Why I think Elder Scrolls Online has great potential

[Friendly Lich]

I am sure that you have all seen the advertisements for TESO so I'll jump right into my reasons. Key word here is potential.

1. Great lore and story writers: The people who write the lore, stories, and quests for the TES series are perhaps the best in the RPG genre. The Lore is deep and reads like an actual history book. The quests are always interesting or funny and the plots are usually really good.

2. Mega-server technology: If you aren't aware TESO will be on whats called a mega-server, its basically a super powerful server designed to hold EVERYONE. This means everyone is on one server. How will this effect gameplay? Imagine: no more screwing around trying to get with your friends on the same server, no more trying to move servers to find the right guilds etc. This also means REPUTATION COUNTS, you cant change servers or fade into anonymity you are stuck on that server and your actions will follow from day 1. Think about that.

3. Organic/"manual" Combat: YOU will have to aim your sword blows and spells just like in Skyrim. No more computer to auto target enemy players with a press of the tab button like in so many other MMOs. This will take more skill and will make combat more realistic and exciting.

I may right another post about some things that could be the downfall of TESO later

Thank you for reading

 

[Karoshi]

1. Great lore and story writers: The people who write the lore, stories, and quests for the TES series are perhaps the best in the RPG genre. The Lore is deep and reads like an actual history book. The quests are always interesting or funny and the plots are usually really good.

Are we talking about the same people here? Elder Scrolls has many interesting reads, its books make usually for good entertainment and the quests show promise. Yet the writing itself manages to be pretty bland and the characters feel like cardboard cutouts.

Even if we assume that TES writing is great, it won't mean much. Most MMO-players skip quest logs, ignore lore and are just here for the gameplay. Whether the story is good or not, won't make much impact on the population (just look at SWTOR, which has pretty amazing writing and yet became F2P in less than a year).

2. Mega-server technology: If you aren't aware TESO will be on whats called a mega-server, its basically a super powerful server designed to hold EVERYONE. This means everyone is on one server. How will this effect gameplay? Imagine: no more screwing around trying to get with your friends on the same server, no more trying to move servers to find the right guilds etc. This also means REPUTATION COUNTS, you cant change servers or fade into anonymity you are stuck on that server and your actions will follow from day 1. Think about that.

For reputation to matter you need a fanbase that won't fade after a few months. I will give you credit though, this might have an appeal for many people, especially with three faction system and lots of PvP and ganking which is going to ensue.

3. Organic/"manual" Combat: YOU will have to aim your sword blows and spells just like in Skyrim. No more computer to auto target enemy players with a press of the tab button like in so many other MMOs. This will take more skill and will make combat more realistic and exciting.

Realistic and exciting - or limiting and exploitable. How are mages going to fare? Can you just dodge a spell by making a step sideways? Does that mean everyone's gonna bump uglies in PvP and breath down each others neck? It might be nice and refreshing, but it's not an automatic win-win card. Without hands on gameplay, it's hard to say how well executed this idea is.

TES MMO might surprise me, but too many MMOs have tried and failed to compete with WoW. Somehow I don't think this one will be an exception.

 

[squeekenator]

I've been mildly interested by ESO, since I love the shit out of TES, but at the same time I despise MMOs in general. Not because I dislike the massively multiplayer part, it's just that they all seem to have the same basic grind-focused gameplay. So my question is; do we know whether the actual gameplay in ESO is going to be more like an actual Elder Scrolls game or will it be a reskinned World of Warcraft?

 

[Nomanslander]

I say it'll be F2P in a year. The one element that really matters in MMOs that a lot of people don't give credit for is gameplay. Through grinding, you're going to have to deal with gameplay more than the story or have time to fancy the idea of mega-servers.

A company needs to know how to make the gameplay engrossing, Blizzard has always been known for this, and Bethesda hasn't.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Not sure we played the same TES games, but I don't remember the lore being that great or the presentation of it, and all this usually gets 10x worse in an MMO.

Mega-Servers only mean you won't be hassled with server choice, that really isn't a big deal.

Combat isn't the same as TES at all, the MMO just switches targets on it's own but the rest remains same old that you now get in many MMOs.

The one great thing TES games brought was the wonder of exploring and solving that big crazy world, both of which can't be done when 50+ people are grinding each area at the same time and it all needs to keep resetting.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

...yet became F2P in less than a year...

I say it'll be F2P in a year.

Still? Still with this bullshit? In a day and age when all but one or two MMOs have gone FTP, when the highest profile MMOs of the last year were LAUNCHED as FTP titles, we're still perpetuating this stupid myth that F2P is some kind of failure state?

