Topic: Elder Scrolls Online announced

[idolminds]

You wanted a MMO, right?

[Cobra951]

Yeah.  I really want this.  I'm looking into drilling new holes in my head too.

[sirean_syan]

I think the comments highlight the only good way an Elder Scrolls game should have multiplayer: co-op with a friend or two.

It's funny because the games sort of work like single player MMOs, but once you dilute the gameworld with a bunch of dumbass players a lot of charm will be lost.

[idolminds]

I think it could work with a bunch of instancing, like Guild Wars. Cities would be densely populated but leaving them its just you and your party. Otherwise its going to be kinda weird having 30 people all lined up to kill a respawning dragon.

[sirean_syan]

I suppose, but generally games that do that sort of thing don't call themselves MMOs.

[ScaryTooth]

I'm interested!

[Quemaqua]

Meh. Probably just another MMO. Don't really care unless they somehow convince me later, which I doubt.

[MysterD]

I like my ES games OFFLINE.

And also, like we need another MMO/Online Game... [sarcasm]

[Xessive]

I like my ES games OFFLINE.

And also, like we need another MMO/Online Game... [sarcasm]

I would have preferred a traditional game with cooperative options but a MMO expansion to the universe is welcome.

[MysterD]

ShackNews -> ESO - Teaser Trailer.
Joystiq -> ESO Screenies.

[shock]

Curious to see how this turns out.  Really hope it doesn't stick to the same boring MMO themepark format.

[MysterD]

I would have preferred a traditional game with cooperative options...

Okay, I gotta admit...that actually might be interesting.
Being able to play game alone SP-style [like Skyrim]; or have ONE player jump into another gamer's game w/ their own character and basically be a "Companion."

[Xessive]

Okay, I gotta admit...that actually might be interesting.
Being able to play game alone SP-style [like Skyrim]; or have ONE player jump into another gamer's game w/ their own character and basically be a "Companion."

What's exciting to me about the MMO is seeing the Elder Scrolls universe expand in that genre.

Coop and MMO are two very different genres though they have similar features. A modder made a coop experiment with Oblivion which was interesting to see, especially how time factors for players etc. That said, what makes coop so appealing is the idea that we can adventure together (or even separately) in a persistent player-specific world.

That's why a lot of people seem miffed that Dragon's Dogma won't have coop despite the presence of a companion through much of the game anyway.

[MysterD]

What's exciting to me about the MMO is seeing the Elder Scrolls universe expand in that genre.

Coop and MMO are two very different genres though they have similar features. A modder made a coop experiment with Oblivion which was interesting to see, especially how time factors for players etc. That said, what makes coop so appealing is the idea that we can adventure together (or even separately) in a persistent player-specific world.

That's why a lot of people seem miffed that Dragon's Dogma won't have coop despite the presence of a companion through much of the game anyway.

I'd rather have those optional Co-Op Elements (that don't feel shoehorned), instead of a full-blown MMO.

[Quemaqua]

The ES universe is already basically the largest fantasy game universe in existence. The sheer volume of stuff is ridiculous. I don't think it really needs to do any more expanding.

[Xessive]

The ES universe is already basically the largest fantasy game universe in existence. The sheer volume of stuff is ridiculous. I don't think it really needs to do any more expanding.

Well, it's not so much the Elder Scrolls universe itself expanding but our means of experiencing it.

I imagine there are people out there who hate singleplayer games and thrive almost exclusively on MMOs, this could be a way for them to experience this rich world.

As Shock said, I really hope they don't whip up another run-of-the-mill MMO.

[Cools!]

No thanks. I'd play ES coop, but don't need an MMO.

[K-man]

There's no way this isn't released buggy as shit and unplayable.

[Quemaqua]

Is Bethesda even developing it?

[Pugnate]

No. Zeni Max Online's first endeavor apparently.

[Quemaqua]

So buggy and unplayable isn't necessarily a given. If it was Bethesda, I'd say yeah, that would be a very, very tall order.

[MysterD]

ESO's Main Story = SINGLE PLAYER.

