Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Elderer: The Elder Scrolls Online Confirmed For 2013

By Jim Rossignol on May 3rd, 2012 at 5:12 pm.


The news horn of Game Informer sounds a clear, pure note of announcement: The Elder Scrolls Online, that secret so poorly kept, has been confirmed by Zenimax. How’s this for interesting: the GI article will apparently reveal the “player-driven PvP conflict that pits the three player factions against each other in open-world warfare over the province of Cyrodiil.” Cor!

The key dev quoted by the article – and the lead in the project – is former Dark Age Of Camelot man Matt Firor, who said his team is “committed” to making the MMO into a Best Thing Ever. Lucky they’re not feeling indifferent about the whole affair. That would have been awful. Teaser type trailer will turn up tomorrow, apparently. (The press release even claims that the game will be featured in magazines! Amazing.)

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243 Comments »

  1. 03/05/2012 at 17:14 sockpuppetclock says:

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    • 03/05/2012 at 18:57 irongamer says:

      Exactly, the fact their little hype info drop was 3 realm pvp… WTF. That is not TES experience and there are countless other MMO games with 3 realm pvp. If they are to do an MMO game it should be focused on TES game experience with friends. I hope the gaming body filters out yet another X realm pvp garbage and eliminate it for the waste it represents.

      • 03/05/2012 at 19:43 Drumstick42 says:

        I’d have to agree, I’m not sure if this is a good thing. On the one hand, I think it would be great to have Co-op in an Elder scrolls game, going out and exploring, slaying monsters, and stealing turnips with friends on the TES engine would be great fun.

        On the other hand, by the sound of the article, it seems as if it’s more PvP oriented than anything… I love PvP in my MMOs but it just doesn’t feel right to me in Elder Scrolls.

        Honestly, I would rather have Bethesda focus their resources on TES VI.

        • 03/05/2012 at 21:44 ChromeBallz says:

          Bethesda IS focusing on the TES singleplayer games.

          Zenimax Online is a completely different studio, they’re the ones making TES Online.

          The ones making the singleplayer games are Bethesda Softworks.

        • 03/05/2012 at 22:08 Grey Ganado says:

          If I understand the announcement correctly, the PvP will only happen in Cyrodiil.

  3. 03/05/2012 at 17:14 fragglerock says:

    Excite!

  4. 03/05/2012 at 17:15 Dowson says:

    This feels somewhat anticlimactic.

  6. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 Kazz says:

    I’m in two minds. It’s either

    1) Uh oh

    or

    2) \o/

    • 03/05/2012 at 18:55 dontnormally says:

      This part has me excited:

      “player-driven PvP conflict that pits the three player factions against each other in open-world warfare over the province of Cyrodiil.”

      The Planetside approach to MMO (capture things, lose things, recapture things, HAVE PURPOSE) always seemed infinitely more appealing than the WOW approach (reach level cap, uh, get stuff, run around, what?)

      • 03/05/2012 at 19:02 irongamer says:

        “The Planetside approach to MMO (capture things, lose things, recapture things, HAVE PURPOSE”

        While that may sound nice Planetside only lasted about 3 or 4 weeks for my group of friends. There was no purpose to capturing locations once you had done it once or twice, it would just fall back to the other side. The game was broad but was too shallow, there was no purpose in the long run.

        Those first weeks we some of the best times I’ve had in an MMO but there was nothing to keep players around.

    • 03/05/2012 at 20:02 MikoSquiz says:

      I don’t have a meh big enough here. I’m going to have to order one bespoke.

  7. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 Grundig says:

    I feel every single emotion at once!

  8. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 Ninja Foodstuff says:

    This seems like a great contender for RPS comments bingo:
    [ ] Bethesda should just fix bugs, not make new stuff
    [x] Bethesda is abandoning its fans
    [ ] DRM sucks
    [ ] Pirates suck
    [x] Arrow to the knee
    [x] It will be like WOW
    [x] This is the end of gaming
    [x] Skyrim was crap

  9. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 jellydonut says:

    I don’t even know what to feel.

    I remember getting excited about the SWTOR announcement, because it was Bioware, and I thought we’d get a Star Wars MMO with the production values, look and feel of a Mass Effect level.. and we get WoW with shining swords instead.

    I’m just going to lean back and watch. If they WoW-ify TES, I’ll never forgive them and never forget.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:43 Grygus says:

      TOR is flawed but calling it WoW is supremely lazy criticism. What does that even mean? It has a UI, there are mobs, and you use skills to kill them?

      • 03/05/2012 at 18:21 Adjudicator says:

        I don’t know, how about the fact that it’s 99% identical to WoW circa 2008, plus they added voiceovers to the quest lines?

        -identical UI
        -identical combat with GCDs
        -hell, half the class skills are lifted straight, there’s an amusing graphic out there
        http://imgur.com/Yc6so
        -Battlegrounds, I mean um “warzones”
        -3 difficulties of raid, with 2 raid sizes
        -daily quest hubs
        -Kill X/Collect X/Click X based leveling (even WoW has far more variety these days)

        And no, before you reach angrily for your keyboard, these features were not all de facto standard before WoW (yea, remember those daily hubs and instanced raids with multiple difficulties in EQ? How about those BGs?).They aren’t even all standard after WoW (see Eve, Darkfall, WAR). Hell, even LOTRO has way more differentiation than this game. This is pretty much the most blatant clone out of the high budget MMOs yet made.

      • 03/05/2012 at 18:21 Plivesey says:

        To be exact, it’s WoW from 5 years ago, but with less polish and atmosphere. The combat is the same, the way you get abilities is the same, the way you play is pretty much the same. The differences come in the SWToR lore and universe, and voice acted quests. I think that’s about it. Unfortunately it was outdated before it was even released.

        • 04/05/2012 at 01:31 Apolloin says:

          *shrug* My $15 per month disagrees with your assessment. I got my first character to level 50 last week and I launched straight into another awesome storyline with all the relish in the world.

          When I got to level cap in WoW I said “Is there anymore questing and storyline?” and they said “SPEC PROT! JOIN A RAID GUILD. RAID TILL YOUR FINGERS DROP OFF!”

          I unsubbed within the week.

          • 04/05/2012 at 07:42 thebigJ_A says:

            In other words, it’s got storylines and voice acting, like everybody said. Everything else is a wow clone.

            You’re paying monthly for the singleplayer bits of an mmo.

      • 03/05/2012 at 18:43 InternetBatman says:

        A huge difference I noticed in the trial was that characters are able and expected to fight 2-3 mobs at once, and that combat is slightly improved other ways. The mobs react more to your abilities, with things like explosions knocking them down. Similarly the cover system is pretty cool, and the melee abilities of ranged classes, like the trooper’s rifle butt are really physical and feel good. Flashpoints also have slightly more environmental combat.

        At several points in the game (at least from the trial), it feels like they said “We want to make WoW. What doesn’t work and how can we fix it?” Much as WoW did the same to Everquest. Although they failed in some ways, that doesn’t make their effort less genuine.

        • 03/05/2012 at 18:46 Brun says:

          There are so many things that WoW did right that SWTOR just failed horribly at. More than I can even count, really.

          • 03/05/2012 at 18:53 InternetBatman says:

            Like what, and does that include the most recent offerings of WoW? I’m certainly not saying you’re wrong, but the most substantive difference I felt was poor city design (I like Ogrimar), and areas that were too segmented (which WoW also falls prey to, but not nearly as much). I didn’t get very far though.

          • 03/05/2012 at 19:30 Brun says:

            That would depend on what you consider to be “recent offerings.” Mostly small convenience things that add up to cause huge headaches. The interface for many things (particularly the AH) is crappy. No buyback option for items purchased with tokens. No trading Bound items for eligible players for 2 hours.

            Little convenience things that WoW had been doing for several years already.

    • 03/05/2012 at 20:57 Phantoon says:

      I heard this would be on the Hero Engine, that same shoddy piece of shit Bioware used that keeps their game from having more than ten people in one area.

  10. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 Ultra-Humanite says:

    I have to go vomit.

  11. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 Jimbo says:

    This could be good or bad or it could be ok.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:31 Fanbuoy says:

      But what if it’s slightly, ever so slightly, above or below ok? Is that an automatic instaleap to good/bad?

      • 03/05/2012 at 20:58 Phantoon says:

        Considering the expectations that go along, yes.

        Also it’s going to have the bugs a Bethesda game always has, and it will not be easily forgiven like their other games as this is an MMO.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:54 ResonanceCascade says:

      I suspect it will either be bad, good, or mediocre. Certainly nothing in between any of those.

  12. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 Brun says:

    Dammit, no, not TES. TES is a single player game. Single. Player. Stop forcing multiplayer into my single player games. Stop it.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:24 Kaira- says:

      TES has been pretty much MMORPG without the other players. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to each person to decide.

      • 03/05/2012 at 17:26 Xari says:

        Pretty much this. I could understand the sentiment if it concerned Morrowind, which was just a jewel and one of the best RPG’s to ever exist imho, but the two titles after that have respectively just been further downhill. Skyrim has extremely dull combat and the hyped “radiant quest system” was little more than daily quests in a single-player setting. Only reason to play it was for the adventuring & exploring aspect.

        • 03/05/2012 at 17:39 Brun says:

          Personally I think the adventuring and exploring was enough to keep me playing, regardless of the mediocre quest system.

        • 03/05/2012 at 19:29 FataMorganaPseudonym says:

          Well, it’s certainly not going to be my game, because I have zero interest in playing an Elder Scrolls game with other people, and thus won’t be buying this.

        • 03/05/2012 at 21:56 ChromeBallz says:

          You’re saying Morrowind is one of the best RPG’s around but you’re dissing Skyrim because of dull combat?

          Morrowind’s combat was by far and away the weakest part of the game, being extremely dull and very rng focused. Skyrim’s combat is a MASSIVE step up.

          That, and Morrowind had a lot of other flaws people just seem to forget. Clunky UI, extremely skewed balance issues (far more so than Skyrim), flawed class system, horrible “dialogue” (Morrowind invented Wikipedia!). It’s still good, and i still have a special place for it in my heart – But Skyrim supplanted it in almost every single way.

          • 03/05/2012 at 22:02 pipman3000 says:

            no you see morrowind’s combat is deeper and more complex because it uses dice while skyrim is simple arcGAYde shit for babbies and consle-humping retarts who play too much halo while morrowind combat is made for an intelligent pc gaming grognards such as I

          • 03/05/2012 at 22:08 pipman3000 says:

            it’s like how fallout 3 had better dialog then new vegas because it rolled dice everytime you tried to persaude someone instead of f:nv stupid “you automagicially win because your speech is 20!!! yayy!!!” crap they implemented for console-playing babies who can’t quicksave like true gamers

          • 04/05/2012 at 04:09 jrodman says:

            pipman, by the end of your first comment here i thought you were doing a parody, but by the end of the second I thought you were perhaps a self parody. Can you clarify?

        • 04/05/2012 at 07:45 thebigJ_A says:

          [x] Morrowind was the last good TES game

          Bingo!

      • 03/05/2012 at 20:00 Struckd says:

        MMORPG – other players = RPG?

        i do agree a little tho…and completely agree with stop making single players games into multiplayer ones, for some its warranted, example being the diablo series….but TES, really? soon all the single players left will be indie games…-.-…and EA are taking that away as well!!!

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:34 Unaco says:

      I think I see your problem… You say “stop forcing multiplayer into my singleplayer games”. Firstly, it could probably be argued these aren’t ‘your’ games… they are Bethesda’s and Zenimax’s games. Secondly, they aren’t forcing multiplayer into a game… they’ve got a new studio set up, different devs, and it’ll be developed separately from Beths output. So, really, they’re making an entirely new game, that happens to be multiplayer/MMO.

      • 03/05/2012 at 18:03 Toberoth says:

        I find myself agreeing with Unaco. Brand loyalty is great and all, but it’s not “your” game and you’re not being made to play it.

      • 03/05/2012 at 19:30 FataMorganaPseudonym says:

        Well, it’s certainly not going to be my game, as I have zero interest in playing an Elder Scrolls game with other people. Thus, I won’t be spending money on this.

