Elder Scrolls Online - We’re not making Skyrim 2

Couchpotato

Couchpotato

Part-Time News-bot
Supporter
Joined
October 1, 2010
Messages
36,318
Location
Spudlandia
Edge has an interview with Elder Scrolls Online’s game director Matt Firor.
The last few years haven’t been kind to traditional MMOGs. What, in your mind, is the key to bucking that trend?
The biggest single thing you can do to ensure your MMOG is successful is take your time and do it right. You only have one chance to launch, [so] you’ve got to make sure that you have a full range of features for a full range of people. I like to think of it more as we’re making a world that we want people to live in. Yes, there’s a game there, but there’s a lot of games in the game. We want to make sure there’s just a ton of stuff for you to do.

There will be players whose first Elder Scrolls game was Skyrim and whose expectations have been set by that game. How do you communicate the ways in which you’re different?
Well, we exist in the same universe. We’re making an Elder Scrolls game, but we’re not making Skyrim 2. So I think the Skyrim guys had that same problem when they went from Oblivion to Skyrim: “Your last thing was Oblivion, how could you possibly top that?” We’re not trying to ‘top’ Skyrim. [It’s] a fantastic game – if you wanted to play Skyrim, go play Skyrim, right?

What is your relationship with the Elder Scrolls community? Could it be improved?
I think that the reaction that we had when we announced the game was more about having heard game developers say things about games for a long time and then [not seeing] what they were talking about. A lot of the mixed reaction that we got was [aimed] in that direction. It wasn’t necessarily about Elder Scrolls. There was some of that, but mostly it was, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard of [action-based] combat systems, we’ve heard that. We get into the game and it’s the same old thing.’ We want people to get in and play. We’re not going to sit them down and give them a presentation, they’re just going to sit down and play it.

Was the decision to add a firstperson mode based on public demand?
Yes and no. We always knew it was something players were going to want. We couldn’t actually do it – and we’re still in the process of doing it – because when you have other players seeing your character from a different distance from where you’re seeing it, a lot of systems have to be designed. We needed to make sure we had the thirdperson working first, not just because it was your camera, but because it’s how everyone else sees you in the world. But we’ve known for a long time that we were going to do it.
Click to expand...
More information.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,318
Location
Spudlandia
You have to be crazy to make an MMO these days. Being a prophet, I predict massive failure and the inevitable F2P transition wherein the game will die over a couple years. Thus have I spoken.
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
626
If they just release it as a hybrid subscription/f2p game like all other mmos are going then they won't fail.

PS. Many of those games have been successful after switching to the hybrid model.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
1,596
So I think the Skyrim guys had that same problem when they went from Oblivion to Skyrim: “Your last thing was Oblivion, how could you possibly top that?”
Click to expand...

:roll:
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
803
Location
Singapore
Sorry, I react badly to ridiculous hyperbole :D
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
803
Location
Singapore
Brumbek said:
You have to be crazy to make an MMO these days. Being a prophet, I predict massive failure and the inevitable F2P transition wherein the game will die over a couple years. Thus have I spoken.
Click to expand...

Where is this logic coming from? Guild Wars 2 sold 3 million copies between $40-60 per unit against a (rumored) $50 million production budget. ArenaNet has cleared at least $100 million by those estimates...
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,593
Location
Boston MA
"when you have other players seeing your character from a different distance from where you’re seeing it, a lot of systems have to be designed."

Can anyone explain this any better? Frankly I don't see how your personal point of perspective would be affected by other characters' points of perspective. Wouldn't your character appear to other people in the same way regardless of how you were viewing things?
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
Messages
81
Location
Austin
You're not crazy to make an MMO. You're crazy to make an MMO and expect to compete with the big boy without doing something really special.

That said, I think - after SWtoR - most investors should realise this. So, they've probably done the math and have more realistic expectations for ESO.

Also, Skyrim sold a RIDICULOUS amount of copies. We're talking insanity.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if ESO is a much bigger hit than its relatively conservative design would otherwise warrant. As for retention rate... That's another matter.
 
