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Bethesda Announces Elder Scrolls MMO
An anonymous reader writes "Today Bethesda announced that their popular Elder Scrolls series of video games will be getting its own MMORPG. It's planned for 2013, and will be available for PCs and Macs. 'Players will discover an entirely new chapter of Elder Scrolls history in this ambitious world, set a millennium before the events of Skyrim as the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm. "It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years," said game director and MMO veteran Matt Firor, whose previous work includes Mythic's well-received Dark Age of Camelot. "The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise."'
that an arrow to the knee doesn't kill this.
It will only be widely accepted if it includes pandas!
Established IP + $$$ = $$$?
I simply cannot wait to be ganked in the middle of a quest by a 13-year old named XxFusRohDahxX1999
MY STUPID SATELLITE INTERNET. Lag time>500ms = I don't get to play these games. God Damned Stupid Laws of Physics. When I grow up, I'm changing those things.
ffs bethesda, i don't have time for this...
-SaNo
TFA has a nice summary, a few promotional pictures of the new logo...then a big picture of Spiderman fighting a lizard.
Not sure if that is exactly canonical in the Elder Scrolls universe.
I always found it a shame that such a rich world as the elder scrolls has, was only single player. It seemed to be missing that true interaction at times, while it's still and incredible world. I would applaud this, but I think we all know this will be a paid monthly subscription and they will find a way for micro-transactions. Personally I feel that is a shame for such a rich world.
Last thing I want is an MMO in Tamriel.
First, the MMO market is totally saturated and this game just won't get the attention it deservers from fans and the media. As a result, it'll become yet another niche MMO for a few longtime diehard fans of TES.
No, it won't be the next WoW either. The saturation factor alone prevents ANY MMO from being the next WoW, no matter how uber awesome.
Secondly, all TES games are inherently FREAKING HUGE!!!! Huge world to explore, hugely deep lore, lots of side-quests. In theory, this would go hand-in-hand with an MMO concept, except for all the technical limitations imposed by current network technologies.
Case in point: SWTOR. I had EVERYTHING to be a hell of a great MMO, but due to technical limitations, it was watered down to a theme-park-ride MMO. A Star Wars game with on-rails space combat?? Only half-dozen playable races??Seriously??
DONOTWANT TES MMO, TYVM!!
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY BETHESDA!
Not like I need it, no sir, or exercise or fresh air, or pleasurable companionship.
They skipped a small-scale (e.g., local) multiplayer option. This would have been much better news to me.
Another fantasy-setting MMO. How original... *snore*
For me, the allure of Elder Scrolls has always been the single player experience and the immersion in a different world this provides. As someone who has played many MMOs, immersion has never really been a word I'd use to describe them. From all the immature annoying players, to the terrible meta game of griding levels and petty guild politics, playing MMOs has always been a chore for me (which is I guess why I don't play them much anymore). Elder Scrolls has always been a beautiful fantasy escape, and while I know there aren't any details released about the game at this point, I can't possibly see how they can replicate that experience in an MMO.
I mean, look at the play style that characterizes TES. Vast open environments where you can do practically anything. Now imagine this as an MMO. Imagine walking into town to find EVERYTHING had been stripped out of every building. Shopkeepers slaughtered in the streets, two or three bandits with their pack of mule characters, shipping everything off to a stash... no it wouldn't work. The only reason these sandbox games work is because you're the only one in the game causing this kind of mayhem. So I don't know what TES Online is going to look like, but I have a strong suspicion it will include almost none of the allure of a typical TES game, and will be severely crippled by its MMO status.
I've already watched The Knights of the Old Republic go from consoles (where they had their best sales) to a PC-only MMO. I'd hate to see the Elder Scrolls series leave the console forever too.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
It was fun when they first came out, but now it's just tiresome to see. Unless you have no life, I don't plan on spending years to get to level 50 so I can see everything in the game. Sorry Bethesda, I don't have time for an MMO.
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
I love that Notch guy. Can't wait to play Minecraft online!
Do they mean a Windows version wrapped in Cider or a real, proper OS X version?
I've played most of the Elder Scrolls games, but honestly the overall setting and lore has never really been the strong point to me - without the focus on single player achievement and freedom to do as you will to the populace, I'm not sure how interested I'd be in an MMO just because it is Elder Scrolls. Probably about as interested as I've been in every other MMO which has come out, which is to say I might play a little bit during a free trial period but that's it.
So good luck, I guess - I just hope it doesn't distract Bethesda from continuing to make "proper" Elder Scrolls games.
Are we talking about that Mojang game? How can we have an MMO announcement if the first game is not even out?
Thank you Bethesda for continuing to support Mac OS. I look forward to playing the game next year :)
2013 means late 2014. WoW should be down to level 110 bots farming herbs and a bunch of people that forgot to stop their subscription ( kind of like what Asheron's Call is today ). Might be a resurging market for a fresh fantasy MMO by then, but probably not.
