[Nuno Castro]

There's no way an Elder Scrolls MMO could succeed. I could see them doing this if Warcraft's popularity and content was starting to die down, but considering that the Cataclysm expansion and that Witch King continuation are coming out (likely) in 2010, this is probably the worst time ever to compete with Blizzard. With both games using a fantasy aesthetic, the theme itself is too similar to Warcraft.

Bethesda makes a killing off of each Single -Player (!!!) RPG they make, Elder Scrolls or Fallout. Why change the formula? Even if this doesn't effect TES:V, its still annoying to get announcements about Elder Scrolls:Pinball instead of the game most of us actually care about.

[Jesus Lopez]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/106/1063081p1.html

*dies a bit inside*



No. Just... no.

Wow. [censored] that article. [censored] that writer. He clearly needs to re-think his priorities....

[ZANEY82]

I think this is great news. This is certainly a step foward, IMO, in TES series. There are fans for Morrowind, fans for Oblivion and there wil be fans for MMORPG made by Bethesda & C.O. Why would this not succeed? Look at World of Warcraft! How many of you readers can honestly say that, I tested & tried it and hated it ? I have played Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 for 4 for years now and I always thought that I?am NOT going to be so stupid, that I would pay monthly 15 euros, to play some RPG in the net, when I have all these RPGs allready. Well surpsire, surprise!!!! :celebrate:

My youngest son (12-years) wished WoW for christmas present and we (parents) decided to let him have it. This is game that suits him well and we can control it totally through payment. The game was installed about 14 days ago, I have played it for about 10 days and I LOVE IT. No more ?ber player, hack-em-all, running through quests, like in vanilla Oblivion. This is tough game, with tough opponents that are 1 or 2 levels below or upper of yourself. Plus there usually are lots of them tough opponents, crowded, waiting for YOU. Good game, good challence, good quests, don?t have to get envolved with anyone if one don?t want to (like me). I play now Morro, Obi, FO3 and WoW and I love them all. :fallout:

True Morro fans never liked Obi. True Obi fans never liked FO3. True RPG gamer don?t MMORPG! Right? Wrong! There are some that hang to old games. Like old people hang to their belongings. Let them hang. Let them be in their mysery. I am going to buy this oncoming game as soon as it is in the stores. I can afford it because I work. I can?t take my money to heaven so I spend it to things that I enjoy. I want this game because I am sure it will be great game to play. Those who don?t like the idea, don?t buy it. Don?t play it. I love the idea, I support this new netRPG, it works for WoW ( it is RPG game !!). Why on earth it would not work for Bethesda????? You tell me... What is this ?ber-thing that stops Bethesda from reaching it?s goal?? :poke:

Facts: 1) New game (MMORPG) is coming
2) It will create new fangroup that will support and buy this game (Me is 1)
3) There will be loyalists who deny any pleasure from netRPG gaming
4) world will still go around no matter what...

:clap:

[P PoLlo]

Alright, there is absolutely no chance Beth is making a TES MMO. Could Zenimax Online be? I don't know. :shrug: But Beth certainly isn't.

[Love iz not]

The game was installed about 14 days ago, I have played it for about 10 days and I LOVE IT. No more ?ber player, hack-em-all, running through quests, like in vanilla Oblivion.

We'll see if you can say that after a month.

[Ice Fire]

I think one of the mods already linked to Pete's blog post from last summer. If you haven't read it, http://bethblog.com/index.php/2009/08/17/clarifying-about-next-elder-scrolls-game-mmo-etc/.

To be clear, Todd and his team do not make MMOs, for any franchise, at all. We have another division ? ZeniMax Online Studios ? which is lead by Matt Firor, and they are working on an MMO. They have not said anything about what game they are making. When ZeniMax Online is ready to show what they are up to, we'll let everyone know. Until then we aren't going to provide hints or speculate on what they're doing either.

Two teams working on two different projects. When we have more details to share about what they're working on, we'll definitely let all of you know.

