The Elder Scrolls Online

[Lemming42]

I didn't get accepted into the beta. Should I be disappointed, or have I been spared a traumatic experience?

 

[Angthoron]

Tons of people on Youtube breaking the NDA.

Here's the first Fighters Guild boss fight on a hybrid (and an idiot, since he's repeatedly casting the "low health finisher" spell on a boss at full health), shows the feel of combat better than I could: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1hEdzrrJxo

Yeah, I can see the part where people complain about the combat. The eternal problem of giant health pools and wet noodle boss damage strikes again. Pity. Same combat model could've been pretty fun.

 

[Metro]

Btw, is it a "holy trinity" type of a game, or are they knocking off GW2 on this one?

There are clear healer/tank/dps roles, but there are a couple of factors to consider:

- no combat log (for IMMERSHON!)
- no floating damage/heal numbers (see above)
- all health bars shrink to the middle, Skyrim style (see above)
- center-of-screen targeting of friendlies, FPS style (see above)
- there is no buff bar (see above) and no official plan to put one in. Buff/debuffs are determined through visual cues in third person and by going into the character sheet. Will probably be left to UI mods, which indicates what kind of pub (though there is no group finder and no place in the UI for one right now) dungeon experience they're aiming for.
- no minimap, none planned (see above), so spatial awareness in huge fights can be tricky
- both tanking and healing are primarily defined through weapons that everyone can pick up and use (sword and shield/restoration staff)
- PvP currently gives unlimited skill points, so everybody can max out everything
- However, Templar have a class tree that's devoted to healing, and healing a group without that tree is considered a nightmare
- In general, class trees are more important than any skills you can pick up elsewhere, at least in the early game. This is in part because class trees use magicka (stamina gets depleted while running, dodging, blocking...), in part because weapon skill lines are both narrowly focused (2hand is limited AoE with spash damage, dual wield is channelled single target and debuffs, destruction staff is debuffs, bow is shit) and still kind of weak (I'm guessing to make balancing easier)
- However, the guild skill tree that increases based on amount of dungeons done is very healing intensive, so everybody will be able to chip in if they're willing to slot those skills. Those healing skills are of the combo variety: player places a "blood fountain" to do some healing, everybody else can "drink" from it for more. This is done QTE-style, so as long as you can hit a button, you'll always execute the combo.
- in-combat mana/stamina regen is very limited in the early game; you'll be using auto attacks most of the time in long boss fights. There is no healing auto attack.
- aggro management is all-or-nothing; I haven't seen any percentual aggro reduction/increase skills yet (and certainly no passives, since passives can never be turned off). It's "force enemy to attack you for x seconds."

Awful.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

there are also public dungeons that scale with amount of players inside and have the same spawn mechanics

There is amazing troll potential in this.

 

[Thane Solus]

subscription based model its not outdated, its just a fair model to do business with the MMOs, the problem is that if the game is a shitty mmo, made by some dumb ass designers, and managed by suits, of course its gona be free to play in 6 months. Some publishers do this on purpose. Milk them with box and subscription at first for a few months and then free to play(see turbine, ncsoft, cryptic...) In end they get the money back.

But please dont be stupid, niche based mmos work quite fine with subscription model. Its fair for everybody, no advantages, and it keeps the microtransactions shops away. The only good mmo that will be launched in the next years, will be a niche mmo targeted at a specfic type of players, but not casual or wow players, because they cant understand more than that dumb ass mechanics and instant gratification.

At the same time free to play can work if its fair, the only one i can think off, its Path of Exile, which is not really a mmo, its free but you can buy visual stuff, effects for your spells and similar stuff, or increase your bank storage to huge levels.

In conclusion, 70% of the mmo players are bunch incoherent dumb player with no gaming experience in the genre, 70% of the designers are exactly like them, i know, i meet so many of them... The rest dont have the budget or the teams to produce something as good as the classic Ultima Online, Asherons Call, EVE Online, DAOC, AO and so on, so we are probably doomed. The only chance is some kickstarter, or some small company making something interesting.

EVE Online and Darkfall are ok, played them a lot, but they hugely flawed in the end..

Blah, why the fuck am i posting...

"Everything is shit!"

 

[Bubbles]

I love answering beta surveys

- I care about the characters (NPC's) in the game.

- I feel like the characters in the game (NPC's) care about me.

- The game is emotionally engaging.

- The game is giving me good reasons (rationale) for me to do what I'm doing.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Bloody hell.

 

[Angthoron]

I love answering beta surveys

- I care about the characters (NPC's) in the game.

- I feel like the characters in the game (NPC's) care about me.

- The game is emotionally engaging.

- The game is giving me good reasons (rationale) for me to do what I'm doing.

That does answer my "target audience" question.

 

[Gerrard]

I'm thinking a good ratio of background music playing would be around 15 to 20 percent of your play time.

Anything less seems too sparse and anything more seems to drown me out. I don't mind background noises or other shit, but constant music can be annoying. I never played Tera but how prevalent was background music in that game?

Been a long time since I played, but as far as I remember the music for locations would play when you enter for like 1-2 minutes. I think only the main cities had constant music.