Great...so if the main story is SP-based, why am I connecting "Always online"?

I'm also curious...how much of the side quests are SP based, as well...

I could understand if they did something like Test Drive Unlimited 2 did - where SP content and areas could be done offline or online; while you had to connect online to do any of the MP-based areas and content.
At least the option was there...

[PyroMenace]

Yay, so you'll be collecting 8 mammoth tusks on your own then.

[Xessive]

First live gameplay demo!

Interesting. It certainly stands out from the rest of the MMO scene.

Visually, it's not blowing me away but I'm still intrigued.

[Quemaqua]

I think it looks great. Has a very TES feel to it, but seems to play a bit faster. I have zero overall interest just because I don't want to play online with other people, that doesn't interest me... but all in all it looks pretty cool.

[Cools!]

So I guess this is going to be the end of standalone ES games? Kind of how World of Warcraft killed any chance of a Warcraft strategy game?

Anyway, the video did look cool till I remembered "oh yeah, it's an MMO" and instantly lost interest again. Like I mentioned earlier, I'd just want to have coop, but that ain't happening now for sure.

[Quemaqua]

I'm pretty sure this won't end the normal series. I'd be really surprised if the MMO did well enough that they felt it was better to throw all their eggs in that basket. Then again, I wouldn't have thought they'd do that shit with Warcraft either.

[Xessive]

Well, ESO is gonna be subscription-based, $15 per month.

I've officially lost interest.

[Quemaqua]

I got in the beta, but site must have been getting mobbed as I couldn't even make an account. I may do it just to try it out and see the world a little, but no way I'm paying for a sub.

[W7RE]

I'm playing this. (I try most MMOs, I can't help it). I'll be on Daggerfall Covenant on the US megaserver.

It doesn't have the freedom of a typical Elder Scrolls game, but it has a familiarity about it. I like that they tried to keep the UI to a minimum and really went for reticle targetting instead of tab-targetting. (You can still tab-target, but you still have to aim your attacks if you want them to hit.) It's probably the same as every other MMO I like after playing the beta, but I'm optimistic that ESO is changing the standard MMO formula enough that it feels fresh. Also the crafting is strangely interesting to me, where I've never been into crafting in MMOs.



Also, the subscription fee... I think I prefer it that way. For people who have never paid a subscription to play a game, I can see how it would seem offensive. It's a service that's not sustainable without continuing income though. Free-to-play and buy-to-play MMOs have started to really get on my nerves though, and I think I'd rather just pay $15 a month. With F2P MMOs you end up with one of two scenarios:

MMOs built as free to play: You're limited on bag space, bank space, crafting resources, and tons of other things, because you're expected to buy into them with real money. In Neverwinter to make the best crafted gear you needed tools and NPC helpers that were only available in the item shop. In Allods Online you had to use item shop consumables to craft with if you wanted to keep your gear current, and then it took a MONTH for you to make an airship so you could participate in the best part of PvP, and could speed that up with real money. If you don't spend money, you end up with a crippled game experience. yes, even in Guild Wars 2. Trying to gear out at endgame in GW2 is a loooooong grind, and can be mostly bypassed with real money by trading gems for gold and buying what you need off the auction house.

MMOs that transition from subsription to free to play: Because the microtransactions weren't built into the game from the beginning, they have to find other things to lock away behind microtransactions. SWTOR locked away action bars (you could only have one if you didn't buy more). Most limit the number of dungeons and PvP battlegrounds you can play per day/week, and won't let you do raids at all. They build as many microtransactions into the game as they can, and then tell you that if you subscribe for $15 a month you can remove all the paywalls (usually it's not all, but most).

[MysterD]

So I guess this is going to be the end of standalone ES games? Kind of how World of Warcraft killed any chance of a Warcraft strategy game?

Zenimax Online made this, not Bethesda - so I surely hope not!

