So i've been lurking here for a good 4-5 months now. At least since they announced beta signs ups were available and like every other forum(seemingly) there are a lot of stupid people who do an awful lot of talking. So i believe the time is about right to post this.

Things which seem like good idea which are not are pleaded for because of their familiarity with other MMO's and idea's which have genuine merit are tossed aside, trolled and flamed because they are different and "don't belong in an mmo". I've seen it in many forums in my time. The generation of entitlement and because of this, it's the casual gamers who do not care for game balence as long as the feature in the game they use is provided for who will have played a vast amount of MMO's who will dictate the fate of this game.

Firstly, all of you (and i know there's lots) who have followed elder scrolls installments that you love up to the most recent being skyrim. Do not for 1 seconds believe that Zenimax will provide that for you, they won't.

I know what you're thinking, "Finally! a truely immersive mmo 1 which i can get stuck in with combat in a real battle against human players! The way an MMORPG should be!". This, apparently, is defined as an "Action mmorpg" (stupid i know) and to think GW2 falls into this genre.

The Genre definition for skyrim and indeed elder scrolls as i'm sure you'll all know is "Action role playing adventure".

Now, of those 2 seperate genre's. Which do you honestly think Zenimax is going to conform to knowing all the confirmed features and style of play they have announced/intended to have?

This will be your bi-yearly run of the mill MMORPG. The same as all the others, claiming to provide what no other MMORPG provides.

Believe it or not that could be considered the TL:DR of my arguement but for those i loathe who ultimately have no time to read what i have to say and theirfore give a damn about real game design and balence.

Here's your TL:DR:-

So on to what i have to say for myself.

I have, for so long, been looking for a game that delivered what Skyrim has to offer online. Or rather, deliver what games like Mount and blade, chivalry and esspecially war of the roses provide.

Nothing gives me more sense of being "a badass [censored] [censored]s your day up before breakfast" warrior/adventurer than skyrim or war of the roses has. Why can't i have this online, indeed, why can't i experience this on the scale of an MMORPG? Why can't i experience this with my friends?

I don't know about the rest of you but, health bars, loads of number on the screen, and an overlay of icons on what i'm supposed to be seeing breaks my immersion and completely ruins my experience of MMORPG's.

There's nothing i hate more than a cluttered screen with essentially useless information.

Let me show you:

http://i.imgur.com/Mwxh0.jpg

I don't think i need to say anymore on this subject apart from, the only thing i should see on my screen at all times, is what i NEED to see during play. (enemy players, enemy animations, visual qeue's ect..)

Admitedly, seemingly(<-Important, so bear in mind. duh) , from what i've seen, ESO has a very tidy set up.

But from what i've read today, apparently (though admittedly i've yet to see proof) there will be no collision detection. Those of you from the MMORPG scene won't see this as a problem as you're used to this.

But for Elder scroll players and indeed people who want ACTION. This is the worst news imaginable.

Let me set the scene, our ability to perform and survive is dictated by what we see on screen via visual qeue's. With the ability to walk through EVERYONE this will be, atleast for melee classes which i love, utterly game breaking.

Let me explain. A melee class, needs to SEE what the enemy is doing, not just what direction his target is moving in. In addition to this, with the ability to have 200 people clutter up your screen, how in the hell are you going to see what on earth it is you're hitting? (oh, and before ANYONE says "but with 200 people that's too many calculations and way to much strain on the server!" no it's not, go look at mount and blade. If that's still not enough for you, planetside 2 also does it with even more people. The only reason the devs tell you that is because they're trying to make the game run on as low a requirments as possible to have the widest possible audience available to buy the game.)

There's also the fact that, if there is no collision detection, the ranged classes at the back will have it as easy as they normally do in every MMORPG. There is no skill involved. I know many of you will argue otherwise, but it's still true, in addition, games which require people to think, develope skills and knowledge find the game hard or a bad game. Whereas games like COD, where the game play and ability to perform is a level playing field with little to no need for skill apart from ability to point and press a button will be seen as a triple A game because it's so easy to access.

