So when Elder Scrolls Online was initially announced, I got real excited. The countless "head movies" I'd played over and over in my mind dreaming about the possibilities of a community within Cyrodiil and beyond was about to come true.
But then I read about the game. And ultimately I got a lot less excited. It wasn't Bethesda it was ZeniMax. It wasn't Tamriel - or not how we knew it - just a succession of themed zones. It seemed as though in the big game of license picking, Elder Scrolls was hauled out from a sack: the Septims’, Dumner’s, and the Blades' time was up.
Which may seem a little harsh, but, in absence of playing the game, it had the unfortunate disadvantage of not living up to my own desires. In the grand game of MMO tracing paper, the image that ZeniMax managed to come up with didn't closely adhere to my guidelines. It's almost as if they didn't pay attention to my demented brain at all.
For me, The Elder Scrolls Online needs to be just that: The Elder Scrolls. While there are conflicts within the world, it isn't a place given to mass PvP, clandestine factions, and rigorous leveling. It's a little more intimate, and somewhat ironic given the games epic nature.
Throughout the installments of the game, one hero, foretold, has changed the world, and even saved it from imminent peril in a few cases. It's a game as much about prophecy as it is the incidental. In one moment you might be shutting a gate to Oblivion, but in another you might be picking herbs for a farmer, clearing out a goblin cave, or conversing with invisible towns folk. The whole gamut of fantasy is here, and I worry that in giving the game the big MMO treatment, it is going down the line of importance and pomp, rather than allowing your character to simply be an adventurer within the world, stumbling upon quests, and fumbling over gold.
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Because, while it must be said The Elder Scrolls Online looks interesting, it seems to have been an excercise in seeing how the series can fit the MMORPG mould, rather than the other way round. The lore has been put through the online fantasy machine, with the end product ultimately looking suspiciously like other like-minded adventures.
Of course all of this can be put done to precious conjecture, but from what I have read, watched, and listened to, I have to question just how much Elder Scrolls is in the Online installment. It seems as though some of the components are there, but some of the essence is, seemingly, forgotten.
But then again, I might be an overreacting fanboy, too impatient to wait and see, and too angst ridden to wait and see.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online? Does it tick the dragonborn boxes? Does it feature enough Dark Brotherhood rum doings to sate your appetites? Does it, importantly, look like an Elder Scrolls game? Comments as ever in the box below.
Adam Tingle / Adam Tingle is a columnist and general man-about-town for MMORPG.com, RTSGuru.com, and FPSGuru.com. He enjoys toilet humor, EverQuest-themed nostalgia, and pointing out he's British: bother him at @adamtingle
