Elder Scrolls Online release date 4-4-14

[Daverino]

Just to be clear this was my third or fourth beta invite, and I probably have about 20 hours in so far. I'm not giving any specific impressions because I respect the NDA (they have already said its "ok" to acknowledge you're in the beta), but I just had the impression this last time that there was less interest.

Yeah, the NDA is a drag. I'm trying to be super nebulous. But I don't look at closed betas as free trials. I'm actually trying to help.

As for Friday activity, I think a lot had to do with the client download. I skipped on invite because I was out of town, so I needed to re-download from scratch and the speed was horrible. It took hours to get the client ready so I didn't actually start until Saturday. Bad planning on my part. By Sunday night, though, the place was much more full than I've ever seen.

 

[clok1966]

I been a supporter, but this last "open" night has dulled my love some, never got in.. as stated ... it took me 8 hours to get the game.. on a connect that downloads the largest STEAM games in less than an hour.. speed was sad.. Once done, it said My passwrd was bad, resets did not solve.. gave up. To be clear, no problems in 5-8 other play weekends. Just this one.

 

[Markbnj]

Yeah, the NDA is a drag. I'm trying to be super nebulous. But I don't look at closed betas as free trials. I'm actually trying to help.

Same. I've reported quite a few issues. Friday night I had two login errors, but ultimately got in faster than some others, according to reports.

 

[DigDog]

My non-complicated thoughts about TESO:

"Epic" rpgs are epic because they make the player "grand". In Oblivion, you become high wizard, Lord of the Warrior guild, Master Assassin, and you save the whole of tamriel from the oblivion gates. In Skyrim, you are the Dragonborn, you *also* become high wizard, etc ..
Plus you defeat the dragons and everyone loves you.

To make players (you) feel grand, you're given space - lots of space to roam about - and grand abilities to do stuff that grandiose people do; that's why you need so much space, because when you have too many fireball-spewing half-dragon multiclass wizards, the air tends to fill with smoke.

You also need to give some travel time between annihilating one enemy and the next.
If you cram everything into one small room, and make the player overpowered, then it's game over (either way) very quickly, and there isn't much of a game to be had.

Old school RPGs went the opposite way - they made you feel like a spec of dust, a dirty stinking peasant who needed 6 teammates to do anything, wizards who couldn't lift a bag of coins, warriors who couldn't read, and hobbits who , well, couldn't do s**t. And monsters were though.

I don't see TESO as becoming successful - having so many people in the same space as MMORPGS do - based on these observations.
If the playable characters are anything like they are in the mainline IPs (which would attract fans of teh series), then players would be competing for space very fast; if they aren't, then i see a lot of disappointed and angry TES fans.



TLDR version: you can't transport the feeling that single player games have in multi-player games; it just doesn't work like that.

 

[Lil Frier]

I think that you can make the translation, but only in limited multiplayer. I know that one of the things that I dislike about WoW is how you stop the biggest, baddest person every expansion, only to have everyone in the next act like you're a nobody. You then go from killing Deathwing or the Lich King or whoever, and they send you to kill 8 wolves, then 8 bears, then 8 gazelles, then the REALLY bad gazellebearwolf. Every expansion is basically resetting you as a bum.

However, in Skyrim, I quickly took to Fast Travel because traversing the land alone is cumbersome and boring. In Borderlands, I co-op with my cousin. We Fast Travel a lot, but we also don't get bored when we walk places because we chat and point out things that we see, on occasion.

If The Elder Scrolls worked in limited co-op, it would be OK. Hearthfire was dumb for single-player, but the multiplayer WoW has long had players asking for housing, partially to congregate with friends (something the new expansion is bringing). Hearthfire would be better if you could show your house off, is what I mean.

But TESO doesn't need to totally adopt the WoW or Skyrim model. We don't need to be a legion of Dragonborn, but we shouldn't be an army of ants, either. Given that it's unlikely to be populated like WoW, I think that setting it up for smaller groups (3-5 people) than the 10/25 people WoW uses for its raids would serve it well.

 

[zinfamous]

My non-complicated thoughts about TESO:

"Epic" rpgs are epic because they make the player "grand". In Oblivion, you become high wizard, Lord of the Warrior guild, Master Assassin, and you save the whole of tamriel from the oblivion gates. In Skyrim, you are the Dragonborn, you *also* become high wizard, etc ..
Plus you defeat the dragons and everyone loves you.

To make players (you) feel grand, you're given space - lots of space to roam about - and grand abilities to do stuff that grandiose people do; that's why you need so much space, because when you have too many fireball-spewing half-dragon multiclass wizards, the air tends to fill with smoke.

