The Elder Scrolls Online team is answering a number of community questions in a new video touching on Necrom, how they design new areas, fun design choices, and even the process of naming fish.
There's a wide variety of questions answered in the video by Game Director Rich Lambert and Creative Director CJ Grebb, and they keep it light. Some of these questions were clearly sent in before Necrom released, so they're a bit forward-looking, but the design and the behind the scenes info is fun to watch. Of course, when it comes to the latest chapter and the Shadow over Morrowind story arc, advising everyone to enjoy it first and find out for yourself is the logical call.
They touch on fan favorite characters returning. Lambert says that if they do ever think about bringing a character back, “We want to make sure that we do them justice”, especially if it comes to fan favorites. Popular characters are likely to get looks and consideration. No promises on seeing your favorite characters come back, but they do consider it, especially if they are fan favorites and if bringing them back actually means something.
This also works with the decision to bring back Hermaeus Mora in Necrom. Questions about Mora are also sprinkled throughout this presentation.
No surprise, but the team is also asked if they might add more housing slots (an acknowledged community pain point). Lambert says it's not because they're jerks, it's because it's a resource question for now that if they increase the number, those with existing slots may not be able to log in. but they are working on it.
Other topics that are covered include how they create the flora and fauna for each update and zone, the music for each new chapter, and even whether it becomes more difficult to create new content with more areas used in Tamriel and a huge lineup of characters already included. Last question, one of the answers involves the huge amount of content and lore that they have put out since the game released nearly a decade ago.
Lambert adds that when they're creating new content, they have to remember what they've already done, and Grebb adds that they still have lots of things they haven't touched yet. Also, Oblivion is kind of wide open.
The full video is worth a watch for all the behind the scenes info on how all the teamwork comes together to create new content for The Elder Scrolls Online. You’ll also find out why the Arcanist class was called Bob for a while.