 

[Thane Solus]

I love answering beta surveys

- I care about the characters (NPC's) in the game.

- I feel like the characters in the game (NPC's) care about me.

- The game is emotionally engaging.

- The game is giving me good reasons (rationale) for me to do what I'm doing.

That does answer my "target audience" question.

I thought this is made by Bethesda, not Bioware...

 

[Angthoron]

I love answering beta surveys

- I care about the characters (NPC's) in the game.

- I feel like the characters in the game (NPC's) care about me.

- The game is emotionally engaging.

- The game is giving me good reasons (rationale) for me to do what I'm doing.

That does answer my "target audience" question.

I thought this is made by Bethesda, not Bioware...

I guess they had a look at the Nexus and saw the desire for cybersex and waifus.

 

[Lemming42]

Why would anyone need to be "EMOTIONALLY ENGAGED" with characters in an MMORPG? Admittedly my knowledge of them is somewhere around 0 (I used to play Runescape quite a lot in about 2005/6, I played WoW for about a week then quit, I played FFXI but that's just a blur), but one thing they suck ass at is telling stories.

 

[Bubbles]

Mildly ambitious storytelling is probably the only reason why SWTOR and TSW are still making a profit at all. Of course, neither of those games could sustain a subscription.

I thought this is made by Bethesda, not Bioware...

This is basically Oblivion style storytelling, as opposed to Skyrim/Morrowind style, which makes sense given the dev cycle. You're vaguely "special" and meet absurdly important people way too easily (amusingly, the first Mage quest parties you up with the ghost of the very first Archmage, while the first Fighters quest has the very first Grandmaster floating about giving you tips). However, the game does not pretend that the story is all about you.

That's why the game drops FemShep into the tutorial as a tragic Nord and the survey asks you a bunch of questions whether you're interested in her fate and whether the desire to find out more about her encouraged you to play the game more.

 

[himmy]

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/01/23/esos-voice-cast-announced

Meet the world-class talent that will bring the characters you meet in The Elder Scrolls Online to life.

We’re excited to introduce you to the amazing voice cast you’ll hear in ESO. You’ll probably recognize more than a few of the highly-talented individuals voicing characters throughout the game. Without further ado, we’re proud to present the cast highlights in a new press release:

John Cleese plays Sir Cadwell, the cheerful and endearingly mad lost soul who is not afraid of anyone, even a Daedric Prince. Joining the cast as High King Emeric, Bill Nighy portrays a merchant prince whose luck and determination won him the throne. Kate Beckinsale takes on the role of Queen Ayrenn, the leader of the Aldmeri Dominion and Queen of the High Elves who is far more comfortable with a blade than her crown.

In addition, Alfred Molina takes on the role of Abnur Tharn, a wily old wizard and politician who is the head of the Empire’s Elder Council, and the de facto power behind the Ruby Throne. Lynda Carter plays Azura, the Daedric Princess of Dusk and Dawn from Skyrim who is a popular part of Elder Scrolls lore. Michael Gambon voices The Prophet, a mysterious blind man who guides the player through their journey to retrieve their soul; and Malcolm McDowell plays the key figure Molag Bal, an evil Daedric god from another plane who schemes to enslave the mortal souls of Tamriel.

The Elder Scrolls Online cast also includes:

• Peter Stormare (“Fargo”) plays Jorunn the Skald King, an unexpected monarch who led his people into an unlikely alliance.
• Jim Ward ("WALL·E," "Despicable Me 2") voices Mannimarco, a renegade High Elf wizard exiled from the realm for raising the dead and the world’s most powerful necromancer.
• Jennifer Hale appears in the role of Lyris Titanborn, a Nord half-giant, who, along with the Prophet, aids the player on their journey.
• Kevin Michael Richardson rounds out the cast as Sai Sahan a noble martial artist and master swordsman.

 

[DeepOcean]

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/01/23/esos-voice-cast-announced

Meet the world-class talent that will bring the characters you meet in The Elder Scrolls Online to life.

We’re excited to introduce you to the amazing voice cast you’ll hear in ESO. You’ll probably recognize more than a few of the highly-talented individuals voicing characters throughout the game. Without further ado, we’re proud to present the cast highlights in a new press release:

John Cleese plays Sir Cadwell, the cheerful and endearingly mad lost soul who is not afraid of anyone, even a Daedric Prince. Joining the cast as High King Emeric, Bill Nighy portrays a merchant prince whose luck and determination won him the throne. Kate Beckinsale takes on the role of Queen Ayrenn, the leader of the Aldmeri Dominion and Queen of the High Elves who is far more comfortable with a blade than her crown.

In addition, Alfred Molina takes on the role of Abnur Tharn, a wily old wizard and politician who is the head of the Empire’s Elder Council, and the de facto power behind the Ruby Throne. Lynda Carter plays Azura, the Daedric Princess of Dusk and Dawn from Skyrim who is a popular part of Elder Scrolls lore. Michael Gambon voices The Prophet, a mysterious blind man who guides the player through their journey to retrieve their soul; and Malcolm McDowell plays the key figure Molag Bal, an evil Daedric god from another plane who schemes to enslave the mortal souls of Tamriel.

