Elder Scrolls Online Story "100% Solo," Says Firor

Status
Not open for further replies.

Hellbound

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2004
465
0
18,780
Somewhat the same approach SWTOR took.. I've already canceled my account for that game. I want an MMO, something that requires communal effort. Where a guild has purpose, and a united cause. Something with a thriving player made economy.

SWTOR is basically a great single player MMO, with a wonderful 4 man co-op system. Guilds are irrelevant, world pvp irrelevant. Now I fear ESO will end up the same..
 

xerroz

Distinguished
Jun 15, 2010
447
0
18,780
From the second half of the interview it sounds like they will still embrace he exploration aspect of TES games. And the questing system sounds like it won't be like that of WoW or most MMOs where going into towns or cities is pretty much an obligation because it's where you pick up quests. Still not quite sure about the game but I'm definitely more curious after this.
 

twelch82

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2011
182
0
18,680
MMOs are not supposed to even have stories built in. They are supposed to have game mechanics that lend themselves to storylines developing as a result of playing the game. Instead of needing to write in a villain, let one of the millions of people out there who enjoy committing villainous acts in an MMO fill the role.

For the MMO genre to grow, it needs to move past the likes of WoW, EQ, and Lineage, and take advantage of the fact that you have millions of players, instead of the other players being treated like a stumbling block to get over in the delivery of a single-player oriented story.
 

UmeNNis

Distinguished
Feb 20, 2007
72
0
18,640
[citation][nom]twelch82[/nom]MMOs are not supposed to even have stories built in. They are supposed to have game mechanics that lend themselves to storylines developing as a result of playing the game. Instead of needing to write in a villain, let one of the millions of people out there who enjoy committing villainous acts in an MMO fill the role.For the MMO genre to grow, it needs to move past the likes of WoW, EQ, and Lineage, and take advantage of the fact that you have millions of players, instead of the other players being treated like a stumbling block to get over in the delivery of a single-player oriented story.[/citation]
Eve Online. 'nuff said.
 

bak0n

Distinguished
Dec 4, 2009
792
0
19,010
This is what's called
"how can we milk the most amount of money out of people that play single player games".

There's a lot more profit to build a virtual world with a locked storyline and charge a month fee + original purchase price than to sell a product one time.

I'm going to go back to playing Master of Orion and Star Control now. kkthx.
 

alidan

Splendid
Aug 5, 2009
5,303
0
25,780
for me an mmo needs to be soloable if you have the skill.
everquest 1, once it took that approach, became one of my favorite games, because if the content isnt soloable, you can end up looking for a group for 6+ hours. yea it gets boreing, but thats what group play is for... outside of a raid, its fun to play in a group of people, not required.
once you get to the raid level, you sould be able to solo things, or at least almost solo things, if you have the skill, another thing everquest did right, after a while they made an easy mode, and a hard mode, where the only difference was quality of loot and how many players you can bring with you,

once you get to the end game, that should never be soloable within 2 expantions, if at all ever.

now, some people want multiplayer to be required for an mmo, but i have seen how crappy games get because they force multiplayer. the way you have legs is allow solo play and advancement, while allowing people to group for fun. the first mmo that does it right from the get go will take the mmo crown away from wow and may take my nostalgia away from everquest.
 

bigdragon

Distinguished
Oct 19, 2011
1,107
547
20,160
What is the point of making it an MMO if it's just going to have a solo quest? It should be a single player game then. Stop trying to cash in on WoW's success with the latest and greatest idea. Creating a solo MMO is not going to get me to buy. Creating yet another dragon-slaying game is not going to get me to buy. Zenimax needs to learn to push things forward, to do new things that raise the bar for competitors. I'm tired of companies aiming for some subset of features provided in a game like WoW and then complaining about the games market when their project ultimately fails for not being up to par.
 

beoza

Distinguished
Oct 23, 2009
329
0
18,860
I agree with a lot of you, you need to push things, stop trying to be like WoW, or games that came before. There are great solo games like Skyrim and The Witcher 2, take aspects of these types of games, and make them MMO’s. You don’t need a main villain, although you could, you really just need a back story about the region, or world you are in, give each class or race an overall back story that ties into things. Allow the player to have a high degree of customization. Don’t force groups, allow the player to solo stuff, while keeping group play optional, make guilds actually useful, like in guild wars, where you can attack another’s guild (not sure if this was in a game before GW). There are lots that can be done to advance the MMO universe. Just if you dumb it down too much you lose players, see WoW and its “sparkly” quest items. Give people the ability to change the difficulty of an instance, not just when you reach a certain level or acquire a key or something else.

