The Elder Scrolls Online – Screenshots and Details

Only hours after the first announcement of the Elder Scrolls Online coming from Gameinformer, the full feature has been leaked to the internet, in which Zenimax Online speaks of the “bold new direction” they plan to take the franchise.

Creative Director Paul Sage explains that it is important to capture the essence of previous Elder Scrolls games, namely weighty combat, richly interactive environments and a world reactive to players actions, albeit “this does not translate easily to the MMO genre”.

“We’ve really got to create a compelling game first,” Sage explains. “It needs to be comfortable for people who are coming in from a typical massively multiplayer game that has the same control mechanisms, but it also has to appeal to Skyrim players. You want to hit those touchstones, but more important than that, you’ve got to create an experience that’s unique and fun.”

The main story focuses on the war on the continent of Tamriel taking place 1000 years before the events ofSkyrim. Nerevarine’s battle against Dagoth Ur in Morrowind, fractious lords desperately fight against the invasion coming from Oblivion and a civil war rages in the land of Skyrim.

Within the world of Tamriel there are 3 alliances users can join, each consisting of 3 three races to chose from. The Nords, Dunmer (Dark Eves) and Argonians make up the Ebonheart Pact. Forming the Aldmeri Dominion are the Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves) and Khajiit. Finally the Daggerfall Covenant consisting of Breatons, Redguard and Orcs make up the third available alliance.

The main villain of the story is the King of Worms, Mannimarco who plans to take control over the mortal realm together with the Daedric prince of domination, Molang Bal.

Making sure the entire lore is kept canon, Todd Howard of Bethesda Game Studios “checks in every once in a while” to work together with the development team’s loremasters.

Much of the levelling experience is based around the “core fantasy presented by traditional Elder Scrolls games”. Taking place in a third person environment this time around, players will be utilising a hotbar for various attacks and actions. Skilltrees seem to be more MMO oriented, where players must chose a direction, as they “can’t master everything” this time around, nonetheless joining every guild is still possible.

Random events are also supposed to play a major role, featuring NPCs interacting with each other in occurrences, such as robberies or random dialogue (players can supposedly still slaughter civilians to their liking during these events).

Creating an open world, tied in with random events and quests being taken on by various individuals, allows for a richer experience, as players take on their own adventures and interact with others along the way. This feeling is explored in a werewolf quest the article runs through in fine detail, where decisions play a key part. The Elder Scrolls Online also plans to “bring back” the public dungeon, allowing for more organic group building instead of entering instances. Heroic modes will also be available for small-group instanced dungeons, as well as raids.

The in-game world will feature the entire environments from Skyrim to Morrowind, however the map will not be entirely open for exploration, as certain areas are planned to be used for future expansions. Cyrodiil will make for the main capital of the raging war, where players can engage in endgame PvP.

Considering the world of Tamriel is so vast and player interaction plays such a key role, the developers behind the MMO are still looking for an optimal solution to make sure that “hotly contested areas” aren’t overpopulated.

Gameinformer’s spread also features a massive “What’s in, what’s out” list comparing what elements have made it in, from the original Elder Scrolls games. It must be noted that the list includes a lot of “we can’t say right now”-ishness.

The feature finally acknowledges the fact that The Elder Scrolls Online must prepare to face a large amount of criticism, as die-hard fans won’t agree with many of the liberties Zenimax is taking. However, when reminded by the fact that Bethesda, as well as talent from Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot, are standing behind this project, we just might have the next big fantasy MMO waiting for us.

http://xbigygames.com/the-elder-scrolls-online-screenshots-and-details/ 

interest rapidly fading, sounds like another reskinned WoW

Deoz said:
Hero engine at its best ladies and gentleman.

http://imgur.com/a/fO9Ty#8

yo_john117 said: No console release?

not many mmos on console^^ i think this one could be succesful, but maybe it's too late for this gen and next gen won't be out then or will only have some million consoles sold.

yo_john117 said: No console release?

When was the last time you saw a console MMO ? DC Universe Online on PS3 and probably FFXI on 360.
I cannot describe how many developers said they wanted to make a PC and Xbox 360 MMO only to cancel the 360 version along the way (not that their games were extremely good or successful anyway).