We're Going to Be Rich!

[CloudAtlas]

You know, despite how many developers go after WoW's model when making a MMO, they completely miss other successful concepts such as Minecraft because they don't see it as a MMO.

They would if they stop defining the word "Massive" as "an adjective describing the number of players that play on official servers". Kill the whole of this mindset and replace it with something more financially manageable, and soon we'll be seeing MMOs going in unique places.

Amen. I'd wish more games would explore the vast space that lies in between your small-scale "match-based" multiplayer games on the one end and (theme park) persistent world massively multiplayer games. I have the feeling that it's about to happen though.

 

[Kahani]

The Elder Scrolls Online has nothing to do with Bethesda

There are two problems with this. Firstly, it may be being developed by Zenimax, but it's published and licensed by Bethesda. Think how much blame EA get every time they release a shit game, especially with previously established franchises by developers they've taken over. That's not just blind hate; the publisher can have a huge influence on almost every aspect of a game.

Secondly, who exactly do you think Zenimax are? Hint - they're Bethesda. Zenimax Media is a shell company created by the founder of Bethesda specifically to contain Bethesda, which is its only division. They've since bought up a few other developers, but note that their games are published by Bethesda, not Zenimax. So yes, Zenimax Online Studios is officially a different developer, but it's created and owned by Bethesda in everything other than name.

It wouldn't be true to say TESO has nothing to do with Bethesda even if they were just the publisher, but their involvement actually goes much deeper than that.

 

[FYI I Am Some Guy]

I hated it. The quests were stupid, the graphics so-so, the combat bored me.

I believe that description could be applied to Skyrim as well, and maybe the rest of the ES series, but I haven't played anything other than Skyrim and I sure don't intend to.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Very amusing read.
And it was completely predictable. I said an Elder Scrolls MMO would be a disaster as far back as Oblivion; because the MMO format does not lend itself well at all to the Elder Scrolls series.

I could make some cynical snipe at the droves of fans who thought that a TES MMO would be a good idea in spite of everything else, but at the same time I know why they wanted it too. I know the feeling.
If love is blind; fan-love is blinding.

 

[Krantos]

Don't expect me to drop 200+ hours into a game where I have to play a cat with ape feet. Fuck you. Not sold.

... you have... strangely specific requirements...

*Backs away slowly*

OT:
Not really much to say in response to this. It's true. It's been true. It will continue to be true. WoW was a lucky lightning strike. It came at the right time and evolved the way it needed to. But now that ship is sailing. Any attempts to ape it's success are doomed to fail.

I really wish companies would stop trying. It's not good for the industry.

 

[Butterfly]

Oh. I thought this was about The Secret WorldGuild Wars 2NeverwinterThe Old Republic for a second.
No idea why.

 

[thiosk]

While I enjoy your work as always seamus, what strikes me about TESOnline (which is what I assume we're talking about here) is that there is a vocal community of asshats who SQUEALED RELENTLESSLY for "skyerim MMO NAOW." I was long in the camp of people who said "look, you can make an MMO based on TES, but you're not going to like it. It won't have anything TES has, and lets face it. you don't want a TES-based MMO, you want to grief people using TES-skyrim/oblivion ruleset."

Well, a lot of developers surely asked to make an mmo, and make an mmo zenimax are. Fallout was Oblivion with guns, and TesOnline is shaping up to be WoW with Nords.

The community gets what the community wants. Kinda. I predict no one will be happy.

Oh. I thought this was about The Secret WorldGuild Wars 2NeverwinterThe Old Republic for a second.
No idea why.

dont forget WARHAMMER ONLINE, the game about Orks with a K and humans and undead fighting one another in a fantasy universe and leveling to 80 again.

 

[CBanana]

Interestingly enough, a day after this article gets posted, Final Fantasy 14 is reported to be the biggest thing putting Square Enix back into the black.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-05-final-fantasy-14-helps-square-enix-swing-back-to-profit

 

[FYI I Am Some Guy]

As someone who is very, very much not a fan of The Elder Scrolls, I'd like if someone could explain to me what makes TES such a bad candidate for being an MMO. My time in Skyrim gave me the impression of an MMO without the things that make MMO's interesting. Then again, I'm not a fan of MMO's either, so I definitely don't know enough to talk about this in detail.

 

[Skipper3]

We're Going to Be Rich!

Somewhere in one of the many game-dev hubs around the world, a little drama unfolds...

Read Full Article

Omg. This is so much like Planetside 2 right now.

 

[xrogaan]

Somewhere in a dark corner of the activision-blizzard headquarters, the executives watches every launch of new MMO since WoW:

 

[Jumwa]

ESO is going to be the biggest flop yet. I am calling it now. You have a fan base who, for the most part, are die hard single player RPG fans. I got into the beta and let me tell you, if you are not already into MMO's then you will not be into this one.
I hated it. The quests were stupid, the graphics so-so, the combat bored me.
I feel sad for the flop Bethesda is going to have, but hey, at least it will teach them to stick to what they are good at.

I say it wont teach them anything, because they aren't the ones doing it.

The company that owns Bethesda, Zenimax, are the ones doing the MMO. Which would explain why a team of hardcore PvP developers are making such a mess of it.

Your analysis is spot on though. They completely fumbled this by making completely the wrong kind of game for its audience.

I'm in the beta again this weekend but I don't have any real hope for it. This thing would need a total overhaul to make it what it needs to be.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Interestingly enough, a day after this article gets posted, Final Fantasy 14 is reported to be the biggest thing putting Square Enix back into the black.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-05-final-fantasy-14-helps-square-enix-swing-back-to-profit

After they have spent the last three years bleeding money in large part because of Final Fantasy XIV and it's many, many travails.

It's going to take them four or five years just to get back to zero, never mind net profit on FFXIV, assuming they can keep the numbers and profitability up that long, the run of the market would be against them there.

 

[Atmos Duality]

No, it could definitely work if it was done right. But isn't being done right and it looks like ****.

TES: A series that prides itself on its single player immersive experiences.
By going MMO, the only way it could potentially work is if Bethesda adopts the sandbox MMO model; something akin to Star Wars Galaxies. In short, it just isn't going to happen anymore. No AAA company wants to fund sandbox MMOs now; not while WoW is still printing money.

Apart from that, there is absolutely no way a WoW like MMO could work, because it's basically the complete opposite of TES's regular gameplay. Bethesda would have to discard all of their game's strengths.

 

[octafish]

Publishers never seem to realise that WOW and COD aren't the rule, they are the exception...