Do you want an Elder Scrolls MMO?

Bethesda recently announced an upcoming Elder Scrolls Online game developed by Zenimax Online and slated for a 2013 release date. The true success of the Elder Scrolls series, in my opinion, has rested in the single-player format, where you're free to do whatever you want. What make them so special is that they are single player RPGs and the story and world revolved around you. For example, in an MMO, would it be any fun to have a hundred Dragonborns or Champions of Cyrodiil? How about fifty players all with their own Sanguine's Rose, Volendrung, etc.? And that means you can't freely kill NPCs at your own will, for that NPC might be essential to another player. What are your thoughts on this new game?

Sure.

Sure.

-Unreal-

Sure? That's it? I am guessing you didn't think over it twice.

[QUOTE="-Unreal-"]

Sure.

LordTrexGuy

Sure? That's it? I am guessing you didn't think over it twice.

Way I see it, Elder Scrolls games are single player MMO's anyway. Everything I did in Skyrim could've been done in any MMORPG and the result would've been the same. Not going to pay a monthly fee for any game though, so whatever.

Elder Scrolls reeks of MMO from their recent games anyway. Dull, shallow, and sometimes broken combat, huge world to explore that offers almost nothing for doing so, mundane quests, a world that barely changes, and an uninteresting story. Why it took them this long to finally convert it is beyond me.

It'll probably be the buggiest MMO of all time, but then again it's not made by Bethesda.

Nope.avi

TES belongs offline with mods and pure freedom. Not to mention the setting is very generic fantasy, I've about had it with those for MMOs.

If it happens, The last hope for the industry of gaming has successfully vanished like seeing a stone beeing dropped down in to the ocean. That will most likely mean me quitting playing games and start doing something else.

I want a Online Elder Scrolls game to complement the sinbgle player experience of the saga. Yes, I want being in a crowd of other 15 players fom Anvil going tro smash some player skulls at Chorrol and vice-versa. As long as the combat is based on real time hit detections instead of automatic % actions as in most of MMOs I'll be happy. The whole universe of TES is amazing and I want to coop and PvP in it.

I think thats what was missing for me... a massive world that you can explore... but you do it on your own..

Even if they did a multi player so you can invite your mates in would be cool... but imo a mmo would make it a great game

I wouldn't want an ES MMO, especially if it means - like KotOR and Warcraft - no more singleplayer games. Honestly I'd love an ES MMO if they could truly pull it off, but no developers seem to understand truly how to make a top quality MMO without that cheap feeling that comes with it.

I suppose Skyrim itself isn't far off from being an MMO to be honest. It does reveal this cheap, hollow, repetetive feeling after a couple of dozen hours.

If they can manage to create a new mmo that isn't a copy of what we've already seen, then sure. However i'd much rather they focus on trying to improve their single player games.

No Thank you

I don't care. Guild Wars 2 will be the only MMO I'll be playing for a very, very long time. Plus, the market is oversaturated.

It will be a flop if made.

If people want multiplayer they should just spend time making a proper multiplayer COOP addon or something.

Nah. TES is a great SP game, I just can't imagine it going MP.

I feel like everything is moving to multiplayer these days. Personally, I'd rather see Elder Scrolls stay a single player experience.

Can we get a "Maybe" option? I think an Elder Scrolls MMO could be really cool IF they do it right. They need to build the MMO model around the Elder Scrolls universe and gameplay and make sure they keep the games sandbox elements intact. If they just make a copy/paste MMO with Elder Scrolls settings (like they did with SWTOR) it will be a flop. I'd say there's about a 10-20% chance they'll make a creative sandbox MMO which uses the Elder Scrolls universe wisely and keeps the games sandbox "do what you want" elements intact, and a 80-90% chance the game is a generic MMO set in the Elder Scrolls universe for casual players. Also PvP is going to be a B*TCH to balance...Croag821

Pretty much this. If they go the sandbox route...imagine epic fights with guild alliances fighting over regions, but set in the Elder Scrolls universe...sheer awsomness...but that's not what the casuals want, the casuals play theme-park, so it's gonna be a WoW clone with everything instanced. Tamriel will be just a lobby for the instances. So much potential lost...

[QUOTE="Croag821"]Can we get a "Maybe" option? I think an Elder Scrolls MMO could be really cool IF they do it right. They need to build the MMO model around the Elder Scrolls universe and gameplay and make sure they keep the games sandbox elements intact. If they just make a copy/paste MMO with Elder Scrolls settings (like they did with SWTOR) it will be a flop. I'd say there's about a 10-20% chance they'll make a creative sandbox MMO which uses the Elder Scrolls universe wisely and keeps the games sandbox "do what you want" elements intact, and a 80-90% chance the game is a generic MMO set in the Elder Scrolls universe for casual players. Also PvP is going to be a B*TCH to balance...QQabitmoar

Pretty much this. If they go the sandbox route...imagine epic fights with guild alliances fighting over regions, but set in the Elder Scrolls universe...sheer awsomness...but that's not what the casuals want, the casuals play theme-park, so it's gonna be a WoW clone with everything instanced. Tamriel will be just a lobby for the instances. So much potential lost...

yes

I'd rather have a Fallout MMO (either new style or old, I love both), but this would be nice too.