I did Beta Test ESO PC quite recently, a few weeks ago - thank God for NDA being lifted. And no, I was NOT impressed at all. Flat voice-acting; boring quests (for the most part); not-so-great writing, prose, and dialogue (even WAY worse than Bethesda - at least BethSoft gives their often minimal approach to writing with just enough punch to make you want to go do quests and explore areas); boring characters; graphics + performance just ain't that great (also had quite a bit of texture-pops); bugs galore (well, you kinda expect that from a Beta); sounds effects felt lacking (when hitting enemies w/ blunt weapons + swords); and combat is still somewhat clunky (like many ES games - especially compared to other games that have excellent feeling combat like KoA: Reckoning + Dark Souls: PTD).

Also - for those who played Skyrim, you know that has an open-class system. In previous ES games (SP-based), if you played enough and did enough quests + maybe threw in many of mods, you could turn yourself often into a Jade Of All Tracks - so it made sense when it ditches its class system in Skyrim. ESO does not - it's class system is a bit similar to previous games before Skyrim (think like Morrowind) where picking class and race gives you certain bonuses...but you also have class specific skills here, as well.

This game tries to do both SP stuff (while online) and MMO stuff - but, feels like it's a Jade Of All Trades, but a Master of None.

The only things here that I really liked here was the was the Inventory set-up was much better than Skyrim's was out-the-box; and I liked having a hotbar at the bottom of the screen where I can place skills.

I smell a disaster on Zenimax Online's hands, given the Beta - since this is coming VERY soon (like on 4/4). I don't know how old that build was - but I don't think they can turn this around and overhaul the many problems I found with it, this soon before official launch.
More than anything - I found it mediocre at best. I don't know who's going to want to keep playing and keep spending $15 a month, either.
Yeah - this game's prime for B2P [Buy-2-Play - as in you buy the game and you're good to go and play whenever you want as long as their servers are up] (like Guild War games always was + TSW transitioned to), if you ask me.

[W7RE]

I dunno, I'm liking it and can't wait to play more. (have it pre-ordered and the early access period starts tomorrow at 7:00 am)

The PvP area is a lot like Guild Wars 2, but with a much bigger and more open map. This means it's easier to go off the road and avoid a zerg (especially when any player can crouch to hide), and one zerg can't just go around taking everything, because it would take them too long to try to cover everything. Also since things are more spread out, you can get more small scale skirmishes. I love the class system, but I'm also coming from more of an MMO background. My Nightblade can be a melee, archer, caster, healer, or tank just by switching out equipment and slotted abilities? Yes, please. The combat system feels more engaging once you get enough skills to fill out your bar and be doing more than simple light/heavy attacks. I never got the impression that combat "felt" shallow, but there is definitely a lot more meat to the animations and sounds of the slotted abilities than the left click attacks. Also, the game runs great for me. I can maintain 50-60 fps most of the time on medium to high settings with my aging PC. It only really dips in large scale PvP.

The graphics are pretty disappointing coming from any single player game, and even some MMOs. I saw a side-by-side of Windhelm from ESO and Skyrim and it was crazy how much better the Skyrim version looked. Though I guess that's part of why I'm able to run it so well, so I don't know if I can really complain much. The game does have it's areas where it looks nice, but the overall technical level of the visuals is a bit low.

The hardcore MMO guys have been complaining that it's not enough like other MMOs, and the hardcore Elder Scrolls fans are complaining it's not enough like the single player Elder Scrolls games. I think really, this game will probably work best for people who are fans of both. Will that be enough to sustain the game? Who knows, probably not. I'd like to see it pull further away from the MMO side of things as content updates come out though.


I always manage to get excited when a new MMO is coming out though. We'll see how I feel after I hit max level, and when my first 30 days runs out.

[Quemaqua]

I really liked the look of it when I saw someone play, except that everything about it that was MMO looked horrible, because I really do sort of hate MMOs. The few I've talked to or listened to pretty much all agreed that it was cool, but would be better served if it wasn't an MMO. I wonder how that's gonna work.

