Here's Nearly Ten Minutes of Video Explaining The Elder Scrolls Online

I'm truly excited to see this game

Great concept but seems bland and nothing new other than exploring all of Tamriel which is basically building on its fan base...

Well, since that WH40k MMO got canned, I guess I might as well try this out. Doesn't look bad.

Looks really impressive but I think if it's got even one collect x number of items quest in it, it's already failed. They really need completely revamp what quests mean in MMOs.

Im not even sure they know why elderscrolls was fun, this is gonna be crap imo.

Is this an MMO?

seems like a mmo.

Well, they managed to do what every single MMO dev diary has done; point out all the things I hate about MMO's and try to make them sound like good things that everyone wants.

Though, I have to admit, the castle siege battle did bring up fond memories of the EQ beta. All out war with so many people in a single zone that it was unplayable.

I love Elder Scrolls, but give zero shits about MMOs. If they avoid a hotkey system, like it seems they might be, and there isn't a monthly fee, I'd probably give it a go. I hope they get it right, for their sake as much as the fans'.

As someone who doesn't play MMO games, this looks pretty cool. Much better than I was anticipating from this game at least. I don't really have room for another subscription in my life though.

If they really want to hit a home run with this they need to come in with either no subscription or a very low one. I think it's the only way to get people like me who are on the fence. It's either that or steal WoW's entire base.

EVERYBODY STOP MAKING FUCKING FANTASY MMORPG'S.

Being kind of an MMO junkie, this is looking cool. And they seem to be inspired by the RvR in DAoC. I'll pick this up when it is released.

@MetalJacx said:

Anyone else notice that they didn't show the HUD? I believe older Screenshots showed the HUD with action bars. Are they trying to hide this fact is another actionbar MMO?

Even if the combat is real-time you still need a way to activate your skills and few UI elements accomplish that better than a hot bar. And tbh it can't be any worse than the whack a mole combat that has been present in the past Elder Scroll games.

It sure has some gorgeous vistas. Also the combat and animation looks better than anything in any past Elder Scrolls games.

Much as i'd love to go back to Vvardenfell i dont want to play another MMO.

*edit: unless they really nail it, man i loved Morrowind!

@HappyCheeze said:

SNEAKY HEALZ

I don't know if I'd want to play an elder scrolls game with other people.

Funny for me it's exactly the opposite. I love the TES games for what they are, but the problem with them (at least for me) is that you have these massive interactive worlds where you can waste hundreds of hours in just exploring and messing with systems but you can't share these experiences. Sharing means caring and exploring a big complex world is always more fun with friends because that's the way you generate memorable experiences that don't feel like "wasted time".

But i've also always been of the opinion that the Fallout Universe would also be a great setting for an MMO and i'm one of those people that actually dislikes Fallout 3 even tho Fallout 3 would be far more likely to actually work as an MMO compared to the original games.

@ChibiSoma said:

One server. Either they're just dumb as hell and don't understand how many people will flood to a new MMO on launch day or they're expecting to not push a whole lot of units.

Either way, count me the fuck out. You know what ES needed? More third person fighting and janky-ass raid bosses. Everyone's gonna gather in the capital city and crash the one server they have. After awhile they'll have to fragment the userbase by getting more servers just so people stop bitching. And then the game will go F2P after about 8 months.

Server != Shards

What they are doing sounds like they only have one big shard with lots of instances, so you have no hard barriers that prevent you from joining any other player who's playing the game. If it actually works it's an smart and elegant solution to exactly those population problems you are describing.

MMO's don't run on single "Servers" they run on Shards (These shards usually consists of multiple Servers, it's not just one Box that's hosting one World). By having no Shards at all they can expand/decrease overall-capacity without forcing players to migrate between different Shards.

People should quit raging so hard about things they obviously didn't understand properly. In the Video they said it's gonna be TES combat, not the usual "Stand around with auto-aim and auto-attack" static spam fest that's making MMO's an pain to play these days. Too many people around here just read "MMORPG" and the first thing that pops into their mind is "It's gonna play like WoW", when the game could end up playing like anything but WoW.