You also need to give some travel time between annihilating one enemy and the next.
If you cram everything into one small room, and make the player overpowered, then it's game over (either way) very quickly, and there isn't much of a game to be had.

Old school RPGs went the opposite way - they made you feel like a spec of dust, a dirty stinking peasant who needed 6 teammates to do anything, wizards who couldn't lift a bag of coins, warriors who couldn't read, and hobbits who , well, couldn't do s**t. And monsters were though.

I don't see TESO as becoming successful - having so many people in the same space as MMORPGS do - based on these observations.
If the playable characters are anything like they are in the mainline IPs (which would attract fans of teh series), then players would be competing for space very fast; if they aren't, then i see a lot of disappointed and angry TES fans.



TLDR version: you can't transport the feeling that single player games have in multi-player games; it just doesn't work like that.

yeah, but that's not even really true of Skyrim.

So here I am, the Dragonborn, I'm the biggest badass by virtue of the 200 or so lbs of dragon bones and scales in my backpack, the posse of Daedric armor-wearing servants following me everywhere I go, the fact that I've killed about 50 dragons, including Alduin, reunited Skyrim and ended the Civil War by murdering that pretender, Ulfric, the various Daedric artifact weapons I have at my hip, leader of the Companions, reestablished the Thieves guild and the Dark Brotherhood (oh yeah--I killed the fucking Emperor), high wizard etc etc...

and yet, here I am, on top of all that, I'm wandering outside one of my dozens of homes in Whiterun, where I'm Thane, no less, and this bastard guard has the audacity to mock me about losing my sweet roll.

I mean...wtf? And you know--I should just lop his head off right there, I should--but the town will try to arrest me, forcing me to bribe them to let them go. Me--the thane, the fucking DRAGONBORN has to bribe these illiterate peasants to keep me out of jail. How about this--how about I not make your head part of the head collection I keep in my basement? You know, next to the Glenmoral witches, Ulfric, all those thieves that try to ambush me at the same time that I am fighting a dragon. How about that offer?

 

[Lil Frier]

1. Don't speak about our rightful king, Ulfric, like that. I am the Dragonborn, and I will kill you for such heresy.
2. More-importantly, those bastard children. I'll take the jail sentence if it means I can kill those little turds. They're the most ill-mannered brats ever, and I hate them.

 

[zinfamous]

Ulfric? He's a patsy of the Thalmor. If anything, he's far worse for Skyrim than the Empire--you did uncover that info, right?

Here's the moral and "right" path of Skyrim: Choose the Empire, kill Ulfric, and murder every Thalmor justicar party you stumble upon.

Oh, and murder every other Thalmor you see.

 

[nickbits]

It's a beta and there are plenty of bugs. I reported at least twAnyone who's giving an opinion and "quit before I got out of prison" has played less than ten minutes of the game. It kinda annoys me that someone would sign up for a closed beta, which is to help the developers test and improve the game, and invest so little energy in doing what they were supposed to do. It's similar to complaining that your gym didn't help you lose weight because you never went to the gym.

They did a poor job of explaining how to report bugs. I clicked on support and it brought me to a useless FAQ. Also, for quality testing, they hire paid testers. I'm sure they factor in the fact that most free beta testers are useless and plan accordingly. Heck the first session I was invited to was for load testing only. That makes sense. Even of the bug reports that do get filed, I bet most are useless. That is based on my experience as a software dev receiving reports from end users. I think the most use they get from the beta is load testing and hardware/software compatibly testing and that is done without rigorously looking for or reporting issues. Without compensation they can't expect much.

 

[taq8ojh]

Anyone else thinks the beta forums (and I have no reason to think they will be any different when the game launches) are worse than horrible? I couldn't find crap in there, and basically thought like I was scratching my left ear with my right foot.

Anyway... the game is weird. Beta or not, the basics are set in stone.
I like how you start in for example LOTRO: completely random Joe who is not saving any of the existing worlds, who is going to die to the first wolf he runs into.

TSO feels a "bit" too magnificent. Screw that.

 

[Markbnj]

Anyway... the game is weird. Beta or not, the basics are set in stone.
I like how you start in for example LOTRO: completely random Joe who is not saving any of the existing worlds, who is going to die to the first wolf he runs into.

Yeah I very much prefer that approach, but I guess in this case they are staying consistent with the single player ES games.

 

[taq8ojh]

Too bad there don't seem to be any good classical MMOs to play anymore. LOTRO got flushed down the toilet last xmas. Wow is just not my cup of tea. Anarchy Online died roughly five years ago. Boo!

