the point is that no matter how many other series did it, taking a series and changing it into something completely different is just dumb.

Please be sure to tell Mario Kart that.
Also Mario Party.
Dr. Mario.
Super Mario RPG.
Mario Tennis.
Mario Super Strikers.
Mario Golf.
Paper Mario.
Mario and Luigi.
The Mana series, which actually spawned from Final Fantasy.
Kingdom Hearts.
Metroid Prime series.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series.
The Chocobo series.
Donkey Kong series.
Dissidia series.
Puzzle Fighter series.
Halo Wars.
Warcraft.
The entire Star Wars universe of games.
The entire Star Trek universe of games.
Metal Gear series, especially their PSP titles.
Mega Man series.
Pokemon series.
Resident Evil series.
Etc, etc.

It does look like TES, just more color than we are use to, the races, the ruins, the monsters, still look like TES. We havent played it so we don't know if it plays like TES but since they say it will still have the TES feel of exploring an open world and finding tons of stuff to do and discover then i feel it will play like a TES game. It is like TES, the only thing different is view (well actually the view is still the same, lots of people have played TES in 3rd person since MW) and combat style and those are small parts of what makes TES games as a whole. It still looks to have just about everything that made TES what it is, just online, when it actually releases a gameplay video or world fly-through then maybe we can make a more accurate statement about it .




OP: when did you get to play the game ? how do you know it has loading zones and 100% solo gameplay ...please tell me, and it looks nothing like SWTOR at all.

Then do you count Redguard and Battlespire as TES games?

I didnt know people were freaked out when oblivion and skyrim was announced. :/ This is actually Different,But well i dont care much about TES:O I am still curious about it

Fans always freak out on new releases and change inevitably makes someone upset because people like games for a variety of reasons. When they remove or alter beyond recognition features people like they get upset. It is pretty standard actually. I am guilty of it with Skyrim. Lots of things that changed about Skyrim made me upset with it. Especially since someone made the claim Skyrim had what made Morrowind special. Frankly it didn't. Not for me. Fans like me are inevitable when the game formula changes. Nothing you can really do about it as a developer IMO. Especially when you are trying to make money. The only thing that could improve the game is time in development and that cuts into their profits I guess.

However I am excited for TESO as well. Hopefully it delivers.

w8 for more info and stop freaking out

Yeah :/ But now TESO is the game everyone complain about,Also i like skyrim pretty much,but still morrowind is my favourite,.. And i am curious about TES:O Most excited to see some locations we havent seen before,Also They said lore is very important to them,i hope they are not trolling us by saying that. Wonder if we will meet legendary lore guys in the game.. Old friends like Vivec etc.. And people we have read about in lore

We can only wait and see. Though it would be something to post in the fan interview question thread. Something like this.

"Will lore characters be interact able and accurately represented ingame? People like Divayth Fyr, Vivec, Almalexia, Sotha Sil and others? Will they make sense? Or will they be inaccessible at all points in the game and holed up in some impenetrable palace/tower/area?"

Tell that to Redguard.
Over the years there have been a decent number of elder scrolls games that were not part of the main RPG series.
This is just another one of those.

And given how much the gameplay of even the main series has changed from game to game, Id agree with the people that say that the only thing that really makes something an elder scrolls game is the lore.

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree. The lore is what makes as a brand - an IP. The gameplay and exploration are what keeps players interested in the world and motivated to search for new things - it's an inroad into the game world and lore, it is part of the whole package that makes TES a favourite RPG with many fans, it is not what constitutes it. If they want to make a TES game, they need to adhere to the lore, and provide exploration, the rest should be peripheral. As long as the inroads are there, interesting combat and exploration, then they have made a good TES game - pure gameplay won't cut it.

What on earth do you mean we have books and movies for stories? No self respecting fan of TES games, or games in general, would say games don't need good stories. There are exceptions, Minecraft for one, but generally, stories in games give people a reason to pick up their controller, and use the gameplay to have a good time, at least as far as RPGs and Campaigns go. Case in point I love COD gameplay, but I never touched Black Op's campaign because it was a poorly executed,woeful mess which made an attempt at a good twist, bu screwed up on a detestable main character and boring supporting ones. Conversely, I did play MW3's campaign, as the relationship between Price and Soap, Yuri and Makarov, were actually interesting - I cared about them. And I highly doubt Inwould have poured so many hours in games, if I hadn't wanted to find more and more out about e game world, lore, and enviornment.

And I'll think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who'll disagree with me on that.

This.

