I've played many an MMO in my time, and I must say, one thing that is very rare to see in MMORPGs is people roleplaying. Obviously it happens, but it's not the norm by any means.

And that svcks.

The Elder Scrolls series is all about roleplaying. Genuine roleplaying. Not just making an Argonian, naming him "BOB LIZARDFACE" and then concerning yourself about level-ups and skills and perks. It's roleplaying in the sense of making real characters with personalities. With likes and dislikes. It's about interpreting the living, breathing world around you as if you're really a part of it. As if you are the character in-game and you exist in Tamriel.

The game reflects this notion with very realistic and detailed NPC behavior, dynamic environments, and care-given lore. Sure, some players are perfectly fine playing as Bob Lizardface, and if they enjoy that style of gameplay, then more power to them, but for those of us dedicated to the deep roleplaying experience, an MMORPG hinders that. Immersion is broken left and right by things like players standing in the center of the most popular town shouting "Selling Daedric longsword, 10K!!!! PST!!!!!"

And before you suggest "just join the roleplay-dedicated server," I've done that in other MMORPGs, and roleplay servers are no different than regular servers. I played World of Warcraft for a year on a roleplay server, and I only ever saw a handful of people roleplaying.

So while I'm very excited at the idea of The Elder Scrolls Online, I can't help but feel like the same multiplayer aspect that sells this game will also be the same aspect that kills roleplaying. Am I wrong about this? Are there MMOs out there that preserve immersion and roleplaying? What can TESO do to maintain a semblance of the series' previous levels of immersion?

Maybe there will be different servers, with a decent amount of roleplaying servers.

Oh, excuse me i missed a sentence in your post.
Eeeeeh...i guess we just have to wait and see.

I'm just glad this isn't Fallout online.
When your series becomes an MMORPG, you know it's dead.
Looking at TES the RP part has been stedily decreasing since Morrowind, so I won't be surprised if TESO will be just another MMO like all the other ones today.

In fact the only MMO which I consider a true RPG was Ultima Online and that was back in its heyday almost ten years ago.

EDIT: Though of course we can just wait and see. I was prejudiced about ME3 and while it was a disappointed, the aspects I was skeptical about turned to be quite fine.

Then don't play it.

You could just stick to the single player games, no one is forcing you to play this. Skyrim has just recently came out and we still have a few expansions to look forward to.

Fairly certain Dungeons & Dragons > The Elder Scrolls (any of them) in terms of RP.

RP will not die because a separate developer is making an MMORPG.

I agree on your comment about WoW roleplay servers.

However, a lot of this will depend on whether or not this game, in particular, will actually have official, and decent support at that, for roleplay servers/roleplayers in general.

Skyrim's hardly much of a RPG either, so I guess we can de like we always have.
Roleplay ourself.

The doomsayers are going to have a field day with this announcement.

Not sure if you're calling me a doomsayer or that I am luring doomsayers, but the gradual decrease in quality from Morrowind to Skyrim doesn't look too promising. I will refrain from making any judgements until we hear more of this.

Coming to think of it, perhaps Bethesda's current style fits MMO's the best. Their single player abilities are indeed lacking, I have no doubt they can beat everyone else in creating a MMO world for many to play in.

That's very arguable. And at least you can walk around in Skyrim without any fear of being accosted by pubascent, foul-mouthed, and generally obnoxious idiots.

That said, I'm really disappointed that The Elder Scrolls series is now walking down the MMO road. A gigantic amount of lore will undoubtedly be explored in this game but I feel that there will ultimately be very little room to really appreciate it since players will never be given a proper chance to actually roleplay.

How is that relevant to what I said? I said I was excited about the MMO, just concerned about the roleplaying aspect. I in no way expressed that this is some make-or-break thing.

I've been a huge Elder Scrolls fan for ten years now. It's my hobby. If there's an Elder Scrolls game, I'm going to play it. I'll still play the single player games like I have been, but I want to enjoy the MMO too. Again, I'm not saying this MMO is going to svck. I would never make such bold statements. I'm merely concerned for a popular aspect of the series in this new title.

