Elder Scrolls MMO

[Yumil]

So, apparently the cover of next months Game Informer is all about an Elder Scrolls MMO (http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/05/03/june-cover-revealed-the-elder-scrolls-online.aspx) coming out next year.

I really don't know how to feel about this. For one, I like the open worlds Bethesda creates in the series, however I don't think they lend themselves too well to a multiplayer environment, especially a massively multiplayer environment. On the other hand if done right this might be the one fantasy mmo to rule them all.

Aside from that, I do not think we can count on Bethesda to deliver a bug free game, and that can be lethal in the MMO market where exploits are gamebreakers.

Your thoughts?

EDIT 1: Official Site (http://elderscrollsonline.com/) - The rumors a few years ago seem to be true, they were just denied until the game was getting close to ready. At least that's my impression of it.

[Azisien]

In my mind it'll be pretty bad and even though I thoroughly enjoyed Oblivion and Skyrim I won't be getting this, at this point.

Seriously, I already feel bad for the more saps that will play v1.0 of a Bethesda MMO.

[Arcanum]

More info (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472749)

So basically, you get your standard MMO fare slapped onto the Elder Scrolls lore.

Instead of adding online co-op to the standard Elder Scrolls fare.

Good job Bethesda Zenimax Online.

e- Like, the way I see this happening, die-hard ES fans and MMO junkies will give the game moderate success at launch, after which it will promptly face-plant and go F2P.

[Yumil]

Hero Engine...meh.
No player housing...meh.
No realtime combat...meh(heck TERAs got that, latency is no reason not to do it anymore)
No Radiant AI...meh(yeah, players give a feel that the world is moving, but the NPC ai has been a major part of ES for the more recent games)

Yeah, I'll open beta it if they do that, but don't see myself paying unless there is something godlike about it.

[Magus]

I think the problem with pretty much all MMO development is that each company making an MMO think it is the current state of MMO gameplay that is appealing to players when pretty much all of them think it is tedious, boring crap, BUT they enjoy the community aspect and there's enough RPG elements to keep them entertained that tehy put up with the tedious, boring crap that is the majority of MMO gameplay, leading future MMO development companies to erroneously think that players enjoy killing 5 of this or that and returning to mission giver or finding 30 other players so they can whale on a boss with 100000000000000 HP for ten hours until they finally die, and so they put that stuff into their new MMO and so on and so forth in an endless cycle of terribleness.

[Aldurin]

I am going to pass on this. It just seems like it's an attempt to slap ES on an MMO to see if it makes more money, and I don't think it will fare too well.

[Oron]

I'd rather play Skyrim with the multiplayer mod, even if it is still in the alpha and probably won't get past the "extremely glitchy and laggy" phase. Then again, I haven't checked on that thing since it's inception, well before the construction kit was released.

[Japan]

I like how they pretty much came out and said "Its going to be exactly like every other mmo ever."

I mean, the Elder Scrolls lore is entertaining enough I suppose, for standard fantasy schlock, but its not the reason for the success of any of the TES games. Being an almighty badass who punches gods in the ding ding at level 50 is why people play TES games.

Being just another mook with an arrow to the knee isn't going to be fun at all. (Actually I think I'd enjoy playing as one of the guards in Skyrim more than I'd enjoy facerolling my way through an elder scrolls mmo.)

(Super secret confession: I will end up spending money and at least a month's worth of my life playing this game. I'm not going to be proud of it.)

[Arcanum]

(Super secret confession: I will end up spending money and at least a month's worth of my life playing this game. I'm not going to be proud of it.)

Like, the way I see this happening, die-hard ES fans and MMO junkies will give the game moderate success at launch, after which it will promptly face-plant and go F2P.

Anecdotes are totally evidence, right guys?

[Bells]

before i try ANY game, i make damn sure to watch a good, lenghty gameplay video of it... i know it's not the same, but i've played enough games to know what i would like, and when you find a good video is easy to see if you would havee fun doing that or not... dodged many bad games doing that, and as consequence, skipped on funding bad games with my cash.

So, no... Elder Scrolls MMO will not a get a dime out of me until they prove that they can at least TRY to do something unique and new, Not this bullshit of Cookie Cutter MMO with ES lore...

Hell, this MMO wouldn't get a passing grade as a Single Player Elder Scrolls game as it stands now... why would it get it just cause it's multiplayer?

[Japan]

Well they're going to remove the heart and soul of the gameplay by turning it into an MMO. It's not going to be first person shooter type fantasy gameplay, which was really what made the games so hot in the first place.

Honestly if they could make it look as pretty as skyrim (which won't be that pretty in 2 years, but it'd be fine for me) and keep the first person based gameplay I'd be all over this shit.

I don't really understand what's stopping them from doing that either. I mean first person shooters seem to get the job done with multiple players, why can't we have a twitch based fantasy mmo? I should probably do some research into the technological limitations, but something tells me its totally possible it would just cost too much to justify as an mmo startup with an untested (in the mmo field) intellectual property.

But honestly its like shooting yourself in the foot. Do something new and exciting and take the risk, because obviously not taking any risks is going to be a guaranteed failure.

Edit: Actually I just thought about it some more and I think someone hit the nail on the head in this thread all ready. These people actually think that the MMO audience likes cooldown based combat and won't settle for anything less when in reality the vast majority of MMO players are desperate for something totally new and only keep playing WoW because it's the best of the crap that's available.