I think that the people that thinks "this is not elder scrolls" just leave and let the people who thinks this is another way to play in the world they love stay and enjoy.
The world I love, the places I love, that defines Elder Scrolls to me. And this game IS ELDER SCROLLS, people like it or not.
Even if we played ELDER SCROOLS sitting on a table and on paper... would STILL be elder scrolls... but for some people "the game mechanics" ... bah!

You never asked for this?

You know what's awesome about that? You don't have to play it.

as far as the topic goes, I think there is more than just lore that makes Elder Scrolls what it is.

When people think of Elder Scrolls games, they think of open worlds, complete freedom in creating your character. There is an aspect of expecting a game to share in the same game mechanics that the series is known for. In regards to games like Battlespire and Redguard, I think that those games failed to become successful because they ultimately shared nothing with what makes Elder Scrolls popular. And that is the case with Elder Scrolls Online, I don't really see anything in this game thus far that represents what I loved about Elder Scrolls. There are pre-defined classes, the world doesn't seem open.

I don't think it's too much to want a game of the same franchise to share the traits that made it so great in the first place.

I'll give this game a fair chance, but seeing as how I don't see anything in it that I love about TES, and everything that I dislike about MMO's, I don't see this game being something that's gonna keep me.

This stance would work, if it weren't for the long list of titles I listed.

Let's take two similar Final Fantasy titles, and by similar I mean genre so as to avoid the angle that people might try to use saying that TES is not going from an RPG to a Kart racer but from an RPG to an MMORPG.

Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.

Both are completely different in how they present the battle system and completely different how they present the world when compared to the main numbered Final Fantasy series. Yet they both still feel very much like Final Fantasy games because the overall lore of Final Fantasy is still there.

Lore is not just story elements but elements within the game that are small but help define the series. Final Fantasy, for instance, is very well known for "Phoenix Downs." Phoenix Downs are lore. As long as the title has Phoenix Downs in them, a part of the overall lore of Final Fantasy is present because in Final Fantasy Phoenix Downs are part of lore.

The problem with the whole "when people think TES they think open worlds/freedom" is that those two aspects you just mentioned aren't exclusive to TES, they are the game mechanics that help drive the game, but you could quite easily palette swap Fallout, or Minecraft, onto the "open world/freedom" category and have yourself a Fallout or Minecraft game, not a TES game.

The lore is what's important. The lore is what makes the franchise different from other franchises. Game mechanics help, most definitely, and help drive the lore, but the thing with game mechanics is that they can easily be swapped in and out of the lore of other franchises.

The mechanics can be freely changed to match the genre. The lore is what keeps the soul of the franchise.

I MUST completely agree. I started with Morrowind and was the Story, the background, even the mystery of the dwarves the things that maked me crazy about the series. The ruins and wonder... what was that in the past? (for example)
IF the MMO can sustain those things, the things that make the game what we like, It will be TES, but just with a different way to play it (with other people).
As I said before, if you play TES on paper... would not be TES cause you are not in first person, but using just your imagination based on the paper description?

Now I'm no programmer, nor mechanic. But I'd say building a new engine isn't something you'd do very easily. There must be a million if not billion things to work out - and keep in mind you're looking to improve on what's already been done. Which requires a lot of innovation. I guess that's the reason I have a Ford engine in my 5-y/o Volvo.

So I say, don't blame them on using an existing engine. Personally I haven't played 'SWTOR' and have no intention in doing so, so my first encounter with the HeroEngine will be in TESO. And you know what? I'm looking forward to it.

P.S.


RPG stands for 'Role Playing Game'. But no hard feelings, you made me giggle.

It takes anywhere between 1 - 3 years to build a game engine.

From scratch.

