I couldn't seem to see a thread on this game so I thought I'd start one.
I commented to a friend back in the Oblivion days that the concept of an Elders Scrolls game could possibly work as an MMO. Obviously this was not an original thought and many others have thought it. And we've known about ESO for a long while now but we are slowly edging towards a release. Like many other hyped MMO's it seems like the first trailers/reveals come a ridiculously long time before the game is actually released to the public. I actually don't mind the wait, and the tantalizing treats they give us every couple of months. I just want something that actually delivers on what it promises.
Star Wars The Old Republic had a lead in of 3 years and they built up such a momentum that the game was almost always going to feel like a failure. As it was the game was stuck somewhere between average and generally favourable gameplay with criticisms leveled at how closely it followed the WOW mold of MMO. Bioware had a good track record of producing some great single player fringe RPG (that is, are they aren't they RPG?) and their first foray into MMO cannot be charged with a half-hearted attempt. They employed a serious amount of talent to produce TOR.
TOR seems to demonstrate the poisoned chalice reality of creating an MMO from already established gaming lore. Many players (like myself) have no real experience with playing MMOs and yet we are the very people they need to convince to come along to the party. But, in the case of an Elders Scrolls game, some convincing is necessary. Skyrim offered graphics that will be unmatched on an MMO for a number of years. It also gave the player no real reason to want many of the features of an MMO, it was basically a game suited to one-person exploration (even followers became tedious particularly when discretion is required - something the AI never seemed to understand). So the idea of group raids on dungeons is not completely sold on me.
Another concern I have is some of the generic nature of Skyrim. Take magic, for instance. There was only a set of four or five types of spells for each element. This seems to epitomize the generic nature that Skyrim became for a wide audience. Now not all aspects of the game were like this but there were definitely parts of the game they failed to excite my curiosity because of a lack of customisation (helped by mods BTW). I can't help feeling that we may be faced with similar bland and generic aspects to a game that is catering for a wide audience playing in different types of co-op modes. Now it could be that they actually learn from the mistakes that Skyrim made in this regard but suffice to say I am a skeptic.
As a fan of the Elders Scrolls series of games I want this first MMO to succeed. I know it is not made by Bethesda but I can't help feeling that this is an inevitable evolution of the series (in a way). I also know that regardless of how well or how poorly this game does the ongoing success of Skyrim dictates that there will be another Elders Scrolls by Bethesda (probably after Fallout 4). But despite my well-wishes I am not convinced that I need to be part of this games success. I have never gravitated towards MMOs and if this game comes out at the end of the year then I just can't get more excited for this game than Dark Souls 2 or the open-world Witcher 3 both of which I expect to have vastly superior graphics, better gameplay and (certainly in the case of the Witcher franchise) a much better storyline.
I commented to a friend back in the Oblivion days that the concept of an Elders Scrolls game could possibly work as an MMO. Obviously this was not an original thought and many others have thought it. And we've known about ESO for a long while now but we are slowly edging towards a release. Like many other hyped MMO's it seems like the first trailers/reveals come a ridiculously long time before the game is actually released to the public. I actually don't mind the wait, and the tantalizing treats they give us every couple of months. I just want something that actually delivers on what it promises.
Star Wars The Old Republic had a lead in of 3 years and they built up such a momentum that the game was almost always going to feel like a failure. As it was the game was stuck somewhere between average and generally favourable gameplay with criticisms leveled at how closely it followed the WOW mold of MMO. Bioware had a good track record of producing some great single player fringe RPG (that is, are they aren't they RPG?) and their first foray into MMO cannot be charged with a half-hearted attempt. They employed a serious amount of talent to produce TOR.
TOR seems to demonstrate the poisoned chalice reality of creating an MMO from already established gaming lore. Many players (like myself) have no real experience with playing MMOs and yet we are the very people they need to convince to come along to the party. But, in the case of an Elders Scrolls game, some convincing is necessary. Skyrim offered graphics that will be unmatched on an MMO for a number of years. It also gave the player no real reason to want many of the features of an MMO, it was basically a game suited to one-person exploration (even followers became tedious particularly when discretion is required - something the AI never seemed to understand). So the idea of group raids on dungeons is not completely sold on me.
Another concern I have is some of the generic nature of Skyrim. Take magic, for instance. There was only a set of four or five types of spells for each element. This seems to epitomize the generic nature that Skyrim became for a wide audience. Now not all aspects of the game were like this but there were definitely parts of the game they failed to excite my curiosity because of a lack of customisation (helped by mods BTW). I can't help feeling that we may be faced with similar bland and generic aspects to a game that is catering for a wide audience playing in different types of co-op modes. Now it could be that they actually learn from the mistakes that Skyrim made in this regard but suffice to say I am a skeptic.
As a fan of the Elders Scrolls series of games I want this first MMO to succeed. I know it is not made by Bethesda but I can't help feeling that this is an inevitable evolution of the series (in a way). I also know that regardless of how well or how poorly this game does the ongoing success of Skyrim dictates that there will be another Elders Scrolls by Bethesda (probably after Fallout 4). But despite my well-wishes I am not convinced that I need to be part of this games success. I have never gravitated towards MMOs and if this game comes out at the end of the year then I just can't get more excited for this game than Dark Souls 2 or the open-world Witcher 3 both of which I expect to have vastly superior graphics, better gameplay and (certainly in the case of the Witcher franchise) a much better storyline.