[Chantel Hopkin]

Wow I can't believe I'm just now hearing about this. Hearing this kinda made me wanna put in Morrowind and simultaneously cry in the corner.

It just has the whole BioWare Old Republic instead of KOTOR 3 thing written all over it. Before anyone says anything, I'M NOT SAYING BETHESDA, OR BIOWARE FOR THAT MATTER ARE INDEED PUTTING OFF THEIR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SEQUELS FOR AN MMO.

No. I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying, is that both companies are more than likely putting off said sequels (TESV and KOTOR 3) in order to do an MMO right now. Cash grab. This has cash grab written all over it. If it has a monthly subscription, I'm saying this right now, I WILL NOT be buying this game. I've never bought a monthly subscription game in my life. Waste of money IMHO. And just plain despicable by the Developer to charge 50$ for the game, and then monthly fee's just to play it. Especially if it becomes as popular as.... say WoW. You'd think Blizzard would perhaps have enough money to maybe NOT charge people to play. Or maybe not as much. Idk. I just now that I will not buy any game that has a fee to play per month. Never happened. Never will happen for me.

But, yes. I realize it's all speculation. More than likely, Bethesda and its "partners" or whatever are developing three games simultaneously. Fallout 4. TES V. And this MMO. That would be awesome if that is what is really going down. And then sometime this year, we get informed of TESV. Bethesda would indeed take over the gaming world! :chaos:

Personally, assuming the rumours are true btw, that this is Bethesda's attempt to "Cash in" actually I thinks its a logical progression if you think about it. I'll explain in a sec

Ok, I understand you not liking the whole subscription thing. I get it and I understand. TBH I have paid for some games and very shortly after felt like I had been violated in the most obscene way and wanted (and in some cases tried) to get my money back. Most MMO's are too ambitious and released way way too early, have not been tested nearly enough (normally 3-6 months of testing still needed) and are woefully under supported post release. HERE is where the greed comes into it. Its here where the fat cats at the top decide that they want more cash for this quarter or that or because we need our stock share process to go up or what ever bloody other reasons they can concoct for them selves and normally this is where MMO's fall down. Take Age of Conan, absolute disaster. I'm told its getting better now but still not enough content and way too many bugs. And there is a list as long as my arm of MMO's that came before and committed the same mistakes.
But the truth of the matter is that MMO games provide a few things that Single player games cannot. I'll mention the most important from my point of view
1) Live interactive worlds. Baring Elder Scrolls, I cannot think of any other single player game that feels like a fully polished world. One where I can run around and interact with my environment and not feel like things have been stretched or diluted to they can fill in more area.
2) Social aspect. Single player games simply do not have 1000's of people for you to interact and play with. Friends to meet, clans to join, people to hate. None of that is there in a Single player. And if they have a multi player side to them its almost always a very very distant last compared to your normal MMO.
3) Content. Levels of content are normally unsurpassed on MMO's. They tend to be huge and expanse with crazy amounts of things to do. And with the ability to add more content later.
4) Support. While a lot of MMO's are lacking in what we would want or expect they are still better than your average SP. Who releases a game, patches the worst of it and runs off to the next project.

Getting back to the "logical progression" thing I was on about.
Elder Scrolls games have always had an MMO feel to them. In my mind they have actually set the bar for most MMO's I have played (and most of the time failed to measure up miserably). Elder Scroll games have always been huge, vast games with solid mechanics and months of gaming. IMHO its the natural progression for them to either move into MMO's or at least dabble seeing as they have already been doing the work.

There are so many things that could go wrong and there is nothing we can really so bar put our 2 cent in and hope the Bethesda Management read the forums and take stock.

Btw, I see no reason why Bethesda could be working on Fallout 4 or TES 4 (or both, they have sold enough games to have the financial backing at this stage to make 2 at a time) while ZeniMax is working on the MMO


Fingers crossed we dont end up with the retarded love childs of the games we are actually hoping for

P.S: Thanks for the link Gstaff, I had not actually read that myself. Glad that there is confirmation that there will be a TESV, pity its going to be later rather than sooner oh well, we cant have it all

[Tyrone Haywood]

I think one of the mods already linked to Pete's blog post from last summer. If you haven't read it, http://bethblog.com/index.php/2009/08/17/clarifying-about-next-elder-scrolls-game-mmo-etc/.



