77 replies to this topic

[Werthead]

Linkage.

Bethesda and Zenimax have announced The Elder Scrolls Online. Information so far: it will apparently feature the entire continent of Tamriel, although there will be a focus on Cyrodiil. There will be three major factions fighting for the Imperial Throne. It's set a thousand years before the events of Skyrim. It will probably be a fairly standard MMORPG with instances, dungeons etc. It's been developed by Zenimax Online Studios rather than Bethesda themselves, meaning that Bethesda's own development team can remain focused on single-player RPGs. The setting also means that it shouldn't interfere with future single-player Elder Scrolls games.

Apparently Game Informer will have a trailer available on its website tomorrow.


What we know so far:

An MMORPG (obviously).
The entire continent of Tamriel will be the setting. Some areas will be locked off for use as future expansion areas, however (i.e. Windhelm is reachable but Winterhold is not in the initial release).
Set 1,000 years before the events of SKYRIM.
Cyrodiil will be a PvP zone with 3 factions fighting for control of the Imperial City. Cyrodiil's topography has been recreated from OBLIVION, though it will be slightly smaller.
100-vs-100 PvP battles will be possible.
Faction 1: Ebonheart Pact, an alliance between nords, dunmer (dark elves) and argonians.
Faction 2: Aldmeri Dominion, an alliance between altmer (high elves), bosmer (wood elves) and khajiit.
Faction 3: Daggefall Covenant, an alliance between bretons, redguards and orcs.
Thieves' Guild, Fighters' Guild and Dark Brotherhood will be present.
'Hubless' quest design: an attempt to give quests to players in a less contrived fashion than going to town and asking around, though that will still be present.
'Dark Anchors' will fill same role as Oblivion Gates/Dragons: tough, semi-random magical objects that must be destroyed (otherwise Tamriel will be dragged into a daedra dimension). The arrival of one is hoped to be a big event in any given area, hopefully encouraging lots of players to band together to destroy it.
The stamina bar will impact on combat by allowing different types of attacks and defences to be used.
'Aggroing' will apparently be non-viable due to superior AI that will target the most dangerous players rather than the first one to wander into range.
Towns/Cities present: Imperial City, Daggerfall, Windhelm, Sentinel, Mournhold, Ebenheart, Elden Root, Shornhelm, Evermore, Riften and 'many more'.
Fast travel possible through waystones only. Standard fast travel will not be possible.
Radiant AI of singler-player games likely to be dialled back for player convenience (i.e. stores will be open all the time).
No houses, or NPC romances. Dragons probably not present in the main game, but may be encounterable via time travel quests. Pets possible.
Mounts present, but no flying ones.
Vampires and werewolves present as enemies, but players cannot become them (at least, not in the initial release).
Constellation and birthsign-based buffs will be present.
Developed by Zenimax Online Studios, helped by Bethesda. Bethesda will remain focused on their single-player RPGs, however.
In development since 2007.
Full voice acting.
Pretty standard MMORPG controls: 3rd person, hotbar-based skill use.
Shouldn't interfere with future Bethesda projects (FALLOUT or ELDER SCROLLS).
Out in 2013 for PC and Mac.

Edited by Werthead, 04 May 2012 - 05:37 AM.

[Leviathan I]

Meh, it could be good but seeing as how we haven't seen anything from 'Zenimax Online Studios' yet I'm willing to make the assumption that this is only to make some dat MMO money using the popular brand name The Elder Scrolls. It will probably work and they'll probably get a ton of money but I think that they're milking their trademarks from the success of good game design that Bethesda do on The Elder Scrolls.

[Werthead]

Screenshots and concept art.

[GoodGuyA]

I knew that reaction would be painfully bitter when this came. People assume wayyyy too much about the production cycle. For example, Bethesda is not making Dishonored, Zenimax is merely publishing it.

