Elder Scrolls Online

[Androxine Vortex]

TES Online is expected to be out sometime in 2013. It will be an MMORPG for the PC and MAC. I've watched countless videos about this and I have to say it looks amazing. I am not a PC gamer but I am planning on purchasing this game. There are three factions you can play as.

The Daggerfall Covenant (Bretons, Redguard, and Orcs)

The Ebonheart Pact (Nords, Dunmer, and Argonians)

The Aldmeri Dominion (Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit)

Here's a few videos about the game...

An Introduction to The Elder Scrolls Online - YouTube

(This talks about some of the features of the game)

The Elder Scrolls Online: Alliances at War - YouTube

(This is more focused on the lore and factions)

The Elder Scrolls Online The Alliances Cinematic Trailer [HD] - YouTube

(This is the cinematic trailer)



So I wanted to see what faction you would play as (even if you don't plan on buying the game) I am sure that Ebonheart will be the most played faction. I try looking at it through the eyes of someone trying to see what would be best for Tamriel. If the Aldmeri Dominion win then they would probably enslave all other "inferior" races and I just hate their stuck up supremacist attitude. The Ebonheart is even said by the developers to be the most fragile of all the alliances. Every race in the alliance hates each other with a burning passion. So I believe if they were to win, they would turn on each other in their victory. Plus the Nords are famous for invading and conquering so who's to say they would stop there?

Last but certainly not least, there's the Daggerfall Covenant. I like the idea of a more diplomatic alliance rather than the other ones. I'm sure the Redguards and Orcs and Bretons have had their wars among themselves but not to the extent of the other races. The Redguards and Bretons are relatively peaceful and the Orcs mainly stay to themselves though most view them as being barbaric brutes. I vote for the Covenant because their motive for winning the war is to stop the Elves from creating a supremacist society and they want all of Tamriel to prosper. They want trades to flourish and since the leading race (Bretons) are highly diplomatic, I'm sure they wish for more peaceful outcomes in the event of victory.

What about you? Which one would you like to win? Even though I like the Daggerfall Covenant to win, I'm still planning on making a Dunmer and an Argonian class (Dunmer = Stealth Archer/Assasin) and Argonian would be a warrior of some sorts with magic so a battlemage/spellsword. My Breton would probably be a full mage and my Orc would be a two-handed warrior (not sure if i'll do an orc)

 

[Steerpike]

I'm not yet convinced I'm going to play this, but if I do it will probably be Ebonheart.

 

[Nihal]

I want to beta test it, haha.
I may join Ebonheart because I've only played Oblivion and Skyrim... In Oblivion every character had such an idiotic smile on his/her face that I started to dislike imperials/bretons. I don't know enough about Orcs and Redguards and I really dislike the Aldmeri Dominion, because... elves.
Poor Khajiits!

Anyway, I don't know enough of the MMO, by what you're saying it's fully faction bound? Games where I can't befriend who I like and kill that annoying player who is nagging me are a big turn down.

 

[Mindfire]

I'm going to make 3 characters, one for each faction.

No, really, I am. I just can't choose. On the one hand, I've played Skyrim and a bit of Morrowind and I enjoy playing a Dark Elf, so I like the Ebonheart Pact. But on the other hand I enjoy playing as Khajiit and High Elf (my first two Skyrim characters), so the Aldmeri Dominion looks pretty awesome. But on the other hand, I'm playing a Breton/Redguard (he's a Breton because I wanted their stats/skills, but in the character editor I made him dark-skinned. He's bi-racial?) in Oblivion and you're right about the Daggerfall Covenent being the most "good" for Tamriel. So I want to see their side of it as well.

Plus there's the fact that apparently you can only explore the part of Tamriel that your faction controls. If you're with the Covenant, you can ONLY explore High Rock and Hammerfell. If you're with the Pact, you can ONLY explore Skyrim, Morrowind, and Black Marsh. If you're with the Dominion you can ONLY explore the Summerset isles, Valenwood, and Elsweyr. Cyrodiil is a neutral PVP zone or something. But screw that! I want to see them all!