Two teams working on two different projects. When we have more details to share about what they're working on, we'll definitely let all of you know.

Gstaff has spoken. I decree that his word be spread throughout the land and made known to all.

[StunnaLiike FiiFii]

WoW style mmo is the exact opposite of what I wanted, I'd even take a first person mmo with the same mechanics as Oblivion, but a WoW style mmo would kill the Elder Scrolls for me, even if it doesn't affect TESV

I'm wondering how it would kill TES for you? If you don't play the MMO, how does it effect you?

[Neil]

I, being a long time fan of MMO's, am in full support and understand that a number of long time TES fans are not. But for those of you who are not supportive of it, ponder this: I too think that MMO's can be a bad thing (a very, very, very bad thing) to a well established storyline. But what if they did it right? What if it wasn't 80% World of Everquest/20% TES? What if they were original (c'mon, we're talking bethesda) in designing the whole thing? What if it were almost the same as the previous games in terms of style-of-gameplay?

Personally, I get a bit bored playing single player. Oblivion is an amazing game, don't get me wrong, but sometimes the streets of the Imperial City and the voice-acted characters just leave me feeling a bit lonely at 3:00AM. I come from playing a lot of MMO's (WoW mainly, but LOTRO, WAR, EQ2) and its just a bit hard to play a game 18 hours a day (which I regularly do while playing MMO's) if you don't have anyone to talk to, this would add the only thing I think that TES lacks - a true interactive, changing character base.|| The amount of content an MMO brings to a storyline is absolutely amazing. Its a work-in-progress kind of thing, new content never stops coming.

A couple of downfalls to the series: The mods to the game. Huge, Huge reason I pick TES over other decent looking RPGs is the fact that I can mod the game. The console is a great feature and I will miss it. I am happy to hear this rumor and would like to hear your opinion as well.

[louise fortin]

I do believe an Elder Scrolls MMO could work and be a truly unique and engaging experience if done correctly. Now most people loathe MMO quests, myself included, so how could it be done any differently? Well remember the first Thieves Guild quest in Oblivion where you competed with other prospective members. Now imagine this with one hundred people all going for the same item.

Umm, I don't think you've ever played an MMO before....cuz 100 people going after that same quest item is probably the most annoying thing ever. Do not want.

1) Live interactive worlds. Baring Elder Scrolls, I cannot think of any other single player game that feels like a fully polished world. One where I can run around and interact with my environment and not feel like things have been stretched or diluted to they can fill in more area.

World of Warcraft has probably the most stagnant environment you'll ever find exactly because it is an MMO. You do a quest, there's only one way to complete it, and after you're done that same guy is waiting to give it to the next guy and the next. Nothing changes. There are no consequences for anything. It's the exact opposite of the worlds we've experienced in the single-player ES games.

[Sweet Blighty]

Umm, I don't think you've ever played an MMO before....cuz 100 people going after that same quest item is probably the most annoying thing ever. Do not want.



World of Warcraft has probably the most stagnant environment you'll ever find exactly because it is an MMO. You do a quest, there's only one way to complete it, and after you're done that same guy is waiting to give it to the next guy and the next. Nothing changes. There are no consequences for anything. It's the exact opposite of the worlds we've experienced in the single-player ES games.

this is so true i takes away the joy of saving a city when you see thousands of people do it aswell

if there was a way for players to come up with quets and give to people this would be cool
and randomly generated quest could be used to give that feel of uniqueness though random quets are dull [censored]

[Pat RiMsey]

I am not neccecarily objecting to a MMO TES, but they would certainly have to sacrifice most of the graphic detail etc...

WoW did not go from a single-player RPG to an MMO, they started as a strategy game like say Rise of Nations, perhaps it could work if TES went from a single-player RPG to a multi-player strategy game? (but probably not).