      • 03/05/2012 at 21:31 skalpadda says:

        On the other hand, how many Warcraft RTS games have you seen since WoW? It’s not completely irrational to be worried about the future of the series if you’re a fan of the single player games.

        • 03/05/2012 at 21:52 ChromeBallz says:

          The same people who made WC3 made WoW, hence you’re not seeing a new RTS version. Yet.

          Blizzard also has Starcraft 2 to worry about, which is arguably far more important because of the massive Korean influence, another reason why there’s no WC4.

          On the other hand, Bethesda Softworks, the people who made the singleplayer TES games, are still making them.

          The people making TES Online are a completely different studio, Zenimax Online.

          Unless Zenimax is going to fire everyone at Bethesda Softworks, i wouldn’t worry about the future of the singleplayer games.

          Also, why is everyone at RPS hating on Skyrim so much?

  13. 03/05/2012 at 17:16 simoroth says:

    Why. Why couldn’t they just make a co-op mode in their next game.

    Elder Scrolls does not need to become an MMO. This sounds like a purely business led decision.

  14. 03/05/2012 at 17:17 Alliance says:

    My life is over.

  15. 03/05/2012 at 17:17 Kollega says:

    I wonder if “player-driven” here actually stands for “player-driven”. If yes, that game might actually turn out interesting.

    • 03/05/2012 at 19:00 dontnormally says:

      I am so hoping that it will be like Planetside with swords and magic that I am posting a third reply along those lines.

      • 04/05/2012 at 06:40 jamesgecko says:

        Whippersnapper. In my first MUD, the government was player driven. A player was elected governor of the capital city, and they had a cabinet, and they made decisions. Or so a guild representative I met told me. To learn skills, you had to join a trade guild which was run by players who kept supplies stocked and an eye pealed for rivals from other guilds who might try to infiltrate in order to learn our secrets and steal resources.

        If I can’t barge into the capital building and get thrown out by guards as I yell obscenities about the political views of our fearless leader, it’s probably not player driven enough.

  16. 03/05/2012 at 17:17 Arglebargle says:

    Well that’s going to open an interesting kettle of fish….

  17. 03/05/2012 at 17:17 CaspianRoach says:

    goodbye, an awesome rpg franchise; hello, generic shitty pointless clone mmo

    • 04/05/2012 at 07:49 thebigJ_A says:

      Psst: Bethesda isn’t making this, they’re still making sp TES games. Maybe you heard, there’s even a Skyrim Expansion on the way. Somebody else is making this, so just chill.

  18. 03/05/2012 at 17:17 Vinraith says:

    It’s a real shame to see Bethesda wasting time and talent on an MMO. On the up side, I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, and a ton of mods left to play, for their previous games so I suppose it’s not that big a deal if the next single player title is delayed for awhile.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:36 Unaco says:

      Bethesda aren’t making it. It’s being made by a new studio under Zenimax, using the TES world/lore. So there should be no/little impact on Bethesda’s output.

      • 03/05/2012 at 17:49 Grygus says:

        That is good news. Where did you get it?

        • 03/05/2012 at 17:58 Unaco says:

          From the article itself, 2nd paragraph…

          “Developed by the team at Zenimax Online Studios”.

          Also, PCGamer article on it…

          “It’s being made by Zenimax Online Studios, the studio founded by Bethesda’s parent company to develop massively multiplayer games.”

          • 03/05/2012 at 18:04 wengart says:

            I’m not particularly worried about who is making it. Only that the money is going to come for Bethesda, and I’ve heard too many tales of developers shutting down while trying to make an MMO.

          • 04/05/2012 at 07:52 thebigJ_A says:

            Why on earth would the money come from Bethesda when it’s not Bethesda making it?

            Bethesda’s Zenimax’s cash cow, they’re also publishing other dev’s games themselves. I don’t think you need to worry about cashflow problems for them stemming from this.

  19. 03/05/2012 at 17:18 Fiwer says:

    Open-world Warfare and player-driven PVP: yes please

    Province of crocodiil: no thanks

  20. 03/05/2012 at 17:18 aliksy says:

    Ugh. Another MMO?

    So many things can go wrong with this. Will it be another derivative trash mmo? Will it crash as much as bethesda’s other games? Will the stat system be as convoluted/ridiculous as the other games in the series?

    On the other hand, Skyrim’s NPC interaction was about on par with your typical MMO.

  21. 03/05/2012 at 17:18 Rusty says:

    Yawn. I’m an Elder Scrolls fan – if not exactly a fanboy – and an MMO is exactly what I don’t want from Elder Scrolls. I mean, good luck to Zenimax, but I think that there’s less leverage there than they think.

  22. 03/05/2012 at 17:18 SAeN says:

    Meh, at least it has the crap combat which is a staple of mmo’s.

  23. 03/05/2012 at 17:18 Paul says:

    It is done by completely different studio than TES games.

    I could not care less about this game, honestly.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:20 Brun says:

      I hope that’s enough to keep this game from destroying the franchise.

      • 03/05/2012 at 17:49 McCool says:

        To you and everyone talking about the “franchise”, please stop not getting it. Franchise talk is nonsense that only makes sense out of suit’s mouth (they are lieing at the time). It has no effect on reality. Were Morrowind and Daggerfall great because of the Elder Scrolls Franchise? Did the Franchise established with Oblivion make Skyrim the game it could’ve been?

        There is no such thing as a “franchise”. Only in the dreams of the board of directors in chocolate bar companies who put Olympic Rings on their products thinking it means something. Wash the word from your lips.

        This is an MMO that may or may not have some of the writers behind TES involved. If it does, we should be interested, if not, it is just marketing on top of ..a game we know nothing about.

        • 03/05/2012 at 17:54 Grygus says:

          This is all true in a world with no such thing as funding. In this one though, having an established and valuable IP (which is what people are talking about when they use the word, “franchise,”) you get more investment money. Assuming the talent was ever in place to make a good game, and assuming competent management, more money will increase the chances of getting a good game launched. It’s not a guarantee because there are no guarantees, but it’s generally a good thing, and certainly better than the alternative, which is what you get when you “ruin a franchise,” also known as devaluing the IP. For reference, check out Master of Orion 4.