But as to which order I'll play them in...

First the Aldmeri Dominion, because none of their provinces have never been seen in any Elder Scrolls game, ever. And I'm curious to see what they look like.

Then the Daggerfall Covenant, because while High Rock and Hammerfell have been in an ES game previously, I never played Daggerfall, and the game's so out of date anyway it wouldn't matter if I had. The provices are guaranteed to get an almost complete redesign, which makes them next on my To-Visit list.

Then the Ebonheart Pact, because their lands are mostly Skyrim and Morrowind, which I've seen (but are still awesome), though they do have Black Marsh, another province that's never been seen before.

 

[Mindfire]

Also, you should have changed the order of the poll options. In the game, the Daggerfall Covenant's color is blue, the Ebonheart Pact is red, and the Aldmeri Dominion is yellow. The poll switches the colors for the DC and EP. lol

 

[Nihal]

Since I didn't play Daggerfall I don't know the details, but I know that it's world was one of the biggest game worlds ever created. Skyrim's world is fairly small, being handcrafted and cleverly using fog to trick the players into thinking it's big. Much of Oblivion's world was randomly generated, so was Daggerfall's world. But Daggerfall is so big that you got huge, bland, useless lands. I'm pretty sure that they're going to redesign it by hand.

It saddens me to hear they've set artificial boundaries for the factions. This is why I hate those recent faction-tied MMOs... I don't care if I can't step inside a city without being hunted down by guards or that the journey is deadly, I want to be free to take the risk. It's harder to equilibrate the game, but it's worthy! I'm surprised that Bethesda won't even try, they're so careful and got such an eye for detail when it comes to their ES games.

 

[Mindfire]

Since I didn't play Daggerfall I don't know the details, but I know that it's world was one of the biggest game worlds ever created. Skyrim's world is fairly small, being handcrafted and cleverly using fog to trick the players into thinking it's big. Much of Oblivion's world was randomly generated, so was Daggerfall's world. But Daggerfall is so big that you got huge, bland, useless lands. I'm pretty sure that they're going to redesign it by hand.

It saddens me to hear they've set artificial boundaries for the factions. This is why I hate those recent faction-tied MMOs... I don't care if I can't step inside a city without being hunted down by guards or that the journey is deadly, I want to be free to take the risk. It's harder to equilibrate the game, but it's worthy! I'm surprised that Bethesda won't even try, they're so careful and got such an eye for detail when it comes to their ES games.

Bethesda isn't developing TES Online per ce. That's being done by their sister-company, Zenimax. Bethesda will continue to focus on single-player games and offer creative consultation while Zenimax handles the actual mmo gruntwork.

 

[Nihal]

Oh, that explains a lot.

 

[Mindfire]

Oh, that explains a lot.

Don't worry though. As I said, Zenimax and Bethesda are very closely related, so they'll be sure to do the dilligence and get all the details and lore right. I love what I've seen of Skyrim, Morrowind, and Cyrodiil so far, to say nothing of the different creatures returning from other games.

Also, I think the reasons each faction is limited to their own provinces is that Cyrodiil is the designated PvP area, while the other provinces are all PvE. If you let different faction members cross provinces, they're going to want to attack each other. But they can't. How immersion breaking would that be? You'd get weird outcomes like members of all different factions being in the same party and working together. This is a war. When rival sides meet, a battle is the only logical outcome. Faction mixing is restricted to Cyrodiil because that's the PvP space.

 

[Mindfire]

And yeah you're right the only way to have the factions "cross the border" and not break immersion would be to have countless guards patrolling the area and trying to arrest them. But then you'd get the issue of everyone wanting to go to every single province EXCEPT their own, because they're bored with it, so now EVERYBODY'S being chased by guards all the time. It'd quickly get out of hand.

