Elder Scrolls Online. Thoughts?

[Yimmeryams]

I'm really looking forward to it. I've liked the past few major Elder Scrolls games (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim), and because of that I really want to see how it turns out.

After buying WAR and RIFT at or very near launch, and both of those not hitting big, I told myself that I would never buy another MMO at launch again. I might have to go back on that because I like the Elder Scrolls games so much.

Here are a couple videos:
1. An Introduction to The Elder Scrolls Online, ZenimaxOnlineStudios, Nov 8
http://youtu.be/KxJTsq2XeKY
2. Elder Scrolls Online : Alpha Review, OMFGcata, Oct 24
http://youtu.be/SLp0ykvotEI

EDIT: NEW
1. http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/p ... act-part-1

It sounds like the combat will be a lot simpler than WoW, with less buttons to push (6 total = 5 spells + 1 ultimate). Hopefully it still feels rewarding for most people. I think I will like it better, but it's much too soon to tell. I hope they make it less complicated in terms of rotation and priority queues, and more complicated in terms of actually responding to what's going on in combat (I heard XP and possibly combat bonuses from dodging, blocking, finesse, etc.).

My rambling aside, what I'm interested in is how attached people are to WoW and their characters, how willing they would be to try out ESO, and how they feel about it in general.

I'm hoping that there are enough people who play it to make low populations a non-issue, and that there's enough content to be fun. I mainly just want some raids and dungeons to do.

[Miises]

I played the shit out of Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim and they're awesome but it's way to hard for me to get excited about a new MMO.

Less buttons to push isn't necessarily bad. Original guild wars you were limited to 8 spells at a time (out of a pool of many more) which you had to be strategic about. Combat was awesome in that game.
Moba games with QWER and a couple extras still have very deep combat, but there's also hundreds of diff champs to choose.
All depends on how the game works out.

[Unix]

Similar to D3: limited skillsets usually give birth to several optimal builds with their variants.

TES series are fun if you don't try to play it like WoW and play like a powergamer. Blacksmithing+Enchanting for example, makes skyrim an easy cakewalk.

A TES game w/o mods would feel weird though.

Games like this one I would play just like a single player game with other players around. I do not expect it to be anything as serious as WoW.

[Miises]

I recently discovered that the secret for me enjoying RPGs like Elder Scrolls Games / Fallout / Mass Effect / Dragon Age is to avoid min maxing and wikis etc. like the plague. I don't try to fit my character to a role like 'lawful good' and only select the 'lawful good' dialogue. I 'roleplay' myself and pick whatever the fuck I want. Fuck da police.

This has lead to me enjoying the last few RPGs I've played 1000000x more.

It's hard not to min/max after playing WoW so long.

[Yimmeryams]

TL;DR: I hope Zenimax balances ESO so it doesn't turn out like D3 and the single player TES games.

I think ESO has a chance to be different from Diablo and the Bethesda RPGs. It's the first game the Zenimax group is doing, so they don't have Bethesda's or Blizzard's reputation and track record to fall back on.

While they could ride on Beth's coattails, I hope they don't choose to. I hope they balance the game and work on it hard. If they balance it well, there can be a lot greater skill selection than Diablo 3.
I don't think combat is set up in the same way as D3, either. I think, primarily, attacks will be the mouse buttons (like Skyrim), and not the 1-6 spells. In D3, you used the mouse buttons as well, but they were two of the 6 spells bound to the mouse buttons, and not basic attacks, if that makes sense.

I used to play by Min / Maxing as much as possible, but now I find it more fun to just sit back and relax. Though, it was really fun to in Morrowind roll Breton (50% magicka resist), grab the Cuirass of Savior's Hide (65% magicka resist), and grab the Boots of Blinding Speed (100% blind is resisted, 200% increased movement speed buff). Not to mention the amazing set of gauntlets in Illunbi and the legendary items.

But sitting back and relaxing has been more fun for me ever since I hit max level in WoW and started serious raiding (end of BC).

I just think the problem with D3 is a flaw with design, and also the people making the game. While it is a fine game, they don't place much value with balancing all the spells / abilities with each other. I'm hoping the design choice is different with ESO.

[Ghalen]

I find it hard to believe that Elder Scrolls Online is going to be any more successful than The Old Republic, probably less so. I just don't see how the leveling experience can possibly compare to the other games in the franchise. We know they are going to have go here and kill/collect x of y. And honestly that freedom is what 90% of the people who play those games enjoy.

I would love to be wrong however.

[Unix]

I have a thought:
what is ESO uses a market model similar to guild wars, but has SWTOR's leveling experience?

Ie: no subs. You buy the game once and you play it like a single player game with a heavy multiplayer component without much expectations of "end game" content.

[Yimmeryams]

That would be cool, but I doubt they will. Based on what they said, it sounds like they're trying to make good end-game content (raids and dungeons at least).

I don't understand how a no sub model even works, but I don't think it's something you can try without having some experience in MMOs. Having a company that runs multiple MMOs also helps.

Anything can happen. I'm not saying that it won't, just that I personally don't think that they'll choose that direction. To paraphrase from Ghalen, I'd love to be proven wrong.

[Yimmeryams]

Beta signup:

http://signup.elderscrollsonline.com/

New trailer: http://www.bethblog.com/2013/01/22/elde ... da+Blog%29