In addition, My experience with MMORPG's is that it's always been a numbers game or a game of whoever has the healer wins. GW2 was different experience to an extent, reason being that although it was fairly balenced PvP in something like WvW melee classes were left severly underpowered and useless in almost every Zerg/Large engagement.

For example, i remember a point in WvW where there were 2 large groups. Both had lots of ranged classes, and next to no melee classes. In the end the winner was the group who could hit single people and essentially instakill them in a combined effort. Fair enough obviously, but the melee classes were useless as obviously, they couldn't get close to the enemy without being insta-killed. The only use they had was chasing down 1 group when the other decided to run for it.

From what i have read so far, this is the direction of ESO and i for 1 will not be buying it (not that anyone cares obviously) but that's because this game will never be Skyrim online or even The Elder Scrolls Online, because it doesn't have all the features or gameplay that defines and elder scrolls game.

If anyone can proove to me that, there will be worthwhile melee in this game that is effective against ranged, has a purpose in sieges without getting insta killed everytime he attempts to contribute to the group effort, that direction of attack and blocking will be up to what it's made up to be, that it won't take a ridiculous amount of effort pre-number preperation and time to kill 1 person. Then i shall certainly converse with and make an effort to see what this game has to offer.

Until that time, those of you who are expecting Skyrim online. Heed my warning, abandon all hope ye who enter here.

Good luck finding the perfect game for you.

Tell me about it!

I've come close with War of the roses though and have high hopes for mount and blade 2! Shame there's no magic users in it and more of a fantasy setting like elder scrolls! Only thing really lacking in that game!

edit: Nevermind. You're right about some stuff, totally wrong about others. This game won't be Skyrim Online, and it won't be just another generic MMO. But it will be an MMO first and foremost, wearing the Elder Scrolls skin while dancing to Goodbye Horses.

i did not read the OP i just wanted to add that any game i get hyped up for has failed to meet my expectations. the ones i just sorta follow tend to last much longer for me. the thing about expectations is if they meet them you get no joy, they did exactly what you thought they would do but if they dont meet them then you get angry and hit the boards and scream at the world. note i am using "you" in a general sense

Either way, the loyal Elder scrolls fans and the fans who want what elder scrolls should be will not recieve it. Agreed.

AHHH YES! Indeed games which become overhyped are always doomed to fail! Key game's advertisment lies in being honest and truthful to your gamers. Loyalty and honest are rewarded.

I do however think that Bethesda new they cannot deliver the expectation the true elder scrolls fans have but know that they can make a lot of money from an online version of the game. Thus Zenimax is making it. Which is a shame esspecialyl as bethesda is known for trying to push the boundaries. Or perhaps they didn't feel safe doing it themselves just yet? Either way, Bethesda cannot lose. Zenimax on the other hand....

i like your replies i am gonna read the OP now lol

We need to play Beta to know for sure

There I fixed it for ya. Please don't speak for the rest of us.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Gonna have to agree on this.

I can't agree with that. I'm an Elder Scrolls fan to the bone. Its my favorite game franchise aside from Fallout. These are the only two games I get truly excited for and sink the most hours and energy into above and beyond all others.

I'm also an MMO fan. I prefer to keep one MMO going to play with my friends to satisfy social gaming needs, and then my collection of singleplayer games to entertain other gamer fancies such as imagination and relaxation. TES and FO do this for me more than any others. But that doesn't mean I'm not totally looking forward to a new, fresh MMO that has elements and throwbacks to one of my absolute favorite franchises ever.

Its not about the hype for TES fans that dislike MMOs, its about expectations. And for MMO players that don't care about or just sort of like TES, its about the hype for the next big MMO. People want different things, bromigo.

Same here!

What is with people and thinking this game was ever supposed to be skyrim online. Like it was supposed to be this Coop game that i am pretty sure at this point Bethesda will probably never make.

The ideas that get thrown out and are constantly bashed are ideas that for one thing or another are not always about something that belongs or doesnt belong in an MMO it is sometimes about what is remotely even possible in an MMO. We need to consider current tech, scale of game, and its ambitions. Some MMOs could have skyrim like combat but those MMOs do not support PVP and PVE content, crafting systems massive amounts of weapons and armors, detailed textures, its usually only part.