          • 03/05/2012 at 18:46 McCool says:

            Again, do you think a “franchise” is what made Skyrim better than Oblivion? And was anything to do with why Morrowind topped them both, as did Daggerfall? I suppose Dragon Age 2 benefited from the franchise of the first? Franchises mean nothing, the evidence does not support the Franchise = Better quality game argument. If anything, long franchises have a tendency to stagnate design, as developers are not allowed to change anything about the core game, and just end up rehashing and rehashing again. For companies as big as Bethesda, money stopped being an issue a long time ago. Design choices accounted for the differences between Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, and changes or personnel. That really is the whole story.

          • 03/05/2012 at 21:03 Brun says:

            You still don’t get what we’re saying when we say “franchise.”

            You’re focusing on the fact that the games in the franchise were all different from each other, while we’re worried more about the MMO release destroying more of the good things that are common to all TES games (hence the “franchise” term).

        • 03/05/2012 at 17:57 Brun says:

          By franchise I mean The Elder Scrolls. Series, set of games, call it whatever you want.

  24. 03/05/2012 at 17:19 Alliance says:

    oh, and when ever I log in to RPS, which isn’t often and I click the little “remember me” button (that never does), this is what I hear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0JO6LHzqeo

  25. 03/05/2012 at 17:19 ScubaMonster says:

    IF it would basically be Elder Scrolls with multiplayer I think it would be awesome. However, I have a really sinking suspicion it’s going to end up being pretty much like any other mmo. If they abandon first person for third person that will be even worse.

  26. 03/05/2012 at 17:20 wuwul says:

    Now with a full 3 factions for the price of 2!

    Elder Scrolls Online delivers unprecedented value.

  27. 03/05/2012 at 17:20 SeanybabeS says:

    I think Notch announced this a while ago.

    http://scrolls.com/

  28. 03/05/2012 at 17:21 briktal says:

    I hope TESO has nice shirts/hoodies for my cousin to wear to family gatherings.

  29. 03/05/2012 at 17:21 Lanfranc says:

    Um. Okay, then. :-|

    Not sure they’re really playing to their core strengths here…

  30. 03/05/2012 at 17:21 Freud says:

    Fantasy MMORPG. It’s crazy enough of an idea that it might just work.

  31. 03/05/2012 at 17:21 sephiroth says:

    late to the good ship MMO I feel.

    MMOs are either about to be reinvented or about to die
    I hope in some ways that this will be the reinvention but I really cant see it happening, besides if I can get 2 years out of a TES game for £30 why will I want to pay £30+ and £10+ a month to put up with asshats in a TES game?

  32. 03/05/2012 at 17:21 Zanchito says:

    Not interested. Also, worried this will impact future TES games negatively.

  33. 03/05/2012 at 17:23 Emeraude says:

    The real question being, will they allow modding so that the community can salvage their product (I dare not say game), as happens for their solo offerings?

    (Only half-kidding too.)

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:40 Highstorm says:

      Modding an MMO? Beyond the WoW model of interface addons/modifications, I wouldn’t expect much is even possible.

      Though with a TES game, the interface is the #1 thing in need of modding anyhow.

  34. 03/05/2012 at 17:24 Nim says:

    I blame economists.

  35. 03/05/2012 at 17:26 daq says:

    Gonna be rubbish.

  36. 03/05/2012 at 17:27 Saleck says:

    Must remember what sun looks like before I forget about it from playing this too much…
    If its good.
    You guys best hold onto your wallets… just sayin’. X)

  37. 03/05/2012 at 17:27 Sic says:

    This is horrible.

    This turd will drag the IP down into the dirt to the point that the original team will have to fight the suits to get a proper budget for the next actual instalment of TES.

    Bah!

  38. 03/05/2012 at 17:28 TormDK says:

    Good bye elder scrolls – it was fun while it lasted!

  39. 03/05/2012 at 17:28 Shooop says:

    Oh for fuck’s sake. Is it that hard for them to write interesting characters and stories today?

    EDIT: It’s not Bethesda, but their parent company that’s making this. So it’s very likely this is just a quick cash-in on the Elder Scrolls name brand. All the cool kids are doing it!

  40. 03/05/2012 at 17:28 Blaaaaaaag says:

    Who is this game for? It seems all you folks that have played TES are put off by the idea. I’ve never played any game in the series, and I’m not gonna start with this one. Who actually wants this?

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:38 Brun says:

      Nobody really. But what we want doesn’t matter. It’s what the suits THINK we want that matters. Someone high up in Zenimax probably followed this train of thought:

      1) The Elder Scrolls is a hugely popular franchise with a loyal fanbase.
      2) WoW made ungodly amounts of money for Blizzard.
      3) Since #2 is true, all MMOs must be insanely profitable.
      4) Therefore, we should exploit our popular IP to make an MMO that will make us ungodly amounts of money.

      • 03/05/2012 at 17:42 Highstorm says:

        I think there’s always been a fairly vocal cry for multiplayer in TES games, but I’m not sure any of them wanted that to be in the form of an MMO. I know I certainly didn’t.

        • 03/05/2012 at 17:54 Brun says:

          I think there’s always been a fairly vocal cry for multiplayer in TES games

          A cry that should be ignored wholesale. So far, Bethesda at least has stood up to ZeniMax and said “Here’s the line: TES are single-player games.” I’m still kind of astonished that ZeniMax didn’t force Bethesda into including some kind of cheap tacked-on multiplayer to cut down on used game churn on the Xbox. I guess they managed to convince the suits that since it’s not a linearly scripted corridor game, most people wouldn’t blow through it in 10 hours and trade it in.

          • 03/05/2012 at 18:21 Highstorm says:

            Why should a feature that a portion of your fans ask for be ignored wholesale? Just because some of your other fans don’t want it? So you listen to one group, but not the other – how is that decided? Plus the kind of multiplayer that I (and what I assume – without proof of any sort – that most who want it) would like to see, would be an added feature of simply allowing people to adventure in the same “singleplayer” world as you. Instead of an AI follower with no personality, you get a friend or six to share your adventures with. The game could still be played in all its normal, singleplayer glory. Everyone wins.

