It sounds promising and the social aspect of rounding up people based on preferences is a bit of a break through. The phasing, if it works sounds very interesting to. 

My concerns from a personal perspective is the immersion.  I like/love GW2 because I know what type of game its trying to be and I accept that.  ESO from my perspective should be a deep RPG / old school game type feel.  So I will be expecting more from the crafting, housing, exploration etc.  If its another theme park type of ride, then I won't bother personally. 

I do hope this does well . The problem is its coming into a market full of free to play games and buy to play games like Guild Wars 2 . Inevitably there will be more of these .

Also the genre continues to be dominated by WoW which has many fans that believe any game other than those created by Blizzard must be trolled mercilessly . I've not seen one single game since the release of WoW get a fair shot in forums anywhere on the net . Everythings called a WoW clone even Guild Wars 2 which has a totally different game mechanic and bairs no resemblance to WoW other than it is in a fantasy setting . 

This does look good though . I've just got a years sub to Rift and and also enjoying GW2 so by the time I've run out of things to do in them this should be out . Look forward to it .

Re-activating a years old account to post this:

I am failing to see what is new about this game.  It takes zero steps forward and takes many steps backwards.  The fact that there are classes, linear questing, and no player housing shows that these developers have no clue what people liked about this franchise.  I wish I could place bets on this game failing because I am 100% certain it is going to fail harder than SWTOR. 

I have been aware of this game for a while now, but hadn't done much research on it.  This preview changed that.  After reading this preview, I had to spend the next hour researching this game because I had to confirm my impression that this game is going to be a complete failure.  Unfortunately this further research only cemented my view of this game, and now I am very sad.  I'm sad not only at the inevitable failure of this game, but also at what that means for the future of this franchise.  It seems like there is so much potential for this franchise to make the transition to online play, but I predict that this game will fail so badly that nobody will dare attempt it again. 

I understand there is hope for things to be fixed after the game launches but in this case, with so many of the round pegs crammed in to square holes, I don't think its realistic to expect that patches will fix it.  The game is being built on a foundation of linear questing, classes, and no player housing.  These kinds of things cannot be fixed with patches.  Even if player housing is added post-launch, I predict it will be a token gesture at best.  Player housing is a major corner stone of Elder Scrolls game play, meaning that the game needed to be built around it from the very beginning.  Some junky instanced iteration of player housing tacked on in 2014 is not an acceptable iteration of a cornerstone of the franchise.

I'm so horribly disappointed.  This is such a huge bummer, because I had hopes for an Elder Scrolls online for years before this title was even announced.

I understand why they have locked races to your faction, but I still wish it weren't so. From a design decision I would think it would make designing unique starting areas easier, and I suspect this is their reason. I also suspect that we will still see the inclusion of other races in these areas and within these factions, but just as NPC's.

ARGONIANS FOR LIFE!

Hey listen, I know this site is known for its sandbox fanbois and hating on anything that seems popular but can we please cut the crap with the hate before it turns others off.  Contrary to what you might believe, the written word has alot of power both for good and for bad and there are alot of players who may come across as jaded, uninformed, and outright anti-"whatever hate your spewing", when at one time they were either on the fence or had no knowledge of the game.  Not to mention this hate has the power to convey wrong messages and creates animosity amongst the readers.

Please if you dont like it, say your peace and move on, some of us actually liek the game and for every negative thread I see I have this uncanny knack to prve you wrong and that also isnt healthy.  Let the fans decide how this game comes across.  No one likes a critic!

Originally posted by nycplayboy78
WHAT??!! Bill-O you where in the DC Metro and you didn't even reach out to me...YOU ARE DEAD TO ME....We could have grabbed some drinks...This is where my diablolical plan would've kicked in to get Bill-O drunk and have him spill the beans about the game...Evil plan thwarted...STOOPID MMORPG...Next time I will prevail.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....

I had no idea you lived there, man!  Or it totally didn't register.  Or I just wanted to avoid having you get me drunk and make me break NDA.  :)

I like the exciting beginning,this is what all games shoudl have.

However after that ,EVERYTHING sounds like a single player game not a RPG.

it sounds like you are to follow linear quests and if you want to replay you follow a different set of linear quests.

This type of gaming weather it has phasing or in REAL terms triggered quests,makes no difference,you are still playing a lienar questing game.We have had hundreds of these,imo far too many,someone needs to do a bit a thinking with NEW creativity.

I am quite sure i am not the only one who understands what developers can bring us in terms of creative gaming,i am simply waiting to see it.

By no means am i giving up on this game,i will wait and give it a chance,but the design already sounds a lot like game design 101,nothing new here.

Originally posted by Zylaxx

Hey listen, I know this site is known for its sandbox fanbois and hating on anything that seems popular but can we please cut the crap with the hate before it turns others off.  Contrary to what you might believe, the written word has alot of power both for good and for bad and there are alot of players who may come across as jaded, uninformed, and outright anti-"whatever hate your spewing", when at one time they were either on the fence or had no knowledge of the game.  Not to mention this hate has the power to convey wrong messages and creates animosity amongst the readers.