[MysterD]

This definitely isn't good at all...
Polygon -> Layoffs hitting Zenimax Online Studios

[W7RE]

To follow up what I said above: I quit the game less than a month after launch. it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be, but it was lacking on endgame content. There were dungeons, but none of them ere particularly exciting. There were also issues with the class and ability balance, where a few setups were so good that no one used anything else, and in some cases they were annoying to use, but you had to if you wanted to stay competitive. The final thing that made me quit was that my friends all quit. The game was way less fun alone.

I still feel like the combat system was basically "Skyrim, but better". Having instant access to a handful of spells/abilities made the combat much more interesting. A lot of people seemed to think that it was one of the worst MMOs to come out yet, and I just don't agree. I still think it's just that people want what's familiar to them (in this case, either a standard MMO, or a standard Elder Scrolls game). I mean, why the hell else are the best selling games Call of Duty 20 and Assassin's Creed 15?

[PyroMenace]

I actually enjoyed it, which surprised me with how much skepticism I had going in. I am hoping it goes free to play because I wouldn't mind questing through the rest of the zones. Worst MMO ever though? Easily an over exaggeration, I thought the Old Republic was fucking bad, I couldn't last a couple hours into it, instant boredom.

[W7RE]

MMOs I've played, in order of best to worst (in my opinion, of course):

World of Warcraft
Dark Age of Camelot
The Elder Scrolls Online
Guild Wars 2
Neverwinter
Tera
Age of Conan
Warhammer Online
DC Universe Online
Wildstar (beta)
Allods Online
The Old Republic
The Secret World (beta)
Rift
Defiance
Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Dragon's Prophet (beta)
Planetside 2
Lord of the Rings Online
Planetside (beta)
Firefall
Aion (beta)
Lineage II
Ragnarok Online
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (beta)
Final Fantasy XI (beta)
Runes of Magic

Destiny goes near the top, and ArcheAge goes below Guild Wars 2, maybe lower. Neither is out yet, so I'll see. ArcheAge I actually don't want to play, but a friend gave me the a $50 founders pack, so I feel obligated to play. There are no refunds, I already explored that option.

Just talking about Elder Scrolls Online again makes me want to play it again though. If the console version ever comes out, I wonder if it will be in free to play form to begin with.

[MysterD]

ESO's subscription model to change on March 17th; console versions of the game are coming in June.

This game will be rebranded as Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited:
http://kotaku.com/how-the-subscription-free-elder-scrolls-online-will-wor-1680958606?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

-> ESO will be going buy-to-play like Guild Wars 1 + 2 and TSW - buy the game, play it whenever you want online.
-> ESO will have a Premium subscription for those interested called ESO Plus, where those that want to get it bonuses, DLC's, and other extras when they keep paying this fee.
-> Current subscribers of ESO + former ESO subscribers will also have a little extra rewards for paying the sub-fee + playing.

[W7RE]

I'll probably get it for Xbox One, mostly because of this:

Via a special offer, anyone who purchases and activates the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online by 6/30/14 (11:59pm UTC) will have the opportunity to transfer their character(s) to either console version when they are released. The offer will allow you to begin playing immediately on the PC/Mac, and then add the PS4 or Xbox One version and transfer the character(s) you have created and developed. And, you don’t have to pay full price for the game twice. For $20, eligible PC and Mac players will have the option to add a full, digital version of ESO on either the PS4 or the Xbox One with your character transfer(s), and another 30 days of included game time.

and a recent update on the same issue:

Will I still be able to transfer my PC characters to console for the price of $20?
Players who are eligible to have their characters transferred will receive an e-mail informing them of the transfer option.  They will then be able to purchase the upgrade via our website at www.elderscrollsonline.com.

The character transfer isn't that big of a deal to me, anyone I'd be playing with on console will be leveling new characters anyway. Hmmm, I do have a shitload of crafting stuff unlocked though, and the last sets of research take like a month to learn. (you start it researching and it continues without you doing anything, but it does take weeks)

[MysterD]

If anyone BETA tested the ESO PC version, you've likely been invited to the ESO Free Weekend which began today.
Check your e-mail that you tied to the ESO Beta for the free weekend key:
http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2015/04/13/welcome-back-weekend-kicks-off-this-week