A project that was reportedly in the works for years, ZeniMax finally confirmed yesterday that they are making a Massively Multiplayer Online version of Bethesda's "The Elder Scrolls" series.
Not much is known yet, but it will apparently take place about a millenium before the events of the solo series (not that this makes any bloody difference, since Tamriel doesn't seem to ever change aesthetically or technologically) and it will rely on a three-faction-PvP system.
When the news hit Twitter and came as absolutely no surprise to anyone following Bethesda/ZeniMax's modus operandi the last five years (at least), my gut told me I should bitch about it. Plenty of reason to do so; there are literally dozens of fantasy-MMOs out there, between the subscription-based ones, the f2p ones (the ones that switched from one model to the other) and the full-on free games (like Perfect World's titles). That's not even accounting for the other companies that want a horse in this race and rely on name-recognition alone, like Bioware that still hasn't entirely moved away from the idea of a Dragon Age MMO (probably after DA3 and after they've eased into the genre with the Old Republic).
But upon reflection, it's a win-win. There is nowhere else this series can go now. Daggerfall and Morrowind were great and innovating games when they came out. However and despite all the critical and commercial praise, both Oblivion and Skyrim offered the medium little and for the most part relied on lore-related jargon and tons and tons of busy-work with no impact on the overall world: exactly like an MMO does. Plus it gives ZeniMax and Bethesda the boatloads of money they're craving without hogging every award show by breeding sheep with no critical thought of their own. Yes, that's you. All of you.
Hell, I'd even go as far as saying I'd play a TES MMO... if only that meant there wouldn't be a TESVI. But no, this cow's tits are still plump and ripe for squeezing.
UPDATE: Here's the Announcement Trailer for the game:
Not much is known yet, but it will apparently take place about a millenium before the events of the solo series (not that this makes any bloody difference, since Tamriel doesn't seem to ever change aesthetically or technologically) and it will rely on a three-faction-PvP system.
When the news hit Twitter and came as absolutely no surprise to anyone following Bethesda/ZeniMax's modus operandi the last five years (at least), my gut told me I should bitch about it. Plenty of reason to do so; there are literally dozens of fantasy-MMOs out there, between the subscription-based ones, the f2p ones (the ones that switched from one model to the other) and the full-on free games (like Perfect World's titles). That's not even accounting for the other companies that want a horse in this race and rely on name-recognition alone, like Bioware that still hasn't entirely moved away from the idea of a Dragon Age MMO (probably after DA3 and after they've eased into the genre with the Old Republic).
But upon reflection, it's a win-win. There is nowhere else this series can go now. Daggerfall and Morrowind were great and innovating games when they came out. However and despite all the critical and commercial praise, both Oblivion and Skyrim offered the medium little and for the most part relied on lore-related jargon and tons and tons of busy-work with no impact on the overall world: exactly like an MMO does. Plus it gives ZeniMax and Bethesda the boatloads of money they're craving without hogging every award show by breeding sheep with no critical thought of their own. Yes, that's you. All of you.
Hell, I'd even go as far as saying I'd play a TES MMO... if only that meant there wouldn't be a TESVI. But no, this cow's tits are still plump and ripe for squeezing.
UPDATE: Here's the Announcement Trailer for the game:
The Escapist : Trailers : The Elder Scrolls Online - Announcement Trailer
The new issue of GameInformer reveals some more details about the game.
Apparently it will be closer to traditional MMOs, with
I'm putting this out there for the next deranged chimpanzee that will
attempt to throw their feces at me for uttering a bad word about Bethesda
or The Elder Scrolls.
In other details, the game will be fully-voiced and have an actual
lore-centric campaign that will take 120 hours to end-game and it will
be focused on Molag Bal (a Deadric Prince) being a dick. The world
will feature several of the well-known
Of course, being a more traditional MMO, there will be no vampirism,
no romance (not that you'd call "romancing" that thing in Skyrim),
Pictures HERE.
UPDATE 2:
The new issue of GameInformer reveals some more details about the game.
Apparently it will be closer to traditional MMOs, with
no real-time-combat, no first person and a hotbar of actions/attacks.
It makes sense, in that it at leastsupports what some of us thought from
the start: this is no move to add something to the franchise or the genre
(let gaming as a whole), but just a move to capitalize on the name of the
series, especially after the smash hit that was Skyrim.
I'm putting this out there for the next deranged chimpanzee that will
attempt to throw their feces at me for uttering a bad word about Bethesda
or The Elder Scrolls.
In other details, the game will be fully-voiced and have an actual
lore-centric campaign that will take 120 hours to end-game and it will
be focused on Molag Bal (a Deadric Prince) being a dick. The world
will feature several of the well-known
continents of Tamriel with more likely to be added in the future. The
three aforementioned factions are the Ebonheart Pact
(Nords, Dumner, Argonians), The Aldmeri Dominion (Altmer, Bosmer, Khajit)
and the Daggerfall Covenant (Bretons, Redguard, Orcs).
three aforementioned factions are the Ebonheart Pact
(Nords, Dumner, Argonians), The Aldmeri Dominion (Altmer, Bosmer, Khajit)
and the Daggerfall Covenant (Bretons, Redguard, Orcs).
Of course, being a more traditional MMO, there will be no vampirism,
no romance (not that you'd call "romancing" that thing in Skyrim),
no house-owning and no dragons.
Enjoy your vanila, monthly money-grabber.
Enjoy your vanila, monthly money-grabber.
Pictures HERE.
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