First Looks// The Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) was announced just prior to E3 2012. People jumped in delight at the news that the world of Elder Scrolls was going to be realised in an MMO.

It would be have the beauty of Skyrim online and with hundreds of others. Right? RIGHT? Well not quite...

TESO has been in development for over five years and only now do the folks at Bethesda believe it to be ready for public showing. They have made the game based on a universe that has been in existence for over 20 years. With that breadth of material available to them, they clearly thought it churlish for them not to make an MMO based in that world. So, they did, and here it is in all its, well, glory? Yes, I'll go with 'glory' for now.

Set 1,000 years prior to the events in Skyrim, TESO is set in a world menaced by three feuding factions, all of which are trying to gain control of the entire continent of Tamriel.

The main villain of the piece is a Daedric Prince called Molag Bal who is raising an undead army in order to take control of Tamriel. The three factions are The Aldmeri Dominion, The Daggerfall Covenent and The Ebonheart Pact. These factions have certain races allied to them, all of whom will be very familiar to players of other games set in the Elder Scrolls universe.

From the outset the developers have designed the game to focus on the multiplayer aspect of MMOs. Players are encouraged to interact with one another to the point where even if they are not grouped with someone and they help another player out, they'll get rewarded for it. As an extension of this, there are many dungeons and warrens to explore, just like any Elder Scrolls game. Most of these require a group to be formed before entering, but some do allow players to wander into them unassisted and will likely find other people taking on the denizens of the dungeon.

The base character construct used in Elder Scrolls games remains in place within TESO. The base stats of Health, Stamina and Magicka remain as does the ability to use any weapon, regardless of class. Players will not however be proficient in it if they have not specialised in the wielded weapon's use, again a similar trope found in Elder Scrolls games.

Another familiar facet to that ever so long lineage of games is an open world full of potential for exploration. In TESO players will be able to go where they wish and do what they wish, which is something many recently released MMOs fail to achieve; Star Wars the Old Republic (SWTOR) being a case in point.

The developers have looked closely at the combat in TESO and have tried to create a dynamic combat system that rewards the player's skill. This is done by allowing the player the opportunity to block incoming attacks and once successful, executing a parry move.

The more adept the player is at engagements, the better the reward they get once combat is over. It is an interesting incentive as it forces the player to actually think carefully about each combat to get the most out of it.

One aspect of MMOs Zenimax has tried to address is the concept that everyone is a hero and everyone does the same quest over and over. Whether it be killing wolves for their pelts or taking a message to a nearby innkeeper, it is always the same quest.

In TESO, each action a player commits has an overall consequence to the world. Some areas of the world will be blocked off unless they carry out certain actions for a faction or some other association.

How this will be managed within MMO environment, Zenimax were not keen on expanding on during the demonstration, but it will certainly interesting and ground breaking if they can pull it off.

So far so good right? Well yes, but with a glut of MMO titles out there and SWTOR struggling to keep people's interest up despite its high profile launch, the genre is a high risk one to be engaged in.

I fear for TESO's future for what I saw at E3 2012 wasn't visually impressive or particularly unique at all. It reminded me a lot of Warhammer Online in many respects, which is not a good thing. Especially considering the age of that game and its fate.

There was a game that was launched with much fanfare and acclaim five years ago, yet it now clings on for dear life with only 2 active servers and little to no new content being developed for it.

Simply put, I do not see a space for TESO in the MMO genre, which is one that is becoming increasingly congested. The audience for these games is becoming smaller and the development time for them is so huge and expensive it should be enough to put any developer off making them.

When you consider Rift, Tera, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft to name but a few high-fantasy based MMOs, I fear TESO will emerge into a market that does not have much of an appetite for such games.