The Elder Scrolls Online

[Leonel]

It's official!

A while ago, Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax was spotted stumbling out of a seedy back alley bar, clutching only a bottle of gin and a domain name -- elderscrollsonline.com. The Internet leapt on this with fervor, eagerly anticipating the news that it could only hope was coming -- an Elder Scrolls MMORPG. Guess what ... the Internet was right about that.

Bethesda's very own Pete Hines has confirmed that yes, an MMORPG installment of the wildly popular Elder Scrolls series is on the way. In the announcement, Hines also stated that the company had already put $300 million into the project -- that's a fair bit o' gold! Said Hines:

I don't think that this funding changes our focus in terms of what we are about and are trying to accomplish. The additional resources will allow us to expand our publishing efforts-both our own titles and those of other studios-and to pursue development of more titles, working with internal and external development teams.

So there you have it. Elder Scrolls Online is a go, and I think it's safe to say that World of Warcraft may have its first legitimate challenge to the MMORPG throne, don't you? We'll see what happens in the future, but for now, Hines is saying nothing else. Personally, I am eager as hell to watch this one develop.

http://www.destructoid.com/elder-scrolls-mmorpg-confirmed--53151.phtml

Say goodbye to your social lives.

 

[Godwynn]

Time to drop out of college.

 

[Maniacal]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo!


the perversion!

DAMNIT! There goes any chance of seeing TesV in the next decade.

Frickin mmorpgs.

Besides, you can't really mod mmorpgs very much and the mods are really a huge part of Morrowind and Oblivion.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

I haven't even gotten to play Oblivion yet because I have one of those intel chipset . .. .. .. .in horsehockey assed graphic cards that doesn't work for anything, but I'd love to try this online game out considering all the good things I've heard about Elder Scrolls.

 

[steviejay]

Aww I was gonna post a thread about this.

It'll be interesting, I'm looking forward to it but is there even a timeframe for it's release? Elder Scrolls 5 could be out before it.

Now where do I sign up for beta testing?

 

[King Flevance]

I have yet to try Oblvion yet also. I bought Morrowind on the Xbox and love it, but even if Oblivion came out on Xbox I would prefer to get the PC version. I have to miss out on alot playing by console.

I am curious as to how close player freedom will be in an MMO version.

 

[ArneHD]

*Mournful background music* So long good Elder Scrolls games, we hardly knew ye...

 

[Maniacal]

If they are spending $300 million on this game, were's money going to come for TesV?

EDIT: MAJOR UPDATE (this is from the SAME article linked to above)

[Update: It seems that the original story which Jim sourced in this article jumped to more than a few conclusions. We just got off of the phone with Bethesda's Manager of PR and Marketing Erin Losi, who wanted to clarify a few things.

For one, Bethesda has not announced or confirmed that an Elder Scrolls MMO is in the works. As she points out, the $300 million dollars in question was received by Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media. This money will be invested across a "multititude of projects."

As for the an Elder Scrolls MMO, Losi told us that no such announcement has been made. Looking at the above quote from the original QJ.net story, it appears that some drastic leaps in logic were made to reach conclusion of a "confirmation." Regarding the registered Elder Scrolls Online domain, Losi points out that this is standard practice, where Bethesda will snatch up a number of domains related to their licenses.

We apologize for any confusion we might have caused with this story, and for now, the Elder Scrolls MMO simply doesn't exist. - Nick]

 

[steviejay]

'and for now, the Elder Scrolls MMO simply doesn't exist'

for now..... so it is coming? Where did the 300 mill quote come from? Is that really the price for a good game now a days?

 

[Maniacal]

I'm so happy now

Unless the botch up TesV, then I will be more murderous than happy.

 

[warpstorm]

Then again, ZeniMax just opened a new studio (ZeniMax Online Studios) in town that everyone who gets hired for is only willing to say they are working on an MMO.

 

[steviejay]

Heh coincidence?

I'm guessing if they do release a Elder Scrolls MMO it'll be huge, money and resources will be thrown at it from all angles, but will it be good enough to best WoW?

 

[Till]

*Mournful background music* So long good Elder Scrolls games, we hardly knew ye...

That was my gut reaction upon reading the OP, as well. I hope it won't turn into such an disaster that the franchise takes damage, nor in such a great success that they neglect the proper TES games.
What's with people and MMOs? I just don't get it. You'd think, given their focus on combat, they'd feature a good combat system, with a clever AI. But no, even in WOW combat is hardly a tactical challenge, and the monsters are dumb as rocks. I hear that at the highest levels, you do have to plan your battles, but up until then, there seems to be little but "grinding" on the menu.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Blah !
The last MMO I have played was Ultima Online and I quit after some months.
It had basically the same "Character system" as Morrowind and Oblivion with no real classes and the abilty to become an axe wielding and lockpicking uber mage in heavy armor.
Bethesda will have to change this if they go MMO, and even then I won't play it.

 

[Kozmos]

The only way this game could be cool is if you could become a skooma/moonsugar dealer in the game and if your successful enough a skooma lord with a mansion and hoes.

 

[steviejay]

The only way this game could be cool is if you could become a skooma/moonsugar dealer in the game and if your successful enough a skooma lord with a mansion and hoes.

I'd play that game....

 

[Maniacal]

I'd play that game....

Grandtheft Elder Scrolls

It would be sweet to actually steal the elder scrolls from that adamantine library place that's mentioned in the lore.

 

[Ulyaoth]

TES MMO would be absolutely horrible. Then again, I don't care, let them ruin their series, I'm done with it after the crap that was oblivion.

 

[X death]

I have thought that a TES MMO would be fun, but I'm worried they wouldn't be able to put the depth of play that I enjoy in the game. Presumably, it would have all of Tamriel, and other lands, wich would take up a lot of attention, so it would end up as just another MMO. However, I do hope they do make a very good MMO down the road.

 

[Harbringer]

Grandtheft Elder Scrolls

It would be sweet to actually steal the elder scrolls from that adamantine library place that's mentioned in the lore.

You steel on in Oblivion, and you can aquire two for quests in morrowind, and I think you got a "stack" of them in the second one but I never played it.