If they have any brains, it'll either launch as a F2P game, or a sub game with a rigorous F2P model baked into the game they can transition to after a couple of months.

It's not 2004 any more guys. The entire genre is F2P and B2P now. The sub is dead.

OT: I'm not weighing in on the success or failure of ESO until I can see some game play videos or get my hands on the beta. MMOs have way too many moving parts to make judgments based entirely on marketing hype and alpha impressions.

 

[Genocidicles]

Well, it'll either be a crappy game that wont last.

Or it'll be so good they wont bother with any more Elder Scrolls titles, like with Warcraft.

Either one is bad.

 

[Nomanslander]

...yet became F2P in less than a year...

I say it'll be F2P in a year.

...we're still perpetuating this stupid myth that F2P is some kind of failure state?

If they have any brains, it'll either launch as a F2P game, or a sub game with a rigorous F2P model baked into the game they can transition to after a couple of months.

It's not 2004 any more guys. The entire genre is F2P and B2P now. The sub is dead.

F2P is a failure state if the game starts off with subs (ToR) and turns towards F2P because they're losing subs.

Truth of matter, is F2P isn't a happenin' thing, it's the results of the MMO market and how no game can compete with WoW. Now if the game had been stringed together on a penny budget, F2P is fine, but if they spent a lot of money to try and compete with WoW they're going to want to go subs; they'd be FAILURES if they didn't. The only reason most games today won't try subs is because WoW has monopolized that market, not because they cool like that!

 

[Rawne1980]

Or it'll be so good they wont bother with any more Elder Scrolls titles, like with Warcraft.

Except it isn't Bathesda making the MMO so it has no bearing on the single player games whatsoever.

Edit to clarify.

Bathesda Softworks is publishing it but Zenimax Online Studios is developing it not Bathesda Game Studios.

 

[Friendly Lich]

Realistic and exciting - or limiting and exploitable. How are mages going to fare? Can you just dodge a spell by making a step sideways? Does that mean everyone's gonna bump uglies in PvP and breath down each others neck? It might be nice and refreshing, but it's not an automatic win-win card. Without hands on gameplay, it's hard to say how well executed this idea is.

-They will fare as well as they can aim like it should be. Are you telling me you don't get tired of fireballs that curve to hit you and are unavoidable?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

F2P is a failure state if the game starts off with subs (ToR) and turns towards F2P because they're losing subs.

Truth of matter, is F2P isn't a happenin' thing, it's the results of the MMO market and how no game can compete with WoW. Now if the game had been stringed together on a penny budget, F2P is fine, but if they spent a lot of money to try and compete with WoW they're going to want to go subs; they'd be FAILURES if they didn't. The only reason most games today won't try subs is because WoW has monopolized that market, not because they cool like that!

Again, this is not 2004, and WoW is not monopolizing the market anywhere near the way it used to. MoP saw the same staggering active player drop off that the new MMOs it "killed" saw after their launches. Why? Because WoW abruptly sucked? Because MoP was terrible? Or because the space is increasingly saturated with F2P options so the roving mass of fickle gamers looking for TNBT don't put down roots the way they used to? The way a subscription model REQUIRES them to in order to turn a profit?

Why did Guild Wars 2 launch with a BTP format instead of a sub format? Lack of ambition? Just decided to "fail" right off the bat? Why would NC Soft, a notoriously cheap-ass company, allow for that?

Why would Planetside 2 launch as a FTP game with microtransactions right out of the box? I assume you feel Planetside 2 was "stringed together on a penny budget"?

When Turbine launched its FTP model for DDO Online they not only increased their profits by a staggering margin, they actually doubled their subscriber base. Not their active player base...their paying subscribers. LOTRO has had similar success.

Why would anyone pay $15 a month for an MMO they were not already invested in when every other option on the market other than WoW, Rift and EVE had a FTP model? And hell, WoW has a limited FTP model, and I'm not even 100% sure about EVE.

Gah whatever I can't even be assed to have this discussion with people anymore. It's so exhausting. People can believe whatever stupid nonsensical bullshit they want to believe, that's their right.

 

[Friendly Lich]

Not sure we played the same TES games, but I don't remember the lore being that great or the presentation of it, and all this usually gets 10x worse in an MMO.

Mega-Servers only mean you won't be hassled with server choice, that really isn't a big deal.

Combat isn't the same as TES at all, the MMO just switches targets on it's own but the rest remains same old that you now get in many MMOs.

The one great thing TES games brought was the wonder of exploring and solving that big crazy world, both of which can't be done when 50+ people are grinding each area at the same time and it all needs to keep resetting.

The lore is there you just may not have been paying attention though.

