*I meant May 29, not May 28 and it is 2 videos, not an article!*

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/05/29/the-tactical-combat-of-the-elder-scrolls-online.aspx (Watching right now) Wow. I like it!

But ya, if this was posted already just let me know please

Thanks tgl

For some reason theres just a white square when i wanna watch it.

GI and Adobe Flash hate each other. make sure you have the latest Flash and keep refreshing.

I liked the video! Especially the examples they were giving.

I really hope "fire mage" isn't a class. It sounds incredibly dull.
Since they aren't going to give us more traditional TES combat, I guess the philosophy of not having to focus on your UI is a good one, but i'm not sure how it will be implemented or if it will be implemented well. I suppose, like the rest of the game, I'm cautiously optimistic about the combat. Again, the team work aspect could be interesting, but I dunno.
Also, Ms. Aliprando is pretty.

I really hope this is as good as it sounds, very exciting if so. Glad to hear that all weapons for all classes is definitely in, though I do hope that there are hybrid classes (battlemages, nightblades, witch-hunters, etc.) or at least that classes can essentially become hybrids via skills.

One confusing bit... a Lich will steal your soul? I thought you didn't have one?

Thx for the links but i'm not excited now either.

Maybe he steals your sole. A lich with a shoe fetish.

I am converted.

After these videos, I now fully believe this game has what it takes to evolve the MMO in a meaningful way. I am now genuinely excited for TESO! Whoever wrote the GI article needs to be fired, because the article's description of combat did NOT do this game any justice.

It's still not an instant buy for me. I want proof that it's not just the combat that is awesome. I'm still pissed about forced Alliances, but I can let that slide if it's the only error. If I can explore all of Tamriel with any race (and the lore is accurate, ie: trees in Valenwood move, Summerset Isles isn't just Rivendell 2.0) and if the quest dialogue is handled like SWTOR with fully voiced cutscenes and player decisions, then I'm sold 100%. But I am definitely on board with the game for the first time after these videos.

I can't wait to see all of this in action. Single Player TES combat is nothing compared to their vision. Finally, encounters will be more than simple speedbumps.

I'm very nervous about them saying they don't want you playing a "UI game" if only because that seems very broad. 2 things here:

1) Getting feedback as to how much damage your attacks are doing is critical to being able to play a MMO well. When they say they don't want numbers popping up, I get very antsy. Sure, numbers aren't everything, but I need to know what I crit for, how much attacks do, how to augment attacks as well as I can, etc so that I can play at the highest level I can.

2) They seemed to imply there won't be cast bars in the game? I hope that's not the case. For the sake of argument, let's say you're facing a mage of some note and he has two spells. One of these spells is a simple fireball attack and the other is a 1-shot ability. It is important for me to easily distinguish one from the other so I can interrupt the 1-shot and soak the fireball. Even while I'm typing this, this seems pretty obvious, so I'm sure that this will be explained later, but it is very important that information is given to the player via accessible and clear channels.

Combat will obviously make or break a game, but if you take tools away from a player that help him or her play your game better, you're not making it more fun... your just disenfranchising them.

They didn't say that these things won't be in the game, only that what's happening will be obvious. You can see what's happening physically.

I'm far from sold so far, but I'm pretty damned optimistic about what we've seen. There are numerous concerns I have, but no major cause for alarm yet.

One thing I'm very interested in seeing is the mechanics of armor. Can anyone wear any kind of armor? If so, what are the drawbacks?

From what I gathered:

1) They didn't specifically say that numbers aren't available. Just that you don't need them. I'm assuming the numbers will be optional if you want them.

2) Cast bars are there, just not in UI form. They're in animation form. Like Maria said with the Giant example, slowly raising his club up over his head ready to smash it down on your head. The animation of him raising the club is a more immersive cast bar. I have no doubt mages will have similar animations, such as conjuring a ball of swirling flames in their hands, growing it and growing it before hurling it towards their target.

well obviously...... gawh !

I'm curious about armour too. Specifically, I hate the way MMOs have a set of armour for PVE, and another set for PVP. It implies that specific PVP stats are important to winning a battle, when it should be about player skill instead. I would love to hear that TESO has standardised stats in armour so that a set can be effective in both PVE and PVP. I don't want to feel like I have to choose which end-game content to specialize in if I want to be effective. I want to enjoy both.

Also, they didn't talk too much about healing. They definitely implied the presence of full time healers (which is personally FANTASTIC for me ) but not necessarily how they work different in TESO. I'm definitely interested to hear how they'll make healing "more personal" beyond the mention of the healing rain spell which... could be good.

Otherwise, I would love to see healer roles again -- especially in raids (group/aoe heals, hots, tank heals). Obviously not enough here to talk about in regards to that... but once I hear that information, I'll be 100% sold

(who am I kidding? I'm already sold)

I am actually starting to like this game more and more. Liked when he talked about when players in pvp was just marching with their shield out etc.. Combat sounds great. Also will TES:O be shown at E3?

One thing to keep in mind is that even as a full-healer (if that's possible) one-third of your skill bar will be attacks, so you'll likely be doing at least a little damage while healing. They said that they don't want groups to fulfill a certain role, they want groups to be versatile and their tactics to change based on the encounter at hand.

I thought of that, too. But have they actually said that you are stuck with the two abilities a weapon gives you? They could just as easily put mana-efficient hots or heavy heals on a staff, right? Basically, they said that two abilities will be tied to your weapon, from my knowledge, they didn't clarify that these abilities are all offensive in nature.

Well on the first point im sure they mean the numbers wont pop up over their head , it will be on their health bar probably , they just mean its not like in WoW where its just numbers flying up , its immersing you in the world more which i think is great

Also the cast bar is replaced by animations which you will get used to in time but they also spent the second half of the last video emphasizing their are no one shot abilities , even the ultimate abilities

Looks like these guys know what they are doing when it comes to combat love that you can use stamina to break cc so you don't just get stun locked or cc'd to death

"Light attack" and "heavy attack" as they've said. One thing to note is that different weapon combinations are essentially different weapons. Since sword/shield have two specific moves, obviously sword/sword have another pair, and perhaps a single sword has yet another.

Of course, it may be that all of your other healing spells are enough to keep you occupied, but my first guess is that you'll be firing a couple shots between heals.

To fix the numbers overhead issue, just add a combat tab to the chat log and you can read it and watch your numbers.

That would also require a combat log to be present in the game... something that not all MMOs come with. TOR didn't have one at launch... don't know if it does now.

I realy like the way that combat seems to be implemented. I find that my mind sometimes wanders during combat in most mmos I have played. It sounds like my mind will be much more engaged while fighting in TESO.

Yup. DC Universe Online does this as well.