Some franchises will have legs because of setting loyalty - I think Lotro enjoys that to some extent. I've personally gone up to 1.5 years making payments to support it without logging in simply because its Middle Earth. I bet Elder Scrolls will see that effect to some extent. This and Archeage are on my radar.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,593
Location
Boston MA
DArtagnan said:
Also, Skyrim sold a RIDICULOUS amount of copies. We're talking insanity.
Click to expand...

I've been arguing this with MMO players on a ESO fansite, they claims that the 9+ millions Skyrim buyers aren't a target for Zenimax with ESO...

Ahahahahahah.
 
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
7,313
As much as I enjoy the single player Elder Scrolls games, I really have no interest in this MMO. At this point, I'm just burned out on MMO games - I've yet to play one that really felt completely different than all of the others (including GW2).

I would guess that it ES:O will end up similar to SWTOR - start out strong and then dwindle over a couple of months as people hit level cap and find themselves with nothing to do.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
190
I'm going to wait to see if Elderscrolls brings anything new to the table. The whole uber-shard thing isn't enough. But I'm hopeful!
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,593
Location
Boston MA
DArtagnan said:
So, I wouldn't be surprised if ESO is a much bigger hit than its relatively conservative design would otherwise warrant. As for retention rate… That's another matter.
Click to expand...
And that's a crux of the matter. Quite a few of recent MMO's did have a very good start but couple of months down the road it was a different story.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
4,721
Alaric said:
Can anyone explain this any better? Frankly I don't see how your personal point of perspective would be affected by other characters' points of perspective. Wouldn't your character appear to other people in the same way regardless of how you were viewing things?
Click to expand...

The point is that 3rd person perspective allows people to zoom out, so you can get an overhead view of things. That means people in 3rd person view can see people that use 1st person view from a greater distance due to seeing over hills, obstacles, around corners and what not. They can also see what's going on behind them. Normally that doesn't mean a thing, but in a game with PvP it means a lot. I simply can't imagine 1st person view being viable at all in PvP, as 3rd person view offers too many advantages.

Edit: I actually think he might be referring to animations and what not, but I still think my point is a bigger problem.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
7,586
Location
Bergen
ToddMcF2002 said:
I'm going to wait to see if Elderscrolls brings anything new to the table. The whole uber-shard thing isn't enough. But I'm hopeful!
Click to expand...

I don't know if the game is really going to bring anything new to the table, could be, but we'll just have to wait and see. However, even if it's a World of Warcraft clone or similar to other MMOs, I would still play it simply because it's Elder Scrolls. I love that universe and lore so it would be great to explore it even more deeply in an MMO.
 
Fluent said:
I don't know if the game is really going to bring anything new to the table, could be, but we'll just have to wait and see. However, even if it's a World of Warcraft clone or similar to other MMOs, I would still play it simply because it's Elder Scrolls. I love that universe and lore so it would be great to explore it even more deeply in an MMO.
Click to expand...

You can't bring anything new to the table anyway. Everything have been done before in a MMO or was taking from a single player game:

  • Raising skills through usage: Ultima Online
  • Can use (almost*) every skills: UO, Asheron's Call and The Secret Worlds
  • Mega-Server: Any MMO by Cryptic use something like this.
  • The Alliance vs Alliance: GW2/DAoC.
  • Limited number of skills in combat: GW2, Neverwinter Online and soon Wildstar (lots of SP RPGs too).
  • Active combat: Neverwinter Online meet Skyrim (literally going by the leaked videos).
  • Public Dungeons: any Pre-WoW MMO
  • Story: SWTOR/GW2

*Almost, because 3 skill lines are limited by the class choice and the racial one depend on your race selection. Also, some are mutually exclusive: Lycanthropy vs Vampirism.

But taking from other games doesn't mean that ESO won't be fun and interesting.
 
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
7,313
Definitely the attractiveness to this over any other MMO is the Elder Scrolls world and lore. If the devs add something innovative (and actually well done) in gameplay, that would be great.
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Messages
15,681
Location
Studio City, CA
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom