After watching the latest video with Matt Firor on http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/05/09/the-origins-of-the-elder-scrolls-online.aspx?cache=busted I have good feeling about this game again. Firor tells that the feel of game is similar to all TES and similar to Skyrim. The most important thing affecting on gameplay feeling is the combat and control system. So this can only mean that we are getting TES-like combat and controls with 1st person - not 3rd person and hotbar which has concerned so many fans here on the forums. As long as Matt Firor isn't outrageously lying to us we'll never see 3rd person hotbar combat in TES:O.

Hahahaha, cute.

You are wrong good sir. This game has been confirmed as third person and hotbar.

That has happen before but latest info is that game have similar feeling to other TES. You can't have that feeling with third person and hotbar. For me this gives only two possible reason why he said so: they have abandoned 3rd person and hotbar and actually have that feeling now or then he is lying to us loudly and without anykind of respect.

I think you are reading too much into it. All information points to hot bars and so does the video...

I may be wrong, but on the projector was even (possibly) an image of the game in 3rd person. I saw a hotbar and a compass map thingo.

Expectations dwindling.

3:57 - 4:12

That's definitely a Hotbar (bottom - middle), Chatlog (bottom left) and a minimap (bottom right). Sorry dude.

Contrary to what many people say, TES "feel" is about more than hotbars. He mentioned keeping the UI as minimal as possible, having similar quests, having similar environments and denizens, etc. Just because there is a hotbar, doesn't mean you won't recognize it as a TES game.

I have no doubt that the game will be Third-person but I do pray that we also have First-person as well. The only time I like using Third-person is in combat. I absolutely hate using it while indoors or in any confined space. He also mentioned that we will have the compass showing points of interest nearby. So far it seems like the game will be a standard mmo for the most part but also a hybred sandbox/themepark and hot-key/active controls game as well. Nothing revolutionary but just continuing the evolution that most new mmo games are going through similar to GW2 and Neverwinter. I am still highly anticipating the game.

Yes it can be 100% TES without hack & slash first person combat, combat and view point are a small part of what makes TES games what they are.

The hotbar itself isn't so big problem as long as you can activate it by keyboard and you aren't forced to click on screen - mouse should be used only for moving your characters watch and using weapons/items on your hands. Base of the feel of TES game is interactive-realtime-combat. It's important to feel the weight of your weapon, hit where you will without auto-targeting, block with weapon or shield, be able to move all time in the combat to try to dodge enemys hits and see close the face of enemy in the battle. Combat needs big freedom and you have to be able to fight without anykind of trickery(spells, potions, poisons, powers or anything other things than hit, block and power hit.) if you will. Two base elements are behind what the feel of TES is: Combat and Exploration. If one of them is spoiled the feel of game is ruined.

What's important to being Elder Scrolls is less how combat works and more What can you do besides combat?

the problem is NOT the hotbar. The problem is if its not actual real time (wich it wont be) watch TBs video on it for a clearer explanation as hes good at that. There is a difference betwee more GW 2 hotbar combat and WoW combat.

I certainly don't need to watch TB video. I have far more experience in online gaming than he does, and I also can draw my own conclusions based on released information, and given the released information, I don't see how you have made the conclusion that this game will be 'turn based.' Additionally, every game has 'turns' - even those that don't show you on the UI the cooldown of your turn. In Skyrim it takes a certain amount of time to swing your weapon - this is a 'turn.' We don't know how turns will work in TESO yet, so please don't act as though we do.

But.. But.. But TB said!!!

Swinging your weapon in Skyrim is not a "turn", that's just a ridiculous claim.

Uh, no it isn't. If you understand the mechanics, you'd know I'm right. An example: In DAOC faster weapons shortened your cooldown or 'turn.' Global cooldowns didn't exist in early games, I believe WOW was the game that started the whole GCD thing, and then LOTRO and Rift and SWTOR and many others copied the system. We don't know what TESO will do with 'turns' or cooldowns yet.

Skyrim doesn't have a "cooldown". You are not limited from swinging your weapon, or casting your spell, because it hasn't "cooled down". Just because bigger weapons take longer to swing doesn't mean it has "turns"

Yep at its core, using the left or right click mouse or using a key on the keyboard to attack are not much different. Now they said the first 2 skills on your bar are directly related to the weapon you use, and they also said there will be regular attacks, power attack, block, interupts/breakers etc etc , that tell us that combat is going to be action based, no matter if you left click or key click to use them. We know that normal attacks and power attacks are going to be the base of combat, we don't know how these attacks will be activated, ether its left click to attack and right click to block or a key on the keyboard that you can rebind your self that does is doesn't change much at all.


an YES shouts in Skyrim are indeed on a global cooldown, as well as powers.

It's been a while since I played Skyrim (since about December), but are you telling me that you can swing your greatsword as fast as you want, like if I have a macro that spams my click 100 times a second, will my sword swing 100x in one second? Or does the swing actually take some time? Cause yes, my friend, that would be the exact same thing as a cooldown. And very similar to DAOC combat.

Just because the cooldown isn't called a cooldown in the game, and just because it is handled graphically (your swing animation) doesn't mean it isn't one. As far as game mechanics go, it IS a cooldown.

Well, in that case, every fighting game is turn-based since the different move made by the characters have different cooldown.
No, Skyrim isn't turn-based. Sure some move have cooldowns, but that's normal, slashing as fast as I click would make no sense, and spamming shouts would break the game. Still, I can block when I want, try to evade when I want, bash if I want, do a power attack when I want, and I can actually move while doing all that. In WoW I can move all I want, it won't make a difference, what matter are the skills cooldown, the stats and the dps, in Skyrim I HAVE to move if I want to successfully evade an attack or use an opening, Im not just standing there and mashing my hotkey buttons and clicking on my mouse.
Now you can say that Morrowind and Daggerfall are turn-based as dps and stats are more important in those than in Oblivion or Skyrim.


I have a lot of hope for this "action" dimension they announced for the combat. If it's as "alive" as in Skyrim / modded Oblivion, it going to be awesome.

Correct. Often they have the illusion of not being turn based, but they are still there in the mechanics of the combat.
Sounds very much like DAOC, and a lot like what the dev interviews describe TESO to be like.

After watching some guy seem cool in a video, I've decided the world is flat again.

I'm done. You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

Realistic weapon attacks that only take the time it takes to physically swing the sword =/= "turn based"

You obviously don't get it, so I'll leave you be.

agreed, mate its going to be in third person.

Sorry, I don't know how to explain it any more simply or clearly than I did. Sleep on it.