If they manage to generate a believable, world with lot's of systems and NPC interaction (+free form Character building) like from the TES games, make questing and explorign as organic as in Skyrim/Guild Wars 2 and add FPS combat that's actually skill/aiming/timing based (Like from TES or Terra) then this could end up being a pretty awesome and unique MMO. They are not doing a good job of selling this as something "new", i'm still gonna reserve my judgment until more details on the above things are in the open. But too many people are simply hating on the whole concept because it has the term "MMO" in it...

Everytime a see a MMO where the combat consists of people swining their weapons around wildly it is a giant turn off for me. Come on people, there has GOT TO BE a better way to handle this....

Yes it's really pretty but... It's an MMO. It isn't Elder Scrolls. Nothing they are showing appeals to me. So long as it doesn't stop The Elder Scrolls VI, I don't mind.

I like how the have an obligatory Mines of Moria area.

I have never understood why people pay to play MMOs. If a single player RPG was released with that kind of boring ass combat system, it would be panned, but because it throws an IRC channel at the bottom of the screen it's worth a monthly fee? I don't get it.

That combat looks so bad.

Yea, not a great vid. Basically Elder Scrolls with more people. I kinda hate to even go there, but Id want to know more about the items and crafting. Skyrim really made me want a much deeper crafting system.

@tactis said:

so it is basically guild wars 2 with a monthly fee and guild wars 1 instancing because of "megaserver" this game is such a waste.

If it was just an Elder Scrolls-branded GW2 with a monthly fee, I still might not play it, but I certainly wouldn't object to it. It's their inclusion of archaic (and in my opinion, un-fun) mechanics like tank/heal/DPS and exclusionary endgame raiding that leaves me comfortable playing Guild Wars.

The only thing I'll really regret is not being able to explore areas of Tamriel I haven't seen before, and that shit can be faked with mods anyway.

MEGASERVERS

This game looks gorgeous! Also, having free reign of Tamriel and having the ability to become a Vampire/Werewolf and customise classes the way you do in the regular games, it just sounds incredible! Im on board for this one, it really looks like its in with a chance of becoming one of, if not the best mmo out there, and if it dosent, then ill have a great 30 days.

I didn't realize until I watched this video just how high and strong my wall of cynical skepticism regarding MMOs has become. I've enjoyed MMOs before, and I adore the Elder Scrolls games, but try as I might - and I really am trying! - I can't make myself be hopeful about the quality of this game. I'm looking at the pretty graphics and hearing these talented people talk about all the hard work they've put into it, and all I can think is, "They're going to want $15 a month for this. It's going to have the jank of an early-stage MMO plus the bugs of an Elder Scrolls game, but I won't be able to mod any of the problems away. I bet you can't pickpocket. I won't be able to maliciously kill NPCs that bother me." It's depressing, but that's just where I'm at as a game consumer. Still... good luck, I guess?

@Hawker said:

I hate it because it's just lazy indies banking on nostalgia factor.

How could you possibly know that they are being lazy and aren't just people making the games they want to make? You could just as easily throw out a claim that ESO is lazy devs trying to ride on the success of WoW. They also are not holding back games, as you listed all of those great looking, non-8-bit games. What's wrong with having both?

You're tired of 8-bit games and don't want more, and other people are tired of MMOs and don't want more.

"...But all of that had to be created with good social systems..."

[CUT TO A GUY NOT TALKING ABOUT SOCIAL SYSTEMS]

"Its set 1000 years before the other Elder scrolls games"

[CUT TO GUY SAYING IT LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE OTHER ELDER SCROLLS GAMES]

"All of our charactures are designed so you can have hundreds of players on the screen at the same time"

[CUT TO 3 PLAYERS STANDING AROUND]

"Level 50 is where the game opens up with PVP"

[CUT TO]

"PVP is fun at any level"

@Vampir said:

@Hawker said:

...as far as I'm concerned if it's 8-bit, it's shitty.

How is being unilaterally dismissive as that not exactly the same as dismissing ESO just because it's an MMO? And I think many of the people who are unhappy about ESO being an MMO would be just as unhappy if the next Elder Scrolls game was an 8-bit side-scroller.

Also, there's a lot more to art style than number of pixels on the screen.

