Keep in mind this is for fun. Just state the basic premise for a TES MMO you would have designed/preferred. Like Sandbox-y, RvR, Open PVP, whatever.

Discussion is getting stale here. This might spice things up a bit. Do not insult/flame other posters in this thread or I will report you. Feel free to add onto someone else's idea if you want to use that as a basic starting point for your own.

Keep in mind you owe nothing to the actual MMO being developed for your premise. Not the timeframe, faction warfare, Molag Bal stuff or anything.

Here is a very basic version of how I would have wanted a TES MMORPG to be made.
Well that is the basic premise I suppose. Probably has a host of issues and is very incomplete but whatever. Point is to have fun.

What about your ideas?

3 factions at war has always been my favorite, have only played one other game that did it well and I am sick of 2 faction games that have been done to death. The greatest time and most fun I have had in any MMO has been DAoC. Having points of interest to take or defend always is fun and requires team work when done right. But the game was more complex than just the PvP, from the classes to the crafting the game was really great. They could have done some more in the PvE department but it had enough to keep me entertained for a few years with everything it offered. GW2 attempted it, but to many did not do it well. It just felt bland and did not have the magic that DAoC had. To the it lacked in more than just RvR though, the PvE was done really lazy with mobs that felt like they were just reskined and reused over and over, to the boring, lazy dungeons that we ran through in 15 min each day for tokens.

I like Open PvP but really need a reason and a good system to have it in a game other than just to have it. Rift had it but nobody really ever used it because there was really no point. Yes some remember the days of WoW Tauren Mill battles, which were fun for awhile but after an hour or so they got boring and pointless. There was no objective to staying there except to grief the lower players into getting other players to come battle, then it turned into who ever had the biggest party won. Players only really went there because there was no place to really have any good battles in the game, if they would have made a center point like a castle of keep to take over I think the game would have been alot better. I think its the hardest system to probably use out of the bunch because you will never have everyone happy with any way you try and balance it.

Sandbox games usually turn into who can use the best macro and not get caught because they are usually filled with huge grinds that take a very long time to progress your character and without using them you get left in the dust by those that do. I love the idea's of a full sandbox game but have yet to see one that actually can make a decent one, there are a few coming up that I have my eye on but I will be skeptical until they are alot closer to some kind of playable game.

I don't really care for PvE only games, they are limited to content and usually end up running their course after you do everything in the game that appeals to you. PvP only games are sort of the same way, and you can only kill people so many times before it just become tedious and not fun anymore. Games need to have a good mixture of both to hold me for any exteneded period of time and also be fun with new content added at a good rate to keep it fresh. I could see any of the 3 as a good TESO game and would probably play them all if done with features that I like.

I got a thread on my environmental ideas.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1422206-environments/

Anyways that's where I would start.

?) Like Skyrim, I would've not had race restrictions for the faction war - this way players won't have trouble wanting to group with friends who are a different race (wasn't this the message they use to promote the Megaserver?)

?) Remove classes, and have it just like Ultima Online/Skyrim where you develop your character via using/leveling the abilities you WANT to do to make a character you WANT TO BE. Only difference between Skyrim and an Online version of it is I'd put a level cap, just so that players can't max out everything. This way they can choose to be a jack of all trades, or a master of a few... and lets people become more than just a fighting class - have players who specialize in pure tradeskills, for example, and NOTHING related to combat. Players who might just want to be a grand master fisherman, and nothing else...

?) While I like the 3 faction war idea... but - JUST LIKE SKYRIM - i'd rather have it be an in-game player CHOICE of which side he wants to choose DURING THE GAME ITSELF. When I knew there was a civil war in Skyrim, I didn't choose a side right away... I wanted to feel out both sides before I made a major choice. ES:O currently forces me to make that choice before I even play the game... and also forces me to choose my race and what lands I get to explore based on that uninformed decision.

Since the faction war is primarily a PVP aspect to the game - and since it sounds like most PVP is phased anyways, they should've simply made it so you cannot participate until you chose a faction side. When you chose an allegiance, then you can use the markets, AH, enter PVP, ect... prior to that you would just be hand-trade and no PVP.