Another issue concerning TES becoming an MMO, is how would they manage the different nations? they could just intergrate them and you start off depending on what race you are.

[Rachel Eloise Getoutofmyface]

2) Social aspect. Single player games simply do not have 1000's of people for you to interact and play with. Friends to meet, clans to join, people to hate. None of that is there in a Single player. And if they have a multi player side to them its almost always a very very distant last compared to your normal MMO.

That right there is exactly why i would absolutely hate TES as an MMO and why i would not buy it.

TES for me has always been about depth, the feel of it all, the sense of truly being there in that world as your character, and making your impact on that world, things that MMOs (with their 1000s of characters Leetspeaking and OOC chatting, as well as running around repeating the same quest you just did over and over, saving the same city from the same thread over and over, making everything you do completely meaningless) not only don't have, but CAN'T have and are completely contrary to. The concept of MMOs just seems completely contrary to what TES games are.

There's just no real depth in storyline with MMOs, no matter how hard a developer might try, and this for the simple reason that with MMOs it becomes about interacting with other players rather than about the story. Already one of the main complaints about Oblivion among long time TES fans was that the story and feel of the game was bland and shallow compared to past titles, image how much worse it would be in the next game if it's an MMO... It's the same reason i won't be buying "ST The Old Republic" despite having very much liked Kotor 1 and 2 (specifically because of the depth in story and ease in immersing oneself into your character)and having looked forward to a number 3. It would simply not be what has made TES so popular and good.

So yeah, if the next TES game is an MMO than sadly i do hope it fails, not because i'd want Beth to lose money or anything, but rather because i'd hope they'd move on and bring TES back to the format that made it successful.

[Kayla Bee]

I am not neccecarily objecting to a MMO TES, but they would certainly have to sacrifice most of the graphic detail etc...

Well if anythings for sure, we're all fully aware that Zenimax Online Studios is using the Hero Engine which I believe is the same engine The Old Republic MMO is running off of. It looks superb, and much better looking than WoW....the potential to make a really polished game is there.

http://www.heroengine.com/world-building

ZeniMax Online selected HeroEngine because we determined it will serve our needs best. That fact that we can get up and running with meaningful art and content in the near term makes the HeroEngine a perfect fit for us.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a328/Mikeandike1/frior.jpgfrom Matt Firor, President of ZeniMax Online Studios

[Danii Brown]

True Morro fans never liked Obi. True Obi fans never liked FO3. True RPG gamer don?t MMORPG!

I liked Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3. All three are single player RPGs. I don't like MMOs, specifically because I hate the vast number of players incringing on my game world.

Some people forget that gaming is a solitary hobby for some people. If I want to interact with people, I'll go out with some friends. If I want to interact with people in a video game, I'll play something like COD or even Demon's Souls for RPG PVP. What I really DON'T want is to dive into a huge, immersive RPG only to see 20 other players with names like STONER420 and GHoST-V9 teabagging dead Ogres and bragging about their leetskeet guild.

Now, to clarify, I don't inherently hate MMOs. I think that, if done correctly, an MMO can be an incredibly deep and replayable experience. The problem is that Blizzard already made that game and its called World of Warcraft and anyone who only wants to spend $15 a month on ONE MMO will choose the one that's been out for a few years and has single-handedly slain every other competitor in the genre. Its not an opinion that an Elder Scrolls MMO can't compete with WOW its a fact!

Now if Zenimax were to change TES Online to, say, Gomeworld:The Chronicles and release it for all the MMO fans then I'm fine with that. But to deny the opinions of all the people who bought their previous games and have, since Fallout 3, been begging to give Bethesda more fifty-dollar bills is just stupid.

[A Boy called Marilyn]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/106/1063081p1.html

*dies a bit inside*



No. Just... no.

I was about to come post that. Seriously, his ideas are probably the worst i've seen yet.

[April D. F]

dny care about TES mmo what i want is co-op or small group of people to join my game

[Chris Jones]

I think I've attempted to stay out of this long enough. I'm going to throw in my support for an alleged TES MMO.