            Bethesda have stood by TES being single-player, but Todd Howard recently recognized and commented on the desire for multiplayer, saying:

            ““We always look into multiplayer, put lots of ideas on the whiteboard, and it always loses… It’s not that we don’t like it. I can think of ways it would be a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, that dev time is going to take away from doing the best single player game we can, and that’s where our hearts are.”

            and:

            “The two most requested features we get are dragons and multiplayer.”

            Source: http://www.vg247.com/2011/04/01/howard-bethesdas-heart-is-with-single-player/

            I’d never say to up and outright cave to fan pressure on something, but to completely dismiss it without a shred of consideration is just plain silly.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:52 Nim says:

      The sheep that controls the money flow.

  41. 03/05/2012 at 17:28 Reefpirate says:

    I love me some good ol’ PvP, and it’s nice that it seems to be a focus for this MMO, considering PvP isn’t usually discussed much with MMOs… However, The Elder Scrolls games have to this point been so horribly balanced even for a single player character, with their jack-of-all trades bland character systems and ‘let’s run and jump like morons to work on Acrobatics’ mechanics.

    The DAoC devs being involved is really encouraging, I just hope they discard most of the Elder Scrolls balance decisions if they want to have a cool PvP game.

  42. 03/05/2012 at 17:29 Hmm-Hmm. says:

    1) I hope they will continue making single player games of the Elder Scrolls variety.

    2) Well, I can say I am doubtful, but what I hope is that they’ll go for great, responsive gameplay and without all the annoyances a lot of MMOs bring. And for their own vision of what an MMO can be as opposed to copy-pasting.

    I guess we’ll see, won’t we?

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:35 The Greatness says:

      Yay! A vaguely positive comment at last. Come on guys, don’t dismiss it immediately just because it’s your favourite game series changed a little. It could work.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:52 Unaco says:

      In regards to 1), I don’t think there’s much fear of us losing out on the Singleplayer, ‘standard’ TES games. This ISN’T being developed by Bethesda. They’ve set up a new studio (Zenimax Online or similar) to handle development. And that’s been a thing for a while now. Bethesda themselves will still be working on whatever they were going to be working on anyway, and I’d reckon there’d be minimal disruption to their output.

  43. 03/05/2012 at 17:29 Emeraude says:

    I fail to understand this strategy really. The whole shtick of TES games is that they are solo-player MMO-wide explora

  44. 03/05/2012 at 17:30 CaLe says:

    A fantasy MMO? What a novel idea.

  45. 03/05/2012 at 17:31 Emeraude says:

    I fail to understand this strategy really. The whole shtick of TES games is that they are solo-player MMO-wide exploration games with RPG elements. They occupy a niche in which they thrive not so much because of the quality of product but because of the absence of competition.

    Why, then, choose to jump on such a hyper competitive and saturated market such as MMOs ?

  46. 03/05/2012 at 17:31 magnus says:

    Like, woopie (facepalm) , another MMO? Is it just me or am I the only person who dreads anything to do with that concept?

    • 03/05/2012 at 22:25 Skabooga says:

      These are comments taken from this article:

      —————————
      Tom De Roeck says:
      eghhh
      rocketman71 says:
      Same here. Although I could say the same about every new MMO.
      MikoSquiz says:
      I don’t have a meh big enough here. I’m going to have to order one bespoke.
      Ultra-Humanite says:
      I have to go vomit.
      aliksy says:
      Best response.
      gekitsu says:
      lets share the cab to the vomitorium?
      CaspianRoach says:
      goodbye, an awesome rpg franchise; hello, generic shitty pointless clone mmo
      Vinraith says:
      It’s a real shame to see Bethesda wasting time and talent on an MMO
      aliksy says:
      Ugh. Another MMO?
      Paul says:
      It is done by completely different studio than TES games.
      I could not care less about this game, honestly.
      daq says:
      Gonna be rubbish.
      Sic says:
      This is horrible.
      TormDK says:
      Good bye elder scrolls – it was fun while it lasted!
      derbefrier says:
      well i have always wanted a TES game with some co-op but an MMO? Dont know if want……
      Lets just hope its not another themepark MMO.
      CorruptBadger says:
      So, they’ve took the elder scrolls name, but not the gameplay. The fun of TES was building your character, exploring the world and just adventuring. If this is some PvP orientated MMO it will suck.
      The Sombrero Kid says:
      This is going to suck.
      rustybroomhandle says:
      Blergh… count me out.
      xenothaulus says:
      I am fine with an online Elder Scrolls game. I am very very Not fine with pvp garbage being shoved into it. Keep mouthbreathing warmongers in their own games, not in my epic adventuring, thanks.
      Kinth says:
      You mean like every other MMO ever? :P
      Palindrome says:
      There is even a chance that it won’t be a souless WoW clone, even if it is depressingly small.
      Kinth says:
      WHYYYYYYY!?!! , why does everything have to be an f’ing MMO these days. Suviaquarium was bad enough.
      Wizardry says:
      This is like Ultima Online all over again.
      Vegard Pompey says:
      My body is ready……to hate the shit out of this.
      deadly.by.design says:
      Officially, “ugh.”
      Navagon says:
      With any luck it will crash and burn horribly.
      ————————————

      So it’s probably not just you.

  47. 03/05/2012 at 17:32 Innovacious says:

    I don’t know… I don’t have high hopes. If its free to play ill pick it up for exploration at the very least… All i can think of right now is “eh”.

  48. 03/05/2012 at 17:33 Was Neurotic says:

    I wonder how it will fit into the lore? Possibly they’ll set it ‘ago’.

  49. 03/05/2012 at 17:33 stepat123 says:

    The hell are you guys saying? It’s being made by a totally seperate studio, Bethesda is still doing the single player games. No ones forcing multiplayer into the main franchise

  50. 03/05/2012 at 17:33 identiti_crisis says:

    So, that ouroboros thingy has a Lion, a Dragon and a Gryphon. Am they the three factions, then?

    Any ideas who they might be? Dragon = Dovahkiiiiin? Lion = Empire? Gryphon…?
    I’m not up to snuff on the lore these days.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:37 Hoaxfish says:

      maybe it’s just an eagle… don’t really know anything about the lore at all

      • 03/05/2012 at 17:51 Fanbuoy says:

        I sincerely hope that they don’t just go for the humans vs. elves vs. miscellaneous (i.e. Khajiit and Argonians).

