The Elder Scrolls Online

[Adam]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/05/03/june-cover-revealed-the-elder-scrolls-online.aspx

Long rumored and much anticipated, The Elder Scrolls Online is finally being unveiled in the June issue of Game Informer. In this month's cover story we journey across the entire land of Tamriel, from Elsweyr to Skyrim and everywhere in between.

Developed by the team at Zenimax Online Studios, The Elder Scrolls Online merges the unmatched exploration of rich worlds that the franchise is known for with the scale and social aspects of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. 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.

Wow! I'm very interested, the whole of Tamriel

[PeteJ]

I loved Skyrim....a lot. But Elder Scrolls + MMO = a cluster**** on the scale nobody has ever seen before.

[EvilBoris]

I presume they have been working on it for quite some time, the studio was set up in 2007 and haven't released a game at all. They were just working on an MMO.

They licensed the same engine that bioware used for Star Wars ToR, so straight away we know it is not going to share the engine modified or not from Skyrim.

[Brad]

I loved Skyrim....a lot. But Elder Scrolls + MMO = a cluster**** on the scale nobody has ever seen before.

I am inclined to agree. Can't wait for the lolz (secretly I want it to be awesome though).

[Daragon]

This should be released as an Elder scrolls spin off and not a full blown MMO that no-one will want to play.

Anyone remember Redguard? *shudder*

[Brad]

Get notch to make it

[Neon Ignition]

It's a strange proposition to me, done well it seems like a natural evolution of the series development. But then having travelled all of Tamriel I'd probably never buy another ES game again which makes it seem a little counter productive Ah well, I won't be playing so on with Skyrim and the wait for ESVI

[PeteJ]

Uses the Star Wars MMO engine, interesting. Out next year.
Trailer tomorrow apparently.

But then having travelled all of Tamriel I'd probably never buy another ES game again which makes it seem a little counter productive

Some details from the magazine are out there - this is going to be a traditional MMO and nothing like the normal ES games - Turned based combat, no radiant AI, standard instanced dungeons etc. I can't see it stepping on the normal games toes.

[Neon Ignition]

And... the screens leak out

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/viewer.php?mode=article&id=282253

[SuperBeatBoy]

Oh dear... looking pants.

[EvilBoris]

Hardly suprising, Skyrim is an ugly game and MMOs always lose a few levels of polish

[FelixofMars]

World of Skyrim?

It does look pants, I am not even sure why they are doing this? I would rather have 4 player coop with 'almost' solo graphics. Like Borderlands in the Elder Scrolls universe.

[Adam]

Will be keeping a close eye on this, it's still a long ways off and we know nothing really. They have plenty of time to make us feel better about it

Out of curiousity, why do some outright refuse to try an MMO? I know from what little we know about this, it's not going to be skyrim online so that can put you off but it goes for all MMO's I think. They are just off limits to some. Is it the fee? Personally I think it's a great genre and I'm still excited about this. Then again, I was excited for Final Fantasy XIV and look how that turned out.

[PeteJ]

My issue with the genre is that it hasn't evolved in around 10 years, the only MMO that looks interesting now is Guild Wars 2 but it depends on how much like the original (a good thing) or the standard template (a bad thing) it actually turns out to be.

As for Scrolls MMO, it looks remarkably generic fantasy mmo. For all I know those shots are from any other fantasy mmo released in the last five years.

[Daragon]

I think the fans should have been more specific in regards to what they wanted from an Elder Scrolls MMO. This is, based on the screenshots, looking just like another generic and cookie cutter fantasy orientated online title.

Part of the appeal behind the series is its first person viewpoint which helps make you feel like you're physically in the game to an extent - there's none of that here.

As much as I want an online Elder Scrolls game to be massively successful, I don't see how it can be with seemingly nothing unique to it. It's pulled a Dungeons and Dragons, knocking up something entirely bland and hoping that the name will be enough to carry it. Sorry, but no.