To address some of the biggest and most reoccurring complaints I've read thus far:

*"L33t." I'm a veteran of Ultima Online, Everquest, Shadowbane, Final Fantasy 11, Everquest 2, Istaria,World of Warcraft, Planetside, and I think I may be missing a few not including the Korean style MMOs.

Now bear with me? because this has been stated before?

The idea that all MMOs are crowded with "L33t dudes pwning nubs is a fallacy and a piss-poor argument. Admittedly I never played Runescape, but apparently I have never played a game LIKE Runescape either. Shadowbane and old UO were the closest to this stereotype, and yet way off at the same time. The L33tspeak was practically nonexistent, and the environment of these games was intended for hardcoe PvPers.

*"Mods." True enough, MMOs aren't known for being moddable. And while the lore and world are the two biggest reasons why I've loved TES since I first popped that Morrowind disk into my crappy, crappy computer almost a decade ago, the mods are a close third. But good news! Bethesda is NOT, once again NOT making the MMO. Bethesda is still focusing on their single player projects while Zenimax Online is working on their MMO. So a decent, moddable game in the future is not out of the question.

Sure Gnome, that's great and all, but won't our beloved game still be delayed? Maybe. It only makes sense that there will be a delay between the two (assuming that they are both being developed, but that's a different argument). That's just more time for the developers to polish and shine their jewel before serving it to you on a silver platter.

*"Single player TES is gone, they're all MMO now!" See Mods, paragraph 1.

*"TES V will be delayed." Se Mods, paragraph 2.

*"I don't want to play a WoW style MMO in the TES universe." Me neither. Through most of my digging the articles that claim "WoW style" trace back to the VG247 article, where the offending words were actually in the very title. As stated before by those brave enough to venture before me, this could just be a means to describe the fantasy MMO genre.

Admittedly, I only read two pages of the court transcripts on Duck and Cover, including the part where Beth's lawyer states that Zeni Online is not making a Fallout game; they are making "something else." If anyone out there has any further proof that does not reference the VG247 article, please link it so that I may continue my investigations.

And to hopefully calm some more fears: most MMOs have server types to choose from. Don't like PvP? No problem! PvP servers and content are optional choices. Afraid people will break immersion? Play on an RP server.

I've also noticed a lot of hate towards Bethesda Softworks. Not necessarily here, but during my searching. Not cool. Not only is the TES MMO a rumor at this point, but really it is NOT being made by Bethesda! Also, there has been no screenshot, video, art, or even a real announcement yet. So chill.

Again, I'm all for the release of a TES MMO. But am I automatically drooling over a game I know nothing about? No. It's too soon to threaten the company or send them giftbaskets for a game I haven't even tried yet, let alone confirmed.

Here is what we KNOW:

*An MMO is being made by Zenimax Online Studios.

*Zen's lawyer stated to the judge that the game being developed at ZOS is not a Fallout MMO.

*VG247 claims to have a "very reliable source."

Everything else is just speculation and interpretation at this time.

Again, if I am missing anything, or am just plain misinformed, please let me know.

[Miss Hayley]

Hi guys, first post

I'm generally against MMOs. I tend to play single player even when there's a multiplayer option, like with Fable 2. I think I know how a TESMMO could work, though.

1: Not zero to hero, average to average-plus

Instead of going from the prisoner nobody to the mythic hero, as is the style of the single-player games, maybe a low-level blades agent going to a higher one? I think this because it would be odd if at one point every prisoner suddenly became a hero instead of one. That also ties in to the next idea:

2: Distant, historical past.

Instead of making a new story, maybe go back to some of the old lorebooks like 2920, or maybe in the war of the Red Diamond. Sure, that means we'll all know how it ended, but we'll also get to live it. It also makes for an easier time because then no need to worry about player actions conflicting with new games.

3: Navigation

An open-world game might not work so well. However, maybe instead of that we have a sort of (don't kill me) Fable 2 system, where there are areas instead of an uninterrupted world, but with free roam within each. This would allow for parts of every country, but without needing to tackle the enormous task of making it be in a numbered game.

