I doubt it. Zenimax's name is on the plate, not Bethesda's.

I can see it affecting how Bethesda designs the next TES game. For example, if Valenwood is the next location, Bethesda will have to design Valenwood based off what Zenimax does with Valenwood. If Zenimax puts in some major location in Valenwood, it'll likely appear in the single-player version since it'll be a part of the lore.

As for this:

No.

I do hope that Bethesda ignores it outright and designs it in the quote, unquote, "Right" way. The way that they had intended it and not this half-arsed development team.

Since it isn't made by the same company, I don't see how you think the single player games will stop. Just because they are trying something new doesn't have to mean that the old idea is going to stop.

They really have all the artistic license they want. 1000 years is a long time. Architectural styles and such things tend to change and new regimes would like supplant the old. Disasters can happen that alter the provinces' assets. Wars can destroy cities and things like the Oblivion Crisis and the Red Year can have untold effects.

In short, I wouldn't worry about the art direction being affected too much.

If anything the MMO seems inspired from the games. Ordinator armor and nearly identical Orcish Armor for instance are in the scans and very much resemble previous armors. Which is actually kind of odd considering the wild changes in the various armor types from game to game and it being set 750-1,000 years in the past depending on which game we use as a base for comparison.

I imagone that we haven't seen another warcraft RTS because it would basically (at this point in time anyways) be competing only with Blizzards other RTS series by the name of Starcraft.

Two different markets, not everyone that is a fan of warcraft is a fan of starcraft and vice versa.
Yeah there really is an unlimited amount of things that could happen and if future TES games are not to be affected then it would ultimately be a negative outcome for either TES or TESO, or both. It would either restrict TES or restrict TESO, but hopefully Zenimax will have to greenlight any major changes with Bethesda before throwing them out there. All I hope for is that this becomes a great mmo, I'll hold back my terrible outbursts of enragement until I know for sure that I will not like the game, and even then it might be a good source of income for future development.

I imagine not, with me being one of them. However, I can see enough people who would have quite a dilemma of either buying Heart of the Swarm, or WC4. Not to mention the development resources (outside of WoW) that are currently being used by various projects (one of which could very well be WC4 for all I know).

Thanks for the responses and the official quote too.

Its not like Beth is only working on TES, so having an MMO could mean that they focus on their other titles and forget TES SP altogether. But fortunately this is not the case.

I am happy.

Only time will tell. Zenimax may very well say "You need to do this with the lore, because we're doing this with the expansion. Tough cookies".

Speaking of story, I just saw the trailer and they mention dragons too much, I hope its not a continuation of skyrim lol

He didnt say they would do another TES single player game now did he?

No, we didn't, we might have needed multiplayer, funnier quest, etc. but not an mmo.

All hail Pete Hines! Lord of easing the worry of TES fans!

Of course it won't effect SP releases. That's just silly.

Like being shot in the groin and throat I needed this. As long as my single player TES is uneffect I don't care though.

No but he strongly implied it.

He did not imply anything about future TES. BGS will continue to make single player rpgs but wheter these will be TES or not remains unknown.

You sound as though what you're saying is some sort of revelation. The future is always uncertain for people not in the know. That's life, not conspiracy.

It may cause franchise fatigue.

Fatigue? If anything, it's keeping things fresh and exciting.

If it fails and they lose millions of dollars then yes it will affect the single player TES games.

its set 1000 years before skyrim

And in the trailer he mentions the dragon fires and how they are un-lit...if you dont know what teh Dragon fires are then...well shame on you

This was in development before Fallout 3 and Skyrim released. They had to be confident that after Oblivion, the Bethesda name and the Elder Scrolls name would carry more weight in 2012 compared to 2007. They must have felt confident with where they were heading. Brand recognition has come a long way in the last 5 years.

Without a doubt, it will.