Hero Engine... oh for f sake someone emp that office, and give them crayons.
I went from an independent label game from Aventurine, had 1000 players besiege our alliance of over 700 1 server 1 world
It was a world war for all intents, yeh it got laggy having nearly 1800 players in the zone, but objectives were met.
Aventurine as small as they are built an engine capable of 3d and 500+ onscreen performance that actually reasonable.
There is a planet in swtor, Ilum "snowball with maybe 80 fairly stagnant models on it and very stagnant bases. 100 people CRIPPLE this zone
I becomes choppy on the best systems.
Arena... for the time was the ultimate. The last single player game I fully felt was on track... before that Ultima VII.
Its ok to read, the most amazing stories in games are read, our typical imagination can take words and make them magic.
Vast areas, make the world feel real give places to hide. easter eggs, random numbers. Voice acting, should be limited or supplemental.
Keep the game clean, from a design standpoint let the players build the game... Let the players build it they will possess it they will be loyal to it.
Its a magic thing those lego's the most expensive plastic brick in the world sells out every new product. Old products are 100x more valuable.
Give players the power to make a difference, give them politics, give them war, give them the ability to create and build.
Again sure have factions and subfactions/organizations, let guilds choose the faction let the players choose the sub/org. Let the guilds declare war, peace or trade.
Build alliances, let the players matter, and they will be far more reluctant to leave for another cookie cutter game where they own nothing, and can make no difference.
Every game in recent years does nothing, completely nothing to embrace and make welcome the casual gamer.
Not everyone can play to the extent that the power gamers can, right now games do nothing to make the sub par useful.
I remember being in Darkfall and ganking this one kid over and overwith an pickaxe in his hand I'd leave the pick axe so he could resume farming when he recovered his corpse
After a week I saw him and whispered him, I said you know I am making my rounds why don't you go bank?
He said if he did he would be reacting to an [censored] that does not deserve that much consideration, I told him I was honored. He replied he doubted it.
I said so why are you out here all the time, his reply was...
he: For this
me: To get Ganked over and over...
he: To meet people, My guild went back to wow mostly there is nothing for me to do there.
me:...

So turns out he was back from Iraq nothing worked the way it did when he left, he said being a part of the team was what mattered.
He played Darkfall because it could be as simple as clicking on a tree, and still able to matter, he had mad resources as I found out we eventually became friends and I saw him
Join a group of crafters, they were untouchable. why ? how on earth does a kid who can barely harvest wood become untouchable in a pvp game.
Because that group he was with would go from guild to guild after sieges and fix stuff for millions of gold, they had ships of the line and warhulks like you couldn't imagine then.
If you killed him those guilds would black list you from trading, would ban you from joining alliances at the cost of losing everything. Cities could be smashed.

The crafter is gone, there is no more crossing 30 zones to find a legendary smelter to make a 1% chance in some rare item. In fact everything is pre-generated & cookie cutter
Some people want to log in and belong like the kid I just talked about. I understand in SWG they had social classes that could spend the life of the character in a cantina...
These at the heart of them are role playing games, tools should be in place for characters to become roles.
I said this before, the world is ready for a sandbox that is rich in pve and conflict on a different level, give us cities to build then come smash them with a dev run dragon.
Give us ships and sink em with a sea monster whirlpools in old ultima, come on someone must remember how good games were.
TLDR

Go watch Braveheart pay attention to the politics, then watch Rob Roy just cause it was awesome, and take a dose of the original Excalibur.
Then fire up Arena and feel how empty and pathetic it feels, and think to yourself... this was the richest game around, and getting lost was possible.

I beg give players of all walks a chance to enjoy this world... it isn't about the pvp or the pve... quite honestly its about the rpg gamers from tables/consoles to cosplay/larps
Environments immersion... musicians, craftsmen,

Yes.

Am I asking too much? Is a game built from the ground up too difficult these days?

I am certain Bethesda will keep the same Elderscrolls vibe, encompassing with the Lore.... however an MMO could really divide the fan base

Game development doesn't work like that though. Engines are made to last a few years, being upgradable.

Think GTA3. That engine was enhanced for vice city and San Andreas.

Unreal 3 has been used in many games from Gears to Mirros Edge to Shadow Complex.

We already know TESO is going to be quite different. Of course there needs to be a way to solo all way to the max level. Just like there isnt quest hubs in TESO, that makes a whole different kind of experience, add some gigantic zones and I bet everyone want to experience it at least once.

And the RAGE engine. Man, I'd love to see an MMO on that. Great environments, handles a lot of peds, can do dynamic lighting without killing performance...

The difference between GTA 3's engine and the Hero Engine is that GTA3's engine was designed FOR gta. Not for a similar genre, but for THAT game. The hero engine is just an engine available for MMORPGs. This means that the engine wont be "specialized" at what a TES MMORPG will be. I would have no problem if they coded an engine from scratch, then made 2 other TES MMORPG's or spin-off MMORPGs (maybe fallout, it's always run on the same engine(when bethesda made/published it at least)) from it. However, they're not even doing that, they're just getting a cliche MMORPG engine. This means that the engine wont be FOR Tes:O, it will be for a cliche MMORPG that is modified to make it work for TES:O.

It's like a modder modding a game vs creating a game - the game is going to be closer to the original intention if they don't have to work around flaws in the current engine.