No, Slashdot, Bethesda didn't announce this. It is being made by Zenimax Online Studios (owned by Zenimax, which also owns Bethesda). I don't know if anyone from Bethesda is working on it or not: it certainly doesn't sound like it, since they say it's been in development for a few years and Bethesda has been working on Skyrim during that period.
It sounds like Bethesda Softworks (the publisher) is involved, though, just not the actual development studio that made the other TES games.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Seriously, though...the ES games excel at making you feel like the lone hero in an immerse world. A bunch of heroes running around would kill the mood, not to mention ruining any ability to make long lasting effects stick based on player actions (permanently killing NPC's, etc.). If they want to do an MMO, fine; but the Elder Scrolls have too rich a world and lore that is too extensive to be left to an MMO. Bethesda, I understand that you want to cash in on this MMO goodness, but please keep making single player Elder Scrolls games.
One of the main strong points of the TES games is, in my opinion, that they allow for quite a lot of immersion. Well, about as much immersion as a fairly buggy PC game can give you. I cannot imagine that they will be able to carry that over into an MMO full of 13 year old kids called "FusDoRahPorn131888".
(+1, Disagree)
Can we please stop with the MMO's already? Im already playing a MMO where I am just another guy (like everyone else). It's called life.
So there I was minding my own business and Th'umm there goes my sword.
I want to strangle some of these bean counters.
We don't need another MMO to replicate Skyrim--We just need MULTIPLAYER.
(and by multiplayer, I mean IP to IP connections that don't rely on your fucking servers)
Settle down! I looks like they are creating a whole new studio for this, so Bethesda Prime will still be doing what they are doing.
I don't mean "World of Warcraft", I mean "Warcraft", the franchise your beloved time-sink came from. As soon as WoW became popular, hope of a Warcraft 4 went down the toilet.
This. A thousand times this. I loved the original Warcraft/Warcraft2, Warcraft 3 was alright but a step in the wrong direction. I wanted (and still want) a proper RTS sequel to them. Perverting it into a MMORPG with the Warcraft name was horrible. I have never played it, will never play it. Although TES is an RPG to start with, it is not a MMORPG, and I cannot see how it being turned into one will make it any better, I can only see it getting worse and tanking another beautiful franchise.
The ability to capture the souls of other players in black soul gems.
I'd also like a deep, deep, deeeeeeeep crafting system. I can get lost in a happy OCD haze for hours with that shit.
Gotta start the game as a prisoner, except with an MMO, it can be a mass prison break. Ha! :-)
Pony mods. No, I'm serious.
A lot of games have claimed to be WoW killers over the years, but none have really had both the fan base and the development skills to get it right. (Poor, poor FFXIV. So pretty, so utterly broken. I'm crossing my fingers for their 2.0 reboot next spring.) TOR was almost there, but also failed. Tera? Not quite. Maybe, just maybe, Bethesda will manage to strike the proper balance of fun, interaction, storyline, pretty art, and awesome.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
Fallout 4 should be set in Detroit. They could use the real city as inspiration. (a run-down shithole filled with savages) A few nukes would actually improve it.
If history is any indication with KotOR and WoW. This may signal the end of the single player TES games. I doubt Zenimax will pour money and resources into both a full MMO and SP TES experience. I understand that it's a business and MMO's is where the money is if successful but this news leaves me very sad. I'll place TES: VI next to Warcraft 4 and KotOR 3. I hope I'm wrong but I'll be surprised if I am.
Despite everyone's gripes about the MMO genre, Bethesda makes quality games, and I believe they will make a quality MMO.
Whenever I play a Bethesda game I never feel like im grinding, I'm always immersed in the story and the environment around me. I don't feel like I'm trying to rush to the end. I'm more interested in the story and the adventure that goes along with it.
MMO lately have been missing this immersion (for me at least). They may be full of story but it doesn't touch or interest me, and it seems like it was all thrown together haphazardly for quest filler. (Although SWTOR suffered from the opposite problem. The game was 100% story with lackluster gameplay that made me cringe.) Most of the time it feels like the quests were not designed around the story, but rather the story was designed around the quests (and just how much story can you pump into a "kill 10 bears" quest).
I for one am hopeful that Bethesda will breath new life into an over-saturated MMO market and I am looking forward to enjoying the genre once again.
Wow! I remember Dark Age of Camelot...good game for its time.
Can I make a suggestion to MMO developers? Perhaps its past time to to shift gameplay mechanics and overall user experience in to something that much more compatibable with a modern schedule. The most appealing part of LoL (aside from the free to play bit) is how you can pile on a few games over 6 hours, not touch your account for 3 months, and pick things up again exactly where you left off next time you get the urge to play. The least appealing potential part of an ES MMO? Replacing the 12,789 npcs programmed with fetch quest for a subscription fee and the 12,789 entitled idiots currently on your server treating the world like its their very own sand box. No thanks......