I will say that I'm a bit disappointed by the fact it seems to be taking little risk, and not allowing me to play in first person! That's the draw of TES for me in its combat, to feel like I'm right in the action. I'll certainly be interested to see what other things come out of it, but the hotkey model is becoming quickly obsolete for many people. They had better bring something truly great to the table (because the world of Tamriel isn't that spectacular by itself).

[denstorebog]

Elder Scrolls games aren't good because of their substance (plot, worldbuilding, etc.), but because of their form (focus on expansive single-player experience). Making an MMO is basically keeping the substance and throwing the form away. Don't see how this can be anything but dull fare.

[ROLF]

They'd have been better served by making upcoming ES series games co-op if desirable.

[peterbound]

Meh, not that excited about that.

[Fez]

Quote

Shouldn't interfere with future Bethesda projects (FALLOUT or ELDER SCROLLS).

By far the most important feature in the list.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

This is relevant to my interests.

[Kaldaur]

Pumped to check it out when it comes out next year. I prefer MMOs to single player games, although Elder Scrolls have always been high on my list of single player experiences.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

Kaldaur, on 04 May 2012 - 08:03 AM, said:

Pumped to check it out when it comes out next year. I prefer MMOs to single player games, although Elder Scrolls have always been high on my list of single player experiences.

Agreed.  As somene who's played TES games since Daggerfall, putting the entirety of Tamriel into one game piques my interest as much as anything.

[Cadiva]

It's being headed up by Matt Firor, and a lot of his Shrouded Isles team who worked on the best RvR MMO ever made - Dark Age of Camelot. It's following DAoC's three factions not two factions which always makes PvP better, it has the brilliant Elder Scrolls cannon to draw from as well as the huge open world scenarios of those games.
Definitely interested in this one.

[Mexal]

Cadiva, on 04 May 2012 - 08:16 AM, said:

It's being headed up by Matt Firor, and a lot of his Shrouded Isles team who worked on the best RvR MMO ever made - Dark Age of Camelot. It's following DAoC's three factions not two factions which always makes PvP better, it has the brilliant Elder Scrolls cannon to draw from as well as the huge open world scenarios of those games.
Definitely interested in this one.

If the PvP is anything like what DAOC was, then I might actually consider taking a look.

[Kaldaur]

Indeed. The presence of a DAoC lead designer and triple faction PvP means that it is worth keeping an eye on. I doubt we'll ever get a DAoC 2, but it won't stop me from trying those that bring similar design facets to the table.

[Renasko]

Not another fuckin' MMORPG.

[A Menina Cebola]

Unless it's like Skyrim, and I can literally run around killing randoms after putting buckets over their heads, steal stuff and just generally maim and rob people, then it won't be of any use to me.

[Francis Buck]

I don't know, this sounds fucking awesome to me. The main reason I don't really like most MMO's is because of the gameplay-style, I prefer more action oriented stuff like this and Diablo. I mean come on, the entire continent of Tamriel? That's so cool.

Also I don't get why people bitch about MMO's. Are there really THAT many of them? Does the existence of MMO's somehow affect you personally? And as stated, it's not as if Bethesda's going to stop making the single-player games. I guess I just don't see the downside? Seems like people just complain about it because it's trendy to do so.

Oh, debut teaser (there's nothing in it really, except that it's narrated by Michael Gambon a.k.a. Dumbledore):

http://www.gametrail...he-elder/729819

Edited by Francis Buck, 04 May 2012 - 10:26 AM.

[Fez]

Francis Buck, on 04 May 2012 - 10:14 AM, said:

Does the existence of MMO's somehow affect you personally?

In this particular case, apparently not. But thanks to WoW I'll never see Warcraft 4; so that sucks.

[TheEvilKing]

As long as I can poo on cowards it's all good.

What's that? No pooing on cowards feature?

THREAD REPORTED.

[Mindphlux]

I'll reserve judgement until I see gameplay, but if it follows the standard MMO formula I won't give it a second glance.  It doesn't matter what world it's set in, for me that type of game has run its course.