[QUOTE="QQabitmoar"]

[QUOTE="Croag821"]Can we get a "Maybe" option? I think an Elder Scrolls MMO could be really cool IF they do it right. They need to build the MMO model around the Elder Scrolls universe and gameplay and make sure they keep the games sandbox elements intact. If they just make a copy/paste MMO with Elder Scrolls settings (like they did with SWTOR) it will be a flop. I'd say there's about a 10-20% chance they'll make a creative sandbox MMO which uses the Elder Scrolls universe wisely and keeps the games sandbox "do what you want" elements intact, and a 80-90% chance the game is a generic MMO set in the Elder Scrolls universe for casual players. Also PvP is going to be a B*TCH to balance...guynamedbilly

Pretty much this. If they go the sandbox route...imagine epic fights with guild alliances fighting over regions, but set in the Elder Scrolls universe...sheer awsomness...but that's not what the casuals want, the casuals play theme-park, so it's gonna be a WoW clone with everything instanced. Tamriel will be just a lobby for the instances. So much potential lost...

So because an MMO has never done it before that means it shouldn't be done? That type of thinking is why the MMO genre has progressed so little in the last decade.

But to answer your question Darkfall and Mortal Online both offer the same freedom of movement and active combat as an Elder Scroll game (though they are both plauged by poor funding/management).

http://imgur.com/a/fO9Ty#1

sup

Not feeling the art styIe :/

Multiplayer option with 2 or 3 players may be nice , but making it MOO , I think no , maybe battles or costom maps with teams may be ok , but not moo .

But if they figure out something good from this , with not too big players count , then why not .

Maybe, it really dephends on how the implement the IP.

The game should both feel like an MMO and a TES game.

They should do the following

• Dont have a class system, use the skill system that has been in the series since Daggerfall
• Avoid making players scale too much, with an mmo level scaling will be very difficult to implement, and with an absurd ammount of scaling, players will be prisoners of their own level.
• Keep it first person
• Avoid hotkey combat, it wouldnt feel very TESish if they had hotkey combat
• Have action based combat instead, if possible look at Dark Messiah for inspiration.
• Avoid making everyone damage sponges
• Make it a sandpark

So because an MMO has never done it before that means it shouldn't be done? That type of thinking is why the MMO genre has progressed so little in the last decade.

But to answer your question Darkfall and Mortal Online both offer the same freedom of movement and active combat as an Elder Scroll game (though they are both plauged by poor funding/management).Croag821

Notice when you are playing a shooter and running around a corner and someone on the other side of the corner seems to shoot you before you've even had a chance to see them? Imagine trying to deal with that situation with real time melee combat while an archer is shooting you and others are fighting nearby. That is why MMO combat sucks. They don't have the power to do real time combat and immersive gameplay. No one has done it at an MMO scale, and most internet traffic isn't fast enough for them to even be able to. They might be able to in the distant future, but as of right now it will just be more crappy cookie cutter MMO action.

Voice acting for everybody confirmed

vadernoooooooo

Do they learn nothing from TORtanic?

Elder Scrolls reeks of MMO from their recent games anyway. Dull, shallow, and sometimes broken combat, huge world to explore that offers almost nothing for doing so, mundane quests, a world that barely changes, and an uninteresting story. Why it took them this long to finally convert it is beyond me.

It'll probably be the buggiest MMO of all time, but then again it's not made by Bethesda.

ChubbyGuy40

Ding ding ding

Why pay a monthly fee anyway for a game you have gotten before. It's not going to be hugely different than Skyrim or Oblivion

Voice acting for everybody confirmed

vadernoooooooo

Do they learn nothing from TORtanic?

Baranga

[QUOTE="ChubbyGuy40"]

Elder Scrolls reeks of MMO from their recent games anyway. Dull, shallow, and sometimes broken combat, huge world to explore that offers almost nothing for doing so, mundane quests, a world that barely changes, and an uninteresting story. Why it took them this long to finally convert it is beyond me.

It'll probably be the buggiest MMO of all time, but then again it's not made by Bethesda.

seanmcloughlin

Ding ding ding

Why pay a monthly fee anyway for a game you have gotten before. It's not going to be hugely different than Skyrim or Oblivion

They totally missed the point of the Elder Scrolls MMO people imagined for years.

It's sort of sad.

They totally missed the point of the Elder Scrolls MMO people imagined for years.

It's sort of sad.

Baranga

No, not at all am I suggesting that it shouldn't be done. It can't be done. I looked up those games you mentioned on Youtube and watched some videos and they clearly demonstrate why it can't be done and why it will always be crap, or at least for the near future. Latency.

