So now that Elder Scrolls Online has BETA sign ups...

[Cheesus Crust]

Any fans here of the Elder Scroll series mind sharing what they want out of Elder Scrolls Online? Just signed up for the beta cause you know, why not?

Might sound a bit shallow, but above all else I hope it follows a sort of Guild Wars 2 approach in that I only have to pay for the darn thing once. I hate subscription.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I agree with the no subscription thing. Obviously, it's still a long way out and we don't know for sure, but considering the success of Guild Wars 2 and the Secret World following this model, and the failure of subscriptions in other games like The Old Republic, it seems like a smart thing to do.

Anyway, what I'm hoping for is a game where I can quest in a very non-linear fashion, where exploration is interesting and rewarded, and where having other players around me while questing actually impacts the game in a meaningful way. The fact that they've been talking about doing these things to some extent is why I'm interested in the game, and why I want to try it out.

 

[Saviordd1]

Signed up for the beta (which was creepily reminiscent of college applications minus one FAFSA) me and a few friends are hoping to get in; we're all huge Elder Scrolls buffs and are PRAYING this finally proves that not all fantasy RPG's need to be WoW with new paint.

 

[Sixcess]

I wouldn't be surprised if they launched with a box price and a monthly sub - the extra income that would bring in for the first few months would be tempting for anyone. On the other hand they'd then have the near inevitable transition to B2P or F2P some way down the line to deal with.

I just hope they learn from Bioware's mistakes and don't assume that because Skyrim sold X millions of copies they will get X millions of subscribers. The Elder Scrolls name will carry them only so far.

What makes it more interesting is they can't just make Skyrim-with-multiplayer. For all it's faults SWTOR does offer a pretty good Bioware RPG experience, but there's just no way to replicate the freedom and interaction of a game like Skyrim in an MMO, unless it's instanced to hell and back in which case it'll be a terrible MMO. It simply can't be done.

So I guess I'm just hoping that they do something interesting with the game first and foremost as an MMO rather than as an Elder Scrolls game, and that they don't drop another overhyped and underachieving bomb on the genre.

 

[WoW Killer]

Honestly, I think they're already screwed. They went with the idea that they'd need to appeal to both mainstream MMO players (e.g. WoW players) and Elder Scrolls players, which is wise. They thought that they could do this by creating a WoW clone in the TES universe, which is dumb.

That's just what I've seen so far. I'm happy to be proven wrong, and I'll be glad if you all laugh at me upon release, because that'll mean the game is great. But everything I've seen so far tells me they don't understand the appeal of the Elder Scrolls series, and how to make it work in an MMO setting (if that's possible at all; which I imagine it actually is).

First of all, TES games are not narrative focused. Furthermore, we've had narrative WoW clones in the past (e.g. SW:ToR) and they've not been too successful. Secondly, they're doing a class system and you don't need classes to make an MMO. There's plenty of MMOs out there with a skill based progression system (more in line with a TES game). The snap judgement is that you need to emulate WoW in order to compete with WoW. With a legacy like TES you could reinvent everything and still get enough people to play to appreciate your changes and adjust. Thirdly, level restricted zones. Again, there are MMOs out there that already do things more like the actual TES games. I don't know why they're so hell bent on copying WoW.

Funny thing is, I remember when the game was first announced and everybody was immediately crying doom. At that point I was like, ok, lets not jump to conclusions, it might be ok. But then suddenly it's taken on some kind of force and there's this big community behind it. You're all wrong. It's not going to be the messiah. It might be ok, but that's the best it's going to be.

Without meaning to offend, I'm calling it now; it's going to suck. That's not because I want it to suck, but because I know a little bit about MMO history.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I refuse to pay subscription fees, so if it's a subscription game I'm out from the start.

I haven't really been keeping up with it, except to see a few screenshots where the art style is worryingly similar to the Old Republic, except even more cartoonesque.

Oh well, as long as they don't have hotbars, that would be instant death right there.

 

[SofiaDargel]

Honestly, I think they're already screwed. They went with the idea that they'd need to appeal to both mainstream MMO players (e.g. WoW players) and Elder Scrolls players, which is wise. They thought that they could do this by creating a WoW clone in the TES universe, which is dumb.

That's just what I've seen so far. I'm happy to be proven wrong, and I'll be glad if you all laugh at me upon release, because that'll mean the game is great. But everything I've seen so far tells me they don't understand the appeal of the Elder Scrolls series, and how to make it work in an MMO setting (if that's possible at all; which I imagine it actually is).

