AS a TES fan I will never play this game because it's an MMO, I don't like MMO's and never will. TES online should be much more than a MMO clone. MMO's are a specific online genre oversaturated and dominated by WOW, they take so much time and effort to get to endgame that stealing players from other MMO's rarely persists beyond once End Game is reached, most go back to the core community for such content. Often racing through the Storyline at breakneck speed within a months subscription then leaving to raid in theiurt fully specced core game, usually WoW, where Blizzard Time New content to spoil the new guys pulling power.
Basically though theirs always a turnover of New replacing failed old, the market is full and all who want to play an MMO stick to one for endgaming, even if they try another for some new story content.
The only way for real online multi-player growth is to not to be a MMO at all, MOBA's did this and have now become like MMO's a saturated market dominated by 1 main game. TES fans who were MMO fans played WoW or another MMO, Some have stayed with their existing community and some have switched to TESO, the only thing Zenimax cares about now is Console MMO Dominance. They are using the PC to perfect the game before the console release, it may work but MMO on console is just as likely to never be big. Those wanting it already play on PC.
The vast majority of TES fans not already playing a MMO, consist in part of those who never play multi-player, they never will. There is another group who want what is crudely decribed as Skyrim with friends or Co-Op, that isn't the entire picture at all. People like me consider all MMO's as a Single Player experiences, with many others having the exact same Single Player experience. Essentially that's my definition of an MMO. A single player game, with bolt-on multi-player. It's what I and other non-MMO players mean when we say "WoW Clone", in reality WoW is also a clone of the first MMO to do this, EverQuest, but few know that and "Everquest Clone" became "WoW Clone".
It's become an emotive label, that means many different things to MMO players, to Non MMO players it simply means, just "Another MMO".
Essentially every player is the same hero, doing the exact same missions, they all play this single player campaign and when it's over, the "Endgame" starts.
TES Online should be something entirely different, No one Heroes Journey for all, you just start as a nobody, a commoner who can never aspire to become part of the "Nobility", with random spawn points about the world, NPC Quest Givers are the Nobles and they give a quest out once to a single Player/Group as Very special Rewards, most or all commoner NPC's can be replaced by players, until all are in fact players.
The Cities and Roads are civilised and Safe enviroments where crimes are punishable and difficult to accomplish. The further away from these civilised areas one goes the less civilised the area until the Wilds are reached, which are lawless most of the time, though patrols and Quest Expeditions, make even that uncertain.
Apart from the Quests the size of a Group is limited, not by strict limits, but by becoming a bigger they risk attracting the attention of the Nobility, increasing the bounty for their removal. They can take over any area by force in the Wilds, but if they become to large, they will become a Quest Target and decimated. While in civilised areas other more subtle means are required to gain influence.
The key thing is content isn't provided on a plate, you must work for it and mostly it's created purely by player interactions. Death is permanent and loss of kit too, even successful characters grow old and die, they can raise children or train their new character, too give them a start, but training only goes so far and real world experience must be gained. Even following the exact same path as before will be entirely different years later.
Basically make a Online World and set it going. There isn't any Endgame, because time never ends, life does. This is just a bare bones taste of the principles of this new style Online experience.
Star Citizen is aiming for this sort of thing, more player created content, it has a single player story. That's also a single player experience. The Online game isn't a MMO, it's a persistant universe.
Whether TESO is a good or bad MMO is irrelevant to me, if it's what you want that's fine. It potentially, could and should have been so much more. A true RPG Online experience, we've yet to see anywhere. It failed to appeal to Non MMO playing TES fans, the moment they made it a MMO.
It's just another MMO, nothing more and I want so much more than just another MMO.
