Oh gawd,,, This post had degraded down into an argument over the definition of a sandbox.

Clear Elder Scrolls Online will not be a sandbox.  It's even less sandy then Skyrim was.  

Originally posted by BigHatLogan

Sounds like ESO will have the same flaws as SWTOR.  Developers set out to clone WoW, fail because WoW has a shit ton of content that is much better than any clone could have, and then go down in flames losing all their money.  Best thing gamers could do right now is let ESO developers know that they strongly disapprove of WoW clones and perhaps development priorities can be shifted.  I'm not really that invested in Elder Scrolls games though so am content to laugh as this one goes down in flames just like SWTOR.

Well some of it is cloned off of WoW, some of it is taking ideas from GW2, etc.  You can't call a game without quest hubs a "WoW-clone."  It is your trinity style combat with hotbars and cooldown animations, mixed in with a bit of exploration based questing.  Me, I'm tired of trinity style combat.

What really struck me was Todd Howard's interview stating nothing of what ESO will have that gamers might like, only what it won't have.  It seemed every sentence of his has some form of "no" in it.  They clearly weren't going to try and break any ground here.  It will be relatively conventional.  Our only hope is that they do conventional really well, so we can at least somewhat enjoy what they present us if we choose to play it.