 

[endtherapture]

Lore is okay. Plots and characters suck.

I imagine the combat will be somewhat similar to Guild Wars 2. We haven't had the UI shown of the game yet.

The mega-server interests me, as does the exploration and the PvP realm of Cyrodiil.

If its B2P like GW2 I'll get it. I don't want to pay a sub fee and F2P has too many microtransactions.

 

[Nomanslander]

People can believe whatever stupid nonsensical bullshit they want to believe, that's their right.

Yeah, and you can believe yours since you obviously know exactly what you're talking about.

lol

>>

 

[Friendly Lich]

Lore is okay. Plots and characters suck.

I imagine the combat will be somewhat similar to Guild Wars 2. We haven't had the UI shown of the game yet.

The mega-server interests me, as does the exploration and the PvP realm of Cyrodiil.

If its B2P like GW2 I'll get it. I don't want to pay a sub fee and F2P has too many microtransactions.

Lore is okay. Plots and characters suck.

I imagine the combat will be somewhat similar to Guild Wars 2. We haven't had the UI shown of the game yet.

The mega-server interests me, as does the exploration and the PvP realm of Cyrodiil.

If its B2P like GW2 I'll get it. I don't want to pay a sub fee and F2P has too many microtransactions.

Plots sucks compared to what other MMO?

 

[SajuukKhar]

Plots sucks compared to what other MMO?

I actually think he was actually referring to Bethesda's writing as a whole rather then this MMO in particular.

but I could be wrong about that.

 

[endtherapture]

Lore is okay. Plots and characters suck.

I imagine the combat will be somewhat similar to Guild Wars 2. We haven't had the UI shown of the game yet.

The mega-server interests me, as does the exploration and the PvP realm of Cyrodiil.

If its B2P like GW2 I'll get it. I don't want to pay a sub fee and F2P has too many microtransactions.

Lore is okay. Plots and characters suck.

I imagine the combat will be somewhat similar to Guild Wars 2. We haven't had the UI shown of the game yet.

The mega-server interests me, as does the exploration and the PvP realm of Cyrodiil.

If its B2P like GW2 I'll get it. I don't want to pay a sub fee and F2P has too many microtransactions.

Plots sucks compared to what other MMO?

Well I doubt the plot will be as good as in TOR, Bioware are just better writers, and the story probably won't be as diverse and branching as Guild Wars 2.

Bethesda are good at lore and world building but suck at characters and storylines.

 

[Apointicus]

I've been looking into TES:O for quite some time and I have to say that this MMO may actually have potential.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLp0ykvotEI

This is an alpha review (no actual footage) by Jesse Cox, whose played MMOs for quite some time. What he says is really promising that this game may actually be a great MMO. It sounds like the devs are in a way taping as much of the elements of ES combat into the MMORPG formula, which sounds great and something I can really get into. Other than that, we'll be getting smarter A.I, flexible combat (maybe) and hopefully improvements to MMO elements.

It still has a long way to go and who knows if Zenimax can pull it off. But it seems to me that they really are trying to make a different, better MMO and not just a complete "WoW Clone" so I'm keeping my hopes up.

 

[Yellowfish]

Through grinding, you're going to have to deal with gameplay more than the story or have time to fancy the idea of mega-servers.

That's the whole point of having a "mega-server". If everyone is playing together, there are no dead servers, there are always people to fight or talk to. Having a "mega-server" directly affects gameplay - admit it, no fancy inoovaions will save your MMO if your playerbase is nonexistent. Having other people around is THE core gameplay element of any MMO. I mean, think about EVE for a second. It's gameplay is lackluster (no, really - it's full of horrible grind, character progression is awfully slow and the combat is dull and repetitive). What makes EVE a great game is its' community, and having only a single server is no small part of it.

 

[skywolfblue]

Realistic and exciting - or limiting and exploitable. How are mages going to fare? Can you just dodge a spell by making a step sideways? Does that mean everyone's gonna bump uglies in PvP and breath down each others neck? It might be nice and refreshing, but it's not an automatic win-win card. Without hands on gameplay, it's hard to say how well executed this idea is.

-They will fare as well as they can aim like it should be. Are you telling me you don't get tired of fireballs that curve to hit you and are unavoidable?

How the hell will they balance that? I haven't been keeping track of TES:O, but that just strikes me as making mages very underpowered.

- Melee can attack while moving around
- Mages have to aim, and even stop for all non-instant spells.

What keeps melee from just hopping around like a bunny rabbit whilst chopping away?

Maybe mage spells are stupidly overpowered? But then there will probably be a lot of "I got Globaled (one-shot)" complaints.