Bethesda Announces The Elder Scrolls Online

[TilMorrow]

I can see this failing quite quickly. TES games are known for being really open and allowing players to do bloody everything [sub]"whats that? you want to be a mage who doubles as an assassin and turns into a werewolf for kicks whilst riding and murdering dragons? Well fuck yes here you go." -Skyrim on Skyrim-[/sub] As soon as you slap the mmo moniker onto a game balance comes into play to make it fair. Also someone raised a good point on this forum not long ago when a discussion about co-op possibly being in TES games came up. You Die. When that little health bar of yours hits Zilch then you have to load up a save. No ghostly angels of get-back-up-you-lazy-dead-guy or futuristic med-vacs to save your life. You die, cold case. Include the 'you die' feature in the mmo to keep TES true and you'll be getting a new character appearing every 10 minutes. Especially if PVP is enabled. Though as soon as some phastasmal resurrect systems comes into play TES online will immediately become World of Scroll-craft with improved graphics and more bugs than a dinky hotel room.#

So no, just cause no.

 

[Meight08]

Bah. Where on earth is Fallout 4?

Probably being developed by bethesda Zenimax online studios is making this one.

 

[Nooners]

While this does sound interesting, and I will keep my eye on it, I doubt I'll be buying it. If I want to play Elder Scrolls MP, I'll grab an MP mod like Titanis and play with my friends I know in a small party.

 

[alrekr]

All this means is that it will take ages for the next proper TES game and even that might not happen cause I can see this being a massive drain on resources that may kill-off the studio(mmo have a habit of doing this).

Also the last time Bethesda tried to make a multiplayer game it was awful. Mabye they could have at least tested the water with a co-op feature for a feature TES game?

 

[Padwolf]

I really really hope that this will have no subscription fee.

 

[Baresark]

I am fine with this. I may even play it, but this had better not be a stand in for a SP game. I still love exploring TES all by myself. I'll wait for any details before any decisions are made on whether or not I think this is a bad idea, but I have never felt that the only thing TES is missing is other players. I know it won't enhance my game when I see a player kill another player and then TBag him. Or if I'm trying to accomplish something and someone comes along and kills me for the hell of it. But, like I said, I won't judge till we have more information.

 

[toomuchnothing]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No, because while this is a fantasy property beloved by gamers (an excellent seeding ground for an MMO, to be sure), TES Online is up against WoW with 8 years of content upgrades, streamlining, and development under its belt. That is quite literally an impossible hurdle to surmount. If *Star Wars* couldn't kill WoW, what chance does TES have?

WoW will slowly decline on its own over time. At this point, I remain skeptical that any game could ever dethrone it via force - maybe not even Blizzard's own "Titan" project.

Personally I've always thought that WoWs playerbase is so entrenched that even if you released a better game the amount of time people have invested in their characters from WoW would end up keeping them right where they are. You wouldn't just need to be better than WoW you'd have to offer something undeniably superior in almost all areas and even then there is still a portion of WoWs playerbase that would stay again due to their investment.

edit: This is coming from someone whos played WoW for a long time. Interesting games have popped up and some I've even tried a bit of but when it comes down to it I have online friends, tons of in game currency, unique and no longer obtainable items where as for a new game I'd be starting over from scratch so when it comes down to it you'd have to offer me a lot more than a palette/skill name swap to make me switch.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

All this means is that it will take ages for the next proper TES game and even that might not happen cause I can see this being a massive drain on resources that may kill-off the studio(mmo have a habit of doing this).

Also the last time Bethesda tried to make a multiplayer game it was awful. Mabye they could have at least tested the water with a co-op feature for a feature TES game?

Zenimax Online Studio... Not Bethesda Softworks. It's in the damn article.

 

[Navvan]

I... I don't know how I feel about this. Its definitely something that I'll be keeping an eye on, but if its just standard MMO model set in TES universe I doubt I'll buy it unless its not subscription based. I hope it brings the innovative change that the MMORPG genre has been needing for awhile now.

 

[Bloodstain]

Please. Let this game have a first person perspective.

I beg you.

 

[Torrasque]

I'll be watching with interest to see if Bethesda can manufacture the fabled WoW killer the peasantry has spoken of in whispered legends for the last 8 years.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No, because while this is a fantasy property beloved by gamers (an excellent seeding ground for an MMO, to be sure), TES Online is up against WoW with 8 years of content upgrades, streamlining, and development under its belt. That is quite literally an impossible hurdle to surmount. If *Star Wars* couldn't kill WoW, what chance does TES have?

WoW will slowly decline on its own over time. At this point, I remain skeptical that any game could ever dethrone it via force - maybe not even Blizzard's own "Titan" project.