 

[Nihal]

Actually, there is a plenty of mechanisms to discourage the mixing. Reputation, "PK" points and everything. I've played the free-pvp MMOs of old, you would be surprised by the teamwork such games ended having. You had other lowbies watching your back as you watched his, legions dedicated to hunt PKers and trespassers, enforcing the unspoken law and all kind of organic interaction.

Artificial limits are just too... artificial. I can only think in Aion and it's zergrushes when they tried to implement mechanics to force players to team up. It was awful and people rarely formed bounds, it backfired and worked really well to attract all kind of childish players.

It is possible to have the war and still allow players to chose their own path. Those games should be harder and logically punish those players who turn their cloaks, but not just forbid, "because I said no". There is no immersion on invisible walls.

P.s.: Often, when a game allow players to trespass borders, as guards engage enemy players an alarm goes off. Those guards scream for backup and all players in the area usually go after the intruders because it's going to be rewarding somehow.

At the same time the intruder won't have a safe haven to hide, neither stores to resupply or how to resurrect in those enemy lands. It balances the game, sometimes escalate to full legion wars and add to the fun. Don't you think that factions in war wouldn't attempt to invade their enemie's lands and spread some terror?

Meanwhile, the defenders are going to have the advantage and the fun of the hunt.

 

[Mindfire]

Makes sense. Perhaps a system like this could be phased in via an expansion? They're just getting on their feet now after all. We shouldn't judge them too harshly.

 

[Nihal]

I've seen games starting free-for-all and going faction-based but never the other way around. This kind of game must be carefully thought before releasing so you can create some balancing devices, then it must be tested... The trend nowadays is the opposite: copy the easiest strategies you can find and don't take too many risks while developing, throw a weekend-long alpha & beta just to promote your game and profit for a year or so.

*ahem* Anyway, in this case I would also create one character of each faction. For me exploring is 80% of the fun.

 

[Mindfire]

I've seen games starting free-for-all and going faction-based but never the other way around. This kind of game must be carefully thought before releasing so you can create some balancing devices, then it must be tested... The trend nowadays is the opposite: copy the easiest strategies you can find and don't take too many risks while developing, throw a weekend-long alpha & beta just to promote your game and profit for a year or so.

*ahem* Anyway, in this case I would also create one character of each faction. For me exploring is 80% of the fun.

Not to mention that the quest system in this game is supposedly exploration-focused, like in ordinary TES games.

 

[nitoincog]

TES Online is expected to be out sometime in 2013. It will be an MMORPG for the PC and MAC. I've watched countless videos about this and I have to say it looks amazing. I am not a PC gamer but I am planning on purchasing this game. There are three factions you can play as.

The Daggerfall Covenant (Bretons, Redguard, and Orcs)

The Ebonheart Pact (Nords, Dunmer, and Argonians)

The Aldmeri Dominion (Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit)

Here's a few videos about the game...

An Introduction to The Elder Scrolls Online - YouTube

(This talks about some of the features of the game)

The Elder Scrolls Online: Alliances at War - YouTube

(This is more focused on the lore and factions)

The Elder Scrolls Online The Alliances Cinematic Trailer [HD] - YouTube

(This is the cinematic trailer)



So I wanted to see what faction you would play as (even if you don't plan on buying the game) I am sure that Ebonheart will be the most played faction. I try looking at it through the eyes of someone trying to see what would be best for Tamriel. If the Aldmeri Dominion win then they would probably enslave all other "inferior" races and I just hate their stuck up supremacist attitude. The Ebonheart is even said by the developers to be the most fragile of all the alliances. Every race in the alliance hates each other with a burning passion. So I believe if they were to win, they would turn on each other in their victory. Plus the Nords are famous for invading and conquering so who's to say they would stop there?

