Elder Scrolls Online Hands-On Preview

[Monsterfurby]

The sad part: I'll never get to try this out because of HD spiders. Whatever happened to good old spider-less Morrowind and mostly spider-less Oblivion?

 

[The Feast]

You know, I never really have the confidence that this game could make me hype considering that the art direction look a bit too cartoony for an Elder Scrolls game. If they decided to make it look like WOW clones, why should I expect more from the game considering that's what most people frowned about. They should at least make it look realistic so that people actually awed with the look of the game before proceeding on showing us the gameplay and features, which is very slow to gain consumer's attention.

Hundreds of MMO have been made and most of them have not gain as many success as WOW did. Even GW2 have received negative feedback from the fans. Putting the Elder Scrolls label is one thing, but making sure it has received continuous praise have yet to be seen. A guy who plays Skyrim for 200 hours are immediately say that the game is boring, can the Elder Scrolls Online make people invest to the game for 600 hours and say it's amazing?

 

[guise709]

At this point, it sounds very much like Guild Wars 2, with its exploration-related quests, playstyles, zones devoted to PVP, shared PVP/PVE gear, etc. So I have to ask the critical question:

How is the combat?

If the combat is mediocre, it will make or break the game. Why should I play ESO over Guild Wars 2?

This is what I'm worried about too. It isn't a big problem for pve as far as I've seen, but pvp is an entirely different beast. The singleplayer combat mechanics never seems like it will work well for pvp. Only way we'll ever find out is when we get our hands on the game.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

I'm still not sold and this article has pushed me further into not caring. Seems like they wasted entirely too much time on the solo leveling content, don't get me wrong I'd probably enjoy doing it but an MMO needs more than that and a big persistent pvp zone just isn't enough.

Simply put: I want raids. I want a reason to log in every day to see my friends and do something fun together and pvp is not everyones cup of tea. Now, I actually enjoy a bit of pvp, I liked it in wow, I loved it in Guild Wars 1 and 2 (the arena stuff, the realm v realm stuff was terrible) and I really really love Planetside 2, but having just the one big persistent zone sounds dull as hell.

If its a one off purchase, I'll probably play to level cap and quit, if its a sub I won't bother, I don't like being conned.

And finally, I don't understand how they can make an Elder Scrolls game without user generated content.

 

[CloudKiller]

Interesting, seems like the mmo genre is getting some new blood injected at the right time. ESO, EQN and Wildstar will certainly make things feels a little fresher when they arrive, with SWTOR and GW2 holding their own profitable playerbases and WOW not going anywhere fast, we may have some proper competition in this genre for the first time in a long while. Looking forward to it.

 

[tangoprime]

ToR was a brilliant and ground breaking MMO but as every MMO is ruined by people racing to max level and skipping 90% of the content which has taken 3 years to make and then say it lacks content and it sucks.

Exactly. I've maxed 4 characters so far, and took my time enjoying the ride. It was awesome having an MMO fully voiced by the likes of David Hayter, Jennifer Hale, and Steve Blum, among many other greats. The problem was, all the MMO vets coming in and spacebar-ing through all that voice acting and story and just blitzing the endgame content, which wasn't really there at launch. Once the expansion dropped, I had a hell of a lot of fun re-visiting my lvl 50 characters I hadn't run in a while and going to Makeb, which was outstanding.

 

[freedash22]

Having played Guild Wars 2 and Skyrim (500+ hours) I'd have to remain very cautious about this one. As far as innovation and new MMORPG mechanics are concerned, Guild Wars 2 has set the bar really high. It has its problems and shortcomings, but I just cannot see TES Online making a breakthrough. As far as I can tell, it's just really a standard MMO with a TES theme on it. I have yet to see them bring anything solid to the table. Unless it gets really high user review scores, I just can't see myself buying this one. I really like TES and I have been playing the series for more than 10 years, but every gut instinct of mine tells me this is not it.

I think Bethesda could have done better by just committing all their resources towards making the next TES (Single Player) or Fallout game even better. That investment would go a longer way to build goodwill among hardcore and casual fans as well as making a much better game.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I think Bethesda could have done better by just committing all their resources towards making the next TES (Single Player) or Fallout game even better. That investment would go a longer way to build goodwill among hardcore and casual fans as well as making a much better game.

Bethesda has nothing to do with the development of the MMO, nor will the MMO affect the development of future TES games.

Bethesda didn't use any of their resources on TESO.

 

[freedash22]

I think Bethesda could have done better by just committing all their resources towards making the next TES (Single Player) or Fallout game even better. That investment would go a longer way to build goodwill among hardcore and casual fans as well as making a much better game.

Bethesda has nothing to do with the development of the MMO, nor will the MMO affect the development of future TES games.

Bethesda didn't use any of their resources on TESO.

Then this is good news. It is reassuring to know they are possibly focusing on what they do best. Thanks for making this one clear.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Then this is good news. It is reassuring to know they are possibly focusing on what they do best. Thanks for making this one clear.

http://www.oxm.co.uk/56352/bethesda-teases-really-awesome-project-from-elder-scrolls-team-100-unrelated-to-mmo/

Hines, vice president at Bethesda Softworks, was answering our questions about Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox One - screenshots here - when we asked if work on it would hold up the next single player RPG (which, yes, we are hurting for pretty bad).

"Zenimax Online Studio is an MMO shop," said Hines. "They're making an Elder Scrolls MMO and that is 100 per cent unrelated to... Todd Howard, at this point, has earned the right to do what the hell he wants; nobody gets to tell him different and nobody gets to dictate to him what he gets to do.

"You're laughing because you know it's true," he continued. "Do you think that even I would go to Todd and say 'listen, I know you want to do this, but these other guys...?' He gets to do whatever he wants. Him and his team are moving forward with the stuff that they want to work on and where they want to go next in making games."

Just in case you wanted some sauce for reassurance of the claims I made.

I cant wait for Todd to tell me those lies, those sweet little lies, on whats gonna be in his next game.

"RADIANT AI", "YOU CAN SABOTAGE THE ECONOMY", "YOU SEE A MOUNTAIN, YOU CAN CLIMB IT!"

 

[KaZuYa]

ToR was a brilliant and ground breaking MMO but as every MMO is ruined by people racing to max level and skipping 90% of the content which has taken 3 years to make and then say it lacks content and it sucks.

Groundbreaking and brilliant how exactly?

Brilliant in the outrageous amount of time they spent hyping up voice acting?
Groundbreaking in their inability to actually deliver content in the game to even help differentiate the leveling path a little from the strict, boring dull line of planets that Champions Online suffered as well? Failing that, the inability to actually expand the end-game content in some reasonable bit of time, instead choosing to bloat out the mid-game without actually adding to it?
Or, amazing in the utterly pathetic amount of customization offered for the characters themselves, seeing as most all NPCs and all Player Characters come from the same generic 3-body shapes, same-between-all parts design that even older games can best.


Please, TOR is far from groundbreaking or brilliant. It came from a bunch of inexperienced devs with not a single clue as to what to do between them, despite having the advantage of being in a time where "the do's and do nots" of MMOs are out there in plain sight. An advantage, mind you, that World of Warcraft (which they were oft desperate to emulate) didn't have. It's a good game, but not great. And it only gets worse, as they add in cash-shop specific rep grinds to pay for, amongst the other ridiculous cash shop lock-offs.



And, just a correction here, Classes do have an effect. They determine what skills you'll gain, outside of the other sources. So while a Mage and a Fighter could both equip staffs, and cast some spells, ultimately the Mage will always be better with casting spells and using staffs.

That is why the MMO is being turned in awful Cash cow F2P models because people like yourself are focused on the mythical end game content so putting any effort at all into mid game content is pointless. I'm a hardcore raider from the old days but I think raid content has no place whatsoever in MMO's, it's utter pointless and that's one of the main reasons ToR got slated due to lack of. Also FYI World of Warcraft is not a good game, its probably one of the worst stains on MMO history because it was first MMO to pander to wider audience, dumbing down to so it ticked the boxes and then it actually went and became successful and which basically meant if you want funding for a big MMO you have to say it's gonna be like WoW but better or you don't get the cash, there is a list as long as my arm of great MMO's which have failed because of spacebar smashers and greedy exec's who sell their stock on WoW numbers not reality and it gets cannned.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect your right to have one but seriously? I played WoW for just a few months because there was a non ending stream of better or more fun MMO's to play instead like Everquest 2, Dark Ages of Camelot, EVE, Warhammer Online, The Secret World and ToR. I've gone back to ToR several times because it's fun, absorbing and well written, WoW at best is "meh" and ive never had the urge to return.

 

[kenu12345]

At this point, it sounds very much like Guild Wars 2, with its exploration-related quests, playstyles, zones devoted to PVP, shared PVP/PVE gear, etc. So I have to ask the critical question:

How is the combat?

If the combat is mediocre, it will make or break the game. Why should I play ESO over Guild Wars 2?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HRnc8DNdRA 0_o

I dont get this post I honestly don't

 

[widowspeak]

While I've not been a huge fan of the Elder Scrolls series in the past, I've been forced to pay attention to it since my sister is a huge fan. (Plus, two of her college pals worked on Skyrim, so really, no getting away from it.) That said, I am now going to have to take a closer look at the MMO once it arrives, mostly due to your write up, Joshua. My sister will be thrilled that I'm on board, but my wallet will be quite displeased with being emptied of it's contents. Good job, there.