In an attempt to avoid the "will this be a WoW killer?" debate, I'll be brief:
I am still convinced that WoW will suffer the death of a thousand cuts: Heart of the Swarm, Diablo 3, SWTOR, This, it's own fan base losing interest, Pandaria sucking hard, etc.

This looks extremely interesting and I will have to follow this closely to see if my "not sure if want" turns into a "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY"

 

[Bento Box]

Oh, good.

I was almost afraid after all that legal bullshit surrounding the Fallout license, that Bethesda was going to break out of the insufferably stale mold of fantasy MMO's, and do something fresh with an infinitely more interesting IP.

Good job, Bethsoft.

 

[RatRace123]

Why are so many franchises going the MMO route?

I mean apart from the obvious reason

Spoiler: The Obvious Reason

Eh, well it'll probably see some success. Not too big on MMOs myself though, but for people who have been waiting for this, I guess your time has finally come.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Sigh.

I don't want to play Elder Scrolls online. I want to play Elder Scrolls BY MYSELF.

*grumpy old man*

All this means is that it will take ages for the next proper TES game and even that might not happen cause I can see this being a massive drain on resources that may kill-off the studio(mmo have a habit of doing this).

Also the last time Bethesda tried to make a multiplayer game it was awful. Mabye they could have at least tested the water with a co-op feature for a feature TES game?

No worries, you two. This game isn't being made by Bethesda; it's being made by Zenimax Online. TES VI will come out just fine in 4-5 years like they normally do, and TES Online can suck as hard as it wants without really affecting anything. Think of it as a the next TES Legend or Adventure game. Hmm... Come to think of it, an updated Battlespire type game would be pretty fun...

 

[Kahunaburger]

Bethesda is going to try to program a functional MMO with balanced PVP? Yeah, that's gonna turn out well.

 

[cyvaris]

This doesn't excite me or frustrate me. Never been that big of a fan anyway.

The amount of bugs/balance issues will at least be amusing.

 

[Davroth]

MAC?? That's news.

I hope for the best. I hope it's player driven, so that we can still feel like being able to affect the world, even if they have to tone it down, obviously.

 

[Sixcess]

I'll be watching with interest to see if Bethesda can manufacture the fabled WoW killer the peasantry has spoken of in whispered legends for the last 8 years.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No, because while this is a fantasy property beloved by gamers (an excellent seeding ground for an MMO, to be sure), TES Online is up against WoW with 8 years of content upgrades, streamlining, and development under its belt. That is quite literally an impossible hurdle to surmount. If *Star Wars* couldn't kill WoW, what chance does TES have?

WoW will slowly decline on its own over time. At this point, I remain skeptical that any game could ever dethrone it via force - maybe not even Blizzard's own "Titan" project.

Agreed 100%

I don't think even Titan will be the 'next' WoW. If Blizzard are smart they won't be approaching it like that. WoW's success was unique, and noone, including Blizzard, thought it would take off the way it did. Trying to go toe to toe with WoW has been responsible for a litany of bad MMO design decisions over the past five years or so.

On the other hand:

Although my immediate reaction to this news was "this is going to be TOR all over again", it's possible this could work. Unlike Bioware, Bethesda* 'get' the idea of an open world and sandbox gaming, and a high profile big budget sandbox MMO is something MMO players desperately want - even more so following the demise of Star Wars Galaxies.

If an Elder Scrolls MMO can deliver on that it could be huge. EVE is probably the biggest sandox MMO out there, but it's so ludicrously hardcore it'll never attract the numbers an Elder Scrolls game could.

If they go down that route this could be a major player. If they don't I'm fairly certain it'll be yet another also-ran.

[sub]*I know it's not being made by Bethesda as such, but you know what I mean.[/sub]

 

[alrekr]

All this means is that it will take ages for the next proper TES game and even that might not happen cause I can see this being a massive drain on resources that may kill-off the studio(mmo have a habit of doing this).

Also the last time Bethesda tried to make a multiplayer game it was awful. Mabye they could have at least tested the water with a co-op feature for a feature TES game?

Zenimax Online Studio... Not Bethesda Softworks. It's in the damn article.

Still doesn't change anything. If BS ain't involved at all then it could easily crap over the canon.

Also my point about resources is still valid as ZOS is money sink of Zenimax who in turn act as the parent company for BS and thus a major source of BS funding. Thus if Zenimax make a massive loss (which they easily could) then BS could be affected.

For example look at how THQ had to drop the W40K MMO due to the costs it have induced upon them.


Off-Topic: captcha was weyland-yutani...is Mr.Scott trying to remind me about his upcoming film; I think so.

 

[Meight08]

Bethesda is going to try to program a functional MMO with balanced PVP? Yeah, that's gonna turn out well.

Its being made by another studio.