Bethesda Announces The Elder Scrolls Online

[Spectrum_Prez]

Has anyone pointed out that even though in theory Zenimax Online and Bethesda Game Studios should be working on their respective projects independently, in practice, because parent company Zenimax will have to fund two projects now, money will end up getting leached out of the primary Elder Scrolls franchise?

Zenimax is actually pretty rich.

They are funding Bethesda, Zenimax Online, ID and another company I believe.

No company has infinite pockets. And no company just sits on its extra cash for no reason; it pays it back to investors.

This game will flop, trust me. I say that as a devoted Elder Scrolls and Bethesda Game Studios fan. When it does, the investors will ask why, and the answer will be, "Well, the Elder Scrolls just isn't as great a franchise as we thought. It couldn't pull its weight."

And the result will be less funding for the main franchise.

This will not end well.

 

[The Great JT]

THE GOOD: The Elder Scrolls universe is well-established and has a lot of unique, interesting locations to go to.
THE BAD: How do you adapt a sole-savior-of-the-world single-player RPG into a multi-user RPG?
THE UGLY: Elder Scrolls Online will have to not try to replicate WoW in order to make any meaningful impact. I'm sorry, but if you just take WoW, put it in Cyrodil and slap the Elder Scrolls name on it, it's still going to be WoW. Now if they were to take the gameplay from Elder Scrolls V, that might work...but then you run into the fact that MMOs just fundamentally work differently than the Elder Scrolls games we've had up to now. The Elder Scrolls, no matter how many companions they gave you in Skyrim, is a single-player affair, so how do you translate that into something intended for multiple users at the same time? Plus, despite what games like DC Universe Online and Invictus would have you believe, being a graphically-less-than-stellar game is a point in an MMO's favor since you have to render often tens or hundreds of characters in the same area at a given time without having the player's processor take it without lube. Elder Scrolls has a near-legend status for its graphic requirements.

Do I want a plays-like-Skyrim Elder Scrolls MMO to succeed? Yes. Do I think it's a good idea? No. Do I think it will succeed? I can't say.

 

[SajuukKhar]

No company has infinite pockets. And no company just sits on its extra cash for no reason; it pays it back to investors.

This game will flop, trust me. I say that as a devoted Elder Scrolls and Bethesda Game Studios fan. When it does, the investors will ask why, and the answer will be, "Well, the Elder Scrolls just isn't as great a franchise as we thought. It couldn't pull its weight."

And the result will be less funding for the main franchise.

This will not end well.

Or you know.......... they will be like "turning the game into a MMO doesn't work" and the SP games wont change at all.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

snip

Or you know.......... they will be like "turning the game into a MMO doesn't work" and the SP games wont change at all.

But the brand will suffer with gamers (especially the new ones that Skyrim brought to the franchise). Sales expectations will fall accordingly, and actual sales of a hypothetical Elder Scrolls VI will likely fall too, or at least underperform relative to Skyrim. Once sales fall, Zenimax will cut Bethesda Games Studios' budget accordingly.

The MMO will set the franchise back one or two titles in terms of building up a fanbase, if the franchise is not killed off entirely. Given the gigantic costs of making a AAA title nowadays, the only way to ensure the Elder Scrolls improves and flourishes is to make sure it's racking up reliable sales.

Best scenario now is for this MMO to slide under the radar and fail quietly, like those Elder Scrolls titles for mobile phones. Battlespire or something? Avoid a public bellyflop.

And you know the first thing they'll cut is the quality control budget.

 

[fanklok]

What I want to know is how leveling works, will it be the classic Elder Scrolls of "you want to be good at something you have to use it", I hope so. Classic get exp put points in things just isn't Elder Scrolls.

The perk trees in Skyrim were nice but seemed so restricted, I want all the skills from Morrowind each having a specialization tree larger then the ones in Skyrim, granted this would take some serious effort to balance but how is it not worth it?

 

[SajuukKhar]

But the brand will suffer with gamers (especially the new ones that Skyrim brought to the franchise). Sales expectations will fall accordingly, and actual sales of a hypothetical Elder Scrolls VI will likely fall too, or at least underperform relative to Skyrim. Once sales fall, Zenimax will cut Bethesda Games Studios' budget accordingly.

The MMO will set the franchise back one or two titles in terms of building up a fanbase, if the franchise is not killed off entirely. Given the gigantic costs of making a AAA title nowadays, the only way to ensure the Elder Scrolls improves and flourishes is to make sure it's racking up reliable sales.

Best scenario now is for this MMO to slide under the radar and fail quietly, like those Elder Scrolls titles for mobile phones. Battlespire or something? Avoid a public bellyflop.

And you know the first thing they'll cut is the quality control budget.

Except 90% of gamers know that the Es mmo was never going to be good and dont think that its a sign of the quality of the SP games

also Battlespire did quite well.

 

[hashtag]

Bah. Where on earth is Fallout 4?

Hopefully, in the hands of Obsidian.

 

[Evil Alpaca]

I'm really curious why this game is being made.

Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim were popular because of the sandbox SINGLE-PLAYER aspect of the game. Part of the allure of being the Nerevarine or Dovakin was the idea that you were the central figure of the game.

Contrast that with MMORPGs which fill the world with countless unnamed adventurers and it seems like there is a big disconnect in the selling point of this new game.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

snip

Except 90% of gamers know that the Es mmo was never going to be good and dont think that its a sign of the quality of the SP games

I don't think that's true. The core of the MMO's player base will be the new entrants into the Elder Scrolls world, brought in by Skyrim. Those players are just going to go with what's popular, what's being advertised, what's on the shelf. They're not going to be the ones on forums reading up on the latest leaks, debating with us, and on and on. They're not the informed consumers.

