Elder Scrolls online Dev play session.

[Everon]

Hi guys,

Just received an email from Bethesda/Zenimax linking to a new Dev play session that shows group play etc. Thought I would post the link here for those interested.

[video=youtube_share;wJZv9nRfa2Y]http://youtu.be/wJZv9nRfa2Y[/video]

Elder Scrolls Online releases 4/4/14 for PC and Mac and in June 2014 for Xbox One and Playstation 4.

 

[Grimezy]

This is the first bit of gameplay footage I've really watched and I'm quite encouraged by it. Looks like it plays exactly like Skyrim/Oblivion apart from being online... I don't see why people are being so negative about it.

The combat looks a bit spammy but at the same time what MMO isn't?! It looks engaging enough that you actually need skill to survive rather than just hitting buttons and it looks very much like GW2 but Skyrim'esque.

I wasn't excited about this at all but now I kind of am...

 

[Androcles]

Looks like it plays exactly like Skyrim/Oblivion apart from being online... I don't see why people are being so negative about it.

This is exactly why people are being so negative about it. The Skyrim/Oblivian style of game engine simply does not work in an MMO, simple things like having to stand still to open your inventory because it fades out to the inventory screen are huge blocks in an mmo, you NEED to be able to do things like sort inventory etc on the move, the same goes for ability window, character window and all the other windows.

The combat style is not right for an MMO either, it needs to be more reaction and ability skill based and less about spamming your mouse button, and the targeting system does not work in mmo's either, for example when grouping in an mmo if you play a healer you need to have simple and easy ways to target your group members for healing etc, but with this free form aimed target system it just means that you're going to be running around trying to dodge other group members while you try to aim your target at the guy very quickly dying.

Overall they have a very good game, I enjoyed most of it, but the mechanics are not designed for the type of game they're trying to produce and they simply don't work.

 

[Grimezy]

I'm not sure I agree, the inventory and ability windows can be easily adapted to an MMO and as for the free aim targeting system they had something similar in GW2 and it worked absolutely fine. Most skills would be spamming a button but a few of them (like AoE attacks) would require aiming. There was an auto-aim although you could target individual enemies if you wanted to and 90% of the combat was how you reacted to the enemy rather than how good your macros were. Fights actually required dodging and thought, if you saw the enemy charging an attack you'd have to quickly roll back to evade it. It wasn't like other MMO's where you just stand there spamming the same buttons relying on you being the right kind of class with the highest DPS, etc.

Ever since I first played Oblivion I ALWAYS wanted to play it co-op with people as I thought the whole idea of having a big open world with loads of quests, etc would be 10x better with a friend. With the graphics and the fact you can play first person or third person on ESO I really think this could be the game for me. People should maybe stop judging it compared to the likes WoW and other MMO's and maybe start judging it as a slightly lesser skyrim but with online capabilities.

I'll definitely wait till I've played it to decide my verdict though.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

Two things that are going to be interesting to see how they work out for ESO:

1. ESRB have given it a "Mature" rating (pretty much every other MMO gets a "Teen" rating). This won't of course hold back sales too much, and could be seen as a selling point even, but it still a risk.

2. Sub. Games made in the early 2000s (WoW, EVE etc) have maintained a sub based approach. Without doing a whole load of checking, I am pretty sure every recent game that tried a sub based model has either gone F2P or simply...gone. (TOR being the prime example, but Warhammer, LotRO and many others).


Particularly with the sub thing, it will be good to see what they can bring to the game to make it worth it. Else why not just pay £30 for Skyrim and be done?

 

[Grimezy]

2. Sub. Games made in the early 2000s (WoW, EVE etc) have maintained a sub based approach. Without doing a whole load of checking, I am pretty sure every recent game that tried a sub based model has either gone F2P or simply...gone. (TOR being the prime example, but Warhammer, LotRO and many others).


Particularly with the sub thing, it will be good to see what they can bring to the game to make it worth it. Else why not just pay £30 for Skyrim and be done?

Yes this is a good point that I'd forgotten about. I've played MMO's heavily in the past but I like to think I've 'cured' my addiction now! I still get enjoyment from them but I don't get hooked like I used to, that's why I enjoy GW2 as I've been able to play it on and off over the past year without any real commitment and I can still pick it up and have fun on it.

I suppose the only good thing about subscription models is it's less about pay to win like a F2P can be. Perhaps it will just be a solid game and we'll be paying for genuine quality rather than some naff looking MMO.