        • 03/05/2012 at 20:01 Apples says:

          Khajiit are ‘elves’, but if they forgot that for the MMO (like they continually forget that Khajiit have multiple forms according to moon phases) I would not be surprised.

          • 03/05/2012 at 21:51 Greggh says:

            I don’t think the developers have ever forgotten about the different forms the Khajiit can take on birth (e.g. there are several mentions in-game about different “uses” for the more savage kinds of Khajiit, etc.).

            They just usually choose one type of Khajiit to be the predominant kind in a determined game setting (e.g. the Sutay-raht in Morrowind was different from the Khajiit in Arena, which I don’t remember what form was).

            Khajiiti forms would probably play a greater role if a game took place in Elsweyr… but that would be kinda lame IMHO, Cyrodiil seems to have so much more historical background.

    • 03/05/2012 at 17:44 Brun says:

      Akatosh (Dragon) is the symbol of the Cyrodiilic Empire, so the Lion is not for the Empire, the Dragon is.

      • 03/05/2012 at 18:46 identiti_crisis says:

        Ah, of course. Although Akatosh is a shared God with the various elves, but of course the Empireites stole his essence or something at some point in the past.
        And yes, it could just be an eagle – Skyrim? They had severe dealings with Cyril in the past.

        I had wild fantasies that a TES MMO would be entirely new, based on that crazy Akavir place or something. Also, what surleywombat says below.

    • 03/05/2012 at 21:38 Fiatil says:

      The game is apparently set 1000 years before Skyrim in another Daedric crisis, which means no Dovahkiiiin faction and the current main series TES 1-5 lore wont be messed up by this like Warcraft’s was destroyed by WoW. DAoC was also the best MMO ever, so if the old lead dev is working on this and promising 3 way giant PvP battles I’m at least a little bit excited.

    • 04/05/2012 at 00:13 sasayan says:

      Like was mentioned above the Dragon is probably the Empire (Though it could be the Akaviri). In Oblivion and Skyrim the elven weapons and armour have an avian motif going on, so the Eagle might be referring to the elves. Don’t know about the Lion though, other than the Khajiit. (There’s a race of tiger-men in the east, but they’ve never brought over any races from the eastern continent, so that seems unlikely.)

  51. 03/05/2012 at 17:34 derbefrier says:

    well i have always wanted a TES game with some co-op but an MMO? Dont know if want……
    Lets just hope its not another themepark MMO.

  52. 03/05/2012 at 17:34 elfbarf says:

    Oh god, it’s going to be using HeroEngine (the same engine used for SWTOR).

    http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/79299-ZeniMax-Licenses-HeroEngine-for-Upcoming-MMOG

  53. 03/05/2012 at 17:37 Surlywombat says:

    There is room for this game, but it needs to be given lots of room as far as lore goes.

    If they put it back when the Ayleid ruled during the war with Alessia or possibly with the Tsaesci/Akavir conflict during the first era.

    Hopefully they don’t move forward from Skyrim, leave that to the SP team.

  54. 03/05/2012 at 17:37 Joshua IX says:

    Well there goes any chance of another single player TES :/

    They were fun too…

    • 03/05/2012 at 18:08 Jason Moyer says:

      What will Bethesda be doing then if they’re not making new singleplayer ES or FO games? Are they just going to fire everyone?

  55. 03/05/2012 at 17:39 Hoaxfish says:

    three player factions

    well, that certainly produces a better population “spread” than WoW’s 2 sided imbalance, but it just seems at odds with “player driven” to not let players decide how they want to organise themselves.

  56. 03/05/2012 at 17:39 magnus says:

    If they fall in love with the MMO buisness model and decide to make TES-VI MMO only, it’s not like they’re going to be able to cite piracy as an excuse are they!

  57. 03/05/2012 at 17:40 Thoric says:

    DAoC 2: TES Edition?

    I dig.

  58. 03/05/2012 at 17:42 CorruptBadger says:

    So, they’ve took the elder scrolls name, but not the gameplay. The fun of TES was building your character, exploring the world and just adventuring. If this is some PvP orientated MMO it will suck.

  59. 03/05/2012 at 17:44 dangermouse76 says:

    I would like it in first person and with Skyrim style combat…… but not as clunky and shite as Skyrim. Thank you for your compliance.

    Or like that War of the Roses what I is seeing about at the mo.

  60. 03/05/2012 at 17:44 The Sombrero Kid says:

    This is going to suck.

  62. 03/05/2012 at 17:44 StickyNavels says:

    Aww, shucks.

  63. 03/05/2012 at 17:51 rustybroomhandle says:

    Blergh… count me out.

  64. 03/05/2012 at 17:51 xenothaulus says:

    I am fine with an online Elder Scrolls game. I am very very Not fine with pvp garbage being shoved into it. Keep mouthbreathing warmongers in their own games, not in my epic adventuring, thanks.

  65. 03/05/2012 at 17:56 InternetBatman says:

    I doubt that they can honestly make it work. The big draw of the Elder scrolls is the ability to do anything, not its story or combat. I doubt they can replicate that with a bunch of people at once.

  66. 03/05/2012 at 17:58 pipman3000 says:

    on one hand i’ve always wanted to play an elder scrolls mmorpg, but on the other hand i don’t want to have to play it with elder scrolls fans :(

    they wouldn’t even play the game they’d spend all day at the starting area buying totally kawaii cloths for their anime-haired stripper character and cyber-whoring themselves out to furries

    • 03/05/2012 at 18:13 Kinth says:

      You mean like every other MMO ever? :P

      Go to the WoW moonguard server and go to goldshire at midnight. It is the weirdest most disturbing thing you will ever see.

  67. 03/05/2012 at 18:05 byteCrunch says:

    Elder Scrolls, one of very few series that actually manages to have worse combat than most MMOs.

  68. 03/05/2012 at 18:06 Dariune says:

    To me this is the worst news i have heard since i read that EA took over Bioware. And look how that ended up.

