Elder Scrolls Online - Preview @ PCGAMER

PCGAMER has a two page preview of the beta for The Elder Scrolls Online.

Those who feared that The Elder Scrolls Online would amount to another cash-in MMO with a big name behind it have it wrong, but the counter-position – the promise of a casualty-free marriage of emergent RPG and online game – doesn’t quite hit the mark either.

From my first moment in game it is clear that TESO is the product of a measured and ongoing negotiation between opposing forces: the traditional MMO and the singleplayer game, ambition and technology, the demands of the community and the views of its designers. Its successes and failures alike are produced by that process.

“We’re not trying to top Skyrim,” game director Matt Firor says. “If you want to play Skyrim go play Skyrim! We’re doing something a little bit different. It should feel comfortable to people who play Elder Scrolls games, but it’s its own game in its own right.”

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More information.

“If you want to play Skyrim go play Skyrim!

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I want to play Skyrim where no mobs respawn. Can I? No?
Then I won't play your online crap either.

you can with mods Tho I believe no respawns will bloat your save file

Can't... They don't work.

I'm late the the skyrim party. I've never really liked previous ES titles but since Skyrim is down to $30 and so well regarded I figured why not. And I'm blown away. It's such an absolutely amazing game.

This got me thinking that I kind of wish they weren't doing TESO, because I don't see them remotely capturing the magic of skyrim and the world has enough generic/lame MMORPGs where it's a glorified single player game played by scrubs that don't want to group.

Not only would it be impossible to have so much detail and such a sweeping environment, but as soon as you put in public chat, doods that name their characters the dumbest things ever, and moronic players being morons in general, it would destroy the entire feel of Skyrim.

I have friends that play Skyrim and what we would rather see is a game just like Skyrim that you can play co-op with a limited number of people. If I could enjoy the depth of Skyrim with my closest friends, that'd rock. The random/unpredictable elements of Skyrim would work in that kind of setting where they would never work in an MMORPG.

And if you had your own closed game, you wouldn't be exploring in the middle of nowhere and have xXDrizztXx drop in out of the sky to jack the gold node you just found or have Imakeelyou run in and tag the dragon you were about to fight or meet some dink named Ihealyou want to dps for your group, or have to hear a moment by moment breakdown of some princesses existence in public chat (because there is always somebody who doesn't get enough hugs from mommy seeking attention), and so on.

I'm already hoping for an ES VI and I haven't even remotely come close to finishing V yet.

I still think TESO could be a good MMORPG but the fact that the company that makes some of the best PvE content ever is including PvP in their game is completely stupid. All MMORPGs don't have to be clones. All MMORPGs don't need slapped on pointless fake BS PvP that always impacts the PvE game. And I'm sure it'll be 95% solo just like all of the other lame MMORPGs out there that end up losing players rapidly shortly after most of them exhaust the single player content, since most players play those types of MMOs like single player games with horrific public chat and then move on.

Real MMORPGs center on grouping and unfortunately, just don't get made very much anymore, so you have this nonstop trend of good but ultimately failed MMORPGs that don't hold players, go F2P in hopes of somehow paying for themselves, and which end up being lame to play (if you actually like MMORPGs for what they're best for - the grouping). We don't need more LOTROs, SWTORs, etc. If you're going to create MMOs that are mostly single player games with a little bit of grouping and pvp slapped on then just ditch the grouping and pvp and make a better single player game.

I agree with your assessment of MMOs these days, Voqar. I find the idea of a persistent game world with inexhaustible content somewhat appealing in theory, regardless of all those issues with current MMOs failing to deliver the social aspects they were intended for. However, I find in practice that without the social content the rest gets annoying pretty fast due to, ironically, the playerbase. Most of them are not only failing to provide any positive contribution to the social experience of their fellow players, they're actively being obnoxious and providing a negative contribution. But good PvP can keep an MMO alive for me, for a while. A big problem with MMOs that try to go that route is when they require thousands of hours of PvE raiding to obtain all the uber can't win without it PvP gear. Who the hell wants to spend that much time with other players that are aggressively antisocial just so they can PvP effectively?

The whole category is in dire need of an overhaul.

Yeah, co-op in Skyrim would probably be pretty awesome.

Voqar, just to clarify: TESO is made by a different team, so it's existence does not directly interfere with the next installment of the singleplayer TES series. However it is generally believed that Bethsoft are currently working mainly on then next Fallout title, and the next TES is probably still a few years away.

joxer said:

I want to play Skyrim where no mobs respawn. Can I? No?
Then I won't play your online crap either.

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It's been awhile (more than 6 months) since I've played but I'm 90%+ sure my no respawn is working. I've just spent the last 15 min trying to figure out which mod. I really hate it when authors don't include readmes or nfos.

I show the zip file named Adjusted Respawn Rates with 4 esps. 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or 1 year. They adjust GMST iHoursToRespawnCellCleared and iHoursToRespawnCell if you would just rather make your own in the CK. The specific file I use is named Respawn1Year.esp and is listed in BOSS. At least it seems to be sorted and I don't think I added it manually to the master list (possible though).

These settings only work with a new game.


Good luck.