 

[pontifex]

all i will say is "meh"

 

[taq8ojh]

Screw online.
This might be awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJwpaVwOaHM

 

[clok1966]

Too bad there don't seem to be any good classical MMOs to play anymore. LOTRO got flushed down the toilet last xmas. Wow is just not my cup of tea. Anarchy Online died roughly five years ago. Boo!

used to be how i felt as an OLD gamer who has played since the MUD days. I think you hit that game that is really fantastic, it dulls with age and you spend time looking for a better one that never comes along (sounds like relationships). I Started looking at all the news one like plain old games. COD $50, NEW MMORPG with 30 days $50, play it a month or two (or three) lose interest and move on. New MMORPG's are like one night stands.. fun for very short periods. None have compared to my first love EQ (which a quick trip back to every year, proves i cant take it for more then a day or two.. again much like an EX). You just cant recreate that feeling, but we all try. Learn its a short fun fling and you will enjoy it more.. and heck after those early games with the grinds, us veterans can max level in a month anyways.

so far about all i can see in this one is less hand holding, wont say anything else is new (NDA) but i did it one quest i liked that was more thinking, then fetching.. and that swayed me from neutral to a notch or two into like territory.

 

[Markbnj]

Screw online.
This might be awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJwpaVwOaHM

That. Looks. Freaking. Awesome.

 

[zinfamous]

That. Looks. Freaking. Awesome.

Do want.

...so it's a Skyrim mod, yeah? If this pans out, I guess you just activate/deactivate it on load, depending on if you want to play Skyrim or "Morrowind," right? ....and keep track of your saves, obviously.

 

[taq8ojh]

It's not even just a mod. I am most stunned how they create entirely new textures, models, and everything. Just OMG!

 

[zinfamous]

It's not even just a mod. I am most stunned how they create entirely new textures, models, and everything. Just OMG!

a lot of mods are like that, though. This just ends up being a very large package of multiple mods, with many people contributing.

Skyrim already has tons of overhauls that create many new textures, NPCs, voiceovers, worlds, quests, etc.

Check out "Interesting NPCs" I bet those people are involved with this one--as it develops and adds new NPCs, I think 80 right now, with fan-produced voice acting, quests, scripting, all of that.

I guess the main question: So all one needs is Skyrim, and then would install this package as a mod, overhauling the base game.

It would nice to be able to "clone" the game, then load up as either Skyrim or Morrowind, but it seems like you just have to activate or deactivate it. At least, they call it a "mod." :\

 

[taq8ojh]

I think it's much more than that. Just watch the video. They are creating entire new models and animations. That's HUGE.
Also, according to official sources, you will need to own both Skyrim and Morrowing, which I don't really have a problem with.

 

[Daverino]

They did a poor job of explaining how to report bugs. I clicked on support and it brought me to a useless FAQ. Also, for quality testing, they hire paid testers. I'm sure they factor in the fact that most free beta testers are useless and plan accordingly. Heck the first session I was invited to was for load testing only. That makes sense. Even of the bug reports that do get filed, I bet most are useless. That is based on my experience as a software dev receiving reports from end users. I think the most use they get from the beta is load testing and hardware/software compatibly testing and that is done without rigorously looking for or reporting issues. Without compensation they can't expect much.

What is this, I don't even.

All you had to do was type /bug in chat to open the bug reporting tool. . .

 

[zinfamous]

I think it's much more than that. Just watch the video. They are creating entire new models and animations. That's HUGE.
Also, according to official sources, you will need to own both Skyrim and Morrowind, which I don't really have a problem with.

I don't have a problem with owning both, either, but it seems like that would be required only because they are using assets from the Morrowind files and retexturing them. But, I wouldn't be surprised that the "requirement" is just to play nice so that you aren't essentially getting Morrowind for free. Either it's a suggestion and not so much a requirement, or there is code that simply won't let you install this without Morrowind on your system.

If it is based on Skyrim engine, and they are creating entirely new models and animations (again--pretty sure people have already been doing this with various mods), I dont' see why you would need Morrowind, from a technical standpoint.

 

[Cuular]

They are using all the assets from Morrowind, and then recreating them. So the world, the villages, the story, all that is being recreated in the new engine. Then they are overhauling a lot of it. Taking the original text conversations, and voice acting them. Taking the world, and recreating it with better more detailed assets.

So the requirement to own Morrowind is a correct one from a legal standpoint.

 

[mizzou]

based on who is developing this thing, I didn't even bother to register my beta invite key that I received.

Every MMO made by them is fairly similar, just new skin. BORING....

I hope we can get an indie dev to take a chance on a big MMO idea and see what happens. No more cookie cutter MMO's for me

 

[NoSoup4You]

Wait a second, I just watched a couple gameplay videos of TESO and it looks nothing like typical TES gameplay. Why isn't everyone running backwards for miles while shooting arrows or fireballs at mobs?