Last week, members of our team were on hand with Zenimax developers to get a first hand look at several features in the forthcoming Elder Scrolls Online. Next we give our readers a firsthand look at a trio of newly announced features. Find out more about what they are and then head to the comments to discuss!

This past week down at the ZeniMax Online Studios we got to play a lot of Elder Scrolls Online, the entire opening zone of the Daggerfall Covenant to be exact. The game played great but there are some new features and a definite mindset that the team was very happy to talk about. This is all previously undisclosed information, so no delays: let’s talk about the new features first.

Read more of Garrett Fuller's Elder Scrolls Online: First-Person, Exploring, and the Nightblade.

Sound good so far!

Can't wait to test the beta,if i get a key :P

for me,

first person option is helpful for "world immersion" - im glad its being supported

"Unlocking zones" will definately limit the the idea that this is a 'world'. It was one of the main complaints about Arcania (Gothic 4).

Might work well in practice but first impression of that isn't good. Even if we would get mauled by the mobs there, we should still be able to go there.

This just made my day!!!

Another new announcement came from the team about exploring the whole world of the game. For a while, it sounded like you could only explore the faction that you had joined at the beginning of the game. So the Ebonhearts would only explore Skyrim and so on. This has now been changed. Players who complete all of the PvE in their zone will now get the chance to unlock another zone at Level 50. Therefore, Ebonheart players can explore the content of the Daggerfall Covenant or the Aldmeri Dominion at Level 50. Once you make the choice the entire zone opens up to your character to explore. Matt did say that the loot you will get in the other zones will be really good, and after finishing the 2nd, you unlock the third. When you unlock the third zone that will give some of the best loot in the game.

Sounds amazing. Really liked what they did with the zone progression. In classic open world yes you can travel anywhere but there's not much you can do except ganking the other faction, with this approach we'll be able to adventure meaningfully all around the continent. They'll probably pull off first-person well too it seems. Sixteen dungeons at launch with lvl 50 versions is a lot of content so that's nice. I hope they can add in Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild fast because i'm considering to wait after launch until they add in those and meanwhile observe their post launch strategy (but i'm not sure i can do that, i'll probably just jump right in lol). And the trinity, i much prefer this approach over completely destroying it.

Business model will be a huge factor though. B2P would be very fine since it brings a cash return from box sales and that leads to a better cash shop and since there's no sub, better player retention after first month. Imo, win=win.

Does this still strike you all (or article writer) as a game that is going to release in 2013? I get worried when people say they feel/speculate/believe the game will get delayed or modestly pushed back into 2014. I know the date isnt set in stone, but they have said multiple times that they want to release the game this year 100%.

So I guess long story short, from what youve seen of the game and talking with them, does this still strike you as a game that will release this year? The wait is already hard!

well at least they do have a first person view. i guess even the original TES had the option to go 3rd person if you wanted.....

...now they better NOT have stupid lock on tab targeting....

First person and full world exploration?

Well this game might have some hope after all...

Alpha testing had the typical Elder Scrolls first person, but then they took it out.

There is a lot of random debate -- If youre playing with people who are obsessed with first person and refuse/dont like to not use it, they might be ruining your pvp/raiding pve experience because plain and simple you just cant do pvp and group pve in 1st person because you need to see all around you and your environment.

Maybe they were trying to make 1st person less appealing? I thought I also read animations were going to be more advanced so it'd be harder to get it all with the hand and sword type look, but hey, it looks like theyre going back and making the hardcore TES fans happy which is nice.

Originally posted by hMJem

Alpha testing had the typical Elder Scrolls first person, but then they took it out.

 

There is a lot of random debate -- If youre playing with people who are obsessed with first person and refuse/dont like to not use it, they might be ruining your pvp/raiding pve experience because plain and simple you just cant do pvp and group pve in 1st person because you need to see all around you and your environment.

 

Maybe they were trying to make 1st person less appealing? I thought I also read animations were going to be more advanced so it'd be harder to get it all with the hand and sword type look, but hey, it looks like theyre going back and making the hardcore TES fans happy which is nice.

First person with arms etc wasnt in the alpha version, jesse cox (the guy that this rumour stemmed from) has since said he was mistaken when he said first person "just like skyrim", also the other people that were at the same event had confirmed no arms etc

Originally posted by meddyck
So with the zone unlocking, is that a separate version of the other faction's zones or is it the same version members of that opposing faction are in? If the latter, will it be open PvP, PvP flagged, or no PvP?

That depends on you.  With the mega-server, you'll set your playstyle preferences, and in each zone you travel too be matched up with like-minder players.  Want open pvp? Select it as a preference and you're there.  Not so much? No worries, you can carebear it up.

This is honestly sounding better and better.

A few of my biggest fears about this game have been eased today.

Originally posted by BadSpock

This is honestly sounding better and better.

A few of my biggest fears about this game have been eased today.

lol, it's certianly sounding a lot more like a TES spin-off rather than a DAoC knock-off.  I am still leary though...

Originally posted by Sovrath

This just made my day!!!

Another new announcement came from the team about exploring the whole world of the game. For a while, it sounded like you could only explore the faction that you had joined at the beginning of the game. So the Ebonhearts would only explore Skyrim and so on. This has now been changed. Players who complete all of the PvE in their zone will now get the chance to unlock another zone at Level 50. Therefore, Ebonheart players can explore the content of the Daggerfall Covenant or the Aldmeri Dominion at Level 50. Once you make the choice the entire zone opens up to your character to explore. Matt did say that the loot you will get in the other zones will be really good, and after finishing the 2nd, you unlock the third. When you unlock the third zone that will give some of the best loot in the game.

Same!  I'm so relieved to hear this.