The Elder Scrolls Online - MMO Announced.

[Stark]

Well since the Warhammer stuff predated all those others, it should get a pass, right?

[sabrage]

I got the name wrong... I was referring specifically to Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes. I think it's the incredibly obnoxious particle effects everywhere.

[isiolia]

I dunno, the art style shown, while fairly generic, doesn't really look like WoW to me, or some of the others. At least in terms of in-game assets.

Stylizing art a bit when you're allowing for the possibility of 200+ characters on-screen (it says 100 vs 100, no mention of pets/other mobs) makes sense.

That aside, it just doesn't sound like they're making a game like the single player ones, which is kind of a shame since that'd probably stand out more if it were.

[Phades]

Just read this:

"....... will be played from a third-person perspective............. Zenimax Online is reportedly doing its best to strike a balance between the Elder Scrolls series and traditional MMOs, trying to appeal to players of both. In other words, yes, expect to use a traditional MMO hotbar to access your skills."

That plus the screen shots that look like just another MMO to me and nothing like Skyrim or Oblivion and I've lost almost all interest now...

[J T]

I'm going to take the route of the cynic on this one. I predict this game to be a cash-in.

I think they will try to use the success of Skyrim to dethrone World of Warcraft's subscription-based money tree, but they won't have put enough energy into it due to financial motivations overpowering any good gameplay motivations, and it will just look bad for everyone involved. WoW players may try the new game, but every junkie has his favorite drug and they will just return to the comfort of the slow drip feed provided by ActiBlizzard.

[Phades]

I'm going to take the route of the cynic on this one. I predict this game to be a cash-in.

I think they will try to use the success of Skyrim to dethrone World of Warcraft's subscription-based money tree, but they won't have put enough energy into it due to financial motivations overpowering any good gameplay motivations, and it will just look bad for everyone involved. WoW players may try the new game, but every junkie has his favorite drug and they will just return to the comfort of the slow drip feed provided by ActiBlizzard.

I think you're pretty much dead on. I'm sure they'll have a few claims of "huge innovations" but for the most part it will be WoW + "X".

I still think a sandbox MMO is the only way to do it justice.

[marlowe221]

I'm going to have to be cynical about this as well.

The problem I see is that the franchise is as famous for its game-breaking bugs and glitches as it is for anything else. On the PC most of the bugs in Morrowind and Oblivion were patched by the fans through mods - that's right, the FANS, not the developers. Sure, the devs released a patch or three but most of the bugs and glitches didn't make the list. On the consoles you got the odd patch here or there but were basically just screwed if you ran into a broken quest or something like that. God help you if you bought Skyrim for PS3 the day it came out....

Now consider the world of MMOs. You know, the world where fan-made modifications are generally a no-no and with good reason? See the problem?

We've got a developer/publisher famous for making huge, interesting game worlds that are also tragically flawed. The same developer/publisher has a historical patching schedule of Slow to Never. The historically devoted fan community that has worked hard to fix many of the problems in the game that they payed for will be powerless to repeat their efforts in the MMO setting. It's not an encouraging fomula.

I'm not saying I'll never play it. I'm a huge ES fan. But you won't see me online at launch or 6 months afterwards.

[MrPopo]

Bugs tend to get fixed faster when people stop giving you money if you don't fix them.

[J T]

Bugs tend to get fixed faster when people stop giving you money if you don't fix them.

Good point.

I've been a bit cynical, and I would say that Bethesda never disappoints, but then, well, you know... Rogue Warrior.

[Whatever]

I would enjoy it more than single player releases.
MMO's have much greater gameplay/ controls than console games.
Assuming they made it PC only. Once you get controllers involved, the gameplay suffers.

They built skyrim around console play. Big letdown when I started it up on PC.

I'll pass on the free to play. Those type of games usually end up full of cheats, and farmers.