Elder Scrolls: Online MMO

[mpulliam]

Teaser:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/de...e-elder/729819

GameTrailer Announcement:
http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mis...mmo-ever-made/

Some Elder Scrolls Online Details to Pair With That New Trailer
http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mis...t-new-trailer/

Schools about to be in session.

[Keven]

This will be so dumb.

[kbohip]

I never did understand the point of trailers that just scroll around a logo for a minute. What a waste of bandwidth.

[Activate: AMD]

I will repeat a sentiment that I found over in a reddit r/games comment thread that really summed up my feelings: This will be a total waste of a great opportunity. There are so many different places in the lore of TES that there is absolutely no way a big MMO will do them justice. Skyrim and Cyrodil are pretty generic relative to what the other lands are supposed to be like, with walking trees, structures built of of insect wing material.. etc. In the interest of cranking out a massive world for the MMO, everything will probably just become generic fantasy crap that either retcons existing lore or pays only lip service. These places deserve whole games, not a crappy MMO remake. I'm getting so incredibly tired of these massive gaming companies pillaging their IP's in a rabid quest for a subscription based revenue stream. Look at how well thats worked out for SW:TOR ZeniMax is going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

[mpulliam]

Some Elder Scrolls Online Details to Pair With That New Trailer
http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mis...t-new-trailer/

Meh, I'm a gamer. I'll play a game before I bash it. And I would rather hope for a better game, then hope to be the guy that is right and say "I told you it would suck".

Whomever mapped out the details, definitly played DAoC. That is a plus in my book...

[kbohip]

My brother-in-law, who got me into games like Skyrim, seems excited about this. I'm sort of indifferent to it. On one hand it means being able to play and get more out of Skyrim, otoh, it probably also means more $ per month that I just don't have to shell out for game playing. Luckily for me I can go over to his house and check this out when it becomes available to see if it's worth my money.

[Keven]

My brother-in-law, who got me into games like Skyrim, seems excited about this. I'm sort of indifferent to it. On one hand it means being able to play and get more out of Skyrim, otoh, it probably also means more $ per month that I just don't have to shell out for game playing. Luckily for me I can go over to his house and check this out when it becomes available to see if it's worth my money.

On of my friends who is a big Elder Scrolls fan is real excited about the MMO too. I don't know why. I'm just as big of a fan. To me, it's so obvious this will be another generic World of Warcraft clone like LOTRO, Champions Online and SW:TOR before it.

EA threw something like $100 million dollars at SW:TOR. If that kind of money plus the power of the Star Wars franchise creates WoW-in-space-with-good-cutscenes, then I am convinced there will never be another good MMO.

[Activate: AMD]

On of my friends who is a big Elder Scrolls fan is real excited about the MMO too. I don't know why. I'm just as big of a fan. To me, it's so obvious this will be another generic World of Warcraft clone like LOTRO, Champions Online and SW:TOR before it.

EA threw something like $100 million dollars at SW:TOR. If that kind of money plus the power of the Star Wars franchise creates WoW-in-space-with-good-cutscenes, then I am convinced there will never be another good MMO.

agreed. this is basically the essence of the problem. All the other major publishers have coveted the WoW subscription model since it became a clear success. This is basically the same fundamental issue that major developers have had with CoD. Everyone knocks off the original, but they dont ever seem to improve on anything the original accomplishes. If all you're going to do is make a crappy knock-off, then why should anyone buy anything but the original, especially when everyone seems to think they're entitled to the same $60 whether or not the game is good? Then we just get bitter devs who have created a sub par product whining about video game piracy and a crap load of "me too" games.

Basically, ZeniMax is making a big mistake and I hate this crap

[IAmGhostDog]

Pass.
I don't do subscriptions (except for magazines)
Plus generic Skyrim looks so bland and from what I understand you can't run any mods.

[kbohip]

Pass.
I don't do subscriptions (except for magazines)
Plus generic Skyrim looks so bland and from what I understand you can't run any mods.