If you say you listen to the community then how about actually listening to community, ask their input for what they would like to see in a future MMO. How about actually letting those in the community help design your next great MMO. Have a contest, have people submit their ideas, and choose the top 5 or 10, then let people vote on those, the winner gets put in the game somewhere, and or other goodies. Market research is good, but just trying to compete with what’s come before, or relying on past glories doesn’t cut it. Face it people want something new that doesn’t just break the mold they want something that shatters it into millions of tiny little pieces!
 

alidan

Splendid
Aug 5, 2009
5,303
0
25,780
[citation][nom]bigdragon[/nom]What is the point of making it an MMO if it's just going to have a solo quest? It should be a single player game then. Stop trying to cash in on WoW's success with the latest and greatest idea. Creating a solo MMO is not going to get me to buy. Creating yet another dragon-slaying game is not going to get me to buy. Zenimax needs to learn to push things forward, to do new things that raise the bar for competitors. I'm tired of companies aiming for some subset of features provided in a game like WoW and then complaining about the games market when their project ultimately fails for not being up to par.[/citation]

really, if they put some real weight to the combat, and make hits count... this could be the first mmo i play for the pvp... but they wont, you know it...

what they would need to do is make the game less about the individual player, and more about the worlds situations. events will happen nomater what and it isnt player controled, its time... if they made a story that would play out over a 3-6 month period of time, and make major events winnable by either side, and change the shape of the world... could be an excelent game, but they wont, as i doubt anyone but an indi company would bet on a new prospect of game play.

 

ET3D

Distinguished
Mar 12, 2012
99
33
18,660
Sounds very nice to me. I really like the idea that I can play solo and can just help other players along the way, instead of formally group. As a casual player I find that I often stick to pure single player, because grouping is a form of commitment (takes time to arrange, not comfortable dropping out), so having both an Elder Scrolls single player experience and the ability to play with others without a problem would be cool. This kind of experience was what made City of Heroes quite fun for me.
 

mcvf

Distinguished
Apr 22, 2009
126
0
18,690
I think their director got it wrong. Here is what makes people worry:

"Having been in MMOs for a very long time, I know and understand that community very well, ..."

But, TES community is not MMO community at all!
 

ET3D

Distinguished
Mar 12, 2012
99
33
18,660


Which is exactly why it's clear he got it right. TES is about the solo quests and the exploration, and that was clearly addressed.
 

gel214th

Distinguished
Nov 9, 2011
10
0
18,510
[citation][nom]twelch82[/nom] let one of the millions of people out there who enjoy committing villainous acts in an MMO fill the role.[/citation]

Yes, well the problem with every game that ever did that is this : What do you do when there are no players left to fulfill the "villain" side? Games which are 100% PVP represent a niche market. And they are available out there for you to play.

The Facts are that the majority of players do not like that gameplay. Argue against them if you want to, but those are the facts.

So therefore you MUST have PVE systems and the relevant mechanics in place. If you want, in your mind, change the name from MMO (since I am assuming that you will argue about what is "true" MMO as compared to something else). Companies will make your definition of "True" MMO...EVE Online is a prime example that would fit your definition of player run worlds and player developed storylines.

I hate the gameplay style of EVE online. Looking at EVE's subscription model against the popularity of the whole Freelancer/Wing Commander space combat genre and you can tell that many other people don't like the gameplay style either. If the developers of EVE were to present their same assets, graphics, sound everything but with a PVE oriented playstyle their subscription numbers would double. But they have made a decision to keep their game within its niche.

The market for the "theme park" or "theme park/sandbox" hybrid MMO is much larger than the PVP oriented Sandbox variety. I'm glad that Elderscrolls Online seems to favor the PVE oriented model.

However I feel that if they aren't bringing anything really new to the marketplace, their customer base would have been better served by adding LAN/Internet based Co-Op to Skyrim and whatever comes after.

 

jalek

Distinguished
Jan 29, 2007
524
1
18,995
Isn't this LOTRO's approach, an open world, but story progression through solo instances?
Some games have questlines that end in raids, ending in instances would seem a little anti-climactic.

 
G

Guest

Guest
WE DON'T XXXXXXX WANT AN MMO!!!! JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS IT WITH DEVELOPERS AND ASSUMING THAT MULTIPLAYER INSTANTLY MEANS MMO!!!??! MOST PEOPLE WOULD BE SATISFIED WITH A CO-OP OPTION WHERE 4-5 OF THEIR FRIENDS CAN GET TOGETHER AND PLAY THROUGH THE STORYLINE AS A GROUP. MY HONEST OPINION IS THAT THE PREMISE FOR THIS GAME SOUNDED GREAT BUT THEN A BUNCH OF XXXX WIT XXXXXXX CLUSTER XXXXED TOO MANY IDEAS SO THEY TOOK A STEP BACKWARDS AWAY FROM WHAT THIS GAME COULD TRULY BE CAPABLE OF.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.