Notice when you are playing a shooter and running around a corner and someone on the other side of the corner seems to shoot you before you've even had a chance to see them? Imagine trying to deal with that situation with real time melee combat while an archer is shooting you and others are fighting nearby. That is why MMO combat sucks. They don't have the power to do real time combat and immersive gameplay. No one has done it at an MMO scale, and most internet traffic isn't fast enough for them to even be able to. They might be able to in the distant future, but as of right now it will just be more crappy cookie cutter MMO action.

guynamedbilly

I'm not sure what videos you watched but I've been in 300+ player battles in Darkfall and they performed good. Mortal Online does have issues in 100+ player battles but it's mostly due to client side loading issues, not server side. And like I said both these games only have like 5 developers and have been losing money for years so they don't exactly represent cutting edge technology and programing haha.

A recent AAA MMO that uses free movement and hit detection is Tera. You must actively block, hit, dodge, etc. Plus Planetside has been out for years now and we have Planetside 2 coming out soon which features large scale FPS battles.

I'll admit I think it will be a while before we can have CS responsiveness in large scale games, but I don't think the Elder Scrolls combat system is fast paced enough to need that kind of percision. I think it's combat speed is comparable to Tera which performs fine in large scale battles.

Also MMO's tend to be able to get away with more latency because the fights are longer lasting and more strategic then shooters, so the 1 second advantage a perosn has due to latency really doesn't matters as much.

Doesn't Vindictus have a real time melee combat system based on player skill?

Doesn't Vindictus have a real time melee combat system based on player skill?

Baranga

Not an MMO.

But I wouldn't mind seeing some form of co-op implemented in the 'single player' series, with a max of 4 players (or 2 players each with an NPC companion).

I know this TES MMO is going ahead, but I just don't think they'll capture the 'feel' of the single player games we've had until now. My greatest worry is that if it proves successful, Zenimax may choose to concentrate on the MMO game, and quietly 'retire' the single player games.

Let's face it - people have wanted to be able to explore the whole of Tamriel all throughout the series, but instead we've only had basically one 'country' at a time (except for Daggerfall, which covered a wider area). I know some of the other regions were touched on in other games like Redguard and Battlespire, but honestly fans would want to see proper TES games with the same scope as Oblivion and Skyrim.

That's fine, but given the length of time between releases, now, which is averaging 5 years, and the fact that we would still be wanting similar scaled games exploring Elsweyr, Valenwood, Black Marsh, Hammerfell, High Rock, and the Summerset Isles...it could take another 30 years to get to explore the entirety of Tamriel on this basis. :/

That's not good. They can only make so many games in this series before people tire of waiting for the next installment, and I'd be surprised if they were contemplating that kind of development cycle.

So the only options are to cut out countries entirely (you never see them), or cut the minutiae in each area to get a wider area to explore, or have a section of map between three bordering countries but you don't get to see all of them, or they go with an MMO where they can release 'expansions' to open up new areas on a regular basis.

Either way, I'm not sure I like where TES is heading in the future. :/

TES will allways be the SP experience for me, can't imagine I would have any fun in an MMO TES..

It seems they're going to $ in on the popularity of the series, and some peep might even like and enjoy the game as an MMO - I just hope the developing won't take away from the next TES SP game, otherwise I will be /sadpanda

[QUOTE="guynamedbilly"]

No, not at all am I suggesting that it shouldn't be done. It can't be done. I looked up those games you mentioned on Youtube and watched some videos and they clearly demonstrate why it can't be done and why it will always be crap, or at least for the near future. Latency.

Notice when you are playing a shooter and running around a corner and someone on the other side of the corner seems to shoot you before you've even had a chance to see them? Imagine trying to deal with that situation with real time melee combat while an archer is shooting you and others are fighting nearby. That is why MMO combat sucks. They don't have the power to do real time combat and immersive gameplay. No one has done it at an MMO scale, and most internet traffic isn't fast enough for them to even be able to. They might be able to in the distant future, but as of right now it will just be more crappy cookie cutter MMO action.

Croag821

I'm not sure what videos you watched but I've been in 300+ player battles in Darkfall and they performed good. Mortal Online does have issues in 100+ player battles but it's mostly due to client side loading issues, not server side. And like I said both these games only have like 5 developers and have been losing money for years so they don't exactly represent cutting edge technology and programing haha.

A recent AAA MMO that uses free movement and hit detection is Tera. You must actively block, hit, dodge, etc. Plus Planetside has been out for years now and we have Planetside 2 coming out soon which features large scale FPS battles.

I'll admit I think it will be a while before we can have CS responsiveness in large scale games, but I don't think the Elder Scrolls combat system is fast paced enough to need that kind of percision. I think it's combat speed is comparable to Tera which performs fine in large scale battles.

Also MMO's tend to be able to get away with more latency because the fights are longer lasting and more strategic then shooters, so the 1 second advantage a perosn has due to latency really doesn't matters as much.