Anyone remember the original Everquest? It was fun, unless you lost connection or server crashed while you were on the boat in the middle of the ocean. Then you drowned.
I'll count Star Craft 2 when I get more than a third of a game for my $90.
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
"It will be extremely rewarding financially to unveil what we have been developing the last several years,"
Bethesda decided that they simply can't have enough game-breaking bugs while working within the limitations of a singleplayer game. The next logical step was to move to an MMO format because they needed more things to be able to break.
All NPC's such as quest givers and merchants will be removed from the game, and replaced with players whose characters have taken arrows in the knee.
I thought I saw it coming... 'til I took an arrow in the knee.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I'm torn here.
I've always wanted multiplayer in Elder Scrolls. But I was looking for cooperative multiplayer, as in playing with your SO, a few friends, something like that. 4, maybe 8 players max. (1-3 parties).
MMO? Really not sure about that. It will depend on how it's done, of course.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
I have all my Warcraft cd's still. The only downside to Warcraft 1 was having to build everything next to roads, I hated that.
now we can all enjoy bugs and repetitive dialog together!
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Bethesda isn't making this though... ZeniMax Online is, a sibling company to Bethesda (ie, also owned by the parent ZeniMax Media) built from the ground-up to focus on online gaming. Presumably, this has been specifically done so Bethesda can continue their single-player focus. So there's hope.
(More info on ZeniMax Online: http://www.zenimaxonline.com/faq.html)
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
I hope that new studio has better QA than the old one.
With a release date of 2013, the game will probably be playable in 2014 given their track record. Their games are beloved for an amazing scope, but they have a history of releasing games filled with game-breaking bugs that players tend to forgive for having attempted to achieve so much. Hey, you can always just enter cheats or download mods to fix the problems right?
This time it's an MMO, and when the game-breaking bug stops your main questline in it's tracks, or empties your inventory, or resets one or more of your stats to 0, etc. etc. etc. You can't hit the command line to fix it.
I'm excited about the game for sure, but I have absolutely no confidence in them to release a stable MMO. I'll wait a few months or a year after release and let other people deal with the bugs first.
The funny thing is that when i was playing The Elder Scrolls Arena on my ooold PC years ago (1995, that game came as NINE floppy at the time.), I was already seeing a near future with loads of players online in the same "world" and I was impatient.
few years after that in 1999, I was playing Everquest.
So they missed the window of opportunity by about a decade. Well done.
Not a real Scotsman, eh?
Ignoring the fact that you can still play any of the class, there are just two addition sets of maps and stories. They could have gone the DLC route.
You know what they should do? They should make a Diablo 3. but since they don't make games anymore I guess that will never happen~
And was, I would enjoy a new Warcraft game, but to say all the do is make WoW addons is ludicrous.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
You can't, but the "moderators" (game masters or whatever) should be able to.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Bethesda just took something we love and now they're going to make us pay out the ass for it.
Think if skyrim were an mmo, how long would it take for you to play? How many months would you have to pay a subscription fee?
How many modders would continue to offer stuff up on skyrimnexus?
No thank you.
They're using their grammar skills there.
... as if millions of wives suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced"
I suspect 2013 is going to be a bumper year for divorce lawyers.
Part of the problem is that Bethesda as a publisher forces the studios to commit to a release date at the start of a project. It's not necessarily poor QA, the games just end up getting pushed out the door before they're ready.
I think it's called Wasteland 2.
I'm sure it'll be an awesome game apart from all those... people... you have to deal with. SWTOR did a pretty good job of hiding them but you'd still occasionally go through some guys you needed to drop who weren't in an instance. Then you get this Disneyland rope line going of people waiting to kill those guys. I was all like "Fuck, I won't have time to run back to the spaceport and fly my ship to the fleet!" Then I realized that driving to Utah takes slightly less time and that's a bit more fun. Costs about $40 in gas, but you get what you pay for.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I hope they asked themselves the question before they got started, "What things can we do that will make ours better than what else is out there?"
Actually, I was in a discussion about this very thing the other day. It was decided pretty unanimously that Detroit would probably have been one of the biggest cities in the pre-War US, both due to a lack of cultural shift away from manufacturing jobs and its point right on the border of annexed Canada. It'd be pretty awesome to have such an urban jungle style fallout setting.
Also, have you ever actually been to Detroit?
"People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
The *only* downside? Lack of Fog of War meant serious cheese with scouting once. Demons and Water Elementals were ludicrously powerful. The inability to play more multiplayer than 1v1 matches was sad. The lack of defensive structures except for multi-player-only walls was unpleasant, especially given the awful per-unit AI.