    Goodbye Tamriel, you will be missed (But not as missed as if you had made Oblivion and SKyrim into better games)

    • 03/05/2012 at 18:15 Shooop says:

      There is some good news – it’s not Bethesda making this disaster waiting to happen. It’s a separate company their parent company owns. So if/when it bombs it shouldn’t have any negative effect on the actual Elder Scrolls series.

      Now if it succeeds…

      • 03/05/2012 at 18:17 Brun says:

        It’s only good news up to a point. Developing MMOs is phenomenally expensive and if this is going to suck funding away from Bethesda (and the single-player TES and Fallout games) it’s still bad news.

        • 03/05/2012 at 20:00 Shooop says:

          I’m beginning to think Bethesda would benefit from having a few of their resources cut, because it’s their ambition that’s getting them into trouble.

          They set their sights impossibly high for a game, fail to reach it and then have to rush what they have to their publisher section. Perhaps with some limitations set they’d deliver a more fully realized game instead of one that’s still good but wanted to be so much more.

  69. 03/05/2012 at 18:08 Palindrome says:

    The only good thing about this announcement is that the lead used to work on DAoC, which had probably the best PvP I have yet played in an MMO. Thats the only little sparkle that I can see in an underwhelming announcement.

    There is even a chance that it won’t be a souless WoW clone, even if it is depressingly small.

  70. 03/05/2012 at 18:09 DestructibleEnvironments says:

    If it’s free to play, then I MIGHT touch this. If not, forgeddit aboot it, mayun.

  71. 03/05/2012 at 18:11 Jason Moyer says:

    a.) This has absolutely nothing to do with the studio that makes the ES and FO games.

    b.) Anyone who uses the terms IP or franchise and isn’t a corporate executive or a lawyer sounds like a tool. Actually, scratch those 2 exceptions.

    • 03/05/2012 at 18:59 ResonanceCascade says:

      I too consider people who use correct terms I don’t like for unknown reasons to be stupid. Certainly not the people who are actually annoyed by such inconsequential things. Not them.

      • 04/05/2012 at 04:31 jrodman says:

        Such terms are not accurately described as “correct”. They represent a way of looking at the world.

        When you describe a game series as a “franchise” you are describing it as a profit making engine. Something that can be duplicated and packaged. That’s where the term comes from.

        When you describe a game setting as “IP”, you are firstly being very unclear. What is IP supposed to mean? Intellectual property? It’s a patent? Oh a trade secret? So given that the term is being used to mean something it doesn’t clearly mean you can tell it’s corporate speak.

        Beyond that, you’re saying “intellectual property” instead of “setting”. You’re talking about it as an item that can be tallied up as an asset on a balance sheet, bought or sold. If you can’t see how this is a different worldview from someone who might be wanting get lost in a story and a background, then you’re not looking very hard.

        Now you may still feel that these are useful terms to use to communicate among those who understand them, and that it’s a distraction to complain about their nuance, but to suggest they have no nuance is simply dim-sighted.

  72. 03/05/2012 at 18:11 Kinth says:

    WHYYYYYYY!?!! , why does everything have to be an f’ing MMO these days. Suviaquarium was bad enough.

    No Kotor 3 because they decided to make it into a crap MMO.
    No real stalker 2 successor because they want to make an MMO.

    We have Tera coming out , GW2 coming out and The Secret World coming out, the only one of these that stands a chance is GW2.

    Now we are getting a TES MMO but at what cost BUT AT WHAT COST!!!!! Put the time into a big Skyrim expansion like the good old days or give me a fallout 4 in that shiny new engine I didn’t even like fallout 3 that much(the environments were a little to drab for me) Anything but another f’ing MMO.

    Soon their will be an MMO where you make another bloody MMO.

    It seems they all look at WoW and think “ooooh there is money to be had there!!!” then don’t actually go and research the genre and see that 80-90% of MMO’s fall flat on their face and the ones that garner even a little success soon fall by the way side.

  73. 03/05/2012 at 18:25 Beelzebud says:

    Bethesda ran a profitable shop.

    Until they took an MMO to the knee.

  74. 03/05/2012 at 18:25 Wizardry says:

    This is like Ultima Online all over again.

  75. 03/05/2012 at 18:30 Sinnorfin says:

    that means it is 80 percent it will also go ‘anime’ish in style : /
    (and i dont care how one should call it correctly, you know what i mean, and i know that i dont like it )..

  76. 03/05/2012 at 18:44 Davee says:

    Oh come on people, you knew this was going to happen.

    I for one am happy that they seem to be going for a less run-of-the-mill classic theme-park MMO approach. I wouldn’t mind a TES-themed open world, PVP-centric sandbox MMO. But I guess time will tell if that’s what we’ll get or not.

  77. 03/05/2012 at 18:45 irongamer says:

    I was excited at first but…. Boooooooo hissssss! This is not the Elder Scrolls experience and should not be the focus of an online TES game.

    “player-driven PvP conflict that pits the three player factions against each other in open-world warfare over the province of Cyrodiil.”

    *lost all interest*

  78. 03/05/2012 at 18:55 Vegard Pompey says:

    My body is ready…

    …to hate the shit out of this.

  79. 03/05/2012 at 19:06 Mordsung says:

    Could be good, but I have a feeling it won’t have features like permadeath or full loot that would make it REALLY good.

    The unfortunate side effect of the increase in MMO popularity is that the genre has become soft.

  80. 03/05/2012 at 19:22 Jupiah says:

    On the one hand: An Elder Scrolls MMO actually sounds kind of awesome.

    On the other hand: An Elder Scrolls game without modding? Blasphemy!

  81. 03/05/2012 at 19:35 deadly.by.design says:

    Officially, “ugh.”

  82. 03/05/2012 at 19:58 Navagon says:

    With any luck it will crash and burn horribly.

  83. 03/05/2012 at 20:07 Apples says:

    Well this makes perfect sense! Combat was always the strong point of the TES series, Cyrodiil was clearly the stand-out location with many interesting and varied landmarks, I’m sure this will cater to the strong modding community, and of course we all remember the iconic lion and eagle creatures present throughout the games.

    WAIT A MINUTE NO. NONE OF THAT.