Because a lot more can be done in the space of an MMO than can be done within the constraints of an 8-bit 'art style' and as far as I'm concerned making ES an MMO is nothing but a good thing, as a singleplayer game it plays like shit with its terrible combat system, its story isn't enough to carry it, the only good thing is the world itself and the wealth of exploration it offers and that would be far more exciting if it's inhabited by something that isn't a cast badly voice acted, static NPCs.

I disagree on the art style thing though, 8-bit is just lazy, I don't hate it because it looks blocky, I can still happily go back and play Mario or Megaman, I hate it because it's just lazy indies banking on nostalgia factor. games like Limbo, Meat Boy, Castle Crashers, Braid, Gravity Bone, The Dishwasher, they're all indie games that all look great and all have their own unique styles constrained by the artist's imagination and not a bunch of archaic blocks.

The best example of this is Dust: An Elysian Tail, the game looks astounding, absolutely beautiful with flawless animation and a beautiful animated style, it looked so good I would have happily bought it just to watch it in action on my TV. I want more indie developers pleasing my eyes with content like that and not constantly-rehashing-stupid-8-bit-crap, they're holding gaming back just as much as the AAA devs rehashing modern military shooters, difference is people seem to forgive the indies.

As soon as they relegate the first person story driven gameplay and move it to a third person focus with more emphasis on social interaction, you lose Eldar Scrolls. It looks as generic as any other MMO I havent bothered playing in the last 5 years.

@Hawker said:

...as far as I'm concerned if it's 8-bit, it's shitty.

How is being unilaterally dismissive as that not exactly the same as dismissing ESO just because it's an MMO? And I think many of the people who are unhappy about ESO being an MMO would be just as unhappy if the next Elder Scrolls game was an 8-bit side-scroller.

Also, there's a lot more to art style than number of pixels on the screen.

@Vampir said:

@Hawker said:

It makes me laugh how everyone moans about "omg not another generic fantasy MMO, they need to die already!!!111oneeleven" Yet when yet another generic, shitty 8-bit retro style indie game comes along everyone raves about how amazing it is

Have you played any shitty retro games? I keep hearing the "yet another generic and shitty retro style game" referenced, but all such games I have played in the past year have been fun and interesting.

If they can be arsed to make the game good then they should be able to come up with an original art style, as far as I'm concerned if it's 8-bit, it's shitty. People moan about graphics becoming photorealistic and developers losing creativity in coming up with new art styles because they're all so focused on making it look realistic, yet none of that blame falls onto indie developers who do something even worse, rehash the same horrific look games had over 20 years ago.

Basically, I'm just annoyed at indie developers, and even more annoyed that people lap that shit up, then moan about something like this based purely on the genre it falls in, if Hotline Miami used an original art style, I may have actually given the developer my money, because gameplay-wise, it seems good, and I hope one day they get the message.

@Hawker said:

It makes me laugh how everyone moans about "omg not another generic fantasy MMO, they need to die already!!!111oneeleven" Yet when yet another generic, shitty 8-bit retro style indie game comes along everyone raves about how amazing it is

Have you played any shitty retro games? I keep hearing the "yet another generic and shitty retro style game" referenced, but all such games I have played in the past year have been fun and interesting.

Anyone else notice that they didn't show the HUD? I believe older Screenshots showed the HUD with action bars. Are they trying to hide this fact is another actionbar MMO?

I'm done with mmo's.

so it is basically guild wars 2 with a monthly fee and guild wars 1 instancing because of "megaserver" this game is such a waste.

@Crono said:

I do like the idea of "being a sneaky guy who runs around healing" I mean that is hilarious.

OMG WHO HEALED ME!? WHO I SAY! WHOOOOOOOOO!?

It looks like a decent MMO from what little we see, but honestly, it doesn't look like an elder scrolls game. I really just wish I could take Skyrim and play it with 2-3 of my friends. That would be the perfect multiplayer experience. Of course, that wouldn't be as (potentially) profitable.

I just hope Bethesda won't stop making the regular singleplayer (and hopefully coop) Elder Scrolls games.

all players on one server = only thing that makes sense. Never understood the point of having such big worlds with so few players per server.

Maybe it's because I haven't played a MMO in a really long time but this looks okay.

