It's all down to the creators of the game, really, not the genre of the game. If they are able produce an addition to the game franchise, change several things of the core gameplay, and actually provide smooth and enjoyable gameplay while retaining some of the old genre's standards, I'd say it's a hit in the making.
That's what happened with WoW; I've heard from several accounts that the dedicated Warcraft players were not entirely pleased with such a sudden change in genre. Yet, I would actually say they -did- retain certain core gameplay elements of the Warcraft games - raids of several player heroes and main storyline for example - which could be comparable to a coating of sugar on top of a mud cake. It just took people some getting used to to the taste of mud.

I guarantee you ESO would lose most, if not all of the casual majority if players were forced to serve jail time in a game for hours. That might be fun for an advocate of sandboxes or a hardcoe player, but that won't be fun for the bulk of players who may have an interest in the game. As I said before, mainstream MMORPGs really aren't your scene. You are best off looking towards Darkfall Unholy Wars and Embers of Caerus. Those games will offer an experience much more in line with what you want from a MMORPG. Most people will not share your views.

I agree with the first paragraph but the second paragraph is a little bit too harsh for anyone even for hardcoe players IMHO. There shouldn't be jail time involved in punishing thiefs and bandits when they get arrested, just skillpoints(XP and levels) and money.

I hate it when people put words in my mouth. I absolutely hate it. I am not pissed off at Zeni, I understand enough about game development and marketing to realize it won't play like a single-player TES game, I'm okay with that, and have been a fan of the series since Morrowind, with the unusual trait of actually liking any of the subsequent installments.

Well, I've seen jail working in roleplay before, so I'd actually say a lot of the hardcoe sandbox gamers would be better off roleplaying; what the game doesn't allow, roleplayers do it anyway, lol.

My question to you then if this is a proven system, why haven't we seen it in more MMORPGs?

Perhaps I'm wrong about this, but it seems like you want a player-driven TES sandbox. That being said, most MMORPGs of this type tend to be PvP-oriented and not really offer anything else. They certainly don't have any substantial PvE content most of the time. I expect you would essentially want players to have the role to do anything and more or less run the society and civilization of the game.

Bounty systems are nothing new to MMORPGs for one. It is a system that has been done before and ultimately has had mixed results. Bounty systems are also nothing new or innovative, so not really sure what point you are trying to make here. If they were so popular, more MMORPGs will still have the system today. However, just like dedicated crafting, it was a niche and ultimately has been tossed aside to the dustbin of outdated MMO concepts.

Who's to say the factions will be a three-way death match? You can not predict this anymore than I can. RvR will be completely player-driven and it will be up to the guilds in those factions who dictate the agenda. I expect more alliance-building and compromises more so than anything else for people to get what they want. You also don't have to technically participate in the RvR if you are so against faction-based PvP. It's completely optional.

The point again is first person does not work well for MMORPGs. How well tab targetting functions is ultimately up to the developer and how they create it. We can't say one way or the other as ESO has no previous MMOs on their porfolio that they have built before as a team.

Lets be honest. Third person wasn't really a viable option in Morrowind or Oblivion. You certainly could do it, but it was more frustrating than anything else. It wasn't until Skyrim (even though I still think it's bad) that third person really even became an option. TES games have been and possibly will always be first person dominated games.

DAoC has arguably the best PvP system ever to be produced in a MMORPG. That's a major reason why we are seeing the system return in ESO. We also can't make judgments about the game of how themepark or sandbox it is. Right now it is incorporating a lot of themepark elements into many of the systems, but it also has sandbox systems as well (RvR, weapon expertise, synergy, exploration-based questing, etc.). We still don't know about crafting, auction house, and other systems that are crucial for a sandbox.

I can't comment on server types as we do not currently know. All we can go off of is what DAoC offered (it had FFA PvP, PvE, and RvR). Only the RvR was really viable as FFA PvP led to unorganized and meaningless PvP and the PvE removed RvR with open faction borders and no faction identity.