I don't want to bring the debate of whether or not Skyrim is an RPG here, and it's not really relevant either. The point is, I can roleplay very very easily in Skyrim and in most games in the series.

This is my main concern aswell. I will use Star Wars: The Old Republic as my example. I have, and always will, had a deep love for Star Wars. I've watched the movies all throughout my life, read most of the novels, and played a lot of the games. Needless to say, I was excited and optimistic for SWTOR. The idea of being a my own character in the Star Wars Universe made me so excited I could hardly stand it. My main focus throughout the game was, roleplaying. On the forums, pre-launch, that was all I cared about. Sadly, that game has killed the series for me, atleast for awhile. I haven't watched any of the movies since December, nor have I read any of the books.....it just kinda killed it for me. The combat was so bland, the story was very boring, and the roleplaying was horrible, I've had better in Runescape. xD With that said, I don't want this to happen to the Elder Scrolls. By that I mean to take something that I love, and twist it into something so foreign and different that I can't even recognize what universe I'm in.

So, I will be highly pessimistic about The Elder Scrolls: Online, I hope it will be good, I hope I'm horribly wrong. I, however, am afraid that it'll ring true.... =/

Well guys I think there is some light in the fact that it's not Bethesda developing this game. this might turn quite well in the end.

While, yes, I agree that MMOs aren't really bastions of "roleplaying" (not that most CRPGs have much of it)....


To me, the Elder Scrolls series is all about 1) open world exploration, and 2) the general advancement mechanic of "use skills, improve skills.

-----

That said... yeah, I can't picture TES multiplayer, even without the typical horrible MMO culture.


edit: re:roleplaying..... to me, it seems like the people who already are doing "serious" RP (playacting everyday things that aren't part of the game engine, like eating & sleeping at regular times/etc) would be just as capable of puttering around on one of WoW's "RP" servers, acting out their characters through word, action, and /emote. It's the same thing - doing things to "be" your character that aren't required by the game itself. Of course, the people who seem most into that in TES also seem not terribly likely to want to play an MMO. (disclaimer: assumptions based on observation of other posters over time.)

If you don't like the RP'ing ability in this game then don't play it.

And where did you get the idea that I have any preconceived feelings about the roleplaying ability of a game I know nothing about? I made this topic as a way to discuss how roleplaying will be in an Elder Scrolls MMO, not to complain about how I can't roleplay anymore. The point is I don't know, so let's speculate. So take your attitude elsewhere, because it is not helping anything.

My attitude? TESO will not kill any RP'ing simply don't let idiots get to you. and slay them in PvP if they pester you.

For me to have an excellent RP experience they'd pretty much have to cut out all pre-manufactured items. All created by the players, the ability to form Factions, a ton of dungeons. So you're not in a dark Falmer hold, searching for something.....spectacular! Then Jiggy4booty runs by you.....I've experienced that way to many times in MMOs. If this makes sense I want total isolation, yet total population. xD

If you think it won't hinder roleplaying, then say that. Don't blow me off and just tell me not to play. I want to play and I want to like this game and I'm going into it with an open-mind and a desire to make it work for me. The point of this thread is to open discussion for people who roleplay heavily to make this MMO work for them.

Okay then. i misunderstood you.

If you dislike it, then don't play it.
If you (and many more faithful roleplaying-fans) are lucky, there might be specific roleplaying servers. And that could turn out great

LOTRO is one of the games I know of that kind of have a RPing fan base and a server or 2 to go along with it. Not that it always happens or it's the perfect RPing experience, but it's there. So I think it's possible for these guys to have added one as well. ZMax Online knows how the TES games go.

Find a RP group/clan/guild, and ignore the non-RPers. If the RP guild is good enough, it won't be that hard.

That's my plan as of right now. Hopefully ignoring the non-RPers is easy and the guild is good. Can't help but be worried though.