 

[Everon]

Well I played in the previous beta on the 10th January and while there still were a few things that need tweaking I found the overall play experience pretty good. The menu fade as you play was annoying but I am sure they will either change that or perhaps give an option to disable it, the combat felt ok but I couldn't get to grips playing it in first perspective. I guess that would be as I am a wow player and although I have completed oblivion and skyrim I don't feel first perspective works in an mmo, but the third perspective is there for a reason and works great so it's down to players choice.

The combat choices via talents and spell/abilities that you place in your 5 slots and quickslot seem pretty varied and allows for a lot of character customisation. Certainly I felt more choice than in skyrim and it didn't feel restricted like skyrim with just one attack on the mouse (ability bar solves that)

Still three more months and probably one or two more beta live tests to iron out issues. I had to fill in a pretty extensive survey after playing the beta so Bethesda clearly are listening to what players want and think. No mmo is perfect on launch and I am sure this one will be no different in having bugs and things that will need ironing out with player feedback once launched. Overall I'm looking forward to playing it once launched as it cannot be worse than what wow has become in latest expansion.

As for f2p vs sub I am firmly on the side of paying a subscription as you do get what you pay for long term. Every f2p mmo I have played so far (swtor,gw,gw2) start out with great ideas and lots of promise but in my opinion have failed and I frequently return to playing wow. Those that argue that f2p is the way to go seem to forget that the largest mmo to date (subscriber base) is wow. In my opinion you cannot afford to make a quality product that will last the test of time with quality expansions and customer support with a f2p model.

 

[Deklore]

I played the beta as well. I'll admit it wasnt for long because i didnt like it. It played like a less accurate version of Skyrim. Given how spammy and unprecise Skyrim's combat is, thats not saying much for ESO, but then again could they have done better for an MMO?

@ Androcles. I agree with you on the spammy combat, but i dont agree with you on the targeting system. I used to play Tera with its action combat and if you were a healer, there were skills that needed targeting. This adds an extra layer of "things to consider" when healing instead of just tabbing onto your next target wherever you are.

To be honest i dont think the payment model is the problem. The problem is, does the game have enough to hold you? Regardless of f2p or p2p, if a game is good then people will play it. I for one would be happy to pay a sub fee for ESO or any other MMO if i thought it was good and kept coming back to it.
F2p or p2p if a game doesnt hold me i will stop playing it.

I think ESOs problem is that its trying to turn an offline single player experience into an MMO. Thats when you have restrictions of what is possible technically as well as story and experience, I mean ESO is basically Skyrim with worse graphics and worse gameplay, but has all the multi player benefits of an MMO.
Then if you add the fact that ESO will have a sub fee AND micro transactions then of course you are going to get negative reactions.

 

[Androcles]

but the third perspective is there for a reason and works great so it's down to players choice.

Actually it doesn't work very well at all, a lot of people are complaining that it's too rigid, you're always in one of three states either 1. First person, 2. 3rd person with the camera a comfortable distance but with that really annoying of to the side angle that a lot of single player game shave now days or 3. a proper behind the head third person but zoomed out way too far, there's no in between where you can adjust to your comfort zone like in many mmo's.

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

When I first heard about ESO, I was actually of a mind that they might try and do something different than "Oblivion/Skyrim Online". Technically if it is in the same world and at least adheres to "RPGness" of the series, I think it would have been cool for them to go down a different route altogether But that's just me.

Also, are the graphics really not as good as Skyrim? Is that to do with the online nature of it? Or the fact it is on consoles too? (presume all would play together?)

 

[Grimezy]

Also, are the graphics really not as good as Skyrim? Is that to do with the online nature of it? Or the fact it is on consoles too? (presume all would play together?)

From watching that video in the OP I genuinely thought the graphics looked nice. Perhaps not Skyrim nice but certainly by an MMO's standards it is. The character individuality looks a lot nicer as well, it doesn't just look like some unrealistic character full of over-the-top armour... they seem to look like proper people with realistic armour if you get what I mean. Believe it or not, very similar to the characters in Skyrim and Oblivion

 

[D1craig]

nah they dont do cross platform games anymore. seems to have failed with dc universe.

i liked the extra buttons the game gave you for skills, and yea apart form the mouse buttons to swing your swords it felt like any other mmo for me.