiiU could be amazing though. /random thought.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I would think that the bigger the fan of the Elder Scrolls series the more likely they are to dislike the idea of a MMO Elder Scrolls.

Elder Scrolls to its fans is a great single-player rpg experience with a wide open world. To change up that formula into a MMO, which a lot of Elder Scrolls fans dislike seems like a bad idea.

Actually I know quite a number of TES fans, many of whom are bigger fans then I am, who think the MMO could do well.

The entire single-player portion of the MMO is solo so..... it at least is trying to capture that "your THE hero" experience.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

I'm of two minds about TESO.

On the one hand, there are a lot of things that make me expect to hate it: I haven't ever played an MMO that I felt was improved by the presence of other players, they're planning on using the uninspired Medieval Europe version of Cyrodiil from Oblivion rather than the relatively interesting-sounding jungle it was supposed to be at this point in history, and it will most likely have a subscription fee.

On the other hand, the third-person perspective means it might actually be the first TES game with melee combat that doesn't feel like a slap fight, and even if it contains all the flaws I expect and more, I love Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim despite their being fairly shoddy from a design perspective.

Really, the whole franchise (starting with Morrowind, at least) seems to exist in some bizarre paradox-space in which quality and enjoyability have no connection whatsoever, so I'm not sure I'll be able to figure out whether I'll enjoy the game before it's released and I'm 30+ hours in.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I they're planning on using the uninspired Medieval Europe version of Cyrodiil from Oblivion rather than the relatively interesting-sounding jungle it was supposed to be at this point in history

Actually, when Tiber Septim CHIMed away the jungle, he altered time to where it never was a jungle.

Just altering Cyrodiil from a jungle into the mid-evil landscape it is would have killed all the flora/fauna, and done tons of things that would destroy the cities, and make it generally uninhabitable, he had to alter time backwards in order to ensure Cyrodiil didn't die.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

I they're planning on using the uninspired Medieval Europe version of Cyrodiil from Oblivion rather than the relatively interesting-sounding jungle it was supposed to be at this point in history

Actually, when Tiber Septim CHIMed away the jungle, he altered time to where it never was a jungle.

Just altering Cyrodiil from a jungle into the mid-evil landscape it is would have killed all the flora/fauna, and done tons of things that would destroy the cities, and make it generally uninhabitable, he had to alter time backwards in order to ensure Cyrodiil didn't die.

I guess that makes sense, though I'm not entirely convinced that doing it that way was necessary, given that he was essentially working with the modding tools.

Either way, I'd really prefer the jungle.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it will certainly be a game, even an MMO at that, but what it will not be is TES or anything like it.

Might as well play any other MMO while you wait.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

I don't know why people hate this game so much. It's made up by a different developer so Bethesda can focus on the main series. Plus, this mmo will give Elder Scrolls maybe a bit more background, like show in full what really happens in the books and such.

Plus if i sucks, just say that its non cannon.

 

[miketehmage]

It's probably going to be another generic mmo. not that I'm upset by its existence. It's not like this is elder scrolls 6, it isn't.

 

[Oinodaemon]

I feel like they should make Skyrim multi-player, with drop-in, drop-out gameplay similar to Diablo 2's. Personally, I love the idea of running around Tamriel with friends. It's a good idea. Not all the time, though. I also love my single player experience, where I can role play to my hearts content. Anyways, there're my feelings on it.

 

[kyogen]

I was really skeptical when I first heard of this project, but I'm increasingly curious about it now. Zenimax Online may or may not pull it off, but they at least seem to understand that they have several very different audiences to try to please. They also seem to really love the Elder Scrolls lore, so it could end up being a nice supplement to the main franchise.

 

[Sharp Blue]

The Elder Scrolls is an experience tailored to the player, you start out as a prisoner (Or at least a person somehow trapped.) Then you escape into a large world where every thing is over your head and you have to learn to fight and survive and complete some impossible task. Your character goes from being no one to being at the center of some big event that is. An MMO is not Elder Scrolls because you will not be getting the Elder Scrolls experience, you will be getting the MMO experience. Just having Tamriel or the Elder Scrolls mechanics does not make it an Elder Scrolls game.

 

[hermes]

Because its not Elder Scrolls. You can't all be "chosen ones" and all be in the center of some massive event... The idea of an MMO dilutes the experience of an Elder Scroll.

That, and the story repeating itself that a big company with a known developer has a massively popular franchise and tries to jump into the MMO ring to out-blizzard Blizzard; and when it fails, it lost so much money and resources the IP lost appeal, the developer lost credibility and the company lost solvency.

 

[Ishal]

I am easily the biggest Elder Scrolls fanboy on this forum.... and even I still think it is going to suck.

Don't get your hopes up.

I am expecting terrible, terrible, gear grind, and a lack of interesting end-game things to do.

ES fanboy eh? I haven't met too many of them, then again the first elder scrolls game i truly played was skyrim... so...

I'm expecting the same terrible things you are.

They want to bring the single playerRPG crowd and the MMO crowd together. Honestly, people of the escapist what do you think will happen here? I personally feel it could turn out to be a failure of catastrophic proportions. It's going to be a case of "you got ur single player RPG in my MMO" and "You got ur MMO in my single player"

What I mean is you have 3 types of people that will play this game.
1) The MMO players who only play MMO's and don't like RPGs, who won't like the amount of RPG stuff that is there to appeal to the Skyrim/Oblivion etc. crowd
2) The single player RPG crowd who don't like MMO's (this could be their first mmo) and is trying it because its an Elder Scrolls Game. They won't like all the things that come standard in MMO's, not to mention the whole "I'm a nobody questing in a world filled with other nobodies"
3) The players who play both single player RPG and MMO's (like me) who will find a watered down Elder Scrolls game and a sub par MMO.

I can see it all now. That one player who for him/her this is their first MMO, they are just exploring the world and maybe feel just as immersed as when they just came out of that first cave in Skyrim. Right now they have just crossed the border into the outskirts of Cyrodil and as they approach a beautiful vista on a cliff.... 4 enemy players descend upon them and they are immediately killed. The players dance on their corpse and /emote, trashtalk, and bunny hop before leaving. That player just has been ganked for the first time, and will likely quit the game right then and there.

Don't even get me started on the MMO community. "The only PvP is massive open world PvP like old DAoC". Oh Jesus Christ. Now all the old Warhammer players and DAoC players will come in hoping to get that same high they got while playing DAoC, only to realize it is in fact not DAoC, then proceed to burn through the content then burn the game down for its "failures".

I know its cynical but its just how I feel. I'll play it when it comes out, I'll have a new PC then and I think it at least warrants checking out. But I don't have high hopes. What about the rest of you?

Captcha: Fava beans
THanks capthca now I'm bitter AND hungry -_-

 

[aguspal]

Ok.


I loved Skyrim.

Not interested in MMORPGS at all.

So not getting it at all.

 

[Mister Six]

I think it's gonna follow in SW:TOR's footsteps, promise us the world and then deliver a mediocre at best experience. Oh it'll look like The Elder Scrolls, but it'll play like WoW, or possible Guild Wars if they go that route, and the story will be fun to play through once or twice, but then it'll become a grind. Plus there will be little to no endgame, which while normal for a new MMO, it's a killing blow when compared to established games.