WoW technically doesn't have linear progression after the first few levels as they have multiple areas for each level bracket. You could go where ever you want. Yet it is still Themepark.

You can have hand holding without linear progression.

It's also not just a matter of griefing. Assuming they'd be willing to redesign a huge number of abilities this late in development to allow the sort of precise targeting you'd want with a friendly fire system, Cyrodiil is going to be filled with allies of varying skill levels with whom you may or may not be in verbal communication. It's not a venue in which your small team of highly skilled players faces a similar group. You'd have unintentional deaths right and left. Folks who wouldn't earn the points for an expected reward because an ally had no idea they were about to run towards a keep gate (and who might have killed them regardless due to imprecise aiming). ZOS has gone to a fair amount of effort, e.g. everyone on a mobs aggro table getting credit for kills, to side-step sources of conflict between players. Why would they do an about-face which would lead to endless fighting over fault and how player X shouldn't be penalized because player Y was an "idiot?"

No you are oblivious if you think players can't leave the starting zone because there are friendly fire in the game. Have you even played any multiplayer game that allows friendly fire? To me it sounds you never have. Because there are hundreds of different ways to solve that problem for the few that might experience that.

Pls stop bringing up FFA, this topic isnt about FFA.

And yes, wow did let you go anywhere you wanted outside the themepark, one of its best qualities. However, you evetually still had to come back to it. Will ESO be the same way? Will we HAVE to complete a themepark questline in order to get to the endgame content of exploring other alliance zones? Or will we be able to do that anyway?

Gah im getting off topic....

I want to be able to join the Camonna Tong and war with the theives guild. Or join the tribunal temple and war with the imperial cult. Or maybe go rogue as a necromancer and fight off members of the mages guild....

maybe I dont care about alliance pvp and just want to have fun with minor faction pvp

Yes, you are the one who is naive if you think that just as many people are going to quit a game because someone is telling them to [censored] off in chat, compared to someone who is physically killing them over and over and over again and they can't do anything.

You are the one who started this whole FFA discussion. By saying that you wanted FF in the game you are saying that there should be FFA in the game. If I can kill any enemy I want in this game, plus be able to kill my own allies, that, by definition, is FFA.

Yes you will have to complete a questline.

I dont like that. There should be no forced character progression in order to unlock zones.

Did I say that there should not be any game mechanics to stop grieffing? No. You even commented on how I described one game solved it. Yes there game progression might be halted for 1-2 minutes. But so what? What cry babies would quite over that? It would never be so the grifer can hold them pined down for ever or until a GM could come and stop them. And if you really think that it will be even remotely common that any player would even experience being griefed in the first place because of a friendly fire game mechanic you're wrong.

You don't have to do it to unlock zones... just like in WoW, you don't have to do it to unlock zones. It is still a guides experience as you aren't sent to a new zone until you reach the quest to go to said new zones which the quest is only available at a certain level. You can go to that zone before, but you won't be able to do much against the high level enemies.

Most of the market. The gaming market is at the point where the majority will simply not put up with it. Thus why such games has such a small playerbase and/or are free to play.

Guess what this comes down to is that you can't argue with close-minded people. If you think peolle aren't going to grief with FF in the game there is just no reason to talk to you anymore because that is just dumb.

I think that's just an urban legend. Not even 5 year old girls on a sugar crush are that week emotionally.

Not an urban legend. It's one of the primary reasons that such game have such a small playerbase in the western market or are ftp.

I wouldn't mind that i could kill friendly npcs

close-minded? Tell that to your self. And I never sad that people will not grief if there was friendly fire. I sad that griefing will be a non-issue because it will be a rare event and that there are game mechanics that will stop the grifing when it happens quite efficiently. Stop twisting what I have wrote in previous posts.

Friendly fire is not happening so you might as well get used to it.

Of course there won't be any griefing from friendly fire, there is no friendly fire in ESO. Problem solved.

It's not in the design philosophy as stated by both Sage and Firor.

No it's not way they haver a small playerbase there are 101 other reasons for that.

Its pretty naive to think it'll be rare. If something can be griefed and players can do it, itll be done. Doesn't matter what the penalties are, it'll be done and done all the time.

And like the other poster is saying, there is a reason why these systems are rarely used and when they are its in little known niche f2p games. The market has evolved and stuff like this doesn't really fit anymore with what most want out of their MMOs.

Great rebuttal against friendly fire being implemented in-game.