Elder Scrolls Online

It's happening.

I guess this means we'll never see Malson again once it's released.

Fuck this.

No thanks.

Sounds terrible

No thanks.

I'll reserve my judgement for it's release and actually trying it out.

I guess this means we'll never see Malson again once it's released.

Actually, I think this has the potential to be a wonderful pile of shit. But there's no way for me to tell at this point, because it could really go either way. MMOs tend to either revitalize franchises (like Warcraft) or destroy them (like Final Fantasy), so we'll see.

I like my elder scrolls without other jackasses, thank you.

They could go two ways with this, and my reaction will change based on concrete news.

Theme-Park MMO : No interest.
Sandbox MMO : I'm willing to listen.

There's no way in hell that they can live up to what the TES series is known for if it's a Theme-Park MMO.  It'll just end up as garbage.

Theme-Park MMO : No interest.
Sandbox MMO : I'm willing to listen.

This. Completely this.

It would also be nice if some attention was given to players who do not wish to engage in combat. As some of you may know, lately we've been playing the SWG Pre-CU Emulator (which is actually getting really damn good), and a large part of the reason why is because of the interesting professions system that the original SWG used. It actually incorporated players who did not wish to engage in combat activities and made them vital to both the gameplay and the player economy.

If this project attempts to include players such as those and encourage social interaction versus some level-based, combat-oriented progression, we would be very, very interested. I suppose we'll just have to wait to hear more about it, though, because at the moment, there just isn't enough information to even decide whether we would be interested in it or not.

Theme-Park MMO : No interest.
Sandbox MMO : I'm willing to listen.

This. Completely this.

It would also be nice if some attention was given to players who do not wish to engage in combat. As some of you may know, lately we've been playing the SWG Pre-CU Emulator (which is actually getting really damn good), and a large part of the reason why is because of the interesting professions system that the original SWG used. It actually incorporated players who did not wish to engage in combat activities and made them vital to both the gameplay and the player economy.

If this project attempts to include players such as those and encourage social interaction versus some level-based, combat-oriented progression, we would be very, very interested. I suppose we'll just have to wait to hear more about it, though, because at the moment, there just isn't enough information to even decide whether we would be interested in it or not.

Actually that brings up a good point, in the customizability of the player roster. Actually a good idea [more of a concept, really, just bear with me] is to use the customizability of the old MMO Star Wars Galaxies where you could choose to be a fighter, healer, merchant, crafter, or even just a simple citizen of the community like a singer or some such. That was an incredible feature that can in fact be a huge plus to gameplay IF done correctly.

I couldn't care less about the flying mounts, the third person view(I like 3rd person best for mmo) and the 'getting your own house', but not being able to aggro mobs would be very weird.

"Recreateing the freedom Elder Scrolls players expect within the World of Warcraft-style mechanics Zenimax Online is using for this MMO would be impossible without changing the way that players interact with the world."

Screw this. Sideways.

Found here.

As long as it's fun, I don't see any problems with it.  Again, I'll reserve judgement until it is released and I have a chance to play it.

That thread is stupid. Half of it is either bitching about it being too much like WoW, not enough like WoW, being in third person, or complaining about the graphics not being like Skyrim.

Lack of player housing kinda bothers me, but it's a minor gripe at most.

The thread itself is stupid, but the original post was what was being referenced. Doesn't sound like anything we would be remotely interested in at this point. If more convincing (and reliable) information comes to light, then it would be worth it to check that out, too. Just thought it would be worth it to leave a link to the thread in case anyone was interested in checking it out for themselves.

EDIT: Also quoted that particular section for the "WoW-like mechanics" part of it. That alone lost our interest, but once you start adding in the rest of the information in that thread, the design begins to sound terribly generic for what could have been a fantastic experience with an incredibly rich setting. But that's just an opinion, of course, and any more reliable information could change that opinion at any time.

That thread is stupid. Half of it is either bitching about it being too much like WoW, not enough like WoW, being in third person, or complaining about the graphics not being like Skyrim.

Lack of player housing kinda bothers me, but it's a minor gripe at most.

I think the problem with most people is they want it to be exactly like the original series of games but with other people running around.  They forget that graphics will need to be dumbed down to allow for smooth gameplay and that other things will need to be sacrificed. 

On the note of player housing, most player housing in MMOs is kind of poorly done in my opinion.  LOTRO made it fit more into the world but homes always felt too disconnected from the adventure.  Their instanced nature is nice to prevent people from taking your stuff and I can understand it cuz you can't just put a ton of houses up every time new players join...but the whole idea has been a little weak to me.  The reason I liked LOTRO's housing system is because there was an actual housing market and there are many neighborhoods.  If Elder Scrolls online is going to be as open world as I think it will be, it would be counter-productive to do such a thing.