I whuld try it just to see the world of Morrowind again

It makes me laugh how everyone moans about "omg not another generic fantasy MMO, they need to die already!!!111oneeleven" Yet when yet another generic, shitty 8-bit retro style indie game comes along everyone raves about how amazing it is

While I agree that MMOs in general need a bit of a kick in the rear as far as general systems and content goes, I'm no fan of double standards, indie developers really need to stop banking on nostalgia factor 'cause 8-bit games are the most overdone things out there right now, MMO companies need to start looking at ways to add something beyond quests and such (and no, GW2s 'dynamic' events were even worse)

Okay, a couple of things. First, a disclaimer that I am the most rabid Elder Scrolls fan you will find anywhere -- my Skyrim save (on one character) is nearing 400 hours -- so I am in no way claiming to be an objective party. That said, I think this game looks awesome. Really, really awesome. While I learned way back when from dear ol' Pete Molyneux to take everything developers say is going to be in a game with a grain (or tonnage in, Pete's case) of salt; I like to put some faith in Bethesda and Zenimax's interest in doing all they can to make every game in the Elder Scrolls franchise worthy of the title. Yes, salt. Which is to say, "Hey, I'll have to play the PvE and PvP for myself to say if it works."

Additionally, a few things irk me. First and foremost, the dreaded megaserver. That shit sucks. If any other MMO in the past is an indication, that will mean an absurd amount of instancing that really destroys any notion of the game being an open world. I was also somewhat taken aback by one of the devs saying that there will be perks such as those that allow the player to become a werewolf. I know studios change their minds during the process of creating a title, but GameInformer's story on ESO back in the May or somesuch suggested that Zenimax Online was rather adamant about not including lycanthropy/porphyric hemophillia, as they saw no way to balance what is an inherently unbalanced system. I mean, that's why it's fun, right?

Whatevz, I'm still excited.

I think this actually looks pretty good. Before watching this I just thought "lol, another dumb mmo" but it seems like they are doing some interesting stuff with it. The visuals are nice too.

@benji_18 said:

I like the idea of being able to explore ALL of Tamriel, i'm just not convinced we need another MMO. At least not one that doesn't really offer anything different to the marketplace. I think the general feeling is that MMO's really need to shift their systems away from the endless grinding and raiding (which I know isn't the only thing people do, but at least with my experience with WOW, that's all my friends did). Maybe look forward into dynamic player experiences, fluid battles and more dynamic ways to gain levels and use players desire for exploration and friendly combat to drive levelling.

This is going to sound like a plug (and I am biased), but if those are the sorts of experiences you want from an MMO, I highly recommend doing some research into Guild Wars 2.

"The game opens up at level 50."

Oh, so your game has an unnecessary, 100+ hour tutorial that I have to slog through each time I want to make a new character? Fuck you.

@Emeritus said:

A waste of resources.

Bethesda should have focused on fixing skyrim for the PS3 first and foremost, afterwards they should focus on what makes TES great, single player content for Skyrim and their next projects (TES &Fallout)

Like SWTOR, this game will simply slow to a crawl after a few months, to a point where it will eventually go free to play and get by on the skin of its teeth through microtransactions.

If Bethesda really want to include some multiplayer aspect then they should trial a co-op mod like option for the main game, it won't happen of course because it'll be hard to monetise.

This game isn't being made by Bethesda though, it's being made by ZeniMax Online...

A waste of resources.

Bethesda should have focused on fixing skyrim for the PS3 first and foremost, afterwards they should focus on what makes TES great, single player content for Skyrim and their next projects (TES &Fallout)

Like SWTOR, this game will simply slow to a crawl after a few months, to a point where it will eventually go free to play and get by on the skin of its teeth through microtransactions.

If Bethesda really want to include some multiplayer aspect then they should trial a co-op mod like option for the main game, it won't happen of course because it'll be hard to monetise.

Its not going to do well, its just another MMO in an already saturated MMO market, then again I may give it a go.

Also that Giant looks small

But guys, MEGASERVER

@ahaisthisourchance said:

Free to play in less than a year after launch. Mark my words.

I don't even know if anyone is allowed to make that prediction at this point. You know, because it's just fact.

This is one of the most misguided projects since the XCOM first person shooter. What an enormous waste of time, money, and talent.