That's really all I can think of. I probably won't play it myself anyways, just saying how one may, theoretically, work.

[Bigze Stacks]

Hi guys, first post

I'm generally against MMOs. I tend to play single player even when there's a multiplayer option, like with Fable 2. I think I know how a TESMMO could work, though.

1: Not zero to hero, average to average-plus

Instead of going from the prisoner nobody to the mythic hero, as is the style of the single-player games, maybe a low-level blades agent going to a higher one? I think this because it would be odd if at one point every prisoner suddenly became a hero instead of one. That also ties in to the next idea:

2: Distant, historical past.

Instead of making a new story, maybe go back to some of the old lorebooks like 2920, or maybe in the war of the Red Diamond. Sure, that means we'll all know how it ended, but we'll also get to live it. It also makes for an easier time because then no need to worry about player actions conflicting with new games.

3: Navigation

An open-world game might not work so well. However, maybe instead of that we have a sort of (don't kill me) Fable 2 system, where there are areas instead of an uninterrupted world, but with free roam within each. This would allow for parts of every country, but without needing to tackle the enormous task of making it be in a numbered game.

That's really all I can think of. I probably won't play it myself anyways, just saying how one may, theoretically, work.

I haven't played any of the Fable games, but I do like some of your ideas.

2: Distant, historical past.

The TES universe is packed with conflicts throughout it's history, many of these would make a sweet backdrop for any game. And it will be cool to see what the culture was like in the past. Besides... Morrowind will be back.

3: Navigation

I'll confess I'm not pro seamless world myself, but that's merely from my own experience. Seamless worlds tend to have baldspots. Games I've played that are broken up into zones allow the devs to concentrate on smaller areas, and make them more diverse and interesting.

But times have changed. If the game is seamless, maybe they will wow me.

[Tamara Dost]

World of Warcraft has probably the most stagnant environment you'll ever find exactly because it is an MMO. You do a quest, there's only one way to complete it, and after you're done that same guy is waiting to give it to the next guy and the next. Nothing changes. There are no consequences for anything. It's the exact opposite of the worlds we've experienced in the single-player ES games.

Please dont be quoting (and not just aimed at you max, but others also) WOW as the ultimate MMO. As an avid MMO player for the last 15+ years (and before that I was playing MUD's kids look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD for explanation) most serious MMO players consider WOW to be the lowest common denominator. Personally I feel its the lowest of the low. I was on the Alpha test for WOW and I hated it. I have friends and family playing and have watched enough to know that I would still hate it. Its un-inventive, un-original and made so you can spend the minimum amount of effort and feel like you are achieving something.

But taking WOW as an example is very unfair to the MMO industry. Look at Eve Online. Its a huge game, massive. Constant stories being updated, 2 expansions a year and no one has to pay for them. The story and environment is constantly changing and the history is actual players history. Player conflicts, Corp and Alliance wars have dictated how the game was shaped months and years later.

TES for me has always been about depth, the feel of it all, the sense of truly being there in that world as your character, and making your impact on that world, things that MMOs (with their 1000s of characters Leetspeaking and OOC chatting, as well as running around repeating the same quest you just did over and over, saving the same city from the same thread over and over, making everything you do completely meaningless) not only don't have, but CAN'T have and are completely contrary to. The concept of MMOs just seems completely contrary to what TES games are.

There's just no real depth in storyline with MMOs, no matter how hard a developer might try, and this for the simple reason that with MMOs it becomes about interacting with other players rather than about the story. Already one of the main complaints about Oblivion among long time TES fans was that the story and feel of the game was bland and shallow compared to past titles, image how much worse it would be in the next game if it's an MMO... It's the same reason i won't be buying "ST The Old Republic" despite having very much liked Kotor 1 and 2 (specifically because of the depth in story and ease in immersing oneself into your character)and having looked forward to a number 3. It would simply not be what has made TES so popular and good.

