Here I will talk about why I think all this talk of 'no, they should do x because realism is better and more immersive.' I will try to make this as organized and professional as possible, but chances are it will mostly devolve into a Mal-rant.
1) Games do not need to be realistic to be immersive. tons of people got immersed in Oblivion, but that is a game about a hellish plane of existence breaking into our world because something called 'The Dragonfires' aren't lit. You spend a lot of time fighting mythical beasts and demonic creatures, often being lit on fire without consequence and thing taking multiple direct sword hits to kill (while showing very little damage). Nirn is a world of magic and deep, fantastical lore that is far from 'realistic'. Does that make the Elder Scrolls series not immersive? NO. They are arguably the most immersive games out there, and people get completely lost in them.
2) Realism does not make a fun game, at least to the majority of players. Zenimax wants this game to be huge and successful, so catering to a niche is a bad call. Compare Call of Duty to Operation Flashpoint. Call of Duty is a sales behemoth, Operation Flashpoint is not (I know they sell alright, but don't try to even act like it is mainstream successful to anywhere near the extent of COD and Halo).
In COD, you get shot and all you have to do is find some cover and get a breather, and people usually don't insta-die from a single bullet if it is not a strong sniper rifle. The game is easily accessible, the UI is incredibly helpful, and it is NOT AT ALL REALISTIC. This, regardless if it is your cup of tea (im not a COD fan really) is enormously fun for the majority of people obviously, considering the amount of repeat sales.
In Operation Flashpoint, if you get shot in the face/head by ANYTHING (could be a stray pistol bullet) you are DEAD, on ANY difficulty. Oh, did i mention the difficulty only increases AI and how little UI you have? On the hardest difficulty you have to really focus on understanding orders and know real military lingo. The average player will be clueless, and if you get shot you are pretty much done for. An arm shot you have to immediately start treating with first aid, and even afterwards your accuracy greatly suffers. Shot in the leg? you have to apply lengthy first aid and afterwards you are much slower and less mobile... All of that may sound 'cool', but to anyone outside of that narrow niche, it is not. Even on the easiest difficulty you will find yourself unable to do any sort of run-and-gun, storming, etc. The game is a whole lot of waiting, listening for orders, planning, and all of that leads up to about 30 seconds leaving five enemies dead, and hopefully you live through it.
Which is more successful? COD, by an enormous long-shot. People don't like realism when it intrudes on their fun, especially when the Average Gamer is an advlt who has other responsibilities and may only have an hour or so a day to play. During this time, they usually want instant gratification and fun gameplay, not hyper-realism.
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So now you know that not only is going for realistic a bad business move, it also makes the game absurdly hard. A successful MMO HAS to be able to be played by 'noobs' most of the time. If you are a skilled gamer, dungeons raids and pvp is where you will find a challenge. But you should not expect everyone to rise to your level, because some people may not be great players but still want to have fun. Their money is just as good as your money.
also, NONE of the Elder Scrolls were realistic regardless of difficulty. This should be Elder Scrolls, infused with fun and successful MMO standards. That is what they are doing, and it has the potential to be amazing. So Please continue, my good sir. up realism. Want realism? Go play Operation Flashpoint and Arma, because fantasy universes aren't meant for realism and that shows by the lack of successful realistic medieval games.
We play games to ESCAPE real life for a short while. Decompress, forget about our jobs and responsibilities, shut out the world and have fun in a way that merely 50 years ago would seem science fiction. So why bring in so many real life limitations into it? D&D let you play tanky characters too, so its obvious in the realm of fantasy that true 'realism' is not welcome.
All Zenimax has to do is incorporate good MMO features while maintaining the 'Elder Scrolls Feel' and they will have a successful game on their hands. Will it Dethrone WoW? Shut up, who cares? All that matters is that it has a healthy population and pays the bills for Zenimax enough that it stays around and has a nice and long lifespan. Anything beyond that is a fool's worry, and I would suggest accepting WoW as a 'came at the right time' phenomenon.
In Conclusion: Realism does not make a fun game. 'real life: the game' would not be fun for the average person. Catering to realism would make this game very niche, which in the MMO world is quite a gamble. Let the game be Elder Scrolls meets MMO, which is what they are going for, and happens to not be realistic.
Everyone have fun and enjoy the game for what it is, rather than demanding it be what it shouldn't. If you love realism, thats cool! Just keep in mind you are in the minority no matter how vocal, and your day may come. ESO will likely be more immersive and realistic than WoW, if that is your comparing mark, so take joy in that.
Thank you for reading, I appreciate it. Feel free to flame me, realism-lovers