You Should Be Worried About The Elder Scrolls MMO

...Don't stab me with my own sword!

It was a rumor for months, but a leak of the next issue of Game Informer has finally confirmed it: The Elder Scrolls is going to be getting the MMO treatment. Initially the hope for this games online prospects has been high, after all Bethesda have created some fine RPG's, so surely the new ZeniMax Online studio will work closely with them and make it as close to the experience we've come to know and love right? Well, you may want to sit down for this, because this is going to sting...

This may be the worst decision ZeniMax has made with one of it's franchises. Ever.

Now to be fair, there are some parts of this first batch of information that caught my eye. First off the story. The game is set a millennium before Skyrim, which gives us a chance to see the lad of Tamriel in a whole new way. The fact that you will be able to travel between different provinces is also fairly appealing, as the past three Elder Scrolls titles have kept you more or less within the boundaries of the province the game is set in. There are caves and dungeons that aren't instances and are simply part of the game world. It also seems like player factions will be able to have a bit of power in the game, so much so that the faction that controls the Imperial City will be able to name a player the Emperor. 

If you've already read the Game Informer article then you know the details but for those who haven't the first few pages detail the approach the developers are taking, and that approach sounds extremely familiar. ZeniMax Online's Paul Sage says early in the article, "...it needs to be comfortable for people who are coming from a typical massively multiplayer game that has the same control mechanisms, but it also has to appeal to Skyrim player." Okay, sounds fair to me, your trying to pull in a new market while trying to keep the old one. So how are they doing this? Okay, stop me if this sounds like something you've heard before: You play the game in third person, the combat system orients around skills on a hotbar, and your attacks have a cooldown rate. What game does that sound like? Oh, World of Warcraft (among others). No surprise since they literally called them "World of Warcraft mechanics."


Well at least it'll be free roam right? Nope. Just like dozens of other MMO's before it, regions are locked off until you've progressed to certain level. Oh and some areas are going to stay locked off so the can be included after release as expansion content. NPC's won't run on the life bustling schedules they do in the RPG's, and you won't be able to be a home owner because it's "too hard to implement in an MMO." 

Am I the only one who read that and grew a little concerned over it? 


When the news first broke, and I got my hands on the article, I was excited. After reading it and seeing the developers plans I am worried and now fear I may soon have to add The Elder Scrolls to the list of franchises I loved that got run straight into the ground. This is an opportunity to take an already deep and expansive world, and open it's floodgates so that players could enjoy the world with each other. The Elder Scrolls is, perhaps, the most popular Western RPG in the world. The series has millions of fans, and millions more have discovered the franchise thanks to Skyrim's critical, commercial, and public success. As long as ZeniMax Online stays true to the Elder Scrolls formula, it could be new ground for the MMO experience. Except it appears they won't be. 


The two biggest things that make Elder Scrolls the franchise it is are the free roam free roam, and it's first person perspective. The first person perspective isn't unique to RPG's, but it is very rare, and it is one of the qualities that has always set Bethesda's RPG's apart from others. It's not the most important part of the game, but it provides a greater sense of being there, and adds to the immersion factor. It is breathtaking to climb to High Hrothgar then stare off into the horizon, or to duel a dragon as it breaths fire in your face, or to gaze up in wonder at the bizarre, but gorgeous evening sky in the Shivering Isles. Even more important though is the free roam. The Elder Scrolls series has always been about going where you want, doing what you want, whenever you feel like it. Your never forced to follow through the story, and you never told to approach the game a certain way to be successful. You can roam around and search for quests, or you can go dungeon diving. You can sign up with a guild, or go rooting through the woods for alchemy ingredients. Even if the game suggests you not do it, you can still do it. Hell, in Morrowind you could actually break the games story by killing plot-essential characters.This quality has always been integral to the Elder Scrolls formula.

As it stands right now, it seems that the Elder Scrolls MMO won't be keeping much in common with the experience we have come to love up to this point. The free roam seems like it will be restricted to more traditional MMO wanderings, which takes away one of the most identifiable parts of the Elder Scrolls experience. Then there's games third person perspective. That's not different. I have seen that in every single MMORPG since I can't remember when. I don't think that the Elder Scrolls MMO needs to be strictly adherent to what the series has done up to this point, but it does need to be recognizable, playstyle wise, as the Elder Scrolls. Then there's the first few screenshots of the game. Now the awkward character models are hardly perfect, but Elder Scrolls has an art style all it's own, something that is also somewhat recognizable. I actually had to double check and make sure I was reading the right article when I looked at the screens. The games visual style reminded me a bit too much of World of Warcraft, or if you want a more recent title, Kingdoms of Amalur. Not one of the handful of screenshot reminded me of any part of the realm of Tamriel. At least not the one I've been show up to this point. 


The direction ZeniMax Online seems to be taking isn't bold, it's predictable. This is just another fantasy MMO with very few qualities that make it stand out. It seems as if they're just like several other franchises that want a piece of the massively online pie. There is always debate about why no MMO has ever been able to duplicate the success of World of Warcraft. That's because most of the competitors don't try to be different, they try to use the mechanics that made WoW such a ground breaking experience. However, first impressions are everything, and the first impression of The Elder Scrolls MMO doesn't inspire a lot of hope that this will be anything to really get excited about. 

I will still wait to really judge my feelings on the game once E3 is over and we've gotten an actual look at what ZeniMax Online is up to, but the initial impression has left me very disappointed in the developers vision for this game. As a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls, I had high hopes that this game could really distinguish itself from the traditional MMO experience. Instead, I am concerned that ZeniMax isn't going to stay true to the spirit of the Elder Scrolls. This shouldn't be just another run of the mill fantasy MMO, this should be the reason millions of people disappear from the planet for months.


Image Sources:
#1. http://dominat3.com/files/2012/05/ES_0000.jpg
#2. http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/0443-skyrim/12453889-3-eng-US/0443-skyrim_full_600.jpg
#3. http://rampantgames.com/blog/uploaded_images/morrowind2-724901.jpg
#4. http://manatank.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-lake-vista.jpg