I’m moving the blog to a different server. Please, fasten your seatbelts.
The Elder Scrolls Online doesn’t impress anybody
Finally, somebody decided that there was an important, empty space in the MMO market for The Elder Scrolls. It was a matter of time, we all knew it was going to happen. Remember when we waited for that specific MMO to come out, that was going to break with everything made before? Pretty much, anything before World of Warcraft, that is? Well, The Elder Scrolls promises not to be one of those. A game pushing frontiers, I mean.
It’s meant to appeal to both the MMO consumers and The Elder Scrolls fans. By reading how, you can already see why the Internet has replied to the announcement with a brief “meh”. What does it bring from classic MMOs? Mostly everything. There are quests, no matter how pretty they want to spell them (you talk with a guy, he gives you a hint on where to go and what to do for a reward), there are fixed classes, and a three faction PvP. Oh, and a stamina bar and a limited number of available skills at any given time. Basically, you can blend World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot and Guild Wars, and there you are.
What does it bring from The Elder Scrolls? Nothing that really matters. I’d say the background and lore, but as it has been adapted so the MMO makes sense, it has hardly anything to do with the books you could have read while playing the previous games. The three alliances feel as awkward as the two factions from Warhammer Online felt. Also, Zenimax Online Studios claims the game will be extrahuge, but everything will be full of interesting places to explore. You know, as in early TES games, where not every single square inch of the map was related to a specific quest. Hardly believable, if you ask me. I’m thinking on either masked corridors or deserts full of random critters that have no real reason to be there.
Oh, and of course, there is a story for your character. One that’s set, that is, where everyone had the same problem (Daedra stole mah soul!) and is seeking the exact same objective.
Why? Why make such an uninspired mess? A 250 person team has been creating the game for 5 years already. How is that even possible? How can you work for that long in a game and make sure not a single bit of originality is imprinted in the design?
Anyway, here you have the trailer, although you can as well skip it. It’s only a guy giving you the excuse for the bland background.
Also, if for any reason you’d like to know more about this, I highly recommend you this thread in Neogaf.
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