The Elder Scrolls Online cast also includes:

• Peter Stormare (“Fargo”) plays Jorunn the Skald King, an unexpected monarch who led his people into an unlikely alliance.
• Jim Ward ("WALL·E," "Despicable Me 2") voices Mannimarco, a renegade High Elf wizard exiled from the realm for raising the dead and the world’s most powerful necromancer.
• Jennifer Hale appears in the role of Lyris Titanborn, a Nord half-giant, who, along with the Prophet, aids the player on their journey.
• Kevin Michael Richardson rounds out the cast as Sai Sahan a noble martial artist and master swordsman.

So much money wasted into this doomed POS.

 

[Caim]

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/01/23/esos-voice-cast-announced

Meet the world-class talent that will bring the characters you meet in The Elder Scrolls Online to life.

We’re excited to introduce you to the amazing voice cast you’ll hear in ESO. You’ll probably recognize more than a few of the highly-talented individuals voicing characters throughout the game. Without further ado, we’re proud to present the cast highlights in a new press release:

John Cleese plays Sir Cadwell, the cheerful and endearingly mad lost soul who is not afraid of anyone, even a Daedric Prince. Joining the cast as High King Emeric, Bill Nighy portrays a merchant prince whose luck and determination won him the throne. Kate Beckinsale takes on the role of Queen Ayrenn, the leader of the Aldmeri Dominion and Queen of the High Elves who is far more comfortable with a blade than her crown.

In addition, Alfred Molina takes on the role of Abnur Tharn, a wily old wizard and politician who is the head of the Empire’s Elder Council, and the de facto power behind the Ruby Throne. Lynda Carter plays Azura, the Daedric Princess of Dusk and Dawn from Skyrim who is a popular part of Elder Scrolls lore. Michael Gambon voices The Prophet, a mysterious blind man who guides the player through their journey to retrieve their soul; and Malcolm McDowell plays the key figure Molag Bal, an evil Daedric god from another plane who schemes to enslave the mortal souls of Tamriel.

The Elder Scrolls Online cast also includes:

• Peter Stormare (“Fargo”) plays Jorunn the Skald King, an unexpected monarch who led his people into an unlikely alliance.
• Jim Ward ("WALL·E," "Despicable Me 2") voices Mannimarco, a renegade High Elf wizard exiled from the realm for raising the dead and the world’s most powerful necromancer.
• Jennifer Hale appears in the role of Lyris Titanborn, a Nord half-giant, who, along with the Prophet, aids the player on their journey.
• Kevin Michael Richardson rounds out the cast as Sai Sahan a noble martial artist and master swordsman.

Needs more Popeye Vogelsang (Arnbjorn, Farkas, Maul).

 

[Stokowski]

Kevin Michael Richardson

I miss Sarevok ... *sniff* ... * goes and looks for BG discs *

 

[Angthoron]

At least VAs won't go hungry.

 

[AW8]

Shit game, great cast. I'll probably watch youtube videos to hear Peter Stormare as the High King of Skyrim.

 

[Delterius]

Where is Pickard?! Damn you Zenimax!! He's integral to the TES experience!

 

[Night Goat]

Remember when Bioware thought it was a good idea to hire a bunch of professional actors for their MMO? And it was a fucking disaster because it meant they couldn't add more PVE content on a regular basis?

How do people this stupid even have jobs?

 

[Bubbles]

I didn't even recognize Malcolm McDowell, but that may be the fault of the Scary Voice Filter and dumb dialogue. Beckinsale did a good job though, one more reason why Elves/Furries are the best.

Though Peter Stormare faking a Nord accent sounds potentially hilarious.

edit: The German version of the announcement is hilarious as usual. Lily white Elf Queen voiced by German Voice of Zoe Zaldana! Lyris Elfborn, 8 1/2 foot tall Nord berserker, played by German Voice of Lisa Kudrow!
And last but not least: Mannimarco played by German Voice of Vin Diesel.

 

[7/10]

Remember when Bioware thought it was a good idea to hire a bunch of professional actors for their MMO? And it was a fucking disaster because it meant they couldn't add more PVE content on a regular basis?

How do people this stupid even have jobs?

Full VO's also meant, that SWTOR had ridiculously high budget with little to show for it (and they recycled lines left and right anyway). That money could've been spend on other things, like making the game suck less dick.

 

[Morality Games]

Remember when Bioware thought it was a good idea to hire a bunch of professional actors for their MMO? And it was a fucking disaster because it meant they couldn't add more PVE content on a regular basis?

How do people this stupid even have jobs?

Full VO's also meant, that SWTOR had ridiculously high budget with little to show for it (and they recycled lines left and right anyway). That money could've been spend on other things, like making the game suck less dick.

Worth noting that Swtor was designed to be the WoW Killer. The money stream was supposed to expedite the process.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Remember when Bioware thought it was a good idea to hire a bunch of professional actors for their MMO? And it was a fucking disaster because it meant they couldn't add more PVE content on a regular basis?

How do people this stupid even have jobs?

What's wrong with professional actors?

Don't you mean celebrity?