  84. 03/05/2012 at 20:41 Sidewinder says:

    Come on, people. This isn’t guaranteed to suck. TES multiplayer can work- remember Battlespire? Sure, it was a horribly buggy, glitchy hack and slash mess, but that was coming on the heels of Daggerfall, which was buggy glitchiness incarnate (and a wonderful game despite that).

    Besides- even if this does end up screwing up the main series- look at Skyrim. Is that really the direction you want the IP to be headed?

  85. 03/05/2012 at 21:12 Max.I.Candy says:

    Oh well doesnt bother me,last good TES game was Morrowind, the next good one will probably be from a Kickstarter project.

  86. 03/05/2012 at 21:16 Ministry says:

    Every time i hear of a new MMO or “Co-opt shooter” game i find myself becoming less interested in gaming. It scares me that some day 90% of the games released might be multiplayer based games.

  87. 03/05/2012 at 21:17 felisc says:

    what ? 4 pages of comment on this ?
    ok time to change subject : how do you feel about ducks ?
    i’m torn between “a bit funny” and “stupid and delicious”. thoughts ?

  88. 03/05/2012 at 21:46 Trinnet says:

    I like both The Elder Scrolls and MMOs, I must be as close as it’s possible to get to their target demographic, and I’m horrified that they’re making this game.

  89. 03/05/2012 at 21:47 Joof says:

    I’m not buying this if it requires an always on internet connection.

  90. 03/05/2012 at 21:54 mbp says:

    Bethseda are congentially unable to balance any aspect of their games but because they make such magnificent single player experiences we forgive them for it. A multi-player community is not going to be so forgiving.

  91. 03/05/2012 at 22:10 fish99 says:

    I won’t be playing this, but as long as it doesn’t impact Bethesda Game Studios making their single player RPGs there’s no reason to get mad about it, or even care in the slightest about it’s existance.

    I played the TERA beta a few weeks ago for about an hour. It was a nice reminder of why I don’t play MMOs.

  92. 03/05/2012 at 22:59 seniorgato says:

    All I know is that my gut says maybe.

  93. 03/05/2012 at 23:15 Fiyenyaa says:

    I think the one thing that they should be able to do well is convey some meaningful sense of scale.
    I liked Oblivion and Skyrim, but when you have capital cities with populations that are comfortably under a hundred, you are making things just a little too abstract for me.
    I want to see a truly huge Imperial City from this.

  94. 03/05/2012 at 23:32 ShineyBlueShoes says:

    Cyrodiil? Oblivion was fun but can anyone really argue that of all the places in the Elder Scrolls world that it’s not by far the most bland and generic? I hope it will be good but the setting alone is probably a good indication of the direction they’re planning to go and how different they’re going to be from the norm.

  95. 03/05/2012 at 23:36 Suits says:

    bleh, this wont be good

  96. 03/05/2012 at 23:58 newprince says:

    I’ve been burned too many times by former DoaC devs (ESPECIALLY MYTHIC) to get excited about this. DoaC was my favorite MMO ever, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

  97. 04/05/2012 at 00:16 tehsorrow says:

    This is awful. I can’t believe they are so blind to whats going to happen here. How many failed MMOs a year is it going to take to get them to drop this fad? I imagine they’re thinking ‘but it’s the elder scrolls, we’re huge’ but Star Wars a fandom roughly a millon times larger than the Elder Scrolls and surprise, surprise TOR isn’t exactly setting the world alight. All they did was murder the lore of the Old Republic and for what, moderate reception?

    When are they going to open their eyes and see “oh hey, MMOs don’t actually pan out very well” rather than going “but my one will be different”

    it is encouraging that it looks like Bethesda’s teams are staying away so we’ll probably continue to get real Elder Scrolls games.

  98. 04/05/2012 at 00:21 Kaiji says:

    This will suck hard, but watching overhyped, overbudgeted MMOs fail has become something of a spectator sport for me so I’ll enjoy it without even having to buy it.

  99. 04/05/2012 at 00:28 pakoito says:

    Even the most flopped f2p MMOs are still profitable. It doesn’t matter how long or how good the game does, it is more than probably going to be profitable so don’t you worry.

    That said, MMOs do not cater the same audience anymore. We have been online enough time to know that a second life in another world is not desirable anymore. Now, throw in some competitive non-grindy stuff and we may talk.

  100. 04/05/2012 at 01:21 Geen says:

    Shoot me. Please.

  101. 04/05/2012 at 03:31 Adjudicator says:

    Details are out. It’s a WoW clone. On the Hero Engine.

    Can’t say I feel bad for these idiots.

  102. 04/05/2012 at 05:47 pilouuuu says:

    Oh, stop with this online crap already! We want single-player games. SINGLE player!

  103. 04/05/2012 at 06:03 Strangerator says:

    Headline: New Elder Scrolls game boasts zero level scaling, balanced level-up system with twice the amount of skill choices, dynamic class system that combines….

    Huh?…

    TES MMORPG??

    (Goes back to sleep)

  104. 04/05/2012 at 06:28 sathanas says:

    I’ll wait to see what gameplay looks like before I write it off as a complete failure.

  105. 04/05/2012 at 07:33 Secundus says:

    -”This time, saving the world from the awakening of ancient evil is only the beginning. What happens when hundreds or thousands of prophesied heroes all think that they should be Emperor?” lol
    -Third person perspective
    -Visually it looks like other Hero Engine MMOs like SWTOR
    -The general art style is kind of like RIFT or Everquest 2
    -The combat model will not be real time due to latency

    rest in peace bethesda

  106. 04/05/2012 at 07:42 lowprices says:

    It’s good to see that people are taking the news of the creation of a videogame that may not be to their tastes with calm dignity, and not throwing their toys out of their pram and bellowing “RUINED FOREVER” like children who have been told they can’t have another sweet today.

  107. 04/05/2012 at 11:00 rustybroomhandle says:

    It is ruined forever. Much like everything else where the importance of the thing itself takes a back seat to how much money can be made from the thing. This, sadly is how it is with most media products. Nothing sacred. Bill Watterson has it right.

  108. 04/05/2012 at 11:05 rustybroomhandle says:

    Not content with the negative reaction to the Horse Armor DLC, Zenimax is now going to give us horse shit.

  109. 04/05/2012 at 11:32 fish99 says:

    MMO = dating for losers

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