The market for sandbox games is not huge. If that were actually true, sandbox games wouldn't have become a niche in the past ten years. All sandbox games have proven is that they only attract a small, dedicated fan base whereas themeparks can attract millions of casual players. The closest thing there is to a current gen AAA sandbox MMO is EVE and it only houses about 400,000 subscribers. Those are not the kinds of numbers ZeniMax wants for an Elder Scrolls MMORPG.

I'm not even really talking about SWTOR. In regards to its story though, it was actually well done. The reason why the game has declined is because of its endgame, but that's another matter. Again, this really depends on how ESO approaches there being thousands of heroes. We haven't played the game so we can't really judge one way or the other if it works or not.

There is no evidence for this. You are merely making an assumption that you hope would be true. If sandbox MMOs could generate large communites and money, there would be A LOT of them. They just don't and no game to this day has proven otherwise. Arch Age is a underground sandbox I guarantee you most casual MMO players haven't even heard of. Lets not forget that it is also a Korean MMORPG and we know how those games generally always turn out. The only major MMORPG gamers probably even know about coming in the future is ESO.

MMORPG developers used to follow that mentality a decade ago, but they have sense moved on. Whether wrong or right, developers are against punishing players in any situation. This is why you have largely seen gear decay disappear, death penalties disappearing, as well as other systems that could be considered punishing to the player. You will only generally find such systems in a niche MMORPG created by an Indy developer.

The true goal here shouldn't be for ESO to just do something new. If anything, ZOS should try to make ESO into a great and fun game that TES fans and MMORPG fans alike can enjoy. I personally would much rather have a fun game that I can enjoy and have a great time in than end up with a Final Fantasy XIV which was "new," but inevitably failed because it wasn't fun and people did not enjoy it. Now Final Fantasy XIV is going to be "more of the same" in order to try and regain a footing on the MMO market.

People typically tend to define TES differently for what they believe it means. I like to look at what BGS stated about TES: "Going wherever you want and doing whatever you want." As long as that principle is largely maintained in ESO it will be the TES game people have been wanting to play with their friends for a long time. It doesn't need to be a Skyrim clone to be a "true" or "new" TES experience.

Again, you make use of assumptions to try and elevate your own personal interests. If anything, ESO will merely elevate the TES franchise to new heights, gaining a larger fan base, and taking future BGS titles the games haven't gone before. If ZOS were to take your advice and make a sandbox and "new" TES MMO, that would likely do nothing for the franchise and would more than likely lose ZeniMax a lot of money and confidence.

Exactly. What the game lacks players can do within the form of role playing. Sandbox games generally are just MMORPGs that encourage a deeper form of role play through social interaction.

The OP isn't looking to RP though. He wants a Skyrim Clone that is an MMORPG and that is just something that will not happen. My best advice for him is to either stick to the single player games, where that experience makes sense and is plausible, or play the niche sandbox MMORPGs that do offer his experience, but are a mixed bag of goods at best.

Stating what the majority "wants" because of what he actually "wants" doesn't do anything for his thread other than make people turned off by his statements.

Amen to those two paragraphs.

That is true. I merely pointed out that it's what roleplayers do all the time. For example, while WoW had a long, long time without a single major patch, us roleplayers were entertained by our "own sandbox experiences"; what the developers gave us, we used it creatively.

I agree with those paragraphs too( Amen no.2).

Well I think that this game needs to be for the largest potential subscription base. That means both ES and mmo players. We can talk and argue for hours how the perfect ESO would look like( we have different opinions). I really don't understand some people that reply with "Don't expect this to be skyrim online or oblivion online." I'm not expecting that for an example, and I don't have anything against some mmo features in the game as long as there are other ES style features combined( and hopefully new inovative features).

I think it is in everyones interest that this game has hell a lot of features for everyone( more features=more subscriptions=more money for the developers=more added features). I think it is better for all of us to talk about what features does everyone want and maybe they will eventually show up in the game...

Did I mention features?

No i did not.. all that was done against NPC's not other people.

LMFAO if you honestly think a paying player will be ok with having their game time spent locked in a jail cell.

would also like to add to the combat portion, Neverwinter also is using a two skill combat BUT it is real time, and that's launching sometime next year. And if Im not mistaken it is F2P(which is something I'm not so happy about) but that will definitely draw some people who are looking for a western free to play fantasy MMO.