Don't get me wrong, WC:O&H was a great game for its time, but but even leaving aside the things which I assume to have been due to technical limitations (the low-res graphics, the 4-unit-selection limit, the terrible unit AI, the snap-everything-to-a-square engine) or due to not having the time to implement features that weren't viewed as important at the time (the lack of any kind of map generator or editor, the lack of TCP or UDP play, the lack of air or water units and also of the ability to build or destroy bridges), there was plenty of things that they could have done better.
I actually thought the road system was clever, except that they could have improved on the implementation. First of all, allow multiple town halls, or allow long-distance roads so you can build expansions. Second, allow faster unit movement on roads for a defensive advantage (or offensive, if you know where the enemy is and want to shorten your logistics at the risk of also shortening theirs in the case of a counterattack, or economical, so late-game wood and gold harvesting sucked less). Third, seriously, allow bridges (make them cost 100G per square and required to be build by peons directly adgacent to a road or other bridge, but allow player to make and possibly destroy them).
Dammit, now I want to go make a mod of Orcs and Humans with modern multiplayer, decent graphics, UI improvements, and better roads. Maybe tweak the balance a bit, but otherwise leave things as-is except possibly to fix the tile system slightly (break it down to much smaller tiles, give units a multi-tile collision size, etc.) Throw in a map editor and a proper spell editor, leave the current campaigns but add some new ones, and maybe also add some more units (possibly including water and air).
Yes, I'm aware that that's about 60% of "re-write WC2"... but WC2 has its own long list of things that needed fixing, and this is already a long post.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
It was let down by a poor design and execution. It was let down by being shoved out the door before it was ready. It was let down by lack of content and any real effort to balance classes, let alone factions.
If not for the Star Wars IP it would have burned out in three months, instead it will linger but its chances at long term big numbers are blown. Even many of the most rabid fan sites for the game have little real posting traffic anymore. (reddit is a prime example)
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
"set a millennium before the events of Skyrim as the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm."
Spoiler: he doesn't succeed.
The fact that this MMO has been in development for the last five years makes me extremely apprehensive about the yet-to-be-revealed combat system. The business world gauges the success of an MMO by it's popularity and one key element to popularity is accessibility. World of Warcraft modeled itself after EverQuest, but achieved much greater success by making everything more accessible to even the most casual of gamers. Nearly every Western MMO made within the last five years has copied the stereotypical fighting mechanic of hitting tab to select a target, mashing an optimal rotation of buttons, and landing skills based on a hit rating statistic (not player skill or aim). The most recent example (or casualty) of this archaic combat system was Star Wars: The Old Republic, which gave players an even more simplistic combat system than the WoW model it so transparently copied (despite having a $200m budget). It is exciting to imagine that this will be an MMO version of Skyrim complete with player housing, fully customizable classes, and combat that is dependent on aiming, positioning, and reading enemies that aren't automatically targeted with the click of a button. But I'm already setting my expectations for this pretty low.
You can't, but the "moderators" (game masters or whatever) should be able to.
Except even then, the point stands anyway, playable in 2014 is still the target. "Game Masters" or whatever the hell are probably going to be horribly understaffed, not have good tools on their end, and also be completely flooded with requests for the first few months.
Once the game starts bleeding out subscribers, at that point the support will be ramped up, and you'll finally be able to chat with support staff in times less than hours, and they'll probably even be able to fix your problem.
I guess my problem is I keep trying to get in on MMOs during launch. It's the absolute worst time to actually try playing it. I'll hit max level and get bored with it before any serious amount of fixing is done, or if it's particularly terrible quit even before that.
Fear is the mind killer.
That was always they joy of the last few Elder Scrolls games - I could make a character *MY* way. So I was a thunder bolt wielding master thief that was crazy proficient with his greater enchanted long sword who didn't know blocking was an option until level 24 and didn't pick up a blacksmith hammer until level 51. I go through phases while playing the game to find a character with a skill balance that *I* make work... not some damn tree to pick from or idealized party of tank/healer/ranged classes. Maybe the DLC will keep me going!
What i would like is single player game with a multiplayer option where one or more friends (or random people that i can invite) can join in with their characters into my game and play difficult areas with me that are of especially hard difficulty.
I think anybody naming Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 to say that Blizzard is not overly focused on WoW is disproving himself or herself. Because it took more than a decade to get from Diablo 2 to 3! By now if Blizzard had not been coasting on WoW success for the last 8 years we would have Diablo 6, Starcraft 5 and Warcraft 9.
You think if the MMO is a success ZeniMax Media won't shy away from telling Bethesda to drop any work on another TES game to produce content for TES:O.
all i can say is that it really bumms me out that all mmo games are for PC and MAC thus i cant play them i have a xbox 360 and it would take to much money and time for me to get every thing to convert my pc to a gameing pc anyway :(