My first experience with the Elder Scrolls universe, and I absolutely loved it! Sure, there were too many cliff racers and the graphics were a bit blocky (though awesome for when it was released), but I absolutely loved the open world and all of the options.
After playing many hours in Morrowind, I bought Oblivion immediately when it hit the shelves, and I enjoyed it as well. Now, player housing had been added and the graphics were much better, but the story and gameplay were just not quite as intriguing as Morrowind. Still it was a great game, and I really enjoyed it (I mean, I could become a vampire! How could I not enjoy it?)
And of course, the latest installment, Skyrim. Again, I purchased this one as soon as I was able . . . in this case a pre-release purchase through Steam, and as soon as I could I started playing. Skyrim really brought together the good from each of the titles that came before it, and I thought (and continue to think) that it was a great game.
Now, I find out that Bethesda is not only thinking of releasing an Elder Scrolls MMO, but that it is already in the works . . . I love it!
I've read some complaints about how there is no way that an MMO can capture the same remarkable single-person experience that has been the hallmark of the Elder Scrolls series; however, I remember thinking the same thing before World of Warcraft first came out. After having played all of the Warcraft games before it, I couldn't imagine an MMO that would work in that universe, but work it has. So, I will definitely hold judgement this time on what is possible until I've read more about this project.
But, for now . . . Status: Hopefully Optimistic
I never played any of them, to be honest. I only, briefly, fiddled with a friend's copy of Oblivion. It looked neat and I know it's a very popular series.
ReplyDeleteI just like to look at the idea of an Elder Scrolls MMO a little more idealistically than others. It's a great series, so I want to think how it will be a great MMO.
I'm not into thinking how the current state of MMOs will never change and so anything that comes into the fold will adopt the old and worn out.
Trends come and go, and things change. :)
If the negative view is purely on the treadmill/grind idea that a lot of MMOs have followed, then that's really not different to me, and I don't care if it's Hello Kitty, Dr. Who or Oblivion, it'd be primarily the same game with a different skin - minus some details about gear-progression that each MMO tries to be different about, but that affects me, as an explorer/crafter, little.
The game design is radically different between the offline Elder Scrolls games and pretty much *any* MMO. I think they could leverage the IP and setting of the Elder Scrolls and make a good game, but it won't be much like the offline games, it will just take place in the same world. That can be good or bad, depending on why one likes the games in the first place.
ReplyDelete@Jeremy - I agree completely. If it turns out to just be the same game with the newest skin then it won't really last much past the first couple months. If, on the other hand, they can make a new product that adds something to the market then this could be the beginning of a great thing.
ReplyDelete@Tesh - Obviously Bethesda has spent a lot of time producing a world, but one of my few complaints with Skyrim especially was the repetition of the same enemies over and over. I was really tired of seeing the ancient Nords at a certain point. If the MMO can give us "more," I think that could be a big selling point.
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ReplyDeleteHi Crafty - welcome to the blogosphere. :)
ReplyDeleteMy main issue with the ES MMO is that it appears not to feature the same combat style or skill/class system as in Skyrim, but is more WoW oriented. since they started development in 2007, they had different goals at the time than they probably would have had today, considering Skyrim's success and the overall feeling of 'wow boredom' in the MMO scene.
to me that is very unfortunate. I am personally uninterested in an Elder Scrolls with classes and wow combat style.