First of all, TES games are not narrative focused. Furthermore, we've had narrative WoW clones in the past (e.g. SW:ToR) and they've not been too successful. Secondly, they're doing a class system and you don't need classes to make an MMO. There's plenty of MMOs out there with a skill based progression system (more in line with a TES game). The snap judgement is that you need to emulate WoW in order to compete with WoW. With a legacy like TES you could reinvent everything and still get enough people to play to appreciate your changes and adjust. Thirdly, level restricted zones. Again, there are MMOs out there that already do things more like the actual TES games. I don't know why they're so hell bent on copying WoW.

And what exactly makes you think that this is a WoW clone?
From what I've read, the gameplay mechanics will be like previous TES games, most specifically Skyrim and Oblivion.

 

[SofiaDargel]

I refuse to pay subscription fees, so if it's a subscription game I'm out from the start.

I haven't really been keeping up with it, except to see a few screenshots where the art style is worryingly similar to the Old Republic, except even more cartoonesque.

Oh well, as long as they don't have hotbars, that would be instant death right there.

I think is the same engine from The Old Republic, as for the hotbars, I think it will have one with 6 buttons or so.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I refuse to pay subscription fees, so if it's a subscription game I'm out from the start.

I haven't really been keeping up with it, except to see a few screenshots where the art style is worryingly similar to the Old Republic, except even more cartoonesque.

Oh well, as long as they don't have hotbars, that would be instant death right there.

I think is the same engine from The Old Republic, as for the hotbars, I think it will have one with 6 buttons or so.

Just googled it...

Well, I won't be playing that game! Had enough of hotbars to do me a lifetime.

 

[WoW Killer]

And what exactly makes you think that this is a WoW clone?

Not a great deal probably. I mean there's MMOs like SW:ToR which are direct WoW copies, and there are MMOs like GW2 which do things very differently despite being hotkey based third person games. I used the term WoW clone a bit loosely there. It's just that they took a few steps towards copying WoW that I felt were not needed, specifically the class system and the level locked zones. That doesn't set a great example to me.

And it's like I said; everybody was hating on the game when it was first announced, but now there seems to be major hype involved. I want it to be known that I'm incredibly skeptical. Like, I'm massively thinking this will fail. I don't hope it fails, but I think it will.

 

[xefaros]

Signed also for beta and noticed the non disclosure agreement for the beta so no chance for news or videos from beta?
I honestly hope that it wont die from lack of people like other MMO competing with WOW

 

[attackshark]

as this is a forum for opinion, mine is that it's going to fail. horribly. it's going to fail worse than the LEGO MMO.

this is the key question: what is elder scrolls bringing to the MMO table that other games are not? the answer i come up with is "nothing," aside from the IP of course. the leveling system is okay (i guess), but i doubt it could be used in an MMORPG all that well, and i suspect they will end up tailoring it to look more like a standard level up system. but that, at it's core, is more cosmetic than anything. the perks system in skyrim was underwhelming, too. level 5: hit slightly harder with one-handed weapons. level 30: hit slightly more hard than that. no new moves or anything; it's lazy. the character design is dull and more homogenous than a wilco concert, and while the environments are lovely to look at, they just aren't that interesting. nice tree. nice mountain. here's a cave; watch out for drauger/bandits. BAM. you've seen it all. and god help them if they try to incorporate the current combat system.it's the fucked-upiest hack-n-slash i've ever had the displeasure of knowing. the magic is under powered and frankly not that exciting.

don't get me wrong. i'm a big elder scrolls fan. i've got a few hundred hours between skyrim and oblivion, and i love them to death. what they get right about these games, they get right hard, but it's mainly in the way they synchronize the questing and exploration aspects. but i just don't see how the elder scrolls experience is going to translate into an MMO without compromising the elder scrolls experience. it's a single player game and i think they're better off keeping it that way. still, if i get a key, i'm going to approach it with an open mind and hope for the best. if all else fails, we can just ***** them into oblivion.

too long; did not read: this game will either suck or not be elder scrolls; either way we lose.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Not a great deal probably. I mean there's MMOs like SW:ToR which are direct WoW copies, and there are MMOs like GW2 which do things very differently despite being hotkey based third person games. I used the term WoW clone a bit loosely there. It's just that they took a few steps towards copying WoW that I felt were not needed, specifically the class system and the level locked zones. That doesn't set a great example to me.

BAD WoW Killer. BAD. You as much as anyone should know better than to trot out the badly misused charge of "WoW Clone", when WoW was in and of itself a "clone" if we're being that generous with the term. I can't think of a single MMO that ever "cloned" WoW. If they had, they might have shared its success. All of them tried to break off in new and exciting directions, and in most cases the market punished them for it.