EVE online gameplay and mechanics in The Elder Scrolls universum. Enough said.

I really like your ideas OP. Although I am very happy with the game we are getting, I will post some ideas just for fun as well.

Disclaimer: There is absolutely no way they could do a huge 3 faction war without faction/race locking. It simply wouldn't make sense to have a bunch of Nords fighting for the Aldmeri Dominion. But you could do a different kind of PvP. Here's what I would do:

The game would be set during an Empire (maybe Remnan) and a relative time of peace (meaning no huge war). Imperial Control would be imperfect, however, so that PvP would make sense. Many additional races would be in including Imga, Sload, Maormer, Tsaesci, all the Khajiit sub-species, ect. Only the humanoid races would be playable, meaning YES to Imga and Maormer but no to Sload and senche-raht.

There are faction within the game that you can join. These include all the Guilds (Fighters, Mages, Morag Tong, Thieves, Companions, Imperial Legion, College of Winterhold, Psijjic Order, ect.) all the Great Houses of Morrowind, and a ton of new factions that we haven't heard about yet (like some in Hammerfell, Summerset, Black Marsh, and Valenwood.)

All of these factions would have rival faction (in some cases many rival factions.) All factions would have a feeling ratings towards other factions wich ranges from Allies--&--#62;Neutral----&--#62; Enemies. Players would be able to join as many allied factions as they wanted never would they be able to join two enemy factions simultaneously.

PvP would be open world with flagging. Only those who wished to participate in PvP would turn their flags on. Lower level players with flags off would not get attacked by higher level players. You could also have levels of PvP so that lower level players could participate (by setting there flag on for levels 1-20) without getting ganked. Rewards for PvP would include money, items, experience, temporary stat boosts for defeating enemy factions, and of course FUN.

Larger factions would have "territories of influence" which would include forts and towns that could be captured by enemy factions.

There would also be PvP "hotzones." In these areas, all players would be flagged for PvP. The battles would be between two factions. Hotzones would include the border between Black Marsh and Morrowind (slaving territory) and areas of the map that the Empire did not have a firm grasp on (called "rebel zones",you would choose to fight either for the empire or against them.) Some of these areas, like the rebel zones could change over time, if, for instance, the Empire were to dominate the rebels (they would win the zone.)

All factions/battles would include an appropriate number of NPCs to make sure that racial balance never got out of hand. The Great Houses would always be majority Dunmer (and all but Hlaalu would be Dunmer restrictive.) Certain other factions would be racially restrictive.

There would be a crime/bounty system. Friendly fire would be possible but you would have to press a button to mark an friend as an enemy (this would prevent you from accidentally attacking friends during large battles.) Players who intentionally killed friendly NPCs or Players (with PvP flags on) would incur a bounty. You could also incur a bounty if you go caught pickpocketing a friendly player or NPC. Bounties would be quite large to prevent rampant ganking. Players who incurred bounties would then be vulnerable to attack from NPC guards and bounty collecting factions (such as the Morag Tong, Dark Brotherhood, Fighters Guild, and Companions.) If a bounty hunter killed a player with a bounty the bounty would be payed out of the criminal players gold. The criminal player would also lose all experience towards the next level/skills.

I think the bounty system would be an awesome element to PvP and would allow for greater roleplaying. Players could decide to be criminals. Other players could be law enforcement.

Edit: The time zone would be the Akaviri Potentate. They would be trying to hold on to the Remnan Empire while it was being torn apart.

Everyone starts as a prisoner in the Imperial city. They escape into the Arena, where they have to fight it out with other new players danmaku style. The winner gets to then go out into the world, wile the losers character gets deleted.

lol

That's great.

Pretty much like it has been designed. I've played both themepark and sandbox MMO's and always prefer themepark MMO's more and for a longer amount of time.

We meet again my fury friend.

