The Elder Scrolls ONLINE!

[Zooey]

Personally the no PvP stat for me is a sell.  

Combined with my class is like a color pallete with many diverse paths instead of the three tree talent system.  

Any weapon.  Any armor. Any class.

3 Faction system.  DAOC style world pvp.  Don't want to PvP and still help the war effort?  Questing, raids, and dungeons in Cyrodiil progress the resources for the war effort.

A single server per continent so no splitting friends or guild (important for me).  

Huge worlds.  Skyrim in ESO is the same size as Skyrim from ES V.

The graphics are currently Alpha and slated to be on par with Skyrim.  

Less hotbar ability rotations with more Elder Scrolls combat.  The hotbar is more like the favorites menu from Skyrim.  

You are rewarded for playing better.  Killing creatures with finesse reward more xp and loot (very excited to see how that works.)

They say that its less quest hub-ish a more a messenger runs up or you stumble across a random objective.

Public dungeons and grouping areas.

(Conjecture from the early testers back in Nov.) They promise an amazing main stories with plenty of side quests.  Each faction is independent on quests and far less cookie cutter.  They also claim that they could hardly tell the difference between Skyrim and ESO.

They're are currently two things I want changed:  

#1 Faction protected zones is stupid.  They need to add quests for scout those areas or something interesting.  It was stupid in SWTOR; it is stupid for this, especially since I want to roam the wilderness with my Breton Ranger / Assassin.

#2 You can be in multiple guilds.  I personally think that killed Guild Wars for me.  I hope its changed.

[Sared]

The only thing that sounds appealing in that list is the raw size of the world and the server-per-continent. I like those ideas and I want to see them fleshed out and fleshed out well.

[Zooey]

I do as well.

[Tbone]

Didn't they say they were just having one world? And that the technology would just put you into the server where your friends are? That doesn't really sound any different from a game like EQ2 where there are 30 instances of the same map. It just sounds like instead of 30, there's going to be 300 since it's just one world.

[Manic Velocity]

Didn't they say they were just having one world? And that the technology would just put you into the server where your friends are? That doesn't really sound any different from a game like EQ2 where there are 30 instances of the same map. It just sounds like instead of 30, there's going to be 300 since it's just one world.

Sounded more like TSW to me, with multiple servers but you can freely move between them within the game.

[Tbone]

Mega Server with phases/instances. Solves server queues and balance. Causes lack of actual community.

[Strod]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLp0ykvotEI


Information from an Alpha Test.

Just spotted this, some of the information I didn't think would be in the game.

[Manic Velocity]

"...like a Skyrim-GW2 hybrid"

"...very similar to Dialbo 3"

"When it comes to PvE, this may be one of the things they took from WoW."

"...kind of like GW2" (in praise of the combat system)

"...it works like DAoC" (in reference to open-world PvP)

So if you've played nearly any other MMO on the market, you've played ESO.

AI mechanics sound very similar to what exists in EVE.  NPCs calculate their most effective strategy based on the loadouts of the players, and the loadouts of the surrounding NPCs.

"Phasing technology", like Tbone said, literally divides the community into niche groups based on the questionnaire given at character creation.   So despite that it's all housed on a single "megaserver", everyone gets split up anyway.

"The system is designed to have 200 people on screen at all times."

That's cute.  :P

[Tbone]

IGN had some pretty nice things to say about ESO. On my phone or I'd link it.

[Sared]

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/we-didnt-see-elder-scrolls-onlines-first-person-mode-until-last-week-heres

No, no, no, no, don't FUCK with the formula guys!

[Manic Velocity]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/19/the-elder-scrolls-online-just-might-be-awesome

I can't see this being anything but another level-based, holy trinity treadmill.  Devs will spend months or years developing content that players will chew through in two weeks and repeat out of boredom.  Nothing you accomplish will affect anything outside of your personal story, essentially making it a single-player game.  The phasing technology only reinforces this.

The franchise name is its main selling point.  People will play it because it's Elder Scrolls.  Meanwhile the gameplay remains uninspired.  Sounds familiar.

I really want to see the genre grow out of this rut.

[Tbone]

I will say that taking the "roleplay" out of MMORPG has become way too popular. Bring back MxO's live events! At least let us sit in chairs!

[Sared]

I will say that taking the "roleplay" out of MMORPG has become way too popular. Bring back MxO's live events! At least let us sit in chairs!

This. This all goddamn day long. I want GM's, not CSR's.

[Zooey]

I'm almost ready to pull out my pre-order.  I want to get into a beta to make the final decision.

I want my damn sandbox to play in.

My next fantasy MMO, besides the World of Darkness one, everyone talks about but doesn't link.. : assholes...
 is Pathfinder Online (https://goblinworks.com/blog/)

[Zooey]

I will say that taking the "roleplay" out of MMORPG has become way too popular. Bring back MxO's live events! At least let us sit in chairs!

You realize Bioware called SWTOR a Star Wars MMO, not an MMORPG.  It seems that all Theme Parks are now MMOs and Not MMORPGs.  I get more roleplay in Star Trek Online than I do in Star Wars the Old Republic.