This is what my thoughts are too.

[Keven]

Meh, I'm a gamer. I'll play a game before I bash it. And I would rather hope for a better game, then hope to be the guy that is right and say "I told you it would suck".

Whomever mapped out the details, definitly played DAoC. That is a plus in my book...

Hey, we're all gamers man. Don't get mad at us because we think this looks like a cheap cash-in. If you liked Dark Age of Camelot then you may like this, all the power to you.

[Meridian]

I don't think it's fair to describe this as a cheap cash-in. As you can see from some of the earlier posts, many people have been calling for a multiplayer version of the Elder Scrolls Universe for a decade at least now, with the official forums awash with moderator-closed threads on the subject. Personally I won't go near the game and it is not of the slightest interest, but the idea is certainly a popular one with fans. Whether the final result is worth playing will be another question. It's interesting that it has stayed within the Bethesda Group, but not the Dev Team that does the SP games. That suggests that the company do see it as a long-term thing, but aren't too worried about canon. And changing that will open a whole can o'worms.


M

[Keven]

I don't think it's fair to describe this as a cheap cash-in. As you can see from some of the earlier posts, many people have been calling for a multiplayer version of the Elder Scrolls Universe for a decade at least now, with the official forums awash with moderator-closed threads on the subject. Personally I won't go near the game and it is not of the slightest interest, but the idea is certainly a popular one with fans. Whether the final result is worth playing will be another question. It's interesting that it has stayed within the Bethesda Group, but not the Dev Team that does the SP games. That suggests that the company do see it as a long-term thing, but aren't too worried about canon. And changing that will open a whole can o'worms.

I dunno, M. I think if you polled every Elder Scrolls fan, half would say they wanted an MMO, another half would say they didn't. Maybe more. As you know, the Elder Scroll series has always been about you being the hero from humble beginnings. The unnamed prisoner tapped to become the Ultimate Savior Of The Universe!

In an MMO, you'll be wizard #50239421 doing moronic fetch quests with absolutely no impact on the world. And even if they do have you getting "very important" high level quests from the Emperor or something in the game, it won't be the same, because millions of other people will be doing the same quest.

Sure, we're all doing the same quests in the single player Elder Scrolls games, but when you go to the castle to get a quest from Ulfric Stormcloak, you're the only one there. There isn't 50 other guys lined up to open the dialog window after you.

To me, part of the appeal of this franchise has always been the aforementioned rise from nobody to super hero (I mean, in Morrowind you were at a demigod incarnate at the end) and this just will not work in an MMO.

[Meridian]

While you are certainly correct that probably a majority of long-time fans will hate the idea, I think there are probably enough people who want to play to keep it viable. But only if it sticks closely to the gameplay style of TES games. Interestingly, most people asking for multiplayer tended to ask for LAN-based co-op, which would make for more sense. But would, of course, make no money. Gaming is slowly moving towards a "milk-the-customer" model (it's a business, so this is to be expected), so just adding co-op as a one off to an existing game would cost a fortune and make little if it was just a DLC. But I suspect that Activate will be right: once you go MMO there really is little you can do to make your game shine over anyone else's except the look and setting. The gameplay is largely constrained by the type of game it is. Either way I don't care as I won't be playing it.


M

[mpulliam]

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/th...ls-online.aspx

First screenshots.

Don't get mad at us because we think this looks like a cheap cash-in.

I'm not mad, I'm excited.

I would rather gamble that this game is going to be good, rather than bemoan so many other failures that this HAS to be bad. Your talking to a sports fan - and I approach my games and devs the same way I walk into the Oakland Coliseum - "Lets win this one".

Cheers to Bethesda for loosening up the grip on this well told series, and good luck to ZeniMax for facing up to the hordes of MMO players that demand new worlds to explore with a lot of friends - and lets not forget those that wish for it to be a failure before it has even begun.

-=M=-