Hi all

Congrats to Bethsda for SKYRIM and congrats to the modders that give their free time towards making a better game, and what is one of the things that would make this game better? Yeah, playing with a friend.

I'm not talking about MMORPG, arenas, capture the flag, TDM or whatever, because like many of you I know that ES isn't made to be that kind of game, I'm talking about substituting the already existing NPC companion by a real friend, that's all.

How would this work? In the simplest way possible:

-Items and gold just act like they act right now, each character has their own list
-How can the client have their own stuff? Simple, he can collect it from loot or the host can buy then give to him
-One host, one save. Host invites client, client plays in host save/world
-Host controls everything, dialogs, quests, etc, client can see the dialog
-Client has the same level of the host, if host levels up client levels up, just to keep it simple, this could be improved in future releases if you have the time. If possible, client can choose where to put perks
-Remove the pause when accessing menus, this would make things more difficult and would "indirectly" balance the game for 2 players. Both can access menus but the action continues. If this isn't enough increase the difficulty level, maybe the game level should be equal to the sum of both player levels? Example, if both players are 20 the game would react 40 (20+20), anyway, I think removing the pause is enough
-Quests that remove your companion (I've seen 2) can't be done in co-op or if possible include some fix

Again, no complicated mp since I don't really think that would bring any good to the ES as it is right now, just replacing the NPC companion with a friend, just using the co-op system that is already in place.

That's all, thanks for reading and I hope someone is able to do this so I and others can enjoy SKYRIM even further, thanks

Don't think its possible right now, but I agree that having limited local network play would be very, very, very cool.

The next game in the series probably will have something like that to cash in on XBox live $$$.

Bethsda already confirmed that they aren't doing it for various reasons, difficulty, they are making DLC, patching the game, etc, but I believe some modders can or at least are going to try to do it, even if they fail.

And again, no complicate mp or mobs of players running around ruining this awesome game, just replacing the NPC companion with a friend, just that.

I would gladly pay for that since SKYRIM is one of the best games I've played in my life, I've spent so many money in average/bad games, why not spent a little more in an awesome game?

Modders that might attempt this:

http://www.skyrimmp.com/
- http://jsoftstudios.net/
- http://twitter.com/#!/jsoftstudios
- https://www.facebook.com/pages/NWN-jsoftstudiosnet/235849919780390

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/482472-skynet-co-op-gameplay-theory-and-potential-structure/
- http://skynet.hipolipolopig.us/

Another group that might try this:

http://skyrimcrafters.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/skyrim-multiplayer-project/

Games not set up for it wind up pretty awful with network play. Doom 3 coop was a tasty dream for me, but even the best implementation of it was just monstrously laggy and sometimes unplayable for the remote client anyways.

I'd buy D3 and D3:ROE from Id ( which is bethesda owned now) in a heartbeat if they rereleased it with native coop.

I guess it was inevitable that people would try to create multiplayer Skyrim. I wouldn't get your hopes up though. People have tried it for Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3, and none of those projects ever got further than a really buggy laggy early alpha in which you couldn't really do anything.

The only way it has a chance is if a complete engine replacer is created with multiplayer in mind, like one of those engine replacer projects that's going on for Morrowind. But those have been going on for years and progress is very slow.

Yeah, I understand.


One can hope

Maybe not in SKYRIM, but multiplayer is coming to the franchises:

http://www.zenimaxonline.com/faq.html

It seems this guys:

http://skynet.hipolipolopig.us/

Are on the forums:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1303517-recruiting-programmers-for-co-op-project/

And yet the System Shock 2 co-op hack was one of the best multiplayer experiences I've had to date.

Hey, that does look rather interesting......Oh dear...

That's not a very happy list.

Well, Ultima!

Other than that, nothing on that list is very impressive. It also depends on whether or not the ZenimaxOnline guys were responsible for NGE or not.

Indeed

But they are doing something different now, and they say it will be top tier, also, when talking about jobs they emphasize the fact that they can work with the ES franchise, so we might get lucky

Yet another important curiosity, FALLOUT online beta:

http://www.fallout-on-line.com/

RUN if you want to register for the beta!

FALLOUT - check! Next is Elder Scrolls!

EDIT: it seems Bethsda isn't happy about this:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Bethesda_vs._Interplay

Then again, they are loosing so....

Sorry for posting so soon but this is really interesting!

It seems Zenimax registered the www.elderscrollsonline.com domain, this and the official site http://www.zenimaxonline.com/ prove that something is going on, also:


(See my previous post)

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6235388.html

Finally let's not forget what they say over at Zenimaxonline:


Everyone knows the risk new IP's represent, FALLOUT online is being made by Interplay, ELDER SCROLLS online domain registration and all the other facts point to Zenimax online developing an ES MMOG.