And you still seem in love with the whole "class" system even after explaining to you the reasons why it will never work in an MMO.

But this post is regarding your third point. Again what works for an RPG doesn't necessarily work for a large scale MMO. I mean the premise of TESO is the fight for Cyrodil and therefore you have 3 Alliances fighting for the throne. How would what you just wrote work in such a setting? I mean Alliances have already been formed long before we enter Tamriel.

What would happen for example if someone created an Orc and decided to side with the Ebonheart Pact? How would that work out? It works in Skyrim cause the setting is very different. I mean its literally only a Civil War within the region.

Again I say that I admire your thoughts and welcome your ideas, but what you are asking for would never work in an MMO.

For #1, and just because of how you put it here, you do get 3 races for you and your friend to chose from within the faction so technically megaserver lives up to it's claim... kinda like Alliance/Horde or Guardian/Defiant or Republic/Empire or Light/Dark or Hot/Cold or Wet/Dry or...

But I see what you mean by choosing a side (#3) regardless of race AFTER learning about them all. That would revamp how the game would be laid out for sure, probably with no faction starting zones, just racial... then head out to neutral territory until ya pick a side... I like it...

In before hate posts:
DAoC 2.

Well ESO pretty much is the spiritual successor to DAoC. Same RvR concepts, same Lead dev.

Indeed Pangscar, it's the spiritual successor but some people think they should of scrapped ESO and made DAoC2, which is just silly, if they wanted to do that they would of...
Anyway, I won't go off topic.
I like the multiple local faction province idea, like joining the Alik'r in Hammerfell, I've always wanted to discover more about them in-game.
I'd love to see seasonal weather, autumn, winter, spring and that sort of thing.
Fishing, too, it's a nice way to pass the time and leads to some friendship making.

Hi!

((checks his face for fur...))


And I explained it with two words - Ultima Online, and gave a detailed account of how it worked - and you offered no counter to it. Because you willingly choose not to look back at history is your problem, not mine.

But this post is regarding your third point. Again what works for an RPG doesn't necessarily work for a large scale MMO. I mean the premise of TESO is the fight for Cyrodil and therefore you have 3 Alliances fighting for the throne. How would what you just wrote work in such a setting? I mean Alliances have already been formed long before we enter Tamriel.

What would happen for example if someone created an Orc and decided to side with the Ebonheart Pact? How would that work out? It works in Skyrim cause the setting is very different. I mean its literally only a Civil War within the region.

Again I say that I admire your thoughts and welcome your ideas, but what you are asking for would never work in an MMO.

You keep saying it would never work in an MMO (again, this is an MMMORPG, not whatever your generic "MMO" means to you) -but you do not ever give any substantial credible reasons. Your character is your choice to play how you want. It doesn't break anything anymore than playing an Altmer Mage fighting for the Stormcloaks. Just saying "what works in an RPG doesn't work in an MMO" doesn't explain WHY it wouldn't work in an MMORPG like ES:O. Especially considering many here see it exactly for it. Believe it or not, there are things in the world called "neutral civilians"... even in real-life that happens. How do I explain an Orc fighting for the Aldmeri Dominion? That's for the player to decide, not me - as the player can create a hundred story reasons (especially based on if he was able to do all the quests for the factions). Tell me, why were there African Americans fighting for the South during the Civil War? Things happen...

The problem is you seem to keep redefining ES:O as some weird mentally self-defined "MMO" that sounds more like HALO with more players as opposed to an MMORPG (which is what Zeni/Beth calls ES:O, right there in the FAQ that I pointed out to you prior...).

The problem is simple, the premise of ES:O is wrong and should be adjusted. The Premise of ES:O should not be 3 factions fighting, the premise of ES:O should be a world where you can do anything you want - with one of those major things being to participate in a 3-faction war with a side YOU CHOOSE based on your experience, not before.

I think you should just "agree to disagree" instead of constantly repeating "I explain why those won't work" when you never explain anything apart from saying "Those things wont work".

Also, I'd still like to see Skyrim with competitive multiplayer.