Last but certainly not least, there's the Daggerfall Covenant. I like the idea of a more diplomatic alliance rather than the other ones. I'm sure the Redguards and Orcs and Bretons have had their wars among themselves but not to the extent of the other races. The Redguards and Bretons are relatively peaceful and the Orcs mainly stay to themselves though most view them as being barbaric brutes. I vote for the Covenant because their motive for winning the war is to stop the Elves from creating a supremacist society and they want all of Tamriel to prosper. They want trades to flourish and since the leading race (Bretons) are highly diplomatic, I'm sure they wish for more peaceful outcomes in the event of victory.

What about you? Which one would you like to win? Even though I like the Daggerfall Covenant to win, I'm still planning on making a Dunmer and an Argonian class (Dunmer = Stealth Archer/Assasin) and Argonian would be a warrior of some sorts with magic so a battlemage/spellsword. My Breton would probably be a full mage and my Orc would be a two-handed warrior (not sure if i'll do an orc)

I'm also for the Daggerfall Covenant for much of the same reasons. Out of all three alliances they are IMO the most likely to succeed. The Orcs and Redguards are said to be the two strongest warrior races, and with the Bretons diplomatic and vast magical knowledge joined they make a quite fearsome and deadly team. If you look at the others the Ebonheart Packs big weakness it their distrust for one another and the Aldmeri Dominions weakness is their cause. If it seemed the they were gaining an edge over the other two alliances it is entirely plausible the the Ebonheart Pack and Daggerfall Covenant would create a temporary truce to destroy them seeing as the nords have a deep seeded hatred for the Altmer and most elves. But anything can happen in war and the lore/history of the game world is different then the mmo IE nothing is set and anything goes based one the players choices and teamwork...I could go all day talking about The elder scrolls but anyway thats my opinion.

 

[Mindfire]

I'm also for the Daggerfall Covenant for much of the same reasons. Out of all three alliances they are IMO the most likely to succeed. The Orcs and Redguards are said to be the two strongest warrior races, and with the Bretons diplomatic and vast magical knowledge joined they make a quite fearsome and deadly team. If you look at the others the Ebonheart Packs big weakness it their distrust for one another and the Aldmeri Dominions weakness is their cause. If it seemed the they were gaining an edge over the other two alliances it is entirely plausible the the Ebonheart Pack and Daggerfall Covenant would create a temporary truce to destroy them seeing as the nords have a deep seeded hatred for the Altmer and most elves. But anything can happen in war and the lore/history of the game world is different then the mmo IE nothing is set and anything goes based one the players choices and teamwork...I could go all day talking about The elder scrolls but anyway thats my opinion.

Based on how it looks now, I agree that the Daggerfall Covenant seems most likely to triumph. But we know from the Elder Scrolls lore that none of them actually win, thanks to some guy named Tiber Septim, who founds the empire as we know it in Elder Scrolls I-IV.

 

[Steerpike]

My real question is what, if anything is going to be unique and innovative about the game play in this MMO. If it's just another MMO but set in the Elder Scroll world, I don't see a reason to get it. If they do something innovative with it, I might.

 

[Mindfire]

My real question is what, if anything is going to be unique and innovative about the game play in this MMO. If it's just another MMO but set in the Elder Scroll world, I don't see a reason to get it. If they do something innovative with it, I might.

Apparently the gameplay is like a fusion of the typical MMO gameplay with traditional ES gameplay.

 

[Steerpike]

Apparently the gameplay is like a fusion of the typical MMO gameplay with traditional ES gameplay.

Yeah, but there are already MMOs that have that kind of combat style. I guess my question is in terms of leveling, or gaining skills, quest systems, and all that stuff. These elements are so much the same across MMOs. Adding a nice crafting system and some other systems that no one else has would be nice.

 

[Nihal]

An organic world with variable resources (depletion, renovation, randomization) and dynamic cities (that could flourish or be truly destroyed by invasions) would be extremely cool. I would also welcome seasons and changeable terrains, that would be immersive.

But nope, no one would create this today, already explored formulas are quicker. This kind of thing requires a lot of thinking to avoid anti-immersive, artificial limits.

P.s.: I would be extremely happy if I could at least climb things. Pretty please?