Have you read this thread? Have you seen how many people even here are confused by the two-studio set up the franchise is getting? The Escapist community is made up of relatively well-informed people. Your average gamer is going to be even more mixed up about it.

At the end of the day, the Elder Scrolls name is still going on both the MMO and future main franchise games. Whatever happens, their fates are now intertwined.

It's lose-lose. If the MMO does bad, the Elder Scrolls brand gets damaged. If the MMO does good, you can sure as hell bet they're going to be re-focusing the brand on that.

 

[neverarine]

i thought i heard a while back that they said that they wouldnt do an mmo? guess i was wrong... bet its gonna be a pay to play... probably wont last long with people who arent die hard scrolls fans though....

 

[Meight08]

snip

Except 90% of gamers know that the Es mmo was never going to be good and dont think that its a sign of the quality of the SP games

I don't think that's true. The core of the MMO's player base will be the new entrants into the Elder Scrolls world, brought in by Skyrim. Those players are just going to go with what's popular, what's being advertised, what's on the shelf. They're not going to be the ones on forums reading up on the latest leaks, debating with us, and on and on. They're not the informed consumers.

Have you read this thread? Have you seen how many people even here are confused by the two-studio set up the franchise is getting? The Escapist community is made up of relatively well-informed people. Your average gamer is going to be even more mixed up about it.

At the end of the day, the Elder Scrolls name is still going on both the MMO and future main franchise games. Whatever happens, their fates are now intertwined.

It's lose-lose. If the MMO does bad, the Elder Scrolls brand gets damaged. If the MMO does good, you can sure as hell bet they're going to be re-focusing the brand on that.

They will not because Elder scrolls games still make a shit ton of money.

 

[juyunseen]

Do not want.
Sorry people, but to me the elder scrolls has been about solitude. One warrior against all odds.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I don't think that's true. The core of the MMO's player base will be the new entrants into the Elder Scrolls world, brought in by Skyrim. Those players are just going to go with what's popular, what's being advertised, what's on the shelf. They're not going to be the ones on forums reading up on the latest leaks, debating with us, and on and on. They're not the informed consumers.

Have you read this thread? Have you seen how many people even here are confused by the two-studio set up the franchise is getting? The Escapist community is made up of relatively well-informed people. Your average gamer is going to be even more mixed up about it.

At the end of the day, the Elder Scrolls name is still going on both the MMO and future main franchise games. Whatever happens, their fates are now intertwined.

It's lose-lose. If the MMO does bad, the Elder Scrolls brand gets damaged. If the MMO does good, you can sure as hell bet they're going to be re-focusing the brand on that.

Your acting like people only learned of ES because of Skyrim..... which is patently false. People know how Oblivion and Skyrim were. A bad MMO doesn't erase that.
.
.
Also if focus was going to be "diverted" to the MMO Zenimax wouldn't have made a separate studio to make MMOs specifically.

-If the MMO does poor, most people wont care because everyone knows how Oblivion and Skyrim were.
-If it does well, Zenimax now has two studios, making two separate games, with two separate markets, and getting more money.

It is a Win - not really win or lose situation if anything.

i thought i heard a while back that they said that they wouldnt do an mmo? guess i was wrong... bet its gonna be a pay to play... probably wont last long with people who arent die hard scrolls fans though....

Bethesda said they wouldn't do a MMO, Bethesda isn't making the MMO.

 

[Eleima]

Ehem. Reading by the article, that would be Tamriel's first MMO. Cyrodiil is where TES IV: Oblivion took place, while Tamriel is the continent where Cyrodiil, Skyrim, Elsweyr, Morrowind(...) and so on are located.

YES!! Thank you! Sorry, don't mean to get my panties bunched up, I'm just really touchy about Elder Scrolls lore, probably from all that UESPwiki reading and editing.

Back on topic: I honestly don't know how to feel about this... I'm torn. On one hand, I've always said doing an Elder Scrolls MMO was a bad, bad, bad idea. On the other hand, what little information we have is severely tempting: the ability to travel all of Tamriel? three factions vying for power without one all powerful hero? The premise does have a certain appeal to it...

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

It's too bad. I would have rather had a more limited style multiplayer version, mainly so that mods could be feasible, the one thing that makes the Elder Scrolls games truly good. Being an MMO means that we'll have to play only by the way that they think the game should be played, which for the most part isn't as good as it could be. I'd rather just play a co-op multiplaer game with a couple of my friends (like Baldur's Gate of old) than a full on MMO.

I doubt it will be good, and I hope that it doesn't crap on the future games of the franchise...

 

[ecoho]

unless its free to play its gonna fail. why you may ask? because we have several games that do the fantisy stile mmo well and lets face it why switch to a game thats gonna be half of what it should be?

 

[SextusMaximus]

Pretty disappointed. Doubles the time we have to wait for a proper elder scrolls game. Ah well, it's a good money making move on bethesda's part.

EDIT: Another studio developing it apparently, sweet!

 

[Wolfenbarg]

I don't know what to think about this. I don't care about MMOs at all, but if they pull a Blizzard and ignore the core franchise because of its success then I'll be very disappointed. If this doesn't get in the way of Skyrim DLC and TES VI, then good on 'em. If it does and we have to wait a decade for more single player content... well, I'll be quite annoyed.

 

[Comando96]

Probably been posted before...
fuck it.


Ok... this won't end well...

 

[Astoria]

I am cautiously optimistic about this. On one hand, part of the joy of playing TES is the isolation and being Bethesda no doubt it'll be full of bugs. On the other, being able to travel through all of Tamriel with friends would be really really fun. I'll probably give it a go unless further details about it put me off.