So yeah, if the next TES game is an MMO than sadly i do hope it fails, not because i'd want Beth to lose money or anything, but rather because i'd hope they'd move on and bring TES back to the format that made it successful.

Why does an MMO have to be like that? Whats to stop a TES MMO being completely about the players?? Why not have all factions run by players. When you join a faction you can raise to the top with enough effort. Why not have the King elected by players and have the King be a player. Why not have governments run by players and have them control the towns and NPC's? Why not have the ability to have factions fighting where NPC's are added to the mix in a war or skirmish? Whats to stop one area being invaded by another and having towns and provinces lost to one faction or political entity or another. Why not take that to continents??? Why not have Vampires come out into the fore front and take over governments covertly. Why not let a faction or 2 be wiped out, or at least be sent underground.
This is all possible. MMO's are only limited by the imagination of the developers and the likes of you and me. There have been a lot of knee-jerk MMO's coming out trying to cash in on the windfall and its sullied the rep I think. But who better to make a mark than Bethesda? Sure most of the games (especially the TES ones) have broken ground in one way or another at release. Why not now?

Some people forget that gaming is a solitary hobby for some people. If I want to interact with people, I'll go out with some friends. If I want to interact with people in a video game, I'll play something like COD or even Demon's Souls for RPG PVP. What I really DON'T want is to dive into a huge, immersive RPG only to see 20 other players with names like STONER420 and GHoST-V9 teabagging dead Ogres and bragging about their leetskeet guild.

I can see what your getting at and yes, I agree to an extent. But you have to take the good with the bad. The advantage is that speciality servers can be set up. For hardcoe roleplayers and so on. And as long as its heavily monitored and regulated it can be just as good.

[Kyra]

I haven't played any of the Fable games, but I do like some of your ideas.

2: Distant, historical past.

The TES universe is packed with conflicts throughout it's history, many of these would make a sweet backdrop for any game. And it will be cool to see what the culture was like in the past. Besides... Morrowind will be back.

3: Navigation

I'll confess I'm not pro seamless world myself, but that's merely from my own experience. Seamless worlds tend to have baldspots. Games I've played that are broken up into zones allow the devs to concentrate on smaller areas, and make them more diverse and interesting.

But times have changed. If the game is seamless, maybe they will wow me.

2: Exactly. So if instead of zero to hero we get idea 1, it could be specialized, important people but not important enough to be in an average history textbook? An example would be war of the Red Diamond, minor commanders and special Blades agents either wouldn't be historically recognized or, being Blades, would be actively classified in the future so character actions would be plot important in-game but be okay to not appear (or, if it's cool enough, the devs could throw a bone and write the character into an in-game history book in TESV, ascended fandom indeed!)

3: I just think that that kind of world setup would make more sense for an MMO. My favorite parts of Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 is the open-world exploration, but everyone open-world exploring at once... I just don't think that could be pulled off.

[Craig Martin]

2: Exactly. So if instead of zero to hero we get idea 1, it could be specialized, important people but not important enough to be in an average history textbook? An example would be war of the Red Diamond, minor commanders and special Blades agents either wouldn't be historically recognized or, being Blades, would be actively classified in the future so character actions would be plot important in-game but be okay to not appear (or, if it's cool enough, the devs could throw a bone and write the character into an in-game history book in TESV, ascended fandom indeed!)

3: I just think that that kind of world setup would make more sense for an MMO. My favorite parts of Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 is the open-world exploration, but everyone open-world exploring at once... I just don't think that could be pulled off.

Maybe they can make it work. It just wouldn't feel like TES if it was broken into zones. On the other hand, a seamless world has to be done properly. Beth did a good job in my opinion on Morrowind and Oblivion, so maybe ZOS can do the same.

Here's hoping.

[George PUluse]

Again, Bethesda is not making this MMO. If Bethesda was, I would be going insane. I personally hate the idea of an Elder Scrolls MMO, but since it will be separate from TES V, I'm okay with it being made, as long as Bethesda continues to make the single-player Elder Scrolls series while not wasting(in my opinion) their resources and/or time on the MMO.