Also, when people complain about a game being too WoW like, what is so wrong with being WoW like?  The controls?  The community?  What is so wrong with WoW that people dislike it so much?  Also, which iteration of WoW is it that people dislike so much?  It has changed so much over the years that it seems to me people just hate WoW just so they can join the crowd that hates WoW.  I've grown out of the whole WoW thing but I still consider it a solid game and very influential in the MMO market. 

I think in most MMOs, you can do professions alone if that is your thing.  You might have to fight a monster off in some areas but there are usually ways to gather materials and whatnot to work with your professions with no confrontations and I did it often when I played WoW, just as an example.  Obviously some of the professions would require some form of fighting like Tailoring unless you just decided to use the Auction House for everything but there is no requirement to go out and fight.  Obviously I don't have any experience with SW:G so I'm not sure how their system is.

Personally, there are some things on that list that I am sad about but I don't think it will hurt the game any.  Either you like it or you don't but right now it is way too early to say "fuck that" and I hear that from so many people that even my facebook is beginning to annoy me with all of the complaints to the point of me not even bothering with logging in except to help my friend with her portfolio >.<

Also, when people complain about a game being too WoW like, what is so wrong with being WoW like?  The controls?  The community?  What is so wrong with WoW that people dislike it so much?  Also, which iteration of WoW is it that people dislike so much?  It has changed so much over the years that it seems to me people just hate WoW just so they can join the crowd that hates WoW.  I've grown out of the whole WoW thing but I still consider it a solid game and very influential in the MMO market. 

Agree with you completely here. I enjoyed playing WoW for a while, although it never held my interest for an extended period. To clarify, I don't hate WoW itself; I hate the fact that each new MMO installment that comes out seems to try its hardest to recreate a diluted version of WoW to essentially cash-in on a well-established paradigm instead of venturing out and trying something different. WoW is not to blame for that; it's because it's so well-designed that it's copied. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and all that.

I think in most MMOs, you can do professions alone if that is your thing.  You might have to fight a monster off in some areas but there are usually ways to gather materials and whatnot to work with your professions with no confrontations and I did it often when I played WoW, just as an example.  Obviously some of the professions would require some form of fighting like Tailoring unless you just decided to use the Auction House for everything but there is no requirement to go out and fight.  Obviously I don't have any experience with SW:G so I'm not sure how their system is.

You have much to learn about how that system worked so well at the time. It had its problems, definitely, but the way things were done in that game were completely different from any MMO at the time (and any MMO that I know of since). For instance, player housing was literally a deed for a house that was crafted by another player (an Architect, usually) that you could place anywhere in the game world as long as it was outside of predefined zoning limitations (such as inside NPC cities). I'd be happy to explain it in more detail, but that seems like another topic altogether, so I'll just leave it at that for now.

Too many fucking mmos.

Agree with you completely here. I enjoyed playing WoW for a while, although it never held my interest for an extended period. To clarify, I don't hate WoW itself; I hate the fact that each new MMO installment that comes out seems to try its hardest to recreate a diluted version of WoW to essentially cash-in on a well-established paradigm instead of venturing out and trying something different. WoW is not to blame for that; it's because it's so well-designed that it's copied. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and all that.

Honestly, I don't think anyone could come up with a much better system.  We can't always be wowed (no pun intended) by new mechanics and controls but how they are put together to make a fun game is always what is most important.

You have much to learn about how that system worked so well at the time. It had its problems, definitely, but the way things were done in that game were completely different from any MMO at the time (and any MMO that I know of since). For instance, player housing was literally a deed for a house that was crafted by another player (an Architect, usually) that you could place anywhere in the game world as long as it was outside of predefined zoning limitations (such as inside NPC cities). I'd be happy to explain it in more detail, but that seems like another topic altogether, so I'll just leave it at that for now.

A housing system like that would be great but I don't see it working in a lot of games design wise.  Where Starwars takes place over multiple planets, Elder Scrolls takes place over multiple continents and the landscape, if they choose to use the same style, wouldn't lend itself to a housing system like that simply due to the landscape.  Of course, I would totally love to put a house right next to a den of giants and use them as my form of home defense. 

Too many fucking mmos.

Not enough good ones.

For anyone else interested: GameInformer Article on TES Online.

Just read through it myself, and it reveals some more information. No comment on what it says, just read it and decide for yourselves.

I looked over that a little before I fell asleep last night.  It really does look like it could be good.