Or maybe it's not a bad joke...Imagine...The Elder Scrolls Online turns out to be the shining light of original creativity in the mouldy, generic world of the mmo industry.

But what are the chances?

The reality of the mmo industry: Some corporate marketing suit pointing at a graph during a board meeting and proclaiming, 'mmo's are where the money's at - let's cobble one together, hang it on a big IP and watch the profits roll in.'

Creatively, they're the result of a bunch of suits identifying key demographics and audience tastes, and then welding a design-by-committee product together that appeals to the broadest range of wallets.

What you get is the plastic, corporate, cash-cow copy of a successful formula...but with 'a Whole New Spin!!' Only that 'spin' turns out to be as starved as creativity and originality as the rest of the shiny package. Dynamic world events? An emphasis on story? Revamped combat system? I don't remember any of it really changing anything. The rot was too deep.

Consuming 'The New MMO' gets to be become kinda like eating a Slappy Meal at McRonalds while listening to Justin Dweiber on your triPod and reading 'Teen vampires go at it...again.'

Will TESO taste exactly the same? If it does, i'm likely to puke.

Don't read the GI article. It will break your heart. This is a waking nightmare.

I'm hoping a lot of innovation is present, but I'll be happy just to have a new MMO that focuses on a fully fleshed, persistent PVP conquest end-game.

That would do for me, too, but is it really more likely than the game of gear-ladders, grinding dailies, fetch quests, rinse and repeat hub-to-hub 'progression', repetitve instanced pvp that results in pvp reward grinds etc etc

I hope you're right and I'm just hugely cynical.

Do yourselves a favor. Do not follow this game. Wait until the game launches and three months go by. Look at subscription numbers, watch player videos, and then read forum posts. If it feels and looks like something fun, make a subscription and give it a shot. If it still doesn't interest you, then you wouldn't have wasted a years worth of forum trolling and possibly money. You could be following another project you feel you would enjoy.

Yeah, I don't want to be a cynic here either but from what I have seen so far though it is an early judgement it looks 'typical' mmo. Just like the scores of others released. I admit I was never keen for a TES MMO but if there were to be one, which there were I was hoping for features that would make it unique and stand out for me to get as a TES player. I have not yet seen these things. Perhaps gameplay will change my mind, but I swear if I see 'typical mmo jump animation' I will cry.


-They are not trolling, just because an opinion is different from yours does not mean they are trolling
-We are trying to add constructive critisim
-As TES fans, why else would we be here? We all have vested intrest in this game
-They (the players) are obliged to have our say about this game, that way the devs may be able to listen and change things

I think the thing that has people so upset is not just the possibility of a mediocre, typical MMO, but of the fact that the MMO is very likely coming in liue of a traditional TES game. This forum is, with the exception of many new Skyrim fanatics, built on long time fans of the traditional formula, and this is more than one "giant leap" away form what we love.

Look at my forum join date...

Now, as sad and pathetic as this may seem, I enjoy following this series. I always have. And I am disappointed at the direction it's taken.

I'm not about to throw myself off a bridge over it - I'll just have an opinion.

That would be understandable, but it's been made clear by both Zenimax and Bethesda that this game has nothing to do with the traditional TES series. Bethesda is still working on their TES (console-style) titles. This MMO is being made by a different studio in a completely different town. I'm sure at the beginning they were sharing some resources, especially so the new studio didn't mess up the lore, but at this point they are separate entities.

A perfect, shining example of why this MMO is the wrong move. Bethesda is rare among developers in that it has a (large) fanbase of people who have been with it for literally over a decade, and have yet to be truly disappointed. This MMO is turning 180 and flying as far away from the tradition these particular fans love as possible, as if the developers answered the brand new fans who bought Skyrim and say "hey, wouldn't this be cool if it was WoW instead?"
It is all opinion. Mine included, but opinion.

Maybe, but that just reminds me of how TOR being made at Bioware Austin would apparently not impact the studios responsible for the ME and DA games.

Then came ME3: the great ME2 rehash (I won't even mention the ending), and DA2 was just...DA2.

I'm not against another mmo, I've been playing the things for years. I'm just against 'Yet Another MMO,' especially when it's riding on the back of a series that I've enjoyed so much for so long.

You guys are sorely mistaken if you believe that the developers are pinning their cherished concepts and hopes on this game. They may not line-up with your expectations, but don't believe that everyone involved is simply a money grubber looking to rake in a ton of cash. That guy does exist, but he's the same guy that says "lets make TES: V" or "lets get to work on the next Fallout."

If that's the case I think they should give up making games entirely.

It should never be about the profit, but about making a good game.

Play Guild Wars 2 then. It'll be out by the end of summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI

The goal is to make a good game that makes great profit. Maybe you don't understand the business. I have seen you say something similar in many threads. You have to remember that when X company makes a game, it is about profit. When Apple makes a new iPad, it is about profit. When a new OS comes out for a machine, part of it is to fix bugs, and the other was profit. If it was only about having a great OS, they would just release all updates free.

At the end of the day, it is a business.

I might, but I'm more excited to see what Firor has done with TES. GW2 seems very blah to me. Plus, I'm just not a fan of the Korean art style that ArenaNet churns out. It's all about personal taste, bud.

I'd love to see the focus move away from bottom lines and profit and head back more towards pleasing fans and making something special.

While I am sure game developers understand and want this, the publishers are different. I get where you are going, and I would love to have people make games just to make awesome games, but if those games don't profit, and do not profit greatly at times, they won't be making games very long.