 

Please if you dont like it, say your peace and move on, some of us actually liek the game and for every negative thread I see I have this uncanny knack to prve you wrong and that also isnt healthy.  Let the fans decide how this game comes across.  No one likes a critic!

Go to the games official forums if you want sunshine and rainbows. These forums are for everyone, hater and fanboi alike.

Originally posted by ste2000

What a mess.

Sorry but this article not only didn't made me change my mind but confirmed all my fears.

This is going to be another of those 1 month wonder themeparks. Not good enough.

-SWTOR story system? No thanks

-GW2 Quest system? No thanks

-Phasing? No thanks

-MegaServer plus Facebook, Google+ and all that plastic Social features? No thanks

-Switching Classes at will? No thanks (forgot what is an RPG, Zenimax/Bethesda?)

-Any hint of a Sandbox feature? Not even one.

 

But the real questions are:

1- Is crafting focal to this game like in every TES?

2- Is the combat in First person or at least a close third person (character can't see behind his back) like in every TES?

3- Personal Storyline is secondary to Exploration like in every TES? ( Storyline has never been important in TES, sorry to tell you that Bill, you are confusing TES with Dragon Age)

4- Are you free to play the game the way you want it, like in every TES?

The answers to those question so far is a big NO, so to me not only this is not going to be a good TES game, but another boring and shallow Themepark.

 

This game has nothing new to bring to the MMO industry while at the same time it has the power to kill the TES IP.

Zenimax should do the same as SoE did (with EQnext) scrapping this game and rebuild it to be a real TES game with "some" sandbox features, or it will fail badly.

 

Summed up a lot of my thoughts on TESO.

I stopped reading after I encountered words "story" and "phasing." If they really believe that "the pivotal aspects of any Elder Scrolls game is the story of your character and the world around him." then I truly pity their investors. One SWTOR was quite enough. Yawn. Pass. If I were any younger and less jaded, I'd be pissed off. Jeez, people if you want to make "stories" go write books or make movies.

Lol, phasing in an Elder Scrolls game. Lol. Lol and rofl. Pathetic. They really do get what made Elder Scrolls so great - personal stories that make little timmy feel like the dragon conqueror/saviour of the world on his "epic journey." I suppose they're going to charge a subscription for it as well. Lol and /irony off.

I just found this, while randomly browsing: "When one “layer” of a zone fills up, it’ll create another and put people into there." OMG. This game will fold before release. Remember WH40K? It's this bad a concept.

Originally posted by OG_Zorvan

Originally posted by Zylaxx

Hey listen, I know this site is known for its sandbox fanbois and hating on anything that seems popular but can we please cut the crap with the hate before it turns others off.  Contrary to what you might believe, the written word has alot of power both for good and for bad and there are alot of players who may come across as jaded, uninformed, and outright anti-"whatever hate your spewing", when at one time they were either on the fence or had no knowledge of the game.  Not to mention this hate has the power to convey wrong messages and creates animosity amongst the readers.

 

Please if you dont like it, say your peace and move on, some of us actually liek the game and for every negative thread I see I have this uncanny knack to prve you wrong and that also isnt healthy.  Let the fans decide how this game comes across.  No one likes a critic!

Go to the games official forums if you want sunshine and rainbows. These forums are for everyone, hater and fanboi alike.

I dont get this attitude.  Say your peace and move along, why must you continue to bash a game because its not what you want. I seriously dont understand this mentality.

"While I appreciate quest tracking, even in Skyrim, I’d like a little less of it here.  Part of the fun is exploring, so during questing if I see a dot telling me where to go exactly, it’s a little off-putting.  I’d almost like a “general direction” instead of an exact waypoint for quest objectives.  Or just lay it out in the quest details. If this becomes an optional feature of the UI, I’d be happy."

I definitely agree with that last sentence; I'm not great at following directions in a game.  Out in the real world, tell me I need to get somewhere, give me one or two points to help guide me, and I'll get there; AAAAARRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY Training, SIRRRRR!  However, for whatever reason, I don't have that same direction-finding ability in a computer game.

As for whether I will be a believer or not, if life improves and I'm able to do it before-hand, just understand that I will be upgrading, or buying new computers to play THIS game, specifically.  I absolutely loved Oblivion, and I'm preparing to play it, again, in anticipation of this game.

Originally posted by BillMurphy

Originally posted by Yamota
Sounds like just another ThemePark to me. Also, no PvP? Never was into the Elder Scrolls anyway so I think I will pass on this one.

Hey Yamota,

There is a massive three-faction system in the heart of Cyrodiil.  We just didn't get to play it.  It's mentioned as much in the article.  More on AVA coming later.  It's being designed by several key DAOC members as well.

Ok that sounds better. However after hearing that SW:TOR PvP was designed by ex DAoC members I am a bit suspicious about hearing that.

But three faction PvP does sound very good... hope they have an FFA server as well.

Originally posted by BillMurphy

Originally posted by yorkforce

Didnt notice anyone asking

 

Is housing in? is it instanced? Will it be right up there at launch or is it a typical we might half assed add it after launch?

I believe it's in the "after launch" box, I'm sad to say.

lol Zenimax said that housing is just too hard to do in one of their original releases.

TOO HARD TO DO????? Words I should never hear from a MMO company